Agree with all of that, but I think Evans in particular has completely changed my opinion of him over the last season or two. When we were relegated I was more than willing just to let him go for nothing. He clearly had some ability, but he seemed so passive in games and never seemed to really impose himself on the opposition and was a bit of a soft-touch who flattered to deceive. I (probably wrongly) got the impression that he wasn't as bothered as you need to be at this level, maybe not helped by his injury record and towards the end of the Bowyer-era I had made my mind up about him. He is still a player with limitations, but his form under Mowbray has slowly but completely changed my opinion on both his ability and his attitude, and dominating the midfield (with the excellent Travis) was so impressive given his injury. Pleased that you mention Bennett as well. He's no world beater who shouldn't get into our strongest side, but Saturday's performance shows that he's more than capable of contributing as a squad player.

This is all fair, and if I gave the impression that I think there are no ongoing problems with their ownership, then that was a mistake. The main point I wanted to make (which probably got lost slightly) was that fans are still entitled to feel however they like about Venkys, even if there has been a marked improvement in their contribution over the last few years. As others have alluded to, there were questions posed by Alan Myers some weeks ago about how fans would feel about Venkys coming to Ewood for games, and whilst most comments were balanced there was the odd statement along the lines of "imagine still being bitter about them after so much time etc." Personally, I'm happy to recognise their apparent improvement and focus on the team, but I really didn't like the attitude suggesting that fans who took a different view were being unreasonable. Basically, I think questions about whether they are 'forgiven' or not really miss the point and are not important - but at the same time the fact that their ownership isn't the dominant issue that it was a few years ago is partially a result of how they have been doing a better job of shutting up and writing cheques.

I agree, we had to be playing at our most intense level to get those four points. I wouldn't say that we were at out best going forward, but our pressing & defensive focus needed to be very strong to keep them at arms length. As things stand I'd fear both Brentford & Fulham over two legs, but equally I think they're both a couple of injuries away from being vulnerable. Fulham especially, for a team with so many proven talented players they don't look the same team without Mitrovic.

I won't pretend to have followed every twist and turn of the Bolton saga, but I think their case shows if anything how financial crises from poor owners doesn't necessarily empower fan groups to take over, even for a club with a reasonable fan base. There's always the chance that a Portsmouth-like situation could materialise, but I wouldn't be optimistic about that being the end result and would only even be possible after the club suffering a huge trauma beforehand. On Venkys, the biggest complement I can pay them and their behaviour over the last 3/4 years is that they have made it easy for fans to be pragmatic. They're not causing havoc by making bizarre recruitment decisions, and they're underwriting our massive losses. Forgiving or forgetting doesn't really matter in this context. They can just be tolerated/ignored as long as they're necessary and not casing additional harm to the club.

Think Joe (who I like the look of) benefited in the second half from the dominant team display. They couldn't get Eliasson running at him nearly as much which was a worry in the first 45. The lad deserves a pat on the back and to stay in the managers thoughts, but I'd be happier going into the Wigan game with a recognised left back, not overly bothered if it's Bell or Williams.

Cardiff have defended very well and took their goals magnificently, but they've definitely had the bounce too. Take away the great saves and the strange Bamford offside, I've lost count of the number of times where the ball has come lose in Cardiff's area and just evaded a Leeds man. Cardiff deserve credit, but they had to ride their luck to win that game.

Not so sure, it's been a while since that's counted for much away at their place! Fully agree with the rest of your post. Whilst Evans is rightly getting plaudits, Travis again went about his job magnificently. That boy is a player.

We have three injured full backs who otherwise would have played. Bennett is a limited player, but is there anything to be gained by implying that he's so bad that he isn't up to being a reserve in the second tier?

Being generous to him, taking over a Tony Pulis squad with the remit of doing better with a reduced budget whilst playing more football was going to be very tough for anyone. Even so, we're well in the final quarter of the season and they're in serious danger of going down. Not acceptable for that club or squad.

Definitely turned out that way, but I suspect it was less him happy to sit on a contract, more him backing himself to win a spot back. TM has said on multiple occasions that he's not one to fully ostracise the players who are surplus to requirements, so it's possible that he was waiting for his chance to come around. It just turns out that it never did.

Jackson Irvine left Hull on a free. Pretty well stocked in that area & obviously wouldn't get in front of Travis, but still a good player at this level even if Hull have been appalling since January.

Proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but if it turns out that Dack can return significantly more athletic (seem to remember Robert Pires coming back from an ACL injury in a similar way) then it could be the difference from him being a very good Championship player, to one who is Perhaps a very optimistic reading of things, but it was only his sharpness that stops him dominating at this level. He definitely has the ability to play in the top league.

Agree that his best position doesn't appear obvious, but I wouldn't say that's because it looks particularly unsuited to playing in various positions. He reminds me a bit of Ben Marshall in his versatility & seeming lack of pace, but the only thing stopping Marshall being a brilliant player was his head. The fact that he's been tried in so many positions should, if anything, just be taken as a sign of his natural talent in my view. Not too dissimilar to Bentley, he might be a few seasons into his career before he really nails down a position.

He was interviewed about that on 'Quickly Kevin Will He Score?' (an excellent 90s football podcast) a few months ago. Apparently, there was an agreement with the England squad that if anyone scored a Golden Goal, the whole team would have run straight into the tunnel without celebrating the goal. Amazing to think how different football folklore could be based on such tiny margins.

Lenihan booked!

Little harsh on Samuel. Thought he fairly ineffective as an outball against Brentford, but that was a tough game and he did well in his previous two. In any case, I'm seriously bloody nervous now. Don't care how we win, so long as we do. COYB!

I know the score was only 2-1, but by all accounts they were battered against Hudds too. A team not exactly on blinding form themselves.

Lovely set of fixtures, that. Either drags them into a very catchable position or harms several of our other rivals. Possibly even both.

To a point it's poor, but it also suggests how much time we've actually spent behind in games this season, certainly in recent months.Since losing to Forest on New Years Day, the only time we've spent behind were the 25 minutes against Fulham. You're much less likely to come from behind to win points if you spend less time losing! Equally, if you play in such a way that you come out of the traps quickly and score the most early goals in the league, you're a team that is in more winning positions to begin with, so are much more likely to lose more points from these positions. Not saying the stats are meaningless either, or that we should be satisfied with them, but they are stats which are heavily context dependent.

You get silly results in this league. I think if we end up a couple of points behind PNE come the final whistle next Saturday, we're all licking our lips, even if it comes from drawing one of our next two.

No idea how to feel about that. Disappointed not to win from 2 up, but equally Brentford played well, were at home, and relied on a dive and goal of the season contender to draw. Would have taken the draw before kick off, the challenge is turning this into at least a 5, preferably 7 point week.

I've been, and may continue to be a Bell critic, but that was a very good 45 from him. I thought Buckley showed on maybe 3 occasions that he has the ability and vision to make him an exciting prospect. That said, this game may be dictated by how well we can perform out of possession. Would be surprised if he makes it through the 90.

Looking at Fulham at Ewood and now tonight, it's obvious that they have some very tidy players who can keep the ball, but if they lose Mitrovic then they're sitting ducks in the play offs for me.

We'll probably only know in a few weeks, but I'd say so. Really interesting one, as if we assume that we put the sort of form together that could get us to around 6th, then Fulham are on the cusp of being catchable, but equally we're just about catchable for an improving Derby. Given that we've got Derby away in a few weeks and potentially could face Fulham in the play offs, the best outcome is probably them kicking each other off the park!

I think the issue was more that he didn't come for crosses, rather than making that many mistakes when he did. He made a few like you say, but I think the extra demands that are placed on our defenders was seen as the bigger issue.