If I were to put £100 on either Rovers or Luton to make the play offs this season i would put it on Luton. That's a damning representation of Mowbray's management.

Worry not folks. Never mind where we end up this season, Mowbray is already busy telling the owners that we should be a force next season. On it goes.

Does anyone genuinely believe we will be anywhere near a play off position? I think the players believe Mowbray's hype. Rothwell saying that we should be beating the likes of Luton is a typical Mowbray comment and as expected it backfires. I suspect Mowbray spends all week telling the players how good they are and how they should be getting promoted. Trouble is it isn't happening on the pitch.

I observed Venus' remonstrations with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. Pleasure because I was happy that someone in the Rovers ranks was standing up and taking issue with a diabolical refereeing performance. Looking at the dugout you'd be forgiven for thinking today was some sort of pre season friendly such was the lack of presence. I even began to question if Mowbray was even there. It was good to see someone taking issue with things. Embarrassment because that is the second time in recent months that we have gone to Luton with all the talk pre match and in the end not come away with a win and look rather silly whinging about things rather than just delivering the goods on the pitch. A draw was a fair result on the balance of play. If you're happy with a draw at Luton then you'll be happy with mid table rather than promotion. Enjoy it. If you want promotion then today is another 2 points dropped and further off the pack. Really no more to it than that.

It comes back to Mowbray's principles and dare I say it arrogance. He thinks his footballing beliefs and principles are too pure and refined to be focusing on defensive duties and likewise he won't ever make a player into a set piece threat. That's why we rarely score from corners or free kicks, apart from when we had Mulgrew's exceptional ability in that area.

I'm amazed that Henley is still only 26. Feels like he has been around a lot longer than that. Quite a downturn for what was such a highly rated prospect. Premier League with Rovers to 26 and at Conference North Chorley is quite a comedown. Likewise Tomlinson - doesn't feel so long since there was a clamour here for him to get games in our first team and Coyle/Mowbray (can't remember which) actually threw him on in a game I recall. I always wonder how these lads cope with reality hitting home - having lived the academy lifestyle of being nurtured and looked after from a young age through the academy system at a Category A club - great facilities, playing other Premier League clubs, aspirations of breaking into the first team, they must have had big hopes and expectations for their careers. To then end up in non league in their early to mid 20s must be tough for them to take. In the end though this happens to the majority of the promising lads. Not many make it through.

Yeah saw that earlier. I wondered if it was just a short term arrangement to keep them playing if out of contract. Suppose the Cup run might have given Chorley some extra cash.

In the case of Armstrong a new bumper deal should have been in the offing early this year when he started with his goalscoring run and became the main man for us. At that point we held the cards and I'm sure he would have grasped a good pay rise and a contract extension. Realistically for him a move to the Prem was at that stage at least a year away and required a lot of hard work and progress before then. Since then his form has continued, and we've made a very mediocre start to the new season. This means two things. Firstly it is already unlikely on the evidence to date that we are going to reach the Premier League next season, with all the same old issues appearing again - and secondly he has continued scoring at a very impressive rate. So by now he will be attracting interest from elsewhere and we are looking like going nowhere. He will be asking himself why to bother sticking around. Dack is slightly different given his long term injury situation but personally i'd have expected his contract to have been extended prior to him sustaining that injury in December 2019. Even at that stage he only had 18 months remaining which for a player of his value and abilities isn't long. The owners and their reps might think they are being clever saving a few bob and avoiding long term contracts and falling into the trap of yesteryear where we were saddled with big earners for years and had to pay them off. But this is going to end badly for us unless something changes quickly. Under a 4 year deal Armstrong could be worth £20 million+ if he carries on. As I said yesterday - 23, English, full of pace, good fitness record and scoring every week - like gold dust and carries a massive premium. Mowbray talks about Brentford and emulating them - they make sure their assets are tied down long term then rake in the cash when they move up a level. This is the point where I question how many lessons have really been learned here. Have the owners really worked out how transfers and players work because to me they don't seem to be taking this situation very seriously. Having supposedly embarked on a 'buy young and invest in growth' policy which supposedly Mowbray sold to them and they like the sound of we seem to be gambling somewhat. Armstrong and Dack long term contracts mean potentially £30 million in transfer fees down the line whilst potentially £0 or very little if they don't get new deals. I also note from Mowbray's comments that he's already preparing the owners and fans for another year of the slow build. He mentions in his interview that he's told them that we should be a force to be reckoned with next season. Ambitious. Talk about him being on easy street. By the start of next season he'll have had over 4 years in the job, be our longest serving manager since the 80s and have had 9 transfer windows at it. I'd rather get shut of him and bring in a manager who will be able to put Armstrong's goals to better use than mid table.

This is just groundhog day. Mowbray said exactly the same thing back in the summer and again in September. If these contracts aren't sorted by January I think we can kiss goodbye to most of those out of contract. These things rarely get sorted beyond that point and other clubs will be speaking to them. I think they are having us on. Are discussions and offers being made? Because from what Mowbray is saying it sounds like we are still at first base of getting the owners to agree to issuing new deals and not close to sealing the contracts. And before they come with the pandemic excuse I'll remind everyone of a few things. 1) Mowbray said during the transfer window that he would adjust his transfer kitty to keep room in the budget for new contracts, so presumably we have budgeted for it. 2) many other Championship clubs have been completing new deals - Middlesbrough done a couple this week 3) The costs of losing these players for nothing will far exceed the costs of adding to the wage bill now.

The passage of time had healed some wounds with me. But reading the stuff this week, reminding me of just how horrendous those first 3 years were, draws things back into focus. I can tolerate them but I can't want to forget just how bad it was. Nor do I want to. That feeling of complete helplessness as Kean and his mates destroyed the club whilst these owners sat back and watched, telling us we were wrong, allowing it to unfold. Never forget that. Personally speaking I had months of anguish and dismay watching Kean gut the club. This was all on their watch. They enabled it and allowed it to continue. We became the laughing stock of football whilst Kean and his Sky associates drove a wedge down the middle. I have equal or greater contempt for the co-conspirators and other people who took the Venky coin or maneuvered themselves into higher office whilst keeping quiet and doing nothing.

Really hope we beat this lot. We need to be doing if we have serious aspirations. Before the international break all the talk was about getting through the games, having a break and getting bodies back fit. So here we are. Lets crack on. No more excuses. Last season's defeats to this lot were diabolical - the away one in particular embarrassing. This lot are everything we aren't. Quite well organised - they don't score many but don't concede many either. A nasty piece of work in the dugout and a team that will use all the tricks in the book to get results including cheating and timewasting all day long. For this reason I hope to god we don't go behind as I suspect that will mean game over. I also hope there aren't complaints about their methods after the game because we know what we are getting having played them very recently. Remember David Lowe kicking off at the full time whistle after their antics with the disappearing ball boys - the sort of stuff we should be alive to and ensuring they can't take advantage of.

Going off experience. We let Cairney, Duffy, Raya all leave for less than their worth when keeping them for another couple of years would have seen us land much much more. We should be offering him a bumper deal to keep him here, protect our asset and ensure we are protected. Yet he's still on the same terms as when we came from League One and only 18 months left to go. Not a good position to be in really. These sort should always have at least a couple of years on their deals so the club is safe from poachers. I agree that on current form and market value Armstrong is worth a lot more than £10 million. He's going at over a goal a game for a midtable side and has been doing for the last 6 months. He's 23 and English and has pace. Name your price territory if a Premier League club takes an interest (apart from Burnley who we don't sell to even if it costs us). My pessimism comes from the fact that we've got the top scorer in the league in Armstrong, the highest scoring team in the league and the best or joint best goal difference and yet here we are in familiar mid-table territory rather than up there challenging. It tells me that we are wasting a glorious opportunity here due to poor management. These runs like Armstrong's don't last forever - he'll either lose form or end up moving on - and then we are back to square one. Now is the time to make the most of it.

i enjoyed that Times article. Covered most things quite well. Personally I couldn't really care less if Venkys came to Ewood or not. I wouldn't boo or jeer them if they did, but wouldn't be particularly impressed either. I do think that it would demonstrate some level of interest and commitment if they did. The problem for me is that I still feel that we are still some distance from being a well functioning properly structured club. I completely accept that the current stability and operation is much much better than it was in the early days and we appear to be operating as a proper club should. I am still worried however that the whole thing is built on sand. We still have this bizarre system where the manager of the club is running the show, just like Kean did back in the early days. The difference is of course that Mowbray is trustworthy and has honest intentions and also that he's a competent manager but this is all incredibly short sighted. It all hinges on Mowbray being here and performing to a reasonable level to avoid difficulties. Touch wood it won't happen, but I'm one who envisages difficulties when Mowbray goes - he appears to be secure in the job for as long as he wants it because they like him, he's got his mate in the boardroom backing him up, pretty much everything we've had since 2017 - transfer policy, appointments, investments, scouting - has been on Mowbray's say-so because he has had a word with the owners and they trust him to roll with it. In this day and age you need a setup where performance comes before personality. There needs to be someone reviewing things on a regular basis to see if targets are being met. I still think we have a vacuum where the manager is here regardless of results and this will hold us back. I also think Waggott is completely out of his depth and is now causing damage in the longer term by diminishing our season ticket base at a time when it needs to be growing. I find it astonishing that our season ticket base has declined on his watch despite promotion and recent positivity. An opportunity wasted to boost numbers all in the name of short term balance sheets.

Very strange and quite unprofessional for a Chief Executive to be speculating publicly about the sort of bids he could attract and naming potential clubs who might be interested. I get the impression that a sale of Armstrong would actually be welcomed by Waggott and Mowbray. A massive profit and windfall for the owners right now would vindicate Mowbray's management and recruitment and bolster his position whilst Waggott will want to use the funds to improve the balance sheet. I'm not stupid and know that if a huge bid comes in from the division above it might suit all concerned for us to take it. I would hope however that this is secondary to trying to get promotion and only happens if a huge bid comes in - compare to Watkins when Brentford got £30 million- that is what I'm talking about - not £8-9 million to a rival club.

Quite a terrifying interview. Predictably season ticket sales are abysmal. No surprise when combining a pandemic with price rises, uncertainty and a 2 week sales window. Just don't compare our decline to those elsewhere as that will really bring things into sharp perspective. Waggott should be taken to task for those figures, as CEO commercial and financial performance should be his responsibility and a decline of that magnitude should set major alarm bells ringing. Doubt it though. Excuses at the ready and carry on boys. Waggott references poor commercial performance - how about employ a commercial director? Or is that too difficult? He's going to have to find a way to triple or quadruple sales post pandemic to just get back to where we were. That's going to be nigh on impossible before factoring in Waggott's ineptitude and short termism and another year of Mowbray going nowhere. Year on year declining sales on his watch. Any accountability or responsibility for that? None at all. Just another pat on the back for our great owners and blame the fans

I'm just cracking open a bottle to toast our marvellous owners after the news that we've sold 2500 season tickets but they are topping up the difference to keep us in business. Fantastic.

Its beyond a joke now.

What I can't really stand is 'celebrities' or ex-players/staff members telling the general support base what we should and shouldn't think about Venkys. For example Dunn - the reality, however you want to spin it, is that he was on the club payroll for a large part of the Venky era, first as a senior player, then as a coach and u23 assistant, and there's no doubt at all that his status will ensure he is at the front of the queue in future if he needs a job here. So he might be a 'legend' or respected former player, but the reality remains that he has had a living out of Rovers for much of the last decade of destruction, and i'd even suggest that has in part been enabled by the destruction wreaked - if we had remained a top flight club or properly run I doubt he would have been able to carry on playing as long as he did and further doubt he'd have ended up as first team coach. I've got no personal gripe with him but his position as a paid up staff member is infinitely different to that of working fans who have had to cough up their dosh for the last decade to support it all and watch the misery unfold. Perhaps before rolling out the red carpet and speaking on behalf of thousands of fans who have been put through it he should think about that.

I accept that it doesn't achieve anything to dredge up the memories of 2010 onwards but it is difficult not to and I don't think we should ever forget it. At best it was criminal mismanagement and negligence that could and may yet still be the end of Blackburn Rovers. Whilst it didn't result in a Portsmouth style bankruptcy and owners skipping off into the sunset leaving us in strife the fact remains that we are up to our eyeballs in massive losses and dependency on these owners, the very people responsible for this mess. I don't think these owners feel guilty or responsible for the mess they created, or are serious about making amends. I think they are stubborn and see an exit as weakness or admission of failure - two things that are intolerable to people of their position and the costs of keeping the club on a drip each year in the faint hope something changes for the better is preferable to writing off their losses and disappearing with tails between legs. It feels like yesterday when this sorry saga began to unfold. I remember hearing of Allardyce's sacking so clearly and remember thinking that it was a bold and potentially reckless move but respected that new owners often want their own man in and I maintain to this day that in isolation the sacking of Allardyce didn't have to be a catastrophe. For a club in our position Allardyce was the ideal man for us and we'd have always survived under him. He didn't deserve the sack. But at the same time new owners and investors have the right to appoint their own team and had a competent replacement been lined up there's no reason why the club couldn't have progressed under different management. It wasn't Allardyce or bust, but Allardyce was ideal and his replacement would have needed to be a big name and expensive to better him. I still hope one day that we find out the real truth of how it came about. I just want the answers as it will help in my mind as to culpability. For example, was the Kean manager appointment wrapped up and agreed with the Indians prior to takeover, or was it something that Kean wormed his way into quickly after he and his mate realised how clueless they were and Kean set about smooth talking Mrs Desai? Anderson - another strange one - why would he put his professional reputation in danger by wrecking Rovers? He had everything set up to his advantage - contract to run the club, ability to spend the owners funds - why set the club on a trajectory to ruin by installing his mate as manager and keeping him in place? Longer term surely his interests were better served by making recruitment and management of the club as strong as possible, enhancing his reputation, rather than the stigma and problems he had at Rovers. I never cease to be amazed by those who stick resolutely to this belief that it is Venkys or bust. Of course if they turned their investment off overnight the club would be in a mess. Welcome to the real world. Every club is in the same boat. Since we entered the Championship in 2012 there have been takeovers at Leeds x2, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Sheff Wed, Derby, Forest x 2, Leicester, West Brom, Wolves, Birmingham, Villa, Wigan, Bolton, Watford, Reading. Was the Walker Trust model sustainable? Possibly not. There's only so far you can get with disinterested owners as we are seeing here today. Under Allardyce and even the later days of Hughes we were in a zombie like state of just ensuring enough was done to avoid relegation. Now we are in a similar rudderless era just a division below with horrific annual losses to go with it. We're probably doing quite well in some respects as we are now at about 15 years in a row of having either unwilling owners looking to get shut and stop spending or clueless perhaps dodgy owners with absolutely no interest or understanding of what they are dealing with. I doubt there are many other clubs at this sort of level that can 'boast' such a prolonged spell of disinterest, reluctance or cluelessness and have anything to show for it. Maybe one day we will have someone in control who has passion for the club and genuinely wants it to grow, prosper, improve - see Andy Holt at Accy - rather than just plod along all the while the club decays and fanbase dwindles. There's no room in football for corner cutters or reluctant owners - only those who want to be here and want to be successful will get anywhere. Venkys might think that signing off the cheques every month and meeting Tony at their place a couple of times a year represents interest. I do recognise that Venkys financial input at present does put us into a position where we can recruit and retain at a level the club couldn't on its own steam or with corner shop owners like other local clubs have. But the most frustrating part is that for their level of investment we should be the envy of clubs at this level with a quality squad, top management team, lovely stadium, yet so much is missing through neglect and corner cutting that their investment doesn't get them where they and we need to be.

With Pulis i think it comes down to his style of play. I still reckon he would do a job at any level, including the Premier League, if the remit was to organise a side and to keep them up. The trouble is that there aren't many clubs who are keen on that sort of thing, and those willing to do it quickly get bored with it. Stoke loved him because the accomplishments outweighed the dire football. Palace only had it for half a season and it kept them up. West Brom put up with it for a couple of years as it kept them up but their fans were fed up of it. I don't think he's a busted flush, his methods will get results and keep struggling sides clear of trouble. The issue grows where the expectations or higher or people want nice football.

Doesn't really matter if the players there suit him or not. The good managers can work with whatever players they inherit and get results. Pulis will organise Wednesday, make them fit, disciplined and tough to beat. It will keep them up. Its a sensible and pragmatic appointment. They won't be top of the possession tables, top of 'xG' charts and all the other pointless nonsense, they won't get plaudits from other clubs for being a nice good side whilst getting beat. They'll be horrible to play against. Can't imagine who Derby will appoint now. In their position someone like Cook would be sensible to get them out of trouble. If they give it to Rooney they deserve relegation. I doubt their new owners would be so foolish.

We've got less for our money out of Davenport than we have Evans. He's been here over 2 years and has barely featured.

They've got permission to start on their new ground but as yet no work done. It's actually going to be slap bang in the town centre next to the railway station so should be a decent new ground maybe like Rotherham rather than on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere. Kenilworth Road is horrendous. Easy to see why visiting sides don't like it and don't feel comfortable there.

I have a bit of sympathy for the lad. Unlike many of his 'knocks' or 'tweaks' or 'bruises' picked up in his time here there can be no doubt that his latest setback was a genuine one and he'll be gutted to be missing a huge play off game for his country. Having said that if they get through to the tournament then he'll have plenty of time to get himself ready for that. Where do we go from here with him? Tough one for me. Only last year him and Travis had struck up a great partnership in midfield and he was playing well, arguably to the best level he had ever done in his time here. The seemingly endless succession of injuries since this time last year have almost become comical. The one against PNE was a freak and potentially career ending event. He did well to come back from that quite quickly all things considered but then the bizarre ones since then just make you wonder. Is he just soft and looking for these sort of things? Is his body just very fragile and susceptible to knocks more than most? Given the number of players we have out of contract and loan come the summer we've a hell of a rebuild on our hands coming up. I'm just a little reluctant to add to that exodus bearing in mind what the alternatives may be, but clearly if he is only going to be available for half a season the club may need to form a view on that. The annoying thing for me is I think there is a decent player in there that someone else will get a tune out of.

Amazing how quickly things turn. Not a year since they were sitting pretty near the top and Neil was being pursued by West Brom. Now the nobbers want him out. I won't be crowing much because they are neck and neck with us and are revving up to play us at Deepdale searching for their first home win. We've seen the script for this already with Mowbray's soft lads turning up and rolling over.