To be fair Chaddy you were saying Gestede was an unattainable player for us due to his wages and our budgets, yet subsequently linked him to Ipswich Town. Simple fact is none of us know what money players are on, what our budget is or indeed if Venkys have authorised an increase to the budget. They are perfectly capable and entitled to increase the funding to the manager should they wish and to be honest I'd be alarmed if they weren't prepared to at this stage with the top 6 tantalisingly close and us on an impressive run of form. They should be knocking Mowbray's office door down asking him what more he needs to continue our upward momentum. I wouldn't go as far to say it is a 'pipedream' signing. It would be an impressive and unexpected piece of business were we to land him and potentially a 'difference making' signing mid-season, but I agree it is unlikely to happen, as we seem to be extremely cautious in our recruitment and would be reluctant to add someone who might upset the balance we have. Richard Sharpe is doing his usual routine of playing it safe from all angles. I don't get why people even bother asking him. Even if he knew something he would likely be sworn to secrecy by the club until it was done. His only sources are employed by Rovers so he is only going to know what they feed him and is only going to go public with it as and when they want him to. Waste of time worrying about what he says. The usual is 'not sure, will look into it' or 'he's one we've looked at but not first choice' or 'wages might be an issue there'. Covers all bases.

Again I think it comes back to Venkys and their ever moving goalposts and budgets. It seems to be a running theme under their ownership that spending is restricted in the early days of transfer windows and any significant outlay only takes place at the back end. Cast our minds right back to the deadline day signings of Yakubu and Dann in 2011 when prior to that we'd barely spent anything. Rhodes was deadline day. Brereton deadline day and had to wait until the loan window opened. Under Coyle we spent nothing until a sudden late splurge with Williams, Mulgrew, Gallagher and Emnes late on. IF we do anything major this window it is going to be close to deadline day. If we look at yesterday's signing of Chapman I noticed that the club website referred to it as our 3rd January signing after Brereton and Lyons. Trouble is both Brereton and Lyons were here before January, one has been a benchwarmer, the other a kid in the u23s, and now our '3rd' signing we're told isn't physically ready to play for us. It would be nice if we signed someone to come in and immediately strengthen us, though I accept it isn't necessarily easy nor an urgent requirement given recent results.

Looking at that draw with no Liverpool, Arsenal or Spurs or even West Ham, Everton or Leicester and either United or Chelsea going out in the next round there is a glorious opportunity for an unexpected club to reach the final, perhaps even win it. Wouldn't be surprised now to see Wolves or Watford get to the final, though looks to be City's to lose.

Yes, the demographics of those going to football games has shifted more and more in the last 10-15 years. These days it seems to be more of a family event than it ever was previously. As a Championship club we need to be realistic. About 15,000 home fans a week is the most we're ever going to get in the remotely near future unless miracles are worked. Figures suggest we're currently between 12,000 and 13,000 so the aim should be to get another couple of thousand home fans in, by doing what every other club seems to do - shuttle buses to areas where Rovers fans live - Hyndburn, Clitheroe, Leyland, Chorley, Bamber Bridge. Encourage/set up supporter branches in each of those areas. Promote the club beyond the confines of BwDBC - if that means upsetting counterparts at Accy or PNE then hey, it's a dog eat dog world. Unless and until we do the basics to promote attendance and the club in the REGION and not the TOWN then we can't say we've done everything we can.

The Assombalonga one is so random and goes against the norm in terms of the player and finances under Mowbray that it is very hard to see happening. Gallagher on the other hand ticks every box going in the Mowbray transfer checklist. Young, English, past working relationship, plenty of time and scope to grow in value. That one I can see happening and to be honest I'd be quite happy with that.

If he's on as much cash at Middlesbrough as some are claiming and Pulis doesn't like him then it is obvious why they would be looking to get rid. If Pulis wants to make signings himself it's only logical he'll have to move some out to free up space and wages. Assombalonga isn't going to get a Premier League club, which leaves half a dozen or so Championship clubs who might need him and could afford him without causing major Ffp problems. If it were to happen my money would be on us loaning him until the summer whilst paying a large chunk of his wages. Gets him out of Pulis way for 6 months, gets him playing games and retaining his value more than sitting on his backside at Middlesbrough, frees up a space for them to fill along with a wage and puts him in the shop window. Everyone happy. Think it was a similar arrangement when Graham initially joined under Lambert. Venkys tend to be content to stack another few quid on the wage bill now and again, it's the lump sum cash they tend to avoid.

I'm one of the most pessimistic around when it comes to Venkys and their intentions/behaviour, but one thing that never ceases to irritate me is the constant 'how can we afford it?'line that gets thrown out every time we are linked with a big move in the transfer market. It seems plenty are happy to sit back and watch as rivals all around us spend tens of millions of pounds a year on proven players yet the moment that gets mentioned at Rovers it's question marks and alarm bells. Fact is we're in the same boat as we've always been. If Venkys want to spend millions on players there is nothing stopping them from doing that. Ffp rules haven't stopped others from doing it. We're currently in arguably our best shape on and off the pitch since 2011 so there's no time like the present to splash out. Whilst a player of Assombalonga's level would cost it would almost certainly be a multi year payment plan as with Brereton so it can be spread out for Ffp purposes and also offset by a sale or two. Wages would be considerable but again, if Venkys want to add to the payroll that is entirely up to them. Assombalonga has spent his career outside the top division so I'd be surprised if he was on mega money. All this talk about a slow build or not bringing in any big earners. Nonsense. If you want to go places you act swiftly to evolve and improve. You don't improve by never paying bigger wages out or waiting months or years down the line. Imagine how the 90s would have gone if Jack Walker and Kenny had refused to buy new quality or increase the wage bill... I still doubt this one will happen as he doesn't seem to me to fit the Mowbray mould and we've had all this sort of thing before with rumours of big signings that don't materialise. One thing that does stack up is of course the Middlesbrough connection with Mowbray which may well work in our favour, but whether it does happen or not I wish people would accept that if we wanted it to then it could happen. Comes down to what mood Venkys are in, as ever.

Unfortunately for Reed if he wants to make a successful career for himself in either the Premier League or Championship he needs to realise he might need to move away from 'Down South' at some stage. If he turns down potential transfers because he's reluctant to move around the country he's never going to get very far. In this day and age players move where they need to in order to thrive on the pitch and get contracts, it's part of the game. Hundreds of players have moved from around the world to the NW of England. If a potential deal makes footballing and financial sense he would be foolish to turn that down so he could remain living somewhere in the South.

Rotherham completely dependent on their home form. It has kept them out of the bottom 3 so far and if they manage to sustain it will probably keep their heads above water. Bit like Wigan but not as effective at getting those wins. If the home form goes however, with awful away form, they could easily drop into it. Bolton are expected to be one of the three given their form and lack of quality yet they scraped through last season and have the experience. Reading a bit of an unknown quality but on paper they have the strongest squad down there. Looks to me like 3 from the bottom 4 unless Wigan drop into the mix, but I think their home record will be enough for them.

Spot on. If the budget hinges upon our league position going into January then we'll never get anywhere. Waggott said in the Fans Forum that money was left over in the budget for signings should the right ones crop up.

Easy to say that now in January whilst there's still a chance of survival and he seems to be well liked there. Might be a different story come May/June once the dust has settled post-relegation and he discovers his budget.

These are the sort of games that could mark a turning point in our season. We're on the borderline at present - an ever so slim chance of gatecrashing the top 6 push and could realistically finish anywhere between top six and bottom six (assuming we don't embark on a disastrous run and get sucked into trouble). With our run of fixtures over January and February we should smell a glorious chance to put serious points on the board and put ourselves into a good position, at the very least getting ourselves to effective safety by the end of Feb so we can (in theory at least) begin to prepare for the summer and next season to hit the ground running. Win this one, preferably well, and it marks an excellent start to 2019, 9 points from 9 and gives us that optimism that we might, just might, have an exciting end to the season looking upwards. Fail to win this and it would be a big disappointment and undo the good work of WBA and Millwall wins. Ipswich's only 3 wins this season have been Swansea away (fluke) and Wigan/Rotherham 1-0 at home (narrow wins against awful away sides). They're entering last chance saloon and need to string a few wins together to give themselves hope of surviving. I agree that whilst we should be looking at a relatively comfortable win we just don't do those sort of things here and at best I feel it will be a narrow ground out single scoreline victory, more likely a drab 0-0 or 1-1 after the exploits of midweek. I suppose whatever happens it is nice to be going into these games not under immense pressure as we have been the last two seasons.

How many independent supporters groups are still in existence? Ewood Blues who run a coach to away games, BRAG who only came about in protest against the club, London Rovers (or whatever their official name is) which seems to be quite successful and well supported and meets with the club. I know there's a few based overseas such as the New York Rovers, but in terms of those in the UK there really aren't many for a club of Rovers' size. I notice that Wolves embarked last season on a programme of encouraging Wolves supporter groups to set up and become affiliated to the club. They offered them all sorts of perks if they created new branches and groups. As you say - comes down to complacency. Only now have we got anything that vaguely resembles a proper structure after 7-8 years without one. We're in an extremely competitive region and industry here and you need to be on the ball, proactive and ambitious to get ahead of rivals. As I said yesterday, PNE who have nothing that we don't have, run club operated shuttle buses into Leyland etc. to try and bring in supporters from those areas to their home games. Those are just as much Rovers areas as Preston yet at the last update Waggott was 'looking into it'. A club of our size/stature/history should have well established successful shuttle arrangements into surrounding areas like Hyndburn, South Ribble and the Ribble Valley but it seems to me we're falling well short. Too much focus on our literal backyard - BwD - and not enough on the surrounding regions where a huge - and probably increasing - element of our support lives.

If we sign nobody this window does it count as one of Mowbray's two/three/four windows he needs to build or do we defer it until the summer and add another one on afterwards?

I'll come back to what I said earlier this week. In the last 6 months following promotion Mowbray has awarded new, improved contracts to Smallwood, Evans, Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan, Conway and Bennett. Now some, including me, applauded most of those decisions and I still think most of them deserved at least improved terms if not longer contracts (not sure on Smallwood and Conway but the rest all good enough and needed keeping for our first season back at this level) and I think most of them have done very well this season. Lets try to imagine for one minute the reaction from Madame and Mr Desai if Mowbray rings them up and asks for millions of pounds in transfer fees and wages to bring in a raft of new players to replace the above and consign them to the bench for the next 2 years. First question he gets asked is 'why the hell did we go through with dishing out all those new contracts Tony?'

Yes, it's amazing what a couple of group photos and a name/title on the website can do. Somehow the whole arrangement feels more transparent and legitimate now he's emerged from the shadows and has appeared through official club media. It probably won't chance a thing but personally I feel more comfortable with the operation if all those running the club on a daily basis appear to be working together in the open rather than name/faceless individuals skulking in the shadows never speaking. I'd still very much like to know where Mr Shaik comes in the hierarchy and how that works in relation to Mowbray and Waggott. Is he merely the 'eyes and ears' or does that extend to decision making ability? Who has final say and how is that affected by Shaik's messages back to India?

I reckon that is the first time in at least 3 years of him being involved that the club has officially confirmed the presence/involvement of Pasha and his photograph. Sounds lovely but I'm not sure how much it changes things. All the people there were already here and doing the same jobs before this new 'team' was announced.

Coventry doing a repeat of their 'Community Day' by selling tickets at £5 in advance and have donated 12,000 to local schools. Impressive.

Indeed. But shuttle buses aren't some radical pioneering concept. I think most clubs have them in some form or another. Even Accy Stanley did a deal with Pilkingtons buses to make it cheaper for football fans to get from across Hyndburn to the ground on matchday.

Interesting. Seems we're well behind the competition with even PNE making more effort to tap into a Rovers supported area. In other news Norwich, who don't know what league they will be in next season, have today put season tickets on sale for next season. I wonder why they are doing that and not waiting until May or June like we do?

Are those club arranged shuttle buses? How much do they charge? I've never seen it promoted on any of Rovers web or Twitter pages.

On the subject of PNE I couldn't help but notice a tweet they put out this week about changes to their matchday shuttle bus schedule in Leyland. Do we provide a shuttle bus to supporters in Leyland and the surrounding areas?

We as a club need to be encouraging as many people as possible to buy tickets and come to Ewood, arguably more so than many of our rivals who can rely on 20,000 a week. If some of those people can't or won't commit to going until a few hours before kick off those people should not be penalised or deterred due to a needless surcharge. Some people cannot or will not make a decision until the last minute. Some people work Saturday mornings, or decide given what the weather is like or what the wife is doing. Why should that mean you pay more than those who decide on Friday lunchtime?

On what I've been told £2.5 million is the amount. I've no reason to doubt that. I believe that is far more likely to be accurate than Venkys ever committing to £7 million up front.

Of course I don't have any 'evidence' nor will anyone other than those in possession of the transfer documents but as with all transfers the fee reported in the media is the total amount payable should it reach its maximum level, not the initial amount paid up front. Virtually every transfer deal is structured in instalments with increases dependent on how the player in question performs and the club performs. If we get promoted more will be due, if Brereton becomes an England international more will be due, etc. Same happened with Rhodes, Reported at £8 million yet the starting point was much lower and I doubt we ever reached the full amount as we didn't get promoted and he didn't play for Scotland enough.