Merry go round has started today. Phil Brown gone from Swindon, Askey gone from Shrewsbury and Ardley gone from Wimbledon.

I notice still no update on the scheduled India trip and as far as I can see not referred to in Mowbrays interview today about injuries and the international break. Seems what I heard on Saturday might be correct. Will have to file in the drawer with the senior staff restructure that is still due.

The big plus for me is that when it has happened we've nearly always ended up still getting at least a point out of the game, so the damage in terms of looking over our shoulders hasn't been great, we've managed to keep on picking points up. In some ways though that has made some people blind to the issue as all the talk is about what good points we've had v Villa, Forest etc. rather than the lost points. But as you say, if we'd have cut those easy goals out we'd be sitting pretty now rather than mid-table.

On a separate note I was very disappointed with the match programme on Saturday. Given it was remembrance weekend I would have hoped for some sort of special one-off remembrance programme with a unique cover and tributes to those Rovers' players and staff who served their country. In the end it was just the same old thing but with a few pages of tributes inside the programme. Would have been nice to have a large poppy and black cover or whatever rather than just the latest in a long line of frankly childish word-art/spray paint covers.

Over 4500 sold as of this afternoon so less than 1000 remaining with 12 days to go.

For me a symptom of Rovers over the last 2 years has been too easily conceding and being exposed at the back. Opposition often score against us easily against the run of play and don't have to apply much pressure to get goals. Rotherham was a case in point. We got through a difficult first half not playing well but at least kept it at 0-0 when really we could have been behind. We then play well 2nd half and have them on the rack yet from virtually their only opportunity of the 2nd half they manage to score leaving us with an uphill battle to even get a draw. I don't see that as being an isolated incident. It has happened too many times this season alone and has cost us a lot of points. Reading - scored twice through simple play - long balls over the top - a rousing fightback in the second half yet only got a point because we needed 3 to win the game. Forest - did the hard work of turning the game around then concede a silly penalty the first time they threaten. Villa - game won then conceded a daft free kick in a dangerous position. Bristol City - 1-0 up away from home, could easily have been more - then on the stoke of half time concede a free kick on the edge of the area which they score and the game goes. I don't think we manage games well enough really. We make life hard work for ourselves, so whilst we can show excellent fighting spirit and battling qualities it isn't enough because our opponents are getting goals too softly for my liking.

So what are 15 clubs going to do? Break away and form a 15 team league? How will they get promoted to the Premier League when the only way in is via promotion from the Championship which they will be leaving? It's just nonsense and those clubs with the bigger crowds attempting to throw their weight around and try to bully those in the lower 2 divisions into agreeing to hand over even more cash to them. So long as the FIFA, UEFA and the FA stand their ground it doesn't matter how many times clubs threaten to break away, it isn't allowed. Of course when the back-handers start changing hands then rules quickly become redundant and people get what they want.

It's also based on the premise that we're currently in a better position with Mowbray at the helm now than we would have been had Lambert not jacked it in. That's not an attempt to diminish the good job Mowbray has done, but the reality is that we're currently around about what we were 2-3 years ago before they swung a wrecking ball at it and it is only through Mowbray's good work we're getting back to where we were. Had they kept Lambert and backed him, or indeed replaced him with a remotely competent manager and backed him, I'd wager we'd be not too far off where we are now, but without the pain of a relegation season and the positives of a promotion season. N.B. I'm not really interested in 'style' or demeanour, I'm talking about league position and results.

I'm reserving judgment on the 'corner turned' theory that many are keen to believe in at this stage. Yes things are a lot better than they were a couple of years ago, yes it is good to have a team and manager we can relate to and get behind 100%, yes it appears that the manager currently has the trust of the owners and as such they are letting him do it his way and are backing him But we've been here before. I'm amazed how short some people's memories are. We had all this under Bowyer between 2013 and 2015 when he assembled a squad we loved and they had a spell of not selling anyone and the atmosphere around the club was very positive for a while. They've got lucky with Mowbray because he has a bit of everything needed. He's has the experience and nous that Bowyer probably didn't have, he's a real manager which is more than can be said for some of the others, he's prepared to make sacrifices and play their game by traipsing around the world a few times a year to speak to Madame which many, including Lambert, probably weren't prepared to mess around doing. I don't believe there was any grand plan from the owners. It took them far too long to get rid of Coyle, when they did they went and found an unemployed manager who had failed in his last job, and it has worked out well for them so far. Nothing more than that. I'll congratulate them when it is sustained over a longer period and they don't repeat past mistakes of alienating the manager, selling his best players or pulling up the drawbridge on communication. I've been burnt before and won't be again. Speaking of which, Mowbray and Waggott were due to head to India this week, yet I heard on Saturday that it might not be happening. Anyone else heard the same?

No point blaming players or coaches for trying it. The blame lies at the feet of the officials and their superiors who cannot or will not deal with it effectively. Last week v QPR was disgusting - they were timewasting throughout the whole game and were not sanctioned - we tried it for 3 minutes when 1-0 up and the yellow cards came out. Same at Bolton - as soon as we started trying to run the clock down in the 2nd half the yellows were out - we even got booked for taking too long on a throw in! Some consistency would be useful, also if referees realised that time wasting occurs when the scores are level and outside of the last 5 minutes. There seems to be an unwritten rule that if the game is level it is not timewasting. As soon as someone gets sent off for 2 yellows for repeated timewasting then players will think twice about doing it.

Leeds being demolished by WBA. Puts into context just what a good point that was at their place the other week. Also our 0-0 at Derby. Makes it more frustrating that we haven't followed it up with wins at home against the lesser lights of the division.

The curse of the first half strikes again. Every home game this season has followed the same pattern. First 5-10 minutes we usually start off well and look dangerous, then 10-45 it's turgid stuff and we're usually happy to be going in level, then second half we come out a different team and play sides off the park but struggle to score or finish them off. Only real exception was Leeds because we got that goal in our 5-10 minute spell at the start, everyone else has weathered the storm and then we struggle. Can't keep turning up for only 45 minutes and expect to win games at this level. Today was a major opportunity missed. We can celebrate not getting beat and point to numerous missed chances but I would expect more, particularly in the first half, from a side trying to move into the top 6. Thought Armstrong was excellent other than his finishing, but he seems to be benefiting from a run in the team. 2 tricky derbies coming up now but at least we seem to raise it away from home in the bigger games.

We got trains for 46 quid return from Manchester at 9:15am returning at 9pm.

Wigan charged £279 behind the goals and £289 along the sides for season tickets this year. Cheaper than ours. Our cheapest season ticket for an adult was £319 in the Riverside (only when bought during the early bird period) Going off the published data from the Championship last season, as i can't be bothered going through them all for this season, then Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Burton, Cardiff, Derby, Fulham, Hull, Reading, Sheffield United and Wolves all offered season tickets for less than £319. Perhaps not by very much and possibly some of those will have gone up as ours have done (probably none by 17%) but it isn't accurate to say our season tickets are extremely cheap. They are competitively priced and reasonably priced.

In comparison to who?

I've long been a supporter of putting away fans upstairs. Not particularly because of any impact upon atmosphere or the away team, but because we should be charging away fans more than we do. I've no gripe with Rotherham who I'm sure will charge our fans a reasonable price of £20-25 when we go there, but I'd be revving up to Swansea and Bolton coming and smashing them with £30 tickets. See how many Swansea turn up with at those prices. I bet its less than we took on a Tuesday night to theirs. Perhaps one day clubs will get their heads together and come up with some reasonable reciprocal pricing but until that day comes and as long as our loyal fans are being taken advantage of by other clubs then it is Rovers' responsibility to return the favour and make it clear why. N.B. This DOESNT mean home fans suffer. It means we can charge them more to sit upstairs whilst charging reasonable prices downstairs. I'm not sure that idea has made it's way into Waggott's thinking yet. Hopefully it will by the time Norwich, Swansea,Bolton and co. turn up.

We're getting into Newcastle territory here. 'Always a massive club' 'Their fans always turn up in huge numbers' Actually they were getting 15,000 on during the 80s - a time when pretty much every club was getting their lowest gates. We were no exception. After the misery we've had in the last 5-6 years we're still getting more fans on than PNE and Wigan, very similar to Bolton and I'd bet we'd be comfortably more than Burnley if they were at this level and hadn't tied people in to 2 year season tickets.

New one on me that, thought once it reached open sale stage it was a free for all regardless.

It was the same last season with all of our local away games taking place in the space of a few months before Christmas - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Blackpool, Wigan. Think there was only Fleetwood which was after Christmas and that was a heavily restricted allocation. Obviously Bury and Oldham away were more popular than Wigan and Blackpool were going to be. Blackpool was a mid-weeker although we still filled the end, whereas Wigan we weren't even close as it was right in the middle of a popular run of games. Had it been in March or April we'd have no doubt filled it easily.

We have a great opportunity here to go into the international break in the top 6. We obviously need to win and for Forest and WBA to drop points but they are playing Stoke and Leeds in their fixtures so they haven't got it easy. Clearly the 3 points is all that really matters for us but it would be brilliant to enjoy a 2 week break in November with us in the top 6.

3000 sold as of this morning, must have been flying out yesterday.

They were selling Block M tickets online when i checked earlier today

There's more or less 1000 in each block behind the goals and there's 5 full blocks and then a smaller section at each side. So would expect if they're going block by block they'll be onto the 3rd one now. The rule seems unfair because quite often those who buy first or get them as soon as they come out with 1875 membership get the worst seats, usually nearest the front or back or in a peripheral block, and then as more are sold the better seats are allocated.

2000 sold as of this morning

Rotherham are a poor away side and have been at this level for some time. Not only this season but also in their last couple of Championship seasons. I don't have the stats but it is dreadful. Up until a couple of weeks ago I'd have been very confident of a win, however recently they've gone up to Middlesbrough and PNE and got draws so they're certainly no pushovers and seem to have made themselves harder to beat. Nonetheless we SHOULD win this one. IF we do then we can all go into the November break very pleased with our efforts looking forward to the run through to Christmas. Failure to collect 3 points will leave a taste of disappointment heading into the break, whereas 6 from 6 at home and we can rightly be very satisfied.