The maximum capacity will only be about 25,000. They'll block off 2,000+ seats in the Darwen End at the front and sides and another 2,000-3,000 seats in the Riverside and Jack Walker which has been the regular thing whenever a decent crowd has turned up. Some bright spark came up with the idea and now it happens every time there is a large away following. Ewood Park is actually blessed in that in theory pretty much every seat in the ground should be occupied if the demand is there. 4 separate stands means no need for seats to be netted off as police can provide a buffer between stands. Unlike at modern bowls where a block either side needs to be used to keep away fans from home fans. Just imagine the police trying to tell Arsenal/Liverpool/Man Utd to reduce their capacity by 5,000 for a buffer zone! Wouldn't happen yet it does at Rovers.

I'm afraid the opposite will apply. The only concern of Cheston's will be maximising the away allocation as much as possible. He might even open the mothballed Legends Lounge for them like last time. Any buffer zone will be taken from the home areas so expect the end blocks of the Riverside and Jack Walker stands to be shut down with some season ticket holders being told to move elsewhere. I expect the maximum allocation the police will allow will be about 5,000 or so. They'll be bricking it and won't be able to cope at this short notice with 7,000+dingles coming down the motorway. They might even struggle to find bus companies prepared to risk their vehicles being trashed which might prevent the ludicrous travel arrangements. Lets also remember that the strict travel arrangements were actually relaxed for the Dingles last time they came to Rovers as West/North Lancashire based fans were able to travel to Ewood outside the convoy on independently arranged buses. No such freedom was afforded to Rovers fans for the return fixture. I suspect the excuse is that owing to Ewood's proximity to the motorway and vastly superior facilities that it is much easier to control/manage fans and buses than at their cesspit in the town centre.

Not happy with this draw at all. The positives? At least we're at home and won't have to travel to their place under any circumstances, and we've a chance, albeit a small one, of re-starting the clock by beating them. Other than that I'm struggling. The downside? Mass hysteria for the next fortnight. Almost certainly will be a Sky TV game meaning it is shifted to Wednesday/Thursday and will damage the home gate. Expect Rovers to get greedy and charge £25 a ticket, missing out on a chance to pack the ground. Worst of all we'll have Lancashire Police doing their bit to ruin the occasion. Expect military style regulations in place, vast swathes of Ewood netted off for 'segregation'. They do enjoy wrecking the 'occasion' so they'll be busy in their offices tomorrow scheming new ways to make it as difficult as possible to attend and Rovers will just take it. That's before we get round to the football and those scum coming to Ewood Park as heavy favourites sitting 2 divisions above us and it brings into focus our demise that it will be considered a minor miracle if we manage to beat them, which is itself sickening. I'd sooner just never have to play them, ever again. I'd be quite happy in life if I never had to watch Rovers play them for the remainder of my existence such is my hatred for them and the people who organise the fixture.

So potential opponents are: Southampton, Bournemouth, WBA, West Ham, Leicester, Stoke, Palace, Swansea, Dingles, Watford, Hull, Boro, Newcastle, Brighton, Reading, Sheff Wed, Huddersfield, Fulham, Norwich, Brentford, Cardiff, Villa, Leeds & possibly Sunderland/Derby.

Mike Cheston will be rubbing his hands at the prospect of a Darwen End sell out on the way...

Seems that there has been an influx of 'smaller' clubs to the Premier League in recent years. In the 90s and 00s the Premier League featured the likes of Derby, Sheff Wed, Leeds, Forest etc. Even Rovers, as one of the 'smaller' clubs in there were still regularly getting 25,000+ crowds season after season. Now traditionally smaller, much less supported sides have managed to get into the Premier League and many survive in there, keeping the bigger clubs away from the top league. In years gone by their reputations and fanbases would have been a major advantage, but not any more. Swansea, Watford, Dingles, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Stoke, West Brom - all sides who aren't part of the traditional 'big boys' elite. Obvious reason behind it is club 'size' and support is becoming less and less important in a world of sugardaddies and TV money. Another reason I get annoyed when people point to Rovers' crowds as a reason why we can't compete anymore when infact the number of people through the turnstiles is getting less important each season.

Be interesting to see how Coventry approach the game tomorrow. A bit like us in that they are strongly tipped to bounce back and win promotion this season, I wonder whether they'll treat the Cup as a distraction and field their reserves to protect themselves for league business or whether they'll go into the game with a full strength side looking to keep momentum going after Saturday's win.

Any Coventry supporter who has bought an early bird season ticket gets a ticket for this game thrown in for free. Seems like a sensible way to try and boost the gate for what will probably be a poorly attended fixture.

Coventry have said there will be a cash turnstile/tickets available on the night

Despite all the hype and nonsense I think this seasons Championship is one of the weakest in memory. Of the clubs coming down the only one that looks remotely capable of going back up is Middlesbrough, and I'm not convinced by their chances (hence I don't think they'll even make the play-offs). Sunderland look like they are cutting back and signings like Jason Lowe and Jason Steele aren't going to get them up anytime soon. Hull have lost a lot of their Premier League squad, don't appear to have made any major additions and their Russian manager is an unknown entity which could easily end in disaster. Beyond that there will be the obvious group of favourites - Wednesday, Norwich, Derby, Villa - are any of them stronger than last year? Wednesday I expect will be up there again and have the benefit of experience of 2 failed play-off campaigns. Derby might do better than previous seasons with a pragmatic and sensible manager running the show. Norwich very much unknown with their new coach. Villa are clearly the standouts with their squad, resources and Bruce's experience in this league. Anyone going to gatecrash the party? I really can't see the likes of Preston, Brentford, Ipswich etc. having enough to push for promotion, or any of the other mid table/bottom half sides. I've predicted Cardiff to sneak in to the play offs due to the Warnock factor and nothing more than that. Last year Brighton were strong favourites having just missed out the previous season and Newcastle were always going to be top 2 with their squad and manager. I can't really see that this season.

Top 2: Villa & Derby Top 6: Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, Cardiff & Fulham Bottom 3: QPR, Burton & Barnsley

Villa was an odd one for him. Went there and finished 6th in his first season despite only taking over in November when they were fighting relegation, top 10 finish in his 2nd season, struggling in his 3rd but I think by then the money was very tight and Ellis was looking to sell up. Not exactly the disaster that some have suggested. O'Neill never got them higher than 6th despite having a lot more money to spend yet he has had a better reputation. Amazed he's never got another job in England with his track record but maybe he doesn't need the aggro anymore.

Yep, one time Premier League heavyweights such as David O'Leary, Alex McLeish, Alan Curbishley - all of whom are real managers - have had a fraction of the coverage in the media that Kean has had since he left Rovers. Friends in high places indeed.

Oh yes, that old excuse. Perfect for Mike Cheston. Amazing how it doesn't seem to stop everyone else in the Championship, only Rovers. Wolves spent 15 million on one player in January and I'm supposed to believe FFP rules are forcing us to sell everyone and spend nothing?

They are getting mentioned because 12 months ago they were our 'star' players who we should have been holding on to or fighting our hardest to hold on to, and in the event they did leave were a source of substantial cash that could be reinvested into the squad. As the summer went by we witnessed an absolutely disgraceful transfer window which ended with Hanley and Duffy sold, the money trousered, Coyle bringing in Wes Brown and Gordon Greer and Marshall still at the club disillusioned and his mind elsewhere without a new contract. In my opinion, other than the role of Coyle himself, the sales of those players and the manner of their replacements last summer was the 2nd biggest factor in our eventual relegation. To be fair to Coyle any manager in the world would struggle to replace those players with no money and very little time after they were sold. It is being mentioned because Coyle spent the whole of last summer claiming that they didn't want to sell etc etc. But in the end they were sold and the club was relegated. Mowbray is now saying Mulgrew and co. aren't for sale, yet its only June, and as last summer showed, with Venkys at the helm there can be allsorts happen before September. Lets not crack open the champagne just because Mowbray says they don't want to sell anyone.

So Venkys suddenly decided to sanction substantial wage increases after 2 years of relentless cost cutting and selling of our better players? Why would they do that? Why if they were prepared to offer so much more to those two players were they not prepared to offer better terms to others such as Mahoney who is on far less money? Doesn't make sense, and I therefore don't believe it.

Its really irrelevant to our season next year whether we get those figures for them or not. If they go, the money will not be reinvested, and we will be losing a lot of quality and experience, and will have to replace it on a shoestring budget. Beyond that it is adding to an already massive turnover in personnel. I don't care how good the players are coming in, they will need time to settle and get used to playing together. At the moment we still have a core from last season to build around, but start breaking that core up and what do we build a squad around? If I remember correctly Coyle spent 6 months saying he didn't want to lose Hanley/Duffy/Marshall but that old chestnut of 'we can't do anything if they want to go'. In the end they all went at damaging times and none were replaced adequately or any of the money reinvested into the club. So I'll take Mowbray's words with a pinch of salt. Not wanting to sell is different to Venkys turning bids down and not selling.

Not really fair to compare Mulgrew to Marshall/Duffy at this stage. In the cases of Marshall and Duffy the club was actively trying to sell them to cash in on them. Lies about Marshall being offered a new contract or if he was it was deliberately too low so that he was never going to accept it. Propaganda to make people think it was all Marshall's fault for wanting away and the club had no option but to sell him, when really it was as much the club playing games and trying to encourage people to come and bid for him, not to mention showing zero ambition, that pushed him away. It remains to be seen what the case will be with Mulgrew. We certainly wont be able to command a fee on Duffy/Marshall levels. Will they start playing games through the Telegraph to try and get clubs to bid for the players or will they actually try and keep hold of them? I know which I expect to happen.

So how do you account for 3 consecutive 5th place finishes in the seasons directly prior to that? One season of struggle among a decade of challenging for promotion to the first division before Jack Walker and his money was flowing in. Some might say Walker was the final catapult we needed to get over a finish line we'd been close to for some time. Others prefer to subscribe to the 'club going nowhere' theory that league finishes in the 80s prove wasnt the case. Those people are usually those uncomfortable with what Jack Walker did.

No we weren't. We were challenging for the play offs in the 2nd tier most seasons. 1990, 1989, 1988, 1985, 1984 and 1981 saw top 6 finishes. 1987, 1983 and 1982 were top half finishes. Only two bottom half finishes between promotion in 1980 and Kenny Dalglish's appointment in 1991. The 'unnatural ascension' you refer to was happening before Jack Walker, despite poor infrastructure and a lack of finance. Media fuelled lies about a 'struggling' 2nd tier club not 100% accurate. Based on the league finishes over that decade we'd probably be something similar to Derby today. Regularly top half or pushing for the top 6 but not quite getting over the line to promotion. I'm sure you know where Burnley were finishing in that decade though.

We're drifting off topic here but would you say Burnley 'earned' or 'bought' promotion season before last? After all, their bank balance was swelled disproportionately thanks to Rupert Murdoch and Sky TV money which enabled them to spend way beyond their natural income levels and sign people like Andre Gray. So did Burnley 'buy' promotion through inflated transfer fees/wages helped by Sky?

Hopefully a home draw or if we are away I'd like Lincoln or Port Vale for the new ground.

Like everything else associated with this club what happens in years to come will come down to what our esteemed owners want to do. It won't be the division we are in or the amount of fans turning up or FFP rules that drag us down, it will be a decision from India that funding has to reduce/cease and efforts to achieve that. No different to any other club. If the owner wants to do it he/she can do. If the owners want to continue to fund the academy then that is their decision. I'm not going to lavish praise upon them for doing that, not when the infrastructure was nearly all already in place before their arrival and they have benefited to the tune of £20 million+ from selling Phil Jones and Grant Hanley alone directly as a result of the academy status. When you're churning out profits like that on player trading that cash would keep the academy going for another 10 years. Another couple of those lads emerge in that time and it pays for itself handsomely. Where there's a will there's a way. If they want to do it they can do. If the requirements from Category 1 academies become more difficult to meet, then they could invest in improving facilities to meet the requirements. FFP rules are irrelevant in terms of investing in infrastructure/academy development so they can't hide behind that excuse.

Wolves, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Villa all have Category 1 status and will be outside the Premier League next season. This season Newcastle, and Brighton also had it.

Yes perhaps they are. And if we were then we would be able to compete with them. That's the whole basis of my point. If we were run properly, like those clubs seem to be, then we would be able to keep hold of someone like Mahoney rather than watch him join clubs like Barnsley and Preston.