Some twists and turns yet. West Brom have to play Norwich and Swansea so points being dropped there whichever way. Coventry have to go to Middlesbrough which ought to be a very difficult one. Sunderland to PNE. Swansea at Hull this weekend which won't be easy with Hull's recent form. Even Millwall @ Blackpool - Blackpool realistically have to win that to stay in with a survival shout. We're still in it and if we won them both I'm certain that would be enough given other fixtures and our position. I'm tired of worrying about other results. We need to win ours, no more if buts or excuses. 1 win in 10? Make that 1 or 2 in 11 or 12 games and nobody can complain if we miss out.

There's zero presence around. I live in Hyndburn and work in Rossendale, two areas a handful of miles from Ewood and heavily populated with Rovers/potential Rovers fans. Other than the Lancashire Telegraph being on sale in the paper shops you'd never see or hear about Rovers in those areas. I'm not expecting massive billboards all over the place but they make zero effort. Unforgivable.

It's a real shame, because starting from such a relatively low base of circa 9000, having had a good season, including excellent home results, whatever happens next optimism SHOULD be high going into next season. Some good young players, JDT hopefully still here to build. A fall or standstill on sales at such a low number should be considered an absolute failure given the above. Fair enough if we'd had a dismal struggle all season with a squad of journeymen under Mowbray but pride and optimism should now be high. If the club cannot build on that to increase numbers by more than a few hundred then they really need to take a look at themselves down there. A club / ownership remotely interested in the welfare and health of the club would not only be embarrassed by 9000 sales, particularly in view of figures down the road to the East, West and South, but would expect a healthy increase having exceeded expectations this season and somehow been involved in a season long play-off push. It says it all about the management of the club when increasing numbers back to what they were in the days under Bowyer is considered to be extremely unlikely and ambitious. On the subject of which it seems the extent of advertising and promoting tickets is once again limited to twitter and the club website.

I don't think we need reinvent the wheel here. There's a reason the basic idea and structure of a season ticket is so consistent across the leagues and has lasted so long, there's no need for it to be complicated. Nice and simple - a ticket that guarantees admission for all home league games and a set seat. Hull tried messing about with things when they did their Membership scheme and it was a disaster. The two ways of increasing numbers are price changes and promotion. Whatever the reasons and excuses for it we are faring poorly on both. We have one of the highest starting prices in the league, the highest number of empty seats and one of the most impoverished/competitive areas for attracting fans. As our illustrious neighbours have proven, better numbers are attainable if priced and approached correctly. If we got to 14,000 season ticket holders like them together with walk ons and away fans we'd be looking at average gates of 17,000+ and we'd all be happy. None of those clubs are coming up with elaborate ideas. Just making prices sensible and then pushing sales to the best of their ability by advertising and promoting. Unfortunately in our disfunction we have a CEO who is not employed to grow fanbases or numbers, or improve the club in any way. He's here to cut costs and increase numbers and seems to have free reign to follow whatever policy he picks to achieve that. In his wisdom he has picked the quickest and easiest route to increasing income but medium to long term the most damaging imaginable. Until the owners realise the long term implications of this and do something to change it we are wasting our time, as at best we will get another puppet when Waggot retires who will have the same targets. They don't want a bright, ambitious, forward thinking board. They want a yes man who will take the stick on their behalf and make the numbers look better in the short term.

Never our fault is it? The excuses change, the years go by but the same critical failure to strengthen in January remains And of course the fact remains that with the exception of Gus Williams leaving there have been no changes made at management level despite what happened in January. Would lead me to conclude they were happy enough with the outcome, which conveniently avoided the need for the owners to put their hands in their pockets whilst the blame gets apportioned elsewhere. Remember Broughton's interview - the only thing he was clear about was to make sure nobody blamed the owners. That's what the name of the game is here. Make sure that whatever happens the fans don't blame the owners for what happens. Blame FFP, blame managers, players, the weather, or whatever it may be but the owners are untouchable. Ultimately however they are the only ones in control who can do anything about it, so responsibility does lie with them.

Venkys. Pasha. Waggott. In that order. They are playing us paying fans, the media and the manager/coaching staff/players by trying to convince us that they are doing all they can/their side of the bargain and that they are sincere in their desire to get quality in the door in January. I don't think they have any serious intention, interest or desire to do such a thing. Whether that is Britt Assombalonga, Lewis O'Brien or any of the other 'big name' players that we've supposedly been after but for a range of increasingly bizarre reasons failed to get done. What are the consistent factors over 4-5 years of January failure? Venkys. Pasha. Waggott. What has changed? Manager, players, D of F - yes the failure to recruit continues. Problem lies at the top.

Next January it will be some other cock and bull nonsense. We've had players sat in Brockhall with their suitcases and greedy agents moving the goalposts, we've had nonsense about Mowbray not wanting to spend any money even when it was there, we've had claims that forms weren't filled in or boxes ticked properly. What next? A dog ate the registration form? They're playing us - simple as that - Broughton is another caught in the middle of the Venky nonsense IMO. He managed to get deals done in the summer without issue, so he suddenly becomes incompetent in January?

He's responsible for identifying and pursuing players and the football operation. I'd be amazed if he was responsible for getting deals over the line including dealing with the paperwork which the appeal suggested was the reason it broke down. He faced up to the media and took responsibility yes, but getting rid of him and keeping the same operation behind the scenes won't solve that, it will just mean that the same happens again under someone else. I suspect if he had come out and told the absolute truth - about what a shambles this club is and how responsibility for it ultimately lies with the owners and CEO - that he would have been down the road in no time. I'd rather he tried to rectify it and stop it happening again although I'm not confident on that one when the priority in some circles (Waggott) is on avoiding spending and cutting costs. He's hardly going to worry about finding ways to spend more money on quality players.

I simply don't believe that Broughton is the cause of the problem. We've had similar issues in January transfer windows going back longer than I can remember. It happened every year under Mowbray too. I don't know if he is competent or not, I don't know if he is up to the job or not, but I know a fall guy when I see one and believe he's been set up to take the grief on behalf of others. They tried conning us into believing Mowbray was sat on a pile of cash and inexplicably declined to spend it. Now they are trying to con us into believing Broughton is some sort of buffoon who derailed our season in January. I simply don't believe it. This comes back to the owners and their shadow man who get away with it every time. Broughton goes and it all starts again. Another name and face giving interviews, another 'process' starts and then another excuse dragged out when we fail to invest in January next time around, rather than just admitting that the money men won't authorise the necessary expenditure.

I am becoming more and more convinced that we are on the right track with JDT at the helm and that he is a good manager. I think we've got lucky. He's had us in contention all season, and even with the sucker punches of the last 3 games it is worth remembering what we are dealing with and what we are up against. But for very fine margins our performances could easily have warranted 7-9 points from these 3 games rather than just 2. I know it is a results business and over the last 10 games they have been poor, but again tonight we deserved more than we got. People have been telling me all season what a great side they are and what a good manager Kompany is. Well if tonight is anything to go by I'm not impressed. JDT had him sussed and but for one attempt from distance or a competent referee we'd have had something. Yes it's time to bring the referee up. Cork should have been yellow carded within 3 minutes of being on the pitch. Then another few minutes later, when he was booked, that should have either been a straight red or at least his second yellow. That let off came 2-3 minutes before their goal just as we were enjoying a good spell. The same referee who had no such restraint or patience when sending Ayala and Garrett off earlier this season, but consistency is too much to expect with these jokers. I haven't seen the penalty again but believe from a screenshot it is blatant handball. Then 4 minutes added time - really? 8 substitutions, 4-5 yellow cards, pitch invasions and warning their keeper about timewasting and the bog standard 4 minutes is considered reasonable? Shocking. Back to the stuff we can control and we are paying the price for negligent management upstairs. It has likely cost us a play-off position and I predict it will ensure JDT walks at the first opportunity putting us back to square one. Once again a couple of good additions in January would have made all the difference in a game like tonight, instead we are bringing Harry Leonard on in a desperate bid to find a goal. It just isn't good enough and the blame for that lies upstairs. They've let us all down. Thought the players put in a great effort tonight and none of them did much wrong. They need to pick themselves up again and give it everything in these last 2 which are effectively pre-play offs, the Millwall game could be a play-off for the play-offs. In some ways it is perfectly simple - if we can't beat Luton at home and Millwall away, two sides we are going to need to be able to overcome in our quest to get the top 6 and progress through them, then is there any point in getting in them or do we deserve to?

Bolton's early bird prices were only £219, the £299 is post early bird.

If last summer's sales figures are anything to go by then they will shift around 5,000 more than we do. So 14,000 @ the lower price or 9,000 @ our price? Ignoring the additional benefits of 14,000 - home advantage, better atmosphere, spending on food and drink - if we keep everyone at adult prices that's pretty much equal on revenue. So the only logic must be that they don't think we could ever reach 14,000 sales to make up the difference. If Bolton, Dingles and PNE can then we can and if the CEO doesn't think so he shouldn't be here.

Like with what seems to be most initiatives at Ewood these days I think the idea is a good one, but it is executed in a way that just comes across as cheap and tacky. I think from a distance large white lettering in the stands in the upper tiers, especially given they are never used, and improves the look of the ground. But as has been pointed out it hasn't been done properly, its off centre, the letters are of different sizes and it doesn't fit right. Then when you look at it from an angle or more closely it looks cheap - like someone has stuck a load of white bin liners over the seats. How much would it cost to do it properly with new white seating? Surely not that much more? Perhaps 1000 seats required out of 3000 in the upper tier? How much would 1000 plastic white seats cost when comparing to the reported £3000 we've paid until the end of the season for this? It's also quite short sighted because if we did get in the play-offs and played Middlesbrough or West Brom I suspect they'd be wanting to give them the upper tier as part of their allocation. Meaning it would have to be removed.

Those expecting an 'easy' away win - why? One quick look at their away results this season even when they've won games they haven't done so comfortably. They've failed to win away v Sheff Utd, Rotherham, Birmingham, West Brom, Preston, Blackpool, Cardiff, Reading, Watford and Millwall. They've won games by a slender 1 goal margin at Huddersfield, Stoke, Luton, Middlesbrough, Swansea and Coventry They've only won away by 2 or more goals on a few occasions - Sunderland, Hull, Wigan, Norwich, QPR. I'm not for one minute suggesting it is going to be easy, nor am I confident in the slightest given our form and injury list, but lets not fall for the narrative that prime Real Madrid are turning up and demolishing all they play against. For a side clear at the top they don't often cruise to wins away from home.

Lol, live on Sky, Kompany to keep happy and against a team littered with divers. Not a chance.

But he still took over them in the course of the current season, inheriting an upwardly mobile side from Neil and had no input into their recruitment, squad or preparations for the season. Therefore had little-no input into the setup and has had to work with what he walked into. Similar factors that are used to absolve him of responsibility for our relegation - that we were already destined for the drop, had a weak squad and the rot had set in. So in reverse surely it could be argued that all the ingredients for Sunderland to succeed were already there and he's just been able to ride the crest of the wave? Admittedly there's a time difference between the two but I do find it interesting. I'm not trying to be blindly anti-Mowbray but it seems some people consider him the mastermind behind Sunderland's play-off push yet zero responsibility for our relegation, I don't think it can be both. Anyhow his true colours became clear earlier this season when he shamefully admitted, whilst manager of the club, to advising a valued staff member to transfer to a rival club. There's absolutely no come back from that in my book, whether you are Pep Guardiola or Tony Mowbray.

Can I just check, if Mowbray gets Sunderland into the play-offs/promoted with someone else's squad having taken over mid-season does he get the credit for that or is it nothing to do with him as was the case when he took us down with someone else's squad having taken over mid-season?

Mowbray's 'crowning glory' after 5 years in the job, 10 transfer windows, complete autonomy on recruitment, a bloated squad packed with experience was 69 points and narrowly missing out on the play-offs. Tomasson may yet still better that in his first season, with 2 transfer windows, one of which was completely botched, where there has been little to no experience brought in and he has been forced to rely on the academy and on a tight budget. He's also accomplished more in the two cup competitions this season than Mowbray managed in his 5. He's done a better job than Mowbray IMO, even if we get 69 points or less. If he can't get us higher than 69 points in this division in the next 4 years after he's been able to spend and recruit well then there's an argument he's worse.

This summer is going to be similar to previous. The owners aren't interested and aren't investing other than to cover existing costs meaning we are heavily restricted as to our transfer capabilities. Tomasson will know what he wants and what is needed, unfortunately he won't get it unless they drastically alter their approach. Even if we miss out we should be looking forward with optimism having had a good season, with I think a good manager gearing up for a proper crack at things having settled into the role and a quite young squad a year wiser. But anticipate it will be more of the same - scratching around for cheap loans like Mola and Hirst or Liverpool's latest option who they want game time for. Perhaps a couple of Hibs/Aberdeen or League One players. Lets remember that this is the way some people - fully paid up members of the FFP club and we can't do anything else - say it needs to be

I think we will miss out on the play-offs. But after the drubbing this lot gave us at Ewood at the very least I expect to see some pride restored here. The only thing worse than blowing the play-offs will be doing so against the likes of nob end and the dingles.

Anyone know why we have decided at this late stage of the season to have 'ROVERS' emblazoned across the top tier seating of the Darwen End? At first I thought we had put white seat lettering across the upper tier but it isn't permanent, just temporary, just in the DE (surely BBE would be better?). I've no objection to them doing things to make Ewood look better, especially making use of the redundant upper tiers, but would prefer something more permanent and tidier than this.

It has been quite clear from the lack of advertising and general secrecy around this fixture that the Club do not want many extra people turning up. It is bizarre to say the least, another one to remember when they come pleading poverty, FFP rules and wonder why attendances are low yet seem unwilling to look in the mirror and reflect on their own insane policies which cause such things. A club that wanted a full home end would not have charged £30 for a midweek Sky game. It would have at the very least provided for 3 weeks of sales as is the norm for games rather than limiting it to 2, would have had them on sale ahead of the Norwich bumper gate and promoted that fact. Instead they have refused, kept information to a minimum and hidden the game down the 'other fixtures' section on the website below U21 and ladies matches. I'd be willing to wager there will be little to no coverage of the game before, during or after the match tonight, except maybe an announcement after the full time whistle that it is our next game at Ewood. That's the way they want to play it then that's their decision, but I just hope some people remember it when whinging about low gates etc.

Ordinarily I would see the addition such as this as a positive, a step forward. For too long this club has not operated at a level befitting of its size and stature, particularly when it comes to backroom staff. Too many occasions of the manager and his mates running everything as they want, neglectful ownership allowing a vacuum to exist. Jobs for the boys and a mass exodus and head scratching the moment a manager leaves. So for that reason I like what Broughton has worked to do since his arrival - bolstering that backroom team with appointments that look to be sensible in the scheme of things, and in theory putting in place a structure that can last longer term Unfortunately as we saw in January it actually means very little. You can have the best of the best when it comes to coaches, academies, scouts, intentions, but fundamentally in the cut throat world of the Championship you have to be willing and able to get proper signings done at key moments. We failed. We can blame Venkys, Waggott, Pasha, Broughton, Gus Williams, Ian Silvestre or the whole lot of them. Doesn't matter. What matters is we failed to get what we needed to do done. Since then the only change made public has been for Gus Williams to walk off to another job and replace him with Kimberley. I'd be surprised and astonished if there was a suggestion that he was responsible for January's debacle. Other than that nothing but the usual silence and inertia so my only conclusion is that the powers that be are quite content with how things went and are sticking with the same people who oversaw it.

https://www.htafc.com/news/2023/april/a-proud-history-a-new-beginning-202324-season-cards/ £249 per adult at Huddersfield, a club that has ownership and league status uncertainty as well as all manner of financial issues yet can significantly undercut Waggott's pricing backed by the benevolence of our wonderful owners. How?

Yes, I'd still be surprised if Levy and Spurs came in for him as they tend to fancy themselves and go after managers who have been there and done it at the top level - Conte, Mourinho, Pochettino, AVB, Ramos - won trophies and managed at the top level. But beyond Spurs you've got PL clubs in Leicester, Leeds, Palace, possibly West Ham all of whom can offer more than he gets at present. It would be strange yet typical for all of that lot to look elsewhere and leave him where he is.