SuperBrfc

I think tonight's the night Boro's run of goals dries up. They aren't all that, despite recent goals scored making them seem scary. It's not a true reflection of that Boro team, imo. We've got a good record there and I think we might come away with another win. 0-1. Ahead of the game, a blast from the past. Yordi 😊.

46. Henning Berg

I was just about to make a similar point. How many did we see called off due to heavy rain before 2010 and how many have we seen since? Wimbledon is the only one that I can think of pre this lot turning up. I remember there was a game against United in 2008 where it was absolutely bucketing down beforehand, worse than this, and the game still went ahead. There were many other times where we coped just fine with the rain. There was a game called off against Sunderland in 2005 but that was due to ice/snow on the pitch and outside the stadium making it unsafe for all. My point is, there is an element of truth to the River explanation but it is, imo, too easily covering up the lack of care and attention to pitch maintenance (amongst many other things) shown by these owners since they arrived. It's embarrassing that we are the only game called off today in the top two Divisions. It looks tin pot and that's exactly what these owners and their stooges running the place are and it's what they are turning the club into. The huge irony being that they view themselves as some sort of royalty that are doing us a favour. Piss off.

Spot on. It's the now that matters. It always has. Winning is the name of the game, but not at Venky's polluted Rovers it isn't. No, demanding to win at this club under this regime is akin to bullying, being entitled and being spoilt, apparently. Remember Mowbray's "do they want a bully who just wants to win all the time, or somebody that can nurture and develop these players?" when talking about his successor. Then there was Broughton saying "do we adopt a win at all costs mentality, even at the cost of people's mental and physical health and wellbeing, or do we take a balanced approach, we need to be careful". I mean, wtf. Cut the bullshit and show us actual intent to win. We've got a Premier League to get back to. It's only been 12 years with the tossers being just the £200m+ down. It's the mentality from the top that filters down to all of these people when they come here and pollutes the atmosphere. No pressure, just keep us up, we can build towards promotion. Fans need to be patient. Fans don't understand. Only, no building ever takes place and every season ends up going the same way. Then every year or two down the line we have a new yes man in place telling us we need to be patient as it takes time. They have no intention or desire to go up. That's how I see it.

Wasn't sure which thread to put this in, but came across this on YouTube. Not seen it mentioned elsewhere on the forum, so thought it's worth sharing. It looks likes Myles has set up his own podcast channel and has had his dad make a few appearances on there over the past couple of months. In this video they talk about Rovers for a bit and the 'hostility' they faced back then, in particular, the difficult time Myles experienced during that period. Something that pricked my ears was between 8:40 - 9:05 when the agent mentions the good relationship he had 'with the THEN owners'. It could just be an innocent choice of wording on his part, and I'm reading too much into it, but it caught my attention as the owners back then are still the same ones today i.e Venky's are still here. For what it's worth, I think Myles is a decent lad. He comes across as somebody who was just trying to make it as a footballer, but got caught up in the crossfire at the time.

Another suspected power struggle? Who would have thought it? It's not like these power struggles have been going on since the rat and his instructor polluted the air. That's just me with my conspiracy hat on, though. Shebby v Shagnew. Shelfy and the Berg situation. Warnock or Coyle as the new manager in 2016. JDT/GB v the car salesman and his shadow buddy. "Sustainable Premier League Club" v "Erm, Just stay up mate and develop the kids". This morning Gestede states how we are going to look to loan young Premier League players again as we are good for player development. This evening, we hear Park has gone. Park or Gestede? Which one of those is likely to find promotion aiding/winning signings based on their knowledge and experience of recruiting players? The one who is championing signing young players on loan and repeating the party line to the LT about patience, amongst other things, is still here. That says enough for me. We've been waiting 12 years, Rudy. You aren't the problem here, but you are pushing their narrative. Those of us who still have a pulse and see through the bullshit, have a major issue with these owners and will continue to do so until they sell up. These owners have made no attempt in 12 years to restore the club to where they found us. We have seen them twice ignore us being in the top 6 for two consecutive January's, we have seen them piss JDT off and so much more over the 14 years of garbage, yet they think we can be fobbed off with empty words about patience every year? Bollocks. None of this comes as a surprise to us here, as Park has something about him and isn't going to put up with the likely shitshow that is coming in January. The important thing, imo, is finding out who the parties are to these seemingly recurring power struggles. Some suggest it is Mr and Mrs D v the blinged idiot and pals. It could be, it could be something else too. Whatever it is, the message remains the same: Venky's Out!

Re-posted the last four videos as they weren't showing up on mobile previously, for some reason.

45. Shabani Nonda

44. Matt Derbyshire

43. Mark Hughes

42. Marcus Bent

41. Damien Johnson

My Yuki t-shirt arrived this morning and I'm pleased I bought it. The quality is excellent, it has a smooth feel and the sizing is spot on. Would recommend it to anybody who is thinking about purchasing one.

Their fans are definitely worried ahead of this one. Took a quick look at their forum and there's no bluster this time about 'beating the Plastics', no excited 'these lot are shit haha' posts, no ridiculing of any of our players. In the past they have been quick to call Scott Wharton, Travis, JRC, Dolan etc crap and allsorts, whilst being confident about winning the game. Not this time. There's actually very little mention of the game, which tells its own story. Yuki, Mak, Cantwell and Duberry are coming for them, and they know it. Just hope we really show up this time in front of a big away following. There have been too many times over the last 12 years where a big away support has been let down by a feeble display on the pitch. I think Eustace will have them ready and focused though, as we were at the wooden shed. He is showing a different type of mentality so far this season is Eustace, a winning one. I like that and long may it continue.

40. Yakubu

I think you're right. Ipswich at Ewood rings a bell. It was the game where Mowbray scored an injury time leveller for them!

I can only remember him scoring penalties for us. It felt like he scored 20+ that season. A rare non penalty goal here:

39. Rudy Gestede

Something that hasn't been mentioned from the Gestede interview...at 5 minutes in he says that Toth was a Ben Benson recommendation. Benson looked at the data, was impressed with Toth's and told the recruitment team to look into it further in order to sign him. "He's a very good goalkeeper" according to Benson. The recruitment team then did their checks and agreed. Let's hope he is good, as the latter haven't got much wrong so far in terms of signings.

At no stage over the last few years would I have believed anybody telling me that Rovers would be signing Cantwell. To get him for as little as that is superb business. He seems determined to silence the noise about him too, which only benefits us. This could be another Bentley or Bellamy moment for us. Fair play to Rudy, Park and Eustace. They are streets ahead of, actually, no, they are in a different country to Broughton and his team, when it comes to finding a player. Duberry and Cantwell are going to bring us a spark in the final third and all done on a low budget too. £500k or whatever it was on Markanday, similar on Ennis, similar on O'Riordan? Fack sake, you must be joking. THIS is how it's done, Gregg.

Duberry could be a cracking signing. I saw a couple of Brighton pre season games (for fantasy football reasons) and he stood out. Quick, direct, tricky. We often see players labelled the 'next zidane', 'next Henry' etc and it's almost always hyperbole. The Saka comparisons are spot on with Duberry though. That's exactly who his style of play reminds me of. He's got to do the business of course, but this looks an exciting pick out from the recruitment team.

A shorter version too for you @riverholmes and anybody else:

Meanwhile, over in India, Pune residence hears the name 'Cantwell' for the first time: "Cantwell? Isn't that a cake in England? How many cakes is Steve wanting?" "No, that's a bakewell you're thinking of, Mrs Desai. Cantwell is a footballer according to Google". "Oh, ok. Tell Steve I'll get back to him on Saturday". They probably haven't got a clue who Cantwell is and whether he is any good or not and will be relying on somebody to sell it to them. If that somebody is shadow man or his car salesman buddy, then I think we can move on. Just get it done! A player of his quality doesn't become available for £500k very often. It's a no brainer. Lewis Baker was highly rated as a Chelsea youngster, but doesn't seem to have done a lot since. Not seen much of him at Stoke, so will have to wait and see what he looks like here. Tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least. Can Park and Co pull out a couple of left field signings that nobody has mentioned?

I remember Cantwell looking like a special player in his Norwich days. He might not have the g/a that the kids these days look for, but the eye test suggests that there is a serious player there if he sorts things out upstairs. Most of the reservations about him appear to be around attitude, not ability. I think he has it in him to be a Dunny type player for us. As Eustace was the one who first mentioned wanting pacey wingers, let's hope it is a case of Cantwell and a winger they are looking to bring in, rather than just the former.

There's too much of this "ah well, it's only the League Cup" sentiment among football fans these days. I'm not referring to anybody here, but fans in general and it is something that I can never understand. The aim of the game is to win and this is one of three domestic trophies on offer. How many fans around the country are looking down on the League Cup and coming out with "but, but but Man City?" If that's the attitude and thought process, why bother playing in the competition? Just hand it to Pep now and cut out the fixture pile up. The prize money shouldn't matter to us fans, we just want Rovers to win. Simple as. Now, I'm not saying our expectation is to win this trophy, but the mindset has to be, imo, that we are in it to win it, to go as far as possible. There has to be somebody at the club thinking 'I want us to go all the way in this competition', even if the likelihood is that we would meet a big gun at some point. Our League campaigns have generally been dull for the most part under these owners and cup runs bring a bit of excitement, especially when we are up against Premier League sides. I would start with a strong side and hope to get the job done before making changes in the last 20/25 minutes. I think Blackpool could be in for a pasting tonight. It has got that feel about it, but let's see. I'm going 4-0 Rovers with a brace from Mak.