The real galling thing in that match was that we were coasting at 2-0 and Birmingham had given up. The penalty gave them hope and in the end we were hanging on to a point.

I pay £3.50 fare from Darwen and I think the double decker bus is around £180 to hire. We are dropped off at Ewood WMC and picked up behind the old Albion pub. It does seem we given priority over traffic afterwards and quite often are back at the Craven Heifer pub before 5.20.

Mowbray has signalled his intent by publicly stating he is looking to sign a new keeper despite Leutwiler signing a new deal. Unless you are a Man City (Richard Wright) or Chelsea (Robert Green) it makes little financial sense to pay a decent wage to somebody who invariably only trains and travels with the team. For me Raya can be sold as I don't think he has improved in two years. The weaknesses he showed then are still there. Undoubtedly his great strength are his reflexes and he is up there with Friedal in that respect but he is average or weak in all other areas. I don't buy the theory of poor coaching neither. Lots of keepers do things naturally and I honestly don't see how any coaching can improve his decision making which is an area that really lets us down. It's a sell for me and I just get the impression that is the way Mowbray is thinking too

Steele was injured when Mowbray brought Raya in. Would he have dropped Steele? We'll never know.

There has. This bloke was signed by Warnock at Bury where he played 37 games. I actually refereed him when he played for East Bengal in a pre season tournament at Leicester. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaichung_Bhutia

How many games did he actually come on and we successfully closed a tight game out? I genuinely don't know but that was the excuse traded out last season when he got a new deal. From memory I can't recall that it happened too often.

The process when I was active was that the referee should ask the Match Commander and Safely Officer if there were any safety issues which would effect a potential penalty shoot out. This briefing takes place 75 minutes before the game. If they have a preference then the referee should inform the managers and captains at the exchange of team sheets an hour before kick off. If there are no issues then it's the toss of a coin and the winning captain chooses. In my experience the choice was usually in front of the home fans. I always suspected that it wasn't a decision made in the interests of safety but to give the home team an advantage. I've never seen such a public show when a delegation troop onto the pitch to tell the referee where penalties should be taken from. Poor from the referee for not sorting this out privately before the match.

They absolutely would. In their promotion season Accringtons top paid player was on £1200 a week. They will be on better money now with the club having a greater income but nowhere near what the likes of Smallwood and Conway are on.

There was a song to the tune of Johnny Goes Marching Home which had lots of na, na, na's but the lyrics were 'Mokoena's gonna break your legs' which I took to be a dark compliment to his ability to kick and hurt opponents.

They are an entitled bunch who sing about being Champions of Europe but they didn't actually win anything. And I take a dislike to any club who shamefully fleece visiting supporters.

He definitely did try (or actually did) to kick the Sunderland lad. I saw it in real time and couldn't believe it. The Pompey lump thrn wanted to fight several Sunderland players who came over to the scene. I read today though that the Sunderland player doesn't want to press charges.

Sorry to prolong this but who mandates them? I'm not doubting you by the way. I just can't understand why any employee would have to contribute to an insurance scheme that benefits their employer.

I don't understand then why a player would voluntarily pay for an insurance policy that they wouldn't benefit from. The club have to pay them even when they are injured so surely it should be incumbent on the club to pay the premium. I know that all players are insured by the PFA but that is only if they have to retire through injury, it doesn't cover wages because that is the clubs responsibility.

I've never heard of that before. To be clear does the player have to pay out of his own wages or does the club pay for the insurance you mention.

Are you saying that his wages are/were/will be covered by insurance? If so I have never heard of that before. I know insurance claims can be made when a player has to retire through injury - is that what you are implying?

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/premier_league_table/16135948.figures-reveal-amount-rovers-spent-on-agents-fees-during-the-last-12-months/ We spent over £750k on agents which included contract renegotiations. Every deal has hidden costs. What will the agent charge the player for his services? FIFA’s regulations recommend a commission percentage of 3% of the player’s remuneration, but that has generally not been adopted by the industry. Most agents in England charge 5% commission, though 10% is fairly common around the world. It is open to the club signing a contract with a player to pay the agent’s fee on the player’s behalf (in England this results in a benefit in kind tax liability for the player). It is also open to an agent to represent both the player and the club(s) in a transaction, provided he/she has the full and informed consent of the parties (known as ‘dual representation’), reducing further the player’s liability to his agent. An agent should be knowledgeable in the regulatory and tax implications of doing so and should ensure the agent’s fee is paid in the most tax efficient and regulatory compliant way.

That's a great point and pertinent to the debate. There is still some bitterness from good people who lost their jobs or had their hours cut because of sheer incompetence of the owners and people running the club. My real concern though is that Mowbray wants to keep players who simply aren't good enough and will add no value whilst costing not insignificant wages. We have under 23's who play in the positions (and probably better) of the likes of Conway and they will probably be sent out on loan.

Like his team he peaked too early. The only downside I can see from their loss is that we will still have to pay a minimum £39 at their ground next season.

What on earth are they going to do with 30,000 'We are Leeds' scarves now? I hope they are recyclable. ?

Didn't Smith criticise and blame the Ewood pitch for losing when we beat Brentford early last season? As a player he was good to referee and have a rapport with but like a lot of them he became an arse when he took the managerial reins. Villa not going up should be disastrous for them after the turmoil of last summer when they stayed in the Championship. That said they'll probably worm their way out of any penalties for breaches of FFP.

Feigning injury is pretty endemic now and most teams do it in the knowledge that the other team will put the ball out or the referee will stop the game. Throw ins are another restart that is abused. Far too often, when their team is winning the taker will deliberately move up the pitch several yards from where it went out. If he gets away with it fine but if the referee sends him back it kills more time. Win/win. Another is a short goal kick and the defender deliberately plays the ball before it leaves the penalty area. The kick is retaken and more time wasted. I'd like to see a time limit on all restarts. The six second rule has definitely speeded the game up although it is sometimes not applied stringently.

Well done and thanks to everyone who gives up their time so most of us can discuss, debate and disagree about all things Rovers. Ultimately we all want the same thing though.

I'd never heard of him until January to be honest but some keepers don't reach their potential until much later than outfield players. It would be a low risk signing perhaps on an incentivised contract.

I agree. I remember him playing a blinder against Spurs in the FA Cup earlier this year and immediately after the game he rushed off to be with his wife who had just given birth to twins. He is 28 and I think would see us as a huge step up.

He is out of contract at the end of June.