As far as I can recall, Mowbray told us back in Feb in Blues Bar that he knew a good number of our players weren't up to it at Championship level and they would fall off the train/wagon and be replaced by players who would make a real difference. Fast forward to June: “Some of those might be free transfers, some might be loans, and some players that we might look to buy, polish them up, and then sell on. “We might also have players in the building who can make an impact for us next season.” The writing, IMO, is indelibly written on the wall. IMO, the Downing signing is underwhelming. For Mowbray to harp on about his versatility and also laud Bennett in the same breath tells us everything we need to know about our manager. Some are saying he will help the 'youngsters' such as Chapman and Armstrong learn and aid their development; forgive me, but what the feck do Mowbray, Venus and Lowe do - is it not primarily their job to coach and develop players? We understand Rovers have been chasing Bauer for some time yet the 'mighty' Preston see us off!!! Perhaps Bauer was also far more impressed in the talents of Alex Neil than, IMO, the bumbling and bullsh1tt1ng Mowbray. I fear it will be a disappointing window and IMO, the £7m+ spunked away on Brereton last summer will come back to bite us on the bum. IMO, it will be another season, at best, of treading water whilst Mowbray adds to his financial security. We need a young, hungry, dynamic and tactically aware manager who knows the market and can work it.

And it doesn't ****ing WORK!!!! IM DONE. HES NEVER GOING TO LEARN.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/june/downings-versatility-will-be-invaluable/ Words fail me.

I think this is short of a lot of context. Rebuilds a relegated team? - He was allowed to keep all the players he wanted and to add whoever he wanted. He had the biggest wage budget in League 1 and the biggest transfer budget. We posted the biggest (or 2nd biggest) loss ever for a league 1 club for those very reasons. To not get that team up would have been a humungous failure. I think he did well in the end but all the cards were stacked massively in his favour. Mowbray had a Championship team playing in League 1. Last summer he spent more than Sheff Utd. They are now in the Prem. Mowbray is very, very average in the transfer market. His record shows that. Apart from Dack (an unqualified success) who else has consistently improved the team? Rothwell has hardly played, AA is not a winger and Chapman will be lucky to get off the bench. Those are the four you and others highlight as reasons why he's recruited well. There's another 10-15 players who have either been paid off cos they were shit, or will never be good enough to hold down a first team place. Davenport will be the exception based on the little I've seen. He'll be a shoo-in once his fitness issues are sorted, he looks a quality player. As for the people mentioning the play-offs, that nonsense came from Mowbray. He's very adept at saying the right things to get fans onboard. If the manager says 'top 6 or top 2' is the target then fans will want to believe that. You blaming the fans for believing what the manager states is the clubs ambition is bizarre. He's a long way from being a victim of his own success. If he doesn't get his recruitment right this summer we will struggle next season. The margins were very fine last season at home - a lot of those games we won by a single goal. Away from home we got regularly trounced. Millwall, newly promoted, just missed out on the play-offs when they first got promoted to the Championship. The season after they just avoided relegation. Preston did worse in their 2nd season up. Sheff Utd were the exception but then they have a top class manager. We are middle of the road by the clubs own admission as far as finance goes. As John Williams used to say your budget normally dictates where you'll finish in the league. We finished just below mid-table, which is probably about right. Mowbray isn't a good enough manager to punch above the financial weight of the club he's in charge of. So I agree, talk of the play-offs is fanciful with Mowbray in charge. If the owners are happy to bumble along in lower-mid table then Mowbray might be the right man for the job. If he's there to create vast profits from buying low then selling high they might as well get Bowyer back. Next season, all things being equal, we'll finish mid-table if we're lucky. With the same players and budget someone like Warnock would have us in the play-offs. That's the difference. Mowbray is bang average at his job. Unfortunately Venky's will never employ a manger capable of achieving what they crave - promotion to the Prem.

I think Nyambe has been treated shockingly by Mowbray and is always first casualty in "Operation play Bennett". Bennett at RB instead of Nyambe is the cause of so much of our defensive problems and a back 4 of Nyambe - Lenihan - *Hanley* - Bell, would bring down our goals against column by a good 25%. Now of course I'm not saying that Nyambe is Cafu, he will make mistakes, but compared to anyone else in our squad, he the only choice at RB. CB is the biggest priority in our squad by some distance.

What? Like putting you on ignore? That would only leave me with half a messageboard to read.

“Calm down” ? says the man who’s posted 11 times in this thread alone today before 10.00am.

Bennett is Mr Versatile. Rodwell has been offered a new deal. Evans is one of the preferred CM players. Smallwood is a valuable squad player who won’t complain about being on the bench. This is Mowbray’s view on life, and is why he can be so frustrating. The regular excuse of “we don’t have a squad to challenge for promotion” is pretty self-fulfilling if the manager can’t or won’t upgrade them and just brings in new players to “help them”.

Total honesty from Square Peg Mowbray: "People have learnt over the last few years that I like players with the ability to play in different positions - Elliott Bennett being a classic case at the moment.

Commence Venky rant - I’m talking more about the issue of the playing squad/personnel and the disinvestment there. Running costs exist in any business, and in this industry these costs those can only realistically be recouped by the success of the team. Serves them the fuck right. For context - We are net minus say 40m from the day we were a PL team in transfer fees alone (assuming a good manager that could have kept us there). A decade of inflation/market forces from then could put that at what 100m? 200m? More? Every transfer window for 10 years has been shit. A club still on relative life support with some weird (at best formerly criminal) owners thousands of miles away. We get a manager who rebuilds a relegated team on a current transfer fee budget of circa £3m per window (excluding wage variations, which I think may account for a lot of that) and he has us looking up. He has us forgetting the owners and those problems. For the first time in years, ”Mowbray is bad in the transfer market” whilst he has signed our two best players in Dack and Rothwell for nowt. Got us thinking about the playoffs again. Working with nothing but very near to status quo investment. I’ve seen people genuinely say “Tony - play offs are the MINIMUM EXPECTATION” Christ alive what do you think has changed and do you love being disappointed??? Tony isn’t a problem here, if anything he’s a victim of his own success that people think he is.

Tomasz Kuszczak is 37 but he is just the kind of competition that Raya needs. Someone hugely experienced who, providing he was fit, would be a better one year option than Leutwiler.

If we are nowhere near the top 6 at Christmas you will never criticise the manager, you will simply find new excuses for him.

Reed was not mostly a sub - not by a long shot. Played out of position mostly but not mostly a sub. btw, love a bit of garlic sauce me.

No, fortunately still alive and well enough to read your prolific output. Although at times the alternative does seem attractive.

I see we still havent had any suggestions as to who the young talented managers are who can come in and better! I appreciate it its an obscure forum but if its discussionable then lets have the discussion. Truth is, there are NO young decent managers out there who would be able to make a mark at Ewood Park. We tried it with Ince, Berg and Appleton and they ALL failed miserably. There is so much good about the club in comparison to the last 7 years, love or hate venkys, they have to be acknowledged for allowing the Academy to flourish after initial abysmal raping of the clubs finances and gross mismanagement within the club. Its now time to be a bit more positive about the club if we can. 6 weeks to get ready for Charlton. I am sure TM and co will have the players he wants at the club. BRFC get behind the club

I’d love us to do well too... just because I’m a big Rovers fan. Who did? I remember most people after seeing him saying he was extremely raw and not ready for first team football... which he wasn’t.

He started 28 games. Considering he wasn't signed until 5 games into the season and was injured for the final 5, I'm not sure how you come to the conclusion that he was mostly a sub.

Lads this really isn’t difficult. The manager has said he wants to get in the top six this season. The players are saying the same (see Downings interview). Top 6 wasn’t our target last season. The season before they put their neck on the block saying they HAD to go up and they did.... Get off their backs and let them get this window over and the season started. If they are nowhere near the top 6 come Christmas then there won’t be a single Rovers fan happy because top 6 is the the absolute stated aim and we are all Rovers fans first and foremost.

I think I would rather have Marquis from Doncaster than Gallagher back. Too much like Brerton for me in that hes big but doesn't use his size to his advantage.

I wouldn't mind Sam Gallagher coming in, as long as it was to play through the middle. I know the going rate for players has risen quite sharply in recent times, but £5 million does sound steep. £3 million would be fair for a player of his calibre and experience.

Its one or the other he either wasnt good enough/not ready or the manager didnt play him meaning the manager got it wrong, pretty straightforward mate, pick one of them two options, theres no inbetween? You wont cause you wont have a go at the manager in any way whatsoever.

This will be a common theme with Mowbray, as it was with Bowyer. They aren’t brave or bold enough to give youngsters a run out - in their best positions. As well as being spurious given the L1 games being included, that must be well out of date. 69 games doesn’t cover two full seasons and according to transfermarkt it’s closer to double that. His 61 game Championship record is W21 D19 L21 - really very average - with a win % of 34.4. By your measure that actually makes him worse than Lambert, having had far longer and a huge budget, while Lambert had a negative budget and yet still signed our best Championship player, as well as Mowbray’s Mr. Professional.

Appleton, Ince et al were shit, doesn’t mean there are NO good young managers that could do a job at Ewood. What nonsense.

I do think the Brereton signing will sting us financially for a while yet and it wasn't a wise punt in that regard at all but player wise I think everyone should give him a clean slate next season.

Nope, still here gb. Anyway, transfers. Everyone knows we need new defenders, including the manager. Despite what some will tell you the transfer window didn’t shut the minute Downing signed his contract. There is still time. Most, if not all, players contracts end on 30 June. Why start paying players earlier? Not saying that’s the reason why we haven’t been busier but it’s hardly been hectic around the championship. So a centre half, left back, new keeper, new midfielder and a striker. Possibly for me. I’ve no problem with the Downing signing. One thing this team needs is leaders and experience. Time to put an end to the sloppy unforgivably weak goals we give away at the end of matches. Get some accountability in the team. We need two or three in there to dig the culprits out. A proper centre half, a Craig Short, Kevin Moran, Berg type to get them organised and switched on. If we stop these mistakes, bring 4 or 5 better players in than we’ve got (big ask) then we really should be right up there challenging.

This league is about pace and power, if you play 'in front' of teams fannying about going square and backwards you achieve sod all. Our form last season only picked up with the inclusion of the younger more direct players such as Rothwell, Reed and Travis and ditching the slow and ponderous Evans and Smallwood. So the signing of Downing, for me, is a reverting to type. He's hardly going to drive past anyone more spray a nice crissfield 30 yard pass that looks nice but achieves sod all or hit the odd good dead ball. I may be wrong but I doubt I will be. Feel free to bring this back if I am.

When you read something and it leaves you speechless. Also, Joe Aribo choosing Rangers. I know they have Steven Gerrard etc but to turn down Championship and apparently Premier League teams in favour of the SPL, again, speechless. Lots of good free agents starting to make their moves, and we've secured Downing.

Man, just admit you are nosey like the rest of us

‘Easy like Sunday morning’

I’ll hold you to that as I’ll expect you’ll have every excuse under the sun as to why we aren’t up there. Though I don’t see why you are tying your colours to the mast, as for me we shouldn’t expect to be close to the top 6 at all unless a boat load of defenders and a quality striker emerge in 6 weeks. The squad currently isn’t good enough and most fans I know don’t have a slightest hope for promotion with it.

I’m not trying to shut anything down. You’re just boring everyone with your constant whinging. It’s perfectly reasonable to expect fully grown men to be able to process basic information without bleating on and on.. When anyone actually does come on here with transfer information you and ‘the boys’ usually hound them out calling bullshit and demanding a ‘source’. Hang on, wait a minute..Is there an age limit on this site?

Two additions and we will get 30 more points?

I guessed as much. Essentially it's managers and commentators using nonsense speak to make themselves sound clever and 'remind' us mere mortals that they are smart.

What will annoy me is say we are bottom half around Christmas, is the Beetlejuices of the world telling us to ‘be realistic’, ‘we shouldn’t be expecting play offs’, ‘we are where we are’, ‘we can’t compete’, ‘get behind the lads, sooo negative’. When it is Mowbray and the players making far more of a song and dance about promotion than the fans, we are realistic looking at that squad that’s why we know we ain’t going up.

Fergie ruined him, he signed a very promising young CB and played him at RB, DMC for ages. Signing for united was a mistake, he should have gone elsewhere.

Yeah and all of those worse than Mowbray with the exception of Ince are in the Venkies era.

With all this talk of us signing Gallagher can I just ask those postera who don't think he is a good signing, to just say that once please. Some posters will literally tell you they don't like the manager or players every hour, on the hour. Ye know who ye are!

People remark on what they see, what’s surprising about that? Some players come good, some don’t reach their potential, such is football.

People on here can say what they like, what does if matter if they don’t blindly support Mowbray’s approach? It’s an obscure Internet forum.

I always look at it this way. If I'd have made the grade as a winger who would I rather play against ? Nyambe or Bennett ? I'd be thinking Nyambe is quick and decent in the tackle so I'm not going to do him for pace especially on the outside. His positional play isn't great, he plays a bit too near the centre halves so I could take advantage of that if I stay out wide. Bennett is only average pace wise so I'd be fancying my chances there especially if I'm running on to the ball played inside him. Neither are great headers of the ball so there's opportunities there with the long ball over the top. All in all I reckon Nyambe would be the toughest opponent one on one.

Amen to that. Did he get selected the game after? Nyambe is 1000 x the player Bennett is. With potential to play the Premier League if he worked on soft skills.

The Impressions - People Get Ready

I am being realistic- expecting less than 50 goals against from 46 games requires an exceptional defence. I am simply looking for a defence which does its job. As others have pointed out, getting a strong defence does not prevent someone else from tucking away penalties. For that matter having a commanding physical presence at the back usually means the same player can cause mayhem when we have a corner so that could compensate for losing Mulgrew's four goals direct from corners which I agree are something very special. Had we conceded 50 rather than 69 last season with GF 64 GA 50, we would almost certainly made the play-offs. Hence arguing that defensive signings are the measure of this window.

I doubt he regrets the move to United at all - probably made enough money to support the next 5 generations of his family and won a boatload of trophies. Hasn't gone as he might have hoped (what with the hype he had at the time) and things might have been different if he stayed a season or two longer with us or went elsewhere but he wont be mulling over that. Phil Jones, the only guy I know that can gurn without the need of drugs.

Manager Talk. All managers come out and state targets. ..and all should be taken with a pinch of salt . 15-16 clubs will all be spouting the same ambitions for 8 places . If Mowbray came out and stated mid table fans would be up in arms about lack of ambition ..season ticket sales would falter (even more !) and yet when he states top 8 fans will slate him for not reaching that target . "But Mowbray said top eight …??" Damned if he does damned if he doesn't but no different from other managers up n down the country. Take it with a pinch of salt and as fans work out yourself just where we SHOULD be hitting this season.

Worry is that TM seems to think a new centre half is going to solve all our defensive issues, yet will then persist to play Bennett at right back and wonder why it all goes wrong. Two new full backs are just as crucial as a new centre half but I doubt the budget stretches that far whilst we're apparently chasing another non goalscoring forward and already have a 35 year old winger on the books.

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/06/23/report-brentford-join-race-for-southamptons-sam-gallagher/ The weekly Gallagher link.

I recently re-watched Moneyball. If you haven’t seen it I suggest you do. Billy Beane’s recruitment policy and team selections baffled people too.