booth

I was there last year and it seemed the same to me. A poor mans Manchester.

Thomas gets at them more than Hedges and creates space for others. I was really encouraged to see Dolan look like a more than worthy replacement for Brereton, so I hope he's playing on the left again with Gallagher in the middle.

It isn't, I've lived there. They call it steel city but that's because it's cold, lifeless and everyone's depressed. I remember the shopping centre with no roof and each shop was a decent walk away from the next. It meant if it's pissing down and freezing, you can't avoid it. Then there's Meadow Hall which is just an expensive toilet. Same with a night out, it's a nightmare in winter as the pubs/clubs are all some distance. And everyone calls you "duck". If you hadn't realised already I didn't enjoy my time in Sheffield.

For all the people saying they wouldn't have him back, would you swap Armstrong for Vale right now? He was a Championship goal machine in his last season and he's only 26. Infuriatingly greedy at times, but just imagine if we had a goalscorer of that calibre in the squad for the remainder of this season.

That's a special kind of stupid. Gets the year wrong by saying... "Blackburn won the Premier League in 1993 which was 28 years ago" (and he hasn't even mastered basic maths), as if it's ancient history. This is from a fan of a cricket club that were Champions of England once, 125 years ago. They haven't won a major cup for 98 years. Massive club. Always in the shadow of Sheffield Wednesday.

They've always been a set of dicks. Worst fans to come to Ewood on many occasion. That's what you get for a set of fans that's seen their team win f*** all since 1925.

We had Leonard on the bench on Tuesday because we have no other centre forwards but Vale and Gallagher. 17 year old Philips came off the bench to bolster the defence in the closing moments. Earlier in the season he had to step up to the first team. Wharton had to because our other midfielders had a collective mental breakdown. I don't think there's a game gone by without a teenager or two on the bench.

Payback for Kevin Davies. They'll offload him to a Championship club and he'll start banging them in again.

We shouldn't be forced to use teenagers in the first team, they should be brought in at the correct time for the good of their development and the team.

Not in a state... Brereton with half a good season our only hope, Gallagher the only striker, out of form or downright poor midfielders, Ayala a sicknote, Dack perhaps finished, only one fullback worth using, and even that was questionable considering Pickering's performances last season. It's not as if Dolan, Hedges, Pears and JRC were spectacular last season either. And the rest kids with little to no first team experience.

Yes. But, not just the coaching, but the other factors surrounding being called up to a national team and picked for a large tournament. The lad must have been walking on sunshine. Gallagher had three good games with no other examples you can remember, because there weren't any. Tomasson inherited a massive challenge no matter how you paint it, and at the beginning of the season no one predicted we'd be where we are. Mid season you stated in another thread that we had an underwhelming Summer transfer window and a poor January. Yet you thought we'd improve on last season. You can praise Mowbray all you want, but after 5 years it amounted to coming second in League 1, finishing 15th, 11th, 15th and 8th in the Championship, and leaving the squad in a state. That's just a fact is it not?

I always thought Mowbray was better with a small budget and when given money he went a bit batshit. If Sunderland spend big in Summer, they're screwed. Their fans won't stand by and watch a journey to nowhere unfold.

Ex football agent, failed CEO at multiple clubs. It shouldn't be a surprise when things go wrong.

I attribute Brereton's good "half" season more to Martin Lasarte than Mowbray. He got more of a tune out of Gallagher than anyone else on Tuesday night. Different player. You previously said that we had an underwhelming window in Summer, I think it was on the Gregg thread. You commented that it was a "much better" squad than TM inherited. I don't think it was with the outgoings, I just think JDT is doing a good job with what he has. I'm not saying Tomasson's squad was quite as bad, but "much better?". I think that really downplays what we are achieving here with such a thin misfiring squad. I don't think there was a Rovers fan that expected much out of this season when it began, or even after the Summer window closed. We may have a few better individuals but the squad was so imbalanced due to TM's bizarre experiment of false 9's midfielders, neglecting the defence and not playing with centre forwards. Also let's not forget how important Van Hecke was to last seasons unspectacular 8th placed finish. And if the Jan transfer window had been better, I think we'd be closer to second than third. I'll keep saying this but we were left with 8 goal Sam Gallagher as our only centre forward, and frustratingly still do. No one knew if Dack would come back in any decent shape and Diaz mania seemed a distant memory. No one expected such a low scoring team to be 4th at this stage of the season, and through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup, and if you look at our goal difference, it really is amazing.

We lost Van Hecke, Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell. That’s four regular starters that would have been missed if all injured at once. It’s also arguable, based on goals, that we lost Diaz for Brereton. Sure we got Hyam and Brittain but only Hyam has been a regular up to now. JRC has been like a new player but it’s taken till recently. I just don’t think the squad is “much better”. We have some good individuals but overall the squad is pretty thin. I think JDT is weaving some magic tbf. Anyone who can get a tune out of Gallagher is some sort of miracle worker.

Where did you predict they’d finish?

Price of a new pitch perhaps?

Amateurs. I hope whoever responsible will now be dealt with.

The other reason is that one had five years, whereas the other has had seven months.

They think it's because they don't have a striker. Wait till Tony starts signing multiple midfielders, plays them up front and sticks Ross Stewart at fullback.

How many late goals have they had this season to win a game or nick a point?

I've called him Davey Dingle before now. Oh and he really didn't like it.

It was still a squad with, historically, no dependable centre forwards, few goals apart from Brereton (for half a season), loads of midfielders, two defenders and a midfielder walking out of the door for nothing. Let's also not forget our over reliance on youth to fill the gaps. Mowbray left him with a lot to do.

Love the new username but I'd have preferred the other one to be renamed bizarro david brent 😄

If you don't know already you have an imposter in the Dingle thread.