I didn't see him. Benson was though.

He did well. He still got forward on the left side when he could but was disciplined in his defending. Cirino though was predominantly forwards in a proper conventional wing back role so most of the time Batty was in a defensive three rather than the rigid five Eustace plays.

A really entertaining match tonight at Ewood as the under 21's came back from two goals to draw and for long periods in the second half looked like we were going to win. Sheron played three centre backs with in Whitehall, Gamble and Batty but it was the wing backs who really excelled. Cirino and Duru were great examples of how to play that position and the forward runs they consistently made were a real strong point for us tonight. I have said for a few months now that Duru has been excellent for six months and in my view he should at the very least be in the first team match day squad. These games are free for season ticket holders and in the past I have just scanned my season card and gone in as I would for a first team match. Tonight everyone had to go to the ticket office, show your season card and get given a paper ticket. In light of the reasons for the farcical Digital Day and the EFL Environmental Award how does that make any sense. Another day in the crazy world of Blackburn Rovers.

I don't remember Ian.

I honestly don't know and found it strange. At the time I just thought he was consoling him. I always found it safer to keep out of a players way for a while after they had dropped a bollock.

Post of the season.

It's an interesting take on it but in my view and my most recent knowledge of law then Pears would have been penalised for deliberately handling the pass to him irrespective of his swipe and touch of the ball. For the life in me I wouldn't consider that a new phase of play. I don't know for sure but I couldn't see the referee consoling him by saying he could have used his hands and prevented the goal. That would have made Pears feel even worse in my opinion.

Is it Eric Winstanley?

He probably will but he wasn't signed to play for the under 21's. We signed three centre halves in January and between them they probably haven't reached double figures in first team appearances.

Indirect free from ten yards out, no yellow card.

Had he touched the ball with his hands it would have been deemed an intentional pass and punished with an indirect free kick. So it is my belief he was reluctant to use his hands when the ball spun off his sliced kick. The choice was that or concede a goal. No brainer really

And yet he is on the bench ahead of O'Riordan. In truth both have been signings which have offered nothing with one of them costing a reported £500k. Once again questions have to be asked about recruitment.

Rovers under 21's play Arsenal at Ewood tonight. If I was Eustace I would be insisting on Koumetio and O'Riordan playing with a view to seeing if they can play against Coventry in Saturday. We desperately need some pace at centre half and aside from Carter we have none. However I don't for one second think either will play. Eustace likes his experienced players irrespective of his badly they are playing. Hopefully Michalski plays too.

It was absolutely a back five with the sole purpose of keeping a clean sheet. He has set up this way in most of his matches so far and it simply puts us in defensive mode. It worked really well at Leeds and was the main reason we won. It's horses for courses though and against the likes of Plymouth, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday at home we should play a more attacking formation with an extra midfield player. In two really good performances at Middlesbrough and home to Southampton we played a four at the back and kept clean sheets. In my view it was because we had the numbers in midfield to stop them playing. It shows a real fear and lack of tactical acumen from Eustace. One of the criticisms of Tomasson was that he was one dimensional, had no plan B. Eustace is pretty much the same.

I've just seen the goals on tv and I'm staggered that Pears tries to blame Hyam for his aberration for the third goal. He is compounding his embarrassment. And for their second Brittain looks like he is towing a caravan trying to keep up with the Wednesday full back who scored. Under normal circumstances there would be wholesale changes for the Coventry game but I'm beginning to fear that Eustace isn't comfortable making big decisions that might upset players. His all too cosying up to the players just doesn't sit right with me.

I think back to the impromptu meeting between some fans and senior players which was brokered by Waggott. Hyam was whining about being booed off at half-time by some supporters and the effect it had on the players. That told me a lot about his character. And then the 'calm down' gesture to some Riversiders near the end of the Millwall match when he took the easy option of going backwards instead of forwards. He's certainly not captain material.

Who is responsible for results? The most important thing is results and so far under Eustace they haven't been good enough. It really doesn't matter what happens at Brockhall or what Eustace says. Judging him solely on results he has failed.

He has the security of a two and a half year contract. I don't believe we could afford to get rid of him after the lunacy of that deal. Irrespective of what happens between now and May 4th I really think Eustace will be here next season.

Firstly I think Eustace got it wrong today with his decision to play a back five. Because it worked really well at Leeds he didn't have to go with it today and whilst it wasn't the reason we lost it certainly helped Wednesday dominate midfield who won pretty much every second ball as they outnumbered us. As the manager he has to take responsibility for results and whilst he has been here they have been poor and the concession of eight goals recently puts to bed the theory we have stopped the flow of goals against. It's not good enough and from the high of Leeds last week the players seemed to be expecting to win on the back of this by just turning up. Individual and collective mistakes are really hurting us and the players looked like they were feeling sorry for themselves after Wednesday's second goal. They showed very little character and the body language really worries me as we go into the last two games. Not one player comes out with any credit today (contrast that to a week ago) and defensively we were shocking as Wednesday couldn't believe their luck. Pears will rightly come in for the most criticism but pretty much every player showed very little courage on the ball and took the easy option far too often which again played into their hands. The biggest worry from the last four games is which Rovers will turn up for the Coventry and Leicester games as our bipolar performances have really confused us. I was desperately trying to avoid the word 'bottle' but that is what it might come down to. If it does I fear for us.

Somebody is telling lies here.

I sincerely hope all the major FA Cup sponsors pull out in protest at this. I don't expect them to but they really do have some clout. Bullingham is now saying that this was agreed with several other organisations including a four man EFL committee. Whose best interests are they representing? I wouldn't trust Rick Parry with anything.

The FA are astonishingly weak and quite simply have acceded to the big Premier League clubs but at the expense of others who don't have the benefit of being state owned or have billionaire owners. In a normal world this should have been decided democratically by all the full member clubs not just a few who are selfish. Most of the big clubs could actually field two separate teams full of experience and internationals. The FA are there to act in the best interests of all the clubs but don't. It's interesting that they have slipped this in before the new regulator is appointed. Hopefully ITV and BBC also have something to say as they are losing live matches to broadcast. The FA Cup was once the jewel in the crown of English football. It's the very people who should be protecting it that are damaging it.

Nothing can be taken for granted in the Championship and to do so would be folly. Take the Bristol aberration out of it and we have only conceded 10 goals in thirteen games whereas they struggle in front of goal. As I said the first goal will be vital. In truth they need to win more than we do.

Rovers will no longer be offering a live domestic streaming service. As they are specific about domestic I assume there will still be a overseas service on offer. This is the reason why: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12873679/sky-sports-agrees-new-five-year-efl-deal-over-1000-matches-per-season

Sheffield Wednesday have only scored 36 goals this season (only 12 away from home) which is the second lowest in the Championship and their last six matches have yielded six points. As a team they have only scored 12 more goals than Szmodics. The only statistic in which they better us is goals conceded and the difference there is only four. They will come full of commitment and fight. If we match that I expect a comfortable win. As ever the first goal will be huge.