Marked for Isaac Smith
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Apr 2029
Luka Vušković is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.46 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Luka Vušković was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Apr 2029
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hayden Carter, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
The one thing Luka Vušković could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Feb 2029
5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Duje Biuk: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Blackburn Rovers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A one-man rearguard from Balázs Tóth
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
At 20, Igor Tyjon is already the best thing here
An average of 7.39 in a first team he is several years too young for. Blackburn Rovers have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A season average of 7.66 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
One of those days for Igor Tyjon
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2028
Luka Vušković: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Blackburn Rovers have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A one-man rearguard from Balázs Tóth
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Luka Vušković was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Marked 8.51 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Balázs Tóth
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match9 Sep 2028
A 3‑3 draw with Leeds United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Loan watch11 Sep 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Blackburn Rovers, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Marked 5.80, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Blackburn Rovers have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Todd Cantwell was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jun 2028
37 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Isaac Smith and Blackburn Rovers agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Will Mannion, and the manager let it.
Market12 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Blackburn Rovers know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 2028
A season average of 7.55 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Blackburn Rovers know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Jonas Omlin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Marked 9.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.