This is the David Conn article which has made me look at the proposal with fresh eyes: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/oct/11/plan-to-mend-the-great-crack-in-football-pyramid-should-not-be-swept-off-the-table?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other The good- reunification of PL and EFL financial support for the lower levels The bad- voting powers proposal scrapping the League Cup with nothing to replace it. Neutral- Reducing the top level to 18 clubs In short I think there is a basis here to work from. if the bad is addressed. How about a League Cup without clubs which are Europe qualified? One way they are proposing to get the other PL clubs on board is by extending enhanced votes to the longest serving PL members so including Everton, West Ham and Southampton. How would we feel if they extended that further to include all Premier League winners in the merged PL/EFL set-up?

Ready to go

Aleesami not in the squad for Norway's 4-0 thrashing of Romania

Five players including Williams out of the RoI squad today but only one is Covid positive. Looks like Del is quarantined through contact at least which I guess rules him out next Saturday and solves Mowbray's back line conundrum.

Dire living down to his name.

I have to say it is very generous of Man U to be volunteering to participate in a relegation play-off.

England being predictably ripped apart by Belgium.

With Man U involvement, it should be called The Big 16th or The Big 6-1

The dead give away for why this is launched now. The Big 6 are currently 4th 5th 6th 7th 14th 16th

Pinched this from Bavarian Rover.. Don't exactly know how they create this category of Big Chance 35%+ but it rather suggests we should stuff Forest.

He played cricket at Morecambe. Had many a long conversation with him.

Beg to differ. Bowen is much better.

West Brom still interested in King. Benrahma is not Prem class- would be a big mistake by West Ham.

I would see him at LB if all our other options don't happen.

They have drawn a couple of games which the footballing Gods conspired to give them a brilliant chance of winning. They are fortunate clubs like Southend and Grimsby are disintegrating giving them a fighting chance of staying up. Quite probably, remaining solvent will all they need to do to stay in the Football League..

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/transfer-news/blackburn-rovers-stewart-downing-contract-19078138 A Downing return possible There are worse options to have at left back...

I had been wondering if I had been hallucinating after all the cheering for getting Williams. Not been impressed either when I have seen him. Let's face it, the hurdle for getting into the current Manc defence is hardly very high.

Played again for Gib today in their away win in Leichenstein. He is just 20 and I certainly wouldn't rule him out. When partnering Ayala, you wouldn't have known which was which at the back from their interceptions tackles and passing. For a "big lanky awkward lad" he is pretty cultured playing the ball on the ground.

Morecambe top of League 2 by 2 points with a -1 goal difference. Cannot remember a team topping a league with a negative goal difference before.

He has looked very decent playing for the under-23s v City, Leicester and United. Looks cultured but also looks like he has errors in him without actually getting caught out.

I broke my duck of starting match threads which produce a win with our 3-2 victory at Cardiff in the twilight zone in May so I hope I am not resurrecting previous perennial bad luck by starting this thread... Being a contrarian.. Forest changing Managers at least means TM won't have spent two weeks obsessing about what Forest are going to do and disappearing up his own tailpipe producing a team and tactics that totally bemuse the out of position Rovers players. Unless he is Mystic Mog, he won't know what Hughton is going to conjure up from that huge Forest squad which will most likely include at least two new signings making debuts. His only option is to concentrate on what Rovers are going to do and hopefully formation and tactics are a given. We will have 4-3-3 with players in their natural positions again please Tony. However, choice of Personnel could be a bit more tricky. Hopefully we will only have Travis, Dack and Butterworth unavailable which means Stergiakis, Rankin-Costello, Lenihan, Ayala, Evans and Gallagher should all be available and that is without reckoning on one or more AN Others signed before the transfer window cut-off to be available for selection. Established players are not going to be in the matchday 18, quite apart from getting a starting slot. It would be really cruel to see Buckley and Chapman not making the bench but that would seem likely for at least one of them. Big decisions will need to be made selecting between Nyambe and JRC, Ayala, Williams and Lenihan, whether to bring Evans in especially if he has two more good games for Northern Ireland, and one from Gallagher and Dolan. I suspect if an AN Other signing is a left back with a sweet cross in him, Gallagher will get that nod in the expectation he will nod in a cross or two coming in late at the far post... Equally I expect Gallagher will be ineffectual and replaced by Dolan before the 70th minute. I just hope Mowbray doesn't overthink permutations and starts saving players for the journeys to Watford and Coventry which happen within seven days of the Forest game. We know Forest will come to Ewood all fired up wanting to start their season five games late under their new boss. We know they have some very good players. We know Kaminski is going to have to be outstanding to keep his run of clean sheets going. We know Rovers are going to have to be at their best in taking their chances to win this one. Deep down we also know if 20/21 is going to be a very special season for Rovers, this is the sort of game we have got to be winning.

I should have taken more note of Malta's 2-0 win against Gibraltar two days ago. Malta rotated their squad so it was in effect a second XI and I hear we should have won more convincingly.

Yes that. When you have a falling out of that magnitude which was only resolved in public Court years later to the humiliation of all concerned, rationality goes out of the window. So I am not even beginning to speculate why. Rovers were resented by part of the family but I believe the club was not the root cause of the ructions which lead to the Court case. I think that archived article does not contradict my view on this. This much is common knowledge. By 2006, Flybe (an airline created by Jack Walker) was doing so well and growing so quickly, the Trustees became inadvertently in breach of the Trust covenant. One asset - Flybe- had become worth more than the Trust was allowed to hold in any single asset as a proportion of total Trust assets. This was in the press at the time. Privately this huge success destroyed everything because it triggered a row over how to rebalance the excessive Flybe value, whether instead to grant the Trustees a waiver over the composition of assets, or whether the proceeds of a partial Flybe sale if forced by the family should be distributed to the family beneficiaries in cash. It degenerated into members of the family questioning the professionalism, competence and impartiality of the Trustees.

UEFA ruled out multiple club ownerships in different countries very shortly afterwards. In fact the rule would have forced the sale of one of PSG and Rovers (had Rovers stayed up) shortly after they bought us. This rule doesnt apply below the top divisions so Forest can fart about the way they are doing. Not in the public domain so don't ask for proof, but I believe the Walker family over-ruled the Trust and refused to sell Rovers to Qatar in 2008. In 2008 the rift between the young Walkers and the Trustees was starting its journey to the Courts with the Trustees being accused of mismanagement and destroying wealth but that only became public knowledge through the 2014 Court hearing in which the young Walkers lost decisively. In 2010, the Qataris had no intention of going back into English football having been twice rejected (Liverpool and Rovers) in a period of three months (August to October 2008) in what were by their standards pretty humiliating circumstances. You also have to remember Qatar were awarded the 2022 World Cup on 2 December 2010. I hope Kamy won't mind me posting this but he rang me up after Blatter had opened the envelope to ask if I was watching it because three of the seven Qataris on stage in Zurich to receive the award from Blatter were people we had been negotiating with...