arbitro

Another agonising day on the road with Rovers with what I thought was a tepid performance. At any level conceding two sloppy goals in the first seven minutes gives you a mountain to climb and that's exactly how this played out. The first one was a simple ball into the box which I would have expected us to cope with comfortably but the centre halves went away and Pears did what Pears does - he flapped. It was a bread and butter ball for a keeper in my view and his lack of bravery saw us to one down. Pears is too error prone and needs replacing. The second goal we conceded wasn't dissimilar with a nothing ball causing panic and creating havoc. Wow, seven minutes in and two down. After the change of shape we rallied and created a couple of chances and scored just before half time. Significantly we were out for the second half well before Derby so hopefully Ismael told a few home truths. The second half just passed us by. Lots of possession but far too many nothing passes. The number of opportunities we had to cross the ball but didn't was alarming. Lots of huff and puff but nothing like an end product. How many shots on target did we have in the second half? I can't remember any. Hopefully Ismael found out a few things about some of our players today and too many were poor or at best average. I have never thought we would make the playoffs because of performances like today. We simply lack any consistency and today showed exactly that. Playing a team who were bottom and lost their last three and we start as poorly as we did.I I didn't think we deserved anything today.

I know exactly who was responsible for the deal but it doesn't make it right.I If you do go to more away games I trust you'll have a greater understated of the issues with early starts, lack of public transport etc. Leeds are at Portsmouth for a noon kick off on Sunday. Aside from the huge inconvenience to them if also impacts on the midweek fixtures next week when Portsmouth's match against Plymouth has to be moved from Tuesday to Wednesday.

But the fans didn't have a say in any of this. It was foisted on the fans by clubs who simply saw one thing. I wouldn't mind as much if the clubs were mandated to reduce ticket prices or any ventures that made the watching of live football cheaper and a better experience. Instead the money will go into the pockets of players, agents and in Rovers case directors. As I said though the travelling fans are the group who sufferer the most. I don't think you go to many away games so it won't impact on you as much as others but at least try and see it from their point of view.

Whilst some home supporters are inconvenienced it's usually the travelling away fans who have difficulties. This season we have had two long distance away matches at Watford and Cardiff changed to 12.30 for Sky coverage. Leaving home at 6.30 just isn't right and will affect supporters decision whether to go or not and travelling by public transport makes it even more difficult. Norwich had what I believe to be one of their smallest away followings at Ewood last week for which the 12.30 kick off had to be the main reason. Although QPR aren't the best supported club away from home I'm sure there would have been more than the reported 400 had it not been 12.30. When the clubs voted for the extra games and greater revenue they knew how inconvenienced some fans would be. It would have been nice for the clubs to subsidise travel or tickets for such games. Instead we have a CEO who gets a huge pay rise.

I have had three meniscus operations and from experience he would really struggle to run if it was torn (which I'm assuming it is). A scan would have showed any damage.

He kicked one of the spare balls of it's done but I don't know if he actually did it then but as soon As the game kicked off he was limping heavily.

It looked like he picked up an injury celebrating his equaliser on Saturday. He was certainly hobbling when the game restarted.

At the rate he is progressing I would say yes but that depends on how Ismael views blooding youngsters. That process all but stopped under Eustace after Tomasson gave a host of youngsters an opportunity.I With a couple of exceptions loaning players out hasn't been too beneficial for us so I would like to see Dunn stay and progress working with the first team squad and coaches. I watch a lot of non league football and I really believe that sending kids on loan to the likes of AFC Liverpool doesn't do much for their development. The Premier League 2 is a really competitive league and much better for development in my opinion.

I'm certain the Rovers players would love to get promoted and reap the riches it would bring to them. I haven't yet met a Rovers fan who doesn't want promotion neither. The abhorrent ones and their lackeys can't influence results between now and the end of the season. Just to add though I don't believe we will make the playoffs.

Another good watch at Leyland last night as the under 21's best Norwich 2-0 in the penultimate home match of the season. It was probably just about what we deserved although Norwich had their moments too. I thought Isaac Dunn was outstanding in midfield for us and it was the best performance I have seen from him. His all round game is really coming on and he actually reminded me so much of Tronstad last night. Michalski again caught the eye with some good saves. Once again we scored two well worked goals arising from some crisp passing and good movement in the penalty area. It was a competitive game but the 9 yellow cards and 30 free kicks were wholly disproportionate to what I witnessed. Four Rovers players were cautioned for delaying the restart when, in my view the situations were all manageable.

I don't think we'll make the playoffs neither but that doesn't mean we won't. I have some friends who support Middlesbrough and they say pretty much what we do about being inconsistent. I also spoke to some Norwich fans walking back on Saturday and they said similar. I really think the next four matches will shape our season in respect of making the top six. These four games are against struggling teams so on paper winnable but the Championship in general just doesn't work like that.

We have a game at Stoke sandwiched between those two.

It will be by default if there is no subsequent charge. It was so out of character from Hyam who must have known he was running a huge risk.

The fact he started with a free kick indicates the infringement was seen but no further action against any individual was deemed necessary. The linesman should really have been monitoring this and perhaps advised the referee.

I agree it wouldn't have been the clearest sending off ever but in the modern game I believe it should have been a red card and I strongly suspect that the authorities will think so too when the match is reviewed. We have got away with one with Hyam though. That was a clear red card.

It appears that Ben Benson has taken a back seat as the set piece coach. Dean Whitehead was the prominent one in the Technical Area at every set piece.

I actually mentioned this as both looked devoid of energy in the second half.

The game restarted with a free kick which indicates that the referee saw it and decided not to take and action. He also had a word with Hyam in the presence of Travis to reinforce this opinion. Had it not been seen then it could have been referred to the Unseen Panel who look retrospectively at incidents not seen by the officials. So it appears that Hyam has got away with it as it's a clear act of Violent Conduct and should be a three match ban

I disagree. He was lucky to get away with the first one in my view and incredibly silly to give the referee a decision to make. The Ohashi one looked like it was inside the penalty area.

I agree. I have only seen the first challenge in real time and my first thought was red card. It certainly ticked all the boxes for serious foul play. Then already on a yellow he was incredibly naive to give the referee a decision to make with his second challenge. If that had been a Norwich player I'm sure we would be saying it was a clear sending off.

It certainly feels like a win given the circumstances but in truth I thought we were second best for long, long periods of the game. It was in the main a carry over from the Swansea match as too many players were way off the pace. Fortunately our back four were all decent and certainly kept us in it with some good defending. I really expected a high press given the way Norwich play and having read that it's what Ismael prefers but we didn't and let them play through midfield where they were dominant. In fact Norwich were high pressing and forcing us to go long at times. Ironically we had a good spell after the triple change and looked to be on the front foot as Norwich looked to be tiring. Dennis however gave them a huge lift with his stupid sending off and they certainly took advantage of this by scoring a well worked goal. I honestly couldn't see a way back but the players showed great character to get the equaliser and send us home happy. It certainly looked from where I sit that the challenge on Ohashi was in the penalty area of at the worst on the line. Perhaps this helped us as we galvanised after this and got the leveller with the players taking credit for showing great character. It was good to get Carter (our best player in my view) and Tronstad back and hopefully this week get them up to speed for the rest of the season. Hopefully Ismael has learned that we can't play Cantwell and Dolan in the same team. We can just about cope with one player who gives the ball away so often but having two is footballing suicide.

As much as I'm angry about the fee we got for Adam I'm probably more irate at the reason for selling him. The Punekars reluctance to fund the club properly because of their business irregularities landing them in trouble with the Indian authorities. Palace took clear advantage of this and stole him. Distressed seller sums this episode up perfectly.

I wish him all the very best. If he is successful then we will all be happy so I am prepared to give him my full backing. The elephant though is still well and truly in the room.

The first thing you notice about him is his size, he is a real unit but quite athletic with it. As you would expect he is physical but also has a deft touch when needed. He took his goals well today. All in all he looks a really good prospect and hopefully next season can step up to the under 21's.

Another goalfest involving our youngsters this afternoon. Mistakes aplenty from both teams made it an interesting spectacle and Leeds can consider themselves a touch unfortunate to be on the end of such a heavy defeat. The difficult conditions didn't make it easy for the players which in turn led to lots of turnovers of possession and consequently chances at both ends. We played a lot of counter attacking play particularly in the second half as Leeds poured forwards. The day was spoilt by a silly sending off for Valentin Joseph. His first caution was daft. He deliberately stopped the Leeds goalkeeper from releasing the ball into play when we were 5-2 up. Then in stoppage time he slid in for a loose ball on the goal line and caught him. It was one he had to go for but the referee considered his challenge to be reckless and gave him a second yellow card. Hopefully he'll learn from this. After 13 goals in two Rovers games this week what are the chances of a 0-0 on Saturday. 😁