You do know there’s no benefit selling in an inflated market, when you have to replace that player in the same market though right? I would’ve been furious had we sold him in January. Absolutely livid. As far as I can see. If the deal was to go ahead then for sure the injury has crushed his dream, but it’s done us and Tony a BIG favour.

Gutted for us!!? Give your head a wobble pal...we’d have been mortified if A fully fit and firing Dack had been sold in January. IF this story is true, and I doubt it, then the injury has saved our outrage and potentially Tony’s job. There’s no simple replacing Dack in January. Even with £20m in your pocket

My point is that With Dack potentially out for the foreseeable, I Think it provides an opportunity for the likes of Holtby, Gallagher, Buckley and Brereton etc to step forward out of the shadows. None of them have had an extended period in those top two positions and the team has been historically set up for Dack. With respect, the people who signed them know a lot more about footballers than you or I. The only thing ridiculous here is you thinking otherwise. There’s lots of reasons why Brereton and Gally haven’t scored. Not being good enough, Time on the pitch, injury, settling in periods, formations, confidence, opportunities Etc etc. I don’t think it’s any one persons fault. I just feel like if I were one of them now I’d see This as a huge opportunity to make the position my own over an extended run. We’ll know whether the manager thinks they’re ready to step in if he trusts them to do so.

Great point! Add Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz and Benny McCarthy to that list... Holtby has all the tools to succeed Dack. Maybe the time has come for Gallagher and Brereton to live up to their price tags and deliver. A chance for Buckley and / or JRC to step up?

We’re not devoid of pace if Rothwell plays...

Haha - That’s weird, I originally typed your team out, agonised over it and switched Holtby and Rothwell round. I think I’d go with your version actually

Thanks Chris. ps - my kids wake up at the crack of dawn every day and yet my wife and I are currently lay awake waiting for them to get up this morning! Sod’s law!! ??

I wonder if we’ll move to a 433 with Dack out...its a formation the staff wanted to play but he never fit into... Walton Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Downing Holtby Travis Johnson Arma Graham Rothwell Im personally unsure that we can sustain any top 6 Chase without Dack. He’s our best and most effective player. Holtby is our only current hope and has the tools and goal threat to challenge. I don’t think Rothwells ability to assist or score goals is good enough to fill that position. My feeling is that should the injury be season ending they will bring in an attacking option on loan in Jan. So sad for Dacky. Will make for an interesting few weeks. Also believe Tosins late injury and realisation that Williams is nowhere near his quality may have been a glimpse of Christmas future for Mowbray. Might just trigger a bit of a spending spree you know guys. ... Merry Christmas everyone ????

Languid first half. Huffed and puffed second half without ever clicking into gear. Wigan came to do a job by breaking the play up with niggly fouls and were assisted by the referee who was as bad as I’ve ever seen. All in all. A frustrating day at the office. I didn’t think we bottled it. Dacks injury potential to derail our season.

Get out onto the front foot tonight. Keep it tight and the result will come. The best chance they have is to frustrate us and nick one... FYI - I’m certainly not ‘dreading’ the team selection tonight. Why would I? We’re on the back of a brilliant run and in our last game the manager rotated 6 players and the ones who came in produced arguably the performance of the season. Only circumstances can conspire against us tonight. Remove the emotion. Treat them as the very poor team they are and run them over.

I’d prefer not to name them mate. They’re my friends ultimately. I’d imagine you probably already have an idea of a couple of them Chaddy...

I agree mate. We need to get on the front foot. Walton Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Downing Travis Evans/Johnson Armstrong Dack Rothwell/Holtby Graham Evans vs Johnson - Evans is in the form of his life and it would be very harsh to drop him. Johnson was awesome against Bristol and at best gives us what Evans does plus attacking prowess - Id go with Evans to begin with. Rothwell vs Holtby - Rothwell deserves a run and has been class but I think he’s a little inconsistent. Holtby has great quality and is getting to the point where he deserves a run. I’d go with Rothwell who could blow Wigan away.

This. 100% ??

No mate, nothing to do with football. I played (quite badly) as a young lad. But a lot of the lads who I played with went on to have decent careers. Some excellent careers....all retired now but most still involved as league scouts, coaches and a couple as managers. A couple of them were blown away by the standard of our facilities. Wasn’t expected. I’m even more convinced than ever that video has been released to attract potential players you know...it’s very impressive that.

.Great post Vinjay ??

No chance...only the ones who’ve come from the Prem will be even close. Interesting timing in getting it out though. Will certainly attract players. Was sent to me by an ex player into a WhatsApp group with four others who are still in football and some of them couldn’t believe the set up. Th Who wouldn’t want to work there right? ?

Hahah in the championship!!? Noooo mate.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B6VrYlSIfBO/?igshid=1wr4q8y576war This is awesome!!

Could I also ask @K-Hod if calling a fellow Rovers fan ‘ignorant’ is as bad as ‘clueless’? In the interests of fairness...They seem equally as bad to me?

I know you were mate. I just can’t believe you’re having to rack your brain to name Lowe and Henley (who were utter bobbins) but somehow win the day because they lived near Blackburn. Mind blowing

Seems like you’re the one who’s all angry pal. You’re the warrior, Not me. Edinho was crap, as were most of the rest who turned up, took a wage and skulked back off to Portugal. If I met the guys dad I’d be pretty happy to tell him that too. In fact I could prob get a few of the squad from that time to stand with me in agreeance whilst I told his dad. ??? Gomes was finished too and defo on his last pay day. Crap ??

Yes, and both were shite! ?? Here’s a good question. How many Blackburn born lads have made it big time Anywhere in the last 20yrs? I’m guessing not so many....so maybe, just maybe we’re not picking them up because they’re not good enough. Why does it matter where we get them from and / or what age? The ONLY thing that matters, surely is that players are transitioning from academy into the first team? Right?

Strange that you’re still going on about mate. You bored?

Ahhh...finally. But no, things have moved on now. The job of top academies like ours and the others in the top category is to produce first team players and revenue in sales. They are looking for the best players nationally and internationally. The local thing is romantic but outdated.

It’s all about context Joe. We’re sat with the elite clubs and are bringing players into the first team. But ultimately we don’t have the money or pull of the likes of Man City. The very best players aren’t going to be signing for anyone other that the top clubs. I can tell you though that people are taking note. There’s lots of players choosing us when they leave big clubs. That’s because they can see the pathway. Nyambe, Raya, Lenihan and Travis are proof that the system is working. Three of those sit in a group that could easily do a job in the Prem. Raya has great potential too...but Butterworth, Buckley, JRC, Magloire have potential to be even better than those before them. That’s the belief of the current team and one of the big reasons Jonty was pushed into the first team picture this season.