The other possible take on this is that he's deeply upset at the amount of work his team put in, only for it to be worthless because of the admin screw ups. The amount of times I've witnessed people leaving companies in my career because "a great opportunity has come up", when in reality if the culture and process was correct in their current role, they wouldn't be remotely interested in leaving in the first place.

Wilmot, Sarkic and Pearson all doubts for Stoke. All first team regulars. https://www.google.com/amp/s/the72.co.uk/2023/03/06/alex-neil-shares-injury-updates-on-wilmot-sarkic-and-pearson-after-stoke-citys-win-over-sunderland/amp/

I don't think anyone is saying we should be scared of Stoke. Given our form we need to be going there with a plan to make sure we come away with three points. I do think the opposition in Stokes recent upturn in form has been fairly weak, however the apprehension some posters are having is because they are conscious Stoke will be no pushovers. We will have to go there prepared for a battle and given the tight margins of many of our victories, you always need that little bit of luck.

Not that any United player was fitting of wearing an armband today, but one of them should have marched up to him on the pitch and demanded he hand it over. Shane Duffy excluded, I've never seen a player so obviously give up during a game. Disgraceful diving (nothing new), having the ball knocked past him and literally walking whilst his team mates spring past him, shoving the linesman and waving in protest at not being subbed when 6-0 down. I've never seen anything like it.

My comment was really in reference to all the other teams we're playing in our final 5 games. The Burnley game is an exception. Form counts far less in a derby. It's simply going to be a battle.

I'm not sure Stokes form has me worried. They've beaten Huddersfield, Swansea and Sunderland and lost to Blackpool and Millwall in that time. In terms of the wins you couldn't wish for 3 kinder fixtures. What does worry me is them being Stoke. I've not looked at our history against them, but my immediate memories of playing them is we never seem to perform well. I'm certain it's not going to be a pretty game. Alex Neill isn't a bad manager and I see them sitting deep with us struggling to carve out many opportunities. Prediction is 0-0. If a team is to win it will be 1-0 and that could just as likely be them as it is us.

It's not like we're due a transfer fee anyway so I couldn't care less. He obviously has the offer on the table from Villareal which he is seemingly yet to accept. It's not long until English based clubs will be able to offer him pre-contracts either. Regardless of whether he is in the Rovers team, given his form I can't imagine there will be many Premier League offers incoming. Maybe one club may take a gamble but there won't be a scramble, resulting in mega bucks. Even from an unbiased perspective I really think his best option may well be staying with us. He looks a million miles from being ready to step up to another team right now and would be at real risk of his career completely stagnating.

In terms of the playoffs it looks like a 4/5 horse race for the final 2 spots. Coventry and Norwich are absolutely flying and will be in the mix. Given Lutons style of play I imagine they will continue picking up points and will be there or there abouts. I think Millwall will begin to drop away, but still being in with a shout with 2 or 3 games remaining in the season. Boro and Sheffield United to be somewhere in the top 6 regardless. My only frustration with out current run is the form of those around us. It's crazy there's not more of a cushion. ------ And then there is us. Given our form we may close the gap towards the automatics but our squad is paper thin. Realistically I see automatics as a step too far. Our next run of games are very winnable and so, so vital. Stoke, Reading, Birmingham, Norwich, Huddersfield, Hull. Followed by a very tough run of Coventry, Preston, Burnley, Luton, Millwall. My hope is the fixture list has been kind as most those teams are bang in form. If a couple of those begin stuttering we may have avoided them just at the right time. Momentum is so important. Keep winning through March and into mid April, confidence will be sky high and Ewood will be rocking just at the right time for that tough run.

I'd love Mowbray to reverse a death spiral for once in his career. Frustratingly their next 3 fixtures are against Norwich, Sheffield United and Luton. I imagine that'll be 3 points in the bag for each of those teams. As hilarious as it'll be we could really do with him doing us a favour or two.

Dack has done brilliantly to force his way back into the side. Now he's injured, Szmodics has stepped up and Dacky has to do it all again. He'll get opportunities to do so, but no player should automatically expect to walk straight back in. The reason we are where we as is because every player has to fight for their place. I look forward to Dack trying to force his way back in and Szmodics keeping his levels high knowing that any drop off in performance may see him lose his place. Healthy competition. On that note, the same applies to Diaz. He needs to win the shirt back too.

Ethan Brierley started and got an assist for Rochdale today.

Res card all day long. Doesn't matter that he got some of the ball. You go in with that power and studs up that high its a leg breaker. If Dolans foot was planted that's exactly what would have happened. Terrible decision by the referee.

This game has the feeling of Bournemouth away last year, only a lot later in the season. We were on a great run and they were a test as to how far we'd come. We convincingly won that game, with a lot of heart and desire and at that point I truly started to believe (foolish). At the moment I'm very impressed with how we're performing but ultimately still doubt the overall quality in our squad. Beat Sheffield United this weekend and I know I won't be able to help myself getting carried away!

On reflection, I'm quite pissed off about this. Maybe I need to be more cynical in life as I genuinely thought us taking it this far meant there was legitimate reason behind the appeal. Fair play to those posters who saw through what people at the club were doing. Spending money to take the heat off and protect themselves. I'm interested as to who drove the appeal reaching this stage and like the poster who has emailed Waggott, I want a true and transparent investigation. Fat chance of that happening since the ones who probably lodged the appeal are those culpable. Looking at the spurious reasons behind our appeal maybe there were a lot of heated discussions behind closed doors, which is why it took so long for the club to communicate with fans when this first happened. Why Broughton came out and said the buck stops with him, I've no idea as there are certainly others in the firing line far before him. Maybe he just gradually recognised that nobody else at the club was going to have the decency to do so. I was annoyed at us not getting the transfer over the line, but this feels like treating the fans with contempt. So Waggott and Sylvester could protect their own backs. I'm going to try and forget about this now. The playing staff and JDT are making us proud and bringing genuine enjoyment. That doesn't mean I want this swept under the carpet, but I'm sure it will. The appeal was stage one of operation save face.

From what I can see. Waggott is certainly accountable. Within the clubs own argument they stated that club officials being at the Birmingham game hindered the transfer. The response was that the club had the choice of whether officials were either at the game or on hand for transfers. - there is no hiding place for Waggott to escape some culpability in this Sylvester is accountable as it seems as though he really fannied around with the paperwork. The initial submission at 20:28 did not include a contract should the permanent option be triggered. This was the requested by the EFL at 20:47. The rules were clear and it seems the requirements for documentation were communicated early enough. I assume there was then a delay in him providing these and was taken off guard when further details were needed in those submissions. There is zero excuse on his part. Broughton was off wining and dining O'brien elsewhere during his medical. In a location that did not allow for any bumps in the road regarding paperwork to be quickly resolved. Personally i see him as less culpable but i think this does demonstrate a lack of experience on his part regarding big transfers and preparing for what could go wrong.

Basically we argued that the 23:00 deadline is a hard deadline and if a club asks for an extension then we have until 23:15. We argued that 23:15 is not a hard deadline and should have leniency. The reason we argued this is because the 23:15 deadline is only stated in the guidance section of the EFL rulebook and not in the regulations section. To add to this Silvester attended a meeting whereby this was explained prior. We ended up submitting all relevant documents at 23:28 so 13 minutes past the extension. Any mention of relegation clauses were limited and seemingly hours before the deadline. We also argued we were disadvantaged because we had staff at the Birmingham game (Waggott), that we had less medical staff due to them being at the game (something which was in our control) and that the medical took place at the training ground whilst the club secretary was at the stadium (again within our control). Overall there's no bloody wonder the appeal failed. It was based on naff all and certain staff members have shown their incompetence.

They've seen nothing yet!

It's no coincidence that the only genuine nailed on starter that Sheffield United have playing tonight just so happens to be suspended on Saturday. Virus my arse.

Slightly irritated that Sheffield United are playing the kids against Spurs tonight. They've made 8 changes. Maybe they're scared of us. But then again they're not going to experience what we did last night. Shoddy from their manager.

It really shows how much of a mood change there has been around the club when I say HANDS OFF. We need to make sure JDT is backed and he truly sees actionable steps being taken towards the vision which initially brought him too the club. He's an ambitious manager so will consider what is best for his career. On a side note it's refreshing that someone is looking to poach him as it shows the good work that is being done at Rovers. Progress and success will always bring external interest. I'd rather this than us just bumbling on as we did under Mowbray.

Proud to be a Rovers fan this morning. Not just because of the win, but how we went about it. We completely played Leicester off the park for much of the game. Its pretty rare you see a side in a lower division do this. Usually cup upsets lend themselves to bodies on the line, being physical and wanting it more. We taught Leicester a lesson for much of last night and then once they did pull one back, I was very impressed with how we defended to see the game out. Most their opportunities for an equaliser were half chances. We can safely say that last night epitomised what our club and motto are about. Arte et Labore. By skill and hard work.

I believe the big lump was Danny Shittu. 6ft5 unit of a man. Its telling that that single game sticks out in so many minds given the sheer amount of dross that came both before and after. It really was the most clueless, bang your head against a brick wall game/tactics I've ever seen.

If spending £400 + million isn't backing him then I don't know what is. Potter looks lost. I can't imagine it's easy balancing that squad but surely you'd be expecting better than what he's serving up at the moment. He looks exhausted. I've half a feeling he'd be quite happy to be paid off and have some time off right now.

It appears JPvH never did sign that contract extension with Brighton in January so his deal is up at the end of the season. Though the offer is still on the table and they'd like him to stay. Wise from him in my opinion. He's given it 6 more months to try and break into their team, which it appears isn't going to happen. If we were to let Ayala go, bring in JPvH and loan out Phillips we'd be very well stocked at CB. Hyam, JPvH, Carter and Wharton. That's a beastly bunch of centre backs. With Brittain and JRC either side and Pickering as cover it's the best defense we'd have had in a decade.

Interesting that there's no Leonard in that side. Maybe he's in line to be on the bench against Leicester?