arbitro

There was a huge clue on Wednesday at the under 21 match as to how Rovers will line up defensively. After 65 minutes both Carter and Phillips were taken off. I immediately thought about Ayala going off at Wigan and assumed they were both taken off with a view to one of them starting today.

If Tomassons goal isn't maximising points ((or winning games) then we have a problem John. The whole club relies on the football side doing well. I suppose it goes back to this five year 'project' we are hearing about. I simply don't care about that. I want Rovers to win every game and get promoted as soon as possible. Getting the players on the pitch to achieve that should be any managers priority. I watched Dack intently on Wednesday and he wasn't the pre injury Dack but in my view he would bring more to the team that several regulars. To play him though would require a different approach from Tomasson. That is what I believe Tomasson is struggling with.

In that though John is a real element of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Dack is undoubtedly our most creative player who can score and create too. It says more about Tomasson than Dack the way he has been pretty much ostracised if indeed he is trying to prove a point.

Highlights from last night's match. Dack's quality speaks for itself.

And the system we play isn't working but Tomasson, like his predecessor seems too stubborn to change. Dack brings people into play, creates space for others, still has a wonderful touch and is a six yard box predator. The fact some players can run Xkm each game is immaterial now as opponents have sussed this and plan accordingly. Dack brings an element of the unknown and plays off the cuff which is badly needed after the predictable garbage served up recently.

Dack certainly has the sharpest football brain at Rovers even if he isn't our most athletic player. He showed his vision in the under 21 match last night. He is something we certainly don't have in any of Tomasson's squad.

An excellent football match tonight full of attacking, fast play which finished 4-3 to Rovers. There were some really good individual performances notably Garratt, Carter, Wood and Vale. Significantly Carter and Phillips both went off after 65 minutes which tells me that one of them will start at Middlesbrough on Saturday indicating Ayala will be out. Adam Wharton was withdrawn at half-time so he could be involved from the start at Middlesbrough too but for me Garratt could bring so much to the first team, things we just don't currently have.

It's the first of three home matches tonight in the Premier League Intercontinental Cup. Tonight we play VFL Wolfsburg followed by FC Porto on November 16th and Celtic on December 20th. For adult season ticket holders it's only £10 for all three. If you're tired of the humdrum of Tomassons football get yourself down to Ewood tonight and see the potential we have coming through.

I would absolutely leave Travis out altogether and replace him with Jake Garrett who I believe can do what Travis does but a whole lot better. In reality I don't think there is a cat in hell's chance of this happening. Travis could become to Tomasson what Lowe was to Bowyer.

One of the restrictions of only playing two in midfield (and they are invariably outnumbered) is that it's really difficult to play out from the back through midfield as the opponents usually have an extra man. Time and time again one of the defenders plays it to a midfielder who is facing him and is tightly marked. His only option is to give it back then rinse and repeat. It's utterly pointless and something Tomasson needs to eradicate (unless of course he's happy with it).

That's pretty much the story of each time he has played a back five. We have been simply overrun in midfield and when it's Travis and Morton in there it is, at times a back seven. Tomasson really needs to wise up to what the Championship is really about. His sound bites are good but they won't help him when the supporters become vocally disgruntled at the tedious, pedestrian football he is trying to play.

We have scored four goals away from home, three of them in one game. We just aren't creating anything with this possession, slow, deliberate football. Our most creative moves last night were from long right to left diagonal balls trying to get Brereton in behind.

I watched tonight as Charlie Wyke, a big lump of a centre forward battered our centre halves, ran the channels and held the ball up whilst our forwards were anonymous and contributed nothing. There are many ways to win a match but Tomasson seems ridiculously one dimensional in this respect.

Another hugely disappointing game for the supporters particularly the ones who spent their hard earned money on what effectively was poor in the extreme. Fourteen games into Tomassons tenure and I don't see any identity of consistency in our style of play. Tonight I thought our Achilles Heel was the slowness of passing which was pedestrian to say the least. Far too many safe passes which just didn't hurt Wigan or get us on the front foot. Some of the performances from certain individuals were frankly embarrassing. The lack of fight, intensity and aggression worries me as much as the awful football we are playing. This is Tomassons team now, his tactics and his responsibility and frankly he is responsible for results. A big shake up is needed as some of them players need leaving out. I include Travis, Hirst and Brereton in this because in my view tonight they were the worst players on the pitch. How on earth Hirst gets in ahead of Vale and Leonard is perplexing.

This coming Saturday Watford play Norwich in a league match at Vicarage Road. Incredibly it's a 7.45 kick off. And if you hadn't already guessed it's live on Sky.

I wonder if Sky had some influence here. It wasn't originally selected for live viewing but now it is on what would have been a blank week for Sky.

Another John Cooper Clark take on that lot. Apologies I didn't know it wouldn't play but it's worth watching on YouTube.

This myth about Birmingham needs putting to bed for once and all because it keeps getting regurgitated. He didn't get booed at all. There were cheers from an absolute minority of Rovers fans and the camera cut to him when he had his head in his hands disappointed with his performance. No tears just frustration. As well as being there to see it myself it was confirmed to me by somebody in the Technical Area that there were no tears

A really interesting fact from yesterday was that there were no offsides in the game. I'm not totally sure what to read into that but certainly both teams defended deeper than we normally see with the high line defence that seems to be in vogue currently.

The height of one of the goals at Wigan yesterday was two inches too short. https://news.sky.com/story/championship-football-match-delayed-over-claim-goals-were-two-different-sizes-12716348

I met up with the referee from that match in Cardiff on Tuesday as he is a close friend. I also met him immediately after that City match at the Redhouse where he was stopping. I said similar to what everyone was saying that it was a harsh penalty. He told me that Ian Pearce had got hold of Quinn's shorts and impeded him. When I saw it back he was right. As an aside he told me a Rovers fan had chased him as he pulled away from Ewood and when he described him I recognised immediately who it was. Some years later I gave them each others phone numbers and they often chatted. My friend did some work for Cardiff City and when we played there a few years ago I arranged for them to meet up which they did. The Rovers fan was given a ground tour, photographs were taken and the story covered by the Lancashire Telegraph. My friend said the parting words were "It was never a bloody penalty though". https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10334193.referee-reunited-angry-blackburn-rovers-fan-18-years/

I thought he worked extremely hard and perhaps second only to Hedges in distance covered. A lot of his running was of the selfless type as he tracked back and ran the channels without always seeing the ball. From what I have read and seen it was the type of energetic performance Tomasson expects from his front men.

Surely Ayala has to be rested for this and maybe with Carter getting a full match yesterday for the under 21's that is Tomasson's intention. I personally like the three at the back although Wigan have been playing a four at the back and flooding midfield whilst playing a lone striker.

We've also seen some very good football too. It's that middle ground we have been missing were we need to grind out a few draws from adequate performances. Somebody described us, from a footballing perspective as bi polar. I think that is a great description.

The law changed a few years ago and is now referred to as the double jeopardy rule. If the challenge is cynical and prevents an obvious goalscoring opportunity it is a penalty and red card. As an example a mistimed challenge or genuine attempt to play the ball would only be a yellow card and penalty. In my view the referee got it right yesterday.