JHRover

Highly unlikely IMO. Let's suppose we get these 4 points from the next 3. That puts us on 54 from 36 matches. Likely needing at least 20 points from the last 10. In those last 10 we play Bristol City, Leeds and West Brom at home and have to travel to relegation threatened Wigan, Barnsley and Luton and tough sides Cardiff, Millwall and Derby. You reckon we'd get through those without dropping more than 10 points? Even then 74 might not be enough.

Anyone heard anything about the small matter of the dingles match on Thursday at Morecambe. Both clubs maintaining a complete wall of silence and pretending nothing is happening, despite numerous requests for information.

What does that even mean? You have your budget, identify attainable players and work on those. You have a plan b, c and d if a doesn't work. Everyone else manages it. 2 years running now we've been told there's plenty of money yet it doesn't materialise, except in odd cases like Brereton. If a deal was unaffordable e.g. Assombalonga then why bother trying? Personally I suspect it is just arse covering when the fans question what is happening. Don't think India would be too impressed if Mowbray and Waggott pointed responsibility at their front door. Much easier and more sensible to keep in their good books.

What sort of manager turns down the option of funds to strengthen his squad? Can you imagine Mark Hughes telling the Abu Dhabi group that he didn't want their cash because it might break the wage structure or upset one or two around the place. A manager works with resources available to him. If it is correct that Venkys have offered money but he has elected not to spend it then that is a very unusual thing to happen. Imagine if we get to the end of the season and finish 1 point off the top six. Normal owners would be asking why the manager refused or failed to strengthen in January with promotion obviously achievable. Mowbray must have a very relaxed view about things if he thinks he or we have all the time to turn down transfer cash when in need of more depth.

They are a West London based club, just a couple of miles down the road from Sky Sports studios, who score plenty of goals and unearth good foreign players. If ever there was a perfect storm for positive publicity and being over hyped they're it. Can practically smell the excitement at Sky/Talksport of having a new London club in the Premier League stacked full of foreigners playing nice football.

Not really sure saying West Brom are in poor form is accurate at all. Seem to be doing perfectly well to me after a short wobble. Bilic an outstanding manager at this level with a very strong squad. Derby and Cardiff tough places to go. Derby terrible away from home but very hard to beat at Pride Park. Cardiff right next to us in the table and have only lost a couple since Harris took over. Those are the sort you need to win to put yourself in the driving seat. Fail to win at least a couple of those big 6 and we will have too much to do from the other 7 matches.

7:35 train from Manchester gets in at 9:40. With split tickets and railcard it was about £28 return. Last year we went to Vauxhall then the train to Brentford but still a decent trek out.

Best part of an hour to get to Brentford from Euston. Should be fine if in Euston for ten past 11.

Realistically we are going to have to pull at least a couple of unexpected wins out of the bag against the sides above us or in games we would usually embrace a point in. I'm talking Leeds, West Brom, Bristol City at home, Brentford, Cardiff and Derby away - tough fixtures. Mid table sides would happily take draws from those - promotion winners need a few wins.

There seems to be an attitude around the place that increasing crowds is simply a question of price and that by putting a few offers on from time to time the club has done all it possibly can. There's another aspect to it all. You have to encourage people to come and come back. Make it cheaper or easier to get to Ewood and get away afterwards. Put buses on to areas where large portions of our support live like Preston do. Charlton have club run buses all over Kent and Sussex where many of their fans live. We do nothing. Inside the ground - make Ewood a better place to be. Improve the atmosphere by developing a singing section. Generate more of an atmosphere by using music and the big screen better. The atmosphere is so flat and dull it is untrue. Go to Bristol City they have a carnival like range of stalls, bars, music etc. around their ground pre and post match with all sorts for families and kids. People who come for a one off match are unlikely to go home with pulses racing either with the football served or the Ewood experience. Unfortunately the way of it seems to be bare minimum expense which directly equates to bare minimum effort, because all the above require imagination or expense to get up and running.

A very good performance, result and enjoyable day out. Thought our performance was excellent and really pleasing to see us see the game through keeping the clean sheet Still think the play offs are going to be a step too far for us. Probably need minimum 25 points from 39 remaining, whilst Fulham, Forest and Brentford probably only need 20 points. Nevertheless good to see us performing well, good form and good habits of managing games and clean sheets. Keeps things interesting. Despite concerns about the weather, trains and problems at Euston station thankfully everything went smoothly. Went into their supporters lounge pre match behind the goals. Packed with fans, warm meals on, beer, relaxed atmosphere. Feel Rovers are missing a trick not opening up the Darwen End and doing similar on matchday. No entry fee or membership required. Just first come first served.

Think he's made 3 poor steps in his career Walking out of a secure job at PNE where his stock was high to join crisis club Sunderland - can understand the logic behind it but Sunderland a complete basket case. Joining Bradford when they were being run by the German nutter who sacked McCall and appointed the youth team manager so he could run the team. Joining Blackpool - in theory a sensible move to an ex club just after being taken over but it seems their fans weren't overly keen and they appear to have ideas beyond their station. As I said last week I'm not sure where Blackpool think they should be but I think mid-table League One is about right.

Very surprised at that. If this season wasnt a transition season for Blackpool I don't know what is. New owner, McPhillips walking at short notice, first full season Oyston free. I'd have expected him to be given the summer and the start of next season at the very least given his CV in that division. If Heckingbottom is the alternative Blackpool might wish they'd kept Grayson.

Quite looking forward to the day out provided the weather doesn't cause any problems. Think we will struggle here. It will be a big day for Charlton with a full house and a chance to take a big step to survival after last night. They'll see this one as a golden opportunity. I worry about our resilience in these part of games against the poorer sides in the division.

A good win in tough circumstances. The game looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw but then after we got ahead confidence flowed and Hull collapsed. Felt we had the better of the first half without really creating any good opportunities. Second half they started brighter than us but again didn't really test Walton at any stage. Happy with the win and our position. But as ever if we are serious about getting anywhere we are going to need 3-4 points from these away games. I actually feel more confident now Charlton have surprisingly won at Forest but still think it will be a tough game. Happy to get within reach of 50 points.

Brentford was a very good win and a good performance insofar as we nullified them and kept a very good clean sheet. But I wouldn't describe it as a game where we played really good stuff and had people on the edge of seats creating plenty of chances. I loved the performance and win, don't get me wrong I'd take those every week, but I wouldn't say it was swashbuckling exciting football.

Personally I can count on one hand the number of home games that I've come off in the last 2-3 seasons thinking 'what a good performance' - Leeds, WBA, Hull last season, none this season. Obviously there have been plenty of occasions we've won games and that's the most important thing but I do think the quality of football over 90 minutes has been poor. Certainly worse than anything Bowyer or Lambert served up.

Yes we do need to go over it. I'm not satisfied with the explanation provided and I am anxious about similar happening again. I simply cannot accept that with a full summer transfer window we were unable to sign a permanent goalkeeper of an adequate standard, especially when in receipt of £3 million+ for our own keeper. It once again highlights the bizarre way of operating that we have here. A summer where Leutwiler was given an extension simply because he is cheap and will sit on the bench and Walton brought in on a loan despite not impressing at Wigan. All the while no money finds its way into defence or goalkeeper positions.

Mowbray is the second longest serving manager in the division. 3 years at the helm of a Championship club is rare in itself. The fact that come the summer we will have no senior keeper, no left back, one CB, no wingers and no strikers capable of scoring, is horrific. I've long warned against relying on the loan market because this is what happens. The way we operate we aren't ever going to have the squad required, because rather than build we save cash by relying on kind loan deals from Premier League clubs. You can't plan or build on such an approach because it hinges upon favourable conditions and generosity from elsewhere as and when it suits them. The longest serving manager is Lee Johnson at Bristol. They've gradually evolved a squad and invested in quality despite having to sell a few along the way. Lost Brownhill to the dingles on deadline day but brought a couple in the other way.

Anyone know how Waggott's 'looking into' putting coaches on from South Ribble is going?

So all but one of the options that I've just come up with in my head in 30 seconds are within the rules as ways of getting around FFP. Yet we've not done any of them, instead just hiding behind the rules when it suits.

Sponsor the stadium, stands or training ground, either with third parties or in the cases of Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday by the owners directly. 'Sell' the stadium or training ground to another company under the owner's control, knowing full well it can be transferred back for nothing in future. Bring in sponsorship from companies linked to the owners e.g. Visit Malaysia at Cardiff. Invent fake companies to sponsor us e.g. D Taxis at Hillsborough Get a third party to pay the wages of players e.g. Derby and Rooney.

I believe you are correct that Mowbray will be given more time. The problem I have with that is I believe that is the case regardless of results and performances over the coming months. It isn't April with only a couple of dead rubbers remaining. It is early February with months to go. Surely performance over these coming months should be assessed by someone before a decision is made? If we were to go on and push for the top 6 I'd be more than happy and would agree Mowbray deserved a crack at next season. If we were to repeat the collapse of last February and March then that would indicate no progress. Sadly I don't think our owners monitor such things and they place more importance on things like trust and good relationships than they do on performance and targets. That's their choice of course but in the cut throat world of football I don't think there is that much room for sentiment and emotion. A manager should live or die by his results, not on how nice a man he is.

That alone is a concern. At a normal club Mowbray's performance over the next 3 months would feed into whether he remains at the club into the summer. Nothing wrong with wanting him to be and planning on the basis he will be but there's a lot of games to play yet and if we go on a repeat of last year and collapse over February and March I would expect that to be factored in rather than just completely ignored because we have injuries or have given up on promotion in January. I look at Preston who we were almost at the point of overtaking not long ago who are now back in the play-off picture. I don't think their manager told their players that their season was over and to look to next season.

We aren't a small club. Our average crowds are mid range in this division. Leeds are an exception to the norm because they have a catchment area of millions of people behind them. It hasn't helped them because they've been outside the top division for 15 years. Similar can be said of Forest and Sheffield Wednesday. It proves fanbases are a secondary issue.