Jansen clearly suffered brain damage in his moped accident in Rome which effectively finished his career.

a) just the 1,220 km between Pune and Agra... b) hear the normal food in the compound is simple by Indian standards but exceptionally well prepared. Goes OTT for special guests.

Not arguing for Jagielka at all but perhaps Dack is better suited playing against Premier League opponents?

I feel unwell...

Lennart Johanssen who was the architect of the Champions League has just died at 89.

I must have missed the Downing signing. Welcome Stewart!

Sponsor Logo is not going to change in any detail whatsoever from what we had this season.

Aren't England playing Portugal on Thursday?

What are we doing as fans to encourage season ticket sales?

LT reporting there is no firm offer for Rodwell from Italy as yet and that Rovers are still in contract discussions with him.

Just been scanning for background on Downing currently - Boro thought he was finished at 34 but plenty of evidence he was arguably one of their best players in the first half of last season. The Middlesbrough Gazette describe his last season: "He is widely spoken of as still Boro’s most technically gifted player, one who retains and recycles possession and who keeps a cool head under pressure and the one player who sprinkle some top flight quality. "And as the pressures mounted on Karanka, Downing became a scapegoat for the boss... But he knuckled down, won his place back and was back in the team. And with the arrival of Tony Pulis he was restored as a fixture. "In many respects Downing is the opposite of a ‘Pulis player’ but the new boss couldn’t praise him highly enough; for his touch, his composure, his workrate and his nous. And while the low key booing went on, he enjoyed an Indian Summer. "He wasn’t skinning full-backs and crossing from the byline. He dropped deep to collect in midfield to pick out runs further forward. "He was a polished playmaker who rarely wasted the ball, a neat player with a delicate touch, great vision and incisive distribution." - Downing then got into a disagreement with Pulis and couldn't play part of the second half of last season because of the contract dispute. So he has bust up with Boro's last two Managers. - Boro are open to giving him a new contract but that is a decision to be taken as and when they get a new manager. That seems to be between Jonathan Woodgate and the Barnsley Manager. Meantime clubs are hovering over several Boro players. - Downing also attracting serious interest from Gerrard at Rangers and Bruce at Sheffield Wednesday - So it is a case for Rovers to get him now while Boro are without a boss or forget it. If he can do a top job for us for one season, we have so many young players coming through, I am fine with that. As for wingeing about the order in which new signings are made...

He was doing 120 mph. His other cousin is in critical condition with 60 per cent burns to his body.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/may/keep-your-card/

Towell did a job for Rotherham last season at Championship level- no pulling up trees but competent. He would have been on low wages by Championship standards and now faced a significant pay cut so take him for tea and sandwiches with Gary Neville, give him a Salford shirt signed by Beckham, offer perhaps 10% more basic than Rotherham would pay him in League 1, sell him a dream and better win and promotion bonuses than the Millers and Salford have got a player who will dominate League 2 for an outlay as little as £200k more than a League 2 player would cost them otherwise. Repeat ten times and you've bought the League 2 title for £2m with most of the added spend contingent on win and promotion bonuses.

Seen a positive from last night. Mancs have disappeared.

Crikey that was a waste of time.

You only need a couple of million or so to get out of League 2. Numbers start adding zeros League 1 upwards.

Crikey no quality from either side.

Europa Cup Final worked perfectly well through my VPN set to Docklands so have already got the beer in for watching this evening. Could go out but with Farsons very tasty Belgian-style Victory 1565 on offer at 80p for a 500ml can, why bother? Over 5% proof so a happy drink. Access the football by going onto Youtube then search for BT Sport. Feed starts about 5 minutes before kick off so sadly you will miss out on Danny Murphy's build up...

How often have I got to explain that whereas most football debt is existentially unsustainable, Rovers debt is actually very safe. Yes 2010 to 2017 was off the scale horrendous but currently it could scarcely be better from a sustainability stand point for a club from an impoverished little town.

Sod it, I will own up to being very excited by the prospect of tonight's Final. I know after those two semis its probably odds on being a bore fest but both sides are set up to attack and counter attack at pace. Spurs will be heartened more by what they did to Citeh than their Lazarus act in Amsterdam. I admire both mangers immensely and the teams are packed with players who get you off your seat when on the ball. Damn it- I think it will be a classic- either a high scoring pulsating game or Liverpool thrashing Spurs in style.

and the money...

I posted the finances of all the PL clubs. Parachute payments get eaten by Prem League wages of 25 under performers they come down with and then some.

The key is going to be the loanees we get from Premier League clubs. No way would Villa be going up without Tammy Abrahams.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/05/29/how-english-clubs-re-conquered-european-football?cid1=cust/dailypicks/n/bl/n/20190530n/owned/n/n/dailypicks/n/n/uk/247665/n