It's becoming obvious that this is a mounting problem. Wonder if Sharpe will have the guts or permission to ask TM about this, or whether it'll be glossed over as per usual?

Dack is out for 12 months I believe, so we're probably looking at closer to a November/December return for him unfortunately. We're likely to play half of next season without Dack as well as the rest of this one. That's a scary thought. Brereton doesn't even play Rothwell's position naturally so this really shouldn't be a consideration. It is because of square peg round hole syndrome but we've already seen Brereton is not effective at all playing Rothwell's role. Gallagher too, although I would guess he's now nailed on to start there in Rothwell's absence.

I'm more concerned about next season in all honesty. We'll finish somewhere around mid-table this season which some will see as a success if it's an improvement on last season, but it feels like we have a lot to do in the summer and with Mowbray and Venus at the helm again for recruitment I'm really concerned. They are not the right people for this job. If only we had proactive owners with a finger on the pulse. Three successive transfer window failures would surely not be seen as acceptable.

At the very least Brereton needed to get out on loan. The lad is regressing here at a rate of knots and I don't see that changing over the next six months. We've completely failed him by not finding him somewhere to play regularly, imo. Smallwood should have gone as well but I appreciate that may have been difficult given he doesn't seem that keen to go. Probably knows he won't get anything close to this kind of contract again. Samuel not good enough even as a sub for me, should have been moved on if at all possible. No point having him and Brereton here wasting away. To me it feels like we have a very dysfunctional transfer policy with people in charge who aren't doing anywhere close to a good job. I would argue that since we were promoted from League 1 our business has been mostly abysmal. Some decent loan signings here or there but few if any proper success stories as far as permanent transfers go. Downing and maybe Rothwell at a stretch. Can't remember if Arma was signed before we were promoted but was brought in on loan assumedly with a view to sign in L1 so I'd still count him essentially as pre-promotion transfer business. I have no faith in Mowbray and Venus anymore as far as transfer dealings as concerned. Making no comment on the footballing side of things, but they shouldn't be heading our recruitment going forward. We need better if we're going to seriously progress.

Three transfer windows in a row now (imo at least) where we've failed to strengthen where we need to strengthen and allowed the club to stagnate. Not only have we failed to bring in anybody in to boost the squad, but we've also failed to shift any deadwood. Not good at all. At the very least we need to completely overhaul the transfer process and ideally take Mowbray and Venus out of it as they have proven to be incapable. Bring in a proper DoF and let them handle things. If Mowbray doesn't like it then tough shit, he knows where the door is.

I think it's just that they both cost a lot of money (relative to what we normally pay) and neither have delivered in the way we would have wanted. Agree that their situations are wildly different though. BB not only more expensive in fee but can't even get into the squad most weeks and looks utterly bereft of confidence, to the point where he doesn't even seem to be trying when he's on the pitch. Gallagher meanwhile has been disappointing but being played out wide repeatedly obviously doesn't help when it's clearly not his favoured position or even a position his attributes lend themselves to. Just stupidity and stubbornness from TM on that one I'm afraid. At least SG is in the squad though, usually first team, and has contributed albeit not at the levels we would have hoped for considering the fee and likely considerable wages.

Didn't someone on here say Mowbray was actively trying to move a few players on ASAP? Maybe this is why.

The Ipswich job was undoubtedly a tough one but his confidence became arrogance, similar to the likes of David Moyes when he went to Man Utd, Hurst thought the methods he used to be successful at a smaller club would seamlessly transfer to a bigger club. He got rid of and/or alienated key staff left over from the McCarthy era, was never really accepted by the Ipswich players who particularly hated his assistant Chris Doig, had too much faith in lower league players making the step up without the support of more experienced players to guide them, and ended up leaving the club in a much, much worse state than he found it in. He's young so theoretically can still recover but his stock is at an all time low at this point.

Calls Rovers his "home". Injured Martin Olsson for three months during his trial with a 50/50 tackle in training. Hughes told Samba he wouldn't play until after summer 2007 despite being signed in January, but he was thrown straight into the team after he signed. Grateful to MGP for scoring the winner in his first match, as he feels it gave the manager and players confidence they could win matches with Samba in the team. Learned a lot from Ryan Nelsen. Calls him a leader and a rock. Not best friends but a lot of respect. Feels they meshed well as a defensive partnership. Says Nelsen is a great professional, whilst Samba was more laid back. Says Nelsen helped him become a leader. Says the defence with himself, Nelsen, Warnock, Ooijer/Emerton/Reid and Friedel was the best defence he ever played in. Calls Friedel a "human wall" who could stop anything, and it's no wonder nobody wanted to come to Ewood Park. Says Friedel was "definitely" underrated but it was good for Rovers as it meant he stayed, but he could have played for a top side. Says it was the same for Tugay. Thinks the level in the PL was higher during this period than it is now. Playing great was sometimes not enough to be in a top team. Says that Rovers overachieved considering the budget, with very smart people in the office signing players like himself, McCarthy, Bentley, MGP and Santa Cruz. Says the team was better than it should have been. Says that most of the players came to Rovers underrated and had something to prove. Doesn't want to be too critical of Ince, but says it was difficult and a bit scary losing Mark Hughes. Calls the following season tough. Allardyce is a coach Samba "loved". End of Part 1.

Been a massive downward spiral for him since he took the Ipswich job.

Cool clip posted on AEDub's Instagram of Jericho's entrance on the cruise without commentary:

Rothwell going off at HT was definitely a turning point. He was sensational in the first half. Hope it was precautionary and his injury isn't too serious. Would be a shame for him to have a spell on the sidelines after finally getting going tonight.

Charlton will be looking nervously over their shoulders now.

Gallagher had an absolute shocker tonight I'm afraid. When will this experiment with him out wide end? With that said even at the end when he had a great chance with a header right in the middle of the penalty box he put it wide. Graham would have had that one for breakfast.

Great first half save for poor defending for their goal. Rothwell going off had a big impact on us in the second half, we lost all the attacking fluidity we had in the first half and it was a much more typical Rovers performance. Nonetheless we ground out the win which is something we have failed to do multiple times in the past, so well done to the team for grinding it out. Onto the next run of good form by the looks of things.

Gallagher misses a golden opportunity to head us 3-1 ahead. Didn't even get it on target ffs.

"I've had quite enough of that fancy football maverick nonsense lads, back to normal!"

Tbf we could do with Millwall losing regardless of how we feel about Leeds.

Rothwell was struggling with what looked like a thigh injury at the end of the half. Massive shame, it's the best he's played since he was reintroduced to the team.

Lovely to see isn't it?

Not sure I've ever seen us play with such confidence and swagger up top since Mowbray arrived. We've looked very, very menacing as an attacking force in the first 45. Defence is still looking a bit dodgy though so could really do with getting a third to give us some breathing space.

Yep, he looks calm and assured on the ball but keeps trying to pass it up through the middle and it's been repeatedly cut out. Tony needs to tell him to cut it out at HT.

Some of the stuff we're playing up top is magnificent. We look so confident.

Tosin has played us into trouble three times now with wayward passes from out the back. He needs to be a bit more careful.

We are playing some exciting stuff. Can't believe this is the same team I watched labour against Wigan.