arbitro

You've just reminded me that as we were exiting the ground after the official announcement against Ipswich the Travis song, Why Does It Always Rain On Me was played over the PA system.

Why are the floodlights on three hours before the game starts? 🤔

Official club coaches are leaving at 9 am. https://www.stokecityfc.com/news/2025/september/12/ticket-information-blackburn-rovers/

It doesn't appear that Rovers have a planned inspection. Surely, given the weather and forecast there should be an announcement about a designated inspection detailing what time this will be and to watch Rovers social media channels for further updates. I have already seen today many posts from non league teams outlining their plans. It's a common courtesy really.

I would like to think that Rovers have a plan in place for an early pitch I inspection and have been liaising with the match referee. Given the early kick off the referee should be staying locally and for a 12.30 kick off would normally arrive around 10 am. He will do a preliminary inspection, look at an up to date forecast and speak to the ground staff. With Stoke supporters leaving between 10-11 am I would hope this is factored in along with the other criteria. I would say it really is touch and go right now but the referee needs to be decisive.

I sincerely hope your endeavours are rewarded with a win. Looking at the Met Office forecast right now I don't think there will be a problem with the game going ahead.

On the face of it I don't think this is the worst idea they have come up with. However the timing is ridiculously naive and has panic written all over it. The big question from me is why this wasn't available during the summer. With four losses at home so far it's going to be another embarrassment for our club when the take up is negligible.

I first saw him at 17 and he had the 'wow' factor. He was one move ahead of the other players and more often than not knew where his next pass was going before he got the ball. His head swivels constantly. I'm proud of his Rovers connection but disgusted at the way he was sacrificed because of the owners misdemenours. And add the insulting remarks by Pasha which compounded another sorry tale in the history of the last decade and a half.

Personally I just don't think a match against what is effectively a parks team has any appeal whatsoever. It smacks of laziness but overriding that would be the cost of bringing a proper team to play at Ewood.

Don't shoot the messenger here but I have been told that plans are being drawn up to play Old Etonians in a celebratory match to mark our 150 year anniversary. Rovers will be represented by a veterans team. The plans are to play the match at Ewood after the Derby County match which is a 12.30 kick off. Old Etonians play in the Arthurian League, something probably akin to the West Lancs League. https://www.arthurianleague.co.uk/etonians.html

If there was anything about Ismael he would be using the decisions that have gone against us this season into a siege mentality making us horrible to play against by taking a leaf out of Nathan Jones' book. Push the boundaries with the match officials and the laws. However I don't think he nous or football intelligence to do this.

Iley and Ince.

Ismael being sacked is a fanciful notion but it isn't going to happen. He is one of the Holy Trinity and just about wedded to the other two as you can be.

Another hugely disappointing result at 'Fortress Ewood' for the hardy souls that turned up. I really think that had we gone in 1-0 up at half-time we would have gone on to win it. Their equaliser, which was a terrific strike, should have been stopped at source. Franco had the freedom of the penalty area to score. That clearly gave them a lift and rocked our fragile confidence. In terms of actual play I thought we lacked any real tempo in our first half play but scoring the first goal is usually important in the Championship but we are doing our best to ruin that statistic. In the second half we played with a bit more zest without really creating anything. The winning goal was embarrassing from our point of view. Our right winger is on the left hand side, gets into a mix up with our centre half and Swansea counter with pace. What annoyed me was that Kargbo didn't make any attempt to track back and utilise his one asset, his pace. Unforgivable. We were denied an absolutely clear penalty and had a couple of half chances but trudging off Ewood after another defeat is a feeling I'm getting used to. In terms of our play we were a lot better than we were on Saturday (a low bar though) but our propensity to give away cheap goals bit he on the backside again. The game reminded me so much of the Birmingham match and if Ismael doesn't address this soon we will be in a real scrap, something that too many of our players don't seem to have the stomach for.

If you think it's acceptable then good for you.

It's always a good feeling to beat that lot and today was no exception. We started quite slowly and could have conceded in the first minute as Eze sloppily let a high ball bounce and just about recovered to get a challenge in with the help of some assistance from the keeper. However once we got a foothold in the game we were dominant and could easily have won by more although Burnley did miss a couple or dolly's. It was good to see Harvey Higgins looking fit and healthy. He showed some neat touches when he came on and was only denied a scoring return by a good save from the Burnley keeper who was outstanding. It was good to see our youngsters seemed to have an understanding of our disdain for that lot - no doubt aided and abetted by the locally born lads.

Whilst disrupting the preparation for a bit game by dismantling a process that has been used for years, not just by Rovers. There was also inconvenience to the Brockhall staff who had to stay behind to accommodate Ismaels vanity. Next week is an international break - surely be would have been better off celebrating then when there are no games to prepare for. If you think it is acceptable that is your right - I can tell you that a fair number of staff thought it was selfish.

You are missing the point.

I have been told that the first team didn't train until 15.30 yesterday which is almost unheard of particularly the day before a game. The reason I am told is because Ismael flew to France immediately after the game at Charlton and didn't return until yesterday afternoon. This was to celebrate his 50th birthday. If it is true I find it extremely surprising that he is allowed to change the routine so markedly so he can have a birthday bash.

In the space of six days we have yielded two goal advantages on three occasions. At any level of football that puts a big question mark against the quality of defending. I noticed Matty Litherland was missing last night again and he wasn't in either team last week when we had back to back games. Given that we are throwing away leads like confetti I can only think his absence is down to injury (although there hasn't been any mention of this anywhere).

Our heavy defeat wasn't the worst of the weekend.

https://eflanalysis.com/news/50m-case-cited-as-efl-urged-to-u-turn-amid-potential-legal-battle-after-blackburn-vs-ipswich-town-decision/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZnRzaANGIqdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtj5hOFRuPKVFq2tdtnyHSRo6oCo24T3bzxox6OJ8aU2rm-r6-U1n39_S8Io_aem_LrqTISBwlltqJp1j82L9Yg#Echobox=1758906714 Seemingly Burnley have got an on going case for compensation when Everton stayed in the Premier League at Burnley's expense despite financial irregularities.

I was told his debut was delayed as he had a holiday booked in Ibiza and he just never showed up again. The last they saw of him was when he was pictured signing on (along with two pints of lager on the table with the signing on forms).

This should evoke some pleasant memories for a few of us.

2026?