A 2500 capacity Riverside would look absolutely stupid sat opposite the other stands. It looks small and lop-sided as it is and that's with a 4500+ capacity.

Agree, but I think a lot of it stems from not having enough experience and nasty players around the place. This goes back to Mowbray - who seemed to only want to recruit 'nice lads' even when he went after experience, and then in the last 2 years the Club has embarked on a 'project' where they only seem interested in younger players whether that be from our academy or on loan from PL clubs. Going down such a route of nice young lads brings drawbacks as well as positives, one of which is that when the chips are down you tend not to have the know-how or doggedness to drag a way back into a game. Sometimes in the last 20 minute of Championship games when the chips are down you have to find a different way to do it - that might involve peppering the opposition box and hoping for a fluke like Preston got against us the other week, or throwing everyone at it and getting a lucky handball goal like Coventry. We just don't do enough of it and the results of it are there for all to see. We don't go direct or throw men forward into the opposition box. Even yesterday chasing a winner Hyam still preferred to go back to Pears rather than launch it forwards. It definitely comes back to recruitment and 'project' talk but I can't help but think if we dropped a Warnock into the mix things would immediately be very different on that front.

Not sure how that one will work unless they've come up with something unusual as the away stand has one concourse for both tiers

Presumably they advise booking online as they are charging an extra £2 to anyone who does. That and it saves them having to do it at the Club shop.

Lots of criticism of Leeds chopping and changing in a desperate bid to survive / achieve their objectives Sooner that than do nothing and let the inevitable occur as we've done under Kean, Coyle and Mowbray.

We just have to hope that lot at Deepdale do us a favour, though sounds like Lowe has thrown a wobbler after their Sheff Utd beating so they'll probably not turn up for it now.

Has Waggott or Broughton ever explained why, even if we are to accept the deadline day cock and bull stuff, we did nothing after that to bring in a free agent or two to bolster our options?

A couple of things that ring alarm bells with me One is the claim in the Fans Forum that budgets have already been set for next season. At a normal club you might celebrate forward planning but here it means that Venkys (or more likely their financial gurus) have already determined that the Club is getting very little if anything beyond essential funding. That means we are stuck with the academy and loan routine again. I don't think the talk about a 'project' comes from anything more grand or idealistic than simply realising that the only way we are going to assemble a side to compete in this league is going to be turning to our kids and hoping enough make the grade. One look at sides to make the play-offs recently - Middlesbrough, Luton x2, Huddersfield, Forest - not many academy grads knocking around their sides. Somewhere along the line you have to recruit experience and know how. Talk of letting Ayala, Dack and Kaminski leave fills me with dread TBH, not because we necessarily need them for the first XI, but you have to have some older heads around the place somewhere. A lot of people bemoaning recent form and slip ups, but that's what happens when you rely on inexperience. The other thing that worries me is that with arses to protect the henchman in the shadows / Waggott / Broughton may be tempted to 'cash in' on a few or be forced to do so by upstairs. After the debacle of losing last summer's players and now Brereton for nothing there's something of a gap in transfer income. To gain favour with India certain people may be tempted to cash in.

The thing is at the end of last season we knew that if the manager stayed it would be a repeat again the next season and the season after that. He'd proven he couldn't and wouldn't learn or adapt and would keep on making the same mistakes every year. With JDT he's inherited the Mowbray mentality here and we've outperformed Mowbray's best this season (tail off play-off push but at least with 2 good cup runs on the side). I've seen enough to believe JDT deserves a chance to see if he can better it moving forwards. Unfortunately the Club has done its level best to torpedo our chance at promotion and this will probably see us looking for a new manager in the near future. I'd certainly rather have Broughton, having appointed JDT, leading that search rather than Waggott or the same people who gave us Owen Coyle.

If there's 5 minutes to go at Millwall and Sunderland are winning at Preston by a couple of goals I'd want us to let one in just to knock Sunderland out of it. Couldn't cope with treacherous Tony sneaking into the top 6.

So 16,000 home fans on Ewood today. Together with the dingles and Norwich fixtures recently we've had very healthy home numbers turning up at Ewood (granted 2 Bank Holidays and a derby game but two were on tv / evening games to boot) I wonder what efforts the Club will be making to try and ensure as many of the 7000+ non-season ticket holders today sign up for a full season?

Games like today with fine margins you need a strong and competent referee. Unfortunately we once again saw a weak performance from the officials. The only thing more annoying to me than a referee unwilling to clamp down on timewasting from the opposition is one who repeatedly signals as though he is aware of it and as though he is planning on adding time on for it, and then when it comes to the crunch he fails to add any time on for it. A triple whammy of not only failing to nip it in the bud during the game, not giving the required time on at the end but also paying lip service by pointing at his watch all afternoon for no reason. Maybe one day we'll get the time we deserve when we are on top and chasing a winner at home. Too many times this season we just get the bog standard 4 minutes and weak officials letting the game drift away.

Wish I had Waggott's job. He must be the only CEO in the world that isn't responsible for the performance of the organisation he leads. Calamitous failure of a January window and yet nothing to do with him. Could be Broughton, could be Silvester, could be Gus Williams, yet Slippery Steve's not to blame. If he is indeed CEO, and continues to rake in a six figure salary for the privilege, then he takes ultimate responsibility for ALL elements of the operation. If he isn't responsible for all departments or doesn't have the power to do anything about it, then he isn't CEO, and should resign or adopt a different job title. I said the moment Broughton was appointed the motive behind his appointment was to delegate blame for the inevitable mess that unfolded. So far it is working perfectly to plan. So long as anger and blame doesn't end up directed at Venkys or their henchman in the shadows they are happy.

Or the alternative explanation is that the budget was so tight that the likes of Hirst and Mola,cheap loans that their parent clubs were more than happy to sanction so we took them off their hands, were seen as the best/only option for us. The cheaper and more desperate you go the less likely it is you hit the jackpot. That's why a rival in Middlesbrough went and got Archer and Ramsey in the window and we spent all month 'chasing' Undav before he supposedly changed his mind. This summer will be more of the same. Of course they want and need a striker, anyone with any interest in Rovers will want one. But getting one of any quality with no backing from India and a strictly capped wage bill - difficult if not impossible. So that's when the PL loans come into the equation (again). Avoids a capital outlay and commitment to decent wages. If in doubt just blame FFP rules, moving goalposts from the selling club/player/agent, the weather or the tea lady forgetting to put milk in his brew, whatever pops into the head.

Correct. The buck stops at the top. As chief Waggott takes that role. Whether or not Broughton cocked up is almost immaterial. Waggott is the boss. At least that's what his job title and salary shows. There is nobody above him (officially) in the chain of command. Waggott presumably appointed these people to their positions and if there was a season-derailing failure then he should take responsibility for that and either admit he got it wrong by appointing them and resign or alternatively ring the changes to ensure it doesn't happen again. Instead the show rolls on. Nothing has happened. Waggott hides away whilst people lower down the chain take the blame and the same people remain in place. Tells me they aren't too bothered with how January went.

The irritating thing about this season and last more than previous seasons is that we have actually been involved in genuine play-off pushes. It happened a few times under Mowbray and Bowyer where we loitered in mid-table 2,3,4 wins off the top 6 all season and there was talk up until the last few weeks of us being well placed for a push, but we never really looked likely or got into the top 6, and by the very nature of the play-offs and the Championship of course there are a raft of clubs sat in the middle of the table who are in with a shout until the last couple of games. Examples this year being Swansea and Bristol City who despite spending none of the season in the top 6 and being very inconsistent have been in theory in with a chance of sneaking in. The last two seasons have been different because we've spent such a long time in there. It would be tragic if we failed to even finish 6th in either season, but you get what you deserve if you fail to strengthen in January and just make up excuses instead.

The long and short of it is no. As long as Waggott can send his spreadsheets off to India at budget review time which show he's doing what they want him to do. We are witnessing the erosion of our club unfolding in real time and the best Waggott can do is 'thank' the owners for letting him do it.

I'm surprised anyone genuinely believes that funds were available to get what was needed. At best perhaps some 'flex' on wages to bring in a loan like Undav. Nothing more. It has been the same old boring story each and every January for the last 5-6 years. Claims that funds are available, claims that the owners are backing the club, claims that good players are being lined up. Assombalonga time. They talk the talk, but when it comes to actually getting things done it fails to happen. I don't believe that its a coincidence. We are just run by bullshitters who like people to believe they are serious and have money available from the great and wonderful Venkys but when it actually comes to handing the money over they go missing. Look at Waggott and his performances since he arrived. He's talked about a new training ground, a new desso pitch, a new Riverside stand. And what has he delivered? A rotting Ewood, the worst pitch in the league, a grubby scheme to sell off Brockhall and continual price hikes to meet his personal targets. Talks the talk but under the surface he's here to do one thing and one thing only - justify his employment by saving the Indians money. Spending money in January runs contrary to everything we have seen and heard. What good does it do Waggott? The owners are uncontactable on the other side of the world and have set their annual budgets. Where does the money come from if it doesn't fit within the strict boundaries of the annual budget set the previous summer? Is Waggott going to get on the phone to Mrs Desai and put an argument forward for her to cough up more cash? Is he hell.

I think...not certain...that it is because they use Ticketmaster or similar to sell their tickets online (it's a 3rd party who handle it anyway). Again It isn't our choice or problem, they need to cover that cost in their ticket prices not add it on at the end. I've also heard they have tried adding it to people who have been into the shop to buy, which makes no sense.

Well I'm not paying it. It isn't mentioned in the advertising and if they are claiming season tickets are £379 that's what I am prepared to pay. Not grubby additional costs stuck on at the end. I don't care if they are using an external ticket system and have to pay for it, that's their choice not mine. So I'll ring up and try but if they try adding it on I'll leave it.

I said back when Broughton was appointed last summer that this wasn't being done to improve matters or take us in a new direction. It was being done to distance Waggott and Pasha from any accountability, layer the operation and allow blame to be apportioned elsewhere. Mowbray filled that role for them for the last 5 years with only Waggott appearing from time to time to bluff his way through e.g. after he was rumbled on the Brockhall stunt They realised when Mowbray went that eyes would turn in their direction for answers and leadership. Oh dear. Solution? Well they'd be hard pressed to find a competent manager willing to do what Mowbray did and run the entire club with his mates, so the alternative is to get a Broughton in to 'run it' whilst they can hide away upstairs calling the shots but taking none of the blame when things go wrong. And boy has it worked. I've seen an array of reasons and people blamed for our January debacle yet none seem to be the owners' rep or CEO (the two most powerful people at the club).

Has Waggott spoken publicly since this debacle? Other than pre-set questions before a small group of fans in the Forum? There's leadership for you - hiding away in his office, radio silence and letting subordinates take the blame.

Just tried to renew mine online and they are trying to claim a £2 booking fee. No mention of this in the advertising or literature.

Yeah probably about that. Although there is likely to be a late surge in the final week before the deadline as various people will leave it to the last minute (me included) it seems he's already factored that into his ambitious push towards 6000. I take a bit of issue with the club describing it as a 'special super saver'. It's approximately 5% early bird reduction IF you do it quickly. I also don't like this comment: "Despite the huge increase in operational costs that the club has felt in recent months, the Owners are deeply committed to supporting the people of Blackburn, enabling supporters to access initially-reduced prices to watch their team during these challenging times" Making out as though it is only through the generosity of Venkys that we are able to enjoy such prices and that without them it would be much higher, which of course isn't correct as most other clubs in the Football League are proving.

'Hoping' to 'push towards 6000' by the deadline is the line being fed to the Telegraph. Good god.