End of the day, Mowbray made the decision to make a then 20/21 year old his first choice - as good as he is, it’s very young for a keeper. So, unfortunately we will see him make mistakes, the Blackburn Rovers of old would probably still have him out on loan somewhere, but we aren’t that club anymore and we will just have to watch him develop whilst in the first team.

‘Rovers fans need a scapegoat’ Rovers fans are no different than any other set of fans. Some players get an easier ride than others, but it is usually due to their historical performance.

It’s an interesting one, because I imagined our crowd would be lower, but I think winter rounds will be terrible. It may even hit season tickets next season, once folk get used to every night match being on TV, plus the handful of our weekend home games that are live, and fans will always have certain weekend games throughout a season they can’t get to for one reason or another, people may think ‘is my season ticket worth it when I miss some anyway and I can watch a third of them on TV?’

It’s banned and rightly so for me, if it gets to the stage where even 3pm Saturday games are legally available then crowds really will nosedive.

Aye, I imagine that 'Mill Hill New Order' flag that I've seen knocking about is part of that.

It's one bloke's opinion on a messageboard, how does that make Raya a scapegoat?

True Faith

Or the club could send it down and have it ready for you to collect at Bristol City’s ticket office, they are usually very helpful with this kind of stuff.

The ground is what it is size wise, I was talking hypothetically for debate. If we were building a new ground today, looking at the catchment area and demographics would we build one with 31,000+ seats? I’d wager not, we’d go smaller but maybe with an option to extend it, like Brighton did, started with around 22k and extended it as they improved on the pitch, up to 30,000+ when in the PL, fair enough, no?

As a season ticket holder, I wouldn’t be missing out and a bit more demand to the supply can only be a good thing. Yes it was in 2009, down to the novelty of £199 STs, PL football and an average of around 3,000 away fans, it soon dropped off though. We haven’t had a higher average crowd than 26k since we were reigning champions, so let’s extend my hypothetical new ground’s capacity to 26k just to cover all possible eventualities. The reality is Blackburn Rovers do not need a 31,000 stadium, and pretty much every fan I’ve ever met knows it, well apart from you philipl by the looks of it.

Sorry? A one off game with cheap tickets (still not sold out mind) celebrating promotion does not mean we need a ground of 31,000 when we’ve had thousands of empty seats most weeks for twenty years. 25,000 would be plenty as it would still mean 22/23,000 home seats, if required - how many occasions since the ground was built have we needed more? Seems an eminently sensible post to me.

For the present club easily. Though Burnley have proved that crowds double overnight with a promotion to the PL. If we were moving to a new ground, an 18-20,000 ground, expandable if required, would be the way forward.

Always was, even in our heyday we rarely sold it out. For a club based in a town with the size and demographics of Blackburn, surrounded by other clubs, a ground of 25,000 would easily suffice.

Rodwell probably worth a cheap loan if you look at the signing just as a potential punt, as he could get back to a decent level under Mowbray, but what would worry me is if he is a bad apple, what that does to the spirit and the work ethic of this group - which for me is one of the best I've ever seen at this club. Case in point: Graham - 'best dressing room I've ever been in' https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/august/the-best-dressing-room-ive-ever-been-in/

Plus, they get similar home crowds, even though they are the only club in Berkshire - population 1 million.

I think most fans do recognise that he was great (largely) last season, but he is struggling, though he doesn't hide and fans appreciate that. But as for the bold, that is an extremely long period to 'find your feet', we aren't a charity, if he doesn't get to the pace over the next few games then he's out of the side, no room for sentiment, just a constant drive to improve the team, something we didn't do to our detriment in '95.

Not sure myself. I imagine tickets will be £30-ish, Rovers fans just don't pay those prices in big numbers, especially for TV games.

Lowest ever following to Wigan I would imagine, as it is also a few days after a weekend trip to Preston, so you would imagine most fans will prioritise that game.

Didn't clubs used to be run in the same way?

They were horrendously bright to start with, they looked as if they were turned down after about half an hour. Raya looked like he was basking in some kind of divine light from where I was sitting... well until him and Lenihan had their cock up.

Bennett and Evans are surely the answer. Evans can provide the calm head and passing ability, Bennett with the energy, plus he has an ability to ping a ball.

With three defeats out of three and not particulary good travellers, even without the red button, I couldn't imagine them bringing many more. Still early days, but I certainly expected less at Ewood last night (real and announced crowd). I think the winter nights will see the biggest drop offs.

I've been a big critic of Evans throughout his time here, a lot of it down to frustration with a player of obvious quality. He has often looked disinterested, ducking out of challenges and generally 'paper bag' - with a poor fitness record to boot. However, I think he's been excellent so far this season, a real composed presence in midfield.

Real gate of 8/9k, but it will be given as 11k.

Yep, it was requested by the clubs to maximise Saturday followings.