A predictable defeat. One look at our bench today tells the story. Beyond ridiculous that we are turning up at tough away Championship games with a bench like that. Well short.

Sunderland v Cardiff is on the Sunday because England women are playing at the Stadium of Light on the Friday night. Something of a fixture crisis developing here. The logical solution is to tell Sky to pick a different game for their Friday night slot but doubt that will happen. Don't think Cardiff will be keen on playing Tuesday night if they've been up to Sunderland on the Sunday afternoon. I'd be furious if Rovers agree to play Wednesday v Cardiff then Friday v Leicester.

How have Harrogate identified which people are Rovers fans and which are genuine locals / Harrogate fans? Simply by matching email addresses? How do Harrogate know that those people have a recent purchase history with Rovers? Presumably Harrogate have requested, and Rovers have supplied, details of supporters and purchasing history. Perhaps those affected might want to ask Rovers what other information they have handed out to third parties without the consent of the individual(s) concerned.

They were on his case last season at Ewood too, then soon after they climbed up the table and like us spent all the second half of the season in and around the top 6. I think he's a negative manager. It works in this league and I doubt Millwall would have done better with a different approach, but when getting well beaten people will quickly turn.

1875 membership advertised as being £15 per person. But impossible to pay less than £18 due to hidden charges that aren't mentioned in any of the literature and are applied at checkout. 1875 membership initially offered 20% off matchday hospitality, then subsequently changed to 15% and it seems this was down to a 'mistake' (amateur hour, surely these things are checked before going to the public?) 1875 membership claims to offer 'priority access' to away tickets which I suspect is the only reason the vast majority of people buy one, yet it doesn't offer priority access because there are other people ahead in line for tickets who do not need to be a member. It now turns out that tickets are only available online, so I would suggest that indirectly discriminates against those who are older and aren't familiar with using websites to buy tickets. I'll be interested to see what the delivery options are on these tickets and whether buyers are forced to pay an extra fee on top for 'delivery' even if they want to collect from the shop. We knew that the whole thing was rushed and poorly thought out, overseen by a poundland CEO who makes things up on a whim to grab some extra cash in from the fans, we also know that the advertisements and literature weren't correct when released. It is bad enough, in my opinion, deploying these sort of stunts to milk extra cash out of the most regular and loyal supporters, but to do it in such a hodgepodge way, imposing hidden charges and generally just making it hard work and annoying people, is the last thing this club should be doing.

My bad, but nothing at all on twitter

Harrogate have had ticket details up on their website since Wednesday and on sale since Thursday. Game is 10 days away and radio silence from Rovers on tickets. So they can't do the usual and blame the other club. Maybe they are so flummoxed by the limited allocation and high demand they are just hoping people forget about the game?

Another random 1 minute added on at the end of the half, which surely is impossible if the referees are adding the time on for all stoppages as I thought they were.

15,617 That's the sales total of Bolton season tickets. No PL football. No city catchment area. No affluent part of the country. No billionaires subsidising them. And the CEO of Blackburn Rovers, a league higher, dares to suggest our figures are good.

No money in a loyalty scheme. Better forcing loyal fans to pay extra for membership to secure priority on away tickets.

I see that Watford v QPR last weekend was reversed with the agreement of the league and clubs as QPRs pitch wasn't ready, meaning QPR play 2 away games to start off with and Watford have 2 home games. Still don't know why the same couldn't happen with Luton v Dingles.

When they are doing things like avoiding two local teams both playing at home on the same day there is a reasonable excuse and basis for it - avoiding / minimising the risk of fans clashing or stretching police resources too thinly. It also doesn't affect who plays who just that one will be away when the other is at home. But when the actual games - and teams - are being fixed to suit a media company's agenda - which is what I think is happening here and has happened several times in recent years - that's taking it to a new level and leads to the question - if they are capable of setting the fixtures to suit what the media people want then what else are they capable of fixing or changing in the name of 'entertainment'?

Whether they should or shouldn't they always do. Possession of a season ticket is usually essential for inclusion in first phase of cup ticket sales and that's the case at most clubs. But I agree those who went to the Walsall game should have priority over those that didn't for a game such as this where there is clearly a very small allocation.

I've no idea how many people have signed up for 1875 membership but imagine quite a few have joined since last night. If reports of a 400-500 allocation are to be believed then I hope Rovers are going to impose additional purchase requirements and phases rather than just throwing it open for a free for all. What I'm hoping for is some degree of protection and priority to those who go regularly. Perhaps ST + 1875 members who bought a Walsall or Rotherham ticket etc. What I'm expecting is first come first served which with a small allocation is bound to cause issues. Or Waggott coming up with some scheme to extract more cash from people to secure priority.

Yes, and then the Dingles get a week off. Still don't understand why Luton weren't forced to reverse the fixture or if not find an alternative venue.

An amazing coincidence that the fixture computer throws up Kompany's dingles at home v City for the first game of the new season and Sky Sports just happen to have a documentary on the dingles that they are ready to release the same week. Funny how these things work out.

For all the 'woe is me' routine from Mowbray I can't see there's any way at all that he's going to walk away from a gig like Sunderland. He stuck at it here for over 5 years and admitted he would have stayed on for more if he had been offered the chance. That's despite Venkys, cost cutting and the really difficult long journey down from Teesside. Now at Sunderland I suppose his nose might be a bit out of joint if he's got an owner and director of football imposing a certain structure or criteria on him. His signing of Dack however suggests he has some sway over transfers. He probably wants more like he had here with him and Venus running the show. But no he's not one to throw in the towel. He did it at Coventry but that was only when results and their crisis made it untenable. As long as results keep ticking over he'll hang about.

I think Sheffield United are in dire straits financially. They were supposed to be getting a takeover from some Nigerian businessman but that has gone quiet and looks to have collapsed. Their existing Saudi owner has been looking to get out for a while. Beyond risky if they sell one of their best players to the likes of Burnley. You'd think they'd just take the risk to try and stay up and above the dingles. My worry is that with Sheff Utd in a mess, Luton looking weak and Bournemouth likely to struggle there are already three clubs who Burnley can be relatively confident about finishing above.

I was a little baffled by only 1 minute being added at the end of the first half between City and Arsenal yesterday. Other than that it does seem as though a good amount of time is being added both at half and full time in games. Moaning Mowbray thinks it is ridiculous that 13 minutes gets added from a 45 minute second half. I agree it is ridiculous. But this just shows how much time has been lost over the years with cheating from teams and officials not cracking down on it. It will be interesting to see how long it gets sustained because no doubt there will be pressure from certain managers and players to drop it.

One thing I think is abundantly clear and has been reinforced by his interview is that the owners have no expectations or targets when it comes to winning football matches. It is clear that by extension Waggott does not have any expectations or targets when it comes to winning football matches. His focus appears to be on the hand-to-mouth existence these owners have reduced us to and patting himself on the back when he manages to pay the bills on time, together with individual player development. I now suspect he's on some sort of bonus for raising funds in doing so reducing owner input. That won't do because it runs contrary to us achieving the best we can and building as strong a squad as possible. He is a tin pot operator, essentially a box ticker who is in place to try and make ends meet with whatever cash the owners decide they are putting in each year. I'm embarrassed that he's the most senior staff member and representative of Blackburn Rovers. I'm flabbergasted at the number of fans on here and Facebook / Twitter who are now hailing him as a great communicator and an important conduit between owners and fans, trusting in his every word as an accurate and true reflection of reality. Whilst he has spoken it doesn't seem to occur to people that what he says isn't necessarily the reality. This is a bloke who has misled fans on multiple occasions in the past (example one being the Covid ticket refund fiasco). A bloke who has barely uttered a word in public (his last club interview being after the sneaky training ground plan was rumbled some considerable time ago?) and a bloke who has allowed confusion and speculation to run rampant all summer long, finally deciding to do an interview 24 hours before the new season starts. It seems to be that he is surprised and almost uncomfortable with JDT and his ambition. It is clear that JDT is not an operator content to go around in circles for years on end whilst the club meets whatever agenda the owners and cronies have in mind. It is clear that he wants promotion and that looks to me to be at complete odds with the amateur hour operation above him. Waggott is probably wishing he had his old mate Tony back and then we can go back to the good old days of putting up with whatever rubbish these owners make up each season. Thankfully, at least for the time being, we have JDT who clearly won't put up with that. I'm pleased with JDTs comments about the interview and about expecting new signings before the end of the month. Not because I think we will get what he wants, but I think he is being slightly sarcastic and is directing pressure towards those above him. I think the onus is on them now and if they don't get done what he wants I think he'll walk, and they're aware of this.

He mumbled something about getting money out of India. Don't think he said anything beyond the speculation already in the public domain. What new facilities did he specify at the academy? The stitched pitch still a long way short of the full pitch replacement he told us we were getting 2.5 years ago.

Maybe I missed it but what did he say about 'Indian tax law'? I thought he conceded that the budgets had changed, but stopped short of actually specifying what the issue was. Good grief, I hope you aren't falling for the old trick of confusing routine maintenance with investment in new facilities?

So a lengthy interview that actually tells us very little. I say interview because after the interviewer has set him off there are barely any questions, Waggott just goes off on one almost as through his is reading from a script. It is amazing how he manages to make out as though the basics of operating as a professional football club - paying tax, paying wages, paying bills, relaying the pitch, getting ready to host games - is some sort of special achievement on his and his staff's part. It kind of sums up his mentality that on the eve of the new season one of the first things he talks about is how well we've done to pay our bills and tax. The interview of a bloke panicking and throwing whatever he can out there in a bid to protect himself and his bosses from any criticism by having to remind everyone listening of just what a stellar job he's doing. No wonder the owners keep him on if they believe everything he comes out with.

He's had a couple of weeks to get his lines together and of course treated gently by the in house media. It's a bit close to lunchtime for me to stomach that interview. I'll save it for later.

If that is correct just how exactly are we LOSING £20 million a year?