Not that bad a pub as I recall

Tell them to work harder, my pension depends on it! I played a few times on the football pitch alongside the cricket pitch, same turf as old Wembley the groundsman once told me.

Full of Villa fans

I had exactly that chart on my office wall in 1980, much to the amusement of my colleagues given my office was in Bournville.

Of course. But their first 4/5 goals for the club to be all of such jaw-dropping quality? I’m not so sure.

Put me in the getting carried away camp Tony! This team has experience, grit, flair, goals and a tactically astute manager. If he can get, and keep, Cantwell, Mak and Ohashi on the same pitch for most of the season, I can see us going up.

My goodness, Ohashi! The last player whose first few goals for us were of such quality was Shearer.

Bloody Mulvaney doing a Hyam for the winner there.

I’m beginning to think Eustace might be a reincarnation of Gordon Lee - pragmatic Midlander, had the best midfielder and top striker sold from under him, great organiser….promotion winner in his first season here??

Some counter-histories to debate: - Speedie’s playoff final penalty not given, possibly missing promotion. - Anfield ‘95 and VE Day: Berg not sent off, no penalty to ManYoo, we win the league at a boring canter at Upton Park. - Furphy’s unbeaten run: MacNamee gets sent off every time he plays. - Dunny’s Dingle Heartbreaker.

Watched the game again and noted a few things more clearly this time. After 15 mins the Clampitts were giving it the “Ole’s”, possibly the last noise they made. Beck’s reaction to being shoved into the boards was more prolonged than a flash of anger or wtf? To mis-quote Bobby Goldsboro, he went into the boards a boy and came back on the pitch a man. Mak’s header to Weimann gets better and better on each watching. He won the ball, directing it downward and perfectly into the path of the moving Weimann - a stunning combo of awareness and technique. I’m stretching here to thinks of a past Rovers player who could do that, Jim Fryatt maybe? I wonder if, after the sending off, the brief from the gaffer was to keep fouling to try and draw a sending off reaction. If so, it nearly worked when Trav got himself shoved over off the ball. Also, Trav standing on the player’s hand was pure MacNamee. All in all, a great derby, with incidents that’ll be talked about for years, if not decades.

Somewhat against the consensus I’m going to say Mak’s sending off was ultimately a good thing. You can’t buy or coach the togetherness forged in that last 40 minutes. This is now Eustace’s team for both players and fans. Anyone in the squad still pining for JDT won’t be here long: I expect Dolan to be sold in Jan and JRC needs to think long and hard about how he regains Eustace’s confidence or he’s out too. Also, could that 40 mins be the remaking of Hyam? He was as immense then as he was shit before. Also, the world’s best derby is back in business: the gulf is gone, the shared six win streak remains, and we’ll regain top dog status at Ewood.

I think we might win this

After 20 mins I had to look up who was playing left side midfield, Hedges hadn’t touched the ball. What with him, Dolan, Hyam, Brittain and Pears being shut, we are lucky to be still in it yet unlucky to not be 2-1 up. The three key turning points were Beck’s reaction to being shoved, Trav stepping on the hand and Big Mak doing one on their centre half - feels like a proper derby.

OK We HAVE to avoid defeat otherwise they will set a new record of 7 successive derby wins: our six successive wins against them 1888-1890 and then the last six meetings.

Above them in the league going into a game for the first time in how long? Perhaps John Claret might know. I’m a lot more positive going into this one than the last couple of times. But I’d love Pears and Hyam not to be involved - especially no-balls Hyam, who was humiliated there last time and did nothing about it. Burnley 2 (Lockhead, Kindon) Rovers 3 (Wagstaffe, Big Mac, Brotherston)

As we were under Jim Smith

I did you a favour by pointing you out to the coppers - you were becoming a right tearaway! 🤣 Good team that apart from Endean. If we’d had a good target man I reckon we’d have gone up under Furphy that year, kept Field and Garbutt, then who knows. Froze our nads off that day.

My issue with Eustace wanting to call the shots in signing players he knows is that he hardly knows any at or around this level, he was manager at Brum for a year and a bit, prior to that he was non-league. At least Mowbray could remember being impressed by the likes of Dack and Armstrong having seen them play against his past teams.

He’s gone, but they all go, one way or another. I wish him well, feels like a Tony Field transfer, getting a long and hard-earned shot at the top level. Maybe he’ll end up playing alongside Ronaldo in Saudi like Tony did with Pele in New York. We should get him back to do the half time draw.

Very easy on the eye in our good spells, without some of the daftness of JDT-ball. Stand-out moments from Carter, who beat 6 Derby players with his surge then drag back, Sammy being £15m Sammy and then Ohashi’s chip. Pears awful, wings weak, JRC far from convincing. Three of those goals don’t happen if we still had the donkey, kudos to Gestede for making us better and Eustace for good tactics and subbing.

My God, it is Tony Field!

Ohashi channeling Tony Field there

I’ve thought for a while the house thing was an example of ultra-rich 2nd gen Balaji thinking laws are things that only apply to little people. ”I want to buy Gary Neville’s house, take a shit in the hallway then lock it up” “Certainly Mr. Balaji Sir, that can be done. From where should I transfer the funds over to the UK?” “I send plenty over already, take it from that!” ”Mr. Balaji Sir, that is not possible, our tax laws prohibit the redirection of such funds from their stated purpose” ”Why are you still here?? You want cattle prod up your jacksie again????” ”But…” BZZZTTTTTT

I was at that game facing the camera. Speedie tried to nut 3 different players before landing one on the 4th 😂