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His record when he had some money to spend was Szmodics, Brittain, Hyam, Hirst (who whilst he didn't work out with us, proved afterwards to be a decent player at this level), Tronstad (despite your own personal feelings on the player) & Sigurdsson (who whilst being injury prone, was skilful & a goal threat when he decided to turn up). Also loans for Morton & Sorba Thomas who have both since proved that they are useful players at this level (I would personally say Morton was superfluous when we had Wharton, but he was far from a dud) Once the taps were turned off and he was looking in the bargain bin, we ended up with Telalovic, Ennis, Wahlstedt etc

Jethro Tull - Living In The Past

I take the opposite view. Thought Broughton was an absolute disaster and that if we'd only appointed a proper experienced DOF at the time to help Thomasson instead of an over promoted Academy Head we could have scraped over the line. 3 strikers that never scored a goal between them, Ennis, Telalovic, Hirst, another window the majority of the budget spent on Wahlsted. Those are the key ones that spring to mind, he signed a lot of other dross as well. Also oversaw the O 'Brien/Brierley/ and Mcguire debacles as DOF in successive windows. Rightly or wrongly took responsibility for the first of those 2 windows and assured everyone it wouldnt happen again.

I really don't believe in these team bonding/building exercises but that one was particularly brutal. The players faces said it all and psychologically would have a negative effect if I were in the shoes of the players.

That's another 10k a weeker being replaced by a 5/6k'er.

If we were to go down I'd expect a clearout with the better players sold and more cheap imports / loanees brought in. And I wouldn't expect a promotion push either - unlike the last time under Mowbray this looks terminal. The club is in a far worse state and we could be down amongst the dead men for years. "Bigger" clubs than Rovers have struggled to get out of League One. Leeds took 3 years to come back. And we'd have no talismen like Danny Graham or Bradley Dack this time. It's vital we stay up this season - because there's no say we'll be coming back anytime soon. And if the current hierarchy at Ewood stay in place it could get worse. This time next year we could be in another relegation battle They have to appoint a decent manager this week. And then we have to hope for the best

It did however (maybe) get some humour back in the group and maybe lighten the mood.

We have had 25 shots in our past 10 games (2 of those games had no shots), scoring 5 goals (this is all trusting Jacksons maths, which I am aware is dangerous) Our issue all season has been the supply to the strikers

Not for me. That video of his so called team-talk was absolutely cringe worthy... and didn't show any discernible spirit or passion.

No rebuilding done last summer, it was a gross failure and we have to start all over again.We have just about got a first eleven if everyone was full fit--which they never are and we are certain to lose Tronstadt, Cashin and Alebiosu at least. If offers come in for anyone eg Toth they'll be gone. We'll be very ever dependent on the Academy. How long can this go on? Its a nightmare scenario we are facing.

My opinion is that our problems lay in midfield and the wings. There's no supply to the attack either by way of incisive passing on the floor or crosses in the air. Given something to attack our strikers can score but what they can't do is cover run back into midfield, get the ball and then beat 5 men to earn the right to take a shot. We have nothing creative in midfield as everyone has been coached to constantly track back and support the defence. We don't press the men off the ball only the one on the ball looking for a turnover so the opposition always have free men around them to pass to when they get challenged. The attack has to track back constantly to help out because the midfield is disfunctional. Cantwell is a good player who's turning into a show pony. Baradji has all the skills and athleticism but no brain and zero aggression. The wingers are all told to play too far back to cover the defence and have to beat several men and their cover to get into any position to cross the ball. If/when they do there's no one in the box as they're still running up from defending. After half a game everyone is so buggered that they just sit back and cover. It's not that the strikers can't strike it's that they're being forced to run their bollocks off elsewhere. This is the result of VIs tactics, the RG square pegs in round holes approach to life and a non existant midfield. That's my tuppence worth. We need new players. We need a new board. We need new owners. We ain't getting either so the new guy needs to find a way to get the ball forward into the box. Bis Sam's long balls over the midfield approach I think is the way to go. Miss the midfield out, bulldoze their box, rough them up, hail mary up and unders if necessary. The new guy had better be inventive but most of all aggressive. Afain, IMO.

Carter USM - The Only Living Boy In New Cross

Love to know what approach has been implemented in scouting players? As time's passed Broughton looks increasingly capable. Talked well, had a clear coherent strategy. Brought in Brittain, Hyam, Szmodics on a minimal budget- how much did those three alone return? I'm sure Wharton would have made it regardless- but JDT and Broughton did a great job with him in hindsight. Would have loved to have seen them two fully supported- who was it that brought Broughton in?

At least Can't well is out for 2 games which gives whoever is picking the team a chance to shake up the midfield.

Say we do go down. What players from the current squad would you trust/keep for a league 1 promotion push? Or is most that squad instructing agents to look for ways out?

And repeating it again he was also QPR through and through but his style was a disaster there. Imo he'd be a better bet if we went down then he could come in and rebuild it in his own way from scratch. However repeating again his philosophy doesn't fit the one this club is trying to implement but you'd hope on relegation it would get rid of those pushing it and just focus on bouncing back.

It’s akin to putting a child from set 4 in set 1 for maths. They’re trying their hardest they just don’t have the capacity to operate at the higher level. I think our players sometimes look like they’re not trying because they’re a mixture of confused/lost/don’t understand the game around them. Their lack of technical ability means they can’t even see the decisions they should be making as their brains simply aren’t wired to complete those higher order tasks. look at the pace of our play, it’s so slow. I believe this to be because the players are so focussed on completing the low order tasks like control, etc they don’t have the speed of thought/capacity to move the ball any quicker

Yeah, that's not happening is it. Seems to me as though we're nowhere near anything being agreed or finalised.

Agree, although Pasha is probably thinking if we employ the new guy on a Friday before the game we save 4 days wages.

Wouldn't have thought so, they were taken down the other day too.

I’ve said it over and over, it’s not lack of effort (Tavares excluded), it’s lack of quality.

He’d be close though…

Ainsworth is on a downward trajectory. Failed horrifically at QPR, didn't stick around at Shrewsbury and now has Gillingham 14th after far too many draws. After Wycombe I'd have been all for it, but not so much now.

Predictable result pre-match. Disappointing result post match, when a draw at least looked possible. Hard to see when the next win will come when we cannot score. The one positive is we we are not losing by three, four or five and despite many thinking we aren't trying, I don't believe that to be the case.