Rovers fancy dans didn't fancy a cold Friday night at Stoke. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, if you don't go out and compete you'll lose. So many players off their game we're making Stoke look like a decent side, which they're not.

Tomasson has to show his mettle at half time ...... the players need a good bollocking

2-0 well deserved We've been rubbish What does Pep think?

Back to the rubbish from not long ago; second to every ball, outfought and out-manouvred. Stoke should be 2 up

Is that you Pep?

It;'s been pointed out many times that the team that wants it most usually wins Our lot playing as if they couldn't care less

Defence all over the place, midfield non-existent

That was coming..... we've been really poor

We're wide open in midfield, not pressing high as a team like we did at Leicester

Should be 1-0 down

Rubbish by JRC

Netted! Another seagull has followed the trawler

Snow flurries at the moment but Stoke looks Ok from early afternoon onwards even a touch of sunshine. We need this to be on and keep the momentum going.

If he sees Rovers as a "project (his word), how is that going to work in the medium to longer term? The answer is that it won't work, and he'll be looking to move closer to home sooner rather than later

Hickman scored his goals at the Darwen End IIRC. Did Beamish get the others? This is all very hazy, nearly half a century ago. Cracking match though. Jim Furnell obviously liked Rovers. He was born in Clitheroe and was on Burnley's books for 8 years! He was also Rovers coach for 17 years from 1981-98, a long time in football. Still around at 85.

It was a long time ago but Plymouth took over the entire Darwen End IIRC, looking at it I seem to remember a sea of green. Of course they went potty when they went 2-0 up. Great bunch of supporters having a good day out. Mike Hickman's finest hour.

Time for a Brereton recall? He's a Stoke lad and will be itching to play and do well in this game. If we play with the same intensity, pace and effort as the Leicester and SheffU matches we'll win at a canter. If we go back to the bad old ways, we'll do well to get a draw. It's as simple as that.

SheffU ahead

The difference is Watford don't have "projects". They hire managers who live or die by their results. Sacking Bilic seems harsh but they evidently decided he wasn't going to cut it and Wilder would be better - so out he went It's ruthless and some would say it's not right but that's the Watford model and you can't say it doesn't work.

Watford have had 16 managers in 10 years yet have been in the Premier League for alot of that time I wish we could "learn" like them

Watford rolling the managerial dice again..... Wilder to replace Bilic until the end of the season

It's an opinion, one shared by many others.

I've seen players sent off for less and stay on the field for worse. That's how it goes Hitting the woodwork is irrelevant really.... might as well miss by a mile, like Buckley did I was impressed by SheffU in that first half 30 minutes . If they play like that again in the cup we might not be so lucky next time. Good team, better than Burnley IMO

His standing leg slipped as he was about to shoot IIRC. Should have scored. I too thought we were lucky to be ahead at half time. Sheffield ought to have scored several times and we were all over the place defensively at times. We were better second half and should probably have had a second when Buckley I think it was blasted over when well placed. A draw wouldn't have been unfair result and they will feel hard done by as the manager said but we'll take it. They'll be out for revenge in the cup

There's fair few potential banana skins in that list - you could even make a case for us not winning another game🙄 if Rovers' current hot form doesn't last and we revert to the plodding, toothless team of barely a few weeks ago and injuries and tiredness come into play. There'll undoubtedly be some that we might expect to win easily but will lose and then the unexpected might happen, such as a revenge thrashings of Burnley and Preston and reaching the FA Cup final 😀 Tomasson will have to manage his limited resources carefully. One game at a time. Steady as we go.