Douglas subbed off at Brentford for footballing (card crazed ref) reasons, not an injury. But Pike out for seven days for concussion suffered on Monday v Spurs in PL2

Mowbray's comment is very concerning. Under different ownership I would hazard it is a negotiating stance but it could be their way of finding out what the current market rate is with all the risks that entails. Equally they might be showing their belated displeasure at the contract awarded to eg Charlie Mulgrew and the comments he made- no doubt we are paying at least 80% of his wage at Fleetwood. I originally posted this on the transfer thread but have moved it here. It offers an attempt to rationalise what on the face of it is irrational. Having the contract talks now might be the best timing from the club's perspective and a product of conscious management decision rather than Ewood indolence or Pune not understanding what is needed. I stress MIGHT. This is just a deduction based on facts we are all aware of- not based on any behind the scenes conversations. 1) FFP pressure has reduced since September as a result of the one year delay in enforcing rules as a result of the Covid crisis. Sure we could have talked with agents earlier but we were already at our FFP ceiling and offering better terms would only be at the cost of a transfer ban and points deduction. Better say nothing than say something dumb. 2) In the summer we only had one big money saleable asset and he was a long way from fitness. 3) Because of eye catching performances since September, we are in a much healthier position if we don't go up this season than we were only 12 weeks ago. If we are forced sell one or more players to avoid FFP sanctions, quite a few would each now raise net transfer fees to fund at least two months' operating losses. Even if any one of them suffers an injury like Dack did, we will no longer lose our only get out of FFP jail card. Brereton and Gallagher might not yet command the figures we paid for them in a forced sale but we would get more than gift tokens for them based on the 16 games so far this season. There is a whole thread speculating on how many tens of millions Arma might now be worth.. 4) and this is the crunch one- what sort of a contract do we want to give to whom? Which players would we want to retain for a Premier League squad? The coming weeks will decide whether this is a realistic question for Rovers. If it is - let's say we are still within 6 points of top in January - then we will be at the ideal time to write a contract and adjust our wage policy to - recognise we have become promotion contenders and no longer mid Championship trundlers - anticipate Premier League pay - write in a relegation clause if we get to the Premier League (too late to include that at a reasonable wage after promotion). Premier League and EFL talk of ending parachute payments makes relegation clauses potentially existential for a club like Rovers. All the players we fans are hoping will renew are young enough to be offered three year (or more) deals on the table. Holtby would only be 32 at the expiry of a three year deal so these are inevitable considerations in deciding what sort of contracts to offer IF The Raos are willing to write bigger cheques in a gamble on promotion and the FFP risk if we are not celebrating next May/June.

If Mowbray gets us up to the Premier League this season and keeps us there for at least two seasons he will have earned greatness.

It felt like the end of the World.

Irrespective of the bail out, there will be clubs in dire financial situations in January. We might be surprised by who is available to be picked up on reasonable terms.

Apologies- you are absolutely right. I guess that Reading game was so fluid it never occurred to me there was any attempt by Bristol City to crowd the midfield. Reading cut through them at will and there was precious little evidence of 3 central defenders but they were on paper set-up as 3-5-2. The wing backs/ wing halves were so often defending their respective flanks it looked more 4-4-2.

Crosses remain a devastating weapon especially if you are able to get defenders turning and facing their own goal. So effective that with the higher fitness levels and ability to substitute half a team, defenders getting out to block potential crossers far more than they used to IMO. I would also suggest the science of blocking balls has improved dramatically- players seem to be far more effective in selecting the right body part to optimise chances of a non-handball block. The lighter balls means a block is no longer risk of injury as used to be the case. Plus a cross is pot luck finding your own player whereas a pull back pass finds your own player more often than not. With the emphasis on possession and the improvement in average players' ball retention skills has meant crossing is more discretionary compared with the old fashioned getting down the touch line to the by-line and swinging it in every time.

And we have just worked out between us probably 90%+ of League 1 players don't get paid that much following the salary cap introduction. Quarter a million a year is still not bad and that is not out of touch. I wasn't arguing for him not be given an improved offer. Out of touch, telling me to calm down-my you are having a prissy fit...

Odds on reduction of reduction to yellow which means he would still be sent off and face a one game suspension?

Great article on football tactics which have come from Germany. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/sports/soccer/man-united-RB-leipzig-ralf-rangnick.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20201208&instance_id=24813&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=51793659&segment_id=46313&user_id=ea9bf3fba8ef2ae1ebee7fe2fad99a21 Pay-off line- a third of goals come from set pieces- corners freekicks and thow-ins. But a third of training time is not devoted to set pieces. I just wonder given the quality and variety of Barnsley's corners if their Manager has read the book?

Agreed. At the risk of being called out of touch again. Having the contract talks now might be the best timing from the clubs perspective and a conscious decision rather than indolence/ Pune not understanding what is needed. I stress MIGHT 1) FFP pressure is reduced now as a result of the Covid crisis. Sure we could talk earlier but we were at our FFP ceiling and the cupboard was effectively bare for offering better terms. 2) In the summer we had one big money saleable asset and he was a long way from fitness. 3) Because of eye catching performances since September, if we are in a forced sale to avoid FFP sanctions, quite a few players individual would now raise net transfer fees to fund at least two months' operating losses. If any one of them suffers an injury like Dack did, we will no longer lose our only get out of FFP jail card. Brereton and Gallagher might not yet command the figures we paid for them in a forced sale but we would get more than gift tokens for them based on the 16 games they have played in so far this season. 4) and this is the crunchy one- what sort of a contract do we want to give to whom? Which players would we want to retain for a Premier League squad? Now is the ideal time to write a contract which - recognises we are promotion contenders and no longer mid Championship trundlers - anticipates Premier League pay - writes in a relegation clause if we get to the Premier League (too late to include that at a reasonable wage after promotion). Talk of ending parachute payments makes relegation clauses potentially existential. 5) all the players we are looking to renew are young enough to put three year (or more) deals on the table. Holtby would only be 32 at the expiry of a three year deal.

And the League 1 salary cap is £2.5m per club. So League One clubs only pay 10 players?

Ten group winners and play off between second places for qualification? England v Poland in Group I with Hungary as awkward squad and three turkey shoots Didn't Poland prevent England from going to the 1974 World Cup? I can see their goal at Wembley even now... Very long odds against the other home nations and RoI getting to Qatar looking at their Groups. Wouldn't bet against Faroe Islands getting at least a point off Scotland. Malta have been improving but winning Group H will be a bit tough!

If they go 3-5-2 we are in for a war of attrition. I think they tried that v Brum and failed. Usually Bristol City have tried to play open attacking football so they are not that used to packing midfield. They certainly were open and attacking against Reading and were picked off very easily. Had Reading been as lethal with their chances as they were against us they would have hit Bristol City for 8. That said Bristol City are not used to 3-5-2, we were not used to playing 4-4-1 but it worked second half with different combinations of nine players who probably hadn't practised as nines on the training ground. Incidentally, did I correctly read Buckley plays right back in ten v ten practise games on Fridays? In which case perhaps I am wrong about that. Stream of consciousness post here. Looks like we have to be prepared for facing the total unknown on Wednesday apart from Nakki Wells. At least Mowbray can concentrate on setting us up to win without over fretting about the opposition.

Hope Pike is OK- second time he has been injured within a fortnight.

Del- hopeful he will play v Bristol City (the target recovery before Saturday's catastrophes) Wharton- achilles having a scan but probably his season is over Brereton- probably back for Stoke away Dack- Boxing Day v Sheffield Wednesday possibly

Ended 2-3. Apparently the ref was conned by an outrageous dive for what proved to be the deciding goal.

1-3

Well this is better. Apparently a brilliant run by Chapman which set up a Lyons header 1-2. Butterworth came through his 45 minutes well And.. Rich Sharpe Excellent Stergiakis saves, tipping over a Harvey White shot and then keeping out Tobi Omole’s header from the resulting corner. In other Stergiakis news, he’s a dead ringer for Patrice from The Inbetweeners.

0-2 Pochettino scored; any relation to the former Spuds chef? Rich Sharpe @richsharpe89 · 1m Goal #Rovers 0-2 Spurs If a goal summed up an opening half hour... Stergiakis’ attempted pass out goes straight to Pochettino on the edge of the box and he fires into the empty net.

No streams anywhere but we conceded after just 3 minutes. Stirgiakos getting a challenging introduction to English football- he has let in 7 in little over an hour of competitive football!

Playing Spuds. Let's make sure we get the fish 'n chips supper.

Oh that was a great day. Always fantastic to be part of an old Ewood 20,000+ crowd.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18767240.rovers-dont-envisage-contract-concerns-defender/ Hey, look folks- evidence, a source, back-up to what I am telling you. Don't know if this sports salary website figure is accurate but the wage is pretty decent in my book and will price out all clubs except those in the top divisions in the four big countries plus a few perennial Champions League sides like Porto, Salzburg, Basel, Ajax Ryan Nyambe earns £4,700 per week, £244,400 per year playing for Blackburn

Rovers will have named him in our squad of 24. Downing became our 25th, under 23 Academy graduates can play and don't count to the squad of 25- without that rule we'd have been in the Norwich pickle of being unable to fill a bench of 9 subs. As it is we have had 13 out and have 20 players still available on match day. Back to Trybull, players are allowed two registrations during the season so there would be no problem about any of Rovers' loans in or out returning to the parent club in January. Without that rule, what would be the point of having a January window???