Hope it doesn't happen but I think the Club has to be geared up and ready to act on the assumption that it's a distinct possibility. Hope we don't come across as though it's a complete surprise to us and act all hard done to.

How old is Mowbray's son? Might be a decent punt for next manager. Keep the family dynasty going.

Ex referee Dermot Gallagher has a saying that "he saw it but didn't recognise it". I.e. what had actually happened at the time. He might claim that but it would still leave him open to sanctions I'd guess.

I can't imagine he'll say anything else as if he views it back he'll realise that if he claims he didn't think it warranted any action he risks being taken off the Championship lists or demoted down a division for a few weeks.

My understanding as well. A red all day long under the laws as they currently stand, maybe it wouldn't have been years ago if clear intent was required under the regulations. Whether it SHOULD be a red if it's reckless but probably not intentional is a different argument.

As I understand it: Not if the referee says in his report he saw the incident but didn't deem it worthy of any further action. However if he says he missed the incident altogether then retrospective punishment could be imposed.

I actually thought the Morsy/Dack incident was a lot worse than that, the ball was going out anyway and whilst he probably didn't intend to put him out of action for 12 months, I thought he "did" Dack by deliberately stamping on his foot. The one today on Travis I thought was something and nothing, a professional foul/taking one for the team which is often referred to as "a good foul" by ex-pros". Morsy's a horrible barsteward. However if he played for us I'd probably think he was great.

True to an extent but there's a bit of a difference between not having a stonewall penalty awarded against you and not having one awarded against you which would also have reduced you to ten men. We certainly can't complain about not getting the rub of the green from the officials at the moment, Stoke had a man sent off 50 yards from goal with defenders in the vicinity and we couldn't take advantage so like you say, the officials in this League are bad for everyone.

I agree chaddy but it isn't going to happen as we missed the deadline for sending Douglas back. Thought in the main he looked a liability again today, albeit he played a great ball out to Nyambe leading up to the goal.

I know refs like to keep their cards in their pocket early on if at all possible but I don't think a ref can bend the rules and award a yellow in lieu of a clear red simply in the interests of keeping it 11 v 11. They'd get hauled over the coals. Be interesting to see what happens next. If the ref says he saw it and decided to take no action I don't think there's anything that can be done. If in his report he says he missed the incident altogether Branthwaite could face retrospective action from the FA.

Rubbish. It is serious foul play. He's kicked him in the face at head height causing the other lad a nasty injury. Maybe not intentional but recklessly endangering the safety of an opponent at best.

It's a red if you recklessly endanger the safety of an opponent. Intent doesn't come into it nor does it have to prevent a goalscoring opportunity.

No way it was only a yellow but it wasn't deliberate so there's no real need for Warnock to be going on at Branthwaite. However I think Mowbray and all of us would be similarly upset if the same injury had happened to one of our players as a result of such a reckless bit of play, the incident had gone completely unpunished, and the result had ultimately gone against us. So I can understand Warnock's frustration to a degree.

There aren't many to choose from, is that the first win against a team in the top half or the second?

Extremely fortunate three points courtesy of the referee's decision not to award a stonewall penalty and award a red card to Branthwaite which would obviously have changed the game completely. Six points off sixth, might have one or two more decent results then if we get within two or three points away from the play offs no doubt the next death spiral of one or two wins in ten will start again.

Ludicrous substitutions. Elliott does brilliantly to set up Rothwell and both immediately hooked to give Gallagher his obligatory run out. Will we get away with it? We'll see.

I was wondering exactly the same. If you can't use the indoor facilities in exceptional circumstances due to bad weather what's the point in having them? Isn't that the main reason they're there? If you were being cynical you'd say that we noted Ewood was in terrible condition after the last home game and having a few injuries and being in poor form we didnt fancy playing the game and trained on the pitch deliberately to get the game called off.

I'll get a slating no doubt for saying "We can but hope". What I mean is, I'd rather we won, but if we're to lose anyway a thumping might concentrate the owners minds on our actual situation as opposed to a narrow defeat which might enable Mowbray to muddy the waters by spainting yet another hard luck story.

Bell's been much better than Douglas this season imo but having signed Douglas Moggasaurus probably feels compelled to play him rather than send him back (which he should have done) or leave him out which would be an admission that he's dropped yet another massive bollock.

I realise you're only fiishing but not sure you should be quoting stats in favour of your argument. In the season we got relegated Mowbray managed 22 points from 15 games with the squad he inherited from Coyle at a rate of 1.466 points per game. Three full seasons on, two in the Championship and one in League One and seven transfer windows later, how does this season's 1.375 points per game represent the "progress" you keep telling us about?

Who is this "Young Nyambe" of which he speaks? Is it 23 year old Ryan's 18 year old kid brother we've never heard of?

Bloody hell...... that was a no brainer wasn't it. And he got it wrong. We ended up with a well past it Graham AND a £5m donkey.

Other than adopt your usual stance of feverishly defending every move the Club makes right or wrong I really don't know where you're coming from with this post. The weather conditions of the last few days are a side issue. The problem lies with the overall state of the pitch which in the words of your friend the groundsman is essentially because the thing as a whole is thirty years old. Maybe you could therefore attribute the blame for the state of the pitch two thirds to the Walker Trust and one third to the current owners. The difference though is that the pitch was perfectly playable during the Walker Trust era and has only shown signs of real distress and deterioration in the last three or four years and that's when it should have been sorted. If we anticipated there would be problems before the season started, why didn't we sort it in summer? I'll give the Club the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe there wasn't time to do anything too substantial last summer with the shorter turn around. Actions speak louder than words though and there's no excuse this summer we'll have to see how extensive Waggott's "renovation" is. Pitch technology has moved on enormously in recent years and it must be a bit like comparing a brand new car today to one from 1992. So if it's a root and branch replacement of the infrastructure, drainage, undersoil heating and top surface then fair enough. If it consists of turning over and resending the top part of the pitch for the umpteenth time then we'll know that the owners aren't really interested in the long term health of the pitch or haven't been asked to sort it out properly. The latter wouldn't altogether surprise me. As with the state of the stadium, the weeds previously growing inside Ewood Park and the rubbish piling up outside it, the pitch situation seems to summarise Swag's modus operandi. Instead of showing some pride in the Club, keeping on top of things and preventing problems before they arise the preferred option seems to be to let things slide and only act when things get so ridiculous that people kick off and you are grudgingly shamed into doing something. If, as we're led to believe, the owners never refuse a reasonable request for funding there's absolutely no need for it. It's third rate and amateur.

What a ridiculous piece from Mowbray. As if anyone expects us to be at exactly the same level we were when Sutton and Shearer were here. What grinds my gears the most is when he constantly plays the humble, down to earth working class hero card. How does that tally with constantly wasting the owners money on overly generous contract extensions for players that are past their best or were never good enough in the first place or both, other players that clearly were never going to play for us, and an ongoing stream of questionable signings through his Middlesbrough connections. And if we want to be pernickety about it we're more or less where we were when he joined - fifteen (poor) games away from returning to League 1. We're certainly not progressing. The ramblings of a desperate man scrabbling hard to preserve his cushy number aboard the good ship "long term plan". He's spotted that the owners aren't football experts, has wormed his way into their confidence, has got his mate appointed as his boss for extra security and is determined to eke the job out as long as possible and squeeze every last penny he can out of the V's for his own family's benefit.

There's absolutely no way Johnson should be getting a new deal for me, bar a few flashes this season he's past his best and has been another of Mowbray's poor signings. But he probably will get one. Nyambe should be the priority but probably won't sign if he's any sense and will go somewhere where his talents are appreciated. Rothwell is probably worth a new deal. Again would probably flourish under a different manager. Holtby has a bit to prove and on balance I'm not sure he's consistent enough. JRC will probably re-sign but I'm yet to be convinced by him or see anything that blows me away. The rest forget it. However Moggasaurus is probably hoping we can flog AA so he can give everyone new deals "and keep the squad together".