Rock and a hard place with this game. Lose and my win, win and win again bubble gets burst. Win it and I won't believe we will lose a game all season. Both silly points of view but I'm on such a high at the moment I don't want it to stop. WBA will be a TOUGH encounter so I'm a bit pessimistic, but win and you'll have to scrape me off the ceiling. Everything is crossed for a 2:1.

Wow, just wow. Echo all previous comments. The players were immense of course but for me this victory was all about the management team. Genius strategy, top draw execution. Enjoying it whilst it lasts.

Swansea targeting out of left field diagonal balls at our left back. Pretty consistent so obviously a tactic. Must have Pickering down as a weak point. We're letting Swansea have the ball up to the half way line then we're biting them. Solid two rows of 4 behind the ball. Look strong so far but it only takes one good through ball. BBD getting lumps kicked out of him. Need more of that intensity that JDT talks about in the 2nd half.

Not a snowballs chance in Hell will we get him back - unfortunately. A great player but we'll not see him in a Rovers shirt again.

It was a company car and Barry Fry repossessed it in a fit of peak when Szmodics said he wanted the Blackburn move. Dodgy character that Fry!

Was stood close to JDT at the match. He's got a temper. Got really angry and had a shouting match with his #2 who was disagreeing with him on something in the last 5 or 10 minutes. If Dacky and him locked horns in training then there's only one winner, I wouldn't argue with JDT. Dacky is likely being put in his place and being taught a lesson if he got too high and mighty in training. Once that's run it's course he'll be back in the team. Storm in a tea cup and normal player/coach dynamics. Just my interpretation of course. Time will tell. JDT does have a good flare up in him!

Do we actually win season openers?

Y'all know that saying Van Hecke three times won't make him appear. He's not Beetlejuice. Zero chance homies.

Not a hope he's coming back. Sad but true.

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, what have you done.

GB got the poison chalice. Desperate need for players. Tight owners. Glacial speed board. Players walking or about to walk. Not a ton of money available. Oh and the season starts week after next. He needs this pinning to his door "The difficult I do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer". Give the guy a break. If he can work his way though this mess then he can walk on water.

Enjoyed the game. If Celtic played in the Championship with us they'd walk it. Some excellent players, Jota, Japanese guy and others. They took the lead from a deflection. Our attack should have had two more with one on ones with their keeper. We aren't world beaters but be fair that was a good result after only a couple of friendlies, playing in front of a big away crowd, young lads in various positions. All in all not bad. Yes we defo need strengthening but we have the kernel of something good at the Championship level. Good pressing, good one touch movement. Some weak performances but not too shabby overall I'd say.

Is the Celtic game being streamed anywhere?

On May 2nd I posted this: ------------ " ... Whoever gets the gig will be fighting with his hands tied behind his back because the summer will have passed where he could be assessing needs, recruiting etc.. There'll be excuses of having no pre-season for new hires. Players left on the books plus academy canon fodder will need a whole new set of shapes to drill as half the bleeding playing staff will be gone and their established patterns of play gone with them. Totally lame dude, just totally lame. Venkys, if you ever have any hope of owning a successful club you really need to get your arses into gear. Interviewing 6 people, really, wtf." ------------ I'm no oracle but if it was obvious to me surely it must have been obvious to Waggot. No surprises then. Three first teamers gone, pre-season well underway, 26 days until season kicks off, no transfers in! Whoever stumps up, unless they're from Malmo, they won't have a clue about our patterns of play. We're going into the new season with our hands tied behind our back yet again. We need new players yesterday! WTF.

I think you must have forgotten to take the plastic wrapping off 😀

According to the Waggot article in the Telegraph the market is awash with available players right now, just a case of selecting the skills that JDT wants. Also we have cash. Not all doom and gloom then.

I'm not trying to be a smart alec here but it's my view that they were offered deals that reflected their ability. They just didn't have much 'usable' ability. Nyambe was never fit and as I said wasn't going to improve much beyond where he's at now. Always out of position, can't cross, never scores or even threatens to score. Rothwell was a show pony. Exciting, dynamic, once every ten matches, little to no end product, slow thought process and decision making. Could he press? The aim is to score and win matches not look good in little cameos with no end product. He was also as good as he was going to get. Lenihan, well there you have more of an argument, sad to see him go yet he's not a world beater. Looked good going forward and good channel passing this last season, but defensively can we really say he was always in position. Good, one of our own, but brace yourself, it's always tough to tell a mother that her baby's ugly, I have to be honest and say he was just above adequate at best. Just compare him to the young loanees we've had in his position. There's better out there. We've played those guys for three years now and never got above 8th. They were offered what they were worth IMHO. It was their choice not to sign. C´est la vie. Move on. Over to you GB.

I think to counter question is 'when was the right time to sell them'. Mid season whilst pushing for a play off place? Tough choice, money or being competitive. My understanding is that we tried to get them to sign new contracts way back but they refused. We knew pretty much all season they were going so when was the right time. One route forward is to throw money at the problem but what does life look like without a wage structure? Tough choices to make. I'm minded of that comment that came from a White House advisor (at least that's where I first heard it), for every difficult question there is always one simple, easily understood, obvious wrong answer. I'm no champion of the Rovers board but sometimes crap happens in triplicate. The king/s are dead, long live the king/s. Time to move on.

Agree fully. I'd add that IMO Nyambe was already his best self, he'd never get any better. He was strong defensively but weak going forward mainly because he had no idea what to do with the ball when reached the other end of the pitch. Constantly caught out of position, constantly injured. He was one of our own so sad he's moving on but from a purely footballing point of view we can do better. Selling Nyambe, Lenihan and Rothwell in the last transfer window wouldn't have gone well with us would it. In and around 2nd place and then we sell the captain and an attacking midfielder, can't see that as being well received. We were always going to lose these three and it probably made sense to give it one last big heave at promotion before lettting them go. Crappy situations happen, we move on. There's better out there in all positions and I think we will find them. If it costs Venky's money then who cares. On a seperate note I think TM lost the plot with this whole 'you've got to be a nice guy to join our club' thing. Pro spirt needs an arrogant even nasty side to a blokes make up. We ended up with a dressing room full of boy scouts. Time to move on and them three leaving and JDT/GB joining is the stepping off point for a new adventure. On balance I'm glad they're gone.

The reel of Ahmedhodzic is all a bit fire brigade action. Loads of sliding tackles which Championship forwards will dive from. Coupled with nothing on his distribution capabilities, holding a line, stepping up for offside and headed clearances I'm not sure he's configured for the championship. But what do I know. If JDT has worked with him and has confidence in him then, if he's a reasonable cost, I guess he's useful to the squad. Would like to see more from him though and not just last ditch tackles and putting fires out.

You've all got me thinking about what makes a good striker (aside the obvious "scores goals"). I like Gallagher. Of course there's things he's not good at, only the Exceptionals of this world, your Shearers, your Henrys, can do it all. If a goal is scored from way outside the box we put it in the 'Worldie' category, but by definition these are rare. If a goal comes from a player gliding his way through from way outside the box we again applaud and say 'Worldie'. These are all very unusual styles of goal scoring. The majority of strikers own the box and through good vision and good movement stick it in the net from balls fed into them. My point is that Gallagher isn't in the Shearer 'can do it all' category and relies on service, usually from out wide. Fix the problem of wingers playing on the wrong wing and players doing so many step overs that they make themselves dizzy and Gallagher will score goals. The problem in my eyes is purely down to balls into the box not whether Gallagher can convert them. True he can't trap a bag of cement but neither could Kevin Davies and he went on the have an international career. JDT obviously knows this (football 101) and that will be the problem he fixes first IMO. Gallagher or BBD in the centre matters less, again IMO.

IMO Cantwell doesn't come, which depending on your viewpoint is disappointing or dodging a bullet. For me, after all these meh transfer windows, I'm just happy we are reportedly fishing in the right pond at last. I'm warming to GB.

The good news is that we now have football people at the helm, Maggott, Pasha and who the hell else was sticking their nose in are sidelined. Broughton has got to be a sensible new start, a qualified bona fide real football guy not a pen pusher. I think the Maggott posse got totally lost in the recruitment process. Broughton turns up and says he knows just the chap, left field, scratch head, "Oh OK, go on then". Joke process but if Broughton did say FO and grabbed the reigns then that augers well for the future and player recruitment. Feels like we've kind of got our Williams back, someone who's actually grabbed hold of the steering wheel, so it feels good to me and hopefully we are back to being a 'football' club. JDT is untested at our level but he at least talks the talk. Undoubtedly he sees us as a stepping stone to bigger appointments but he'll have to succeed here first for that to happen so I'm OK if this turns out to be short term. Strikes me as similar to Mauricio Pochettino's first toe in the water when he stumped up at Southampton. Also seriously impressed with his number two. The threadbare squad is his elephant in the room. If cash is available and we don't lose any more players eg BBD then I think we'll get some exciting players on board. If there's no cash or we lose more players then we can write off the coming season as the juniors aren't ready yet, no where near ready. My guess is no extra money and a BBD sale in which case JDT is in for a very bumpy ride in his first year. All speculation at this stage but I'm definitely encouraged by recent turn of events. Tickets are pricey but what the hell, look at the price of beer these days! See you down there.

Euphoria and realism are difficult bedfellows. Having watched his video interview I could see straightaway that he was worth a punt. Talks well, had a stellar career like king Kenny so will command respect from the dressing room. Focusing on youth development, making the kids present tactics to the rest of the team to improve their decision making on the field in the heat of battle, what's not to like. Reality though, he's starting from a very difficult place. We have a threadbare squad. Recruitment budget are unclear. Desired signings won't be available short term, etc., etc.. Like many before him I expect him to have bad times before the good times arrive. Like it or not we're in for a difficult ride short term but yes I agree wholeheartedly with his appointment and of the new DoF and backroom staff new boys. I'm actually quite excited 😊

Just watched the JDT interview. Like it, sold, sign here. Venkys/Maggott this is how it's done. Welcome on board JDT now go win us something. The End.