Mercer

It would help if we had a half decent Sports Science department!!!

I don't think our sports science staff even know what day it is. Fifth raters in my opinion.

The Bonny Inn!! Was Jim the landlord when you frequented? A larger than life character - enjoyed a couple of 'lock-ins' with Jim and a couple of well known Rovers' players who lived just down the road.

Some fine pubs in there - downed a few in all of them. Did the 'Revidge run' 3 or 4 times and on one occasion we foolishly called taxis fron The Woodlands and ended up at Trader Jack's in Blackpool and blagged a couple of rooms at The Imperial. Sadly, pubs are dead now unless there's a good food offering.

Whitbread acquired Duttons in the 1960's but, if my memory is correct, stopped their brewing operation in High Street (Blackburn town centre) in the late 1970's - Samlesbury was one of Whitbread's 'super' breweries and came into operation the the early 1970's. Whitbread sold their beer business to the Belgian owners of Stella Artois about 25 years ago and that business is now part of the biggest brewer in the world (Anheuser-Busch InBev) - from little acorns...!!! Lion Brewery was taken over by Matthew Brown about 100 years ago who in turn were taken over by Scottish & Newcastle in the 1990's - S & N closed the site at Little Harwood within 2 or 3 years of their acquisition. Thwaites was Blackburn's oldest brewer with its iconic Christmas Star on its roof. Sadly, Thwaites' beer business declined pretty rapidly and a number of its brands were sold to Marstons Brewery about 10 years ago who in turn are now part of Carlsberg. All that remains of the Thwaites brewing operation is a craft brewery at Mellor Brook but Thwaites still do have a number of hotels and pubs. Talking of pubs and pub runs, I would think there are a good number on here who will remember the 'Revidge run' starting at Bulls Head, Wilpshire, up Pleckgate Road, along Revidge Road and finishing at Woodlands (top of Preston New Road). Of those 10 / 12 pubs, sadly I think there are only 3 / 4 still open. A blurry blast it was!!!

Couldn't choose a better fixture to get the home form monkey off our back! The southern softies will be like lambs being led to slaughter. Pile in on Rovers' win at 5/4 and have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

A decent night - in pocket and Rovers' win! PNE are shite - frightening to think they would have gone second with a win. Just how poor and open is this league!? Reality is we are a bottom eight side. Some decent performances but a few concerns with a number of ours either not good enough for the Championship or physically not suited to it. As for Baradji - looked like he'd come on for a little knock about with his mates. So laid back. Big question mark there.

Montgomery embarrassingly way out of his depth. Keep saying it but one of the most over-hyped players to come through the academy. Needs hooking at half time.

Not impressed by PNE. Anyone's game. Had a nice inplay flutter on Rovers at 5/2.

Who is good from the staff!?!?

Absolutely spot on. I remember Colin Hendry buying a house on a new development at Beardwood, Stuart Ripley, Chris Sutton and Patrick Valery having houses on The Rydings, Langho, Damien Duff living in Hurst Green and cycling to and from the training ground whilst Tronstad lives on the Brockhall development. Northcote / Langho also decent enough for Alan Pace and Owen Coyle! Can remember Jim Smith buying property at the top of Preston New Road and Bobby Saxton buying a house in Mellor. There are many desirable places to live within easy reach of Brockhall. The Carter issue is also very relevant.

To be honest, very much doubt they have either element! When the going gets tough, we will really need the 'Labore' element - wouldn't fancy being in the trenches with too many of ours!

Think the chances of re-rupture after surgery are circa 10%. The worry for me would be it it's a tear to the one previously ruptured as perhaps indicative of some weakness in the tissue.

Dou know if that's the one he previously ruptured? Even for a slight tear, 10 weeks seems optimistic - would think a minimum of 3 months given the stresses and strains of professional football.

If correct that's Wharton's season over - be lucky to see him playing before next Christmas!

Cantwell has now been out for 5 weeks and counting "after taking a kick on the knee against Stoke City on October 4". Extract from Jackson's LT article below refers. IMO, it's taking a long time to recover from a "kick on the knee". Ismael's comments are both interesting and worrying. I have no confidence at all in our medical team and if I was Cantwell, I'd be asking to see a top notch orthopaedic surgeon. Cantwell has missed Rovers' last six games after taking a kick on the knee against Stoke City on October 4. Despite the expectation that he would return quickly, his absence has continued to extend. Ismael was coy on whether he would be available for Preston North End after multiple setbacks. Though there's still hope he could be, he will need to prove he's able to train consistently during this period. “Toddy, we will see. At the minute, it’s always a setback," he said. "He is on the pitch and feels good. The next day it’s not good, another day off. He is not getting any consistency in his training. As long as he doesn’t have full week of training, it’s difficult to be optimistic for the game. We have two weeks. "I hope next week he gets some consistency to train fully. If that’s the case, he will be available for Preston.” As for the match itself, think it will be men against boys and we'll come away with our tail between our legs and this will be game 2 of a Mowbray style death spiral.

What a simple and myopic view you have on life. An absolutely nonsensical stance. IMO, Mowbray is a washed-up dinosaur. Wouldn't touch him with the proverbial shitty stick.

Think it was messed-up. The Last Post is usually played before the 1 or 2 minute silence.

Well that was a horror show and, IMO, the resultant of Pasha and Gestede's moronic attempt at playing Football Manager. The horror of starting with Miller, McLoughlin and Hedges as your 3 centre backs says it all. Pears nervous and unconvincing - just a calamity waiting to happen. Our defence. Inevitable we would get ripped one and it could and should have been more than 2 for Derby. Miller is poor, full stop. Wing backs / midfield. Alebiosu - has he run out of steam or has one eye on the AFCON. TGH decent loan signing but a bit of a loose cannon. Morishita just continuing to live up to his name and we chased him all summer! Henriksson, yet another loose cannon but far less effective than TGH. Strikers. Gudjohnsen is a 'good time' player, lazy and ineffective. Ohashi the pick of a poor bunch. Our bench. That tells you just how far we have fallen. Sadly, we are still in a relegation fight and fear we will slip further down the table. Injuries are no excuse, it's what you have a squad for. As for our medical team, I think they are hopeless and need firing. Wharton 'could be okay for today' but now ruled out for 3 months and sat in the stand wearing a medical walking boot and Toth 'out for 4 to 8 weeks' but now 3 months. Think our club has been dumbed down from top to bottom in all areas and the results are painful to see.

They have had injuries all season and still waiting to get players back! You first have to build the foundations before you become more expansive (we played crap football when he saved us from the drop but noticeably improved the following season). The fans firstly want winning football - if you want 'fancy/sexy' football trying following one of Russell Martin's teams (loathed by fans at Southampton and Rangers).

He's going isn't he?! Great move for both Edwards and Wolves. For Wolves, will be very difficult to escape the drop but they will have a manager with a strong track record in the Championship who will have had over 6 months to assess the squad and work out what's required to bounce back next season. And should Edwards pull off the great escape.....!!!!! For Edwards, a move to a club and area where he has a clear affinity. A move which will give him and his family more long term financial security and a better quality of life. In my books, a no brainer for both parties

Pretty sure your family would tell you not to be such a fool! Anyone who turns down an opportunity to give their family a serious uplift in their standard of living and quality of life really needs to give their head a wobble. Alan Pace - if you want to bring me out of retirement for a short term consultancy, I'm ready, willing and able!

Difficult one to call. A draw would be no surprise. However, if I had to make a bet it would be on Derby as given our player absences, I just can't see us keeping a clean sheet with Derby's physicality and also calamity back in goal. IMO, any stick given to Eustace will be moronic given how he saved us from relegation and left us top sixish. It's our, IMO, moronic owners and executive management who should be getting pelters in no uncertain terms for what they have done to our club including the loss of our last two managers (JDT and JE) who would have given us a very good chance of getting to the PL if backed.

@chaddyrovers Burnley Football Club offer you a position at Turf Moor at DOUBLE your current salary and there would be no night shifts (which you tell us you do at the moment), presumably, you would take the job given the big changes to the quality of your life it would bring (certainly think your missus would be salivating!).

Huge blow for both Toth and Rovers given the way he has established himself. Although MRI scans are highly accurate, I was told by a leading NW Orthopaedic Surgeon in a consultation that circa 20% of common injuries are missed or misdiagnosed, commonly those issues in and around tiny structures and even with ACL's, it's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a minor/partial tear and a full tear. Until the surgeon gets in there...............!!!!! Would be amazed if only 4 weeks and getting on for 8 weeks feels more realistic.