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.

I don't think we have ever had an offer for a player with six months left on his deal who can walk away for nothing. the two who were sold were still contracted to us. I was saying that who knows what the owners will do if they consider the reported £2m a good offer.

You sound so sure about that but I don't share your confidence.

Just imagine if we play Bournemouth in the Playoff Final and Rothwell scores the winner. Unthinkable to consider such lunacy but if, as somebody alluded to the owners make the ultimate decision who knows. Will their advisor sell it to them as some money now and nothing in the Summer or as a chance to get promoted. And therein lies the rub.

Whilst Travis isn't the most elegant of players he is almost Savagesque in his on field play. He is a ratter who closes players down without always making a challenge and often his off the ball work is as important as his work with the ball. I really like his shithousery though. Last night there was a break in play as Edun and Brown (I think) were having treatment. As is normal players came across for a drink and Travis took a bottle and walked fifteen yards on to the pitch with it. Just before the referee was about to start play he threw the bottle deliberately to land equidistant between where he was and the technical area. The referee was about to blow when Mowbray told the fourth official there was a bottle on the pitch. The fourth official, via the communications system told the referee to wait whilst he went to retrieve it. Travis's part was certainly gamesmanship but I don't think it was rehearsed for Mowbray to get involved.

Tonight reminded me why football and Rovers in particular have been a big part of my life. It was football as it should be played in my view. Two absolutely committed teams going hell for leather at each other, thunderous challenges and lots of yellow cards. Not too much of the tippy tappy possession based nonsense that bores me rigid. Row Z did us well tonight when we were under the cosh. This was Blackburn against Middlesbrough, two hard, industrial working class towns with lots of pride and the players and fans of both clubs did their towns proud tonight. If course winning is the icing on the cake but football was the winner tonight in my opinion. Hopefully our blip is over and we get back to a run of clean sheets. I couldn't pick an outstanding player tonight although some were marginally better than others.

That's quite sensible for a 12 year old 😂😂😂😂 I don't want to prolong this debate but from my perspective I have no faith in them going forward based on the last decade. I was wracking my brains earlier to think of one thing that they have done that has tangibly benefited the club. I can't think of one although I appreciate there are some fans who see things differently and credit them for something somewhere in their tenure. But ultimately it's watching and winning what the majority want I hope.

My reason was, as I said at the time was that I didn't believe they are interested nor could anybody influence change. I also said to you that if you do I will shake you warmly by the hand and say extremely well done, I was wrong. And in all honesty Nick I really hope I am wrong but nothing about them gives me any hope. Your second sentence is bang on.