Well, Cantwell, to be fair. Both the player and the club confirmed that he had a lot of other options, but he liked how JE sold the club and ambitions to him.

On checking, yes, I was - but my points stand. He's been poor recently, I don't think anyone who has seen the goals we've conceded can deny that and keep a straight face.

I disagree - his positioning was poor and gave him a harder job to get across. Showed far too much of the goal to the Oxford lad. Then the shot itself was quite soft - and he got a hand to it, but pushed it into the goal. But his main failing here was his poor positioning.

Worryingly, he's showing signs of regressing in recent weeks - after quite a stable season. Last night's goal was extremely soft, as were both goals at Oxford and on top of errors like Portsmouth at home and a number of fumbled catches / ones he's gotten away with. JE is a smart chap; these performances won't be lost on him.

I couldn't post on here last night, site was playing up. However, pleased to get the 3 points as the priority, as always. Gueye is looking better with each passing week, thought he was very good last night. Defence looks as good as any in this division and Travis made all of the difference, as we thought he would. On the negative side, I thought Pears continued to look dodgy - the goal in particular was very soft and he was again beaten at his near post by a shot you'd expect any Championship GK to make. And we dropped deep the moment that Preston started going route one, instead of continuing to play our game. Against a side better than Preston, that could easily have cost us.

Happens every year. They see the discontent and start throwing a few scraps to the likes of Nixon. They honestly think we're stupid.

29th Jan, 2 days to the end of the transfer window. We've signed a player on loan from a team in the division below us and an OAP free transfer from Plymouth Fucking Argyle. And that's before you even consider our injury-ravaged first team squad. This is absolutely ludicrous. We are being run by amateurs at every level above the Head Coach.

I actually missed the Coventry game in it's entirety, as I was away for some conference thing. You would think that Toth has the benefit of still being an unknown entity right now. Pears, we've had to experience this level of general incompetence for a number of years now.

I find it stunning that some quarters are actually trying to shift the blame. Pears was the difference between us picking up points and losing yesterday - that screenshot on the previous page of his teammates' reactions speaks volumes. And, again, whilst he's had a better season than last (which would have taken some doing to be worse than last season, to be fair), the big red flags have been there all season; he's just not been punished as regularly for them. See Coventry in our last home game, for example.

So, still nothing happening then? Absolutely criminal. Heads should roll. But we know the story and we all know how this plays out...

First goal was entirely preventable - his positioning was poor for starters. He was slow to get across to the relatively soft shot, even getting a weak hand to it and pushed it into the goal. Second goal took a deflection, but once again, his positioning was poor and his reactions equally so. A professional GK should not be beaten from that angle, by that weak shot. On top of that, his poor decision making should have cost us another goal, but Brittain's goaline clearance bailed him out. He's benefitted massively from a much more organised defence this season, but the same old Pears has still been there throughout - and we've seen the warning signs quite regularly. He's just not good enough and costs us points.

A professional goalkeeper should not be beaten from that angle, with that soft shot. Positioning was wrong, anticipation was wrong, reactions were not present. He has been at fault for both goals today.

The outfield players must feel disheartened. They're not great, but they've mostly played quite well today - I even think Buckley and Forshaw did a decent job in the middle. Gueye seems to be getting better game by game. Then you have a GK that just throws the game away for you, undoing all that good work.

Pears needs to - and I cannot stress this enough - fuck right off. Absolute liability.

Soft FK giveaway. Even softer goalkeeping - Pears is terrible.

I wonder if Jackson is alluding to the theory of Venky's being willing and able to spend money, but someone based in the UK (Suhail) is advising them not to / refusing to?

You're not. And it is. We have a substantial recruitment and data analyst team, which is why it's entirely unacceptable. It seems every year we manage to come across even less organised and less professional than the last. I genuinely, honestly, believe that a handful of fans on this board would be doing a better job.

On that last point, I'm always suspicious of how many small companies are linked/related to the club (owned by club staff). In addition to the multiple branched-off Venky's sub companies. https://open.endole.co.uk/insight/company/00053482-the-blackburn-rovers-football-and-athletic-limited Whilst I have no doubt that the snowball was a massive contributory factor to how things have played out, it seems highly unlikely that less legitimate things are not being covered up by the unwillingness to sell.

This is what worries me. TM was able to get the owners to invest because he'd go out there and speak directly to them. Now it seems that they leave Suhail to run the club and make the decisions. Unfortunately for us, he clearly has zero interest in us doing any more than treading water in the Championship (at best). Once JE leaves - and he will soon - we are a poor appointment away from League 1.

Not sure on anything else, but remember that account leaking this season's kits weeks/months before they were unveiled. Clearly has some info, at some level.

If the rest of the transfer window goes as we all expect, it's probably time to remove the 'friend' bit out of 'critical friend'.

You could see the deflection in real time (well, on telly, maybe not inside the ground), though I couldn't see who it came off. Let's be honest, Pears wasn't saving it either way. Shame the free kick was given away in the first place, very soft.

If anyone had any doubts that Nixon is nothing more than a red top guess merchant, the O'Brien 'link' should seal it. The laziest possibly link to make, along with linking BBD with us. Will absolutely not happen. And if it did, I'll show my arse on the halfway line in the subsequent home game.

Way before my time, but we've all seen the clips and highlights - clearly some player. That finish for City, against United, in that pivotal game is iconic.

Horrible, horrible performance from start to finish. Buckley was probably the pick of the players today and he was barely average.