Great to see from the club, much better than the usual ‘well what else can we do?’ line we hear. We have an over abundance of supply, so why not try and entice long standing fans back? What’s to lose?

I don't disagree with the opinion that some of his signings haven't played a part what but what I think is indisputable is that more duds have been signed than good 'uns. If we are to push on we have to improve the starting eleven with players ready to hit the ground running and that is an area where Mowbray hasn't been great in my opinion.

Is it moaning and cynicism though? Or is it just an opinion? I’m having a great time in the main this season and last season was one of my favourites in my life so far (I’m 34). Just observing what happened and giving my view, as most others are. Mowbray is great, but he isn’t perfect. So when folk mention him not being perfect, that’s just saying what they see, like at any other club, it’s not moaning. Just as people praising Mowbray isn’t happy clapping. As it goes, I’d say 5/10 is quite harsh for the recruitment rating, but only two of Mowbray’s signings start regularly (Reed and Dack), so it won’t be THAT much higher, to be fair....

You only see it as narrow minded because it differs to your opinion. What I have said is correct. Of course some of Mowbrays signings have played a part but predominantly the nucleus of what seems his preferred starting eleven weren't signed by him. And whilst you mention the contribution of Whittingham and Caddis I can't recall anything positive from them. And their 'contribution' probably cost us at least £1.5m. I wasn't talking about the future by the way and possible potential, I was talking about now and none of the players you mention (Reed and Dack aside) can be remotely considered as regulars. Your 'obvs not our' quote is way off the mark. Mowbray has been hit and (mainly) miss in the transfer market so far. It happens to lots of managers. That said I am happy where we are and with results overall but that isn't clouding my judgement when it comes to our dealings over Mowbrays tenure.

This is smart by Rovers. With regards to overall average attendances, I doubt we will make the 15,500 target but wouldn't be surprised to see it around 15,000 at season end.

It wouldn't be 'throwing in' BB, he's played at this level a lot more than others picked in the team (Raya, Nyambe, Bell, Smallwood, etc). If he was playing well enough for Forrest last season to attract Premier League interest, then why isn't he good enough to play for us now? I don't think TM has properly explained that.

So I received an email this morning (apologies if this has been discussed previously) Hi David, our records suggest that you haven't attended a home game at Ewood Park so far this season, but have followed Rovers on the road. In return for feedback on your attendance habits, we'd like to offer you a FREE TICKET to the Norwich City game on Saturday 22nd December. To complete the survey please click on the image below, your feedback will help inform our home ticketing strategy going forwards. It'll be interesting to see how this boosts the crowd for the Norwich game and also what they do with the answers from the survey.............

Jones was a curious case. I watched him bully a peak Drogba at Ewood Park aged 18. There was nothing gonna stop that lad from being the best CB on the planet. Injuries and possibly too much too soon killed him. Had a good career but definitely underachieved. Intersting points you make about Lowe and Hanley being thrust in too soon. I also think Hoilett was trusted too soon. That guy had some skills. Has never really hit the heights. Dunn and Duff were definitely introduced slowly. The other thing about them was that it wasn’t until 2 or so years had passed that they were then expected to change games. Perhaps because we had lots of good players back then. Maybe the biggest issue with throwing young players in is their mental strength in dealing with the expectation? Maybe that’s the reason he’s taking things slowly with BB. His interviews suggest it...though I don’t know the answer.

Any Rovers fan can be excused cynicism after the goings on at Ewood over the last ten years. Even the dogs in the street know players were being left out for purely financial reasons in the past.

I agree he is an excellent man manager but I think “poor” is a gross overstatement of minor criticisms on transfers; Exhibit A; The cost of our main business last season - Was it Bell, Dack and Samuel that cost money? (about 1.25m?) Free; Smallwood, Downing, Whittingham, Gladwin, Hart, Leutwiler etc.. Id suggest the target of promotion was achieved because of excellent man management, and a good level of business. Ofcourse a couple have been no shows, but even the Downings, the loans like Chapman, Armstrong and Payne, played at least some part. Without Dack, we’d probably still be languishing in the third tier potentially, and since that where most of our kitty went - good transfer business complimenting a revival of Graham/Mulgrew/Bennett. I will be measuring this seasons transfer business against success - and so far we aren’t doing to badly, even if that’s with most of last years team. Lots of season left, if Brereton is still hardly touched by April/May, Rothwell is in the u23s and others like Palmer - recalled, Davenport no impact - I’d start to fall more into the belief we’ve cocked up this years kitty!

You’re completely overthinking this mate. All I have done is disagreed with a few on here with regards to what I believe are inaccurate assumptions. History tells us that every time that happens on here it causes mayhem but I don’t see why that should stop me giving my opinion. Of course TM has made mistakes. But you are talking here about him being poor (5/10) in the transfer market plus the notion that there is something cynical about why BB isn’t playing which imo is ludicrous. Especially when we’ve been so successful during that time and the manager is so open. Add to this that I do actually have some insight, makes me feel compelled to give my opinion. If you don’t like it then put me on ignore. Have you or the boys ever stopped to wonder whether people want to read your constant moaning and cynicism about everything no matter how well things are going? Probably not because it’s a messageboard and a messageboard is about opinions right? Well you have yours and I have mine!

Shebby?

Hate that sort of arrogant attitude that implies that everything a football professional says or does is correct whereas the opinion of someone who isn't a football professional is worthless.

....patience.....patience....?

I'll not lose any sleep over that

Macaully bonne. Plays for leyton orient, 23, top scorer in the national league. Scored 8 in his last 9 games. Tall, quick, good in the air and can use both feet. Being linked to a host of premier league clubs as the next vardy from non league. Never seen him play just what I've heard but must be worth a look and fits into the venky model

You won't find a more honest manager than Bobby Saxton.

Ahhhh so what’s your point? That Coyle’s recruitment is the reason for our success? Maybe Lamberts? Or that one game (Saturdays) is accountable for the managers whole tenure. Dack, Armstrong, Smallwood, Antonsson, Samuel, Caddis and Bell all played a role in last years promotion. The first three on that list were arguably pivotal. This season, Armstrong, Brereton, Reed, Rothwell and Palmer have all scored or assisted thus showing a direct impact on the team performance. Whilst I personally think Rodwell has also made a decent enough start. I don’t get how narrow minded this argument is. It’s really simple, we don’t get promoted last season without the players mentioned above. And we don’t make the start we have this season without the impact of the others Iv mentioned. We know this because they’ve directly effected our matches in terms of goals and assists. Just because some of them signed this season aren’t regulars doesn’t mean they’re bad signings. He’s openly said he expects the likes of Rothwell, Brereton and Davenport are signings that will benefit us over a long period. In all of his reign I can only think of Whittingham who came with a rep, likely on decent money and failed. We’ve never had any bad apples brought in either. No rumblings in the dressing room... AND in the middle of all this we currently have (arguably) the best player in Championship on our books who was signed for £750k and will likely go for £20-25m in the summer. That’d be enough for most fans. Obvs not ours! ???

I remember reading an article about Marlon Broomes when he was coming through. Alan Shearer said he was going to be the next Bobby Moore. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw him play. You don't expect the finished article in a young player but usually something catches your eye. They're quick and strong in the tackle. They have a good passing game. Or they read the game well and are calm in possession, good in the air etc. Broomes had none of those attributes. He made Christian Bloody Dailly look like a proper centre back !

Ok, so my opinion is that I’d love to see more of Brereton. The club are very excited about him and I value the opinions of the people I know who rate him. (I haven’t been able to make my own judgement because he hasn’t played much) I can therefore empathise with people wanting to see more of him. But I stop short of making myself beleive there is only one possible, cynical reason for it. As Iv said before, I would have bought another mainline striker in the summer as well as BB. I look at every success story in there and the teams always have several different goal scoring options. I genuinely believe we would’ve been 5/6pts better off had we done so. I suppose they thought they’d have Samuel who has Championship experience but still. They should’ve addressed that imo. So yes 100% a striker would be my priority. I want to see BB play up front and I’d pick him if Graham were injured.

I honestly think even that is a myth. Gets nowhere near the ball ever and never got a foot in. I still maintain that with Smallwood in our midfield instead then we wouldn't have gone down. Did anyone ever rate him?

Everyone is so bloody touchy on here. Not that I do it (or at least I try not to!) but if any of us say something someone finds laughable then I think it's a fair response! Best delete it if people can't hack it.

Given the circumstances the likes of Downing, Samuel, Smallwood, Bell, Caddis etc were brought to the club with one thing in mind. Get us out of the Division asap. Great, we did that. It's the nature of the beast that having achieved success they have to be replaced by better players. It's dog eat dog in pro football and most top managers have no room for sentiment. For some reason we haven't done that.

Nonsense. Nonsense.

I'm sorry but Armstrong will never be a " lead the line " type of player as long as he's got a hole in his bum. He lacks the physical presence. He needs a blood transplant from the likes of Dickov or Speedie.

There's Smallwood too but he doesn't seem to be rated anymore. Anyway, after 3 transfer windows and £10m+ spent, only having 3 in the 1st team is a sad indictment on how many Mogga has got wrong. The fact he's already had to pay two off and he's only been here 18 months speaks volumes. There are extenuating circumstances of course (being played out of position etc) but, put simply, the majority of his signings have underwhelmed. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/west-brom-albion-tony-mowbray-12793111 Here are the signings he made at WBA. Pretty underwhelming. I don't think the transfer market is Mowbray's strength.

Ipswich under Alf Ramsey got promoted to the old First Division one season and then won the First Division title the next. As soon as Alf left they were relegated !

Yup, pretty childish when you think about it.

Don’t remind me, still haunted by loads of idiots in the Riverside, and some fat Manc in a Rosie and Jim mask taunting us from behind the nets.

Helloween - A Little Time

Pink Floyd - Time

@Paul Mani theres an undercurrent of cryptic arrogance throughout your post. Firstly, please can you state what your job is in football? Apologies if ive missed it but its the elephant in the room in every one of your posts, you clearly want people to know. I find your angle really strange. You come onto an internet messageboard, which is a vessel for fans to discuss their opinions. You arent doing that, you are just saying Mowbray knows more than us all as if that is a valid way to shoot down your posts. Did you join the forum expecting posts to consist of people just echoing Mowbrays decisions and saying I agree because he knows more than us? No one is claiming to be a better potential manager than Mowbray. If he signed players in League 1 solely to guarantee promotion, may I ask why such a short term objective has been totally flipped on his head, going from signing players solely for the upcoming season, to signing players solely for the future, not expected to contribute anything at first? I also disagree with the notion that we signed players solely with a short term aim in mind anyway, supported with quotes below: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/15565159.i-think-the-signs-are-there-that-it-will-be-a-good-combination-tony-mowbray-on-rovers-duo-bradley-dack-and-dominic-samuel/ “I was very aware of not trying to burden two 23-year-old boys to fire us out of this league." “But I do think that Samuel and Dack were brought here for some money that we had to spend and in the long-term help this club progress back up the leagues." Your comment that only Whittingham didnt contribute is nonsense too. Whittingham contributed far more than quite a few players, notably Hart, Leutweiler and Gladwin. Mowbray knows far more than me, but I signed up on here before he even joined, solely for the purpose of giving my own personal opinions, under no illusions that I am not qualified to actually become the manager. I also stand by my criticisms on the summer business we did too, and the lack of impact most have had so far. But hey, I dont know as much about football as you.

How many points does infrastructure get you? Or Leeds? Or Sunderland? Over 20 clubs have been relegated from the Premier since we were. It’s odds on we would’ve been one of them even without the help of Venkys. Look at Burnley, Europe to relegation dog fight in weeks.

Couldnt agree more. Makes this place totally pointless for one. As long as they are the opinions of a professional manager or coach? @JacknOry responds to these points in excellent detail. There is a myth circulating that Rovers fans are expecting loads from Brereton already and its blatantly not true. There is also a myth that it is ok for him to be solely a project, as if hes an untested kid. Hes got plenty of game time under his belt at Forest at this level. Point 1 defunct. The reason point 2 is moot is because Mowbray wont consider Brereton to be a striker, one of the key elements of the whole debate. Armstrong doesnt play up front either. Thats point 3. Understand that he will take a bit of time to acclimatise but hes part of the squad and again going back to the myth, just having him as a second choice striker with Graham ahead of him is hardly expecting loads. The Palmer and Dack experiment, and the Dack up top experiment simply didnt work. Surely testing the waters with a young, talented striker with Championship experience made more sense. Surely you cant really defend them choices.

Yes, new leftback sorted.

Elvis Costello And The Attractions - Man Out Of Time

You really shouldn't be laughing at things like that. We'd need to order more laughing emoji's if people did the same to you.

...and by the same token it doesn't justify his decision to spend £7m on someone who isn't better than the old guard.

There are guys who been in the pro game all their lives getting fired on a daily basis because they got things wrong once too often

Deep Purple - My Woman From Tokyo

Unfortunately they can't use it for snow shifting yet as it needs to bulk up its upper plough strength

Ten of the starting team were the nucleus of last season's promotion winning side and eight were here when Mowbray arrived. Six of the seven substitutes were Mowbray signings. If we are going to kick on the new signings have to genuinely make us stronger.

Elvis Presley - Way Down

Had to check the thread title- yep his is about welcoming Venky's. Completely split. Seven years of hell morphing into a year of eminent good sense with a backdrop of funding in a way that Rovers are unlikely to face administration or any more FFP trouble. Got a feeling we will discover we are in a division where it is hell to get out in the right direction but all too easy to crash out of through the trap door. With the passage of time anger at the way our secure Premier League status was frittered will only mount regardless of model guardianship now.

I'd just leave the black/coloured thing out of it and call him that entitled Knobhead