philipl

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.

Players gave Val a really special early 50th birthday present yesterday.

Catastrophically bad defeat. Charlton weren't good but we were terrible. Rovers were a bunch of cast offs playing like cast offs today. Management of the team looked just as woeful.

Dawn Dunn- a relative of David?

So the red card stands. What about the yellow cards for our players?

Usually when one side escalates like Rovers have done, they have an end goal and amicable resolution in mind. Something about this tells me the club doesn't have such a position planned and has opted for a brittle uncompromising stance. The tone of the statement gives the club no out and more importantly puts the LT in a position of having to fight it it is to retain editorial integrity and readership credibility In which case something breaks... The demand that away clubs deny the LT reporting rights also looks desperate and ineffectual. I hope Charlton tell Rovers this is not their fight and honour Elliot Jackson's press credentials.

And most fans thought the LT were treating the club exceptionally gently.

As things stand, the Premier League looks to be a lot more even this season outside Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, City and perhaps Spurs which seems to be producing less attractive football than in previous seasons. My gut feel is clubs are taking more of a safety first approach making games a lot more sterile. The Championship on the other hand seems wildly unpredictable so far.

Don't be daft. The pitch was utterly unplayable. The ball stopping and not bouncing was a recipe for serious injury to players on both sides whether from stretching for an unexpected deviation in ball trajectory or players being unable to stop in an attempted tackle or intervention and accidentally wiping out an opponent.

If we lose this, it would need Southampton and Derby to pick up unlikely looking points with Oxford and Watford having winnable home games and we would be in the bottom 3 on Saturday evening... I can remember a dire 3-0 defeat at the Valley when Rovers produced one of the worst performances I have ever seen when a win would have kept us in with a sniff of promotion some 40 years ago. In a cheery mood this morning!

Pears and two other subs?

Rovers letting in 3 after the 90th minute in our last two home games before Ipswich rather undermines our case to be given the points.