From the poster who described £7M for Brereton as a "steal"!!!

I love that you are spinning everything into a positive once more. Why didnt you reference Adarabioyo ans Reed as youngsters that we have loaned? Because they are successful and dont fit into your argument! And why are loans of youngsters from the PL the only alternatives to using our own kids considering we have money as you say. We dont want to be playing Buckley because hes absolutely nowhere near being ready. If Mowbray is right to not overpay for players, why did he spend 7m on a total waste of space, then repeat the same mistake by spending 5m on another? Its quite clear that our bids are nowhere near the asking prices and hes made a million and one references to us having a limited budget. Lets not pretend that that is down to some sort of principle that Mowbray is not buying these players, the budget is seemingly not there. I struggle to be overly excited about the rest of the season, before you spin that into a superfan narrative I will still be attending but for the reasons I have given, poor recruitment, little chance of us upgrading the squad as required, injury woe, a stagnant manager and a miniscule (at best!) chance of anything other than a mid table finish, its hard to be overly excited.

Sick of reading these statements from Mowbray. He seems to think everyone is as happy as Chaddy to whitewash over his huge financial mistakes and pretend that we are paupers. Even if he were right, it’s precisely because he has paid out big money for two duds that clubs put their prices up. - He says we have no money and then spends big. - He brings in a low priced one and talks about what a “massive bargain” he’s got. Would it be any surprise if other clubs turned around and said “Piss off Tony”? He talks so much crap he’d be better off joining the ranks on football messageboards than being a football manager! Stop talking bobbins, have a proper plan, select the players you want (in our price bracket) and quietly get deals done EARLY rather than this charade of trying to get folk in cheap at the end of each window when in reality clubs know how desperate we are and have started to fleece us.

You'd be looking at about 40/50k pwk combined there for those 3 being rotated at left back yet not one of them is an actual LB. A prime example of the unbalanced mess we are heading into never mind 2 of them having a combined age over 70. Shocking really.

Everton fan here. Just signed up to wish Corry Evans all the best of luck and a speedy recovery, after sustaining his horrific head injury. Good luck with the rest of your season.

the problem is he decided to extend contracts for players not good enough no one wants smallwood/mulgrew and no one is queuing up to sign Samuel etc. The arse went out of the team and manager when we got close to the play offs again. Owners have probably looked at it and his track record in the market and thought why chuck a million at a player when its not likely to make a difference. Same old Mowbray talks it up then a few weeks/months later he changes his tune.

We went down this road with Bauer just to use an example. He was out of contract in summer but Charlton wanted 1 million so Rovers offered 500k. Then Rovers dawdled about so he signed an extension at Charlton and they then said give us 2 million ! Mowbray kept up the interest waiting for him to be free but then when it was doable he preferred to chuck his money elsewhere using similar excuses he's doing now regarding wages. Bauer signed for PNE for about 15 grand pwk and a nice signing on fee, 4 yr deal. Now if we'd paid nearer to what Charlton had initially wanted despite his contract running down we might have got ourselves a decent bread and butter defender who might be worth a few million now. Say what you want about the player i'm just holding that up as an example not claiming we've missed a great one. Mowbray is talking through his backside again because apart from Dack and Armstrong he's thrown huge money at expensive gambles via his own agent at the time and another one who has continued form here. Then it's been freebies and oldies and decent contracts there's nothing inbetween. Amazing when you thing his bargain cash buys for modest money turned out to be the best investments a bit like the GB model. Not rocket science to suggest that for a club like us that's the best way to go the proof is there. They don't all work, Samuel and Bell spring to mind but it's no massive loss unless you've given them stupid contracts. Moral is if you want quality then get your hands in your pockets and pay for it otherwise bite the bullet and get some modest buys in with a bit of form about them and pay the asking price.

I can't understand why you're still saying this. I broke down at length why it no longer matters that he is out of contract in the summer, because the chances of him reaching that stage are vanishingly thin. You saw it, because you quoted me. All you said about that issue was that he has a 2.5 million release clause (which obviously I am well aware of, and if he didn't have that the fee might be even higher). Since you haven't rebutted my point, why are you still making the old one which my post completely tore down?

I think that we have long since established that Mowbray has no issue with over paying for players.

It is laughable that Mowbray continually talks about inflated fees when he has wasted 12 million on two donkeys who have a grand total of two league goals all season between them. Why does no one at Radio Lancs or LET call him out on this? He really must think the punters are thick to accept all the rubbish that spouts out his mouth. He'll be mentioning dew on the grass next.

There are plenty of problems with it. Putting a man whose motto appears to be “think small, think slow” given equal billing with Jack, for one. But the main thing I see it as is two fingers at the fans given that it will have been ordered when Mowbray was coming under significant pressure again due to a run of poor results. Even Kean didn’t dare get a flag of himself made and that’s saying something. Or presumably he just didn’t think of it. What happens when Mowbray leaves? Throw it away? There are a significant number of former managers far more deserving of a flag that the current incumbent. That said, this fella could lose 20 games in a row and wouldn’t be sacked so why not a flag. And some think other managers wouldn’t want the gig here... it’s the best job in football!

We have now completed all surnames starting with D. Work on the next section will start over the next few days.

Maybe, but at the same time you shouldn't be bullish about receiving funds if it relies on a player sale. Just the usual scenario of Tony saying too much when he didn't need to say anything.

Could have bought a completely new spine to the team for the 12M.

It’s astonishing that you can’t read this back and see why you making this part of a defence is absolute nonsense. ”I’m going to ignore the thing that totally undermines my (and Mowbray’s) point but still make the point anyway”.

You are either on the wind up, or just dont read post? You go round and round like a roundabout, and dont appear to be able to put together an adult response. I get your "groupie approach" , i've been reading it for years and I tend to just pass by your post and ignore as you would spin the club closing as a good thing. As someone who manages adults on a daily basis, Id certainly not publically diss their ability publically. We all have opinions, but some of those are best left unsaid. Please dont respond to this post, as I cannot be bothered reading it

Too late for all that now that is precisely the kind of approach to spending that should have been going on in the previous few windows. He's blown the money, wasted it, pissed it down the drain, its gone. He now though has a raft of excuses, some legit obviously to add to his increasingly contradictory waffle. Ironically that along with nearing FFP and still willingly clueless owners and agent influence will still see him here this time next year operating the same way. Possibly being hailed a hero for keeping us up after a fire sale whilst all the blame goes India's way again. Ironic.

The manager you are defending has been here 3 years and yet we still need a complete new defensive unit in your estimation. As far as Gallagher is concerned I wouldn't have signed him because I wasn't particularly impressed with him the first time around and he's gone backwards since then. Given that he is here somebody needs to play him some videos of Kevin Davies at Bolton and tell him " Watch these, that's how I want you to play, Forget playing out wide, get in the box and knock people about. If you can't adapt your game and play like that, you're not much use to me ". He'll never be a prolific goal scorer but he could become a useful blunt instrument. Having said that if we could get rid of him and re-coup even half of what we paid for him I'd sell him tomorrow.

He was, trouble is we were the ones that got stolen from !

Funny how our thick manager says that Mulgrew wants to play where it doesn’t suit him, but picks players out of position on a regular basis. I still get the impression Mowbray is a bit of a nasty bitch, not the nice guy a lot of people seem to think.

That was last year when they were flying high in the Championship, this season the side he keeps highlighting our Brentford as they are flying high. The problem is that those two clubs have very different ways of operating. I think where Mowbray is concerned he doesn't really have a clue what he wants to implement and it certainly shows on the pitch.

We effectively play with two at the back when Bennett and Bell are in the same back four - so one more is a bonus.

He has great passing technique and set pieces. That's it. He isn't a good dribbler and he has no pace. He has zero chance of thundering past wingers or full backs, or of catching anybody who glides past him. Which will be any winger who has even average pace. He also has very poor positional sense - and that was at centre half where he has a few years experience. He will be a disaster at left back, I'm sticking with that. Even Bell, even on present form, is better there.

If by management you are referring to people who work at Ewood Park or Brockhall then it doesn't really matter whether they are impressed or not. Mowbray sits above the lot of them and has more sway with the owners than the rest put together. The only people Mowbray need worry about are the nutters in India and I doubt they've even heard of Gallagher and Brereton.

Talk about rewriting history.

Sam hart out of contract in the summer? We might have well just let him go, perennial loanee , waste of time. Either give him a chance or move him on. Signing somebody and then loaning him out his entire contract is madness. Throwing wages away

Let’s be honest, if Davenport does get a game it will probably on the wing or at right back.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/17/tosin-adarabioyo-manchester-city-blackburn-loan-racism

I never said he was shite, stop twisting

But if the right agent is doing it we'll wait till the last min then panic and spend 5 or 6 million anyway ! All he's got to be is young and British, pedigree don't matter in these cases.

They want 2.5 million because they can get 2.5 million for him. Two clubs have met it already. It is now irrelevant that he is out of contract in the summer. He is moving NOW, in this window. For 2.5 million. That's his market value now no matter how you slice it. It's only overpaying if you don't think he as a player is worth 2.5 million. I haven't seen a lot of him, but with his consistent stats for 5 seasons and at 26, I believe he is. Maybe you don't. But his contract situation is now completely unimportant. He isn't going to be available for free in the summer, because he will be fully contracted and playing in the Championship within a week or two. Very likely if he is available at all in the summer it'll be for more than 2.5 mill. If nobody else was meeting the fee, like was the case with Bauer, then and only then would it matter that his contract expires in 6 months.

Develop into what, a slow winger? And yes, 22 is young for a footballer.

Dunno in general but in the last game the Wolves commentators were saying he was the best player on the pitch and he took his winning goal pretty well. Wouldn't mind taking cameo looks at a few of these players, you never know who will take to it like a duck to water. Lyons, JRC, Butterworth when he was fit, Hilton could have been given the cup game, Davenport...but hell, TM didn't even give youth a chance last season when we were the first club in the league whose season was over (couldn't get relegated, couldn't go up). I'm not going to say he doesn't introduce youngsters, because he does (although I think he's had a particularly promising bunch compared to recent years). But he still takes a softly slowly approach with it, as he does in all things.

Can’t say I saw any of him in a rovers shirt, picked up a few of when he was out on loan. Unnecessary signings seems to be a mowbray trait

3-5-2 is a formation that requires discipline, organization and stability. How could we ever play that when Tony picks a different team from one week to the next?

Irrespective of wether you think that individuals have improved or not,even the dogs in the street know that as a team we are dog shit to watch most of the time.

I think one thing is clear, Wigan have a more visually appealing website

He's highlighted Sheff Utd a few times but he just isn't capable or isn't allowed to sign the right players for it let alone implement it. He couldn't in lge 1.

He's going to go 3 at the back again. He's like a moth to a hot light. Never learns from his failures. He should have built a solid back four years ago but he has just been collecting square pegs and nice boys.

You didn't answer again. That's why people get frustrated - you evade answering questions you dont like the answer to. Yes or no has TM done a good job in the transfer market? Yes or no has he assembled a good squad? Simple questions and everything you say suggests he has done a bad job but won't admit it for some reason.

It terrifies me that he is considering Mulgrew for left back. We will get absolutely savaged down that flank if that happens.

He's looking at Mulgrew for left back he mentioned. So Bell, Downing and Mulgrew. I know ,kinda funny,right? Imagine someone said 5 years ago our 2 left backs would be Downing and Mulgrew. No doubt Downing can do a job there, I personally though Hart looked athletic and could do a job,but not to be. Bell needs to hit heights he hasn't hit yet if he is to be here beyond the summer,but I would say the reality now is that the position is his

You certainly came across like you were insinuating he is shite. I can't fault Chaddy on that one, don't think he twisted a thing. I suppose what you actually meant is you have no idea about Fox (me either) and are concerned that we may end up lumbered with another poor LB? We can't loan-to-buy on everyone we sign though. A left back in a top six team on the cheap doesn't seem an especially risky punt. If we did pay slightly less to loan him instead of sign him, he did well, then went somewhere else in the summer for free, we'd be kicking ourselves.

You can't ever absolve Venkys from blame. The only reason we have an outdated manager like Mowbray is because of Venkys.

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Lost Weekend

Could be a number of reasons. Some say his a bit of an arrogant so and so. Just look at how he cannot agree wage demands at Charlton. He is a L1 player signing to play in the Championship - How much is he asking for? Also, numerous clubs have been in for him over the years. Perhaps they ran into similar issues. Additionally, Peterborough have been very difficult too - they want all the money upfront. So even though clubs match the release clause, they cannot get the player because his club wants all the cash now and not spread over the next few years. Could be a combination of the two.

As I mentioned earlier on this thread last week 5 unnamed Championship clubs visited the EFL to register their dissatisfaction with the failure to set a date for the hearing on the Sheffield Wednesday situation and over Wednesday continuing to sign players. Clubs are now prepared to use lawyers to force the EFL to apply the FFP rules and a legal minefield also awaits if the EFL do not do so.

If Tony says we'll have to rely on youth then bring it on. Time to see JRC, Lyons, Mols, Vale and the rest in the first team. Pity some of them have long term injuries. But I won't hold my breath.

I would of had Paul Gallagher back, wanted to come back when we were relegated. 2 and 1/2 seasons later, still doing ok for northend, despite spending more time in midfield now adays. Like downing, excellent on the ball, and good for 60 -65 minutes. We could do a lot worse given we have no cash, at least he creates goals. Think he has 5 goals in 22 games this season, which is a good return given he is not playing up front.