Some other similarities between us and them. They had 'stability' under Mark Warburton who I think is similar to Mowbray in that he is a safe pair of hands, mid table maestro but stubborn and frustrating and probably won't ever haul a team to promotion. They got rid of Warburton when we got rid of Mowbray and for a while they were linked with JDT, but ultimately went for Michael Beale. Our trajectories have differed since then I believe purely because we made a wise choice with JDT and have managed to keep hold of him (so far), whereas they've had managerial chaos, some through no fault of their own (Beale going to Rangers) but the Critchley and Ainsworth appointments were disasters, two people plenty on here have advocated as future managers of Rovers. We could easily have made a similar mistake and paid a huge price for it and really need to hope Broughton has a plan.

They used to get a priority period to secure their own seats, another small yet potentially important gesture that has gone out of the window in recent years, probably linked to turfing season ticket holders out of the Riverside. Games treated as nothing more than an inconvenience to be dealt with as easily and cheaply as possible. Thats Waggott's job. If there's a way of cutting corners or costs he'll try it.

No priority, discount or benefit for being an 1875 member again then?

I can think of a few people I know who won't be able to go to this unless they go to the trouble of asking someone else to go online and buy them a ticket and somehow get it printed off. It is additional hassle, and a lot of people won't go through hassle for the chance to watch us play Cambridge in the cup in a 80% empty ground. I'm amazed he's dropped the Blackburn end stunt but even rhino skin Waggott will have got the message about how pathetic that was. But in typical Waggott fashion instead of just leaving it at that and trying to sell as many tickets as possible there are more strings attached. This time putting obstacles in place that make it more difficult to buy a ticket, dressed up with nonsense about being environmentally friendly. The club has used 2 coaches to transport players and staff to away games, imports its stock and training gear from China, gets its food and drink stock from god knows where yet seriously claims that avoiding printing a few thousand paper tickets is going to make any difference? No this is all part of a longer term game, in much the same way as automated tills in supermarkets, aimed at transitioning people into buying online and away from the club. That way he can save a few quid by not bothering opening the ticket office or putting on staff. With a bit of luck he'll get an award for being environmentally friendly on top.

To be totally honest I can't really remember that many games in League One, especially away from home, where we played good stuff, or certainly not good enough to brush aside far weaker teams with relative comfort. In the main when we won games it was getting the job done, admittedly all very important and enjoyable in getting us back up but certainly not in my opinion anywhere near the level of football JDT has served up at times. First half of the season there were diabolical performances such as Southend and Oldham away, and even when we got our act together after the January window for the run in whilst we were getting the results I wouldn't say the performances were impressive or free flowing. On promotion night at Doncaster we just did enough, but it was the same at MK Dons, Bradford, Scunthorpe, Portsmouth, Walsall and Fleetwood with one goal narrow wins often late on. Disappointment at Bristol Rovers, awful at Northampton, Gillingham and Plymouth, on the beach at Charlton, Infact aside from Oxford, Bury and Peterborough away I don't think we really impressed considering the calibre of players at our disposal. Not that it bothers me because it is a results business and the job got done. Same applies to JDT now. He's clearly decided or has been instructed to coach these players to play a certain way, and I think given the sustained attempts from India to undermine him and make his job even harder he's been forced to take off the handbrake and 'go for it' more this season. But I don't think anyone rational can say this squad should be any higher than it is or probably as high as it is, which means JDT is doing a good job. A very good job in my opinion and I fear his departure for what it will likely mean to our league status.

A decision. Might be a good one, might be an indifferent one, might be a bad one, but at least they've an owner and board reacting to results and performances in pursuit of something rather than tumbleweed Ewood. He was always very fortunate at Ewood to be blessed with healthy financial backing for much of his tenure with zero pressure to deliver on the pitch and the ability to run his contract down with nothing coming from upstairs. He was never going to get that elsewhere. Looking at it objectively he inherited an upwardly mobile side put together and promoted from League One before his arrival. He rode the crest of the wave last season and got to the play-offs, this season they have been typical Mowbray-eque. A good run left them 4th recently and they've now won 2 in 9 to slip into mid-table. They'd just carry on with that over the rest of the season and end up 7th-10th at the end of it as we often were. It will be interesting to see what he does next. Given his apparent weariness and feeling hard done to at the 90 minute drive down from Teesside to Brockhall and having lost the Sunderland job his Championship options are thin on the ground unless he's now happy to drive for hours on end to his next one. To be fair he'd be ideal for quite a few Championship clubs like Preston or Huddersfield, probably keep them up and implement a 'nice style'.

I find it odd they are inviting fans views on safe standing when they've made it perfectly clear they won't be incurring what they see as unnecessary additional expense in installing such a thing. A bit like when they recently invited fans to offer their views on kits for the next couple of years I wonder how much of this is actually going anywhere and how much is just them wanting to appear to be taking fans' views on board.

Rovers fans will save £5 at most going to Huddersfield. Their prices are reasonable anyway. I'm not complaining about it but the saving is minimal and the critical issue here is their numbers at Ewood which will probably go up by a few hundred offsetting any loss. This in no way compensates or makes up for the Leeds rip off which will see Rovers fans charged £45+. He knows this and knows people are unhappy about it. Its no surprise that just days after the Leeds debacle anf then PNE announcing a reciprocal deal and putting Rovers to shame that he's come up with a counterweight. He's not as daft as he looks old slippery Steve. Unfortunately a large portion of Rovers fans are daft as their social media posts prove and deserve everything they get from the chancers running Rovers.

For me the worst part of this: a) That he tries to pretend as though he's tried to negotiate with Leeds but failed to reach an agreement. I'd suggest that is not the case and that his agenda from the minute they were relegated was to ensure that we went as high as possible on prices and avoided a reciprocal deal. b) That Rovers fans are going to be disproportionately affected by this. It isn't the case that both sets of fans will both end up paying the same rate. I understand that the most we can charge Leeds fans at Ewood is £30 a head (still too expensive IMO) whereas at Elland Road they will be able to charge us upwards of £45 a head. So his latest short-sighted cash grab disproportionately affects his own club's fans. Leeds fans probably paying no more than they paid at most PL grounds last season, Rovers fans paying an obscene figure for a 2nd division game. But all he has any interest in here is getting that Darwen End as full as possible, I doubt he'd lose a minute's sleep if 0 Rovers fans went to Elland Road.

Just had a quick look at other games at Leeds recently. Watford fans were £20 per adult Middlesbrough are £29 per adult Bristol City were £30 per adult Huddersfield were going to be £47, people complained and later agreed to £20 per adult West Brom were £28 per adult QPR were £45 per adult Cardiff were £21 per adult Sheffield Wednesday were £47 per adult So we can see there is a wide discrepancy, the likes of QPR and Sheffield Wed getting slapped for the top end prices, Huddersfield almost too, then numerous clubs agreeing quite reasonable reduced pricing. Thanks to the people running Rovers I am certain that we will be looking at £40+ a ticket when we go there. Of course Waggott doesn't care, he's on the expenses and complimentaries anyway, and has probably never paid for a match ticket in his life. I'd appreciate it if this post could be saved and produced to slippery Steve at the next Fans Forum with a simple question put to him of why we can't do what those other clubs have done.

Another option would be to do what Bristol City did last season which was to admit members to Ashton Gate for £15 each whilst charging Norwich fans £30. They filled their ground. There are people who say we cannot charge more for away fans than home fans. They are wrong. It is perfectly legitimate to provide discounts for members for games such as these. Imagine if we did the same and offered Rovers fans £15 tickets if bought under a membership. I've no doubt we'd sell plenty, could still coin it in from the Leeds fans and would actually provide an incentive to buy 1875 membership, rather than offering some left over tat from the shop.

Rotherham are one of those perennial strugglers at this level. I think they are overachieving by being in the Championship but it seems no matter what the weather or who is in the dugout they are destined to be in the bottom 5-6. I anticipate that given time that is what these owners will do to us, making us regular strugglers unable to accomplish anything more than Championship survival.

Daily Mail reporting that Rotherham have sacked Matt Taylor. No official confirmation yet.

Luton were awash with experience and Football League know-how. JDT isn't allowed to do this, see Danny Batth. He's only allowed to sign cheap, unproven 'prospects' and work with them to try and increase their value.

He's got a win return pushing 50% at the club across almost 18 months. That's pretty good going for any manager at any club but when he's been constrained, undermined and forced to use teenagers to build a team with scumbags above him cutting budgets overnight and imposing drastic cost cuts, I'd say it is outstanding. He'll quickly move on to bigger and better things than Rovers and to be honest I am amazed he is still here. When he does I am absolutely certain our results and league position will quickly deteriorate, quite possibly back to League One and quickly

There's a good reason many clubs do it. Not for the sake of it but because they are advised by the physio people that it is better for their players. Here such concerns are immaterial whilst run by parasites only concerned with meeting their own financial targets and bollocks to the football.

All going to plan really. A small, inexperienced group of nice lads playing the game the 'right way'. Plenty of stats to circulate about 'average age' and 'number of academy graduates' and 'nice football' but fundamentally the name of the game is winning matches, especially at home in circumstances like tonight. The 'powers that be' will probably be quite happy with tonight, telling themselves we were unfortunate or hard done to but in reality the main reason we lost was down to inexperience and a lack of depth. Two issues that have plagued us for a while and were exacerbated by the abysmal summer delivered by the owners. One look at tonights bench tells me we have a serious problem. One look at the subs being made by the two teams with 10-15 minutes remaining at 1-1 tells me we have serious problems. PNE make changes bringing on journeymen players who turn the game in their favour. We make changes bringing on teenagers with no experience and lose the game from a dominant position. This isn't due to freak circumstances, it is due to budget cuts imposed upstairs. I don't blame JDT at all. The bloke is working miracles with what he has been given. Waggott will be tucked up in bed happy at the night's work coining in 15000 matchday tickets without a care in the world.

Yeah I agree that to any sane people now is the time to be getting out of this. Even if they have done nothing seriously wrong it is clear that there is a potentially drawn out and thorough investigation getting underway and whilst that goes on the club is going to suffer (even more) than is normal under their awful ownership. If we are now at the point that they are having to go to Court to get authorisation each and every time they need to meet 'obligations' at Ewood then this is going to get silly, whilst it might be a positive that permission has been given for an injection to meet wage and cost liabilities I assume we are going to have to repeat this in the New Year when the next bit is due and assume it doesn't cover non-essential expenditure e.g. funds for transfers or any other spending. Some might be happy or comfortable with the club limping along in such a paralysed and zombie like state but I'm not. If they can't fund the club or at best can keep the lights on whilst they deal with whatever issues they have in India then we are just drifting to nowhere

So £1.8 million, over 10% of the total cash being sent over from India, coming in as 'agent fee (commission)' Seems excessive to me.

JDT has operated at an elite level throughout his career and wants to be successful. If he thinks flying to some of these long distance away games would help him and his small squad recover and deal better with a busy fixture list then I back his judgement and think the club should too. Winners look for these sort of marginal gains. Unfortunately he's employed by losers and people with remits at odds with having footballing ambition, so they'd rather save the money and send out a crippled squad and derail our season / momentum. Perhaps they could fund some of this travel from the extra cash JDT has brought the club by taking the cups seriously. His predecessor didn't but was still able to fly the team to away games even when there was nothing left to play for.

I'd be surprised unless they can do some shuffling on the finances or unless Sheffield Wednesday want to send him back. I remain convinced that the decision to send Buckley out was as much if not more financially motivated than anything else and was a prerequisite to us signing Hill and Telalovic on deadline day. So unless someone is leaving in January or some extra cash gets released from somewhere I can't see it. They'd rather Sheff Wed covered his wage from January to June. JRC news is very disappointing but in no way surprising. This is why having depth is essential and why I warned in the summer that it would be foolish to make plans around him being available for more than half the season.

Really sad news. I didn't know him too well but would always say hello and crossed paths many times at games especially friendlies and u21 fixtures when there would be smaller numbers of Rovers fans in attendance. He was just Rovers through and through. Will be strange not seeing him around any more. It's an odd feeling, as despite not going to games with him you just knew that if Rovers were playing somewhere then he was going to be there. Hong Kong, Austria, Portugal, Spain etc. Last December we joined groups for the trip to Marbella to watch the games v Hearts and Ajax. Always remember going out to Portugal about 10 years ago. As we got off the bus and walked into the hotel the first thing we saw was Birdy walking around with his cap on. Only this summer we turned up in Hartberg and within minutes found him sat in a bar on the square. Such a familiar face and constant feature of going to games, it was almost like an element of going to games itself, seeing him around meant Rovers were in town. Rovers have lost an immense supporter and someone who put god knows how much time and effort into not just games but meetings, events, fans forums, arranging travel away. My thoughts are with Annette, a constant by his side at games, and his family and friends.

I'd say this is possible at every other club in the league. Only last week Rotherham signed Ayala on a free transfer to aid their defensive troubles, I don't believe there is any scope or possibility for us to bring in a 30-something experienced head even on a free transfer, even to solve a defensive crisis. I think we are the only club following this 'academy' policy whereby any new signing needs to follow strict parameters both on wage demands but also on age and 'potential'. I could accept / understand such a policy if it took us to a place where in a few years we had developed a very valuable or deep capable squad, but we've learned from experience that this won't be possible here, they'll keep numbers down, keep on cutting back and keep on failing to deal with the contract situations.

Lets be honest if it comes down to playing and wage budgets he'd have more to work with virtually everywhere except maybe at the current bottom 3 clubs. The budget wasn't exactly great to start with and then inexplicably and completely unprofessionally was slashed further mid transfer window. It's one thing having little-no money to back an ambitious manager, quite another to make life even more difficult for him by leading him to believe it was one thing and then drastically cutting that half way through the summer. To follow the calamity of January and O'Brien with these shananigans must really have annoyed him. So I suspect even a move to a skint club albeit one that is honest as to the reasons why and one that doesn't muck him around mid-transfer window, and doesn't pull the plug on deals and mess people around on deadline day would be a step up. Especially one that doesn't have a charlatan masquerading as CEO, whilst really run by a bloke in the shadows with no footballing background. I suspect he'll be off the minute any reasonable offer is made but agree that unless he hauls us right into the promotion mix that might not come mid-season. Still expect a move to Germany, Holland or Italy more likely than sideways in the Championship but you never know.

When do Man City come in for him as Pep's replacement?