If a week in a long time in politics, then truly the same can be said for football.

A grim opening week of the season was set aside after a surprisingly emphatic away win in Hull and yet here we are - one week further on, revisiting the doubts sowed by the defeats to WBA, Bradford & Birmingham.

Two home league games, two home defeats – neither emphatic, nor without hope in either instance but enough evidence to cause concern..? Probably…

However, it wasn’t all bad on Saturday afternoon. Amazingly Rovers looked far more effective in the second half, with just ten men, than they had in the first half when frankly Norwich City could and should have had at least two goals.

The penalty award right on the cusp of half time was a body blow. McLoughlin would of course have been better served by allowing Sargent a free, unimpeded run on goal than committing a DOGSO challenge and seeing red. It must be a visceral defender’s response as we saw Scott Wharton risk a similar sanction in the second half by pulling back his opponent, but this time a fussy and inconsistent referee let the Rovers defender remain on the field.

Rovers started the game slowly and found a busy, energetic Norwich difficult to stifle. There is no doubt that the Canaries deserved to go in at half time with a lead but they seem to be caught in a cleft stick after the interval – unsure whether to stick or twist.

This helped Rovers as Norwich seemed unwilling to attack and therefore momentum shifted and most action continued to take place in the Blackburn End penalty area. Rovers had chances but the harsh reality is that the lack of cutting edge and quality end product cost at least a point.

Where does this leave Rovers? Well, it’s still very early days, the window remains open (a double-edged sword though as there may still yet be further departures) and with an international break on the horizon it provides a time out for Ismaël and his staff to work on solutions to the myriad of challenges mounting up.

Replacing (relatively) high earners with cheaper replacements is as the popular internet meme suggests “a bold strategy…” and it may yet still pay off, but on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, the transition is not going to be painless.

The overwhelming conclusion that can be drawn so far is that Venky’s, via Suhail Pasha, see cost control as the prime objective this season. One senses that on field tribulations will be accepted by them as a quid pro quo, including a potential relegation battle.

The commonly held business mantra is that no company shrinks itself to greatness but Rovers seem to be willing to challenge the orthodoxy. 

It might work, but it’s also true that a footballing orthodoxy is that final league position tends to correlate with wage bill.  

Rovers wage bill is going down, let’s hope that the same fate doesn’t befall the team come May 2026.