I agree with you. Since returning to the Championship from League 1 (and probably before, I'm not going back that far) Rovers have always fallen short when the stakes are higher which speaks to a flaw in the overall mentality irrespective of players or the manager. Mowbray's teams constantly got beat off those above them in the league. JDT's lot had a near 100% loss record if they went 1-0 down. Eustace took over a team in 17th yet scraped a 19th placed finish thanks to a win against a hungover Leicester team on the last day of the season. Look what Ismael has done; gifted 2 terrible teams in Swansea and Derby extremely comfortable wins. Very few expect anything other than defeat tonight. Does Venkys abysmal ownership bleed all the way down to shying away from opportunity when it presents itself?

I went down a small rabbit hole on this and I'd love to hear an explanation as to why Rovers perform poorly post-Christmas. 2020-21 Rovers were 8th on Christmas day and finished 15th. 2012-22 Rovers were 4th on Christmas day and finished 8th. 2022-23 Rovers were 3rd on Christmas day and finished 7th. 2023-24 Rovers were 9th on Christmas day and finished 19th. 2024-25 Rovers were 8th on Christmas day, and finished ???

On Christmas Day 2024 Rovers sat in 5th spot on 37 points (1.75ppg). 11 points behind Sheff Utd who were top. Today Rovers sit in 8th on 52 points having earned 15 points over the last 15 games and are now 24 points behind first placed Leeds who along with Burnley and Coventry have all gained 30 points (2ppg) or more over the time period. Only the current bottom 3; Derby (8), Luton (6), and Plymouth (12), along with Stoke (14) have accrued less points than Rovers since the day before Rovers drew with Sunderland at Ewood.

I was watching Man U-Arsenal yesterday and the commentator said that Liverpool have only 3 more points now than they did at this stage last season. Arsenal's gap is now a whopping 15 points with a game in hand. The title will be sewn up before Easter if the status quo is maintained. The game itself was underwhelming. Man U spent over £100m on two number 9's in Hojlund and Zirkzee who managed to make toothless Arsenal look better equipped. Zirkzee plays scared and Hojlund has the first touch of a trampoline. Slot has done remarkably well but he could be in for a rude awakening next season if any or all of the 3 out of contract players opt to leave. Bradley looks like he can replace TAA, but it's nigh on impossible to replicate Salah and van Dijk's contributions. Relegation is all but sorted too. All 3 promoted teams were odds on for the drop before a ball was kicked. Southampton were saddled with Russell Martin. Leicester lost their manager and best player to Chelsea. 2 promotions in 2 years was a bridge too far for a hardworking yet limited Ipswich side. The 2023-24 season was very similar with all 3 promoted teams ill-equipped to avoid relegation. Burnley decided to try to make money by buying project players with a sellable upside rather than trying to stay up. Sheff Utd sold or had to return the good players who got them promoted, and Luton tried their hardest but, like Ipswich, it was too soon for them to build any foundations.

Slim to no chance of a result here. Gallagher scoring for Stoke too. Mods; the game is on Wednesday the 12th.

Rovers aren't scoring 3 goals away from home so going 2-0 before the 10 minute mark cemented the result. Would it have been different if Ohashi had not missed that sitter when Travis put him through? I doubt it, but we'll never know. Pears has been letting in clangers since his appalling performance at Wigan in the FA cup a few seasons ago. Surely those on the coaching staff who have been at Ewood long enough have logged his catalogue of errors. Today effectively ended Rovers playoff hopes. It looked plausible a few weeks ago but not anymore. Eustace leaving hasn't helped, but he's not to blame. Plenty on here sound like broken records but as long as Venkys are in charge Rovers are going nowhere. January 2025 was another opportunity to bring in 2 or 3 quality players who could help a promotion push. Instead the local powers that be sanctioned has beens, projects, and never will be's. It was a disgraceful window and because of that Rovers will limp along to a 10th place finish.

In any normal business your stance would be quite normal. However, football clubs aren't normal which makes the axing of free meals for staff a lightning rod for criticism. I've read articles talking about the football tax that employees of clubs pay. Many day-to-day staff will take less money to work for the club they support. Giving them a free lunch is a small gesture of goodwill. Likewise with Ferguson's stipend. It's a complete loser financially so getting rid of it is prudent financial move but creates more animosity between the club and its fans. The bigger picture is that as long as Ratcliffe and the Glazers are paying Champions League level wages to substandard players who can't get them there they'll have to cut cut and cut elsewhere to offset the lack of that European lucre they so crave. This plus the second round of redundancies has Man U fan groups are telling match goers to wear black tomorrow to signify that the club is "dying". Thousands of empty seats would probably send a bigger message but they are doing something.

That game had a draw written all over it. 85 minutes of toil followed by 10 minutes of madness yet the result was the same. No final ball at all today. I thought that the manager did well. Decent subs for what he has available and they looked lively.

I still don't get the "found out" comments? What has he been found out for? He's won everything there is to win many times over. He's not suddenly turned crap, nor have other managers twigged on how to beat him. It's pretty simple to me as I said earlier; his core players are all on the decline, and some of them have gone downhill quickly. Add in the fact that the player who makes them tick has been out all season and you end up with the current state. He'll be back, and yes he will spend boatloads getting players in to do it, but a calling him a cheque book manager sells him short. If it was solely transfer spend Man U would be up there. Speaking of Man U Ratcliffe is at it again; Guardian: Man U to close staff canteen Top brass at the club are nixing free meals for staff to save £1million per year. What a horrible man he is. How this will get them winning the league again is beyond me.

Found out? In what way? He is a genius manager. His City team is now too old and slow. Liverpool ran them ragged. I will say that his pass pass pass football is coming to its end. Long balls are now back in fashion.

Utterly shambolic defending for Swansea’s goals. Plenty of others have already said what I would about the individuals involved. I will add that Travis gave away yet another stupid free kick Gueye’s magic dust looks to have worn off. He can’t trap a bag of sand today. What does Forshaw bring to the party? 3 subs are on. 3 down as I’m writing this. Game certainly over now.

😀 I understand where you are coming from. I think that there has to be a decent manager somewhere inside Gerrard. He led Rangers to a title and an unbeaten season. That's not easy, even discounting that it was in Scotland. However, since then he's not been good. Boring at Villa, then an inexplicable move to a Saudi team without the might of PIF money that ended with a shrug. He needs to resurrect himself and what better chance to do that than getting Rovers promoted. My choices; Jurgen Klopp then Alan Shearer. Based on this list I'd take Gary O'Neil. Lee Carsley - 7/4 Gary O'Neil - 6/1 Rob Edwards - 7/1 David Lowe - 10/1 Ryan Lowe - 10/1 Richie Wellens - 12/1 Aitor Karanka - 15/1 Valerien Ismael - 22/1 Carlos Carvalhal - 25/1 Steve Cooper - 25/1

I'm glad too based on you offering up Gerrard.

He owns 25% or thereabouts. My theory is that the Glazers are having him do all this in public as he's technically local so they don't feel the wrath. The club is worth north of £5bn. Ratcliffe is a businessman who made his big money flipping companies, he will get a nice windfall if they sell. I'm sure that is hard for him to pass up. If this is not the case Ratcliffe is doing a shambolic job of running the club. I didn't see the game yesterday but not scoring against Spurs is an indictment in itself, never mind the plethora of teenagers on the subs bench.

I think that you are right. Rovers are averaging 1.5 points per game. Carrying that on will have Rovers ending on 69 points. The same as JDT's 7th place finish. On paper Rovers have a decent run in. Games against 6 of the current bottom 8. Have already played 1st and 3rd twice. Play 2nd the last day of the season when they are hopefully in party mode. Plus Sheff Wed, Boro, and Norwich at home. I will caveat this with the fact that this is Blackburn Rovers who are managerless, run by fools, and don't score many goals.

Leaving Rovers current debacle aside for a minute it seems that Ratcliffe is wielding the axe again at Man U; BBC: more redundancies at Man U Having laid over 250 staff last year Man U may now lay off another 200 to save money. I'm no fortune teller but in the world of Premier League football running a slash and burn cost cutting operation seldom leads to on field success. My cynical take is that he's doing it on purpose again to make the club look favourable to potential buyers. Although I'm sure that there are many oil rich middle eastern princes would buy it tomorrow as is. Either way, the way it looks to me is that Man U won't be winning the league any time soon.

What a surreal game. It's been a trying week to be a Rovers fan. I wasn't expecting much from a midweek away game to a team higher in the table, but I am happily proven wrong. The first half was boring with Rovers offering little, but what else from a team reeling from losing their manager? Gueye steps up in the second, bangs 2 in, and was unlucky not to get a third. All whilst West Brom did virtually nothing again. Pears did well in the last 10. 5th. What a strange spot to be in.

It would be very annoying not having US commentators.

Superbowl 2025 is on Sunday. It's always a good time over here. Kansas City are going for their 3rd in a row against the Philadelphia Eagles. Taylor Swift will be there. Kendrick Lamar is doing the half time show.

I was only commenting on your Dolan line. I don't lump them together, hence no mention of Hedges.

He was also pressing a lot on his own. He'd run toward the fullback who'd just pass it around him. Looking busy but not actually doing anything productive.

Dolan started the season well, most on here acknowledged that. Since about October he's reverted to type. He was poor last night and overall, it summed up his Rovers career; looked busy, bad decision making, a goal from nothing, then off after 60 minutes. He was at his most frustrating at the start. His foul for the free kick that led to their first goal was amateur hour. Then not 2 minutes later he was driving toward their box, had a great opportunity to put Gueye in on goal but didn't pass it and instead ran into 2 defenders on the edge of the box. As to your "lack of football knowledge" comment, are you saying that you have more than everyone else on here who's watched Dolan over the past few years? He's not good enough, but he'll leave in the summer and will be replaced by an even lesser player.

That was disappointing. QPR are poor. A long ball team with no pace. Nobody played well but the usual suspects of Dolan, Hedges, and Pears were very poor today. Gueye couldn't trap a bag of sand either. I thought Beck was way off it. The pitch was awful, but no excuse for the loss.

A good win. The first 30 minutes were excellent, yet due to a lack of depth Rovers players got tired and PNE came into it the longer the game went on. I thought Rovers penalty was a soft decision, but I'll take it as the opposite usually happens with nothing being given for blatant fouls. I don't rate Dolan. I thought that he was anonymous, then he pops up with a great ball for the first goal. He's not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough, but has moments. He'd be a world beater at 7-a-side or futsal. Gueye played very well. He tried a couple of Hollywood passes that missed but his touch has improved. He had one chest control in the first half that stuck to him like glue. Did anyone else wonder what Rovers were doing at kickoff? 4 players, including Beck, were lined up on the left side of the halfway line. I expected a quick pass back then a knock to the left corner. Instead of that I saw 4 backwards passes ending up with Pears slicing a rushed clearance that barely made it to the centre spot. It was very strange and looked amateurish.

Steven Gerrard is out at Al-Ettifaq after a very uninspiring spell there; ESPN: Gerrard out Not too many years ago he was being touted as Klopp's replacement. What now for him? I assume that due to his name some team will jump at him soon. Would anyone take him at Rovers if Eustace walks?