Yeah, if it had been £10-15 then I would expect a significant take up but at £20 it isn't really anything to get excited about. It might encourage some of the game by game visitors to buy theirs in advance or move to the Jack Walker upper but can't see people queuing up in their droves. £20 is plenty so dressing it up as though this is a brilliant offer won't wash.

No Blackburn Rovers manager can preside over a 4-1 defeat to Preston and a 3-1 defeat to Wigan in the space of 4 days and not get substantial criticism. I care not one jot how well Mowbray talks in his interviews, how nice a bloke he is, or what ideas he has on recruitment and tactics. Results then performances determine a manager and those in the last 10 days have been well short of the expected standard. I'd say the criticism has been quite muted given the manner of the performances. Deplorable doesn't cover it. These weren't games we played well and were unfortunate or had bad decisions or luck. They were utterly atrocious performances, back to back, against poor sides. A mess from back to front. Results AND performances need to improve significantly. If they don't Mowbray will be criticised more. If they do and this turns out to be a minor sticky patch as 'all sides have' apparently then he'll be praised for sorting it out quickly.

Yes, but if say there were 28 BAME managers would that not mean that non-BAME managers were under-represented?

I had no idea Luhukay was classed as BAME. I've always thought he was an odd looking bloke but never expected him to be categorised as BAME. I wonder if he would support that categorisation or if he considers himself a Dutchman as much as Ronald Koeman and nothing else? I bet the people who invent these terms and go on about it all the time haven't asked him if he approves of the classification. Maamria and Nuno Santo were born in African countries so how far does that get taken? Why is that any different to Pellegrini from Chile or Pochettino from Argentina? Why do they have additional attention upon them because they happen to have slightly darker skin as they hail from far away places? What number out of 92 managers would you think is appropriate for BAME people to occupy? The only way it can be worked out is as a percentage and proportionately.

I'd be interested to know who the 8 'BAME' managers are at present. Campbell, Darren Moore, presumably Chris Hughton, who are the other 5? Keith Curle? Who decides if you are BAME? Is it the people themselves, is it some bloke working for Kick it Out? Is it based on any criteria or just on someone having darker than average skin colour? Would, for example, Chris Hughton consider himself to be in a special category different to Mick McCarthy just because his skin is darker? Both as English as they come despite qualifying for the ROI through parents. So many questions that these people in the media seem to avoid whilst coming up with their stories about 'under representation' when actually if you want to sit and work it out 8 out of 92 'minority' managers is actually about right for a percentage and in the case of the England senior team you could argue that non-BAME people are 'under represented' (if you want to spend your life making an issue out of it).

According to the racially obsessed BBC that now brings BAME representation among the 92 Football League clubs to 8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46394289 If we want to get petty about things and talk about 'fair' representation I'd actually argue that 8 out of 92 isn't far off proportionate by head of the population in this country. 8 out of 92 is over 7% which I don't think is that far off the percentage of BAME people in society, perhaps a couple of per cent below. It seems the media are still under the impression that there is massive under-representation in the League. Interestingly I've heard plenty of people complaining about the number of BAME managers but none have ever provided a number out of 92 they believe is appropriate to satisfy this and come up with a reasonable argument why.

I agree although I take issue with this 2-3 transfer window building timescale that it seems Mowbray has identified as being needed for his project. Ultimately he's now had 2 summer windows and 1 January window, and we're still in a position where our main players are those he inherited. The only one or two contributing significantly in the Championship really are Reed and Dack. Smallwood is being found out as not really good enough and the jury is still out on Bell. Armstrong isn't really doing enough out wide, although he's caused teams problems with his pace at times he hasn't scored or created enough. The rest of our core - Raya, Mulgrew, Lenihan, Evans, Bennett, Graham - were here before and it seems will be here for a while longer as the new contracts are handed out. So I'm not exactly clear where these changes are going to be made in the next couple of windows that are going to catapult us up the league. I'm more than happy to back Mowbray for the next few windows if that is what he thinks he needs to assemble a strong squad but I do look at business done to date and question where we are going with it all. The majority of his signings so far have been ineffective or short term options, whilst the focus of our business recently seems to have been securing Bennett, Mulgrew etc. onto longer deals.

We do that a lot. Get on top, causing the opposition a few problems, and then the first counter attack or attempt they have they score. Last night, Preston did it on Saturday and got their 3rd with virtually their first attempt of the 2nd half, Bristol City dismantled us as we applied pressure and they cantered through on the counter attack, Swansea we had on the rack, looked like we might push for an equaliser then straight down the other end and its 3-1. Even Forest and Villa managed to snatch points off us when we looked to be comfortable and cruising to the win. We have phases in games. When we're ahead or level we seem to leave it to the opposition to force the issue and persist with our boring passing it around slowly getting nowhere. The only time we show any proper urgency is when we're trailing and need a goal, and then we go too far the other way and go gung ho leaving massive spaces at the back for the opposition to pick us off. Rarely do we punish the opposition with pace or speed.

Don't see what good Chapman would do us at this stage. We need to learn how to defend and we've bigger problems in CM and up front. If we're expecting an injury prone kid who has barely played for 12 months who couldn't get in our side in League One to suddenly turn up and make us into an effective attacking unit that sounds far fetched. Mowbray clearly has no desire for an out and out winger hence his obsession with sticking players out wide who are used to playing in the middle. Reed, Brereton, Armstrong, Antonsson, Payne. Our defence struggles because we invite pressure on ourselves with our boring and aimless play where we pass it around at the back between defence before launching it long and hoping Graham, Dack or Armstrong pull off a bit of magic by getting on the end and holding it up. When Wigan had the ball last night they got 4 or 5 men forward. When we won the ball in midfield there was Graham and Dack. When defending they got men back, we were exposed every time.

Doesn't help when the manager is strolling around in his technical area with his head in his hands or goes and sits down for a sulk when things aren't going well. Cook and his staff were in the technical area all the game issuing instructions, making changes, getting stuck into people, abusing the referee and 4th official. Venus and Lowe didn't so much as stand up apart from when substitutions were being made. Mowbray's body language when things aren't going well is shocking.

Don't think I've read a single comment suggesting Mowbray should be sacked. I'll be the first to say that if this garbage continues over the coming weeks and months then he should be.

There's problems in every area of the pitch, bar possibly GK. The full backs look atrocious. I lost count how many times last night Nyambe and Bell had long balls played to them and they either went out for throw ins or they needed about 4 touches to control it during which a Wigan player would win it off them. Williams has been embarrassing. CBs (or should I say CMs playing at CB) caught out too often. Midfield is just a complete and utter mess. The only one who should probably be playing in the position he did at this level is Corry Evans, who at least has shown himself to be a capable Championship central midfield player, but then with him we get round to his fitness and his disappearing act for the Preston game which was very odd. Smallwood isn't good enough. The wide positions are the most puzzling piece of the jigsaw. Armstrong, Reed, Conway, Bennett tombola and none are effective in those positions. Up front Danny Graham picks himself when fit but clearly has injury issues and the result seems to be a lottery of trying different things and hoping one works. This is why the reaction and concern - not because we've lost a couple of games but because we've been so poor and the team from back to front just looks like a complete and utter confused mess, like they don't know each other and like the manager doesn't have a clue how to best use what he has at his disposal.

Mowbray's had his money. Almost £10 million of it if rumours of our owner's benevolence are to be believed. Having spent such a relatively vast amount and not having to sell anyone and looking at the return this season from those he has signed, i wouldn't be in a rush to get the chequebook out in January if it was my cash.

The other similarity is they both worked under the same lunatic owners and began to make signings/decisions that raise eyebrows and make you wonder if something is happening above them to force them into it. Under Bowyer strange stuff happened with Rhodes, under Mowbray it is Brereton. All very odd.

I have to say I'm struggling to recall a performance as bad as that. Delving back into the archives even our lowest ebb under the clown Coyle I'm struggling to think of many occasions where we were worse than that tonight. We've seen poor spells, poor performances where we've come out with a point or 3, poor individual performances on plenty of occasions under Mowbray but tonight it was all rolled into one and I don't really think anyone comes out of it with any credit whatsoever. Full backs atrocious. Midfield non-existent. No pace, no creativity, limited to repeated long balls forward which Wigan lapped up all night, defensively fragile and opened up with ease as soon as pressure applied. Wigan completely coasting at 2-0, we scab a goal back and then they immediately restore their cushion with their first attack. Dreadful I'm almost embarrassed we managed a goal to our name because we certainly didn't deserve it. We've now been humbled by two poor sides in Wigan and PNE. They've both battered us, scored 7 goals against us and they probably couldn't believe how poor we were for a side sitting well ahead of them in the table. Remember for a moment just what a horrible run of form Wigan had been on before tonight and how they overcame all that to put us to the sword. We're in for a long hard season folks unless something changes quickly. I've no idea what the manager is trying to do or what his grand plan is because on recent displays we're all over the place and the team and players look clueless, disinterested and disorganised.

You mean like Mowbray and Waggott due to go to India and then mysteriously not doing?

Almost as though it's happened by design.....

Bradford have some sort of bonkers set up with their German owner who likes to be involved in recruitment and selection. Phil Parkinson walked out soon after they took over, McCall did an excellent job yet was sacked, Grayson wasn't prepared to hang around and then they went down the route of appointing a young unheard of coach in Collins who failed. They don't seem to have a clue what they are doing in their appointments and it seems they've got one foot through the trap door. They've actually signed some decent players for League One level and other 'big names' like Payne, Scannell, Akpan, Caddis. I'm surprised how poorly Plymouth and Bristol Rovers are doing. I had them down to be pushing the play-offs this season.

Get past 2000 and it is fair does considering. Wigan would only bring that to us on a Saturday and even the mighty amazingly well supported Middlesbrough only took 900 to Preston last night.

Watched a bit of Sheff Wed v Bolton last night. Awful stuff from both sides. Bolton are sinking and can't score. Don't recall them having a single serious attempt. Wednesday weren't much better but managed to get a header from a corner on target. We need to win on Saturday against that lot.

Fair do's. I happen to believe Mowbray can be questioned and criticised. Just because he's done/is doing a good job doesn't mean we should all shut up and blindly accept everything he says as being gospel truth and beyond question.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/11/26/birmingham-citys-potential-points-deduction-case-will-heard/ Latest Birmingham City 'points deduction' story. Will be put on trial in February apparently. I'll put it on the line now that this won't happen and they'll either settle with the League by way of a substantial fine like QPR did or appeal a points deduction and succeed.

I think everyone can agree that Brereton was by far our most expensive signing of the summer. The only other one to reach more than a million quid was Armstrong. Lets agree that £7 million is a massively inflated figure and the real price was only half of that. £3.5 million. That's still over two thirds of what we spent.

The mental part is scouting and signing a player he wants, spending 80% of his total transfer spend on him and then refusing to play him for more than 20 minutes.

I'm well aware of Mowbray's comments. That doesn't prevent me questioning the logic behind signing someone who he doesn't think is ready to play, especially when the player in question was by far our most expensive signing and cost more than we've spent in years. I don't think we or anyone else in this league can afford to spend time waiting for players to get ready or develop. All this 'one for the future' stuff is boring. The only aim should be to get promoted asap, not sign players who take 6 months to get up to speed.