Yep, the reason I bought it was purely to be eligible for 1st dibs on away tickets. Given nowhere (except maybe Burton/Shrewsbury at a push) will get snapped up by members only I might not bother. The club cash thing was a waste of time for me, if I could have put it towards this season ticket I'd have been quite happy with a £50 rise if £25 was covered by the club cash.

I actually think the 'plan' remains the same - to fill the 3 new sides of the ground. They will expect Darwen end home fans to either fill up the BBE or lower JW and then they can use the whole of the DE lower for away fans - 5000 allocation behind the goals - plenty of clubs will fill that or get close to it whilst the upper need only be opened for Leeds and possibly Preston.

I don't see what difference it will make to Rovers in shutting the Darwen End to home fans in terms of what we offer away fans. Realistically only Leeds, Villa, Middlesbrough and Preston would fill the Darwen End in the Championship. One of those is likely to go up this season and I doubt Preston will bring a full allocation in future years as the novelty wears off of coming to Ewood. The decision will be some sort of attempt to improve 'atmosphere' by concentrating home fans together or to save costs by not having stewards and caterers in the Darwen End for the sake of 500 at most people. The drawback is that I can't see the Darwen Enders moving into the Blackburn End unless they are allocated a block to themselves so the more likely outcome is they end up mixed in with more sedate supporters in the Riverside or JW Lower. My season ticket is going up by £50 which i think is a substantial rise. I'll pay it because I'd happily lose £50 to watch us in the Championship rather than League One but it is dangerously high to upset people amidst a positive period for the club. Lets have a Price of Football check. Our cheapest ST next year will be £319. This season Barnsley (270), Birmingham (230), Bolton (316), Burton (255), Cardiff (299), Derby (319), Fulham (254), Hull (252), Reading (305), Sheffield Utd (288) and Wolves (299) all offered cheaper season tickets than that. Yes some will increase as ours have but it gives you an idea as to where we are at. Also Forest (330), Millwall (333), Bristol City (345) and Villa (322) sit ever so slightly higher but not much. PNE are at 380 according to the survey. Whilst Norwich, QPR and Wednesday are at 400+. I'm not going to complain because I don't think our prices are unreasonable but I also don't think they are cheap in comparison to most either.

There's no excuse to not have them on sale, or at the very least have announced prices and sales periods, by the game tomorrow. The old excuse that it needs to wait until we know which league we are in cannot be applied now as it is 10 days since we found out the answer to that and before then they should have had them drafted and ready to unveil. In any event I very much doubt there would be a serious difference between Championship and League One prices, and plenty of other clubs have had tickets on sale for months despite not knowing which league they are going to be in. Shrewsbury for one.

To be honest I'd be pleasantly surprised if we found anything out tomorrow. Of course if there is any sense around they would have a flyer attached to every seat in the ground for the 25,000 to take home with them and think about buying one for next season and get them on sale in the club shop tomorrow. I suspect that Venkys have to authorise season ticket prices and they won't be able to get that authorisation until they travel out to India for the summit meeting. Lets see if Waggott's presence has changed that and things like ticket prices are his remit.

I think some are forgetting just how much experience this squad has in the Championship. The defence, with the exception of RB, all played regularly last season in the Championship. Raya is clearly a better keeper than Steele or Kean/Eastwood before him. Evans, Conway, Whittingham, Bennett, Graham - all vastly experienced Championship players. Maybe questions as to their fitness moving forward but ability wise they've proven themselves up to it over the years. Dack I think most would bank on him making the step up, maybe he won't set the league alight but he'll create problems in that League. Under a competent manager (Mowbray) the bulk of this squad along with some poorer players who we have since got rid of demonstrated a little over 12 months ago they were good enough, securing 51 points on the way to relegation. Yes it was relegation but it was, under Mowbray, mid-table level results. We've since dumped Lowe, Akpan, Guthrie, Henley and added one or two. I'm confident with retention of the bulk of what we've got and 4-5 decent additions we'll compete. You'd think reading some stuff that we've a team of inexperienced League One nobodies jumping into the unknown and that the Championship is something to be fearful of.

Struck me that Coyle was handed a very restricted budget (or only asked for one so to get the job ahead of better candidates) and so once he was in place he basically filled the squad up with whoever he could get for next to no money. Some additional cash seemed to trickle through later on in the window to enable the signings of Williams, Mulgrew and Emnes but by then we were playing catch up, and that money only materialised once Hanley and Duffy were out of the building. This summer needs to be much better organised and better financed. Mowbray needs a proper budget secured later this month so he can get the bodies in early doors ready for pre-season. No off the hoof desperation signings to do favours for friends or a parent club will give them to us for next to nowt. If there is one lesson to learn from our last Championship campaign it was that the summer and start of the season we were on the back foot, so our impressive run between February and May ultimately counted for nothing because we started off so far behind. Mowbray's visit to India should be the start of that and face to face talks with Mrs D usually result in better outcomes than no talks.

Just hope they aren't the freebie cheap kids like we had last time with Samuelson, Byrne and Hendrie. Never going to cut it at Championship level.

If those figures are correct and our wage bill is now only £8.5 million and Burton Albion's is a 'modest' £8 million then we're at base level - we cannot cut wages any more than that if we want to survive or thrive in the Championship. Quite how losses can be so high on such a wage bill I'm not sure as there's no way Burton are losing similar amounts as us. I don't think shelling out tens of millions on new players is likely or the right thing to do, but if our wage bill is similar to Burton's we are going to need to bump that up significantly. Strangely one thing Venkys have always seemed happy to do is pile big earners onto the books, but have usually avoided getting the chequebook out for big transfer fees unless in exceptional circumstances.

There's a story in the Guardian today about Burton Albion and their potential survival in the Championship against all the odds. That story reports that their annual wage bill is around £8 million and their average crowds are around 4,700. Earlier this week Mowbray mentioned in one interview that our wage bill is around £8.5 million with some clubs upwards of £40 million. If those figures are accurate then it is both pleasing and worrying. Pleasing because it tells me that the big earners are gone and we're at a low base level now, but it is also worrying because we've reached a stage where we're in the same ball park as Burton Albion in terms of the money we're paying out on players despite their crowds being less than half of ours and we will have to increase it back up substantially if we're going to compete. I don't really understand how with an annual wage bill of just a bit more than Burton's that our losses can be so much greater, particularly as our club revenues ought to be drastically higher (maybe not this season but certainly when at the same level).

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Rovers are one of those clubs looking to do away with the matchday programme. What was a poor product has gradually got worse and having purchased every programme this season I can confidently say Rovers' is one of the worst going in the league in quality, content and volume. There's no excuse for it and it is purely about how much effort a club wants to make. Rovers will trot out the old excuse that there's no money to be made on programmes which might well be right but that doesn't explain how so many other clubs in the 3rd and 4th divisions manage to produce a vastly superior product and charge the same price for it. Rochdale and Bristol Rovers had excellent programmes full of interesting material. Next week with a bumper crowd on you might expect Rovers to produce a special promotion programme crammed full of interviews, photos, coverage of the season, make it a promotion celebration souvenir edition, include stuff about the Under 23s magnificent efforts this season, I'm not optimistic about it, I expect another pitiful effort. People might call it complaining for the sake of it but I see it as something the club should take pride in and use as a selling point for the club.

With Burton, Barnsley, Reading and Birmingham all up against promotion chasing sides there are some huge fixtures there. I'd love to see Birmingham sink but realistically even if they lose they would still need 2 of Bolton, Barnsley and Burton to win to drop into it. I can see Bolton winning but not the other two.

Cook has no loyalty and has form for ditching clubs once he's achieved success. I suppose his record justifies his actions and he clearly has an immediate impact where he goes, but i wouldn't expect him to hang around at Wigan for too long, especially if money is tight. Kept Stanley up - left to join a league rival, got Chesterfield promoted, left to join a club in the division below, got Portsmouth promoted - left to join a club in the same division, got Wigan promoted - wonder what will come next.

He might see Ipswich as a similar club to Shrewsbury relative to the division. Shrewsbury are locally owned, not a 'big' club for the level they are at and neither has much money compared to rivals, yet he has managed to make a success of those conditions at Shrewsbury and might fancy his chances to do similar at Ipswich. They are a relatively well run club who would give him time and wouldn't mess him around. Sunderland a lot remains to be seen. In theory they might turn it around and should have a big budget but will still be a huge amount of work to do to turn it round this summer.

The bloke leading the investors buying Sunderland is the current owner of Eastleigh in the Conference. He's having to sell them to take control of Sunderland. This could be a turning point for them and with a new structure in place even limited investment should see them towards the top of League One next season, beyond that they will need a lot more investment to get back to the Premier League so it remains to be seen whether these new owners have the cash or whether they've got the club on the cheap after relegation.

Makes me grateful that we got our business done with a couple of games to spare. I'd struggle this week if I were a Cardiff or Fulham fan with automatic promotion up for grabs on the final day. Bolton might just get out of jail next week as Forest have nothing left to play for whilst Burton and Barnsley have tough away games against sides in decent form.

The Jack Walker lower tier Darwen End side only has a capacity of about 1400. In the Championship they'd have to be daft to restrict away fans to those numbers. Factor in that they would be right behind the dugout and infront of corporate areas, that one will never happen. The best place for away fans IMO is the top tier of the Darwen End where we can safely accommodate up to 3,000, keep them away from home fans, removing the need for segregation and lots of stewards, keep them away from the pitch and also charge them whatever we want as they are in a different area to home fans in the lower tiers. In exceptional circumstances where the away club sells out of 3,000 then give consideration to opening a block or two in the lower DE.

I think Fulham will pip Cardiff to 2nd place. I can see Fulham winning their two games comfortably against Sunderland and Birmingham who will be safe by the final day. Cardiff go to Hull next and I can see them dropping points there against a resurgent Hull side. If Fulham end up 3rd then I still think they will win the play-offs having had that experience last season. If Fulham make 2nd then I fancy Villa to win the play-offs.

I'm very much against giving the full 8000 to away fans and always have been. I think it is way too much to provide, particularly in a stadium of 30,000. I've no problem with away fans being given a healthy allocation of maybe 5000 or 5500 which is similar to those offered at some other clubs. The atmosphere could still be good with those numbers. For me away fans with massive followings should first be allocated the upper tier, and then once that is filled be given half the lower tier and no more.

I'd be surprised at that. In the Championship they could bank on at least 6 or 7 fixtures where the away club could sell more than the maximum of 3,000 capacity of the upper tier - Wednesday, United, Leeds, Bolton, Preston, Villa, Stoke, Middlesbrough - so would either have to limit the away allocation or go back to the routine of moving home fans out of the Darwen End to make way for away fans. I think it is a good idea - get away fans away from behind the goals and try to have home fans behind both goals - I've been suggesting it for a long time - but to effectively do it they would need to find another 2,000 or so home fans to fill the void. If we got back to the Premier League I'd like to see away fans given 3,000 maximum upstairs and behind both goals filled with home fans but then there's the other aspect which is preventing idiots from away clubs throwing stuff onto home fans below etc.

So as things stand we have Payne, Armstrong, Chapman and Antonsson whose loans will be expiring. I think all 4 will be available on permanent terms should we want to do so. Chapman has fitness issues, but the other 3 I think could all do a job in the league above. Antonsson probably the least so. I expect Armstrong will be one of Mowbray's priorities and would think Newcastle would be willing to do a deal. Out of contract we have Elliot Ward, Danny Graham, Craig Conway, Corry Evans. Ward can go. Graham I think we have the option of invoking an extra year and would expect us to do that. Conway and Evans less clear cut. I think I'd be happy for both to be retained as squad players. Concerns around their fitness. I think when fully fit Evans is a capable Championship player and is still a good age. I think he has been playing well recently, a shame he wasn't available all season. Conway is getting into the back end of his career and is struggling to complete more than an hour these days but strikes me as a good experienced character to have around the place and if a deal can be reached on sensible wages for another season I'd give him a try. Paul Caddis can probably go as he hasn't featured recently and appears to be behind Nyambe, Bennett and Travis in the RB stakes. Assume he only penned a 1 year deal last summer. The key for me is to not upset the apple cart and destabilise the squad and camaraderie. Yes we need to strengthen and add in areas but I don't think we need a root and branch overhaul. A few players under contract that I wouldn't be disappointed to see depart. Gladwin the obvious one, I wonder about Samuel's future in the Championship but again up front we aren't blessed with numbers. Whittingham may struggle to play and may seek a fresh challenge where he will get more game time.

Difference with Short is he has been honest. He's gone on record and admitted he wants out and has no interest in it anymore and just wants to sell up. He's even offered to give them away but the debt situation makes that very difficult. Its not a nice situation to be in at the moment for them but at least he doesn't continue the charade that our owners do where they pretend to care and be interested and want what is best when they clearly couldn't care less. Sooner or later Short will find someone to take the club off his hands and Sunderland will come back as they are an attractive investment with their fanbase and stadium.

Not so sure. Depends whether the Chinese are genuinely interested in football and building something or whether they're only in it for short term publicity and because the agent sold them a dream that they bought into. It could go either way but the evidence so far is they have a lot of money to invest, are going to do it regardless of the pathetic FFP rules, and aren't bothered what people or the authorities think about it. There's no reason we couldn't do what they have done these last 2 seasons, by which I mean spend massive money, build a very strong side and stroll to promotion to the Premier League but we haven't got the brainpower or determination to do it. If it is a mutually beneficial arrangement whereby they can promote their company, develop Wolves overseas and Mendes meanwhile gets to move his players around then everyone wins, meanwhile the Wolves fans are delighted just to be remotely successful after nothing of note for decades and the media love them because they've got loads of fancy foreigners playing 'good football' which is always preferred over British players and managers doing it the old fashioned way.

Ipswich's owner, who usually stays in the shadows and doesn't speak, has unusually commented on their website about the managerial search, saying he doesn't expect to appoint anyone before the summer, but can't rule it out, but that the summer would be best 'as a lot can happen at the end of a season with managers' Perhaps suggests he has his eye on someone currently employed and might be waiting until that person finishes the season and then comes available in the summer.

The League are cowards. They're always ready to try and bully the smaller and less well supported clubs. Like the FA who dish out harsh punishments on the non-league sides yet are nowhere to be seen when it comes to the Premier League and Championship clubs. They don't like Holt because he's taken to twitter numerous times to criticise them and to draw attention to the unjust distribution of money in the game and their pathetic rules. They prefer offshore silent billionaires who get involved in clubs and splurge millions building up unsustainable debt than local blokes calling them out.