Another good result, in a hugely enjoyable U23 season. Only trouble is other clubs sit up and take notice. “Blackburn Rovers wonderkid” Callum Wright will probably end up out on loan from Leicester to a League One club. Football is broken. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5337529/Leicester-sign-Blackburn-Rovers-wonderkid-Callum-Wright.html “...when Premier League clubs came calling, both he and his family were keen to move on” Yeah, I bet they were. ???

That’s like saying bigger sides get more penalties because they spend more time in the opposition 18 yard box. It’s kind of intuitive. VAR should be all about getting to the facts and giving a correct decision. Nothing wrong with that in principle. Issues seem to be the length of time it takes and the potential to undermine the referee. There was an interesting cricket VAR call recently where a wicket keeper made a catch with the webbing of his glove on the ground when the ball hit the floor. The umpire gave a ‘soft out’ decision. It was then down to VAR to try to prove the opposite. On a close call where the angle can’t give a 100% decision, the referee’s decision stands. The issue then is how long it takes to review and deliberate. Would this be added on as injury time? Personally I’m only a fan of VAR to clear things up in the event that a ball has crossed the line or not. Once play has stopped it would be then that any concerns (e.g. over the line or offside) should be addressed.

I think that might be one of the funniest memes I’ve ever seen. Brilliant.

First prize goes to who ever created a song for Bell that ISN’T to the tune of That’s Amore!

VAR has been at the centre of the talking points in the Chelsea - Norwich match for all the wrong reasons. Deliberate? However, as a neutral, few things in football are worse that the favourite winning on penalties.

And whose fault is that!

Depends how old you are. When I was growing up there was nothing worse than a ‘technical offside’. A player could be stood by the corner flag, injured or scratching his backside but with play going on around him as soon as a team mate was played through, it was offside. It was then that ‘not interfering with play’ was born (much to Brian Clough’s annoyance) and the slippery slope. The perfect game of football would only have stoppages for goals and to change ends. Anything else is a failure and a requirement to restart play from somewhere. Only checking for offences after a goal is scored, and where there is some genuine doubt, would be the better option. Pandora has been out of herself box since about 1992 and since then everyone has been trying to avoid eye contact.

More chance of seeing a goal? Less chance of fakery? Less stoppages could be a good thing. Especially if they are incorrect. More honest players might mean more accurate referees. Allow play to continue and only stop play after the goal to review VAR if the referee feels he is not sure. The ‘phase of play’ rule that was brought in for offsides might need to be gotten used to. In other words a goal must be scored within a reasonable (and pretty damned short) time frame from the flag going up for it to be considered.

Don’t remember seeing Armstrong on the pitch at half time. Maybe he was on a bike. He was certainly on his bike for the first chase he had!

He looked quicker than Chapman. Got to be concerned about his hammies though!

They’ve moved it again! Date change this time. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/january/youth-cup-watford/ Weds 17th Jan (can’t go now) Maybe they’ll get around to changing the academy fixture page at some point. ?

It surely must only be used after a goal has been scored. It is there to assist the referee not do his job for him. Atmosphere killer it may be but the ref should have a concern if he is going to check. The problems will come if the referee and assistants start to defer to the VAR to avoid criticism.

Sorry don’t speak German so ich habe nicht verstanden.

I thought that was an odd day/time too. I had it down as Brockhall though. Just double-checked. It’s Ewood but that has been changed earlier this evening. They could have done to have moved the U23s to Ewood tonight. They’ve not played for a month! Very poor of the LFA. Should have been called off this morning not at half three.

I’d prefer to be given a correct decision after being right than get a lucky one after being wrong. It may even level the playing field with the top clubs no longer getting the rub of the ref.

U23s cancelled again tonight, in case anyone was going.

Stop being so offal.

Just in case it wasn’t clear, I’m not Stuart Grimshaw. Not sure if he posts on here. However, the parallels are amazing. (I also run a team at U15s age group). It just goes to show that it’s a similar theme for many. I only started at U10s (quite late really but my lad didn’t show much interest until then) and my philosophy has always been about creating a team ethic. If you aren’t already known to academies by 9 yo then your chances become very slim. By 15, it’s much more about helping to develop life skills. To be fair, despite struggling for a number of years, I do have a lot of players who keep coming back so I’m doing something right. I’d highly recommend anyone getting involved - providing the have the commitment, patience and very thick skin!

#mylife

He was being assaulted for most of the game. Wouldn’t be surprised if he picked up a knock. One was a dirty off the ball knee to the thigh so possible dead leg. Fox was sent off for Wednesday but Bennett should have been off earlier for Wolves. Refereeing standards are getting worse and worse. TV intervention is becoming harder to argue against and the refereeing associations are playing into their hands.

Sadly thanks to NHS cutbacks most future Blackburners will be Burnley born.

Bit of a concern that we need to score three to win but that may well be down to injuries. Pretty happy with the first 13 but we have a lack of strength in depth if we get a few injuries. January’s business, or lack of, will tell a story about whether this club has turned a corner or not. Still. 3 points and third ain’t bad at all. Need to still be one of the pace setters after the Christmas period.

Flipping Shrewsbury have just equalised.

Haha! Brilliant!!

Who is Charlie Albinson? And what happened to Andrew Fisher?