It's so frustrating to create so many good chances and not score particularly with our defence once again being excellent and keeping another clean sheet. Some of our play was good and when we upped the intensity Millwall struggled to match us we got on the front foot. But it's another game we haven't won and it's clear to us all why we aren't winning and with the current striking personnel I don't honestly see us winning many games over the next few weeks.

I do Jack. When I was coming through I looked up to the likes of Neil Midgeley, Joe Worrall and many others. They could all referee whilst imparting their character on the players and generally got a favourable response. Now there is a robotic feel about some and lots of them don't appear to have much empathy with the game.

Graham Hawkins for me. An old school, hard as nails leader who could play a bit too.

I think your second sentence is absolutely correct. With the advent of full time officials it's difficult to get rid of them and with a small pool of referees they are pretty much guaranteed plenty of matches. When I was on as essentially a self employed person and if you finished well down the merit list on consecutive seasons you got a letter advising you that your services were no longer required. This kept you on your toes trust me. Now as full time employees they are protected more and I understand there is an agreement that if they get kicked off they are entitled to a lump sum which was two years salary (that might have since changed). In truth they are in a real comfort zone and they can carry on for as long as they can pass a fitness test with no mandatory retirement age.

Tonight's referee is Dean Whitestone. I was looking ahead to see who Saturday's appointed referee is and it is Gavin Ward, in my view, the worst on the list. He is that bad that when any referee is not doing well we say "he's 'avin a Gavin". Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

They have made a right mess of the players whose names don't correspond with the pictures. 😁😁😁

Although strictly speaking it's not the Summer window any foreign player, manager or coach in Russia can effectively suspend their contracts and sign for other teams until the end of June this year. Hopefully Mowbray is aware and is looking as we speak. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60652298

RIP Gordon Lee. He dragged us from a nondescript club to become Third Division champions on a shoestring. I'll never forget Plymouth at home or Port Vale away, they are up there with any Rovers game I have ever seen. He gave us some pride and identity and we are so grateful for that. Thanks for the memories Gordon.

They are in the Premier Division of the North West Counties League.

It was. Speaking of Macclesfield they had just over four thousand on their game on Saturday and need two victories to become champions. Their game on against Congleton on March 26th has been switched to Gresty Road presumably to accommodate a big crowd although there was some trouble when the played at Moss Rose. Macclesfield have Neil Danns playing for them.

What's the news with the injury to Mee? Clearly I don't see as much of him as you but he does appear to have a huge influence and seems to stabilise the team more than any other outfield player.

The real worry if this is correct is that nobody at Ewood would have even considered this. There are far to many 'fly by the seat of their pants' types down there now who simply don't see the bigger picture. I have said many times before that a few of the posters who I know on here could do a far better job than the current incumbents down there for a lot less money.

The clubs agree a date and the EFL simply ratify it.

The other week Bournemouth against Forest was off because (suspiciously) there was structural damage. This will now be played on May 3rd when the promotion and playoff picture will be clearer. If we had done that then there is a really good chance Brereton would be fit and players free of potential suspensions. I'm convinced it was rearranged so quickly so Rovers could get the 'London Double Decker' out of the way in successive games as was the original offer. Can you imagine Waggotts view on refunding money given his stance on refunds for the BCD games?

But according to Waggott we are having to trim the wage bill and all overheads to deal with any potential P&S implications. I personally don't believe the owners were willing to spend decent money which, given our position could have given us a great opportunity, an opportunity that we probably won't see again.

How are we to interpret the comment about close to a European striker? Did he agree terms, have a medical, travel to England or did we just make an enquiry? Ultimately we fell short in terms of our signings and that failure is costing us massively now and will probably cost us even more come the end of the season.

I haven't seen a team throw the towel in like the Rags did today. Most of them players were a disgrace to the game and supporters who at the very least deserve to see players at least trying. Worst of all was that Fernandez who was embarrassing. If I supported them I would honestly never want to see him playing again.

That's a good spot Jack and I have quickly checked all the other midweek fixtures and Eltringham isn't out anywhere else. Of course he could have closed the date but as a full time official I suspect that is unlikely. Read into that what you will.

Mitrovic should have been cautioned for sure but he had the referee in his pocket and we didn't.

For me he is on a different level to any other Championship striker and he was too clever and good for us yesterday. He even wound lots of our fans up when Fulham scored their goals. I saw grown men ridiculously running down to the front to berate him as he ran to the goalscorers pulling a funny face at the Rovers fans.

I wish we had a Mitrovic in our team. He was dominant yesterday in every aspect and gave an almost perfect centre forwards performance. I think when Van Hecke analyses his game he will realise he learnt a lot from playing against him. The referee was weak and allowed Mitrovic to play him like a fiddle. That's not a failing from Mirtovic but from the referee. Players like Mitrovic sniff out weaknesses and exploit them - in my book nothing wrong with that.

When your game plan goes up in smoke early on due to a calamitous goalkeeping error it's really going to be difficult, particularly with our abysmal scoring record of late. Fulham were so much better than us in the first half it was almost a relief to go in at half time only two down. The change certainly helped us as we looked better but it was always going to be an uphill struggle against a good Fulham side. I really think if we had a Mitrovic type player we would be in a car stronger position. He was really good today and demonstrated all the qualities I think a Championship centre forward should have. This false nine nonsense is covering up for a huge inadequacy that Mowbray hasn't addressed since Danny Graham. I'm not buying into the winning our three home games theory as we are simply struggling to score a goal never mind however many will be required to win three.

Can you recall how Waggott expressed it? Is your understanding is based on hearsay or fact?

According to the minutes SW has had 'no engagement with Ryan Nyambes agent at all'. We have been led to believe that Nyambe and his agent were being greedy. How does SW know what the demands are if he has had no communication with the agent? It's a strange way to negotiate.

I honestly believe that the deterioration in standards has been with the advent of full time, professional referees. It's become a bit like politics were you have career politicians, now we have career referees and despite the riches afforded to the overall standard has regressed. And a further worry is that there doesn't seem to be much coming through to referee on the PL and International list. It is rumoured that potentially three of the more experienced referees on Select Group One are retiring at the end of the season. Now they will have to be replaced by referees from Select Group Two, the ones we see week in week out. It's a real worry but not one that seems to be being addressed. As a wise old ex refereeing colleague said to me "Tha carnd weave without weft".