8 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It would have been an expensive weekend for Huddersfield fans. I have a mate who supports both teams. Luckily for him he’s got a few quid.

Yeah, there was a Giants fan in our hotel, near Ware, a few miles north of the M25. As we were leaving on Sunday morning, we had a few words and he revealed a Town shirt under his jumper. I wished him the best of luck saying that it would be a bummer if they lost as well…ouch!

23 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’d like to see that last try again. It looked like the scorer may have been off side to me. Great pass to the kicker though to open the field up.

Yeah, cracking pass by Tommy L. Watched the game again, last night, on catchup. Stopped it at the point where Smith kicked the grubber and Marshall was a good 3-4 feet behind Smith, so well onside.

It was a much better watch on tv, even the first half where I thought, at the game, that Wigan were poor. Huddersfield played a very safe, percentages game, trying to stifle us. Had that last try not happened, I suppose you could say that their tactics had been spot on, but with our flair players, we always have a moment of magic in us.

The attendances at Challenge Cup Finals have dipped over the last few seasons, after having been generally 75k+ for some time. With Tottenham’s capacity being 62k, it would be a good fit for future finals but it’s back to Wembley again next year. The attendance yesterday was just over 51k and that was tickets bought for both games. Not sure how many tickets Huddersfield sold but it couldn’t have been more than 8-10k.

Staying over in Hertfordshire after having watched the Warriors edge out Huddersfield in today’s Challenge Cup Final at the Tottenham Stadium.

What a venue. Superb stadium, the majority of the Wigan fans were packed into the single tier South Stand and it made for a great atmosphere. It usually does when you win. 

Hope it was a good watch for the neutral. A tight, close affair where Huddersfield probably deserved something from the game but it wasn’t to be for them and Wigan brought home the cup for the twentieth time.

For me, probably the best stadium in England, I would urge anyone to visit, given the opportunity.

Made up for our new Head Coach, Matty Peet, who has delivered in his first season. You could see in his celebrations after the final hooter that it really meant something to him.
 

On 26/05/2022 at 22:30, Sparks Rover said:

Hope you've not paid for your tickets....

They are giving them away for free.

From what I understand, it was a glitch in the system. They were offering a couple of hundred tickets to armed services personnel etc. and for a short while, anyone else was able to buy the tickets for nowt. Since been sorted. 😆

On 21/05/2022 at 21:40, Aqualung said:

I know where you are coming from mate but alas, none of the grounds you want to host England matches or finals or semis have the capacity of Wembley. Money talks and the FA takes. Plus they dictate ticket prices. 

As an aside, I've never been to the new stadium ( only visited on the outside), the area around there is unrecognisable to when I last visited v Leicester. 

Fucking dump of a place IMHO. 

 

The Challenge Cup Final is at Spurs’ new stadium this year, instead of Wembley. I’ve been to the new Wembley on three occasions, all Challenge Cup Finals watching Wigan and I’ve got to say, I think the stadium is superb. Wembley, the area of London, is a grade A sh!thole though.

From what I’ve seen of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on tv, it looks very nice and I’m looking forward to visiting. Probably the best stadium in the country in my opinion, certainly of the new builds.

Yep, forgot about Wigan. Can’t see them selling less than us, on the back of their promotion. More than likely, the first time in our history that Wigan will have equalled, or outsold, us. Over to you swag.

3 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Could potentially see Burnley,Preston,Blackpool and Bolton all selling more Season Tickets than us...let the good times roll!

Burnley had sold 12k+ a week or so ago, with Bolton also having gone through the 10k barrier. Blackpool at 4.6k, not sure about Preston. 

Burnley may well end up selling 15k and I wouldn’t be surprised if Bolton come close to that as well. 

I reckon Blackpool and us will be somewhere around 6-8k with Preston marginally higher.

Sh!t show.
 

Been down in Dorset all week. A cliff top walk today, where we’ve been able to look across Poole Harbour to Premier League AFC Bournemouth..

One in, one out and it’s Bonleh that are out. Poor things, they must be distraught. Never thought I’d hear myself say this but I feel quite sorry for them.

Mmmmmmphwoahhhhhhhhhhahahahahahahaha!!!

Villa scored, now 1-1. Just need a winner now.

On 13/05/2022 at 12:14, RoversTilliDie said:

Rumour has it we might be playing Celtic in a friendly, thats the kind of test we need in friendlies.

We play Celtic, at Celtic Park on Saturday 16 July.

On 12/05/2022 at 12:20, riverholmes said:

One player I've always admired in the SPL is Tom Rogic, the Australian midfielder, who has, it seems, periods of favour and then disfavour. His contract expires in 2023, I read, and, though, he's been back in form, he might be available for a club that can afford him. 

Been confirmed by Celtic this morning that Tom Rogic (and Nir Bitton) will leave the club at the end of this season when their contracts expire. Reading between the lines, it would appear that both players have orchestrated this in order to get regular first team football.

20 hours ago, riverholmes said:

I haven't followed the SPL but was surprised to see that the league top scorer is a Ross County player, Regan Charles-Cook, with 13 goals. Presumably the Old Firm have used a lot of players (including the January signings) and the goals have been shared around? 

Celtic generally play 4-3-3 and up front use a main striker with two wide men/wingers. Kyogo, signed from the J-League in Japan, hit the ground running, scoring 16 or so prior to getting injured in January. His ‘replacement’ Giakoumakis is more than useful and has scored around 16 himself. Kyogo is now on 18, I think. So yes, Celtic have shared the goals around. A bit of a problem because both men warrant a place in the starting eleven but the way they play only allows one. Tony M would have no doubt played one of them out wide.

Always love it when a perceived ‘big’ club goes down, so I wouldn’t object to it being Leeds. Obviously want the Dingles to drop. Never expected Everton to get relegated, too much about them. 

It’s between Leeds and the Clarettes but too close to call.
 

10 hours ago, goozburger said:

Ainsworth said he's "flattered" to be linked, so why not? He'd have best part of a Brereton sale to play with…

At my last place of work, a phrase used almost daly was, ‘assumption is the mother of all fuck ups.’ 😆 If Brereton were to be sold for £15m, I reckon we’d be lucky to see £3-5m of it.

8 hours ago, WacoRover said:

If Dyche is out of our reach, & Farke says no, Ainsworth sounds like a man with whom the club needs to have a conversation. 

I’d certainly go along with that.

On 07/05/2022 at 18:15, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Congrats on the Wigan win today, sounds like it was close at the end.  I’ll be watching it later on catch up. I was watching my lot, they won 44-24.

Thanks. Yes, it was close. Saints are the benchmark at the moment, so a win against them has to go down as a good win. Especially when it gets you to a cup final. 

Has he cleared his desk yet?

6 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We haven’t even mentioned the 7-2 banging we gave them.

No, I wish I had been born a few years earlier so I could have witnessed that. Got to be in the top five Rovers games since the war.

On the theme of Spurs, I’ve never been to their new stadium but will now be paying a visit for the Challenge Cup Final at the end of the month. As much as I dislike them, I’ve got to say it’s a mighty fine stadium.

I was also at White Hart Lane for the 4-0 demolition job. I loved that Rovers side and watching Duffer was worth the admission money alone. It could quite easily have been seven or eight nil.

4 hours ago, USABlue said:

Same age as me then Clayton.

Like a vintage wine, USA or, in my case, like a well past it stout. 😆

38 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

 Many very wealthy people have had meetings with various board members at Ewood, put together professional presentations offering help, assistance to the owners of this club. Many of which are supported by some very influential people both nationally and globally, some of which have met the Rao's but its all fallen on death ears and they have zero interest in engaging.

Their culture and class status, includes BRFC Employee's needing to bow in their presence, who can only speak when invited to do so.

Throughout their near twelve year tenure, the final six words of your first paragraph have been the common denominator. ‘They have zero interest in engaging.’

42 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

I 100% agree, and until that changes, they will never move forwards.

They only employ incompetent back room staff, board members, CEO etc. because they know nothing about football. Bearing in mind they refuse and, have refused, to engage with professional Rovers fans with the necessary business acumen who genuinely want to help, the situation will never improve.

I know folk are currently working away in the background in an attempt to change things and all credit to them. From what Glen has outlined above this has happened previously and I would be genuinely surprised if the status quo changed for the better.

Almost twelve years on and we are no further forward than we’ve ever been. Still at square one. How much longer are we supposed, or expected, to endure this living hell. In another twelve years, I’ll be 76 for God’s sake. That’s if I’m still here.

The sad thing about the situation is that only a very small percentage of Rovers fans will actually know what has gone on since Venky’s rolled into town. How and why Steve Kean was promoted beyond his capabilities, Jerome Anderson and Kentaro, the work Glen and others have previously done, the fans’ delegation to the football authorities, the threats and all the rest of it.

Such a shame that only a few made an effort to demonstrate and take action back in the day. It’s too late now. It’s passed. Fans are indifferent. Unless we fluke a promotion, the supporter base will continue to dwindle and, more likely, our fortunes on the pitch will flounder and we will be relegated.

For me, this is the only way out. Relegation, relegation again, administration. Rid ourselves of Venky’s that way and, like Bury, Bolton, Wigan and others, wait for a suitable buyer and start again.
 

Had an early night last night, so went to bed with three minutes left. Been telling my grandson (his uncle keeps buying him Liverpool kits, I keep buying him Rovers ones) that Liverpool are playing Man City in the final. I only found out the score an hour ago. 😆

Still, I can’t stand City and it’s more of a European final feel when one of the clubs, at least, comes from the continent. Hope Liverpool win.

5 hours ago, oldjamfan1 said:

That was my first ever visit to Celtic Park Mark!

Good stuff Andy. Which part of the ground were you in?

I generally used to stand on the Celtic End. I arrived there about half an hour before kick off and have never seen so many people outside a ground waiting to get in. There must have been around eight turnstile on the Celtic End/Main Stand corner and, no doubt others elsewhere. I didn’t think I would get in but 15 mins later I was stood on the terraces near the floodlight pylon and that’s where I stayed!