Category B as that is what it reverts to at 12pm, which is what I would’ve expected for Norwich.

The Owners of Blackburn Rovers said: "We are delighted that Tony Mowbray has agreed a new long-term contract with the football club. "Tony is someone we have the utmost respect for, both as a person and a football manager. He conducts himself the right way, his philosophies and values match our own, and we have a common ambition. "Over the course of his tenure, he has united the supporter base and assembled a group of players that not only give their all for the shirt, but have also shown that they can compete with any team in this division. As this team develops and grows, we are excited by what they can achieve. "The new deal ensures stability, which is so vitally important, and provides a platform for the club to continue to move forward in the right direction. "We want this great club to get back to where it belongs and Tony will have our steadfast support and backing as we embark on this journey together." Inspiring stuff from the owners. Definitely the pen style of the 70s porn star one...

‘£20 and a kid for a quid’ or whatever, something to make it seem attractive when it’s a game just before Christmas. It isn’t an ‘offer’, when you could get a ticket for the Rotherham game in the Riverside for £19 and in the Blackburn End for £22. When it’s a poor turn out, Waggott can throw his hands up and go ‘well we tried an offer for Norwich’

An accomplished one at that, so why weaken two positions by having him st centre half?

Good piece on Tim Flowers who's managing Solihull Moors in t'cup against Blackpool tonight https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46199516

£20? That's the offer? You can usually get a ticket in the Riverside for around that every week. Good for those that fancy a few quid off a Jack Walker upper seat, I suppose...

I'm interested to see the reaction tomorrow. We see a terrier like performance akin to the Wigan (an hour of it) and Shrewsbury home games last season or the commitment of Leeds home or West Brom away then we will see that the 'clear the air' talks have done their job. A fifth insipid performance in a row and we could well be in for a long hard season as we have a tough looking December...

DE had it in one. The reason we had (have?) a good team spirit is because we went on a run from Oldham away in October to sealing promotion losing just one game. Of course, bonds will be formed and confidence will flow and that extra bit of effort, to chase and harry the operation is a result. After that debacle at Oldham I don’t think many of us trudging out saw a wonderous spirit that day. Many promoted teams then carry on with momentum and that confidence. When that inevitably wears off, the limitations of the players are exposed. There are still a lot of players around the squad from the Lambert/McDonut era. It’s generally the same defence that went down, midfield regulars that also haven’t really pulled up any trees at this level - Smallwood, Bennett, Evans. Lads unproven at this level - Armstrong, Rothwell, even Dack. And an ageing striker that looks to be losing effectiveness. Its now the manager’s job to upgrade the team. Think of 2001, out goes Filan, in comes Friedel, out goes Berkovic, in comes Tugay. Out goes Bent, in comes Andy Cole. Different times, different level, but the premise is the same. The noises from India seem to be fairly positive (I know, I know, fool me once and all that), so let’s hope we see some changes over the next couple of windows.

It’s ‘Owen’ now?

I’m just hoping that the loyalty he had shown to certain players, as admirable as it is, has now come to an end and we can move on.

Who is?

Do not get the Rodwell thing one bit. The bloke is an accomplished midfielder, who due to his size can put himself about as well. Put him in there with the tenacious Reed and I think you’ve got a proper engine room for this level. But instead, due to this misplaced loyalty to certain members of a team that strolled through a tinpot division, we have the spectacle of a poor midfield, Reed out wide and Rodwell at centre half! That’s without getting stared on the striker issue. No wonder the wheels are falling off...

It’s been brewing for a while. QPR was an appalling performance, we then scabbed a draw against Rotherham. If you want to progress you’ve got to be ruthless. A lot of those players may have ‘plenty of credit in the bank’, but are they Championship quality? If not, it doesn’t matter one iota what warriors they were in that tin pot League last season, get them out the side. Upgrade or you go backwards, we know that as a club all too well.

I’m just relieved we got out of that god forsaken division at the first attempt...

Just a shame one of our only 3 local aways is the midweek immediately after another. Was always going to hit numbers for this one.

3pm

They always show one game at 3pm on Bank Holidays. Ours against Newcastle at Ewood in relegation season (Mulgrew free kick) was shown. I hope that it is still the case this season.

Always was. Potential biggest gate of the season for many clubs on Boxing Day down the toilet. Crazy, crazy deal.

I know they were, but that doesn’t change the fact they are being released in this way could very well be to help half ST sales... which is fine for them to do, by the way!

Of course. I’d love to hear that his dulcet tones were being piped down the phone of every fan on the database. But it won’t make much difference when sitting in mid table.

I suppose half ST sales were on a bit of a knife edge. Better results against Rotherham and Preston would have led to a lovely looking top 6 position just in time for many folks’ payday... alas in true Rovers style results turned instead - ergo wheel Mogga out.

Good chance you are right JH, but how many half season tickets are they expecting to fly out at £16-£23 a game for mid table second tier football? Normally no more than a few hundred half STs are sold. Perhaps that 10,500 target is a real red line for those further up the tree...

Behave chaddy. He ends up being our manager at some point and you’ll be all ‘TRUST COOKY!’

Williams is a decent centre half, bang average left back, as is Bell. Full back needed in January.

I did see a load of police and horses charge past the Guild Hall at one point. I was hoping it was something and nothing as it will be any excuse to make this fixture 12pm or a bubble...