A big deal? In-game commenting needs to be taken with a pinch of salt at any time but I don’t recall anything OTT. If you seriously think pre-season match results are important then I would be a little concerned.

Pre-season games are not about the results. Unless you get hammered every game against lower league opposition!

He looked a handful. Hope he doesn’t get Mowbrayed.

Good idea to let the stadium rot to keep up the act then.

Good finish by Chapman.

So you think all Rovers fans live in Ewood? I’m alright Jack eh?

Seems to have bulked up a lot. Probably so he can carry all that hair.

He was walking away from the ball before another player told him to take it. A striker who isn’t demanding the ball for a free shot on goal is not a striker.

You could tell Brezza didn’t want to take that penalty. He needs to go out on loan.

Set piece strikes again

More than half of it (8 of 17 wards) has been put under stricter measures from tomorrow. No idea if it will prevent attending a socially distanced Ewood - although you can still visit a restaurant. The rules as they are currently being applied are both arbitrary and contradictory. Two sides of the same street in some areas will simultaneously have stricter and more relaxed measures respectively. Absolutely bonkers.

It doesn’t matter what any of us thinks Waggott will blame Covid, lockdown and furlough. But, once again, a club in need who has a good relationship with fans could easily find volunteers to help rally round to sort stuff like this. But if a chief exec is on a six figure salary and we have billionaire owners who could easily fix this, if they cared, it leaves a sour taste. Maybe some of these photos should be tweeted over to India to highlight what a decade of Venkys ownership looks like.

Cheers Joe.

Keepers train separately anyway. I don’t see that as necessarily a problem. He could dial into any sessions where defenders and keeper work on tactics. (Although based on last season I’m not sure we have any!) I’ve never heard of the guy so I’m hoping @JoeH will come up with some encouraging stats and comparisons to previous keepers.

We take him on a free and expect SW to pay a percentage of his wages? On loan, fair enough but on a permanent move? Have to laugh at “value for money signing”. I hope they include “not getting relegated” and “the opportunity of promotion” in that equation. With this lot we could be perennially having these same discussions season after season with Venkys “paying the bills”. We had better hope that we don’t get relegated any time soon because the new salary cap could be the nail in our coffin.

You were busy last night! Let’s make this really simple: Venkys paying the bills isn’t enough.

And yet we are nearly £200m in debt. It would be possible to let go of the anger, distrust and fear if they were no longer here. As it is, we are wedded to our kidnappers and not all of us have Stockholm Syndrome. I could actually think of a worse hyperbolic metaphor but in the interests of taste and decency I’ll refrain. Until they go you are pissing up the wrong tree with these kinds of posts.

This is the kind of chutzpah that can come back and bite. Let’s see if this actually goes anywhere before throwing emojis around. Our approach to SW could well be a question of how much Westwood is likely to cost. Then a value negotiated and then Rovers will have to put this in front of Venkys for sign-off as part of the entire budget requirements. Of course, you could be right that they have already signed this off but the tickets and shirts should also be moving along too, and it also contradicts the info that Kamy has. Someone with a very good reputation on here. I actually hope your intel is good on this one because Westwood is exactly what we need at this time.

They did say it was a Hummel classic - but that’s a great spot!

People know exactly what they are buying and have a choice not to buy one. Fans are choosing to support the club (financially and emotionally). You can bet your neck the reason Rovers haven’t done the same is because they aren’t allowed to until Venkys have signed-off the numbers. Something they might get around to at some point this year. As for the weeds. Have some pride! There is no reason that they cannot keep those cleaned. I sincerely hope that the commemorative fan-paid bricks aren’t part of that disgusting scene. Bring in League One management... get League One standards.

That’s disgraceful. Waggott should be ashamed and embarrassed.

It’s always the way. Season after season the fan concept kits outdo the real thing. They possibly make the disappointment even more acute. The club should be getting these fans to submit their designs and then work with a smaller company to produce them. Instead we devolve the decision making to some Umbro or Nike corporate suits who have read a few books and think that having red and black two seasons in a row is “commercial suicide”. These people don’t know their audience. Basically, it’s that season’s shirt replica, ‘fans would buy it if looked like a Tesco carrier bag’. Sadly those in charge at the club seem to think the same way.

This is the recruitment equivalent of a grassroots manager asking players to “bring a mate to training next week”!! Maybe the full title is European Scouting Players Network...

Good summary. I just wish they would get it over with so we know where we stand. I remember when Keegan sold Andy Cole to United in 1995. Newcastle fans were so incensed they confronted him at St James. He told them to trust his judgement and they did. He repaid their faith by finishing second, just 4 points behind United. Could Cole have made the difference in the title race? Possibly. But the previous season they finished 6th, 17 points behind CHAMPIONS BLACKBURN ROVERS so possibly not. Oh for a manager with such decisiveness and ruthlessness, and then with the passion and drive, and charisma, to take the club forward. Yes, the pressure told but at least he got them there. Of course, it’s different strokes and he could replace players but when you consider our current situation, apparent dithering, punctuated with comments warning fans and players alike about how tough the League Cup first round game against Doncaster is going to be! Crimes! Maybe Downing will stay, maybe not. It’s probably in Downing’s hands. A contract offer with a validity for acceptance until deadline day (just in case he can’t find a better offer) would be my guess. So much change is required this Summer, the lack of any first team goalkeepers is a mere cameo reflecting, and yet deflecting from, our real problems - owners, “CEO”, manager, coaching staff, even the figurehead on the field, the captain, is the wrong choice. Continuity over progress the strap line. Papering over the very obvious regression that we are watching in real time. All the hallmarks are of very real existential problems behind the scenes. And yet somehow we will just plod on. Promotion not an aim, relegation not a concern, mid-table mediocrity the main aspiration for even the most optimistic fans. What is going to change?