I may be paranoid about the whole thing but I was upset last summer when we didn't get invited into the Checkatrade Trophy despite finishing higher than numerous other academies that did get entered into it. Thanks to the investment made some time ago which put us at the forefront of things we've managed to maintain Category A status and I suppose some credit has to go to these owners for not shutting it down, yet, although I suppose if we churn out more Hanleys, Lenihans and Travis's then it's worth chucking a couple of million a year into it. Then there was the Ladies experience which laid bare the corruption. In theory all clubs with Category A status should be considered equal insofar as academy standards are concerned as each have to maintain a level and investment each year. I've no doubt that they will want United in their International Competition and will try to get them in and likewise won't be keen on a non-Premier League club being so high up the rankings. At the moment with 24 Category A clubs it fits quite neatly into their structure but it will be interesting to see what happens should another club seek admission as Category A and meet the criteria. Will they get rid of one to make room?

Don't get your hopes up too much. As good as it would be to those who watch the u23s and as beneficial as it would probably be to our lads and club profile I'm expecting them to find a way to avoid allowing us in. They won't want Blackburn Rovers as one of their elite 12 clubs.

I'm looking forward to us entering the Premier League International Cup next season and hosting some elite European clubs when our promising youngsters can lock horns with some of the best across Europe. My understanding is that entry is for the 12 highest placed Category A clubs and 12 European clubs by invitation. With us finishing 5th in the upper division we should be getting picked. Small problem for the Premier League - Rovers have just finished 5th whilst Man Utd finished 6th in division 2 so if entry is based on performance then Rovers will be in the competition and United won't be. Time to change the rules and make it all invitation only so the poster boys can be in.

Only a matter of time before they're building some 10,000+ breezeblock stadium next to the M60 somewhere. Already changed their badge, kit and dumped their nickname so that will be the final stage of the transformation from what they were to what the 'celebrities' want them to be. Too much time and money on their hands. Rather than retiring into the sunset after successful playing careers or going into coaching people like Beckham and Neville are all about self-promotion and keeping themselves in the limelight. Some might say its positive for Salford to receive this investment and propulsion through the leagues. I think it's a shame especially when the owners get more coverage and publicity than the club, fans or players. Giggs involved despite being manager of Wales, Gary Neville despite being well in at Sky Sports, Phil Neville despite being manager of England women. Sky Sports sponsoring them whilst covering the Football League. All a bit suspect.

Bad news with Salford getting into the League. Fylde not much better but at least with them there isn't the media love fest. Brace yourselves for unrelenting Sky and media fuelled obsession with Salford. A club being used as a vehicle to promote the ex United players. Not nice to see. With Neville being Sky's star pundit and them conveniently having a sponsorship deal with Sky Bet Super 6 its clear how it is going. A conflict of interest in my opinion but it won't be pretty to watch. They'll suddenly start taking an interest in League Two now Salford are there. Expect they'll be picked for more live broadcasts than we will next season. Cringeworthy.

Think they're on row 12 so any beneath that won't be a problem. I'm sure the club would let you have a look before buying to see if it's ok.

Barrow we played the other year and there's the Hardcastle transfer connection. Blackpool there's the Terry McPhillips connection. Rochdale there's the Sam Hart connection. Bury there's the Scott Wharton connection. Wouldn't surprise me if all 4 have come about because of those.

Think with Parker the fans and players love him and he's popular so they're giving him a chance after an ok spell as caretaker. I agree the Championship tends not to be a place for rookies and people on their first managerial job. Bowyer managed it with us. Not many others. Lampard done ok but no better than McClaren or Rowett at this point. Doubt Fulham are struggling for cash as they appear to be another lot immune from Ffp concerns.

I was told Rangers was a go-er up until recently when they were invited elsewhere so it wont be happening. Not a bad selection of friendlies in terms of getting to. More convenient than Lincoln and Grimsby of previous seasons. Hopefully we'll get a couple more games but against higher calibre opposition. Once again the lack of fixtures against continental opposition to me smells of a lack of planning and ambition. Easy to pick up the phone to the old friends down at Rochdale and Blackpool but not as easy to arrange a game in Europe against a high profile European club.

'We've shown we can mix it with the big teams' Who are the 'big teams' exactly?

The alternative way of looking at it is that those clubs have worked extremely hard over the last 5-10 years to build their support up and it has worked. I remember going to Forest midweek the first season we were down in 2012 and the ground was half empty. Birmingham were getting 15,000 a week and less at times when Clark was manager. Bristol City rarely surpassed 15,000 until they rebuilt their stadium (plenty of empty seats). Flip side is if you look at Forest's season ticket offerings they are impressive. Birmingham have done numerous games at £15 a time this season and have season tickets for less than ours. Bristol City have a very impressive pre and post match atmosphere with entertainment etc. Their crowds have begun to deteriorate following the opening of their new ground and the hype that came with it. I accept that we've less to draw on than those clubs but I also think those clubs have made more serious efforts than we have to do something about empty seats. The way of things at Rovers seems to be acceptance that we're at our limit and we can't expect bigger or better.

I don't hate the pale blue. I wouldn't want us to wear it every year and would limit it to once every decade as a change. What I don't like with our home shirt is the socks and sponsor. If the socks were the same blue as the shirt, or white, it would be better. Likewise if the sponsor was less prominent or a different colour it would work better. Socks should be white or the same blue as the shirt. Add blue shorts and socks if away and there is a clash. I want us to wear blue and white wherever we can. So no more of this silly away shirt at Forest, Middlesbrough, Bristol City.

It's propaganda that the League rely upon to try and prove what a jolly good job they're doing. Never mind Bolton and Bury going bust, Coventry having no ground and Blackpool being run by an asset stripping convicted rapist. All they are interested in are numbers on a balance sheet. Record sponsorship and media income and more people watching due to smaller clubs replacing bigger ones in the top division. All the while showing that numbers through turnstiles becoming less and less important to a club's standing in the divisions. Replace Dingles, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Watford and Palace with Leeds, Villa, Sunderland, Sheff Wed and Derby and the numbers wouldn't be as impressive.

Downing is out of contract this summer, so I can't see Doncaster buying him.

Its not Graeme Shinnie though is it. It's a club where they are able to swiftly take action to sign a free agent before his existing contract is up and before this season is over with, whilst our lot have to fly around the world next week or whenever it is and won't know what they can do until that is over with.

Other clubs, even those still in with a shout of promotion, are actually signing players. Our manager has said more than once he doesn't know what the budget or the plan (if there is either) will be until he has spoken to the owners in India. Following that he is going off on his deserved family holiday. It's safe to assume therefore that no free agent arrivals will be here before June. I'd like to be proven wrong on that but I think people expecting us here to move quickly to snap up the decent free agents are optimistic. We don't move quickly here.

Mowbray has said he'd rather build a squad of permanent players who will be assets for the club. We haven't had many loans at this level that have made a positive difference. Reed the obvious exception.

How can we do that when Mowbray has said that he doesn't know his budget or the target for next season until he's been to India next week? Safe to assume nothing concrete can or will be done until he is back from his family holiday after India Derby have already signed Shinnie from Aberdeen despite being in the play-offs. We're behind already.

To be fair I think HMRC have done all they can be issuing a Winding up Petition in the High Court for unpaid tax. For most people that alone would make them come to the table and settle. It seems the Judge and High Court are the ones giving Bolton extra time and chances to escape rather than winding them up and allowing HMRC to recover their debt. Fairly sure most businesses would have been shut down by now but it seems football clubs are treated differently in courts of law in the UK. Presumably it's all about the Judge not wanting to put people out of jobs and get criticism for shutting down a football club.

Again it's another angle from which to try and overcome FFP issues. Constructing facilities at Ewood that will generate income 7 days a week all year irrespective of footballing performance is essential. At the moment we have the indoor centre and offices in the DE but nothing else generating cash. We have the space to do it, there is clearly a demand for it, and in the Riverside we have the perfect opportunity to do it. It could include a leisure centre/gym with discounts for season ticket holders.

I hope that having a hotel within the stadium is something Rovers are looking seriously at doing. The obvious place to start would be incorporating it into a new Riverside stand and offer pitchside rooms. I'm sure such a thing if done properly with conferencing facilities etc. could bring much needed revenue into the club long term. Don't think Blackburn has that much offering. Bolton perhaps more attractive than Ewood given how close it is to the motorway and business parks round there. My worry is we've sat back and done nothing on this front and in the last 5-6 years there must be 5-6 new hotels built in Blackburn. Clearly there is a demand for hotel rooms and we're missing out when Ewood could be at the forefront of it.

There seems to be a train of thought among Bolton fans that the League shouldn't 'punish' them with a points deduction for next season as it would hurt new owners or prospective new owners. They don't seem to realise that the points deduction is actually as much a deterrent against other clubs as it is a punishment against them. If they are allowed to get away with what they have done this season then other clubs could try similar in future expecting to be free from sanctions. If they go into administration I would expect to see them start next season on a minimum of -18 points. -12 for administration and at least -6 for cancelling a game and then failing to rearrange it. If they got any less then the League has done them a big favour.

They committed 2 offences re. the Brentford game. The first was cancelling it from its original date - failing to play the fixture on its due date - and the second was failing to rearrange it and complete their fixtures despite being instructed to do so by the League. In theory each offence should carry a penalty of at least 3 points. I suspect the League will look to brush it under the carpet and will apply the mandatory 12 points for administration and throw the other issues under that umbrella.

So Anderson saying he's no choice but to put them into Admin. Sky Sports saying they have gone into admin. High Court have given them a 2 week adjournment. I wouldn't want to see them liquidated but this has gone on long enough. Ultimately it's the tax man owed money and public services missing out on millions of pounds of tax here. Once again administration will clear the decks to a certain extent but those who suffer will be the small fry businesses and local people. Meanwhile the millionaires will be ok.

I should have added that those other owners knew what they wanted and knew how to deliver it. Meanwhile Venky's 'investment' has all gone down the drain and we've nothing to show for it. I think the point I'm making is that whilst southern clubs generally have bigger populations and bigger incomes to draw upon more important is those clubs have got lucky with good, ambitious and rich owners (probably attracted by location). They haven't got where they are because they're in affluent areas or get big gates. In Brighton's case since they moved ground it has been plain sailing for them. Promotion from League One, play-offs, promotion from Championship, Premier League, new ground after years without one. If they have a decade like we've just had they won't be getting 30,000 a week on watching it. Ups and downs. Stoke and Swansea were getting full houses last season but another few seasons treading water in the Championship and they'll be down to a similar level to us numbers wise.