Terrible. This argument I have made that we are a better counter attacking side doesn't apply when you just gift the ball constantly and can't string two passes together.

For a while in our abysmal run, it could have been argued we were unlucky but mostly just lacking cutting edge. Of late, however, we are looking utterly woeful, and there for the taking by anybody.

That doesn't feel like a positive.

We have. A playoff push, and making the playoffs, are two different things.

How have we mounted a playoff push with only half a dozen players even worthy of putting the shirt on, led by a shite manager?

Jesus christ, I just looked at the table. We are beyond lucky to still be this close to the playoffs at this stage after the horrendous form we have shown for quite some time now. 2 points away, 3 at worst if Boro win their game in hand. How? Every shite result we have in which we somehow don't fall away from the pack only exacerbates my frustration at how abysmal this run has been. Just bang average form would have seen us probably in 3rd with an outside chance of finishing 2nd. But it has been piss poor, for ages. Even just holding onto the win today and it would still have somehow been entirely in our hands.

Dunno why BB dives anymore, not worked all season.

I have to take exception right back. You don't need to get promoted when you're in the top flight. That knocks a bunch of those years off for starters. We have spent what, 3 or 4 seasons in the third tier in our entire history, nearly 150 years now. Just because someone else failed worse doesn't make what he did some major achievement. It was good solid work, that's about it.

'People seem obsessed with standing up these days, but I think the style with which I fall down is more important. I'm not a standing-up-based manager.'

The missing ingredient has been the really good coaching you mentioned.

He is 18 rather than u18. He has played some games for Everton u23, so I reckon he is being seen as competition for the other two. I bet one of the three gets loaned out, or released.

That's a presumption surely? Maybe he is better than them. I'm not sure Pike is going to make it here unfortunately, after some rave reviews in the past. He doesn't seem to have set the Conference North on fire. I know he's not going to be bagging goals from RB and I know he has played pretty regularly, but I'd expect to have heard Fylde were very happy with him if he was even another year away from a breakthrough here. Not heard a peep.

That would mean we broke the rules as we made 4 subs in total. That's only permitted if one of them was a concussion substitution.

Wharton scored one just two home games ago against Derby. He also did it against Coventry, though that one was away.

Ok, differs from what was in the article I just posted (on my second edit) but maybe that was part of it too. Hardly a well kept secret how much of a mess we were in (and probably about to be again), so that's a more understandable reason! Hasn't done him any harm at any rate. If he had joined us, he would probably still be getting told he needed to learn how to play on the wing from Sam Gallagher, or some such shit.

Wasn't McNeil released from our academy, too? Someone dropped a bollock there. Edit - nevermind, Wiki says he was released from Manure's academy then went to Bumley. Definitely heard something about him and us, maybe we rejected the chance to sign him after he left the red scum. 2nd edit - actually it looks like he chose Burnley's then cat 3 academy over our cat 1, because...his dad had enjoyed his own trial there when he was younger even though he wasn't taken on, and because Dwight didn't want to play against his mates at Manure u23s. Very weird reasons if you ask me but whatever! https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/international-football/why-dwight-mcneil-joined-burnley-over-rivals-blackburn-rovers-after-manchester-united-exit-2517500%3famp I guess top academy status has the potential to be a disadvantage on some rare occasions when it comes to pulling in talent...

The next manager should have been under consideration for, at the very least, the last month. Obviously it won't have been, this is Venkys Blackburn Rovers after all. But it also won't have been given proper consideration by the summer either I suspect. So it's rush it now, with a season that looks doomed anyway, or rush it in July. I'd rather rush it now (well I'd rather have prepared properly to do it now), meaning we already have a manager in situ at the end of the season who then has adequate time to plan his transfer activity, because there will need to be a lot of it. The other flipside is it could give us a chance at scraping the playoffs again. You refute this, but there are examples upon examples of new managers coming in and giving the club and players a boost for a few games. The famous honeymoon period. It might not work, it doesn't always, but it appears a damned sight more likely than TM pulling this one out the bag and getting us promoted at this stage of proceedings. The team is limp, deflated, has possibly lost faith in the manager and his tombola tactics. I'll strut around Darwen with nothing on but high heels if he gets us promoted now. Absolutely we should roll the dice. As for Ainsworth, two things. I doubt he'd be the best available if we were determined and shrewd (we are neither) but I do think he would be a better manager than Mowbray. The other thing...why would he not want to swap a shot at promotion to the Championship for already being in the Championship with a shot at promotion to the Premiership, and at his boyhood club? He'd bite our hands off. One point you make that does merit considering is that there could be better options available in the summer. This is unknown though - for all we know the better option is available now and will move before then, or not be interested in a move to a decimated squad once the playoff prospect and achievable promotion bonus are gone. I don't know the full list of who is available, so it might not be worth doing now, although I wouldn't just be looking for out of work managers anyway. Someone who is suddenly available in the summer has probably just been fired, or resigned from the stress of managing a basket case club, which would also make him a poor choice at our basket case club. The exception I can think of would be Rooney, a rare case of an acceptable relegation due to the huge points deduction and implosion at the club. But as I said earlier, he will surely go to a top tier side. But generally we should look to steal a manager on the up, which will usually involve paying some compensation. Obviously we aren't too flush so it couldn't be millions or anything.

I'm becoming of a mind that if someone wants to pay a lot for him it will be a bit of a Roque situation...ie a good move to sell and the player never hitting that form again. I'd want a nice sell on just in case though. Not that I'm mad at his second half of the season form, it has been heavily disrupted by a combo of injuries, Chile, and the rest of the team suddenly being shite.

He will be at a Premiership club next I expect. Has a bigger profile and done a better job at Derby than Lampard did (relative to the circumstances) and that was enough for him to land a top job. Not how it should be at all, as he hasn't proven enough as a manager yet, but how it very likely will be because of his rep as a player. I'd be 50/50 on whether to have him here, not been in management long enough to gauge, but done a good job at Derby and his profile would help attract players.

Saw a replay at the time. Not the perfect angle to tell, but yeh he looked offside when the ball was played, just not when it arrived.

They should have been ahead at half time. Luckily our last ditch defending was mostly decent today, but they came at us so many times.

They weren't even the worst side today. We were abysmal.

Being impressed by his stats, if that claim is even true, doesn't mean he was signed on that basis alone. I'm sure he was watched too. Regardless, I'd summarise his career with us so far as, started shite, got better, was decent for a spell, thought we actually missed him when he was out, and has been trash again since returning.

Unfortunately, we aren't. The league might be full of very average teams, but we have become a below average team.

At least he is. We need the remaining holdouts to get on board, only way this manager gets pressured into fucking off.