arbitro

I know that. He personalised it by saying lucky for me because I didn't want Warnock.

What a childish thing to say.

I wouldn't. There are lots of players and managers, current and ex who dislike him. He is a nasty piece who is prone to the odd bout of cheating.

It wasn't the fact he didn't shake hands hands with Warnock that riled him. Quite simply it was that Warnock team lost and the circumstances. Warnock is a nasty piece of work and has a litany of previous for upsetting opposing managers, players and supporters. I honestly don't get this handshake nonsense between players and managers. The fair play handshake happens and then some players spend the next ninety minutes trying to get each other booked, diving and haranguing the referee.

Instead of looking at miniscule rule infringements the EFL should be championing Stanley as an example of a well run club who operate within a small budget and are on the verge of promotion. Andy Holt has been an excellent and responsible owner and deserves to be given more respect by faceless bureaucrats who don't live in the real world. Embarrassing is the only word for them.

The EFL would be better off investigating real corruption in football. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43617974

Clattenburg was the original nomination but he took the cash on offer from Dubai. The FA tried to get a late nomination for Atkinson but it wasn't accepted. Of more worry is the fact that England can't fill the ten places available to be FIFA referees. I think there are only seven referees for ten places and included in this are the likes of Atwell, Tierney and Madley. It's a real indictment on the FA and PGMO that this has happened since 2000 when the full time list came into being.

I agree. It seems like there are a number of deluded Ipswich fans who think they will become the new Barcelona overnight. There are lots of similarities with some Rovers fans and Allardyce here.

As opposed to the total football from Mowbray? McCarthy has done well in jobs at Wolves and Sunderland and despite having nothing to work with at Ipswich kept them as a stable Championship club. He also did well for Ireland in major tournaments.

We probably would but Bradford, Shrewsbury and Wigan fans would be screaming no penalty and accuse Rack of cheating. 'Twas ever thus.

I haven't seen the incident but I have seen as many opinions to say it wasn't a penalty as there are saying it was and therein lies the main issue for me. VAR is fine for matters of fact such as off-side or the ball crossing the line. When it comes down to an opinion there are so many grey areas but the stakeholders are expecting black and white. I also think it is taking some emotion out of the game. Imagine the Championship play-off final and in the last minute fans are waiting several minutes for the VAR to come up with a decision that could determine a game worth over £150m. For matters of opinion the decision should be instant in my opinion and we live with the consequences.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11676/11301477/adam-armstrong-interview-leaving-bolton-for-blackburn-newcastle-hopes-and-taking-advice-from-wayne-rooney

Does anybody know if it's a recurrence of his hamstring injury?

England will be there simply because the FA are looking towards a big pay day. They still have the over priced Wembley, several managers and countless Chief Execs NDA's to pay off.

I get the need to give some of these players game time but what about the younger players who got us to the semi-finals in the first place? This was an opportunity to win a relatively prestigious competition and some egotistical wasters don't show up. Hopefully it will give Mowbray the ammunition he needs to ship them out over the summer.

It would be great if he could hit the ground running when he is finally off the leash but I think some fans need to temper their expectations of him. It will take time for his touch to return and he will be tentative when having to run at full pace. I guess also that Mowbray would be wary about throwing him on from the bench without a thorough and intensive stretching session given how he got the injury in the first place.

And in his fledgling managerial career he has already had four clubs. He looks ready made to be another manager who makes a lucrative career out of being a failure.

Armstrong has played on the left several times for us and a lot in his career. Perhaps not his favoured position but he could have freed Bennett up for the greater good.

Agreed and on form alone Bennett should be in there ahead of the other two. His mobility, willingness to get forward and tackling should have seen him starting there. I honestly can't recall the last time I remember Evans having a half decent game.

It could as easily have been Smallwood rather than Evans going off. Both were poor and second best to Wigans central midfield. We only looked to control that area when Bennett moved inside. Smallwood was out on his knees in the last ten minutes and lost possession several times and gave cheap free kicks away. In my opinion Mowbray got it wrong by playing those two from the start.

Thanks for posting that ODB. An enjoyable read and interesting to hear he was prepared to walk away in the Summer if he wasn't backed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43256551 It appears there is still some nervousness with the PL Chairmen and according to this article won't be happening next season. I wonder how much it has cost and how that money could have been better spent on improving facilities for youngsters who have to endure poor conditions sometimes.

But lots of decisions using VAR will still be based on opinion not fact which will still not give you a definitive right or wrong. In this respect it's absolutely pointless. There is a perception amongst the drivers of this that it will eradicate errors. Quite simply it won't as it will still be in the opinion of the referee. Based on the current criteria every penalty kick should be reviewed as encroachment is a clear and obvious error and contrary to law. It's full of holes and causing confusion and will continue to do so

It's still in the trial stage. Nothing has been decided yet.

You called Graham lazy and others have said Samuel is lazy. I don't see any difference. What was your expectation of Samuel by the way?