1) I really do appreciate that very many people are struggling to make ends meet and a Rovers ticket is a significant element in discretionary expenditure, BUT 2) imagined aggrieved victimhood is such a Blackburn trait

I thought Evans was a player we had seen the best of and frankly expected Smallwood to be a liability in the Chamionship. The performances of both are an enormous bonus this season and probably together are the core reason for us sitting in 8th rather than 18th.

If Spurs are willing to offer a sum which easily breaks our transfer record they have decided if he is good enough and there are aspects to his play which undoubtedly are. I really hope he stays because clubs like Rovers need Premier League class players to sustain ambitions.

Every team Rotherham have faced this season has thought "this has to be 3 points". The majority have been disappointed as Rotherham have W4 D5 L7... I am confident we will get 3 points as Mowbray will approach this game with all the professionalism and thorough preparation he brings to every game. It might not be with the starting XI and selection and timing of subs some of us might want and chances are there will be no OLE football but I will be very unpleasantly surprised if Mowbray and the lads don't get the job done. Rovers to win 1-0.

I don't know numbers and targets but I believe there is a plan for progressively strengthening/replacing throughout the squad including budget for the likely expenditures needed to bring young players in with very clear Premier League prospects. From here on I am second guessing but it doesn't take a genius to look at the age of Charlie Mulgrew, wonder what Premier League opposition would do every week to certain of our players and ask whether others would really be in a 25 man squad list... So the assumption is we will spend at least two seasons at this level and I guess you can take Sheffield United as a sort of model. Football is football of course- we might go and screw all this careful strategic planning up by still being within 5 points of 1st and 2nd during January 2019. And yes I agree about Harrison Reed BUT remember he hasn't yet hacked it in the Premier League at a fairly lowly club- THAT is the size of gulf this strategy is intended to cross.

Surely we have to be thinking about players who can do a job in the Premier League now? Not marginally OK in the Championship and League 1.

Hadn't realised they did country specific pricing but had noticed small price variations based on currency used. Ie watching on a Japanese or American server results in a £6 hit to the account. Just been glad to be able to watch from behind the the great Chinese firewall but most definitely will not be chosing the Dublin VPN host! Same price in Malta as in Sweden- suggests that Irish pricing is breaking EU Law.

Going to upward revise again on the assumption we get 7 out of the next 9 points on offer- ie, we become a bit more efficient turning draws into wins. Two sides all round better than us- Derby and Sheffield United. Boro undoubtedly better defence and Norwich better fire power. Leeds, Villa, Swansea, Bristol City, Forest, West Brom all in the categories of we beat them on our day and they beat us on their's so we finish in the middle of that group. The rest of the league don't have squads as good as our's (Wigan, Brum might be) but Mowbray and the team spirit are decisive factors in our favour. Add it all up and we are going to finish a frustrating/encouraging 7th folks!

Great stuff as usual but DG gets a horrible big red star for each of his two first half misses surely? Dack and Brereton deserve solid blue stars for keeping the ball in the corner for two of the four minutes added time in my book. The lack of mention for Leutwiler (who doesn't seem to get the blue star you awarded) is huge credit to the back four who didn't let QPR get anywhere near him- 90 minute game blue stars all round for that surely? Brereton far from going down easily won a completely legitimate penalty expertly. Placed his left foot with the precision of a ballet dancer. If the foot goes in its natural position a couple of centimeters to the right he probably doesn't get the penalty, put the foot too far let and it looks contrived. Put it where he did and he wins us two points we weren't getting otherwise.

Dack had men around him whenever he received the ball. Ben didn't and the penalty came from his second run at QPR with the ball. He drew the foul for the penalty expertly. He knew exactly where to place his left foot to get it trapped under the lunging QPR defender.

Both great runs in the Championship ended on Saturday. Brum were 1 up at Derby who upped the tempo 2nd half and blew them away. We of course were 0-0, denied QPR any chance of nicking it then snatched it ourselves at the end. The total lack of any QPR response after the penalty showed they had no attacking thoughts whatsoever. Brum included some notable scalps in their good run but QPR picked off wins against bottom half sides in their run. Memo to Rovers- beat the lower sides and you shoot up the league.

Just watched the highlights- very decent shout for a penalty in the first half for bringing down Bell in the box and ordinarily Graham takes at least one of those two first half chances. What passes for QPR's best chance of the 2nd half as adjudged by the editors is risible. A well deserved win for the Rovers.

The Bowyer squad was significantly better than this one but Mowbray is a proper football manager. Yes play-off slots are there for the taking and automatic promotion is if we have an exceptional January window through concertinaing the three window strategy into one. No reason to assume we would not pick up PL loanee gems again next season; getting Reed signed is going to be a high priority Sparky please. No there is no reason to assume Mowbray would be a nearly man

QPR remarkably disappointing- thankfully. Rovers did the job in the end but the strength in depth means that below energy performers should expect a spot of bench warming. Danny Graham had a stinker- the game would have been transformed had he taken the first half chances. Says a lot that we played at half pace against the form team of the division and could still win. And Brereton is showing decisively when he comes on- a lovely cameo at the Hawthorns last week and an as professional drawing of the penalty foul as you could ever see today.

Wobbly feed to say the least but the win was worth the E6.

Silent movies today, Given the QPR strip it would be better in black and white but with sound.

Ok I am really going into the mixer. Most fans haven't got the first iota of understanding of the club they are supporting as it is run TODAY. Something has happened in the Pune bungalow compound. It might be that finally the penny dropped for Mr and Mrs D in football terms. As sure a thing for getting promotion Neil Warnock was in place as Manager and tantrict gold earrings replaced him with as certainty for getting relegation as possible in Coiley (pass the sick bag). Even Mrs D (who does get abstracts of these pages) recognised an almighty balls up. But of course we are talking family and Balaji might have lead pious Venkat astray just once too often- who knows... What Has happened is that control of Rovers is unambiguously in the hands of Madam. And yes she called in double bean counters 18 months ago and yes I completely misread this as bean counters for sellers and buyers- NO Mrs D cannily had two lots in to look at current values and operations and separately at future plans and her £750K bought her honesty. Both accountants knew the others were reporting and had to play it absolutely straight accordingly. In retrospect this also told us that Mrs D is both wise enough and wealthy enough to ignore sunk costs. Money gone into a third division Rovers is lost- call it loans, share capital, moon dust or whatever- the money is gone and the question is what we do from here. Thankfully the answer for every Rovers fan was take the opportunity to srip the cost base but back Mowbray with a low cost (£5m in transfers) shot at first time promotion. When it looked like that was working in came Waggot, the first CEO or Chairman worthy of the title since Williams/Finn. Now we are running according to a strategy. Looking forward there is a strategy covering THE NEXT THREE WINDOWS- not something you find on FIFA 18 games. This summer we achieved most of the strategic objectives- remember the wailing banshees on 31 July on this message board becoming mostly silenced by 31 August? One of the strategic objectives surrounded the centre forward. Love him to bits but DG is not immortal and is prone to injury. So an amount around £7m was assigned for a centre forward. Yes other forwards were looked at. Yes Brereton was adjudged to be the best fit for our STRATEGIC needs. No that £7m was not going to be spent on a mish mash of centre halves and midfielders.

Catching up on my listening today. Brilliant well done to all concerned. Lenihan has come through some really big injuries for so young a player- huge respect for him increased with that interview. Fabulous player for Rovers and J*B stop your trolling.

Great listen as always. Was ahead of Ben Arthur on every detail but great piece on the play-offs. He spared us the penalty which almost hit the corner flag at Ewood.

My gut feel is there is nothing wrong with Rothwell that cannot be fixed by the right coaching and sports psychiatrist. I think we have a gem in the making.

So is Dack fit today?

I am not defending the logic of it. I am saying it as I read the Pune tea leaves. And what is your insight into the owners' thinking?

Dingles need to worry if two of the bottom three start winning games. Especially if the victories come against them.

Mrs D says very little but she has made it clear she would invest in young players. An improbable £8m was produced for Jordan Rhodes to back up Shebby so it is only fair that Mowbray be backed with a big ticket signing. As far as anything in football can be a sure thing, picking up an established under-20 England international who has the attributes of Brereton at his age looks like as safe a bet as you can find in football for protecting £7m. Fans were debating Brereton or XYZ but I don't recall any noise coming out of the club to that effect.

Will be happy with a draw today- important not to lose against play-off contenders. The next three though will be all about collecting 9 points irrespective of new owners at Wigan. Do that and we will be in position to talk meaningfully about the January transfer window. Runs of wins do wonders in this tight league as our opponents today have shown.