arbitro

Precisely why I doubted it 😉.

A big part of the FFP issues have Waggotts prints on them. How many players have walked away after letting their contracts run down? How many average players were given three and four year deals under Mowbray? How much was spent under Mowbray on under achieving players? Waggott was the de facto Director of Football for several years and financially the club was a disaster and in many ways paved the way for the ridiculous situation of loaning players out to bring new ones in. And lets not forget it was him (aided and abetted by some of his cohorts) who tried to sell Brockhall, one of the jewels in the crown from Jack Walkers time here. I have said many times that Waggott is under qualified to run a professional organisation but is happy to take a huge salary.

I don't for one minute think the club will release the numbers of tickets sold digitally before 9 am yesterday and paper tickets sold after this time. I'll wager a months earnings though that it was a ratio of at least 3:1 in favour of the latter. Hopefully they have learned a lesson but somehow, based on previous wacky schemes I doubt it.

In our five cup matches this season there have been 31 goals. Now that represents value for money.

That was scarier than Leo going for a cross 😂. It certainly made us jump and there was confusion for a minute or two. Was it thrown from outside?

It wasn't his hamstring. He got a knee to his glutes and was running normally after a few minutes.

It sounds like some are disappointed we have won but despite winning the knife is being plunged deeper into Tomasson which I find staggering. I enjoyed the game today. Seven goals, some good play and in the draw for the fourth round. It wasn't perfect, defensively we made mistakes early on but once we got our noses in front we grew in confidence and absolutely bossed the match and could have scored more. I was pleased when I saw the team and we put out one of the strongest sides we could have done and it paid dividends. We are in the hat for Monday's draw and I would absolutely have settled for that at 3 pm. To score five was the icing on the cake.

The six second rule is still in Law but, like a lot of others has not been enforced allowing keepers to abuse it. I can't remember the last time I saw it enforced.

All roads lead to Pune for pretty much everything that has decimated our club. The Travis situation is the latest one which is causing real consternation amongst the supporters. The playing budget has been cut to the bone which means we can't afford to be paying somebody who is not actually playing so Travis is the collateral damage as in an ideal world Tomasson would keep him and effectively tell him to fight for his place. It's a ludicrous situation that something so ridiculous has to be factored in. And the 'excuse' we hear is because they can't send money over as they are being investigated by the Indian authorities for some alleged corruption, one of many corruptions we have suspected since they got their grubby paws on our club. I wish they would just cut us loose from this never ending nightmare and let us start again.

The overriding factor in all this for me was that Travis wanted to move. He knew he couldn't displace Tronstadt and wants to play. I understand that and don't blame him at all but equally I don't blame Tomasson. It suits both parties. Good luck to him, I hope he gets a medal if Ipswich get promoted but first he has to get in the team ahead of Morsy of Luongo.

How many would he have started if we had Tronstadt then? It's simple. Travis wants to play in a position in which we have a far better player. He wants first team football so has asked for a move - twice. If I was a manager at any football club I wouldn't want an unhappy player particularly one who is the captain and a strong character in the changing room. I'm pretty certain that if those circumstances prevailed at any football club then the result would be the same. My issue is not selling him and being able to use the money to replace him. And the answer to this conundrum lies several thousand miles away. They are, once again the real villains of the piece.

I don't believe he is wrong and I give him credit for almost going rogue and telling the truth. We all know how he was mislead and let down. I personally don't think the club could have done anything else with Travis apart from selling him. He wanted out and these are facts we should be told.

Because it doesn't suit your narrative?

I would wager that many of his yellow cards were for technical offences rather that nailing an opponent with a hard tackle. My patience ran out with him at Millwall last season when he bottled out of a challenge in the corner, they broke and scored their third goal. He got taken off at half time and from that we won the game. I see the point about losing an experienced player but some posts are wide of the mark in terms of his ability and what he is capable of.

I'm not surprised Travis has gone but I'm surprised it's only a loan. For the life in me I can't see any logic to that. Personally I'm not too perturbed by him going primarily because he wasn't contributing and if the stories are to be believed he was becoming belligerent and difficult to manage. The main issue though is that he needs replacing in the squad and that is where the waters get totally muddied.

Left hand, right hand????? 😂😂

An error of judgement! FFS is that the best they can offer? https://www.safc.com/news/club-news/2024/january/club-statement-black-cats-bar

One of two things has happened here. The club have been scared witless about the numbers of tickets that have been sold digitally. Or The number of complaints and representations from fan groups and individuals has caused them to swallow their pride and give supporters the option (which is all we asked for In the first instance). Going forward I at least hope they have the courtesy and sense to gauge supporter opinion before trying something as radical as this. It is through gritted teeth I say well done because we shouldn't have got to this in the first instance.It I will be buying ours tomorrow.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12926779/Sunderland-fans-rage-clubs-French-Swiss-owner-Kyril-Louis-Dreyfus-pictures-emerge-600-ticket-hospitality-bar-bedecked-black-white-Newcastle-slogans-ahead-FA-Cup-grudge-match.html A bit more information on the Sunderland situation.

It's amazing that people in power at some football clubs don't understand how much things like these mean to supporters. These career minded people don't understand the heritage or history of the clubs who employ them and just what it means to fans. And yet if things like this were run by supporters associations or even individual fans they would put them right. It's the arrogance that gets to me.

J*B has posted that there is an announcement at 6 pm this evening. He says it will announce that tickets can be bought on the day.

That's correct. The knock on effect of having so many youngsters with the first team permeates right down the chain and kids are stepping up to a level they perhaps aren't quite ready for yet.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'played'. What I asked for from the first announcement was a choice but despite many people I know contacting him asking for the same he steadfastly refused to compromise. My gut feeling is that someone has pulled rank on him given the awful sales.

It's not as easy as that though for some. My granddaughter is looking forward to this as she does every match. I shield her away from the nonsense that goes on off the field and all she wants is to see Rovers play and win. I haven't yet got tickets but why should I deprive her because of the idiocy of people who run the club. Sometimes I wish I could walk away from Rovers for good and save myself a fortune alongside keeping myself sane. But I can't. I have a forlorn hope that one day we will be shorn of the horrible owners and the half wits they employ.

Hopefully that happens. I suppose them climbing down (albeit still fatuous given the timeframe) hasn't gone down too well but what can't speak can't like - the sales are appalling and heading for a record low crowd for a competitive game at Ewood.