I thought yesterday that the supporters at Luton were terrific, in my opinion the most vociferous and supportive they have been for a long time.

Mowbray has said he could bring a couple of players in for the money we get for Rothwell in a contingency plan should he leave. Why would he have to perform? The club who want him now know he is talented or else they wouldn't want him now and If they are prepared to wait until the summer (and get him for free) they (and he) won't want him picking up a major injury. https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/transfer-news/blackburn-rovers-transfer-plan-rothwell-22921221

The Rangers situation was different though Gav as he was going to sign a PCA in January and when his contract with us expired in the Summer sign the contract with Rangers according to reports. The here and now is that he has asked for a transfer which screams to me that he wants out now and at this late stage knows where he is going and how much he will earn. If he does stay how committed will be be given that a serious injury could see him out of contract in the Summer and no club. It's not a nice situation for any of the parties concerned but I don't believe we should have unhappy players in and around the club.

Bloody hell Rev you're on one this morning. Asking for a transfer is Rothwell is saying 'I want out now'. If we keep him what will his attitude be when his transfer request is screaming I want out of here. And this is three days before the window ends. Mowbray hasn't done anything wrong here but you seem to want to hang him. And (if it's true) and typically of their tenure the owners and Pasha are trying to keep him when we could get some money in and hopefully replace him. If Rothwell stays against his wishes he will sulk for six months and offer nothing.

The elephant has never left the room.

Between the not going anywhere interview and Thursday/Friday last week something happened that saw Rothwell ask for a move and the meeting with Mowbray was enough to convince him that Rothwell shouldn't be involved in the Luton game. I totally agree with Mowbray on this and as such a parting of ways is inevitable but I don't really see what Mowbray has done wrong here. He told us that Rothwell asked for a move - I don't see that as hanging Rothwell out to dry. Rothwell clearly doesn't want to be here and his presence around the club could have a negative effect. By leaving it so late in the window to ask for a transfer Rothwell has heaped a huge pressure on the club to replace him and that's were Rovers need their focus to be until tomorrow night. That for me is crucial.

We are on the verge of signing Hedges in not dissimilar circumstances to Rothwell potentially leaving us. Both appear to have had their heads turned by the promise of more money and a new contract. I know Rothwell has actually asked for a move but keeping him against his wishes will be folly for me. Mowbrays subdued interview yesterday told me he is planning for a future without Rothwell and I agree with that. Whether it derails our season remains to be seen but I don't think we should dwell on it and hopefully the players and management won't too. It's football and we could be in exactly the same situation next January as more important players contracts enter their final six months.

At 3 o'clock I really fancied a win and would have been disappointed with a draw but, given the circumstances I was delighted at the final whistle to get a point. Luton are horrible. They have a severely limited football team, probably the worst ground in professional football and a horrible little twat as manager. However the play to their strengths and boom the ball forward most times and get the ball in the box as often and as quickly as possible. But this Rovers team stood up to them and for most of the game kept them at bay. The injuries absolutely disrupted us and showed how alarmingly thin the squad is. Although we are still in a strong position my fear is that further injuries and suspensions could kill us. It's probably the biggest couple of days in our season coming up.

Players come and go. I honestly don't blame Rothwell who at 27 is probably looking for the most important contract of his career or his agent whose job it is to get him a deal. My gripe is that the timing is awful. Rothwell is integral to the type of football we are playing and the real issue is that there aren't a lot of Rothwells out there who can counter from midfield at pace. This is a huge test of our recruitment people.

Is the end of January the right time for a different tactical set up when most of your players have been used to the way Dyche has played for several years? If he does change it's going to be an interesting few months for you.

Although Rovers dominated most aspects of the game we just couldn't get the killer third goal which made for a nervy last ten minutes. Once again lots of potential was shown in the build up play but at times we lacked that cutting edge. Still it's nice to go through and the youngsters have another chance to showcase their undoubted ability.

You are correct Jack. However he doesn't look back in anger 😁😁😁.

I don't believe there is a cut off for ten yellow cards.

I have seen him several times and he is a referee who likes to manage games without too many cards. Ordinarily that is fine but Luton are up there with Nobbers in the shithousery league which undoubtedly stems from their horrible little manager. If I was his coach I would be telling him to be strong from the start and most importantly be consistent. My fear is that the likes of Luton prefer referees who aren't particularly strong. I'd wager Jones is far happier with this appointment than Mowbray.

I've never heard of this buy back scheme that Luton operate. It appears that if you are a season ticket holder and can't go the club will buy back your ticket for a £10 voucher and they then sell your ticket, presumably at normal match day prices. I appreciate it can only work when you operate at full or nearly full capacity but on the face of it it seems to be a win/win for the club and season ticket holder. I a always thought that your season ticket was not transferable but perhaps they have for loophole. Andhttps://www.lutontown.co.uk/news/2022/january/info---cam--black/m

I did John. Before each season we were sent questionnaires and one question was about your allegiance to any club. My answer was always the same! Interestingly though my Rovers answer didn't stop me refereeing Burnley although that was only in local derbies. I was due to referee Burnley v Preston and a few days before spoke to a Burnley fan who you know well and he was aghast at the prospect of a Bastard Rover refereeing his team. They won 3-0 😂😂😂.

In the week leading up by the United game I was in Sweden with Gerald for three days on a game as I had been previously in Romania and Georgia. I think somebody was being mischievous by starting that rumour, Gerald never indicated to me any allegiances to any club. On the other hand another high profile referee from that era had what looked like the outline of a Man Utd crest after a tattoo had been crudely removed from his arm. Tellingly he always word a long sleeved shirt.

I think if you ask supporters of any club or players at any level they will bemoan the standard of their respective leagues. If I had a pound for every time I've heard "worst referee I've ever seen" or "worst decision I've ever seen" I'd be a wealthy man. One thing is for sure, we can't do without them. 😁😁

The concept of VAR is excellent but the problem is with the operators. To be a VAR you need to be Select Group 1 or 2 referee either currently active or been active in the last three years. Most of these train together and work in teams as referee and fourth official. I believe there is a real element of cronyism here. You seem a sensible guy who knows football. Within a week I could teach you the Laws of the Game and you should be abme to apply for a VAR job. But you can't, it's a closed shop and it adds a Masonic element to it in my view.

Inconsistency in the same game drives me mad and it happens so often in the Championship. The referee was very good on Monday. He cautioned ten and set the standard for this in the second minute. Wilder told him he was excellent and as far as I know Mowbray was happy. At Stoke earlier this season we had four cautioned for delaying the restart (time wasting to many). The referee was correct in my view and consistently applied the law. Again I don't believe Mowbray was unhappy with him.

But the media have it wrong. Although they are labelled as PL and Championship referees by the media any referee in Select Groups 1 & 2 they can referee in any of the three EFL leagues. For example Monday's referee is on Select Group 1 and the International list too. Part of their contract is they do any one of the four senior leagues. I don't disagree that the standard is poor, in fact I think I said that on an earlier post. It's more than there are lots is misconceptions around referee and the refereeing system.

When I got on the Football League referees list in 1995 an ex professional called Steve Baines got on at the same time. He still thought of himself as a player and was regularly criticised by managers for being too lenient with regard to fouls and misconduct but I take your wider point. Having played the game is definitely an advantage when taking up the whist but as a referee you still have a job to do and sometimes doing that job correctly still leads to criticism.

They are full time, professional referees. That isn't up for debate. As I said in my reply to you they are accountable but not in the way you implied they should be. They have a coach and manager they respond to. Their performances are scrutinised by impartial adjudicators and marked accordingly. A merit list is compiled from these marks and ultimately they can be removed if they are struggling over the course of a couple of seasons. Clubs also report on referees and are allowed to ask for feedback for any particular incident. I have always been an advocate of referees being more accessible to the press post match but the authorities flatly refuse. I can't answer your question on incompetence definitively. I thought the referee at Hull was poor too. On consistency we saw that on Monday at Ewood. The referee cautioned a Middlesbrough player after two minutes and that was his benchmark. All of his cautions were consistent and in my view the players knew exactly where they stood. Do you know for sure that referees are not 'suspended' after poor performances because I don't. I never study the appointments apart from looking who Rovers have got. But I had bad days at work and was never suspended, have you?

They are professional and accountable although it's not an accountability that I think you mean. I prefer the word transparency in the context I think you mean. Select Group One was formed in 2000 and with one exception they were all given contracts as full time employees of the newly former Professional Game Match Officials Ltd. This group operated primarily on the Premier League. Four of five seasons ago Select Group Two came into being and this group are effectively exclusive to the Championship. They also are full time employees of the PGMO. I was only speaking about this at the weekend to a friend still involved in full time refereeing and my gripe is that after two decades of full time referees is the standard any better than it was when refereeing was effectively part time. I believe it's worse now despite millions being thrown at it. I would use the same argument for Select Group Two. So where has it gone wrong is the real question. I don't think the quality has been coming through for a long time now. Too many referees are pretty much fast tracked through the system because they are young but, as has showed many times they can't operate on a big stage. Refereeing standards have always been a big debating point but I believe that the general standard in the Championship is the worst in my lifetime, even the time I had as an active official.

Excellent news on your Dad my friend. Hopefully the best tonic he will get is promotion.