Another memory that has stuck with me, of sitting behind the directors box in 1980, was before a game, the "dignitaries" came up to the directors box area. One was a man wearing what looked to me as a 9-10 year old boy, a very expensive navy blue suit, shirt and tie and a matching navy blue overcoat. I'd never seen such an immaculately dressed man before. He just screamed money and class. My dad asked me if I knew who he was, I was thinking, captain of industry or a prime minister, no it was Trevor Francis, the first million pound footballer. Signed by Nottingham Forest, 12 months before. Boy he certainly looked a million pounds worth. It was nice that he made an effort to look good as he was going to Ewood Park.

It was 1980 but I can't remember which month, other than it was sunny. My dad and I had season tickets in the old Nuttall Street stand, in the row immediately behind the old directors box, which was quite wide but only had two rows. As the directors box filled up, an elderly gentleman came to take his seat in the directors box right in front of me. He turned round and spoke to me in a heavy Scottish accent. He asked me, (I was 9-10 years old) if I played football. I replied I did but not very well. He said to keep practicing and one day I might be out there on the pitch. He sat down and my dad said, "Do you know who that was ?" I had no idea. "Bill Shankly," said my dad. I never did practice hard enough, maybe I should have.

Watching Pears in goal, doesn't help my anger management issues. "Sorry officer, it's just that Steven Pears, our goalkeeper, just threw the ball into his own net, the red mist descended and I just sort of lost it."

My Grandmother, who lived in Freck, was a fierce Rovers fan, would have clipped you round the ear for that remark and given any Nobber or Blackpool fan a verbal lashing for saying anything bad about Rovers in Freck. She took no prisoners.

What's your first memory of Rovers/Ewood Park. Mine is from late 1976, when my dad took me to my first game at Ewood Park. I was 6 at the time. We sat upstairs in the old Riverside stand, on the long wooden benches, that they had then. I have no idea who we were playing or the result. I have this memory that has stuck with me of the last 48 years, of watching David Wagstaffe; for Rovers, running down the wing, juggling the ball on his head during the game. As an aside, I didn't know, until looking back, that David Wagstaff was the first professional footballer to be shown a red card, whilst playing for Rovers against Leyton Orient on the 2nd October 1976. I've had season tickets for the old Riverside, the new Riverside, the old Blackburn End, the new Blackburn End, upper and lower stands, the old Nuttall Street stand, the new Jack Walker stand but I still keep getting drawn back to watching from the Riverside stand, maybe it's that first memory that keeps me going back.

If he does this at Turf Bore with the Rovers flag, ala Souness at Fenerbache, he can have the job for life and I'll pay the f***ing fine myself. P.S Watch the video, it has Souness and Keith Andrews on there for a Rovers connection.

Welcome Val, Good luck and all that, Take no prisoners and enjoy the ride. Allez les bleus.

I was speaking to my elderly father; life long Rovers fan, about this and he came out with, "Who gives a fuck about West Brom." I've been chuckling about it ever since.

I wouldn't worry about the getting sacked from Watford thing. Watford's 18 managers in the last 10 years, revolving door (honest, we know what we're doing) policy over the last 10 years doesn't have a bad roll call. Slavisa Jokanovic. Oct14 - Jun15. Played 36 Win % 58.33 (Promoted to Premier League) Quique Sanchez Flores. Jun15 - May16. Played 44 Win % 36.36 Walter Mozzari. Jul16 - May17. Played 41 Win % 29.27 Marco Silva. May17 - Jan18. Played 26 Win % 30.77 Javi Gracia. Jan18 - Sep19. Played 66 Win % 37.88 Quique Sanchez Flores. Sep19 - Dec19. Played 12 Win % 16.67 Hayden Mullins. Dec19 - Dec19. Played 2 Win % 0 (Caretaker) Nigel Pearson. Dec19 - Jul20. Played 22 Win % 31.82 Hayden Mullins. Jul20 - Jul20. Played 2 Win % 0 (Caretaker)(Relegated) Vladimir Ivic. Aug20 - Dec20. Played 22 Win % 40.91 Xisco Munoz. Decl20 - Oct21. Played 36 Win % 58.33 (Promoted to Premier League) Clauidio Ranieri. Oct21 - Jan22. Played 14 Win % 14.29 Roy Hodgson. Jan22 - May22. Played 18 Win % 11.10 (Relegated) Rob Edwards. May22 - Sep22. Played 11 Win % 27.27 Slaven Bilic. Sep22 -Mar23. Played 25 Win % 40.01 Chris Wilder. Mar23 - May23. Played 11 Win % 27.27 Valerien Ismael. May23 - Mar24. Played 48 Win % 27.08 Tom Cleverley. Mar24 - Present. Played 28 Win % 42.86 I wonder what their fans forum, "New manager wishlist" is like or whether they have simply given up to it.

and a decent dragon in goal, “Dracarys” would be the cry from the Blackburn End.

I wish someone would pay me £600K a year. I might be able to buy a pot to piss in.

In reply to that email that Elon Musk, in his wisdom, thought it would be a right good idea. Imagine if this was sent to us workers in the UK. The piss taking would be on an epic scale. I was told I had to attend a sales training course years ago, where we had to write down our ideal job, something we could aspire to in 10-20 years time. Apparently, me writing down, "The pilot of Thunderbird 2", did not go down very well.

I've been following Rovers since the 76/77 season, I think Jim Arnold was in goal that season. Pears is without doubt, the worst Rovers goalkeeper I've ever seen. He's just too weak and soft to stop anything. Teams must be told to try and shoot at him when you get the ball as he's not good enough to stop it. But then again I think professional goalkeeping is currently at an all time low. I've played with better amateur goalkeepers than this lot. To think we used to moan about about Bobby Mimms.

This game v Swansea reminds me of Game of Thrones, Series 6, Episode 9 - Battle of the Bastards

Can anyone else remember a Rovers game where both clubs didn't have a manager/head coach in place for that match.

In Youtube style, "I saw Derby's run in and I was shocked". The betting odds have shortened to 8/11, which is buying money. 1. Millwall @home 2. Middlesborough away 3. Rovers @home 4. Coventry @home 5. Plymouth away 6. Preston @home 7. Swansea away 8. Dingles @home 9. Portsmouth away 10. Luton @home 11. West Brom away 12. Hull away 13. Stoke @home They'll be lucky to get 8 points from that lot. "Big club" and all that. Your off to League One.

3 year contract with his injury record. They must be as daft as we were.

The dingles won't get there. They need another 8, 0-0 draws just to get past Leeds. @Turf bore.

I'll do it, I'm crap/cheap (or so my wife says) and works well without a budget....what is a "budget" anyway, I thought it was a little bird.

A few years ago, I was a Lancs U16 cup final, where one team had a spine of big, strong lads who were dominating the game. The rest of them played off them. I was stood near a Rovers scout, so I wandered over and started talking to him. When I mentioned that these "big strong lads" must have caught his attention, he replied "No, Academy's don't want them any more, as they are seen as too big and heavy and it's all about being as light as possible these days. We are tasked with looking for little Lionel Messi types. These lads might be better footballers and win you games but the Academy's are not interested and would turn them away if I brought them in. The last manager we had who liked big, strong players was Allardyce." So now we have a big, strong lad upfront who has come from Africa and is coming on a treat and might be worth a small fortune someday, might our Academy think twice about turning away big, strong footballers or will the current malaise continue. Answers on a postcard.

Allardyce rates Karl Robinson highly. It wouldn’t take much to prise him away from Salford City and he’s been here before. Seeing as we can’t afford huge wages.

I don’t think you have any worries there, with our set of lightweights. Most of ours struggle to tackle an opponent never mind each other.

All the way from the Sunshine Coast of Formby, now he’s back home. Stevie G.

Ansley Pears contract runs out June 2027. God help us.

We have brought in two forward players in the Summer, in Gueye and Ohashi. We've now brought in three additional forward players in the last few days and yet we can't stop the ball going into our own goal through a sub standard goalkeeper. I will keep happening all the way to the end of the season costing us dearly. I don't know what length of contract Pears has but he needs moving on at the end of the season.