arbitro

I'm not sure if you can. If they can I'm sure the insurers would be asking what precautions they took 😉

I'm not entirely sure what the ruling is now but it definitely used to be that the police needed four hours notice of an postponed otherwise they would have to be paid. Also food will have been ordered for hospitality and the concourses, stewards and other staff will have to be paid and ticket money refunded to lots of Rovers and Portsmouth fans who won't be able to make a night game. It's turned into an expensive day for Rovers and although there are no guarantees surely covering the pitch would have given the game going ahead a better chance.

It really shows Rovers to be an amateur outfit. I have been told that the pitch wasn't covered which in itself is embarrassing.

Weather forecasting is really accurate now. If there is an early inspection and the referee deems the pitch fit at that time he should also contact the local Met Office for an update. This can then be factored into his decision. Also speak to the head groundsman and his staff. They know the pitch better than anyone.

I'm pretty sure this is today's referee inspecting Ewood. Significantly he has a ball which indicates surface water and how the ball is moving on it.

The match referee is inspecting the pitch at 11 am. By that time most Portsmouth fans will be north of Birmingham.

There just needs to be announcement even if it's just to reassure fans (particularly those travelling long distances) that there are no perceived issues.

Given the referee is southern based he should have travelled up yesterday and be staying locally. He should be available at any time during the morning to carry out an inspection or several inspections. I would even suggest that he stays at Ewood all morning and carries out regular inspections so the club can make announcements. Communication is key here and in the recent past it's an area that has been sadly neglected.

That should come as a real surprise but it doesn't. There will be non league clubs with covers on their pitches in an effort to get the game played.

Ridiculously there is no (or certainly wasn't) protocol for pitch inspections, it was left up to each club to decide what to do. As soon as the weather forecast was seen as a potential problem the dialogue should have started.

If the game is likely to be in jeopardy then surely an early inspection has to be done to prevent the 2000 Pompey fans a wasted journey. The match referee should be staying locally so getting him in shouldn't be a problem. And any updates about planned and further inspections should be put out on the various social media channels available immediately. Hopefully Rovers have taken the necessary precautions by covering the pitch so the overnight snow shouldn't be a problem. Then the covers should be kept on until 2 pm with the heavy rain predicted to abate by around 3 pm.

To be fair I saw us narrowly beat Colchester in the game at Leyland and they were unlucky not to get something from the game.

From that line up it looks like Litherland and Hilton will be on the bench tomorrow with Barrett potentially the third keeper.

Not being forced to work on Sunday's is an easier ride. Nobody has questioned the standards of Eustace - in your eagerness to defend him you are reading something into it that isn't there.

By high standards I think Trinidad Rover means that Tomasson was tougher on the players by working them on the training ground to try and get them used to how he wanted them to play. I have heard that it wasn't uncommon for the players to go two weeks without a day off such was Tomasson's desire. One of the first things Eustace did was tell the players that there would be no more Sunday training. In any workplace that would go down well. Different managers with different ideas and philosophies, that's all. I didn't read his comment as a criticism of Eustace but for some reason you have sprung to his defence.

He saw right through the shysters like Waggott and the curtain twitcher. I honestly think Eustace will go the same way after what is shaping up to be a (another) hugely disappointing transfer window.

It's a bit of a cryptic post - can you elaborate?

https://news.sky.com/story/ed-sheeran-helped-ipswich-sign-player-before-appearing-on-stage-with-taylor-swift-13258153 A nice story.

I don't think there is anything formal. It was organised for charity by Rovers Community so not anything done officially by the club. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/november/06/eustace-describes-q-a-as-a-great-event-/

The question is why did Park come back if he knew the awful state of the club from his first time here? At the recent Q&A Park, along with Owen were praised for their work by Eustace so from that perspective all seemed well. Nice work if you can get it though - two NDA's in a short space of time 😉

It was £20 for adults at Stanley on Saturday for adults. I watched a Step 4 match on Friday night and that was £11 for adults.

I was at the game and Butterworth was by far Swindon's best player playing the first half as a wing back and the second half as an attacking midfielder. It was a really good game to watch capped off by Butterworth doing a fair Messi impression.

I went to this game and Honor was decent, made some good saves, kicked well and looked confident. The goal he conceded was scored by former Dingle George Boyd. In a physical match there was a red card for a Wythenshawe player, several red cards and a few mass confrontations. It was £7 well spent.

Can one of the Forum panel please ask why supporters weren't allowed to watch the under 21's play Burnley at the Academy this afternoon. I'm sure it will be back heeled by Waggott but if he could be pushed for an answer I would be grateful. To many it might seen trivial but there are a number of fans who regularly attend these games and are being denied without a reason being given. Thanks in advance.

It's another nonsensical decision to play this behind closed doors. It was only announced earlier this week after (I'm guessing) somebody at Ewood shat themselves at the thought of hordes of marauding Rovers and Dingles fans running riot at Brockhall. Aside from parents and grandparents the demographic of the usual attendee at games is 60+.