8,000 glory hunters packed into the Darwen End. Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy?

Doesn't bother us. This is Blackburn Rovers.

A few of our memorable wins from the not so distant past.

I'll post them separately to make for easier viewing:

The first, what a way to seal European Football on the last day of the season. Duffer, absolutely unplayable that day. Superb. Spurs fans whinging like mad (nothing changes there) as Rovers embarrass them on their own patch.

It's about time Sky started putting us on. After years of being forgotten about, they've gone the whole hog in making up for it this season.

I understand from an attendance point of view though, it is ludicrous that we have had only one Saturday 3pm home game since November. This isn't normal for this League.

The way I look at it, this is a problem that the big eggs in the Premier League have had with Sky for years. If we're being looked at in a similar way now, albeit a Division below, I'll take it.

They obviously see our run in as potentially the most exciting and I'd agree with that. Come on lads, deliver!

Almost 24 years on, but it still feels as infuriating and as baffling as it felt back then.

What the heck was the referee looking at?

29 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Martin Tyler responding to the Newcastle goal with "where theres a Willock theres a way."

He really becomes more and more of a parody with each passing week. Surely the end of the season is time for him to hang up the mic. The amount of drivel he comes out with, starting with "and its live!"

Yeah, he has been cringey for a good number of years now. Personally think he should have hung up the mic after that "Aguerooo" moment. Would have been some way to exit.

He was at his peak, imo, when alongside Andy Gray in the commentary box. Peak era of the Prem back then too, it could be argued. That United v Arsenal rivalry, "Wiltooord", and Rovers kicking some backsides with Souness in the dugout. Man...

Anyway, I'm always happy to see Newcastle get one over United.

I can't remember the last player who either gave the ball away, or got caught on the ball, as much as Morton does.

It has been a constant feature with him all season. Dwelling on the ball, having his pocket picked and our goal then subsequently being under attack.

I listened to yesterday's game on the radio and heard Andy Bayes say numerous times "Morton gives it away", " Morton with a loose pass", "Morton loses it in the middle". I don't want to pick on him, but it seems to be the same theme almost every game.

He's had some decent moments, but overall, the lad is lightweight and not the player you need in a battle for promotion.

There's no way he makes it at Liverpool, in my opinion. They have their own issues in midfield right now, but I don't think Morton will be the answer for them.

7 hours ago, GHR said:

News doing the rounds today that DAZN are keen on streaming every last minute of all EFL games as part of the new deal, amongst other proposals.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/efl-3pm-blackout-scrapped-streaming-tv-rights-2197984

 

We don't need to concern ourselves with that, GHR. The Premier League will remain unaffected. Leave the nobbers and the like to deal with that 😁.

That's the first I've heard of it too. He was explosive as a teenager so would have been an interesting signing.

My first real memory of Heskey is him running riot at Ewood on the final day of the '96/97 season. He scored twice in a 4-2 win for Leicester and the headlines afterwards were mainly "pesky Heskey" themed.

I've not looked it up, but I think there's a good chance that Heskey scored more goals against Rovers than against any other club during his career.

He always seemed to score against us no matter who he played for. This carried on right up until the final knockings of his career at Bolton, where he got an equaliser against Rovers on his debut for them in 2014.

Pesky Heskey? Indeed.

6 hours ago, smiller14 said:

 

The Sheffield United game could go one of two ways. It feels that rather than dishearten us too much, team (and club) spirit has gone through the roof. If anything, it made me feel more optimistic, as we went toe to toe with the team in 2nd on their own patch. I think a short break after the emotions of it all was a good thing too.

I don't think there are 6 teams better than us and I hope we prove it. 

I agree. It might sound strange to say, but that Sheff Utd defeat has set something off for me, and has left me feeling more confident about the remainder of the season. The nature of the loss, the fight on show, the club being talked about again, for the right reasons, and being in the thick of things at the business end of the season. It has brought the fire back.

I also suspect that JDT and the lads are feeling similarly fired up and will be out to finish the season strongly.

That defeat at Bramall Lane, as gutting as it was, was a world away from the abject surrender that we saw there in the League game back in August. Think back to how many of us felt after that game. By contrast, we had the Cup game in the bag at 2-1 up and looked comfortable, until the late subs swung it in their favour.

Something has changed in recent weeks, where we have a new found determination about us and are playing with more purpose. Of course, we have to guard against getting too carried away, as the Stoke game shows, but this feels different to me. Different to any good run under Mowbray. There's a real chance here and a winner like JDT isn't likely to just let it slip away.

It could be wishful thinking, but it feels like we're building up towards something special. Sky seem to be sensing that too with the number of our games they are choosing to show live.

Whatever happens, it's good to see there is hope returning on the pitch and that the football community is looking at Rovers and thinking "eh up, what's going on over there". We've been asleep for 12 years. Come on, JDT, let's do this!

8 hours ago, Upside Down said:

That was the best he scored. Amazing. I think it finished 1-1 that game.

The best part is that lone scouser holding his hands out wide as it sails into the top corner.

The addition of Yorke was the downfall with Cole. It looked good on paper but in practice it was not the case. 

Cole and Jansen were a tremendous partnership. 

His best and most spectacular one. Some of his more simpler looking goals are among my favourites too. Simply because he had that knack of being in the right place and more often than not, finding the net. To think we had the likes of Davies, Ward and Blake just a few years before, Cole was a massive upgrade on them.

I particularly like his two goals against Wednesday in both legs of the Cup Semi due to his clever movement and positioning. Top moves for both goals too.

Cole goal at 1:36 of this clip. Great pass by Dunny to set it off, but look at Cole busting a gut to get in the box. A true goalscorer.

Then we have this beauty at 3:32 below. Looks simple, but that's what top class players can do. The commentator sums it up perfectly. "Quality Premiership goal".

Fantastic memories.

Things are starting to look up for us for the first time in a long, long while. The excitement before the recent Sheff Utd game felt like the old days. I'm looking forward to the business end of the season, with some big games to come. COYB.

17 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I think he was still only 29 and in great shape when we signed him, but we sadly only got a good 6 months out of him before his lazy big time charlie pal dwight showed up and things started turning a bit sour, Souness being a tit with them in training didn't help matters though.

I bet Mark Hughes and has coaching team would have got him firing them in for fun again though had he stuck around a bit longer 

Yeah, we could have done with Coley that season where we had Dickov, Stead and Bothroyd as forward options.

I also think Coley would have bagged a good few under Hughes. He was still in good goalscoring nick at Fulham and City after he left us, so he had at least a couple more seasons left in him. Plus Yorke left the club in August '04, so that would have likely been a good thing for Cole too.

Talking of Yorke, I've just come across the following interview of his. The nerve of the guy to ask Fergie to allow him to have a year off, after winning the treble, as he felt he had achieved everything in football. No wonder his time at Rovers was as it was. He couldn't be arsed.

https://talksport.com/football/1373293/man-utd-sir-alex-ferguson-dwight-yorke/

3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Signing Dwight Yorke to play alongside him when Jansen got injured ruined him. It was like they were in a competition to see who could run the least.

Cole and Jansen were brilliant together. 

I think signing Yorke was a mistake. Him and Cole were a top pairing for the red rats, but by the time Yorke came to us I think his hunger had gone. Some of his traits seemed to rub off on Cole at times too.

I can only remember one good game of Yorke's off the top of my head. Villa away in the FA Cup when we won 4-1 and he scored two.

2 hours ago, SBlue said:

I was maybe young and naive at the time, but it didn’t seem a shock that Rovers would spend that kind of money or that he would sign here at all. 

It’s only in hindsight and everything that has followed since that makes me sit here now and think - “Wow, we had Andy Cole”.

Great player, good times.

I remember being impressed by the £8m fee as the words "club record signing" were mentioned quite a bit in the papers, on news reports etc. The reality of the fee and wages probably didn't really sink in due to being young.

It was also the Champ Man 01/02 era and I was glued to that game at the time. I thought signing him on there for Rovers was an impressive feat, as it was difficult to do. Then when it happened for real...wow! 😁.

I agree though, the mess of the last 12 years really makes me appreciate the signing, and those days, all the more.

18 hours ago, JHRover said:

Maybe it suggests, contrary to the narrative espoused in many quarters, that we actually are a big fish in this league and one which Sky can see commercial value in putting us on tv so often now they don't have their precious Leeds, Derby and Fulham to exploit.

That's exactly how I see it. We always have been a big fish in this Division, yet for some reason certain former managers, members of the hierarchy and some of our own fans like to think of us as a small club fortunate to be competing at this level.

I totally understand the arguments about the number of televised games from a season ticket and attendance point of view. However, when looking at Sky putting us on so much, in isolation, it points towards the club moving in the right direction.

Something special is happening at Rovers and Sky and other media sources are sensing it too. I see it as a good thing that they want to show our games so much, especially at the business end of the season. After being the forgotten club for so long, I view this as Rovers finally waking up and the likes of Sky cottoning on to that being the case.

Chelsea in the FA Cup semi is the biggest one for me. We had them on the ropes for a while. Then that Morten header happens. None of us are likely to forget it. Imagine how Morten must feel whenever he thinks about that game.

Another one I was gutted about, might be a bit left field. Birmingham away in April 2006. We entered April with a genuine shout of nabbing 4th place and with it Champions League football. We were only 2 points off 4th at the start of the month. However, draws against Wigan and Portsmouth set us back a bit before we got to that Brum game. Big club away was our game in hand on 4th placed Tottenham. Win and we would cut the gap on them to 4 points with three games remaining. Lose and our top 4 chance was as good as over. We lost 2-1 and I can remember feeling particularly gutted that night.

Might have been me being greedy, I suppose, but it points to the brilliant job Sparky did. To go from trying to avoid relegation a season earlier to achieving a top 6 finish the following season, with a player like Bellamy in the side and us landing a number of blows on the big heads. Superb. One of the best and exciting Rovers teams and seasons in my lifetime.

7 hours ago, Upside Down said:

To be fair there is a grain of truth to that as the red scum, Chelsea and Liverpool have spent shit loads of money over the last 30 years buying trophies. 

City are an easy target because they were a shit team that all of a sudden became huge and successful due to being bought out by a nation state. 

Fuck the lot of them. They have made the game so boring.

And for all those who want to throw the old "Jack Walker" comments our way, Jack was from Blackburn, supported Rovers and made his business and his money in the town.

I agree. Whilst it's difficult to have much sympathy for City, this is a case, imo, of the Premier League trying to flex its muscles because its beloved cartel of clubs has been broken up by a club that isn't supposed to be up there.

A club that has won 4 out of the last 5 titles and has left United in the dust. A club that has seen off Liverpool, who look to be falling away now. Arsenal, who before this season, weren't even a thought for City. The bigwigs can't have their dearly thought of brushed aside like this, so something needs to be done.

If City are found guilty of breaches then fair enough, they will have to face the consequences. That needs to apply to the other big heads too though. There's no way Chelsea can carry on spending as they are, I'd like to think.

Those two clubs are, imo, mainly responsible for the crazy levels of spending that are required nowadays to win the Premier League.

3 hours ago, Displaced Rover said:

It's far too cordial in this thread. Illustrates the fall in standards at this club that the current balance of power doesn't piss people off more. Instead we have Dingles (however well intentioned they claim to be) hanging around making subtle digs.

Another thing which highlighted the damage done by this regime for me. We get thrashed by the Dingles in embarrassing fashion, yet there were some on here and elsewhere trying to brush it off as "it's only one game", "it's not the end of the world", "we weren't expected to beat them" and "we're still third". If that result and performance doesn't bother you, then what will, was my thought about all of that.

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Mowbray didn’t like guys with a bit of fire in their bellies, he preferred son-in-law material.

You're right and this isn't a comparison between the two, but it has been an issue from day one under these owners.

The bald rat couldn't get rid of Nelsen, Salgado, Samba, Roberts etc quick enough.

Strong characters and leaders who see through the bullshit scare managers at Venky owned Rovers. Characters and Easy Street don't mix. They scare the hierarchy too, hence the stream of yes men that have been a constant feature throughout.

28 minutes ago, Nuttall is lost said:

The pitch when City get the penalty looks especially bad.  Gary Flitcroft playing for City.

@SuperBrfc I believe Blackburn got groundsman of the year for 1995-96 season due to the vast improvement of the pitch from 1994-95.  I think I remember reading that somewhere at the time.

It does look particularly bad at that point. The six yard box a muddy and watery mess infront of Flowers. The weather played its part too.

I can't remember the exact awards that were given out for the pitch, but there was something awarded towards the end of the 90s. Best pitch in the Premier League or best maintained? Something along those lines. Might have been around the 1997/98 season.

Somebody else might be able to recall it better.

The pitch was excellent for a good while from summer of '95 onwards though. Bring back those box nets from 97/98 too, I say.

32 minutes ago, Nuttall is lost said:

I think the worst it was, was against Chelsea in March 1995 in a 2-1 win.  Also against Man City in April when we lost 3-2.  Was a mudbath.

Yeah, both were bad from a pitch point of view. The pitch improved drastically from the summer of '95 onwards.

Two games against Chelsea here at Ewood, both from the year 1995. The first clip is from March, the second is seven months later, in October.

Look at the difference in pitch quality seven months later:

53 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Pretty transparent attempt at trying to pretend it’s all rosy behind the scenes.

The look on Broughton's face. That's the look I have had on my face for 12 years where Rovers are concerned.

I think he's starting to realise what many of us realised a while ago about the mess at the top. Either that, or it's the fact he has to front up again when the appeal most likely fails that has him concerned.

7 hours ago, lraC said:

I don't know if anyone remembers this, but it is pretty damning.

BRFC.pdf 1.09 MB · 14 downloads

First time I've seen it in this form, despite knowing about most of its content.

Two examples here to illustrate a point:

1) A few years ago there was an agent alleged to have too much influence at a North London club. A few of his clients turned up as signings and and key figures in the boardroom. During this time the club spiralled, dropping down to 8th, facing embarrassment on the pitch, increasing fan anger and protests against the owners. Sound familiar?

Anyway, the club later decided to, basically, tell that agent to piss off and now no longer deal with him. Some of those clients are no longer at the club too. That club is now flourishing and is top of the league.

2) The same agent in the above story, is then alleged to have started having an influence at a Merseyside club by having the ear of their owner. That club has become a total mess over the last couple of years, facing a relegation battle for two seasons running, with fans fuming, protesting, and wanting the board to be sacked. A familiar theme, it would seem.

Only 10 days or so ago, the agent concerned, was challenged on air and admitted to having had dealings with the club before, but that the owner didn't always listen to him. He also stated, when pushed, that he would advise the owner to appoint Bielsa as their next manager. Guess what? Bielsa only flew into London a day or two before this radio interview took place, to have talks with the owner. Coincidence?

The owner ended up going for a different manager in the end, and already after one game we can see how the mood has lifted at that club. Going against the advice of certain agents seems to act as a cure for teams in a mess. Who would have thought it?

Meanwhile, in the land of make belief, movie directors want viewers to believe that there are no issues, despite 12 years of bullshit and despite there being clues of the problem makers still being around.

Oh, and I have to commend filmmakers for their recent portrayal of errors involving paper as always being genuine mistakes, which must always be forgiven and promptly moved on from. Great news for those of you who work in admin roles!

These movies and their fantasy plots, eh?