I hear this opinion from time to time, but it never seems to include criticism of the commemoration of Armistice Day, or Help for Heroes pitch appearances, or fundraising for local sick children. Unfortunately, we can't cancel some viewpoints, and promote others. That's how Russia and many other regimes are increasingly in the mess they are in. It seems to be allowed on here but, for me, it is just as political as criticising individual political parties, which I assume would not be welcomed on this type of forum.

If it was an EFL issue, then the club would have leaked or announced that all paperwork was submitted by 22.59. And they haven't. Rules is rules, and if this is allowed it will create a shed load more work for the EFL and Premier League over the next few windows.... How totally depressing. Night all....

Fair enough, but he HAD to be in the room at 22.55. It's only twice a year. It is his direct responsibility, and maybe he was there, as the issue sounds like it was around the personal terms of the summer deal. This, and every other possible question, should have been dealt with by 5pm on deadline day, on the off chance this type of last minute deal landed....

Is this totally ironic, based on his complete inability to do exactly this at 22.59 last night?

I've also recently said how worried I am about Monday's potential attendance, but if somehow the O'Brien miracle happens, there will be a small boost to the under 10,000 hardy, optimistic (including me) souls....

I think that is a little unfair, as you chose to aggravate an already emotionally disappointing situation by saying 'which in itself does not sound like it was Rovers fault', regardless of whether that's what you meant. You may claim it was clumsy on your part, but you had prefaced it by saying you are a lawyer. No element of this season-ending debacle was 'not Rovers' fault'. I rest my case 😉

I'm surprised that many of us are being soooo reasonable about what did or didn't happen at 11pm last night. Whether O'Brien signs or not, it is without doubt a major cock-up, failure, and true, irrefutable example of multi-million pound incompetence. Leaving our chances of a strong finish to the season to the pity, or compassion, or charity of the EFL is unforgivable. U.N.F.O.R.G.I.V.A.B.L.E

I'm not as sure about this. Most of us now must have noticed that JDT doesn't prioritise involving our front players. We have had zero, one or two shots on target in a number of games. For me, JDT hasn't noticed this, as it's not part of his measures of success. I have said this more or less every week for the last 4 or 5 months, initially with my tongue slightly in my cheek, but anecdotally, visibly, statistically, it is now proven. So, sorry, no, I don't think he is as bothered as we are that we are weaker up front than before January, and that the 'winning/scoring is optional' model continues. And please, please do not quote me the fact that dack created and missed 2 or 3 good chances last night etc etc. We're all well aware that every 5 or 6 games we play less poorly. Our expectations are plummeting, and no-one cares. Keep your eye on the Wigan attendance on Monday.... I only deal in scientific facts, btw....😊

We are all discussing Vale and Gally as our only remaining front 2, but we have to accept that our former top striker BBD will hang around for a few weeks, and assuming O'Brien hits the ground running, there will be more ammunition for BBD to at least exhaustedly get on the end of, before he actually hits the beach. If we play BBD up front, and Thomas and O'Brien, we will have a chance. Is that blind optimism??

So now it's almost official, that we lose 2 1st team forwards, without replacement. Surely we wouldn't have let Markanday go without having a guaranteed forward to come in. Vale really doesn't compare to, for example, Undav. Or BBD, or possibly even (!) Gally.... It's a shocking prospect that the only central striker between now and May could be Vale, and occasionally Gally. We seem obsessed with ensuring the fans' expectations are managed down, down, down....

550 brilliant, committed, never say die fans, singing all the way through. They deserved this victory. 2000 of us will join you at Filbert St. We're proud of you.

Neil Mcdonald a brilliant summariser on R Lancs. V passionate at the end, still a Rovers fan. Another good cup result. Thought we played ok on Saturday. What a roller coaster....😲🤣

I really hope this isn't a joke. We've been here before....

Yes, fog was very thick, but slightly lifting now, unless it has moved closer to Ewood. Would be good if the fog prevented us seeing as far as the Riverside...

Interestingly, the 2.30pm queues aren't as big as you would expect for these last minute rush games. Most of us have sussed out the digital ordering, and more importantly, the club has removed the 'collect ticket' option when buying online. I was disappointed by this, as it will put a few less tech-savvy fans off, but it certainly makes the ticket collection queue shorter. It will be v v busy around the ticket office, but not enough to delay kick-off. The players will notice the increased JW stand noise levels, and it will look rammed from the Riverside TV cameras 🤣

Exactly this happened recently, I really hope they learned from that, BB End JW upper will be rammed, sure they can see this as clearly as we can.

No worries about being outnumbered, we sell a crazy number of tickets in the 3 hours before kick-off, when it's a tenner a ticket. We'll have 8-11,000, they'll have 2 - 4000. They're understandably even more depressed than us at the mo. Watch out for Khadra today, he will inevitably be reminded about his mind-blowing Ewood 3 months as soon as he arrives at the ground, and it will definitely inspire him.

Yep, all the more reason to really take the game to them from minute one. Earlier in the season it would've been a guaranteed start for Adam Wharton, although even without his injury, he may well have not started today. This means that there will be a lot of weight on the shoulders of SS if he starts, I need to see consistent quality from him.... Rovers 3 - 1.

Will be weird for our left and right backs, playing in front of the Riverside, and not receiving the usual abuse....or encouragement. As I've repeated for a number of games now, it is a chance for 3 or 4 non-regulars to show what they can do, and show some individual quality, and really impact the game by preventing or creating goals. The focus for me though is for us to improve our basic passing, concentration, and ball control. This shouldn't still be an issue by the end of January. Fingers crossed for a good, high scoring game, and progression to the last 16. We'll start to dream then, always dangerous.... 😀

Good to see there is a match thread now. Loasda tickets left, but like the Forest game, we will sell a couple of thousand last night and today. Will be a decent crowd, and initially a bizarre atmosphere because of the bizarre decision to close the Riverside for a 13,000+ attendance. Anyway, onto the match thread......

He only came on at the end if the WH game, but played well and scored a Premier League goal against international defenders. I agree he seems distracted, but has also lost a yard of pace, and just isn't contributing, when he used to pull games out of the fire singlehandedly. For me he was one of only 3 or 4 genuinely consistent performers, now we only have the injured Hyam, and, fleetingly, Dack.

BBD played consistently well until the West Ham game, but for me hasn't performed to any level since, in any game. Bizarre brick wall form collapse, highlighting our total reliance on him. This week is pivotal in our search for a guaranteed goal scorer. On the game, one quality goal every 3 or 4 games will not get us in the top ten.....

He hasn't shown that his passing is anywhere near good enough for that. His abysmal cross-field excuse for a pass against Rotherham really started the rot, and statistically we have conceded so many recent goals as a result of his positioning and mistakes. Having said all that, no-one is playing well. I know BD is receiving plaudits, but he is really just going through the motions, albeit in a pleasing way. Our only hope of staying in the play-off hunt was continuing our brilliant home run, but agent Thomason decided to change a team that had won SIX CONSECUTIVE GAMES. Since then, we haven't played even remotely well, except at the woeful Norwich, and results have reflected this. There is currently no hope, as nobody within the squad is playing well, especially our £15m goal machine. And to top it all, we have closed a quarter of the ground for a game where we will have 17,000+ in attendance. Any thoughts, club ambassadors?

Ok. Like a broken record. We have no interest in getting the ball into the opposition penalty area, or having shots on goal. We may win, but if we lose 4 nil, JDT will sleep soundly tonight as long as we have at least 52% of possession. The other Championship teams are waiting to pounce, as soon as we concede. We may well win, but it won't be as a result of any final third attacking intent. COYB!!!! Let's do it just to spite the manager....

We'll still win every 3 or 4 games, and hang onto 6th place, so the torpor will continue....