That’s what it’s all about. I can remember the late 80s quite vividly but not much before. If others have the same memory if you’re a 20 year old rovers fan your only memories of rovers are the club as a total bloody shambles. They know nothing else. That’s scary. This fixture really does give the younger fans a great opportunity to see something other than abject drudgery.

Well in that we’re not pulling in massive crowds and can’t compete at the top table. In terms of history few of any better

It’s obviously a game we really want to win as do their fans but I can’t say I’ve ever heard any negativity towards them as a club. Their striker got away with a few the other week but it happens. They go in as big favourites, totally battered us at their place, but a rovers win definitely isn’t out of the question. In the grand scheme of things they’re a fairly nothing club a lot like ourselves. They’ve got a larger support as a city club but we have the history and presumably significantly more trophies. For what it’s worth I like their chip butty song.

I agree semis shouldn’t be at Wembley. Think it would be class for the younger fans to see us there and all of us at the new Wembley but seeing rovers in a major final would be amazing if a little far fetched. In 1987 the old man left a family holiday abroad as he decided we’d never see rovers at Wembley again. If we win I’ll have a similar predicament in April and I’m realising how ballsy it was to vanish knowing he’d piss my mum off (which he did) just to watch rovers at Wembley. He missed out in 1960, not least of all to a few members of the family who’d never seen rovers before or since, and decided it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. The irony is we watched rovers at Wembley 5 times over the next 10 years, a point not lost on my mum 35 years later. 😂

No doubt the man who claims he doesn’t blame officials will be all over not blaming the officials again. 😂

As far as I’m concerned this is the biggest game in donkeys years with the Wembley factor. We just seem to always bottle the big occasions. We definitely go in as underdogs but it’s also a game we can win. After a thoroughly miserable 13 years of venky rule, even the promotion from division 3 left me feeling more relieved and embarrassed about being there, so in the absence of any play off games or derby day wins, just one slither of a nice day out will be just the ticket.

I think what he said there is fair enough to be honest. At half time I also thought on the pattern of play they’d go on to win. They are a very good championship side and I’m sure will go up automatically. For us to win they had to be slightly off form and we had to be on near top form. One Mowbray-esque inconsistency in his interview was he banged on about possession, shots even that xg nonsense then said “I don’t go into the stats.” Fucking hell pal you’ve just spent 3 mins banging on about irrelevant stats. Then “Blackburn were going down to create attention to the referee.” No you bog Yorkshire fucker fouls are fouls.

After the drudgery of the last 13 years, with a load of fans the age of teenagers having never seeing anything decent happen to the club. Surely no rovers fan would ever say there’re not bothered about an fa cup semi final at Wembley. Even if the worst happens and we collapse down to mid table if we get a day out in the capital for the semis of the fa cup it’s been a better season than any under the Venkys reign of terror. The priority is defo getting into the prem not least of all to chip away at that £250 million debt but I’d question the credentials of any fan not being bothered.

Midweek games amuse me. If rovers win I get greeted and asked how they got on. If they lose already in bed. 🤷‍♂️.

FullSizeRender.MOV Started with 44,000. Absolutely pouring towards the exits with 20 mins to go. The poor sods won’t even know it’s just an annual death spiral.

I beg to differ. A few months ago we were obsessed by pointless possession almost exclusively around the back 4 with suicidal passing to boot. We still have that in our locker to be fair but recently we’ve still been passing but happy to go more direct and most critically passing forward. Off the ball there was zero pressure on the opposition players recently you might say there’s something resembling pressing high that he eluded to when he took over. Also we were very ponderous and slow off the ball and on it and recently we’ve been noticeably quicker and sharper.

Considering the thrashing received at their place where didn’t muster a shot on goal and rarely got out of our half that was a huge psychological boost for the fa cup tie.

The latter never learnt at all and that was the problem.

Does anyone who watches Salford or sale know what the parking is like at the a j bell stadium? With it sandwiched in between some sort of air strip and the Trafford centre it looks slim pickins indeed. Trying a bit more forward planning after rocking up to Leicester and nearly missing ko after finding resident parking schemes, being thwarted by railways and rivers ending up walking/jogging a good 30 mins.

Absolutely. Plus are we even sufficiently tin pot to be wowed by a trip to Manchester yet. Maybe but not for me. As you said the 4th best scenario for an opportunity to play at Wembley. I’m at any game to hopefully watch rovers win (as unlikely as it may be sometimes) so in a cup progression context at the business end it’s as shit as possible at home please. Perhaps there’s rovers fans out there who would be going in humming glory glory man United or citeh citeh best team in the land and all the world but I’d rather have the best chance possible to see us at the new Wembley.

For the first time in a long long long time I’ve actually left a ground feeling proud supporting rovers and enjoyed the 90 mins. Nearly even forgot the shambles that is the club. On various levels didn’t think going through properly especially as only had 3 hours sleep before setting off to work but all totally worth it. I nearly turned back at Knutsford thinking they’d put in a powderpuff performance, was going to be knackered today, etc. So glad I didn’t and also glad didn’t go to penalties.

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Could have put this to bed.

I do not like the left back to right back cross field pass through the penalty area over the strikers head. High risk for almost no reward.

Footballers are such tarts. There’s people who will have stepped on land mines in Iraq and Afghanistan that won’t have made as much of their injury as guimaraes just did. Then miraculously, and not even Easter, he was able to not only walk again but run.

First away win since Norwich.

Easy to put the boot in when he’s been poor but Gallagher is about as much use as a chocolate teapot in 4/5 matches, today is the 1/5. Going forward we need better than him.

I genuinely thought we’d win but objectively it was a 50:50 no more than a 55:45 in their favour but with all the chat it was like a pub team were playing the mighty spurs. I kept saying to them you’re truly blessed to watch the first English club to lift 3 major trophies in 3 centuries like it was guaranteed our way. I’d like to think one of the many many spurs fans I said it to reflected on it and thought fair dos.

A couple of our mates went to Cardiff uni so they knew the city inside out so a load of us went down for the weekend. They’d allocated all the shit pubs to rovers fans and all the decent pubs to spurs fans (typical and mildly irritating). So the night before we exclusively spent time with spurs fans and you’re right the arrogance was astounding. Like we were there for a day out and they were there to win. League form was iffy and few injuries but I was adamant we were the better side and we were going to win (even as a pessimist) but they were acting as though it was the equivalent of the citeh of today playing Chorley. Weird. Can’t recall but we may well have finished above them in the league that season, either way it was far closer than any one that I spoke to would admit.

It really does. My love of the club is pretty much only 1875-2011 and it keeps me going in the slightly waning belief that one day we will have a proper football club again.