We were given five paper tickets yesterday although only two had moved into the senior category and would need new cards. The young lady said everybody would have a paper ticket as the turnstile system wasn't ready for Saturday but would be for the next home league match.

I'm sure Bentley used to cover that lot for the Lancashire Telegraph before he got the job with them.

All roads lead to Swag.

I think that's a bit unfair on the staff who are there who work hard and are helpful. Yesterday there was one girl in the ticket office dealing with the public a few days before the season starts. The problem is that a significant number of key staff are still on furlough which is undoubtedly seen as a saving by Swag. I think some of these currently on furlough will be let go once it finishes.

I remember something coming out at a Supporter Consultation Meeting when it was described as something akin to pay day loans. I think it was the meeting when Coar was called out by some fans.

The information from Rovers was non existent so I rang Millwall yesterday and was told that '100% you will get an allocation' and the lady they were trying to sort the numbers with Rovers.

Two of our group have become seniors since we were last at Ewood so on renewal today we were expecting new season cards but we were all five given paper tickets for Saturday. They simply don't have any plastic cards in stock and the turnstile system won't be updated by Saturday to accept any season cards. The helpful young lady said it will be sorted for the second home league match and new cards would be posted out to anybody who didn't have one.

I was told that tomorrow they are doing all the printing of the playing squads shirts in the shop and they simply don't have enough staff as many are still on furlough. Today we renewed five season tickets and there was one young girl in the ticket office. She was really knowledgeable and efficient but by the time we had done a queue of about six had formed behind us.

Tell him not to come tomorrow as it's closed again...... https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2021/august/Club-shop-closed-on-Tuesday/

Damien Johnson moved up to the first team after an excellent spell as the under 23's and we have rarely heard of him since. Very rarely do we see him on match days and it's been reported he spends most of his time in the video room at Brockhall. Perhaps Barr saw this and knew he couldn't progress at Rovers as a coach and jumped ship. One theory I saw was that Mowbray saw Johnson as a threat whilst he was doing well with the under 23's and took him with the seniors to suppress this. Personally I'm not sure but something seems odd.

If it's true that Venkys actually wouldn't release money for Reach's wages (he was on a free) it would be safe to assume Mowbray has already used his budget and is going cap in hand to India. And if he has spent up then the only players we will see are kids for a quid from PL clubs. In truth nobody knows exactly what the situation is but everything points to the taps being turned off.

What the hell is going on here. Ayala reported 'soreness' before the game and didn't play and Mowbray uses the excuse that he has trained all week to justify it. That has to be the most feeble reason ever for missing a game and Mowbray is fine with it. Unbelievable and another new low for us.

Today was classic Mowbray for over complicating things. The three in possession and five out of possession just didn't work and the centre backs looked lost at times but the fact he had Magloire stepping up into midfield capped Mowbrays nonsense. It was pretty awful up until we changed to a back four and got some midfield possession. Buckley was our best player for me and he only played half an hour. Rothwell wasn't too far behind him and Garrett gave the back four a really good screen. Davenport and Travis were woeful as Bolton dominated them. If we are going to go with youngsters then there has to be an acceptance that there will be errors. Carter was culpable at times but he looked far better in a four. Armstrong's body language once again spoke volumes. It was quite an entertaining game though but Mowbray should have learned from the past when he has cost us by being too clever. Keep it simple you simpleton. I still think it's going to be a long hard season and a real scrap.

The school pitches were really exposed Andy with it being absolutely wide open and atop a mountain. The walk to and from the changing room along Roman Road with no pavement was also a little hairy. I remember playing at Blacksnape one particularly cold day and one of our players, Derek Ormston was treated for hypothermia by the St Johns Ambulance staff in the changing rooms. His lips were blue and he couldn't move and only after some time swathed in blankets could be function.

At the moment Mark the Tower is surrounded by scaffolding as it's being renovated. From afar it looks like a rocket about to blast off from Cape Canaveral.