From a Rovers fan (no offence to you) this is actually a decent read and probably right - going off the survival chances.

5 stars and a "well done to that man!"

good post blue and whit, nie to see reason rather than rhetoric and honesty instead of cheap shot wumming on here.

I think you have it reasonably well called and that the smaller clubs will find it harder ad harder to compete in the money driven world football now is. With the advent of City's multi-billionaire owners we are seeing another step along the way to a day when small clus like ours will stuggle to survive at all much less compete. A few years ago someone mooted a merger between PNE, Burnley and youselves into a single club. That was rapidly shot down by the fans and the FA but I an honestly see a time oming when clus lke ours might have to merge if we are to continue trading at all. I can honestly see a time when the entire football league will consist of thirty or so clubs made up from mergers of teams like ours while the current 'Big Boys' break away and form a Europan league of their own.

I know that's a pessimistic outlook but with the gulf between the haves and have nots beoming more and more un-bridgeable with every passing year I really think we might see it in the next few years.

I thought it was a good article too blueandwhite, even without the bias of club allegiance.

What I agree with most though is definitely the ja606 presence for our respective clubs. This level of continued support on these very here message boards will prove pivotal by the end of the season.

True story.

Ps my C key is useless

IN fact my keyoard is dying as fast as my dreams of Champion's League glory

Is it a great surprise that managers that talk of 'playing attractive football' above all else sit in the bottom three?

We'd all like to play Barca style but the joy of Barca is they win playing well. For all the grief aimed at Allardyce and Jewell they maximised the players at their disposal to get the required results.

When big teams play underdogs in the FA Cup the ethos is usually 'if we match their effort and commitment the class should shine through'. Our teams lack the class of many of our competitors so why do these managers believe we will beat them in a battle of skills?

You never hear 'Arry talking about total football, Pulis deserves respect for what he's done, even Pardew has united a team in the face of fan disapproval.

Nice words of 'positive play' and 'expansive attacking' doesn't win you points. COMPETE GOD DAMN YOU. COMPETE!!!

Totally agree Pie. What are big clubs with expensive players better at than small clubs with cheap players? Passing, dribbling, vision, first touch, pace. What are they not better at? Strength, tackling, heading. So whats the best way of playing for Rovers (and Bolton, Wigan, Stoke etc etc)? Route one to target man (heading) and challenge the second ball (tackling/strength). So simple, but the purists just won't accept it.

Yeah you make a very good point there LPP. If you look at the most lucrative league in the world, the NFL, thats all based around franchises and maximising attendances. I'd absolutely love it if the big 4/5/6 of the PL joined some kind of European Super League. How exciting would the premiership be then? Back to the old days, any team could win it.

Pie Eater to e fir I thought and still do that people were far too quick to paint Sam as a proponent of ugly football. He played the way the opposition required him to. Against the likes of Man U and Chelsea he played in your fae physcal footall and closed them down fast but when we were up against teams where our clubs had the chance to play pass and move he took it. Pulis does the same at Stoke, Redknapp has always been a proponent of attractive football but beause we only ever saw the likes of us and Portsmouth on MOTD first if we were up against a big team the lazy journalists assumed that's all we did and never bothered to watch us play against the lower teams. At bolton we had the likes of Djorkaeff, Campo, Stelios, Anelka and of ourse the mighty Okocha, players with real skill and not the type to play hoofball every week. You too played some very good stuff under Sam when the circumstances allowed it and frankly the best managers are all like that. They adapt their tactics and strategy to the cirumstances and opposition they face.

LPP's point is good but likely to make me cry.

I want to hate my pathetic neighbour, not knock through so we've got a kitchen diner!

Absolutely, "that's a searching pass from Ferdinand" compared to "Samba with another hopeful ball forward"...

Is it a great surprise that managers that talk of 'playing attractive football' above all else sit in the bottom three?""

Yeah quite right. Said as much at weekend when discussing results.

Good appraisal B&WH. Our percentage would increase to around 70% immediately with a new manager.

A definite 5 star thread - nice one blueandwhitehalves Premiership survival every season is essential to teams such as Bolton, Blackburn & Wigan, as should they lose that status, it's hard to see how they would ever regain it.

But, certainly at Bolton, just finishing 17th every season is a horrifying prospect for many fans, having sampled the delights of competing at the top end of the table for so many years under BSA. In fact, there was a certain amount of 'kudos ' attached to the fact that opposing fans of much bigger teams hated Bolton with a passion - because it meant they were scared of losing to us! Now we're back to opposing fans telling us what a great guy Owen is, and how we play much better football, and that they often think of us as their 2nd fav team (all this after they've trounced us by 3,4 or 5 goals of course! )

For small clubs to consistently punch above their weight is a massive ask .. and needs a very special manager, at the right time ..... Wigan, being the smallest of the 3 teams mentioned, has probably got the best manager for them - remarkable that they've made / stayed in the Prem so far. Keen certainly isn't going to be the man to make Blackburn a force to be reckoned with, and will probably go in the not to distant future. Which leaves Owen Coyle, who promised much, but has the huge shadow of BSA to try and live within. My worry is that the chances of a club our size finding 2 outstanding managers, within a relative short space of time, is a bit like getting 6 numbers on the Lotto twice but Prem survival is, as I say, the priority ... and that's something that all 3 Lancs clubs are already pre-occupied with, even though the season is only 7 games old!

I think you maybe giving Martinez a bit too much credit to be fair...

great article

If Kean went i would Raise the percentage of us staying to the same as Bolton but more than Wigan, but he has to go quick!

Boltons season has 31 games left but the whole thing hinges on the next 5 games. The same for Blackburn and Wigan. Get to December in the bottom three and dark mantra of bottom at crimbo looms. If the bottom three remains the same after November it may just be a question of which chairman wants it more and has the balls to admit things are not right. Post jan window it gets a lot harder to turn it round.

Yeah you're probably right Damian and OOJW, although only if someone decent is appointed. And Venkys don't have the best track record in this area.

B&W I really do think that Kean going is the difference between us staying up or going down. I reckon we have a decent enough squad to stay up but we really do need a decent manager Kean IS NOT IT!

kean will go it's just a matter of when, we have some hard games coming up and kean will gone by the end of them
HE'S FINISHED 2/3 games and he will gone

2/3 games to many!

why when we have spurs & chelsea coming soon we would lose them games anyway it won't make any difference

Then we must give him six games, by which time it'll be too late. Might as well replace him and have a new man instill some spirit and belief through the hard games before the more winnable ones come along!

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Dave aye you take Owen Coyle any time you like.