Up to a point, martonrover. Because I no longer drive, I tend to leave Ewood about 10-15 minutes before the end of the game so that I can get a bus to Bolton - the first leg of my journey home - before Bolton Road is closed to traffic. Increasingly, it feels like common sense to have left early - not only am I likely to get home a bit sooner, but I won't really be missing anything by doing so. And yet; and yet; within this 73-year-old frame, beats the heart of the 7-year-old who: was born in Blackpool to a couple of Blackburners; was dead proud at that age to wear a blue and white replica shirt among all the tangerine; and will be, in the words of the song that always has a lump in my throat each time I join in, "Rovers till I die". But I fear that pragmatism will win. At the moment, it's 60/40 on me not renewing my season ticket because the team Mowbray puts out seem to me an unexciting amalgam of footballers, usually with several playing out of position, rather than their proper - best - positon. And in turn that seems to be because the manager - the buck stops with you, Mowbray - has signed: few defenders so that the defence is always one injury away from being a real disaster zone; a plethora of midfielders but no proper wingers to feed our strikers who are a pale shadow of the attack Uncle Jack bought us. I think you're right, martonrover, when you talk about the fire in Warnock's belly. But, personally, I think that signing him as manager - even if he could be induced to come here - would only lead to a temporary improvement in our present situation at best. I certainly don't think he could build a team with a reasonable chance of avoiding a return to the Championship after one season, as Chris Wilder seems to have done at Sheffield United or - excuse my language - as Dyche has done with That Lot down the M65. I've previously expressed the opinion that Damien Johnson ought to be given a chance. Given the way the team - our team - are floundering at the moment, what have we to lose?

I work abroad a lot. Got chatting to a guy from Pune in a bar the other night. A very well educated guy. He could only talk about the venkys in glowing terms, how they were an example for Indian business and actually had a surprising knowledge around their various interests. He had never heard of Rovers. Says a lot

Smallwood is a worse player than Evans at this level (but better than him in League One, where his technical deficiency wasn't shown up), and there is literally no room for him in the squad other than to occasionally, pointlessly, hold back a u23 from getting a game at that level. However, Evans is probably on double, maybe triple the money. I'm of the opinion we could shed both and not be any weaker as a squad. In the medium, or maybe even short term, we'd be stronger, as it would open the pathway for the youngsters who play that position. Even if we decide we need to rely on experience instead, we'd still have: Travis, Johnson, Bennett, Downing. Even Buckley and Davenport both have a bit of experience at this level too. Arguably Rothwell or Dack can play there too in certain games, in a more advanced capacity. Thanks for the immense effort Richie, and thanks for playing well when you felt like it Corry, but it's time for you both to move on for the good of the club and your own careers.

At the moment, having Tony as our leader is as good as it’s going to get. We’re an average Championship side that’s going to be stuck in mid table forever. Tony’s a nice guy who has sorted out some of our problems, forged a good relationship with our owners and got rid of a lot of deadwood. However, his track record as a manager isn’t too impressive and, for me, he possess neither the nouse nor the credentials to take us to the next level. Were we to get someone in with a bit more mettle, a bit more authority and the ability to win games by employing both the right tactics and the right players, you would hope that this type of manager would have sat down with the owners to discuss a plan. Yes, a plan. Maybe a short term plan or hopefully a longer term plan. That’s what a Souness type manager would demand. A plan on where we would want to be in two or three years time and a more importantly a budget for player purchases to help that plan unravel. Ever since Venky’s rolled in to town (other than paying us a bit of false lip service and a few photos in the LT) they have been conspicuous by their absence. That’s nine fecking years of absence. Nine years of managers having to travel to India for discussions and coming back none the wiser. No strategy, no budget, no plan. Big Sam grasped hold of the situation immediately and walked. Not that they didn’t have a plan. He didn’t get that far. He foresaw the car crash that we were about to become. We’ll never get anyone of Sam’s ability, or close to it, ever again. So, unless Venky’s change the way they operate (if it hasn’t happened in nine years, it never will), we are left with relatively unambitious, run of the mill managers who will gladly take their very nice monthly salary without asking too many questions. Or...we take a chance on an up and coming, younger manager at a lower level. Someone with something to prove. Someone like Gareth Ainsworth. Bearing in mind Waggot falls into the same category as Mowbray, he’ll be unwilling to rock the boat and more than unwilling to have a poor decision (if it turns out that way) fall on his shoulders. So, that leaves us in a sea of mediocrity, with a bang average captain, riding the waves in permanent mid table until such time as our hand is forced ie. relegation or as near as. We’re right back to November 2010, knowing that the club can’t and won’t progress until new owners are at the helm.

He can rot in hell. Don't care if he turns into a new Beckenbauer, he can fuck off. I remain convinced to this day that he took money to pop those own goals in. Astonished it was never investigated.

Our Championship status. At the moment, as dull as it is and as obvious it is that a change in the dugout is required, we still remain a member of the 2nd tier, one good season away from the Premier League. Unlikely to happen under these idiots yes, but possible. A return to League One would be horrific in many ways. The job of being Rovers manager is one for an experienced gaffer who knows the duties, expectations and pressure of being a boss at this level or higher. Particularly when handling the extra baggage of the idiots in Pune and the sham board of directors. Weve seen this with the spells of Kean, Berg, Appleton and to a lesser extent Bowyer. I've no doubt that they will be desperate for Johnson to step into the managers office after Mowbray. I think this will be for a few reasons. Firstly he's already here and under contract which removes the need to conduct a comprehensive and potentially expensive recruitment process. Secondly they appear to still have delusions of being able to circumvent the transfer market by using all our own homegrown players and enhancing their values ready for sale. Sadly that isnt compatible with success on the pitch and will likely relegate us sooner rather than later. No other club does it. Do we know better than everyone else? Almost certainly not. Only a few clubs have gone with the promote a reserve coach to manager routine and none have lasted or ended well. The best there has been is Bowyer here and most people wanted him gone after a couple of years. I worry that the worse it gets under Mowbray that it will become more acceptable for us to take the easy option with Johnson and for it to be sold to the fans as a logical step. I don't dislike the bloke and saw what a good job he did with the u23s but my interest is in what is best for Blackburn Rovers not for one mans career or as a reward for hard work. The manager job is crucial and we need to explore the world in search of the best man for the job. Not just take the easiest option because we've a nice bloke who did well with the reserves already here.

Not sure I agree. The money was big, I’ve seen him a few times for forest and I quietly thought we might have a good one. In a few games for forest he was unplayable and 18, something’s gone wrong in his development from his arrival here. A mixture of shyte day to day coaching, lack of any game time in his correct position, injuries, the team is crap and is looking like a relegation side. im not saying he’s a world beater but we’ve screwed it up in my opinion. The lads had no confidence since he arrived

On Mr Smith, very odd really. Are you telling me that in his 20 years of writing he has never witnessed somebody disagreeing with his opinions? Almost feels as this was an excuse to quit rather than being the actual reason. 2 or maybe 3 posts that maybe went over the top and he cannot hack it and so suddenly leaves. Either needs skin that is 100 times thicker or was looking for something he could pin walking out on. My opinion, his hands are obviously tied as to what he can say in the LT, and with our current run he knows that it is far too difficult to keep putting a positive spin on things.

Good faith? Not quite. Before we get too sackcloth and ashes, he didn't always come to the site in good faith. See his own "Thanks for the love" thread, which was launched as a provocative and antagonistic dig at posters here. Sure, two or three posts on this thread were OTT, but only a few....and we do have to see the context. I agree with Philip that the underlying problem is the bitter divide in the fanbase. Simon has largely taken one side-the loyalist one. I happen to have taken the other side, although, significantly, not in a local newspaper column.

4-1, piece of p***. We’ll be swigging back the merlot by full time. What are you worried about?

Calling it now, he'll return to Forest on loan. His contract will wind down and we'll cut our losses for a few bob.

Evans can be a tidy player on his day. Problem is it's mostly Northern Ireland who get to see that. Is he more suited to international football or just going through the motions here? I think he's been coasting for a long time and we need to get shot.

As long as he doesn’t wear ripped jeans, is willing to play in a position that he never has before, is a good human and likes lemon drizzle cake, he’ll get a 4 year deal.

lets just say he`s yet to make a favourable impression on me!!!

Just to clarify, are you saying you don't rate Brereton that highly?

Love this post, Andrew. Cheers.

I predicted something like this the min he signed something isn't right with that signing. If something like that did happen he and a few others will have made a nice few quid out of it.

I actually think Downing has been our most consistent player this season, barely had a bad game, hardly ever loses the ball.

I haven't been able to get to a game for quite a long time but i'm flying over for this game and PNE. After reading posts on here I'm anticipating wanting to top myself at half time. It's also the first time in 15 years I'm going to Ewood by train and not car. Where's good for a pre-match pint these days? I feel like I'm gonna need a few before going in.

As daft as that post is, another Peter White at the LT would be great. Would he survive alongside 2019’s social media-fed fanbase though? Not sure. Maybe he would lead it!

It used to be Nyambe but he has since gone quiet on that one since he has been featuring. Now every second post of his is this weird obsession with Chapman.

You dont get pi55 splash back at PNE

I'm pretty sure that even the shower of shite in Pune would allocate funding for ongoing maintenance if Waggott found his bollocks and asked for it.

No wonder Travis rarely makes those forward passes and driving runs forward anymore.

As for Ainsworth, his obvious enthusiasm for the Club is an asset but is no guarantee of success. Dyche had no affinities with Burnley before they made the decision to sign him, as far as I'm aware. We're just desperate to get this club back on the up again, understandably so we clutch at straws. We need a trusted and proven manager or we need to pull one out of the hat. Venkys won't pay for the former and there is no-one at the club capable of picking the latter. So we go on, week after week, season after season. We really are cursed.

Wigan are selling tickets for all games up to the end of January. Huddersfield and Preston are selling tickets for games into January. We are only selling November games. Maybe this is because we have another 3 game ticket coming out but whether or not that is the case, why not have them on sale now? Huddersfield half season tickets go on sale tomorrow. You can choose which game it starts from and just pay the appropriate price. So it can start any time between 15 games and 11 games. Clubs of a similar size to us are on the front foot making it flexible for fans to attend. We will bring ours out last minute when xmas presents are bought and fans are skint. We are not doing all we can. Far from it. We are doing almost nothing. Tomorrow is the pre-meet to set the agenda for next fans forum meeting on the 18th. I don't think we give a shit about single use plastic and gluten free pies. Why are tickets not on sale yet as with other clubs, to maximise Xmas spend ? How many 3 match tickets were sold ? Why are Xmas period games not on sale yet ? Where are you up to with the matchday buses from strategic locations ? What about working with the council to re-open the car parks at Ewood ? Are we actively having a plan for safe standing area next season ? What is the process to make it a reality ? Is the manager's position being reviewed and monitored by the owners ? Are there any targets set because we are clearly worse than last season and playing very badly. Who is responsible for this process ? Steve or Suhail or Balaji ? What task force does the club have in place or planned for addressing the very serious issue of 20,000 empty seats, dire matchday atmosphere and repeated failure to reach sales targets? What was the outcome of the data collected in the recent survey? Just a small list of very real and important topics I hope to see addressed with the club when the minutes come out. Not at all interested if Bennett washes his water bottle and re-uses it next week.

I now live on the south coast, my biggest local club would be Bournemouth I guess. Honestly, whenever I get into a football conversation here and say I support Rovers, I'd say nine times out of ten I get the questions 'who is your manager?' 'Which league are you in?' and if I mention that we're where we are because of poor ownership the question is 'who are your owners?' The sad truth is that a lot of football fans have actually forgotten the whole Venky situation. We aren't on their radar any more. Once the chicken farmers stopped doing funny stuff for the papers other fans ceased to care. I don't get sympathy, but I don't get ridicule either. We had a good reputation, then we had a bad reputation, now we're just irrelevant. I die a bit every time.

He started 2 games up front last season. Bolton and Sheffield United. Once fit he needs to be given a run in the team playing as a centre forward. Give him 6 games and assess him then. 7 million is just too much to give up on after 155 minutes starting as a striker. This is Tony's fault for playing him out of position. You don't buy a turkey at Christmas and moan that it doesn't taste like salmon!!!

I completely agree. That's what I meant by another Shane Duffy. Jake Cooper at Millwall is the one player I have seen that could resemble Duffy's style.

Let’s see who gets the gig. Paul Yates on the Fans Jury has always bern realistic. If he ends up in situ and starts banging on about TM needing a winter break to the Maldives, then obviously these writers are being leaned on editorially..

His comments were designed to antagonise and dumb the club down in line with the Mowbray and Tesco narrative. Middle of the road my arse.!

Yeah, I remember there being something about little Barry taking it over, clearly a prospect to get really excited about. I shouldn't imagine it would take much to groom him as a jetset International gelatinous jizz fountain. "sack every decent person, or make their lives so hellish that they go, install parasitic talentless chancers who'll gut what's left to line their own pockets and leave the club an empty shell. Then make sure you stay well away and give them just enough to stop them going to the wall " You can't learn stuff like that at harvard

You need to keep up with the context, Chris. It was suggested that he has no authority and is merely an administrator. We don’t know if that’s true but if it is then, given the role itself should have that authority, I feel that anyone putting up with that is only in it for the money and is a CEO in title only. Nothing wrong with that per se but I wouldn't want that to be how my club is run. A chief exec powerless to sack the manager as necessary and only operating as directed from above? That’s not what I expect from the role. As a stakeholder in the club I think our money could be better spent. You really are going out of your way to defend this one. As a Rovers fan I’ve yet to see anything positive that he has brought to the club. And by that I don’t mean not negative, I mean actual positive growth. All I’ve seen is price increases.

Christmas Jumpers out now... https://theterracestore.com/products/blackburn-christmas-jumper?_pos=5&_sid=81b0a8bbd&_ss=r

The PNE home fixture, the one last night and the Burnley game are yet again glaring examples of how some of those people down there just want as easy a life as possible. They get paid the same regardless, football is supposed to be about the fans and the team but some at Rovers seem to think it's all about them and their colleagues. I'd suggest that attitude runs from top to bottom in many cases including the management. But when you've absent owners and nobody with any affinity running the place this is what you'll get time and again. Any Rovers v Burnley fixture is a marketing opportunity, it should be on Ewood or at the very least a more sensible kick off time wherever.

Pantillimon is a liability, and no better than the inept Walton. Ayala would be good but suspect he might have bigger teams in for him. Daniel that is, Roberto a bit old I suspect now. Remember seeing Kingsley play at Ewood last year and he was absolutely dismal, as bad a left back as I saw last year based on that performance.

Defenders are coming, they're tracking Bauer for 12 months. Downing becomes available, Tony likes him so attention and budget goes that way instead. Back to looking around, friendly agent says Gallagher is finally available at a price Rovers might afford. Tony oh i like him he's been here before, Raya money goes that way. Meanwhile they've forgotten about Bauer and Tony decides he'll stick with what he has after Del tells him i'm your man. Right thinks Tony that's saved a few quid in wages so i'll get a couple more mids you can't have too many of them. I can pick 2 out of 6 or 7 every match, lovely jubbly. On it goes, scattergun.

I did back in 2001 - it was the day after “that night” at Deepdale so there was a lot of joy around the place. Souey turned up,at one point to be interviewed by TV so I managed to get a photo with him as well. My rationale was it was my childhood ambition, I’m the same age as Mark Hughes & I thought if he can run around out there, then so can I..*? I absolutely loved it and you will always have those memories. So do it...?? * I couldn’t ?

If Mowbray had managed Matthaus or Zidane he'd have moved them about week in week out to accommodate others he liked. It's getting beyond ridiculous now. Pray to heaven we get through this season reasonably unscathed then wave bye bye in the summer. Before he spews the next budget and we kick off in front of 7k ST holders and whatever walk ons Waggot & co haven't priced out. 12k averages next season including aways, it's coming i tell you.

But we spend 7 million on a teenage sub of no real pedigree then we pay a large loan fee for a kid defender to play in the centre filling in for / replacing internationals. Oh and we sign an injury prone young winger, get him fit then ignore him when he's just what the team is crying out for. What a plan !

"I really like Harry Chapman, that’s the reason he’s here. The seriousness of football is something that he has to know." Says the man who gambled away pretty much all our transfer budget, two years running on players with no track record of scoring goals when we needed a defence. Any chance you could start knowing the seriousness of football Tony? Maybe lead by example?

So he'll have to impress in order to get a chance in the team. Yes Tony, because the first 11 are doing so brilliantly. 18th place in the Championship reflects what in-form footballers we've had playing in the team recently. Imagine being a player being told you're not good enough for that shower. I don't need to imagine what he says at half time, if it's anything like his comments in the press it will be demoralising and nonsensical.

the most frustrating aspect of the mowbray tenure is the fact we are defensively inept but very good going forwards,so what does tony do??he has us playing defensively,trying to nullify the oppostion,i really can`t understand it,we might as well go on the offensive,granted we`ll concede goals,but we`re doing that now without scoring,i honestly think we`ve got the nucleus of a decent side,it just needs someone to come in with a complete new mindset,who knows,we might even get manager who thinks playing with two strikers is`nt a mortal sin

Natural level based on historical League occupation - top flight Natural level based on trophies- top flight Natural level based on where we were before Jack Walker came along - top end of 2nd tier. Re-writing the record books in an effort to dumb down and reduce expectations is a familiar trait of this regime.

Wasn't Reed another young player who Mowbray threw under the bus?

You could quite easily replace Leutweiller, Bennett, Bell, Evans, Smallwood, Mulgrew, Samuel and Gladwin straight away with U23s and not miss them. That is a massive chunk of wages freed up. With that saving you could easily bring in a keeper, a couple of defenders and a striker(that can score) and still have room in the wage budget.

Well so do I! But, since TM doesn't do this and doesn't come any where near doing it, why is this an argument to give Mowbray more time?

“We are not going to be able to invent 10 games where we can go on an unbeaten run because there are not enough games left.” Try saying that in a Saltburn lilt.

I've given up. Things will never improve until they go, but I'm not sure they ever will. I'm one of those who said what's the point in getting rid of Tony, because the next guy will be worse. That's not to say his performance isn't worthy of the sack. Deep down I still care, but I try to pretend that I don't, because caring hurts. A lot