GazzaGarratt

"No Eustace, No problem" is the motto that many Blackburn fans have coined since this mess began. 2 wins in a row, 2 clean sheets, and some very winnable games incoming. I think I'd still be staggered if we make the playoffs personally, but with 13 games to go its a chance that many teams would rarely get these days. They've been galvanised massively with all thats gone on and they seem determined to show everyone else they are good enough.
 
Its a funny one, as I'm not really sure who in the world would take our managerial job still! So many unknowns, its going to be surprising, whoever it is!

Definitely felt tougher this week than previous few weeks, but always forget we end up getting promoted lol! Still, a good laugh and we did well to grind out some decent wins around the few games we got absolutely creamed 🤣

Stats updated for this Monday. Our win percentage is actually looking pretty good, so long as we are winning more than we are losing I consider that good. We also got up to division 2 this Monday without realising it until the end!

Well received across the board. Looks very Oblivion-esque without the need for special power stuffs. I'm definitely more interested in it as there's some funny clips online showing what you can do on it.

Mixed reviews so far, but drops on Monday and it's on Gamepass so I'll be giving it a go for certain. 
 
 

I can see Blackburn making it this year especially with all the teams behind being unable to string more than one with together! It'll be tough because there are 4 teams that are probably too good for this league meaning two will be in the playoffs but if Rovers can hold on, anything can happen. Wonder if Eustace will apply for his old job back now🤣

I jumped back on the original game the other day, which was a mistake as I forgot how much I enjoyed it. I only stopped playing as I'd made a mistake and my most recent save meant I'd lose 2 hours of game. But a few years on those lost hours are meaningless now lol so only Stalker and Tarkov will keep me off it...but its a nice change of pace, and very beautiful too.
 
KCD2 can wait for the next Xmas Steam sale 🤪

"No Eustace, No problem" is the motto that many Blackburn fans have coined since this mess began. 2 wins in a row, 2 clean sheets, and some very winnable games incoming. I think I'd still be staggered if we make the playoffs personally, but with 13 games to go its a chance that many teams would rarely get these days. They've been galvanised massively with all thats gone on and they seem determined to show everyone else they are good enough.
 
Its a funny one, as I'm not really sure who in the world would take our managerial job still! So many unknowns, its going to be surprising, whoever it is!

Eustace is currently 4-0 down to QPR in his first game. They could be rock bottom come tomorrow and after those games are finished, other teams in and around will still all have a game in hand over them too. They've even fallen into the drop zone tonight with nobody else playing by virtue of goal difference alone. He's got a monumental task on his hands and if he can't keep them up, he'll have a huge job on his hands trying to craft a League One side out of what he's got and what they'll have to spend. 

When you get into all the detail I think its easily both sides being completely unprofessional.
 
Owners wise, should have sold the club years ago and they've not done really anything to make a connection with the fans or the town. Kept the lights on, but literally thats it. We've recouped a serious amount of money from players sales over the past 24 months and that has literally gone nowhere other than to the owners to keep lights on. The 'significant investment' words in the recent statement is actually quite laughable. 5 loans, loads of old, past prime players and now we're left with them to pick up wages when we still have a good chance of being in the playoffs come end of the season.
 
Manager wise - it really is an open secret that the club hasn't been flush for cash and we have to be shrewd and clever. He knew what what he was entering and how far the travel was and arguably it isn't that far for a Manager to travel to see the family whenever he wanted to get back. Reports have said for a while he has been applying for jobs behind the official media's noses and thats really not good when he's been preaching the words togetherness. Eustace has been a great manager and overall I'd put blame slightly more on the owners - but the more you read it still is quite insane to leave a club like ours with our history and extremely good youth setup, to go a club that is one of the favourites to go down.
 
The whole lot is just depressing more than anything. Hopefully, the news of this won't die off and it will cause action on both fronts.

When you get into all the detail I think its easily both sides being completely unprofessional.
 
Owners wise, should have sold the club years ago and they've not done really anything to make a connection with the fans or the town. Kept the lights on, but literally thats it. We've recouped a serious amount of money from players sales over the past 24 months and that has literally gone nowhere other than to the owners to keep lights on. The 'significant investment' words in the recent statement is actually quite laughable. 5 loans, loads of old, past prime players and now we're left with them to pick up wages when we still have a good chance of being in the playoffs come end of the season.
 
Manager wise - it really is an open secret that the club hasn't been flush for cash and we have to be shrewd and clever. He knew what what he was entering and how far the travel was and arguably it isn't that far for a Manager to travel to see the family whenever he wanted to get back. Reports have said for a while he has been applying for jobs behind the official media's noses and thats really not good when he's been preaching the words togetherness. Eustace has been a great manager and overall I'd put blame slightly more on the owners - but the more you read it still is quite insane to leave a club like ours with our history and extremely good youth setup, to go a club that is one of the favourites to go down.
 
The whole lot is just depressing more than anything. Hopefully, the news of this won't die off and it will cause action on both fronts.

I'd rather sometimes these annual games took a year out to make significant updates and changes so it feels more of a reason to buy the next game. Still never good to say you're releasing it and then bin it completely.

Too late in the day for me. Overwatch was absolutely brilliant years ago and even lootboxes were done well. The level of polish, progression and nature of the gameplay were all top tier and they even proved that you don't need a campaign to deliver an abundance of engaging lore. The developers neglected the hell out of it (and we all know why) and Overwatch 2 was a needless sequel that cancelled the campaign, made progression absolute torture and also performed gameplay changes that people didn't like.
 
They are only doing this now because of Marvel Rivals and not for the community but they can see how much money there still is in this market. The damage is already done for me and it feels that original era is long gone. Now they are just chasing any last shreds they can get their hands on by doing stuff they should've done 7 years ago. None of this makes up for any of the broken promises and that includes the single player campaign which should've also been done instead of trying to save money. 

I always think with things like this, there was a level of complacency with the launch of Overwatch 2. They knew they dominated that area of the gaming field and because of it there was a half arsed launch of what was let's be honest an update. An update that was not really better than the original game.
 
That level of complacency always has the risk of returning, we complain about Fifa in the same vain and you have to make the decision on whether or not it is worth sinking any more time into these games.

An Overwatch 2 Spotlight dropped yesterday with lots to unpack in it:
 
 
I think Marvel Rivals was the kick in the arse OW2 needed to start coming back to the table with a series of updates. Perks are the new way to upgrade a hero through the fight, with minor and major upgrades becoming available as you go through the round. 6v6 is back again, and I think they have a separate Competitive queue for it(?) with the Goats Meta being introduced when 3 tanks and 3 support was key to victory.
 
Hero 44, Freya, comes out and a new one on the horizon too.
 
'Stadium' is the biggest new mode ever released and is very interesting to say the least. Definitely adds a different dimension on how to play a PvP match and most likely far better to play when you play as a group together given you have buy specialist updates to your heroes out of a pool of funds you receive from the previous round - best of 7 rounds.
 
Oh....and Loot Boxes are BACK! 🤣
 
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised at the news. Stadium feels like the right way to go, but I do fear you need a serious amount of people to want to jump in and play it with you to make the most of the mode. 6v6 for me is key. Whilst they touch on the long stale matches that could happen and other key issues they had with it, for the majority of OW players it really hit the spot so i'd be interested to see the player pool sizes if they ever released them. It will only get good traction though if it has its own Competitive queue otherwise they still can't compare 5v5 and 6v6 properly. Outside of that, loot boxes back makes me laugh after all the years of drama.
 
Never sure if this is enough to perk people's interest again for the next season (15). A full competitive rank reset comes with it which always helps if people returning to see how it plays. Thoughts anyone?

I don't think you can fault him for this and I don't think this is just solely about the state and position Blackburn are in currently. If you look at Eustace's career since 2009 with the exception of a short stint at QPR he has been based within the Midlands, in fact his son play's at the same football club as a friend's son in Birmingham. I think this is a decision being made partially around the time he spends with his family, Blackburn is a fair way to travel if your home is near to Birmingham and I suspect results in him spending a lot of time away from them. The fact that they have lived around here for so long makes it much more difficult to up and move for work which a lot of managers, footballers etc often do. Blackburn have not had the fantast
 
He will also understand now that this sport is a results business and in all likelihood next season he will be out the door if the team does not progress (which on the current budget they have is going to be difficult to achieve), he now has an alternative option where if they get relegated it's not the end of the world because the hope was to stop up this season. Meaning next season is his with a team fully capable of competing for a promotion place increasing the length his current working trajectory. Couple that with being able to negotiate a contract with a decent pay off should he be let go during next season then as well.
 
 

I'm shocked Eustace would trade a playoff push for a relegation battle. If he thinks Derby is the best bet going forward then that is a worry for Blackburn but I just wonder if he's using it as an excuse to force a move through. I thought Rovers had a decent window in January and I get he has ties to Derby but it just seems a crazy move especially with them being in a terrible place in the league and off the field. 

Absolute disastrous times at Blackburn. Sitting in the playoffs and the owners have never really been forgiven for our downfall for the past 10 years and now John Eustace wants to leave us to go to relegation favourites, Derby. Its not left him in a great light either tbh but overall picture is just an absolute circus.
 
Good owners are hard to come by these days, but boy I'd love it if we could find some that want to see our club flourish once again.

You should pick up Fm24 with the editor mod and download the retro databases from TheMadScientist. Currently playing an arsenal save that started in the 1998/99 season. Brought in Gabriel Batistuta, a 19 year old Ronaldinho, a 20-year old Nesta and I’ve got Kaka, Robben, Ribery, Eto’o and Vidic in my academy. On the 3rd season atm having won damn near everything 2 yesrs in a row. Current team is attached. Also brought in a 16 year old Lahm who’s already rated at 2 1/2 stars

I would say it's a shame but it's a bit like Fifa in that it does not really change all that much so missing out a year won't matter too much. I can only think they have spent time actually trying to implement something and it has yet to work and in turn it has held up the rest of the project.

Cancelled!
FM25: Football Manager sequel cancelled after two delays
WWW.BBC.CO.UK Developer Sports Interactive says the 2025 edition was "too far away from the standards" fans deserve.  
What a total cock up from Sports Interactive. 

Stats updated again this weeK, some things I picked up as well putting them in this week -
 
- Next week will see us hit the number of matches for a Championship season (we need 7 more games). We currently sit on 72 points. In all liklihood we would only need 1 win of those 7 for a play off spot, winning all 7 would see us in most seasons nick an automatic space! Considering how crap we tend to start the new fifa games that to me is not a bad return at all!
 
- @Macca89 despite playing only 5 games last week picked up 3 MOM's and sit's top of the assists with 30 showing he's probably the biggest team player of FG!
 
- @Jamesmade a point of proving me wrong on assists last week by getting 6 (being his current best since I started the stats!) This also moves him into third O/A.
 
- @Antpool84 Is the only person not to have missed a match in 2025 featuring in 44 games! (Note that I don't have the results of the first week hence the difference between his appearances and the points tally above).
 
 

Fair play mate, your thrashing those camos. 

Recently finished diamond on smgs 
 
So ar's, lmg, smgs, launchers all diamond.
 
1 marksman gold. 

There's an update in the works for a single player campaign but yep that's totally true @Luseth it's a lot of fun but much better with a team!