I wouldn't say it's that. Why were crowds still healthy in 99/00 and 00/01 if fans only want Premier League football? It's more to do with how recklessly and stupidly our solid position has been dismantled and thrown away by morons who know nothing about football. Morons who have, and who continue to, take the piss out of fans since their arrival in 2010. They do not respect the club or the fans, therefore thousands have told them to piss off in the best way they can think of. Despite all of the above, there is still a load of the fan base that speaks of their generosity, how good it is that they are still funding us and how we could be like Wigan or Bury without them. Am I missing something here? It is their duty to pay the bills as owners. This is not some noble gesture. They've turned us from a solid Premier League outfit to a Championship creche, scratching around for frees and loans, with PR making out players like Ennis are top signings. Yet we're expected to be grateful to them and "be careful what you wish for". Baffling. Absolutely baffling. What you fail to acknowledge and understand is that what these owners have done to the club is unbearable for many. There are fans who refuse to give them a penny, fans who won't set foot in the place until they are gone. That's their way of dealing with it. I don't say there's thousands waiting to make a return, many are likely gone for good, but to make out Venky's are just being used as an excuse is majorly insulting. Topping it off with Shearer and 'no Premier League' jibes, well, what can be said about that, without getting banned on here? The situation at the club is a joke. Only, no one's laughing. Standards are being lowered further and further by the year, with berks like Swag front and centre, but instead of any complaints, it's all being embraced with toxic positivity. Ensuring the club stays head down, under water. Anybody who speaks out against this or makes a stand is deemed "negative" and a "shit fan". Make it make sense. Those "negative" fans fiercely want the club to improve, that's why they call it out! Some of the excuses being made for these owners and their lapdogs are, honestly, unbelievable.

No wonder Arsene Wenger didn't like us. Loved this side and that season.

Yeah. He always came across as a good poster to me, humorous at times. Not sure what happened with the fitness arguments. Maybe the talk of John Bulls and Mrs T's Chippy caused the red mist to descend 😁.

The game was a lot closer than people were expecting and I suspect Inter will be kicking themselves for not going at them more than they did. City weren't at their best, but did enough to get over the line. I thought Inter pressed and defended quite well for large parts of that game. They looked the more comfortable side in the first half and had City on edge at times. Ederson didn't look his usual self to me, had a couple of shaky moments, misplaced passes etc, but then produced a couple of key saves later on. The pressure of the game was evident on the City players, I thought. Fair play for winning it though. It's odd seeing them win it and personally feeling nothing much about it. Would I want Klopp to be there instead, celebrating a trophy win tonight? Certainly not. Ten Hag? No chance. With City though it's a case of 'Oh. Nice. Have we signed anybody yet?'.

Cracking player for us. He added to what was an already exciting side containing the likes of Tugay, Dunn, Duff, Gillespie, when he arrived. He did well after a few of those had left the club too. His longe range pearler away at Charlton in the League Cup in 2005 is something that always comes to mind when he is mentioned. Oh, and the story about how Lucas Neill was saved from a potential beating as Thommo was alongside him, when out shopping at the Trafford Centre. Carragher has told the story himself. A couple of his mates saw Neill shortly after he had broken Carra's leg with a bad challenge at Ewood. They wanted to exact revenge and rang Carragher looking for the go ahead. However, as soon as they saw Thommo with Neill, they called it off.

Yeah, there are so many ideas for t-shirts. Based on, both, current players and on our history. It just needs a bit of imagination. There are currently a few generic 'Rovers' and 'BRFC' printed designs in store for around £15-£20.

It's a question that has crossed my mind many times. Not about that particular hoodie, but other t-shirts I have seen elsewhere. There was a site that had some cracking Rovers t-shirts. Simple design, big Rovers crest printed on the front in a range of colours. All have been taken down. I don't know if the club had a word? Maybe. My point is, they were simple, but quality t-shirts which should have been on sale in our own club shop! No care or imagination for that though.

You're absolutely right, Chaddy. You think like that, I think like that, as do many others. The problem is, nobody in a senior position at the club (above JDT) thinks like that. That is what is most likely going to prevent us from a top 2 finish. The Division is there for the taking next season. Nothing to fear whatsoever from Leeds, Leicester and Southampton coming down, imo. If we can get the right signings in I expect us to be in the play off mix again. I'm not impressed with us being linked with lower league players so far, but there's time for that to change and for better players to actually arrive later on.

This brings back memories and a half. Brilliant how we troubled them for many years after our title win, even in our worst state too in 2011. Feed the Yak! Every Rovers goal scored at Old Trafford since 1993.

Yes, you're right. I've just had a search around online and it was Worthington who started that off. Surprised by that. I assumed it was Wenger as I remember him moaning about us "bullying" his teams. It just goes to show though, it wasn't just the big names who we got to and irritated back then. I'd take managers and fans disliking us because we pose a threat to them, over empty platitudes because we are no threat to them, every day of the week.

Do you fancy taking part in a game, @tomphil? I'll pose you a question. All you need to do is select an answer from the options provided. Good luck: According to popular opinion amongst parts of the Rovers fanbase, Blackburn Rovers has what kind of fans? Is it: a) Loyal fans b) Many fans c) Long suffering fans d) Shit fans The prize for picking the right answer is, that some of the posts on this thread will start to make sense.

No, I get that. There likely aren't thousands waiting for Venky's to leave before making a return. But they are the primary reason why thousands walked. The response to relegation in 2012 lies squarely at their door. It was anything but a normal response, in terms of the numbers that said enough is enough. The minute they sell up, the whole atmosphere around the club will change.

That's on a par with Mowbray's "it's not 1995 anymore" comment, imo, and quite frankly, to hear/read it from a fan, as a seemingly indirect attempt at defending these season ticket sales and the berks running the show, is incredible. You are aware, I presume, of the damage that the owners have done to this club and the fanbase? 10,000 fans walked away in 2012. Some because of relegation, yes, but many in disgust at what was going on at the club in terms of who was running it and how. John Williams himself felt he had no choice but to walk away, we've had Salgado openly talking about a beautiful club being ruined, we've had Morten laying into people for furthering their own agendas at the club. The club and the fanbase has never recovered from those days. Some still question what might be happening at the club. Yet the "venky thing" is bollocks? The real reason for low ticket sales is Shearer isn't playing here anymore? Unbelievable. I don't doubt you have heard people mention Shearer to you, but that doesn't apply to the thousands who have walked away and who refuse to return. The very essence of the club has been ruined and dismantled since 2010, the club turned into a shell with a big cloud hanging over it, most of us hoping we can make it back up to the Prem somehow, hoping that might result in the cloud deciding to piss off. You've admitted yourself that Rovers isn't a normal club under these owners. The situation isn't normal, nothing has been normal about the last 13 years. So why then, are you using a £10 ticket deal against Reading as a stick to beat the fans with? That's exactly what swag and Co are doing to justify current prices. I'm in little doubt that such lines are being fed to the owners too by people seeking to cover their own backs. "Oh those fans? They aren't happy because Shearer and Sutton aren't here anymore, we can't do much about them sadly, but we do have an 82 percent renewal rate and are on track for the best sales in years". Crack on. Shit fans. Aye.

I think that was the game where Fabregas said "I thought you played for Barcelona" to Hughes on the pitch after full time. Only because we didn't let them beat us, of course. I loved seeing us wind Wenger and his team up. It was him that started off the "bully boys" nonsense, I think. Lucas Neill, Todd, Mokoena, Nelsen. You can't mess with those guys. Looking back on old games from around that time on YouTube, even the likes of Nils Eric Johansson, Ferguson and Reidy are flying in, fighting for the ball. Despite Wenger's views on us, I always enjoyed watching his teams. They played some fantastic football and were always my preferred choice over Fergie's lot for the title (as we couldn't be up there with them in the 2000s).

Yes! That's the one. Thanks for finding that.

Leicester must have been laughing all the way to the bank. They could have got him cheaper a year or so earlier, but decided to wait and paid a higher fee for him instead. Maybe they have been to that transfer school after all. Sums up their crazy approach to transfers in recent years. The amount of money they waste and the wages they pay average players is frightening. That's their problem though. Carry on sweeping up, Pep.

Yeah, that was another special performance. I remember a stunning double save he made late on in that game to keep us in the tie. Fingertips to keep the first effort out. He was on the floor for the second shot but kept that out too. Special keeper.

I can never tire of seeing United lose games, especially cup finals. They have made some improvements under Ten Hag, but still look to be a long way away from being a real title contender. The crazy thing for them is, it's not due to a lack of funds. They have plenty available to spend and have spent shedloads in the post Fergie years. Sancho and Antony cost, what, a combined £150m? Pfft. Apart from Rashford, their attacking options aren't good enough, imo. Their recruitment team doesn't fancy taking a few classes at the Balaji Rao School of Transfer Business, does it? It's a strange one with City for me. I neither like them or dislike them, but I'm glad they are standing in the way of United and Liverpool winning things. Particularly the former.

There were many special Brad performances, the cup final display being right up there. However, I'm going with oldjamfan's pick too. Arsenal away in October 2002 was absolutely stunning. Our goal was under siege for the final 30 minutes as we held on to a 2-1 lead. Against that Arsenal side containing the likes of Pires, Henry and Bergkamp. Wave after wave of Arsenal attack, but Brad kept everything out! Even now, 20 years on, I'm still buzzing thinking back to that afternoon. Superb. Honourable mention for Duffer too, tearing Spurs to shreds at White Hart Lane on the final day of the 2002/03 season. What a way to secure a top 6 finish.

The thing is, it's quite easy to be taken in by these chancers. They know how to play the fans by way of schmoozing, jargon and the crafty use of data to make it seem like things are going well and that bigger, more exciting plans are in the pipeline. Whatever happened to the blueprints that the 'ambitious' swag had for the club? It's all bluster. He can't get a stitch pitch sorted out with the owners, forget ambitious blueprints. I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning, and in no way am I suggesting the first paragraph applies to him, it doesn't. The point is more about swag. However, swag even had Glen temporarily impressed after their first meeting. Thankfully, he took a step back, looked at the situation and saw swag for the bullshitter that he is shortly afterwards, as confirmed by their second meeting. The wider point is that these slippery bastards are able to impress most people. If a fan goes in there with their guard down and with the belief that those on the ground are blameless and that it's all on the owners, they're toast. Why is it that those on here who: sarcastically refer to posters as "experts", "no nowts", who tell others to do some research, or to put their cv's in, or state "I trust the experts, thanks" are all people who have had or continue to have discussions with the car salesman? That's not a coincidence, for me.

The clever use of words and numbers to try and confuse and impress the masses. That's the way charlatans operate. I'll stick with the eye test. The car salesman trying to crow about current season ticket sales. Have some shame. Pillock.

“I had a tremendous time of not just my career but my lifetime playing at Blackburn. I thought it was a truly impeccably run club at the time I was here and it is just incredibly fond memories of my time.” “The league cup was a highlight no doubt, winning promotion straight away was a big highlight, the European campaigns, was a highlight, and every time you step out on the field is a highlight,” he said. “The way the club was run, with Graeme Souness and Mark Hughes, no player could complain about how things were set up here". I shouldn't have read that at this time of night. Quotes taken from article below: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/17419304.brad-friedel-humbled-rovers-hall-fame-inclusion/

It's probably the only chance they will get to see Liverpool at Deepdale for a long time. I'm pleased for them.

Recess on a Saturday morning for me. That was unmissable. There have to be a few Recess fans on here, surely?