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Spot on.

Amen. The end.

Can't see us pushing for more, lets hope we have others lined up...I know you shouldn't base too much off reels, but like others have said, Soumano looks abit of a donkey...Slight upgrade to Gueye IMO

You're probably right. Although a lot has undeniably changed this summer (whether for better or worse) - will the end result change? Likely not, but persevering with what had gone on before wasn't working either.

Soumano bid turned down. https://x.com/reluctantnicko/status/1961025205746208991

ever since these owners came in… nothing changes till they’re gone. Simple

To be fair though it did state that he wants to play in England.

Don’t worry about it! But then there’s the issue with TM, he ends up getting played like a fiddle by very disingenuous people.

Rovers are more attractive than Qarabag but money talks. I really hope Idah joins Swansea, terrible player.

There's a lot of chatter about non-playing staff leaving, and my initial reaction was one of sympathy - 20 odd years of service and edged out of the door (not that we know the circumstances). However, with the constant cryptic digs, her being so glad to be gone, my thinking has changed somewhat. Is there a toxic environment? Potentially. Or was there a clique of sorts before with bad attitudes and an obstruction to change (whether we agree with it or not) that needed addressing? It's clear Lesley was extremely close to Travis and also a few others, all of which have given us good service over the years but also presided over much of the underachievement and been key components of a side that many people have questioned with regards to mentality. This is pure conjecture, but does being overly close personally (remember, this is a job) to certain players undermine the role as player liaison officer with the wider group? And is this relationship impacting the day to day role and work with other players, especially at a time when the close relationships appear to be with players who want to leave the club? Again, I'm being hypothetical, but that's what cryptic posts do - they leave questions for people to draw half baked conclusions, and posts like that make me question who is at fault. My gut instinct was always the club, but what's clear is that we need everyone pulling in the same direction, from the manager to the support staff. As always, more questions than answers. A few posts have suggested this and I'm coming around to the conclusion that a refresh of sorts isn't a bad thing. The motives may lie in cost cutting, but I've sulked on many away trips about our squad's lack of fortitude and bottle, with the same scenarios playing out time and time again. Yes, Venkys transfer woes have undoubtedly contributed, but when they cross that white line the onus is with the players, and many of the long serving players leaving now have been consistent parts of a squad that hasn't got it done when it matters. Will the new lads be different? I genuinely don't know, but I'm happy to find out. Would I sign Travis for £3m? No I wouldn't. Would I have renewed his deal if he asked for fair terms? Probably. But I'm not privy to that information. My conclusion is that a change suits both parties and I genuinely wish him well; he seems a top bloke. I think Rovers has been an easy team to play for for too long. Flatter to deceive, gallant losers. This isn't a vindication of what we've done, but something had to change. This rant doesn't have any sort of logical conclusion or end, and might be awash with contradictions as it's just me thinking aloud, but I think our legacy with Venkys rightly causes suspicion, doubt and negativity. Finally we are doing something 'different' - we may fall flat on our face, but I for one am cautiously excited about what comes next. If that's League One, then I will accept that I've just written paragraphs of absolute bollocks and apologise profusely.

Apologies Matty, I worded that very clumsily and no offence was intended and please accept my sincere apologies. The point I was trying to make is that in the world of cut-throat professional sport I've always found Mowbray's 'old fashioned' ethics to be admirable. In terms of the owners he based his opinions of them on actually meeting them. Which to me, is fair enough. Again, apologies for any offence I may have caused and I've removed the post.

Wasn't Soumano meant to be signing for Qarabag if they qualified for the Champions League last night? They did

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0j93z96wd8o Says it all to me!

Looks like Swansea are moving for Idah. May make things slightly easier to bring in Soumano ?

This is a strange move and is bound to upset the Norwich supporters. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cz0yz8grknlo

Everyone, and particularly those who have enjoyed prolonged lucrative employment under them, have labelled the owners as kind, honorable, proud and caring people. I imagine being flown out to India once a year, put up in luxurious accommodation and dined at their palace whilst they say lovely things creates quite the impression to someone used to working in English football. Actions speak louder than words. Takes nothing to talk a good game about your values and principles, but 15 years of destruction proves that these people are not kind, honest, well meaning, they are appalling people who have dismantled a well functioning proud football club and tarnished its standing in the game. No amount of fruit and water on the veranda in Pune changes that.

This is probably a fair view of his time with the club. As the public face of the club he restored some dignity but ultimately lacked the ambition to push the owners. Subsequent events with JDT and Eustace suggest he wouldn't have succeeded but it would have been better for his reputation if he had tried.

Good business would have been retaining the squad that got us into the top 6 last season for low cost - simply by offering appropriate new terms to Batth, Hyam, Travis, Brittain, Dolan and Tronstad. Good business would be investing from a position of strength whilst things are going well on the pitch and not totally dismantling a good squad for no real reason other than saving on wages and giving Rudy a project to prove himself. End of the day if Derby finish 21st and we finish 22nd then they are laughing all the way and our business has cost the club tens of millions and possibly its existence by sliding into League One. We can say with some confidence that we wouldn't be in relegation trouble had we kept last season's squad intact. Can we say the same now with what business we have done? I don't think so.

No, I meant more than that. It was another interview altogether, when I heard him say the the owners (humble people etc!) wanted to throw a lot more money at it, but he, himself, actually blocked this and specifically advised them not to... I think this new business of TM wrapping it up as "sticking to his principles" is putting an all too fine gloss on something else..e.g. fear, lack of ambition, avoidance of pressure... Anyway, I don't think Big Sam bought it either...

It absolutely blows my mind that anyone is praising Mowbray for not taking more money to improve the squad, in attempts to have a better chance of being promoted. Especially someone who goes everywhere following The Rovers!

You don’t know my ‘standards’ one iota, Parson, so less of that please. I’m talking about a good bloke but ultimately a very naive one, he took those people at their self-proclaimed ‘humble’ and ‘honourable’ word but they showed by their actions at the end of his reign when he shuffled off none the wiser if he was actually staying or going after five years of very public support to them what ‘standards’ and ‘honour’ they really operate to.

Any updates?

After watching Rovers since pre season, and in to the new season, I'm feeling a lot more confident. The newcomers are beginning to gel with the team, I'm confident we can get results this season.

Regarding the first point, I don't think there was any mud slinging. He was open and honest about a situation. Regarding the second, it's one of a series of comments, and it's unprofessional. Doesn't matter what has gone on. That's between her, the club, and, if necessary, her lawyer. She's doing herself absolutely no favours speaking out it in public. She is seemingly looking for a new job and she is making herself look like a child.

It's been said above but Mowbray is an unusual character / bloke in football. He's obviously got a lot of good traits. Pretty much everyone loves him for his man management, his 'arm around the shoulder' approach, his way with people. I imagine players, fans, chairmen absolutely love his approach, sitting around a table chatting about his principles and ideals. You see it from most of the clubs he's managed - he's very popular with fans and players alike and there must be good reason for that. He's probably great to work with because I don't think he will ever rub people up the wrong way or throw his toys out of the pram. He just isn't the sort of bloke for that sort of thing. He most definitely isn't a Warnock or Allardyce sort who would only focus on the team and results, with Mowbray there's an obsession with individuals, development, personalities which I think overrides results and league position. The fact he was able to put up with the Venky freak show for over 5 years tells us something about his personality - both good and bad - as opposed to Lambert/Eustace/JDT who couldn't stomach it for more than a few months before fleeing. The good part is it allowed this club to appear normal for a few years and to plod along as 'stable'. The bad part is that we were never, ever going to get promoted out of this league because he just doesn't and didn't have that burning ruthless desire to do it. These comments show that is still the case. Even when he'd done the hard part and got us into the driving seat for promotion he didn't have what it took to get us over the line.