Letting Wharton go to the first bidder told us all we needed to know. That was the moment our fate was sealed for me. It’s not just about losing our most creative player, it was the message it sent to the rest of the players.

That was when we should have pulled away towards the play off zone and we did the opposite.

Last night was as bad as the defeat at Rotherham last season. That was the pits for me, we were totally out enthused by a team that was workmanlike at the best. We were second best in every aspect of the game. It’s the same old story - go in front and we can give anybody a game - go behind and the wheels fall off big time. I don’t get it, we’ve had this problem for years now and nothing has changed. Players come and go, managers come and go - yet the issue remains the same.

I was thinking about 5 at the back against Leeds . Watching that it still would work ok, we just need another 5 players. Nobody at the back could complain about being dropped after that. Was it Lothar Mathias that once said “ Put them all in a big sack, whack the sack with a big stick, and you wouldn’t be hitting anybody who didn’t deserve it “ ?

You missed out the guys going missing injury wise at crucial times. Successful team - everybody wants want to play - “ my knee ? Nah it’s ok boss, I can give you 70 minutes today “ . Losing team, it’s another story - “ my knee ? Nah, it’s not so good Boss, I could do with another week or two “.

Well I just girded my loins to watch the Sky highlights. Jesus Christ - how bad was that ? Lovely little inside ball from Hyam to set their guy up for the first goal. Any striker would have been proud of that pass. Pears fast asleep on his line but obviously expecting Hyam to deal with it. In the hierarchy of gifts that was a 10/10 gift. The sort of thing you pray for at 0-0. Second goal - Brittain misses an easy clearance, Hyam dives in and attempts a tackle with the wrong foot - pen - Pears doesn’t get anywhere near it. 3rd goal - Hyam again all over the place, collective comedy of errors at the back. 4th goal MacFad - schoolboy defending, turned his back on the ball. How old is this guy ? 37 or 17 ? Unforgiveable. Pears nowhere near the pen. 5th goal, we’re all at sea. MacFad again with more school boy defending in the goalmouth, totally unaware of what’s going on around him. Unbelievable from so experienced a player. Nobody interested in stopping the cross in the first place. Obviously it was a collective shit show, but what were the centre halves doing ? They were directly responsible for all 5 goals. City didn’t really have to do anything special, just wait for the school boy howlers.

He’s gone steadily backwards. We should have never spunked the £5 million on him in the first place. He was no more than a Steady Eddie in his first spell here, albeit in a poor team. He didn’t do much on loan at Big Club and did nothing back at Southampton. Why sign him again for big money. I said so at the time and got booed out. The flaws in his game that were evident when he first came here are still there. Lack of a good first touch, inability to read goal mouth situations, inability to compete physically, and the worst header of a ball I’ve seen in a guy 6’ 4” tall. Speedie and Jansen were way better and they were both a head shorter at least.

It’s a hard one to call. Do you go out with our best eleven ( whoever/whatever that is ) or do you save them for the Sheff Wed game ? Whoever plays we can’t have a repeat of last nights score line. I think Arbitro speculated on a 5 at the back line up and I think he may be right. I haven’t got into the frame of mind to watch last nights “ highlights “ no show yet but If what I read is correct Hyam better not be one of them.

Yeah, it wasn’t just getting hammered last night it was the damage it did to our goal difference.

Medicine Head - One And One Is One

I might have to have a stiff drink first. I can take us being out skilled but I’ll never accept a Rovers team being out-enthused.

We were at The Lowry last night to watch “ The Mousetrap “. Looks like we were the lucky ones. You can’t get a signal inside the theatre so as soon as I got outside after the performance I turned my phone on. I saw I had a one word message from my son. It just said “ awful “. So I turned to the BBC scores, my heart dropped to my boots when I saw 5-0. I texted him “ what happened ? “ . He’s so pissed off he still hasn’t responded ! I’m building my self up to watch the” highlights “ so blame can be correctly apportioned. The whole staff should be doing the same this morning. No punches to be pulled. If you want to know “ Who did it ? “ in “ The Mousetrap “ - it was The Chicken Chokers with a rolled up bank account in the boardroom.

Well if we haven’t we’ve only ourselves to blame. Two winnable home games to come.

Classless

Doris Troy - What’cha Gonna Do ‘Bout It

Joe South - Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home

There’s a story on the BBC site regarding Danny Murphy. It says he was addicted to the “ Colombian Marching Powder “ after he finished playing football. He couldn’t have been on it at Rovers because he couldn’t summon up much more than jog then.

I take my hat off to Luton. They’ve had a tough time with getting pipped at the end of games but not once have they given the impression of feeling sorry for themselves. They’ve gone at it to the best of their ability in every game.

The Shirelles - It’s Love That Really Counts

An ex-workmate of mine is a dingle fan. He was bemoaning their luck the other day. I told him “ you look like you’re going to go down inspite of two rival teams being handed significant points deductions, how much luck would you like ? “

That’s going to be a really tough game.

I hope not.

Maxine Brown - Oh No Not My Baby

REO Speedwagon - Take It On The Run

Percy Sledge - Out Of Left Field