philipl

Not a legendary player in the Souness mold but looking at his Wiki entry, not too shabby either- A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Lens, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Hannover 96. As a player, he won the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue twice, the Bundesliga twice, as well as the DFB-Pokal on two occasions.

Who leaves? I fear Tyjon. One of the left backs? Any one we receive an offer for whose contract is up next Summer. Tronstad or Cantwell? Last summer left us all bemused so no great clamour for new signings especially as has been mentioned we have returnees and an unseen newbie. Pickering has played right back in the past so might be viewed as cover for RA.

Disagree that the League is very poor this year. Far more clubs are competitive this time around including unfashionable ones which probably colours perception seeing Millwall Preston Charlton and Hull where they are with Boro and Coventry topping the pile. This season's Coventry are probably the most entertaining outfit the Championship has seen since the days of Fulham. What has happened are clubs which self-destruct are being ruthlessly punished whereas there was hiding space in previous seasons. Not entirely surprising Southampton are where they are given they almost got under Derby's record low points haul last season. Last season's Championship relegated sides are hardly setting League 1 alight this time around and the promoted sides recruited well for once.

Don't know what effect he has on professional athletes but I find his interviews very listenable and relatable.

A comfortable win yesterday.

After watching highlights of our win I cast an eye over the Bristol City defeat at Stoke. Bristol certainly like to strike the ball hard from outside the box which was dumb against a keeper of Johansson quality. Their consolation was a nearly undefendable near post back flicked corner. One Stoke goal was a keeper howler but generally Bristol City defended like statues. Pace and pressure up front needed from us on Tuesday to get in amongst those Ashton Gate defenders.

Bristol City got spanked 5-1 at Stoke today. So we are likely to face a reaction. Don't give away free kicks in Scott Twine territory...

Not seen it but sounds rather comfortable. Shots and XG back up that impression.

Coventry are unbeaten this term and we bested them for 45 minutes eventually losing to two volleys which would beat any club in this division. Leicester have a midfield and front line I doubt we can keep out for 90+minutes but their midfield and defence give gifts if pressured. Go for a draw, we will lose, go there with a win as the objective and play like we did at Coventry in the first half, we might come away with a point or three.

I was actually thinking of the first half at Coventry.

Very little special about the current Leicester side. The questions are all about Rovers and VI motivating us. I have seen enough to know we can win this relatively comfortably and that we could easily get hammered. Almost certainly we will need Toth to be on the top of his game. A bad start and the Southampton feel good factor will totally evaporate.

If the 3 2 2 1 2 formation is VI preference, then he has rather been crippled by injuries. To work well it needs a speedy central defender which is Hayden Carter when available. Plus real strength in the midfield 2 where Moussa who was signed for the role and Forshaw and Garrett are long term absences giving Montgomery his chance to stake a claim. Even Cantwell suddenly got cropped when we switched to this formation. It also means we have two established usually quality left backs behind Hedges and De Neve for the left wing back spot and Aleboyosu reining alone and unchallenged at right wing back.

I saw a table which shows us top of xg. Just goes to confirm nobody has the faintest clue about xg...

The one thing I would say is a certainty is that we won't get a points deduction this season. I am not on the VI out bandwagon (yet and hopefully don't have cause to) because we would appoint total dross to replace him.

This is crunch time for VI. He has sent Rovers teams out which played that first half against Norwich and whole games against Charlton and Swansea. Do that and we lose and he completely loses the Rovers fanbase. But he also sent the Rovers team out for that first half at Coventry. Do that and the Sheffield United board has kindly crippled their defense this summer... We are also a bit lucky with the Sheffield United injuries this week. So an absolutely pivotal match. For once my head says a Rovers win but gut is we will cock it up, possibly with a really stupid red card thrown in. Probably the direst of dire 0-0s.

Yesterday we collected a point relegation sides don't get. We have played WBA, Brum, Ipswich and Stoke of the favoured sides and frankly been unlucky not to have got more points against them. But relegation sides don't get the luck especially against good sides. We have been dire in one half against Norwich and two halves against Charlton and suffered a worldie and suicide against Swansea. The real relegation test will be gaining or dropping points against the two Sheffields and Oxford. Performances against Hull and Watford suggest we will be ok but do a Charlton and we will be deservedly in the poo. I can see us playing brilliantly against Coventry, terribly against Sheffield United and losing both...

Not seen it except the 2 minutes highlights which suggest Toth made decent saves and directed the ball away from trouble. He would have saved the goal looking at how he had come out to block except for the looped deflection. Robbins seems to think Stoke were at serious risk of losing that game. They would have been nicely tucked in behind the top 3 had they held on. I was very impressed by Gudjonsson at Watford. Thought he was going to be on a level with Cantwell on that performance. Good to read Miller, de Neve and Kargbo played well while on the pitch. Kargbo could easily have fluffed his goal and kept his cool giving the Stoke defence and keeper no chance with his placement. Given the overwhelmingly negative sentiment on here and lack of mention of his name, I take it McLoughin must have been pretty decent... Pitch looked great despite having been submerged by the River Darwen and suffered a biblical storm in the previous 24 hours.

15 points deduction for Wednesday now expected. Effectively means we have two relegation places to avoid with Sheffield United having ownership and a summer transfer window which makes ours look benign and Oxford in danger of second seasonitis. Ismael Gestede and Pasha will have to work on it to get us relegated. Not a gimme by any means.

We could be 10 points clear at the top and we would still lose at home to Stoke.

Is an upgrade on Brittain.

Kargbo abysmal. Thanks to big club 100th minute equaliser we are outside the bottom 3 on goal difference over a club that doesn't pay its players. From the Rovers TV angle, both the 87th and 88th minute incidents were clear penalties we weren't given.

Expose? Which one???? They could run one a day for at least a week. Andy Cryer sent a welcome message of solidarity. Now there is a gentleman who went through a lot when covering the Rovers. I will repeat myself, the club statements offer no room for compromise. A very dangerous game for the club to be playing. Gestede may not know the extent of the skeletons littering Ewood since the start of 2010. Find it difficult to believe Pasha doesn't know at least 80% in which case this ban is both reckless and desperate.

Yes but if the River Darwen is running high after a Friday deluge, the drainage would still be waterlogged the day after....

Need to get points on the board. The Stoke game could be at risk of a water logged pitch.

Swansea have some very dangerous forwards. We will get a real hammering if we play like we did at the Valley.