Andy

I think most people would agree. And it shows that, as much stick as we get for being overly critical of players, we just give an honest opinion on what we see. Hedges has been mostly shite since joining us, with the odd good game = generally criticised. This season, he's been really good = generally praised.

I thought Baraji showed some nice touches, though clearly rusty with a couple of lazy passes - it'll take a few matches for him to get up to speed. Absolutely cowardly challenge by the scrote in their midfield. Would not be adverse to someone going right through him in the return game at Ewood (ideally when we're 4-0 up in the final minutes). You could see why the pundits were saying that they're in a false position, to be fair. But don't take anything away from how good we were, with a patched together side, including 2 debuts and a couple of Academy kids.

Believe it puts us 6 points from the play offs, with a game in hand. Somehow.

That's a good win. Very pleased for/with Pratt. Unlucky Preston, on your big day out.

He has - and has contributed at both ends of the pitch. Done well so far, this season. Need fresh legs now, Monty and Shita both looking tired.

I'm only watching on telly tonight, due to work commitments. But the Rovers fans have been immense - all you can hear, all match. Also, Andri is fucking ace.

Thought we'd ridden our luck in a small portion of the game, but then got ourselves deservedly in front - fantastic header. But then that equaliser is criminal. I think Pratt has looked good and a more accomplished defender than Miller, to be honest. The latter's distribution has been really off tonight - passing directly to a Preston player on at least 3 occasions. If you ignore a few dodgy kicks, Pears hasn't been a liability. Morishita is lightweight, but 2 or 3 blatent fouls haven't been given against him in that half. Need more presence up front. Plenty of running, but the ball needs to stick more.

He'd been quite heavily strapped up for a number of games prior to the injury - if anything, I suspect that we were expecting him to play through knocks (and it backfired). If he was after a move, I'm not sure being sat on his arse would be his best method. Especially when you consider that he's been - by some distance - our best player this season so far.

Actually fancy this more at Deepdale than I would at Ewood. Our best performances this season have come on the road and them coming onto us would play very nicely into that gameplan. The caveat being injuries, Toth most significantly.

Well, typical display. Picked up a bit of a harsh yellow, but he should be pleased with his performance.

I have no doubts that he'll go on to be a very good coach, at a higher level than we currently play at. But he's still very much in his learning / development stage. If he's geniunely got anything about him, he will have taken lots of learning from spells with both us and Sweden.

I've captained winning sides at CB in 2 x 'in the Community' games at Ewood in recent years. I think on that basis alone, I had more of a shout of playing in that game than Gordon Greer ever did.

Yeah, this is correct. Other EFL club loans can only be amended during transfer windows. Those restrictions don't apply to non-league clubs. So I'd fully expect to see CO'R back in January.

As per my point, it works / worked and is effective. But it can't be disputed that their style is 'hoof and run' - that is exactly what they did today. And, yet again for clarity, it worked a treat against us.

Also from the Blackburn End, when he was warming up - even got a couple of songs (and reciprocated with some applause a couple of times).

Agreed - I hadn't seen the itinerary, so wasn't sure on timescales. The initial announcement at FT sounded like it would all start in 20 minutes. No problem, nipped to the bog, got the kid some more chips, back to our seats. Players out in suits for a bit then an announcement that the game will start in around another 30 mins. Nah, you're alright.

True, but in the context of Pears, he has several major ricks in him each season. Like, game-defining ricks.

I had intended to, but the gap between our match finishing and this starting was about an hour - and I just couldn't be arsed. Saw on social media that we were 2-0 up at HT (Bentley and Derbyshire, I think).

True. Distribution was ok, positioning wasn't horrible. If we can continue to protect him like that for most of the games he needs to play, we might be able to get by.

I'm probably his biggest critic on here, but he was fine today. If he can continue to be 'fine' until Toth is back, it won't be a disaster.

Not very well worded, but it was more a criticism of his interview style. It's typical manager-speak, but he is particularly bad for it - as was at Ewood. He did a good job for us and I quite like him, but his interviews are like fingernails on a chalkboard.

I mean, I know it worked out for them in terms of the result, but Derby were probably the worst footballing side I've seen this season. Their tactics seemed to be 'hoof it as long and high as possible, then chase the ball'. But then, I suppose, it is Eustace, so I shouldn't be surprised.

Couldn't agree more - thought the exact same when I read his comments pre-game. 'Yeah, y'know, I was at a tremendous club and now I'm at a tremendous club and, y'know, I've enjoyed my time at all of my previous clubs, but y'know, we're all just here on Saturday to do the best for our clubs and, y'know, there's no need to talk about who used to play for who. Y'know.' I've never known anyone speak so much without actually saying anything.

My concern is how opposition teams were very blatantly targeting him as our weak spot, prior to him finally being dropped. Think of Derby away last season, for example. The hope is that other teams have forgotten how poor he actually is. Though with Eustace coming up on Saturday, there is an air of inevitability.

He definitely existed - I can't remember the specifics now, but I tracked him down and exchanged a few emails with him at the time. But I would suggest that he fell within the 'fantasist' bracket more than anything.