THAT impressive 4-1 demolition of Stoke is now well and truly consigned to the history books and, instead of using it as a catalyst to greater things in the league, we have all but thrown away any slim hopes we had of a last ditch run at the play-offs.

No disrespect to Blackpool, whose fans have been put through the mill, but a draw at home to the worst side in the league is an absolute travesty.


Certainly if we are a side that even considers ourselves to be capable of promotion.

Why is it that we can be fired up for the big games in the cup, but when it comes to our bread and butter, the games that truly matter at the moment, we are barely lacklustre?

What tactical reason can there be for taking off your top scorer moments after he has just hit the bar twice?

If you do want some pace in there, throw on King and take off a midfielder. Go for it. A draw isn’t good enough.

It seems in his desire to avoid defeat Gary Bowyer has settled for a point against a side that has managed just six on the road all season.

I have regularly and consistently backed the Rovers manager who has overseen the stabilisation of a topsy turvy club that was in turmoil following the Venky’s takeover and the calamitous regimes of Steve Kean and Shebby Singh.

He has moved on many of the overpaid and under-performing players brought in during that time and replaced them with cheaper alternatives that, for the most part, can do a better job.

Sadly, and frustratingly because surely we all want him to be the man to take us forward, the overly cautious approach could be our downfall.

There seems too great an emphasis on settling for what we have in games rather than risking defeat to snatch that all-important win.

We all know that once they step over the line on to the pitch the manager has no control over the team’s performance, but where is the motivation? Where is the evidence of the preparation going on to defend set pieces?

Barring a miraculous run it appears we will stumble our way to a mid-table finish. Although it may have been ambitious to believe we really could make it to the top six in a very difficult league, it is disappointing we have fallen so far off the pace.