I’ll be honest here; this is a must win game. After this game we have league games against Everton and Villa, with a league cup game v Notts Forrest thrown in between those games.

Then after Villa and the retrn of big Brad and Stephen Warnock, we have Le Arse, Chelski, The B@stards, and ManUre.

This is a must win game.

Hopefully we will have a lot of players to choose from. Emerton is close to making a comeback, and Dunn, Reidy and Grella all should have used these 7 days extra to get back into shape and fit. Here’s the team I would put out:

——————-Robbo———————
Jacobsen Samba Givet Chimbonda
Dioufy Dunn Nzonzi Pederson
Benni (if fit) Kalinic

Wolves have earned 4 points from their 4 games but should be ours for the taking. If we go out and play solid defensively (like we have been lately) and our strikers can get some shots on target, we should pull out the 3 points.

Any thoughts about the game? Your XI you would field? As always, let me know and UP THE ROVERS!

05/19/1929 – 08/17/2000
Rovers’ Biggest Fan

The Team That Jack Walker Built Part 1

The Team That Jack Walker Built Part 2

The Team That Jack Walker Built Part 3

Onto more important things. The next bits of news have come straight from sources who directly spoke to players last night at the End of the Year Awards dinner for the club. No BS here; just Facts!

Rovers nab Givet

John Williams has confirmed an agreement of terms between Marseille and Rovers for our new favorite boy Givet. He will be signing a new four year deal soon.

Warnock rubbishes reports of leaving

Sources who spoke to Warnock said he is very happy at Rovers and he isnt going anywhere saying that the rumors are “all paper crap.”

Players say their goodbyes to Tugay, Villanueva and….Santa Cruz?

Does this mean he’s definitely out the door? We shall see.

Tugay retiring

We all knew he was done, so this puts to rest any rumors of him playing back at Gala. He’s staying in the area and will probably work on his badges for a few years before coming back to Rovers.

Wa wa wee wa. Lots of reports.

Let the silly season begin. For me, still playing in the top flight after the first half of the year we had is more then okay with me. We’ll strive to improve again next year.

In the comments section below, vote on your player of the year. Maybe I’ll add a poll, but I wouldn’t want to leave any one out. I’ll be around and about with any and all updates coming out of the Rovers camp. As always, UP THE ROVERS!

Some interesting facts/ideas/musings etc… that have spawn from the poll results and comments in the last post:

I myself was never to fond of this year away kit, and I’m not quite sure what to make of that New away kit there, if it does turn out tomorrow to be accurate. I think it’s because I loved the red and black halved kit from 2 season ago.

To see all the fun you’re missing out on, as well as to comment on the new shirt and vote in the poll, click here to see all the fun you’re missing.

UP THE ROVERS! and screw the scum.

EDIT: I was going to link to the scum’s offside page. but only because they never used to have one. now, they have one now. So I’d like to congratulate them on getting their first house with internet access. And Congrats to The Offside, who’s influence is so strong they got the only online member of the scum’s fan base to write for them.

The legendary Brad Friedel returns to Ewood Park tomorrow as Aston Villa visit for a Premier League clash. It’s no secret as to the quality of the Villa side this year as they’re riding high in 4th and have been unbeaten in their last 6 with 4 wins. I’m not sure what MON is up to over there, but it is clearly working. The best owner is one we don’t hear about and Randy Learner is only ever being talked about for all the right reasons. That being said, this isn’t the Villa blog so down to the business end of things. (I just like Villa as they can hopefully break the “Big 4’s” hold on the Prem and Champs League)
Ince’s side were beaten 3-2 earlier in the league this year and having been unbeaten under SA, Rovers look to avenge that loss. With (shudder) Diouf (ugh I hate it) RSC, Benni Mac and Jase Robs all available, the upfront is looking formidable. The midfield starting 4 is anyone’s guess because I can’t be too sure anyone knows who will be in the starting XI, not even SA. And according to this report click, SA is loving the selection dilemma. From the official site here:

“Boss Sam Allardyce will be missing only long-term absentees Steven Reid and Brett Emerton for the visit of Martin O’Neill’s side tomorrow afternoon.”

The back four looks alright with everyone available, although maybe Ooijer could do some good not in the starting XI as Villa’s pace on the break would maybe suit Zurab better.

All being told, I’d be more than happy with a point from this match, however, I think it could go 2-1 either way. Here’s hoping it’s the Rovers way. UP THE ROVERS!!

Now, right off the bat I’m at a disadvantage cause when this news is breaking in real time, it is still bed time here. Terrible things those time zones but here’s what we’ve got till now:

1st: This is the reason Shearer won’t be the next manager, this and he’s a Newcastle loving gobshite.
For anyone not interested in opening a tab to the link, I’ll pull a quote from the article:

“Looking back at that night at Ewood Park, I deliberately missed a few chances against Newcastle and what happens but Graham comes off the bench and before I knew it he popped in a couple of goals.

Follow after the jump for the rest of what’s up officially.

2nd: John Williams is taking this front and center. Anyone who hasn’t caught the two articles on the official site needs to, and lemme pull out the highlights. First, the statement from the club:

It is with great sadness the Board announce that Paul Ince is to leave the club. After a Board meeting yesterday it was decided to relieve Paul of his duties.

The Board, having selected Paul back in June, were desperate for him to succeed and wanted to give him as much time as possible in the unforgiving environment of Premier League management where time is such a precious commodity.

Chairman John Williams said “Three wins in 17 games has seen a squad, which finished seventh last season, fall to 19th position. We are currently in real danger of becoming detached from the pack.

“The survival of the club in the Premier League is paramount and our focus now is on finding a replacement who will be able to maintain our top division status.

“Paul will bounce back, he is a fighter and we wish him well.”

AKA: SACKED!

Also, JW is letting everyone know what the clubs goal is: “Appointing a new manager is our total focus.” he adds in a club article. “In the meantime, the day-to-day training will be carried out by Archie Knox, Ray Mathias and Karl Robinson. Our coaching staff and all of the players fully understand the importance of this weekend’s game.

“Our supporters can rest assured that we will do everything in our power to get the team climbing the Premier League table as soon as possible.”

3rd: Who’s going to come in and take over? Really, I’m asking. Who? I have no idea who would be the ideal person to lead up to safety. Maybe we can persuade old ‘Arry to come save us.

Comments, thoughts; moans and groans all go here folks. Can the club survive this season? (spoiler alert: yes, we can!)

Then someone lit a fire under Pompey’s asses. And Rovers weren’t ready. 2 goals later the game looked hopeless. Had it had been the Rovers of a few years ago or even last year, it probably would have been. Then Matty Derbs came on and lit a fire under Rovers’ asses and it was a game again. That header was perfect and was also his first touch as well as only 20 seconds after coming on. Then lucky for us, Pompey forgot that Tugay is, in fact, my Turkish Delight, and he had a beauty of a goal.

Then it all went to hell. Matty Derbs blown offside and a mystery foul committed against England’s crappiest number 1, and all a sudden a game that should have been 4-2 was still 2-2. The foul wasn’t a foul so I’m going to stop calling it that. But if you remember from this post here from the game against Man U, we too had a goalie get fouled but no one seemed to mind then. Officiating inconsistencies are really messing up the game. Derbs was onside and then this messed up call, really changed the game. Then the Rovers’ defense went to take a nap and watch some football while Pompey fired in the third and final goal.

The Rover’s inability to finish and close out games is just making this season incredibly frustrating. Stuck in 19th we really need to turn around some things; fast. Man U again for Carling Cup round 5 this midweek. Highlights after the jump.

Lineups:
SUNDERLAND: Fulop, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Whitehead (c), Malbranque, Cisse, Richardson, Collins, Jones, Ferdinand, Henderson.

Subs: Colgan (GK), Tainio, Diouf, Murphy, Leadbitter, Reid, Kay.

ROVERS: Robinson, Simpson, Khizanishvili, Samba, Olsson, Haworth, Tugay (c), Mokoena, Treacy, Fowler, Derbyshire.

Subs: Brown (GK), Ooijer, Warnock, Nelsen, Santa Cruz, Villanueva, Judge.