I did say optimistically. It's hard to see us drawing a game this season, let alone winning one. I'm already at the point where I'd do a deal with the devil and get Shebby back in just so he could give Coyle the shove. The next few months would likely be a disaster, but at least he'd increase the chance of Venky's getting more negative press. He'd probably name himself as manager this time, with Judan Ali as his assistant. And still we'd hear "give him a chance!" ...

How long until relegation is confirmed? February/March, optimistically?

If today is anything to go by, it won't change much. With Lowe and Henley in the full back positions you're onto a hiding no matter what.

45 minutes into the new season and I'm as sure as I can be that - barring a miracle - we are going down. Being relegated with Owen Coyle as manager (if he even survives until the end) and Jason Lowe as captain. Could it be any worse?

I'm not necessarily suggesting it's been said outright here - but when you start linking attendance to people losing their jobs, that is the implication, whether it's meant to come off that way or not. When you get down to the root cause, it's still Venky's. Our charitable, humble, misunderstood owners (Ewood Spark ©) have mismanaged a community asset to the point where people who have supported this institution for 50+ years are walking away with broken hearts and broken spirits. Everything boils down to those clowns in Pune, and if karma does exist they are going to get bitten hard one day.

No, but to try and make people who choose not to fund the Raos debt feel guilty over Ewood staff losing their jobs is, IMV, as low as it gets. There's only one party to blame and that's Venky's - people seem to lose sight of that sometimes.

Venky's are supposed to be philanthropic billionaires, but it's up to the fans to keep the staff at Ewood in jobs, even if that means getting @#/? on every two weeks? Sure, why not.

Aye, reading that letter it is incredible to think that anybody who really knew or cared about what was going on at the club would keep Shaw in place. It was a question asked at the time, and still relevant today - why was Shaw never removed from his position? Much like Kean, he simply ended up resigning when it was convenient for him.

I wouldn't have minded so much if he's said "I no longer have a connection with that group". I wouldn't have necessary believed him, but to say he doesn't know who they are is simply insulting the intelligence of the fanbase. Now, granted, there are many who will take him at his word and that's their prerogative - but it doesn't take too much research to come to the conclusion that statement is a total lie.

I think we all know Spurr isn't going to be the back up left back.

We don't have any money so that should give you an idea as to the type of player we're going to be bringing in. It's going to be more Delfouneso/Brown/Koita than Graham/Gestede/... can't even think of a third good player we've signed recently to be honest. Let's just say Evans, he plays well every so often. If Koyle sticks to his word and we do play attacking football, we will get destroyed.

I watched about 4 minutes of it. He's basically just repeating the same stuff every manager who's walked through the doors over the past 6 years has said. Great club, great tradition, great history, blah blah blah. Like every other manager we've had, his words are ultimately irrelevant. Results matter and he'd better hope he can bring in some decent players pretty quickly, because as it stands we're going nowhere fast.

How much more money do we give to SEM before we say enough is enough? We hire their players, we have their sponsors on our shirt, we have their manager in our dugout. Is this really Blackburn Rovers any more, or just SEM Rovers who happen to play at Ewood Park? Dark times.

It looks like when Smackdown starts airing live in July it will be under brand split rules again. This could actually make the B show relevant again.

Sad news. She had a pretty tough time of it in recent years but I'd heard she had been getting better. Much like with Eddie Guerraro, though, the damage sometimes cannot be undone. Hassan was a great character, but as usual WWE's creative team went too far with it. He went from being nuanced to just being a stereotypical terrorist.

Considering they're the 8th highest paid squad in the Prem I'm not surprised there are some clauses inserted - a lot of them will still be on stupid amounts even with 50% taken off. I wonder how much Rudy is on?

A statue of Michael Jackson the size of a skyscraper, perhaps. In all seriousness, no wonder Parker has stayed at Fulham. I doubt he'd even get half of £75k a week at his age anywhere else.

He'll be playing until he drops dead on that wage!

Yeah, he's a real recluse. Most Ipswich fans aren't really concerned about the debt though. As far as I can tell they trust Evans in that respect, though practically every Ipswich fan I've spoken to is disappointed that McCarthy signed a new contract and hoping he gets poached by one of the bigger clubs when they come down! I appreciate the football is truly horrific at Ipswich (worse than we were under GB, imo) but unless Evans gives Mick some money to spend he hasn't got much choice but to grind out results. It's tough on all concerned really, especially as season tickets have risen again this season...

Without investment in the summer it seems a sure bet we'll be in Bolton's position next season. How far will we have to fall before they decide enough is enough?

I'm a big fan of Sasha, Charlotte and Becky. Bayley and Asuka are tearing it up in NXT at the moment at well. TNA once had the best women's division going, looks like WWE may be bringing some of that back. Dropping the quite frankly offensive "diva's" name and the purple butterfly belt is a big step in the right direction. I don't have much faith in WWE creative to follow through in anything but the literal sense when it comes to this though.

I don't actually think Ambrose even needed to go over Lesnar. If it was my call the match would not have been booked at all, but since it was, why not have both men beat each other senseless until neither can get up and both have to be taken out on a stretcher? It elevates Ambrose as an absolute badass for hanging with Brock, who loses nothing (and gives a reason for another lengthily hiatus). Ambrose being beaten in 12 minutes and barely getting any offence in was just sad. There was significant damage done to Undertaker's character last night imo. He looked like an old man, wrestled like an old man, and struggled to hang with a 46 year old non wrestler. Time for the dead man to hang up the boots before he becomes a parody. I forgot about this segment. The Rock was in super irritating/cocaine mode which I found a bit cringey. There was no need for the Wyatts to take that beating, but they are buried beyond salvation now anyway. Send Bray back to NXT and start again.

You aren't wrong there. TNA had a couple of decent years between 2005-2007, but ever since WCW folded in 2001 the industry has been on a steady decline. It baffles me how many people I've seen defending the current product. I can only assume they've been fed @#/? for so long they've actually started enjoying the taste. Because they have forgotten how to make stars. They cut off all potential stars at the knees before they can even get going, and push cookie cutter sports entertainers that are far too bland to captivate an audience. Last night is a perfect example (spoilers ahoy for anybody who hasn't watched WM yet): Ryback was getting over previously, but is now inexplicably being jobbed to the horrifically bland (but kid friendly) Kalisto on the pre show's pre show. Zack Ryder wins the IC Title - this would be fine if Ryder was going to go somewhere, but we know he won't. He'll probably lose the title tonight, robbing the likes of KO or Zayn - guys who could actually do something for the company - of the chance to make an impact at the biggest PPV of the year. Jericho beats AJ Styles. Seriously, what? Podgy, out of shape Jericho beats AJ totally clean? The guy that lost to Fandango last year beats one of the most over new wrestlers on the roster? Words fail me. League of Nation beat New Day. League of Nations then get pummeled by the retired hall of famers. Nobody wins here. Utterly pointless. Lesnar destroys Ambrose in a keany match. Pointless. Shane McMahon takes one of the WM spots to face Undertaker. Yes, he's over, but surely WWE should be asking themselves why a 46 year old non-wrestler is far more over than anybody else on their entire roster? Imagine they'd built a full timer up to take that spot instead. They might actually make a real star. Then there is Reigns. Dear God, it's almost like the creative team are purposefully trying to sabotage the guy. I feel bad for him. He hasn't really done anything wrong, and I suppose on some level he knows the fans are really booing Vince and the creative team, not him. The crowd hate his character because they know it's not real. They don't hate Roman as a person, they might even start cheering him if he turns heel. But hey, Vince knows best.

Generally speaking I massively dislike the current WWE product. It's bland, boring, fake and soulless. That said, they always seem to pull off a couple of decent months around WrestleMania and the event itself is usually good to watch even if you haven't been following the storylines. Not this year. The build up was awful and the event was just as bad. Shane McMahon kicking out of the last ride, kicking out of a chokeslam on the steps, and then reversing Taker's Hell's Gate submission into a sharpshooter just broke my barrier of disbelief. It was too much. Roman Reigns has nuclear heat with the crowd, he's essentially going to be the next John Cena, without the drawing part. As an aside, NXT Takeover Dallas was unbelievably good. It's hard to believe the same company produces Raw and NXT. Shinsuke Nakamura's debut was awesome, and his match with Zayn was off the charts good. NXT, as usual, outshone the main shows by a huge margin.

One of the worst WrestleMania's ever last night. The whole event was, by and large, a massive FU to the fans from Vince, Hunter and Stephanie. The wrong person went over in almost every match, and the main event was possibly the worst ever. The crowd were booing Reigns so much that WWE muted the audience and turned up the ring/announcer mics to block it out. They then piped in fake cheers at the end when Reigns won the match. A real low point as far as respecting their fan base goes. I regret staying up until 5am to watch it.