JHRover

I was long a supporter of putting away fans upstairs away from the pitch. That was less to do with the atmosphere or perceived advantage to the opposition and more to do with being able to charge away fans higher prices than home fans. As a regular away traveller I feel aggrieved that other clubs hit us with high ticket prices and home fans get admission for less and yet we do nothing to those coming to Ewood. There isn't really much point if we only move the small supports upstairs whilst allowing those with more than 2,000 to remain downstairs. The way it should be done is, for example, when we play Bolton at home, they should be upstairs purely so we can charge them £30 each to get in, whilst allowing admission to Rovers fans for £20 or less in the lower tiers. It starts getting silly when for example we played Norwich and there must have been 100 Norwich fans downstairs. Some will have been disabled supporters but there seemed to be quite a few who clearly weren't disabled as they were sat further back and were jumping up and down when they scored.

Wigan signing Anthony Pilkington from Cardiff, not a bad shout.

Would be very pleasantly surprised if that is true. Very decent whenever I have seen him. Can't believe Bristol City would let him come to us without a fight and certainly not on the cheap given his role in their team. He's chipped in with quite a few goals for them. Think he's from Manchester way so suppose that could work in our favour. Right calibre of player we need to look at to push on medium term and likely to have resale value.

They've won 4 on the bounce. 3 in the League and 1 in the Cup. When did we last do that at this level?

Millwall have turned a corner over Christmas, won something like 4 on the bounce and turned it around to knock Hull out of the Cup last week. Prior to that they were looking like relegation was likely. A limited side without much quality but they'll be direct, physical and fight for everything. The Den is never an easy place to go, I recall when we were there under Bowyer's management on a Tuesday night and were 2-0 up against 10 men, their supporters were wound up with the red card and they ended up getting it back to 2-2. An intimidating atmosphere and their players rose to it whilst we crumbled to it. Not a place for shrinking violets or weak characters, need to be able to dig in and deal with the atmosphere. We really need something from this, our record against the lesser lights is unimpressive and I don't yet subscribe to the theory that we're safe with nothing to play for. Another 10 points asap and i'll look at relaxing. A defeat and it is 4 in 5 league games. We're still Smallwood-less with his last match of his ban to come so I'd expect more or less the same team as WBA, though I was concerned by Mowbray's comments on Mulgrew following Newcastle and hope there's nothing to worry about there. I see we've sold over 600 tickets so far with a few days of sales to come, which is quite decent considering its on TV and the away games we've had recently.

I was looking it up the other day about this reliance we have on the 'Fab 3' for putting the ball in the net. We've scored 33 goals in the league this season - Mulgrew 8, Dack 9, Graham 8, Armstrong 2, Reed 2, Lenihan 1, Palmer 1, OG1. 0 goals for Brereton, Evans, Smallwood, Conway, Rothwell or Bennett. All of Mulgrew's goals have come directly from set-pieces - 4 penalties, 2 direct corners and 2 free kicks. Whilst those 3 are here, fit and firing we can cope, but I do worry about the alternatives.

Not that many good candidates available for Stoke to pick from. Seems Moyes is the favourite, could be good but he hasn't managed at this level for a long time and like Rowett won't get much time. They're moaning about Rowett's style of play yet Moyes is hardly known for being pleasing on the eye. Jokanovic would be a good option but would he be interested and again it would take him time to get them playing the way he likes to. It took him a couple of years at Fulham. Can't believe Allardyce would be interested in dropping to the Championship but you never know if they make him a mega offer.

Gary Rowett sacked at Stoke.

So we couldn't use the £20 million budget on him then?

Just need to get past Bayern Munich first.

Yeah as predicted Palmer is on his way out and will go to a Championship rival where I expect he will feature a lot more frequently than he has here. A strange one really. His arrival was arguably the most celebrated on here out of all our transfers in the summer as people got excited about his previous record at Derby and Huddersfield. For whatever reason it hasn't really worked out for him. His absence from the squad at Newcastle was the clue he was going. Very convenient he was ill. In terms of the talk about big budgets we've heard it many times before that there's a healthy pile of cash available for new players but then for whatever reason it doesn't materialise. My expectations for this window are low. To be honest I'm not too concerned if we carry on with what we have got but I would like it if we added one or two of the ilk of Reed and Gallagher with a view to them being here longer term, if nothing else just to keep the building job going. Mowbray says it is a multiple window project so I expect to see some evidence this window of a plan being followed and work being done rather than just a loan or two and talk about keeping the powder dry until the summer. All this will ensure is more work needed to be done later.

I think it was me who 'criticised' the club for not having put tickets on sale immediately after the game on Saturday, to my pleasant surprise the club has done so without yet knowing when the game is going to be taking place. Good move. I certainly wasn't trying to use that as an excuse for non-attendance on my part, just stating my belief that as with season tickets the sooner they are on sale the more are likely to be sold. Once again, I don't think Rovers have the ability to charge more than £10 for this game even if they wanted to, so I'm not sure its time to celebrate that decision. It is good and sensible pricing but nevertheless the price both clubs agreed to ahead of the first fixture. Yes it will be something of an embarrassment if away numbers are similar or greater than home numbers. Not my job to tell people how to spend their cash and free time but I really find the mentality bizarre in how people are quite happy to turn up every week for run of the mill league games but wont make the extra effort to get a cheap ticket to watch an attractive Cup tie. I'll never understand that mentality. Likewise I'd bet that a decent percentage of those in the away end at Newcastle on Saturday won't buy a ticket for the home game.

Because like with every other part of the club it has suffered from a lack of direction, forward planning and investment over the last 5-6 years. Much easier to recruit scouts and go scouting down the road at Liverpool reserve games than it is to unearth gems in Germany and Holland. Venkys will have taken no interest in such things and by slashing running costs and downsizing the operation to what it is today one of the first things to go will be an extensive scouting system. It seems Mowbray is trying to get things moving on that front but ultimately I suspect, looking at his recruitment during his managerial career, that he will always be a manager who relies on British and local players ahead of foreign. There are lots of gems out there and the likes of Huddersfield, Norwich and Brentford have excelled in bringing them into England and thrived through it. But scratch beneath the surface and those are all clubs who have owners and boards that set out to do it by installing the right people in the right positions and let them get on with it. This is where a Technical Director or D of F comes in with responsibility to oversee recruitment and develop contacts abroad to enable those sort of signings to take place. Better value for money to be had too.

Yes, but why? I do find it really odd. People who are committed enough to the club to stump up hundreds of pounds months in advance for a season ticket, tying them into 20 odd games a season, many midweek, yet not enough to ring up the ticket office and pay £10 to watch us play a Premier League side in the Cup? Just very strange. I kind of get it when playing sides like Crewe and Barnet last season in the cup but not when playing a replay against a Premier League side.

The 4th Champions League slot should be awarded to the FA Cup winners. Simple. 4th place in the league doesn't deserve to participate in the Champions League, the winner of the prestigious domestic cup does. I suspect the likes of Newcastle, Leicester and co. would start taking it a bit more seriously if there was the prospect of a trophy win, mega money windfall and the possibility of playing Barcelona next season. Won't happen because the big boys wouldn't like it and the Premier League call the shots rather than the FA. Nobody really wants the Europa League. For the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea at least they have a chance of winning it and getting back into the Champions League through that route if they don't make the top 4, but for others like Everton, Leicester etc. it is just an inconvenient distraction with minimal benefit other than the supporters get a few nice trips.

Think that's being optimistic. I'd be surprised if there were as many home fans on as we get for league games. In theory there should be - cheap tickets and a decent chance to knock out a Premier League side - but sadly for whatever reason the people in this area don't turn up for cup fixtures. Yes it is odd that more Rovers fans turn up for a league game v Rotherham than they would for a Cup game v Premier League opposition but it has been that way for years - see Stoke/Swansea when Bowyer was here or West Ham under Lambert which was a poor attendance boosted by a sell out away end. The only exceptions have been Liverpool, City and United at home in the Cup and we all know why that is. I'd also expect Newcastle to be less than usual, probably 4-5000. So perhaps 13000 in total.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/january/ticket-news-newcastle-united-h/ Tickets now on sale but no date confirmed yet. £10 adults when bought in advance and £20 on the night.

Which if true is absolutely ridiculous. How on earth can anyone plan ahead if the budget hinges upon us being above an invisible line at the mid-way stage of a season. We could be 11th and only 2 points off the play offs and not be eligible for this funding or we could be 8th and 10 points off the play offs and get the money, which one is worthy of more investment? I've still got deep reservations about how we approach transfer windows under these owners. I've no doubt Mowbray has a medium term plan in terms of how he wants to play, the sort of players he wants to bring in and that he feels it is better building over a few years than it is going silly like Wednesday and Forest have recently. I'm afraid I draw the line at that point and stop short of believing that the owners have bought into some 3-4 window plan and have set budgets so far in advance. They've always done things on a whim and a year-by-year basis, the manager and board have to go off to India in May or June to receive their budget and instructions, expecting them to commit to a strategy for 18 months from now is pushing it. As you say, the 3-4 window thing is nice in theory but then what happens when/if Dack departs? A gaping hole will be opened in the squad and it will require a lottery win or huge investment to replace him. If we start the 3-4 window clock at last summer this is number 2. The summer is number 3 and next January is number 4. So by this time next year at the latest this theoretical completion date for Mowbray's grand plan arrives. What happens after that, assuming we aren't on our way to promotion by that point?

Unless the rules have changed recently then Waggott has no choice in the pricing for the replay. The same prices have to be followed as agreed between the clubs for the original tie. £10 adults and £5 concessions. I suspect they could get round it if Newcastle agreed to put them up but don't see why Newcastle would agree to such a thing. The only way a discount scheme could work for the next round is if Rovers subsidise it. It would never happen. If we were to get through we would need to enter into discussions with the other club to agree on pricing. Season tickets can include cup fixtures but I think that has to be declared at the start of the season. If, for example, we go through and reach the 4th round and decided we wanted to make it free for season ticket holders we might be able to do it but the club would have to put cash into the pot to offset the loss of income - if 10,000 took up the option of a free ticket the club would have to chuck the right amount into the pot for the away club to have and for the FA to get their slice. Isn't going to happen. Tickets for the replay should have been with Newcastle before the 1st game finished so they are ready to go on sale immediately. They should be on sale now but it seems we have to wait until tonight is out of the way and the TV companies decide what they are doing, thereby costing us 2-3 days of potential sales.

Maybe, though Forest Green were expecting it to become permanent in January, so Bolton must have told them at the start the money was there when knowing it might not have been. Forest Green are a small fish who will have needed to budget on that expected windfall coming in. If they'd have had Doidge since August they could well be higher in the league and in with an improved chance of promotion. Scandalous that a bigger club can go in and take a player on loan, promise to make it permanent and then pull the plug on it, whilst also leaving FGR to pick up the tab for the last 4 months.

Bolton have got away with it for too long. They got out of jail last season by surviving in the final few minutes of the season and have avoided administration by the skin of their teeth on numerous occasions. People might have some sympathy for their predicament if they conducted themselves properly but dodgy business like not paying staff wages and signing players on loan with a view to permanent and not then following through with it and not even paying their monthly wage is a disgrace.

Gallagher I think only has 12 months left on his deal at the end of this season. He'll be 24 later this year and has only made 18 appearances for Southampton. He needs to move on and establish himself in a Championship team, and if that means taking a wage cut that might be something he has to take. Sitting on his backside for another 18 months shouldn't be an option. With him having been here before and knowing most of the players here we should be near the front of the queue. I'd be pleased if we could get him and Reed on permanent, expect Reed would be tougher to do and would cost a fair bit.

I'm not a subscriber to the Times but I'm tempted to do so just to read that article, especially as it is by Henry Winter. I heard the thing about Venus over Christmas. Him and Mowbray have had rotten luck in losing their wives at relatively young ages. I suppose working in football and being involved every day might be the best thing for him to try and help him through it.

Where does Chapman fit into this team? He struggled for game time the last time he was here in a poorer division before his serious injuries. Mowbray said on record that he didn't think Chapman was ready for anything but a late cameo when he could run at teams.

To be honest Forest's announcement was even more bizarre. Two lines on their website confirming that Brereton had joined 'Championship side' Blackburn on a permanent deal. Anyone would think they weren't in the Championship referring to us like that, a very short statement to say they have sold an academy product and you'd think if they were getting big money for him they'd be keen to tell their fans what a good deal they've got.