Walton Nyambe Tosin Williams Cunningham Rothwell Holtby Travis Downing Dack Graham I’d go with that. I predict Mowbray will go with: Walton Tosin Lenihan Williams Cunningham Bennett Travis Downing Dack Gallagher Armstrong No discernible shape or style, and plenty of chopping and changing after about 12 minutes

Not sure if I’m exactly right, but I think you are thinking of a game at Ewood where Marker scored? I think it was round Christmas in the season after we won the league.

@Exiled in Toronto Don’t forget Derby were pretty free spending that season too.

Nicky Marker!

Nobody told Leicester 4-4-2 was dead when they won the Prem

What I wouldn’t give for a Super Atko in midfield now. Mimms May Moran Hendry Wright Price Atkins Cowans Sellars Newell Speedie Would any of our current crop make the team over anyone who played in that Playoff final? Not for me.

Fair enough. I wonder, if Venky’s are as serious about promotion as we are led to believe, how long they will give him to deliver? For the record, as much as Mowbray can get on my nerves, I’m not calling for his head. I think his job is more complicated by Venky’s than we give him credit for and I dread to think who those idiots would appoint next. More likely to be John Gregory than Chris Hughton. I do think our current situation, plodding along in the middle of the Championship while haemorrhaging money, can’t continue indefinitely. I’d like to see a bit more urgency in trying to sort out our medium term future. A promotion (followed by some sensible decision making, HA!!) would do this.

Complaining over the manner in which a blatantly offside goal was correctly ruled out is some serious deflection tactic. We lost because we were shit.

How long do you give him though Chaddy? Personally I don’t think we will be challenging this season, and that presents a bit of a problem. We need promotion sooner rather than later. As we saw with Rovers under Bowyer, and at plenty of other clubs at this Level, this long build of a few years towards promotion only ever really guarantees the eventual breaking up of your team if you aren’t successful. We’ve already lost Raya and only replaced with a stop gap. Cunningham and Adarabioyo are loanees, Graham and Downing (and Mulgrew) will likely retire or at least drop down levels. Johnson will be 33 so his involvement you’d think would reduce. That’s already a pretty hefty rebuilding job. Eventually Dack is going to get the opportunity to play in the Premier League, we’ve done well to hang on to him thus far. Travis will also have suitors, maybe Lenihan too. The likes of Nyambe and Rothwell would be entitled to be fed up with the way they are currently being (under)utilised and look for a move. Presumably Evans, Smallwood and Leutweiler will all be off too. We have some exciting prospects coming through, granted, but Gallagher isn’t pulling up any trees so far. As for Brereton, if we were to try and sell him in January we’d be having the pants down if anyone who offered half a million for him. The rebuilding job we’d have on our hands next summer will be at best significant and at worst an almost complete overhaul. FFP and questionable transfer strategy (for which I think Venky’s should take more blame) mean that while we may not be at promotion or bust levels of urgency quite yet, it isn’t far off.

I’m sick of all this bollocks an all... “There’s huge frustration and huge disappointment in what is a really quiet dressing room," he revealed to iFollow Rovers. Surprise surprise, it’s a quiet dressing room. For all the talk of “character” we lack players with any bottle. They will be all day round feeling sorry for themselves - the same reaction is plain to see every time we concede. Bennett has done his usual disappointed tweet... that’s about as much of a reaction as we ever see, while we get an entire week spoiled. You and your beloved senior pros should be dishing out some bollockings. “It was a missed opportunity for us today. We wasted it and it feels bigger than just a wasted opportunity, it feels huge. Yep. And it’s an all too familiar feeling. “Against a side who are newly promoted to this league, no disrespect to them, but if we want to be up there towards the top of this league then we need to beat teams like Luton Town. No danger of you disrespecting them is there Tony? As always we worry far more about other teams than they do about us. Maybe Lenihan warmed you about his ex youth team mate and what a danger he would be having plied his trade at such dizzying heights with Stanley and Halifax... of course he was right as he absolutely bullied Lenihan for the winner. “We had enough of the ball, but we have to be better when breaking down these sort of teams and you cannot give away soft goals like we did today. These words appear in approximately 60% of all your post match interviews. “The combination of that was our undoing and it was similar to the opening day game against Charlton. That combination has been our undoing in most games in 2019 in fact. “We have been scoring goals and winning matches, but today was really frustrating. It was an opportunity to put a good performance in, win well, push up the table and look ahead to Tuesday night," he added. The sources and manner of the goals we have scored suggest more fortune than tactical nous to be honest Tony. They’ve papered over the cracks recently. “We needed to create more chances, get behind teams more, fizz balls across the box. We didn’t do that enough and didn’t have the guile. We havent “fizzed balls across the box” in years... apart from about 3 times last season where Brereton put shots out for throw-ins. “The individually of a Rothwell was probably needed for us today, that speed and craft, which was needed today.” You are just taking the piss now. I’ll humour you... but please answer me this: If Rothwell was too ill to play, and full of a cold, coughing and spluttering, then why on earth was he at Ewood in the pissing rain and freezing cold, potentially passing on his illness to his teammates rather than say at home with the heating on?

Sick of this stupid formation. Sick of hearing Mowbray has resolved our defensive frailties. Sick of players playing out of position. Sick of decent young players being left out of the squad for chronically underperforming favourites. Sick of people trying to justify wasting millions on 2 strikers who have scored about twice in the last 2 years between them while we haven’t spent a proper fee on a defender in nearly a decade. Sick of being told to be grateful Venky’s haven’t liquidated us. Disgusted at being told we are at our natural level, plodding around the middle of the second tier and getting beat off Luton at Ewood after all that Jack Walker did for us, and elements of our fan base trying to hold those who don’t share their rose tinted views accountable, rather than the real culprits.

Seems oddly specific and a bit weird that someone would pretend to be Dack. Not saying it is, and can’t say I really know what he sounds like. Even if it is Dack, I don’t see that it reflects poorly on him in any way. I presumed the JaySP was Jay Spearing and that the voice recording was just flying round footballers WhatsApp groups and beyond.

Have you seen both versions doing the rounds? One is slightly longer than the other and starts with the guy saying “Bradley Johnson, he’s with us now” which would suggest it is a Rovers player. https://mobile.twitter.com/jackajover/status/1177317863092363264?s=12

On the topic of stand closures, Waggott is desperate to knock down the riverside and redevelop. His big dream is to build a hotel. Doing this would doubtless drive away even more fans. I think there’d be a significant number who would just stop going rather than relocate elsewhere.

This is nowhere near as simple as some, including Waggott, seem to think it is. We need to get more fans through the gate, broadly let’s put these in to two categories: New and Lapsed. As @JHRover pointed out in his superb post, you can’t compare crowds now to the 80s. There was a huge surge in footballs popularity in the 90s, but 20 something years on, it’s all change again. I know lads who love football... talk about it, play it, watch it, spend vast amounts of money on it... but to them it’s a television program. Kids are increasingly going to grow up thinking this way. The exposure to football on TV, not to mention online services is mind boggling. Not only do we (and all clubs at all levels for that matter) have a real fight on their hands to get people to break their habits, they have to offer an experience that people want to repeat. There is no quick fix. It’s about being innovative, inclusive and engaging over the long term. It shouldn’t be a 2/3 times a season thing, it needs to be constant and targeted towards the entire community. A few suggestions off the top of my head: - Missed the boat in this one, but go to freshers fairs at UCLAN, Lancaster Uni etc. Offer a package to freshers £30 for tickets to 3 games and put some coaches on. It’d take a couple of iPads and a couple of people to shift a few tickets and to potentially add loads of names to the ticket office database. - Go to some of the big employers in the area, offer them some heavily discounted match tickets. £25 for a family of 4, or maybe a tenner a pop. Make it so they can buy them direct from the employer... can’t see many companies turning down free perks for their staff. Might get a few workmates deciding to give it a go. Rotate it around to give each one a few opportunities a season - Become far more visible in and around Blackburn - get to events, support the community more. Have a word with Gaz Aspden about the upcoming Spezial exhibition he’s doing, send a few players along, sponsor it. Saw a post on social media from the organisers of Darwen Live looking for people to get involved and potential sponsors. Just have some visibility and presence around Blackburn, Accy, Darwen, Clitheroe... nobody in any of those places should be able to organise an event or anything without getting a phone call from someone at Rovers asking how they can get involved. If you want the community to support you be more involved in it. There is a whole other massive discussion around improving the match day experience. Again, something we don’t see enough proactive attempts at. Lapsed fans Probably need to be broken down further into those who have drifted away, and those who are making a conscious decision not to attend. I fall into the latter, so feel I can give an informed opinion on this. I can get a free ticket to any home game, but this means sitting on my own, in a stand I don’t like. It’s not the Rovers experience I know and loved for 20 odd years. I told Steve Waggott that I am still very distrustful of Venky’s, and while I can’t see my stance towards them changing, I wasn’t a million miles off deciding to get a season ticket again this year since I got to the point where I’d had enough about 4 years ago. He was making the right noises about understanding what the fans had been through, and needing them back. I told him I didn’t have the answer, but felt that I needed some sort of gesture from the club. I don’t feel I’ve had that and still feel a disconnect to the extent that I don’t want to part with my money. Coming out and saying “we’ve done all we can, it’s down to the fans now” isn’t only stupidly divisive, it’s also a load of bollocks. Judging by the thoughts of others on here there are as many barriers being put up for lapsed fans to return than pathways for them... if not more.

Not getting into every point you’ve made, but this one annoyed me. If you sit near the back, the gantries definitely obstruct your view. The side to side head movements to avoid the pillars quickly become second nature to anyone who sits in there, but the stupid, empty gantries are just in the way. To suggest the club can’t possibly do any more is ridiculous. It’s something they should always be thinking about. It seems to me that the current tactic is to milk every penny out of their current captive audience rather than bring in new fans or re-engage. Fruit bags, no problem... but Stanley gave every primary school pupil in the town a free kit. I know which I’d have preferred as a kid. For all the attempts Waggott has made at bridge-building, coming out and saying “we can’t do any more, the stayaway fans have to do their bit” does no good whatsoever. I see plenty of people who still get their season tickets bought for them off their parents having a pop at and questioning the loyalty of fans who’ve recently got fed up with the goings on at the club having been loyal fans for decades.

Nothing really surprises me these days when I see a line up on a Saturday. We have absolutely no defined style or identity. We remain very reactive to the opposition - sides that trouble the top 6 tend to have the opposition worrying about them. Adarabioyo in is a good call, but I would have dropped Lenihan for him. Seems strange altering the formation when they will almost certainly play a 4-4-2/4-5-1. They have rung the changes a bit too, 6”6 Matt Smith only makes the bench. They could quite easily overwhelm us in wide areas - expect Romeo to get forward plenty... and sadly I can see Mahoney getting a lot of joy 1 v 1 with Bennett. You'd expect we are going to try and play it on the deck a lot. Genuinely intrigued to see how long that lasts.

This came as a surprise to me - just had a bit of a look... I think it would be a terrible move on our part.

Expect them to play a back four of Romeo Pearce Cooper Wallace They will deal comfortably with any long balls through the middle. Only Romeo is under 6’ 2 (very decent full back though) so I wouldn’t be surprised to too Gallagher on the left wing up against him. Our players should be under strict instruction to avoid conceding as few corners or free kicks as possible. I think we will completely fail in dealing with the threat of Cooper and Matt Smith in the air. Mahoney has looked good for them so far, and could give Bennett a few problems. Unsure on fitness, but I’d line up: Walton Nyambe Adarabioyo Williams Cunningham Bennett Johnson Travis Downing Dack Gallagher

Seriously Mike? Nowhere near the standard of takeover. Match for match there is absolutely no comparison. Not to mention the production values, pacing, psychology. Far too much amateurish nonsense to be anything like a threat to anything WWE puts out. Janela, Havoc, Stunt, Cassidy, Dark Order, Chuck Taylor, Nakazawa, Librarians for starters are all dire and you can see better wrestlers at any indie show in any town on any given weekend. Omega and the young Bucks are just overhyped high spot merchants. MJF is the best heel in the world but not used properly. SCU under-utilised. Jericho, Cody, Page, private party and Pac are fantastic, oh, and Dustin obviously. Coming across as being jobs for the boys and inside jokes playing to a very narrow fan base. I think they will be luck to survive 6 months.

I don’t know a single Rovers supporter who could find one neutral thing to say about Kean, let alone a positive. He is rightly despised universally by our fan base. If 1 in 4 of people responding don’t hate him I’d suggest not everyone you’ve asked is very invested in the club. Peddling a silly, divisive, media coined term like “remoaner” doesn’t help you come across as reasoned or balanced either by the way.

That would probably lead me to ask if I’m asking the right people

Because it’s nowhere near that simple. I don’t know if it’s your aim or not, but that’s the same divisive line a lot of people seem to be using at the moment. It’s a pretty common narrative amongst a growing number of our fans to categorise other supporters in one of two camps, pretty much as outlined in that question. It’s used by the more “positive” side to attack the more “negative” side frequently. My colours are pretty much nailed to the mast as far as Venky’s are concerned, and unsurprisingly I speak to and associate with a lot of people who despise them as much as I do. There is never any talk of “making them pay” aside from an odd off the cuff comment. The prevailing thought presently is generally concern for our future, because of their idiotic actions in our recent past. Some poignant reminders of their actions recently on here (see Bury thread). And while Jerome Anderson’s involvement can not be understated, absolving Venky’s of any accountability is absolutely ridiculous in my eyes. Jerome wasn’t responsible for Shebby Singh or Owen Coyle (was he?). Even if he was, its under Venky’s watch that they have taken us from the model of how to run a team sensibly and survive in the Premier League to absolutely bleeding money. They have lost a generation of fans. They have taken us from being 20 years ahead of Burnley to 20 years behind them in less than a decade. Everything has been dumbed down at the club from top to bottom after the foundations Jack built. Its not even like we did what other clubs did and shot for the moon, over stretched ourselves and paid for it later. It’s just been one long downward spiral caused by negligence, mismanagement and arrogance. And a runners up position in the third tier, though fun in isolation, isn’t a decent pay off. Any discussion on the last 10 years, what’s happening now, and what’s likely to occur in the future needs to focus on Venky’s... and there’s nothing good to say there.

Not been on here for a bit. Current thoughts: AEW is rubbish. TakeOver Cardiff was fantastic.

Please could you answer this Joe. Just had a look at the questionnaire you’ve put out, before I answer it I think I’d like to understand a bit more about the project. Im not keen on this question: