arbitro

Only good news mind. Something like life imprisonment for them. 😂

No pressure mate but thousands are waiting for your updates. 😂

Arguably the best performance of the season so far albeit against a young Preston team who for some reason don't have an under 21 team. Surprisingly no Matty Litherland for Rovers again and given the fact he hasn't gone out on loan I'm assuming he is injured. We were always in control thought and at 2-0 missed a host of chances and Preston scoring with a few minutes to go set up a nervous finish until Joseph gave us back the two goal cushion. It's been said before about Joseph but he really is a beast. He has a boxer's physique and seems to enjoy the physical side of the game. James Edmondson had a really good game alongside Dunn who, after a couple of indifferent games looked like he was coming back to form. Decandia also played well at centre half. To be truthful it looked too easy for Jake Batty as he didn't need to get out of third gear. I'm really surprised that he didn't get a move yesterday either on loan or permanent. He could well stagnate when he simply has to be challenged more. Overall an enjoyable watch and hopefully this improvement will be carried into league performances.

Not at all. If it is true then for me it is a case of Gestede imposing something on people and not giving them a choice.

It will be just another vetted farce with any difficult questions simply ignored. It should be an open forum done face to face and live streamed.

If it's true how would the owners even know or care about it? I was told it was wholly down to Gestede who controls the STC and Academy. I don't know about the catering at Ewood (I'm thinking hot-dogs) but Gestede has no influence over that.

This is not as enlightening as Glen's post but I was told last week that all the meat bought in for the STC and Academy is now Halal at the insistence of Gestede.

I heard last week that O'Grady-Macken was told to find himself a new club. It looks like the loan is a compromise.

Another completely unjustified contract extension. He was never, ever going to be anywhere near good enough and a 23 far too old to be considered a prospect. Incredibly in June he got a two year deal with a year option.

I desperately want Gestede to explain the rationale behind this transfer window. It's tantamount to footballing suicide what has happened in this transfer window. You simply cannot let so much experience walk out of the door without there being a price to pay. No disrespect to the players coming in and I think some of them will do well for us but anyone who knows the Championship will understand that squad experience is vital. Irrespective of what Gestede says the summer dealings will restrict the amount of money the owners have to send over. As ever they are and always will be the problem at our club.

This should be an interesting watch tonight on BBC2 at 9 pm. Several high profile footballers lost millions in a scam. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cg7jn722rkeo

One incident summed Kargbo up today for me. In the first half on our right side Norwich were going forward and Ribiero went to the ball but Chrisene was going on the overlap. Kargbo was drawn to the ball instead of going with the runner that was Chrisene (who was Kargbo's man anyway) and he got in behind. Ribiero tried to point this out but Kargbo was having none of it. It took Hyam to come over and explain to Kargbo. It's difficult to put some football intelligence into players but it can be done. Alas in Kargbo's case I think it will be a forlorn hope. He is essentially a one trick pony in my opinion.

It really was a case of after the Lord Mayors Show today as I fully expected us to be doing the same things as we did so well at Hull namely intensity, aggression and a high press. In the first half we got none of these with Norwich being the dominant team as we put in our worst performance of the season in that period. The goal was no surprise but the way the penalty was conceded was awful. Just before that I was thinking I would have been delighted to go in level at half-time but that notion disappeared quickly and we were one down and had to play the second half with the men. Ironically we were better with ten men in the second half and started to do things that we should have done in the first 45 minutes. The two gilt edged chances we missed highlights to me were we really need to strengthen as I believe a natural goal scorer would have notched there. I think Ismael got it wrong today as for me he left Morishito on the bench for too long. We were crying out for some creativity and in my view he should have been on for the whole of the second half. Another but disappointment for me was the poor decision making by far too many players in the first half. Misplaced passes, poor choices of pass and so many with the wrong weight on them. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days in terms of bringing in the right quality of players and beyond that having them ready for Watford in a fortnight.

Whilst Boro have been wasteful Sheffield United had the best chance but they do appear to be in a bit of disarray. Hamer, who I think is one of the best Championship midfielders has been anonymous and looks like he doesn't want to be there. Louie Barry is a talent but his defensive work is shocking. And Peck should have been sent off.

Under 18's lost 7-3 to City.

It's one of these copy cat trends that prevail amongst football clubs under the guise of 'safety' Mike. Watford were the first club to do this and I think that most clubs will follow suit. At most away games I am told to remove the cap from my plastic water bottle as it is deemed throwable with the top on but not without it. I always have a spare top secreted away and it gives me satisfaction to put one over the pettiness and frankly stupidity. The new rules at Ewood forbid the taking of food from other sources into the ground. However they will allow you to take In food bought in the Fanzone according to this the rule below. They are doing their utmost to discourage fans from enjoying the match day experience. There have been several surveys recently about enhancing the experience but decisions like these are still taken. In accordance with common practice, entry to the stadium with fast food and beverages purchased at restaurants, takeaways, public houses and other retail outlets away from Ewood Park is prohibited.

Not many do these days Tyrone. Travis is another who accumulates lots of yellow cards but the majority are for petty, technical offences.

It's a real shame about Harry Leonard leaving as I really thought he was destined for the top but injuries have impeded his progress. I hope he stays fit and I really hope we have inserted buy back and a healthy sell on clauses in the deal.

I only saw this for the first time in an announcement from the club on their website. It's about supporter behaviour but contains the following: Supporters should also be aware of the club’s bag policy when entering the stadium. To make Ewood Park safe for everyone, restrictions are in place on what you can bring in a bag into the stadium. Each supporter can only bring one small bag and it must not be bigger than A4 size. I know lots of supporters particularly in the family stand who take drinks and snacks in bags bigger than A4. For the life in me I can't see any logic behind a decision like this. Why don't they just say what the restrictions in the bag are. It's almost like we have appointed a 'Head of Pissing People Off' whose job it is is to annoy supporters.

And booked!

This is a strange move and is bound to upset the Norwich supporters. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cz0yz8grknlo

I've only seen him play fleetingly (two substitute appearances) but I know for sure that he is expected to be the shining star from the current crop of first year scholars.

Injured.

The under 18 team were excellent in the first half as they scored six in a real display of clinical finishing. The second half proved to be a bit of an anti climax on the goals front although several chances were created but the Fulham keeper made some good saves. I don't know anything about the Fulham team but they were chasing shadows for most of the game against a rampant Rovers team. From my vantage point I could hear the Rovers coach, Paul Butler shouting to the players and was really impressed with what I was hearing. I was speaking to someone I know connected to the Academy who told me how much the youngsters enjoy his coaching and felt real improvement through this. On an adjacent pitch the under 16 team drew 1-1, also against Fulham.

I really like him but he is way down the pecking order now with Hyam, McLoughlin, Carter, Wharton and Miller ahead of him. He played against Everton under 21's last Monday but was nowhere to be seen on Friday. Perhaps a loan deal might be in the offing for him.