Villareal are a very shrewd club. I think it is more likely Ben will be a success there than a failure. I do expect we will see his playing style to evolve though. One word of caution, Ben is clearly much more of a confidence player than the vast majority of pros. I would worry for him if he gets off to a disappointing start. Those two goals against Millwall are probably worth their weight in gold down in Valencia Province.

A little thing called covid

Have a look at the accounts then

A safe prediction is Ismael Valerien will be sacked after a pre-season kick about.

Haven't seen Serie A for a while and I am not missing anything judging by that second half.

I will put my 23/4 bid in. If we keep the GB/JDT combination we will get automatic promotion. And I don't care who comes down, I am sticking with that at 8.58 on 10 May 2023.

More than 12 players going this summer?

The money has gone in as share capital not debt. Ffp is a thing and we had a transfer ban as a result of it. Stadium and pitch upgrades are an issue but are decisions taken by SWAG on allocation of funds given him.

Those stats are crazy. And Hirst missed that penalty at Cardiff...

LT reveal today JRC and JDT have agreed for JRC to develop as a goal scoring central midfielder. Fabulous news.

The Brentford commentary kept talking about young Coombes like he is a 12 year old. Just seen the team sheet. Young-Coombes Anyway, JDT was justified in his selections by Leonard's lack of penetrative ability against a superior defence this evening.

Burns showing why he is being released

Crikey, Rovers error after error and a pitch that is totally sodden.

Just put it on- we are losing 2-0

Boro and Coventry were in the relegation places in October which because of the World Cup was nearly half the season gone!

Totally incorrect.

Looking at it from a Rovers viewpoint, we'd be really fancying our chances if we were in there. Boro - won away but the Buckley ball bounce cost us a well deserved lead and all 3 points at Ewood Luton - stupidly lost a game which should have been drawn away then Sammy's crossbar thunderbolt at Ewood cost us everything Coventry - another stupid away defeat when a draw would have been a fair result and let's not talk about their keeper's expert handling in the 93rd minute at Ewood Sunderland - one of the easiest wins of the season at Ewood and threw away a winning position with, wait for it, a 93rd minute clincher from a loan player's last ever kick for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. I think I want to find a dark room for a quiet sob.

Boro, Luton, Coventry and Sunderland- what a quartet! Did anyone predict them for the play-offs?

Ben has given me huge pleasure watching him. He has an infectious presence on the pitch which communicates whether he is down or up and above all a joy for the game. All the players were obviously told to look fiercely serious stepping forward in those selection gifs- except for Ben who explodes forward with that huge smile on his face. I think he will surprise people and become a regular goal scorer for Villareal. I will miss him playing for Rovers.

Assuming there is no personnel change at the top, this is a big summer for Greg Broughton irrespective of budget allocation. I suspect there will be no sentimentality with Thomas Kaminsky, Bradley Dack or Daniel Ayala which will upset many fans. Have a gut feeling that Tayo Edun will do an Amari Bell away from Ewood but so be it. There will be prices agreed with Venky's on the heads of JRC, Ashley Phillips and Adam Wharton which I expect will be too high for any potential suitors. Getting JRC tied down to a new contract will be a major task and a land mark we need to see happen. I am not in the camp which is seeing defence and midfield as topmost priorities as I expect the progress of Batty, Garrett, Phillips and Adam Wharton will see all four emerge amongst the best in the championship next season which in combination with Hyam, Carter, Scott Wharton, Pickering, Brittain, Travis and recuperated Sam Barnes and John Buckley gives us strength in depth as well as space for more youngsters to come through. So that makes the front line the place for the most drastic surgery and is where it is needed. The dingles used the loan market to perfection and I would rather blow a million or two on a loan fee than three million on a League 1 or Madagascan mega capped striker who might not make the jump to Championship level. All in all, setting aside the January deadline mess up, Rovers have the strongest set-up since the days of Big Sam so I am quietly optimistic.

JDT is a class act. He has produced a wonderful season for us and I am really looking forward to a promotion push under him next season.

Still chuckling to myself about the way we came back to win. Fabulous performance after those two daft goals.

A player who has brought many smiles and restored pride. Good luck at Villareal!

Back in July I could see little reason for confidence although I was still confident we would be OK in avoiding relegation. Certainly wouldn't have forecast missing out on a play off place on goal difference. There are huge positives from the playing style brought in by JDT and the emergence of the youngsters. An extremely encouraging season.

When I wrote Rovers will take Mowbray into the play offs, it was supposed to be a jinx... Incredibly proud of how we bounced back in the lions' Den this afternoon. We have every reason to be optimistic about next season.