Raising a glass. Sooner or later we will beat a club above us. Prefer it to be sooner at Stoke. They too have their best player out long term but our's is only a few weeks away from being back. Not seen much of Stoke but Campbell was looking one hell of a player. Otherwise another tough Championship side with no particular traits looking either outstanding or particularly weak. I hope Mowbray rotates Johnson and Douglas out after last night. Holtby and Rothwell have to start- I like the idea of Rothwell further forward in place of Gallagher. Fingers crossed Armstrong has a mature performance which includes "assist" in his repertoire. As in every game we need a front foot start. Only Preston have seen us stay on the front foot for 90 minutes- was that a one off or can we do it again?

Woke up feeling traumatised for some reason. Then remembered Rotherham. Odd feeling being a Rovers supporter and having a guilt complex about a win. Hope we are not using our pay backs for games we shouldn't have lost all at once. Armstrong with a much more mature performance rewarded with an assist and goal. Despite joining in the general shittery at times, Nyambe confirming he is going to be a fabulous player. If I were Klopp, I'd keep Elliott at Ewood who will learn far more about the real game of football than ever he will at Liverpool. However, Liverpool are now one injury away from being certain to recall him. Trybull and Downing offered more when they came on than I expected and I would love to have seen more than 5 minutes of Dolan. Rotherham looked genuinely scared of him whereas Gallagher was easy meat for them- one of their own type whom they knew exactly what to do with. In fact, Gallagher looked like he had regressed horribly- the closer Mowbray asks him to play to the touchline the worse he becomes. Rothwell clearly has been told we must retain possession given the number of times a promising situation was halted by a backwards or sideways pass from him. There was probably a rationale of giving Buckley the start against Rotherham asking to prove himself against giants who give no quarter and can play a bit. But if we wanted to blood a relative youngster and be more certain of the 3 points, Davenport should have started. Johnson looks closer to career end than Downing does and needs more cotton wool than Mowbray is giving him. Which brings me to the crux. This squad undoubtedly has the capability of winning promotion, Douglas/Bell not withstanding. Sadly, Mowbray has the capability of not enabling them to do it.

Words fail me. Wow! Take the 3 points and move on to the next Tony Tombola show. Keeping it positive, Elliott and Nyambe deserve all the praise being given them and Arma looked embarrassed to be doing the Angel of the North...

This is a tough one. They are big quick physical and not afraid to put a foot in. Johnson not enjoying being on the receiving end of the physical stuff.

Took the words from my mouth but the dingles will probably be OK if they have good fortune avoiding injuries. They are totally screwed if Tarkowski and Wood get crocked. We have been keeping up a high quality of play so we should have too much for the Millers tonight. If they score early, I fear we will struggle though.

He was on that in 2019/20 but was offered a fraction of that number for this season. Hence the non-renewal this season until he came back to us.

Barrow failed to hold a lead and lost again yesterday. Southend won again so it is looking grim for them to hold onto League status.

Derby drew but Chelsea beat Spuds so we are now 3rd.

I am not going with Rovers as a soft touch or Rotherham as a big threat. But this is a massive game for Mowbray. A defeat tonight and this message board is not going to be a pleasant place. A win tonight sets optimism going for the Stoke game and win that and dreams are back on although Bournemouth and Norwich are already beyond the horizon so far as Rovers are concerned. We are getting close enough to the returns of Brereton, Travis and Dack to be confident it will be a very different Rovers playing the reverse fixtures in 2021 from the Rovers which has entertained but not delivered so far in 2020.

Liverpool Echo giving excellent coverage of Blackburn Rovers.. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-transfer-news-harvey-elliott-19461021

Seeing more and more Liverpool speculation that Harvey will be recalled in January.

Can easily see Chelsea and Liverpool losing those and Pep disappearing up his own exhaust.

I was there at Bath. Horrible performance and I was convinced Sherwood wasn't remotely a professional footballer. First time I have seen video coverage of the match. That shot which hit the bar at the end bounced down a good yard across the line and spun back out. I was sat in the main stand right in line with the goal line. I was there with my brother and sister-in-law from Australia and blagged the Bristol Rovers ticket office to let me have the three tickets in an otherwise full ground. We sat with the groundsman and his staff! Danny Baker on 606 really rubbed it in the whole of the journey home back to South Oxfordshire encouraging fans of clubs which had been beaten by Rovers to ring in and gloat- of course they did but even Baker had the good sense not to take any calls from a dingle.

Gustav Mahler Song of the Earth

Actually the Manchester derby ended 2-2. City equalised despite playing with 10. So we are second with a hugely inferior GD. Derby can go a point clear at the top if they beat Brighton today. Derby are the only other non Prem side in the top division besides us.

Sorry to read that Dunn has lost his job. Barrow are slipping dangerously and first Scunthorpe started rescuing themselves and now Southend are stirring so it was getting difficult to see Barrow not getting relegated. The ownership has obviously acted decisively after another inept defensive display.

That was going to be my prediction although I could see defeats at both Huddersfield and Birmingham based on some of the results both of them have achieved recently.

3-3 draw today. Can only conclude the player of the month curse must have struck...

Apparently yes and yes. Got 60 minutes after 45 minutes in the previous game.

I am certain Bristol City went to Rotherham expecting 3 points and came back with a 2-0 defeat on Saturday. Rotherham are big mobile and vulnerable. Continue failing to get even a third of attempts on target and we will be vulnerable too, especially if our central defenders are as mentally fragile as they indicated in the late second half against Norwich. Not winning this shouldn't even be contemplated but I am sure Mowbray will have bigged them up come Tuesday teatime.

I would let Trybull go back to Norwich (we saw yesterday why he doesn't fit there) and bring in Kipre on loan. If we could find a better left back, I'd let Douglas go but left backs in January will be rarer than hen's teeth.

Enjoy seeing Rovers top of the pile in Premier League 2. Better be quick because anything other than a Man U win intoday's Manchester derby sees us toppled.. https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0TIk3N7K0MDAyYPTiK8gxUkjJLMsszszPUzAEAIFGCKs&q=pl2+division+1&oq=pl2&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j46j0l5.3699j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#sie=lg;/g/11hnxc2_hq;2;/g/11d_729802;st;fp;1;;

Profoundly disappointing result. Affectations to automatic promotion are over. We are not making up 12 points. Affectations we can carry on going into key games with our length of injuries and not be affected also destroyed. Williams and Lenihan very wobbly. Douglas not good enough. The defensive gamble won't work out for Mowbray. Replacing the entire midfield with a single substitution didn't work out either. Armstrong hitting target with conviction twice in 12 attempts in two games doesn't suddenly make him a poor striker but Pukki showed him today what a good striker looks like. Norwich good but not that good. Hanley was commanding and some of their midfield link up play was crisp in a way our more spacious midfield cannot be. Harvey Elliiott; just wow. Challenge now is to hang onto the top 6 coat tails to give the injury returnees something to fight for.

That linesman missed at least two offsides. Hopefully remains as blinkered for the second half.

Douglas weak apart from his set pieces. Midfield not making an impact. Just not happening it for us up front in the same way it didn't at Bristol City. Things might happen in the second half- we get it together or they run away with it. Would like to see Davenport get a run.