I can see both sides of this debate and it really is an individual choice but Rovers do (once again) seem to be out of kilter with lots, perhaps the majority of clubs. If they did to on sale then there should be several caveats detailing the risks. People aren't stupid and if they felt the risks were too great then don't but them. What is grinding my gears is the deafening silence from Ewood not just about season tickets but many other things. A tidy income stream could have come from merchandise but the shop is still closed I believe. Having a new kit on sale sees more footfall than any other time except match day. But as yet there isn't even a release date. It's poor but in my opinion reflects the complete of leadership and direction at Ewood.

After at least one window (perhaps two) Mowbray has said he had money left over and he had to rein the owners in which implies to me that he had money during the window but deliberately chose not to spend it. In my opinion he sets a really high bar with regard to signings. It seems more about being the right character than the possibility of improving our team.

I am completely ambivalent towards the new season primarily because BCD does absolutely nothing for me and completely dilutes the product. Normally the new seasons fixtures would signal planning road trips, booking trains and speaking to fellow travellers regarding arrangements. I can't even get frustrated about the lack of pretty much anything coming from the club either on or off the field. I had a conversation yesterday with the ex stadium and security manager at Ewood. He now works as a consultant and is working closely with the National League and several of their clubs looking at the feasibility of getting supporters back into stadiums. His words were that it's going to be extremely difficult to take a unilateral approach given the many different stadium designs and logistics. I personally don't believe we will be watching live football for several months yet despite the bluster of the people in power.

I have said the same thing in the past. Brockhall has accommodation and facilities which should be the equal of any training facility in Europe. For me it's always been another unnecessary cost but it always seemed to be in vogue with what other clubs were doing.

In my view Evans is invariably a 6 or occasionally 9/10 when we need him to be a 7 or 8/10 in every game. Aside from his injuries the inconsistency is what is uppermost in my mind.

No but he's been known to flap a bit ??.

Every window there are lots of clubs panicking as we get to the last knockings of the window and we are usually one of them. The summer window closes several games into the season by which times a poor start can determine your whole season. I just do don't get that mentality and have read several reasons why people think it happens that way but none of them make sense in the context of a poor start. For once I'd like to see us hit the ground running with new signings in place when the season starts.

It doesn't matter when they went away, were they back before 4 am on Saturday?

It was the Mail on Sunday. LT reported it around half an hour and with no quotes from anybody at Rovers just regurgitated things from when the deal was signed.

He knows that but he (or his newspaper) didn't even break the story. Poor form again from a local newspaper.

I haven't a clue what this will cost in lost revenue but I'd be amazed if it that money hadn't been budgeted for. Finding a major sponsor with less than four weeks to go until kick off will be extremely difficult. Hopefully there was a cancellation clause in the contract and we can recoup some of what has been lost.

We did eventually. It was the season after our PL relegation and we played for some time with no sponsor, probably because the club had become toxic.

Good spot Mark.

I like stories like this. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mans-revenge-flytipper-who-dumped-22524100

I see your point now. I understand that transfer fees are structured over the duration of a contract with annual payments which means that the Gallagher (and maybe Brereton) installments are due. To give some balance we should get a payment for Raya. That is all on the assumption payments are due on the anniversary of signing.

I don't see the point of that when you are obligated to buy the player anyway. The reason it happened with Brereton was that there wasn't enough time to do a permanent deal on deadline day.

Barcelona just couldn't match the intensity with which Bayern played. The high press was excellent and several Barcelona players just gave up. One of the reasons I ignore possession stats was perfectly highlighted in this game. According to the BBC Barcelona had 51% possession...........but lost 8-2 and were abject. Whenever I hear losing managers mention possession in some form of justification I know they are hiding behind them.

I'm not aware of any exemptions to the quarantine rules. If there was a loophole by being tested surely many people would exploit this.

I understood the reason Eastham (not Irwin - sorry!) was on the bench at Luton was because Fisher and Hilton were furloughed. I really don't know if any trialists will be tested on arrival. Schapps had to quarantine so I'd be surprised if exceptions were made for footballers having a trial. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53557510

Training will be interesting on Monday. If Hilton and Fisher are still furloughed then Irwin will potentially be the only keeper there. I expect a plethora of trialists arriving from various places for Mowbray to sift through trying to find a Samba but more likely to get a Songo'o. Any signings/trialists from Spain, Holland or France won't be able to train for two weeks after arriving. Four weeks tomorrow the season starts - we are in a mess.

Will be not be needing to model a women's kit after that picture with his manboob on display (I don't know how to post pictures but I'm sure you've all seen it). ???

Thanks for posting Perth. Having a refresh on the whole sorry escapade reinforces my intense dislike of our owners. But nevermind, they are paying the bills eh.............. ???

Tosin made his debut at Fulham in the second game alongside Williams as both Lenihan and Mulgrew didn't play. He then got injured and missed a few games. For a few games we were down to two centre halves as Mulgrew fell massively out of favour.

He is probably our quickest player running with the ball but sometimes it appears that his feet are quicker than his brain. I find it infuriating when he runs inside into traffic instead of running forward down the line or into the channels. After two seasons I would have thought this could have been coached our of him but alas not. I wouldn't ditch him yet but he needs to improve aspects of his game to put him into the regular first team category.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11787/12046794/celtics-boli-bolingoli-breaks-quarantine-rules-scottish-government-threatens-premiership-pause A Celtic player who didn't self quarantine could cause the league to be suspended by the government. I still think there will be plenty of Championship players who will miss a chunk of pre season to self isolate after returning from holiday.