I think ex players would look at the challenge and say it was a good tackle and that gives me hope. The referee is allowed to admit he was wrong but that hasn't happened for years as the arrogance of most of them won't allow them to admit it.

It used to be £500 when I was active but I'm not sure now. If you win the appeal then it's refunded.

It only applies in the penalty area as you say and the referee has to determine whether it was a genuine challenge for the ball. If it is considered cynical or reckless then it's still a penalty and red card.

Definitely. The contact on the Norwich player was as a consequence of Scott sliding in to win the ball. If he caught the man first I would accept the decision but he didn't. The contact is inevitable but contact alone doesn't make it a foul. I made some enquiries on the way home !set night and Rovers have to have the appeal in today by noon and pay a deposit to do so (I really hope our financial situation doesn't preclude this). The appeal goes to three members of a panel of ex players and managers. There is a pool of these people and three are selected secretly and randomly. If the vote is 2:1 in the players favour the sending off is rescinded and no suspension to be served. Likewise 2:1 against and Scott will get a one match ban.

It was really worth the ridiculously early start today primarily to see a win but a lot of my satisfaction came from the performance. Firstly Tomasson got his tactics spot on as the movement of Dolan and Szmodics killed Norwich but the early delivery of the ball forwards was something they couldn't handle. We were better all over the pitch and but for the sending off (horribly wrong in my view) I'm confident we would have won by more but that incident forced us to put in a great defensive display despite the personnel and players out of position. Hill was the standout player for me but Tronstad wasn't far behind him with his diligence and intelligence. I feel guilty mentioning those two and not others because today was really about the collective and the effort and commitment from everyone in blue and white. Well done Rovers and lets hope we can carry this performance into the rest of the season.

X2 hopefully 👍

Fulham supporters are protesting today about ticket prices, both for individual games and season tickets. Tickets for their game against the Rags today range between £67 and £160. In my experience of going to Fulham it's almost like a tourist attraction with tickets snapped up by what appear to be foreign visitors who I don't think will have a clue about pricing. https://thefsa.org.uk/news/fulham-fans-prepare-for-ticket-price-protest-this-weekend/

Leeds were, as you say fully deserving of their win and looked good. They counter attacked with great pace which Leicester really struggled with. However they find it difficult to sit in and play on the break at home as their fans demand they attack and teams will defend in greater numbers.

Shouldn't that be Mrs Cherry Blossom? 😂

Adam looked like he was getting back to form last night after a few indifferent performances. Personally I thought he was impressive and more than held his own. He was seeing key passes again last night and whilst everything he tried didn't come off he kept trying to do the right thing. Tomasson has a midfield selection dilemma for Sunday now.

This is the same referee who last season: Sent Jake Garrett off at Coventry - later rescinded. Should have sent Jack Robinson off in the FA Cup quarter final at Sheffield United for a second yellow card. Should have given us a penalty at Ewood when the dingle drunken driver handled the ball. Should have sent Cork off in the same game for serious foul play after going over the ball with Dolan. In the Sheffield United match he actually gave us a penalty for handball but that was only after a VAR intervention. That is five KMI's wrong in probably four or five games where he refereed us With such a litany of wrong key match incidents I believe Rovers should be writing to the PGMOL asking for an explanation as to why a full time official has got so many game changing decisions wrong against us.

Our pride is still intact as we put in a good performance against a team full of internationals from all over the world. Our game plan was really good and generally worked but against the quality Chelsea have we were punished for two mistakes, mistakes which we could possibly get away with in the Championship. In fact I reckon we created the two best chances of the game with Leonard and Sigurdsson missing when clean through. Throw in the clear penalty we should have had which somehow the referee couldn't see how unnatural the position of the Chelsea players arm was and it gives a clear picture of how well we played. We weren't overawed or intimidated and at times out passed them with Adam Wharton and James Hill looking quite comfortable against some top players. On the night their class told but there was lots of pride from the Rovers fans in West London last night. I listened to some Chelsea supporters on the tube after the match and they were complimentary towards us particularly 'that skinny kid in midfield' 😁😁

We missed out on the playoffs on goal difference. Another point or three would have put us there so every league point is crucial in my view.

Pochettino says he is going with a strong side.

Drama queen. I thought he was going to cry. He could have just said no.

Personally I would sacrifice tomorrow for a win in Sunday at Norwich and my team would reflect that. I think it's a difficult one for Tomasson. If he goes strong and we lose he will be criticised by some and if he sticks with the youngsters and get beat he will also be criticised by some. If he plays a strong team and we get injuries it will really harm us. Some of them were blowing out of their backsides on Saturday too. The perfect situation would be win both games.

I do wonder if this could be us in a few months. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12997167/sheffield-wednesday-owner-dejphon-chansiri-calls-for-fans-to-raise-2m-to-save-the-club-from-three-window-transfer-ban

It doesn't look like things are going to get any better for the Rags in the short to mid term either. This prolonged take over (or part take over) is really dragging on and it seems that Ratcliffe is looking to set up some sort of football committee of he gets the 25% he wants. One of this committee will be Dave Brailsford who was extremely successful with the Sky and Ineos (there's the connection) cycling teams. Personally I think it will be doomed to failure as moving people from different sports backgrounds is extremely difficult particularly somebody moving into football. I remember Clive Woodward being appointed as Technical Director of Southampton and trying to implement rugby ideas which failed. Anyhow whichever way it goes for the Rags I'm enjoying the moment. Between them and Burnley losing it certainly takes the edge off a Rovers defeat.

Both Buckley and Ayala on their respective benches. I have a feeling Buckley will be back here in January.

This match poses a few selection problems for Tomasson. I don't believe Hilton is good enough but does Tomasson risk Walstedt as he is the only senior keeper with Pears still out. We are short of centre halves with Hyam out. With Carter suspended for the Norwich game he could play on Wednesday alongside Gamble or Atcheson. Yesterday we had lots of tired looking players in need of a rest so I expect wholesale changes in an attempt to keep players fresh.

The old adage of scoring when you are on top is really applicable today after we missed some glorious chances early on as we played some of our best football of the season. I'm convinced if we had scored first we would have won. But we didn't and Swansea grew into the game and took the game to us, had two goals disallowed and scored. It was during this period that confidence seemed to evaporate from some of our players. We were ponderous in possession, took too many touches, passed the ball poorly and generally were second best with too many passengers. In the first half I thought Swansea were better tactically than us as they passed out from the back with a spare man who we simply didn't press. The changes at half time made us better and we got on the front foot but still there were several elementary mistakes from a few players. We penned them in for much of the second half but I still felt Swansea were a real danger on the break with lots of pace in forward positions. We still contrived to miss a few easy chances and the game out me in mind of several this season when missed chances have cost us. Hopefully we can put today behind us and get a result at Norwich next Sunday

Birmingham have been denied an absolutely certain penalty for a ridiculous challenge by the Southampton keeper.

Rooney working his magic at Birmingham I see. Two down after 22 minutes at Southampton.

Under Martin Swansea were easy to set up against as they were so predictable. They are a totally different prospect under the ex Dingle Duff as they mix it up by going back to front quickly on occasion as well as trying to keep possession at times. The only certainty is that we have to compete and he ready for anything. I have total confidence in Tomasson and his ability to come up with a winning game plan. A clean sheet will be great as we are always in the hunt for goals. I'm confident of a win without getting carried away.

Whatever.