Uddersfelt Blue

I thought I read somewhere that these loans were in lieu of the money that all clubs would receive at the end of the season.

You can’t really compare this situation to the one that Bury were in. It’s not the leagues responsibility to keep football clubs afloat when they overspend or are mismanaged.

I like Rothwell but he often looks like the kid in the playground who gets the ball, tries to beat everyone and score the goals. With little actual end product. Unfortunately modern day football is miles away from the kids playground and he needs to know when to pass as that is the style of football that Mowbray is wanting us to play. There is room for Rothwell but maybe not out wide

We may have unearthed a little gem of a player. Great performance today which could (should) have been polished off with the winning goal

A tough game, no doubt about it. A win would be good but a draw will be just fine. Good luck to those travelling to the game

Game played out as many probably expected. Fulham much the better team technically and Rovers lacking any creativity. what surprised me the most was that we really didn’t put them under any pressure until they scored. Too many nervous wayward passes, Travis didn’t really get going until Johnson went off (a clue there). I don’t like criticising players who give their all and Gallagher certainly does that but why on earth do we keep him out on the wing. On one occasion he won a header only to see it go out of play. Surely he should be doing that in a central position and leaving the wing play to someone with the relevant skills (Chapman?). Overall a reasonable performance in the circumstances we find ourselves in, a bit of luck for their goal was the difference in terms of goals scored. This league is not really that strong and it’s just a shame we aren’t really in a position to put in a serious challenge.

Why shouldn’t we win? We are one of the top teams on current form. Yes, Fulham are doing well too but beatable

Bristol City just lost 3-1 to Birmingham this evening. A win for Rovers puts us within 3 points of 6th as it stands. What better incentive to have a right good go at Fulham

Interesting debate however we are where we are and have to finish the season with the current squad. Of course we are disappointed that we haven’t added some quality (not depth) as that is what we need given the shortcomings in certain positions. it’s fairly obvious however that we would have had to spend megabucks to buy the quality players that would guarantee a promotion push and this window is not the time for such a squad rebuild. Im expecting the season to fizzle out with a comfortable mid table finish in which case I hope the younger players get their chances.

Believe you me, IF we get into the play-offs, folk will turn up regardless off price, temperature or whatever. It's just the nature of many fans (not just Rovers), they can't be bothered unless there's a smell of success.

I thought Rothwell had a decent game at Sheff Wed. A lot more effective with the ball

If Rovers have recalled him then that must be with a view to playing him, either that or to sell him or loan him to someone else.

Unless we are planning a big push for promotion then for this window we can probably manage with what we have, with the exception of a striker. As for next summer then I think we need to be concerned because we need to replace several players either on loan, too old or out of contract, (just to stand still).

Surely FFP would only come into play at the end of the 20/21 season. Whilst in League 1 we were under a different set of rules Championship cover maximum losses of £39m over 3 years with presumably Year 1 being last season. FFP is a load of bollocks anyway with clubs seemingly wriggling out of the rules as they wish

Surely money can be made available for another Brereton or Gallagher type, an impact signing ?

Have to laugh because most of the above is a fair representation of our current situation. However I hope we still have it in us to challenge for top 6 but much will depend on who if anyone we bring in. What happened to the rumour of us signing Schmidt?

To be far, when tickets went on sale both teams were doing nicely and all indications were that there would be decent crowd with Preston selling out their allocation. Clearly, given the form of both teams that isn’t likely so no risk of their fans buying tickets in home areas

It has to be a 2-0 win for Rovers so we can go above them on alphabetical order by virtue of having exactly the same number of points, goals scored and goals against. Simples

Besides, he wouldn’t be allowed on the pitch with a walking stick?

Of course this is a winnable game. Much will depend on the players available and whether the management team can organise them into a unit that is resilient with players doing their jobs.

And mine. Don't recall anyone called Garner running the Sportsmans, must have been after I left Blackburn in the mid 80's

Having done the preview for the home game against Town I thought I may as well do the return one, which is effectively a home fixture for me and the small, but loyal group of Rovers fans living in the Kirklees council district. The home fixture produced a 2-2 draw with both teams having mixed fortunes since, Town just escaping the relegation zone and Rovers brushing off a poor October to begin an unbeaten run that sees us on the brink of the play-offs. Rovers are sure to have a good following and with Town having a significant number of season ticket holders, the game should be almost sold out. Town are still finding life tough in the Championship but the signs are that they have enough quality to consolidate in the division. There’s no doubt this game will be a tough one for Rovers particularly without Bradley Dack, who isn’t likely to feature again for Rovers until the end of next year. Whether Rovers jump into the transfer market to replace him remains to be seen, but in the meantime it gives other Rovers players an opportunity. With Town hanging on at the end to beat Forest in their last home game and apparently having chances to get a result at Boro on Boxing Day it will be interesting to see if Rovers can maintain their recent unbeaten run.

If the injury is as bad as we fear then no doubt that this is a serious blow to our chances of pushing for promotion. However it gives those who replace him the opportunity to shine. Ironically, before the injury Rothwell had been poor but afterwards he sprang to life as if suddenly realising that more would be expected of him.

First memory - sitting on a bench over the Riverside wall watching us lose 2-0 to West Brom (1963/64). I was hooked from then on. Favourite memory - Coming back from 2-0 down to beat Plymouth at home (15th Feb 1975)

Rothwell didn’t have a great game at Stoke but doesn’t deserve dropping on the basis of that if fit.