From a Leicester City transfer account on Twitter. Not the most reliable of places, I know, but sounds like a plausible deal based on our current transfer policy.

Bannan would be a quality signing. I've seen a couple of Leicester fans say Rovers are after Leshabela on loan from them. He's a centre mid. No idea how good he is though.

I think we need somebody to challenge Nyambe at RB and also another left back. JRC isn't the answer in either position, imo. A decent centre back on a permanent is a must, that has been needed for a long time though. We need at least two central midfielders to come in to replace Holtby and Evans and a proper right winger to avoid the madness of Gallagher being played out there. A lot of work to do with not much of a budget. My guess is that Rhys Williams will be the next Premier League loan to arrive here.

This reminds me of that 'Jason Roberts finishing masterclass' video that surfaced around 2008/9. In a way I'm glad to see a wave of interest in Rovers from South America. The Brereton story is putting Rovers back on the map, so to speak. The sad thing is that the club has been reduced to this shell with no ambition, ran by people who are out of their depth. There's sudden excitement around Rovers from abroad, it looks like there are going to be many new onlookers next season. However, the reality here doesn't tally up with that excitement and it hurts to say that.

The stage is set for us to seal promotion at Deepdale again. We won't be visiting there until late April. As for Swansea, not the easiest of starts, but it's better to get one of the tougher games out of the way early on.

I see, thanks for that. The lack of communication from the club shouldn't surprise me. It looks like it's a case of ring up and collect or it will be binned if the club doesn't hear from you.

Does anybody know what is happening with the cardboard cutouts? As far as I know, fans had the choice to either collect their cutout from Ewood after the season had ended or ask the club to dispose of it. That was a year ago, however. The cutouts got an extra season for 'free' with nobody able to attend last season. I'm assuming the club will be in touch at some point (probably a week before the new season starts) with fans now being allowed back in. Is there a chance that the cutouts could be moved to the otherwise empty Darwen End?

That would be fantastic. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks in advance.

He's just saying that. He doesn't want the Dortmund fans to think he was close to signing for a bigger club than them 😁.

Yes, I remember that game. Rovers were 2-0 up. Shearer scored a penalty at the Blackburn End to make it 2-1. The Blackburn End and parts of the Riverside, including me, stood up to applaud him. It was a landmark goal for him. I can't quite remember the reaction when he made it 2-2 that day, but the penalty sticks in my mind. I did not like the initial reception he received back in '96 one bit. I remember him being shocked and angry about it in his post match interview. That's probably why he did that celebration towards the Blackburn End in the cup game in '99. It's great to see that he still holds the club and his time here in high regard. I think the street naming and being inducted into the Rovers Hall of Fame has shown him that he's still appreciated around these parts. For me, it's ever since the 20th anniversary get together that I've really noticed him speak fondly about the club. That's not to say he spoke poorly of the club before, he just didn't mention Rovers much. You can see that he genuinely enjoys telling Lineker, Richards and others how "little old Blackburn took on the big boys and beat them" and I love hearing it 😁.

It's as bizarre a call up as any of us are likely to witness. Hope it goes well for him though. If he can score a few for them it can only be a good thing for us. I'm quite happy at the thought of there being more interest in Rovers from fans in Chile as a result of this.

Yes, that's right. Yuran lobbed Flowers for their goal. I've posted that goal below: Extended highlights of that Spartak game below if anybody is interested. With Russian commentary, however. I remember being excited about that Lyon game being shown live on the BBC. It was a corker from Bak to be fair.

That mob acts as though we have a Brian Clough type figure as manager. Somebody who has won us a European Cup, who they can never find it in their heart to go against. Their arguments are flimsy and all on the same lines. "He's a nice guy" and "look at everything he has done for us", oh and "who else can we get". They forget that Mowbray had 15 games to save us from L1 when he arrived. Yeah, Coyle did a lot of the damage, but that doesn't mean Mowbray was totally innocent that season. I don't recall the "look at everything he has done for us" line for Souness in 2004. Now there's a manager who that line could apply to. However, in football every manager has a shelf life and when things are going pear shaped every normal club acts. That's the life of a manager. The facebook lot being all sentimental about a shit manager, one who looks down on our club, who talks our club down, need to get a bloody grip!!

I can believe that. He said exactly that in an interview with Andy Bayes not so long ago when he was questioned about our poor form. It angered me as his response to mild questioning was basically "I don't need this" and he gave off the impression that he was doing us a favour by being here. I see he has got "honesty" and "integrity" in there again as well as mentioning his family. If he ever does get sacked here, just watch the sympathetic reaction he gets from the press as the fans are made out to be 'ungrateful', 'spoilt' and so on. Only at this club, under these owners, can such a charade play out.

I have no issue with Bell leaving. He looked ok in a couple of games here and there but he is League 1 level overall. The question is can this lot find a decent replacement for him? That's my worry. I really hope they don't go and do something like George Friend in on a cheap deal from Birmingham. Friend was good about 6 years ago, I wanted us to sign him back then. Not now though. We haven't been linked with him. I just see an ageing, experienced left back with a Boro connection. Don't do it, Tony.

Thank you for the detailed response, Rogerb. It's interesting to read that the attendances for the Champions League games were not that much higher than those for domestic cup games. 20k sounds decent, though, when considering the low number of visiting fans and the tv factor. I had completely forgotten about that potential game in 2007. Maybe it's just as well that we didn't face Legia at the time. They are well known for having an element of their support whose main interest isn't the football on the pitch. Looking back now, it's so disappointing how our European campaign fizzled out. The only game where we performed was the last one, when it was too late. A great opportunity was missed to build the club up. We could have had Zidane and Dugarry in our side that summer too, ready to help us in the Champions League, but it wasn't to be. Our time in the Champions League is remembered for two things: Le Saux and Batty fighting on the pitch in Moscow and Mike Newell's record setting hat-trick. A record which stood until 2011 and something that I had over non Rovers supporting mates 😁.

The recent talk of the ESL and the changes made to the Champions League format got me thinking back to our Champions League campaign in the 1995/96 season. I was a kid at the time and remember watching all of our European games on ITV that season. Of course, with the way things are looking there is little chance of Rovers playing in that competition again. I've always wondered what the atmosphere was like at Ewood for those games in 1995. We had Spartak Moscow, Legia Warsaw and Rosenborg visit Ewood. My questions for those who attended the games are: Did any of those teams bring a sizeable away following to Ewood? Which of those visiting fans created the best atmosphere? I thought I read somewhere that one of those sides only had 50 fans over and they were placed in the JW upper tier towards the Darwen End. Is that true? As someone who has a vision of 5,000 Dortmund fans stood in silence in the Darwen End as Rovers stuff them (Ha!), I'm just curious to know what the atmosphere was like. After all, the only reason we are all unhappy with 15th in the Championship because we keep thinking about 1995. So why don't we go back there in this thread? 😁.

There have been many aimless, wasted seasons under these owners. With the exception of 13/14, the rest have been forgettable, imo. I'd have the end of the 15/16 season second to this one in terms of boring finishes. This season tops that, for me. Our season was over in February. The manager was making baffling comments every week. I'm results based, no, I'm performance based, Hang on...we've got the third best passing stats...the stats guys are telling me...erm, I don't look at the table... I don't care where we finish...it isn't 1995 anymore, I hope the fans understand. Most of that said as we went on a run of 2 wins in 17. Add to that the pandemic, an empty stadium and it being a case of 'ifollow or nothing' if you wanted to watch a game, it all made it a long, drawn out end to the season.

It was an excellent display. I remember Duffer being unplayable that day, they just could not handle him. What a way to grab a UEFA Cup spot, on the final day and infront of that pretentious mob. A year on from Cardiff too. I loved how Rovers would often throw a spanner in the works. The line "they still have to go to Ewood Park yet, that's not an easy place to get a result" sticks in my mind. It wasn't just pundits either, other fans recognised that too. A world away from today, sadly.

Keep on sharing, Mercer. We hear nothing but bullshit and propaganda from the likes of the LT, journalists on twitter and the facebook brigade. All who are way behind the curve. Personally, I'm glad to hear of any potential news or developments at the club from posters on here. It brings a bit of hope. Yes, things don't always come off, but with these unpredictable owners things can change on a whim.

Does anybody have the 2002/3 season review? I'm guessing it was on DVD by that point. There were a lot of good moments that season, topped off with the way we ripped Spurs apart on the last day of the season. I would love to see some of that season on here (or the brfcs YouTube), if possible.

Fair play to Armstrong for his goal tally this season. One of few positives in an abysmal season. Back to back hat-tricks too in the last two home games. An impressive ending for him personally. To have a 28 goal striker and finish as low as we have is a disgrace. Another season wasted where we had a forward bagging the goals. It happened with Rhodes and Gestede, it's happened again with Armstrong. How we replace his goals next season, I don't know.

Wasn't there a rumour a year or so ago that they were looking to get a new investor on board? I'm sure I read something along those lines. I really hope there is something in it. They currently don't seem to realise or care that they are not too far away from a Premier League windfall were they to have promotion as a serious aim. A new investor might be able to get that through to them.

It was exciting to watch. We had the perfect mix of experience and youth and we had good finishers in Jansen and Bent. Most importantly, we had a winner as manager. So many good memories from that time. Thrashing Premier League Derby 5-2 in the FA Cup was a personal favourite. The 4-1 drubbing we handed out at the Reebok, the 5-0 win against that lot, the 1-0 promotion sealing win at Deepdale. Couldn't hope for a better season than that. The current squad is miles away from that. I'd love to talk about the current squad and the football as it is. However, the entire setup, the manager situation, the lack of hope, the lack of direction and ambition...it all leaves me with no good feeling about present day Rovers. It isn't due to us not being in the Premier League. It's the fact that the club is being allowed to flounder by the owners, leaving us with chumps at the helm who talk utter drivel as we head towards League One again. There is no plan, no progress being made, yet we are supposed to be grateful to Venky's and Mowbray is the best we can hope for. I despair.

Ah, I think you have got the seasons mixed up there. That Tugay game was during the following season. We did play Liverpool at Ewood three days before the said Birmingham game. We lost 1-0 with Robbie Fowler scoring a dodgy offside goal at the Blackburn End. I can't believe that was 15 years ago. I'd love to have that feeling back, where Monday would arrive and I was already looking towards Saturday.