It could be 10 pence, the amount is irrelevant. In the past decisions from Pune were very slow to come through. Finally, there is a mechanism and a focus to get an instant ok out of the Venkys compound. That is the point I am making.

One game at a time lads. I am just happy that no matter what happens in the next round of fixtures, we stay in the top 6. If we keep that buffer it will avoid sleepless nights about going to the New Den... Now if Sheffield United and Boro kindly find a few banana skins to slip on, there will be other types of sleepless nights. The FA Cup is a wild card- I don't expect us to come through at Bramall Lane but it is not beyond the realms of possibility. In which case we are looking at this fixture list April 7 Norwich H April 10 Huddersfield A April 15 Hull H April 18 Coventry H April 22 Wembley FA Cup Semi-Final April 25 Burnley H April 29 Luton H May 3 Preston A May 8 Millwall A May 13 or 14 Play-off first leg May 20 or 21 Play off second leg May 29 Wembley Play Off Final June 3 Wembley again FA Cup Final

You are missing my point. In the past there would have been a weeks maybe never delay on getting a decision like that. They made a decision quickly and irrespective of the conditionality and PL riches, making a 10m commitment is not a small decision. If we went up, it automatically triggered the purchase for 10m as soon as the summer window opened. From a cash flow perspective, that meant millions going out before PL riches come in.

Boro got a couple of the softest penalties you are ever going to get in this league yesterday. Reading weren't brilliant but didn't deserve to lose by 5.

I don't believe it is negligence. At Christmas last year, we were 2nd were we not? At Christmas this year, we were in play-off contention. The ownership backed management by not selling Rothwell to the club we were scrapping for an automatic promotion slot last season and have backed management again by not taking 7m or 8m (the actual offers made) for Ben when he could yet come good again and fire us back into the Prem. I believe the issue is FFP, not the Venky's being parsimonious.

Watched the extended highlights of the Stoke 5-1 demolition of Sunderland yesterday at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland were so woeful defensively that all I learnt was if we give Stoke enough gifts, they will hit 5 against us. Not entirely true because the first Stoke goal was an extremely sweet three man move passing move down the right touch line which we need to be alert to. Sunderland did carve the Stoke defence open a few times in addition to the unmarked inside 6 yard box goal they did score with. Expecting a good game and for our run of decent results at the Britannia/Bet 365/not the Victoria to continue. Should get a draw and with the squad playing so well, we could squeeze out a win.

Problem of a rock Rovers are in a tiny impoverished town surrounded by other clubs and 3 of the 7 biggest brands in global football within 35 miles of Ewood. And hard place Rovers are perennially at the FFP ceiling requiring revenue to be raised to be able to increase the budget. So Waggott has to optimise income to create budget more than a case of Pune being short on funds for the club. Which means any drop in prices HAS to be compensated by a larger than offsetting increase in gate size. We probably need 26,000 on against Reading to make a permanent low ticket price a serious proposition. Not impossible. We had 26,000 on against Oxford in League One. Average attendance was 26,000 less than 20 years ago.

Is it in entirety? Somebody got to the bungalow compound and got Madam sign off on £10m for O'brien within a couple of hours on 31 January. That is a complete change of gears in Pune. Yes the ball got dropped a few hours later in the Company Secretary office but the transfer offer suggests Venkys are much more engaged behind the scenes.

Superb wind up by Alan Nixon. Dingles suggesting Rovers give them a guard of honour welcome when they come to Ewood.

The more players we have whose places are at risk because understudies have come in and played even better, the better it is for everyone. At some point inevitably Ash Phillips and Adam Wharton will come in and displace players we currently think unreplaceable. That said, Bradley Dack thankfully showed enough both that he can play in the JDT way of football and that he is still one of the most gifted players in the Championship. My guess if we ever achieved the nirvana of the current squad 100% fit and playing to what they are currently capable of, Dack would still be an automatic pick in his favoured hole behind the front man position.

Rovers apparently have an agreement with Rochdale which enables him to join Rovers on the first day of the summer window.

And Forest not releasing the lad from training on the morning of transfer deadline day. Forest deserve the dead loss they are suffering just for that.

There was an agreement by all parties to go to arbitration. We don't know the terms of the arbitration agreement but it is usual for the arbitrator not to accept the job without an a priori agreement for the decision to be binding and all parties to hold each other harmless outside of the arbitration decision. So there should be no legal afters beyond the decision on costs. Steve Cooper's rant is - reflective of him messing O'brien about - and if he genuinely heard nothing from Rovers means the powers that be at Forest don't trust him and kept him in the dark. I very much doubt a non-playing player who cannot make a 25 man squad in a relegation threatened club will be worth £10m in the summer.

JDT undoubtedly the best boss we have had since Sparky. Really appreciate the way he has set out achieving his project at Rovers. His man management seems exceptional and has engendered a fantastic team spirit amongst a really nice decent set of lads who are responding to him. Fitness levels are great which obviously is at least equally down to Gregg Broughton and the back room team. JDT also comes over as a really decent eloquent bloke in that way. We have a gem of a first team coach.

Hoping for a big walk on so trying to spread arrival at Ewood as much as possible. As a Sky game, I doubt saying there are 500 still at the ticket office will cut much ice at 12.15

There will be two plans for Summer Championship Premier League

Saw that JDT grimace and my reaction was oh no there has been a possibly big recovery set back being assessed.

Ahmedhodzic is a lot more than a central defender further Blades even though he is the tallest and most mobile and agile defender they have got. When I have seen Sheffield United play he also links play going forward, breaks the lines in midfield and recycles attacks in open play. His height is a big problem when Sheffield United are using their long throws an from.corners and free kicks taking defenders with him creating space for others even if the ball doesn't come to him. I am hoping his suspension can prove decisive this lunchtime.

In the published agreed time line, the player didn't countersign the loan agreement until 23.15. If we are going to be legalistic, that is when the contract came into being which is when Rovers would have had the legal right to register him. It feels very unjust that the EFL apparently bent their rules to allow Sheffield United registration of Ahmedhodzic when they were aware the stage payment to Liverpool had been missed and the same money in effect used to gazump Rovers, then successfully used 13 minutes as a reason not to register O'brien. That said, I am still perplexed why a Company Secretary as experienced as Ian Silvester allowed us to get into this situation.

Well never expected the three points coming back with us' Kaminski is fabulous. Douglas had a better game and Nyambe a poorer one. Travis looked lost until sparking into life late on. I'd keep Davenport in the team. Elliott is great but needs much better coaching than he is getting. Arma had his shot settings awry today. All credit to Branthwaite in the way he handled himself after that incident. Boro looked like they were too physical for him but he came through well. Really good game from Lenihan. Thought the triple sub by Mowbray was mental but we were much better for the change. All three players were excellent and Dack is simply different class. Can we play Boro every week? We have finally broken the duck of not beating a side above us. Watch go and throw it all away with three sub par performances against clubs we should beat in the next games.

The bus on the left is Darwen Corporation number 17, the Crossley Regent which is pictured earlier in the thread- it was the only one with that arrangement of rear windows in case you think I have amazing eye sight. The reason why nobody could place the location of the photo is it still exists and was probably on its way to a rally somewhere. Two Darwen Corporation buses survive and four Blackburn Corporation buses are in preservation also. If the bus on the left is number 133, that is one of them.

9 points off 6th and now an inferior goal difference as well. This is a must win game for play off dreams- I won't use the word hopes as we all know Mowbray is hopeless. If we look at the respective teams and squads, this should at worst be a 50/50 game. When we look at the respective managers and their motivations, the odds switch to 99/1 in Middlesbrough's favour. We might well play decently but this is going to be a deeply depressing Sunday evening.

The utter disorganisation and managerial insouciance of the Doncaster game meant Dack would still not have received a decent pass if the game were still being played now... Mowbray hasn't got the first clue how to fit Dack in with the other players at his disposal.

Barnsley home- he got that horribly wrong.

I am wondering about my eyesight if anybody thinks what is happening is ok. For the last couple of months it hasn't mattered who we are playing or what our team is, I see 11 individuals wearing Rovers shirts wondering where the other 10 are. Passing is pedestrian at best. Even Rotherham were more fluid and fluent than us. They instinctively knew where another Rotherham player was going to be. Rovers are vastly better players but simply not properly organised or instructed. Is that Mowbray's responsibility to sort that out or isn't it? If you agree with me that it is Mowbray's job then it follows he is now rubbish at it.