JHRover

I know you don't know I'm just baffled as to why the Club are saying 'should be' next week. Do they not even know themselves? What sort of organisation is this?

I'm most interested now in whether we can manage a bottom half finish. Only 5 points to go and if Swansea win their game in hand it will be 3. I'm already resigned to us dropping below Preston after they beat us at Deepdale. Both will be monumental achievements considering where we were in February. This manager should hang his head in shame and resign in embarrassment.

I thought that was last week? Should be? How do they not know?

Not dynamic enough?

I find it interesting that Suhail Sheikh aka Pasha has a public profile claiming responsibility for 'operations and administrative side' of Blackburn Rovers and yet according to Mowbray and Waggott he is simply the owners' representative/communications link. Which one is it? Is he hands on as he claims, in which case why is he invisible and silent and how does his job work around Waggott's?

Robins is just another average manager at this level. Look at his record. Did nothing with Huddersfield and other than that and the last couple of seasons has been a League One or Two manager. He's done very well at Coventry but if all we are looking for is someone who has done well in Leagues One and Two then the list will be a long one. John Coleman anyone? Even if we wanted him I doubt he'd leave Coventry to come here when he's got a settled job there with people who love him. That kind of says it all when we remember where Coventry were not long ago and that they are still owned by SISU but we've got Venkys to thank for that. We need to be aiming for better if the ambition is promotion.

This is all part of Mowbray's sales pitch for a new contract, I'm convinced of it. This talk about Gallagher stepping up to replace Brereton. His basis will be that having got rid of Danny Graham and following Dack's injury, it was he that oversaw Armstrong's emergence into hot property resulting in a big money sale, and following that, with no reinvestment, he has overseen Brereton's emergence into hot property which I think he will be more than happy to see sold to further justify his approach and earn credit with the owners. His next argument will be that he will be the one to oversee the development of Gallagher in much the same way. Not bothered about much else, if it works then we might have another £10 million+ player to sell in 2023 to save them some money. Problem is this lot will buy it and go with it.

This is what happens when you don't get your house in order and let contracts run down. Cheers Venkys, Waggott & Mowbray. Just hope they're gone and soon.

I'm not sure about this obsession with youth development that you seem to have. Our academy is one of the most productive in the country, as evidenced by the presence of Lenihan, Wharton, Nyambe, Travis, Buckley, JRC as cornerstones of the first team. So there's obviously nothing wrong with it as it stands. I certainly don't think it is realistic to expect MORE players in our squad to come from the academy. That is going to be very difficult to achieve. No the job of a manager is to manage the first team to get the best results possible. It is the job of the academy manager and staff to develop players to reach a level good enough for the first XI, and of course any manager will give an opportunity to academy lads if they are good enough. When Mowbray turned up here I don't think anyone thought he was a good development coach or that he was being brought in to get more from our academy. He was a 50 something unemployed manager who had been around the block in the previous 10 years and was brought in on a short term deal to firefight and get results to try and survive. 5 years on and one of the main successes of Mowbray's tenure is the number of people who have come through from the academy. Sometimes that seems to have been to the detriment of results. The point I'm making is that any manager of a club, especially a limited budget, will look to the academy and use it, and Mowbray himself, with no reputation as being a 'dynamic' coach or proficient in developing kids, has done just that to a good level For some reason you seem to equate young and inexperienced coaches for people who are more likely to use our academy than older and with a proven track record. I find it baffling that you wouldn't be excited with appointing Slaven Bilic or Daniel Farke, proven winners at this level or beyond, yet you would actively support the appointments of Damian Johnson, Ryan Mason or Jason Wilcox, none of whom have managed before and we don't even know if they are up to it.

Yeah but we put a bus on once for people 'as far away' as Clitheroe! Not long ago John Williams went after Lancaster and Fylde coast as our catchment area. This lot see heartlands like Clitheroe as distant areas.

Today's episode of Tony's excuse making its the turn of the officials to take the blame for our results. Mowbray seems to take particular issue with the 99 minutes at Coventry. I'm not sure why because I thought the referee played the correct amount of time given the injury and interruptions to the 6 added.. Now I'll be the first to admit that the referees are poor and I do my fair share of complaining about them at games but this is just another example of Mowbray firing off in every direction other than looking at himself and admitting responsibility.

I think even Venkys would struggle with that list. Taking out Cooper and Robins, who aren't going to leave their current jobs where they are loved to come here. there are few options. Pulis a possibility but if he has one eye on retirement as rumoured he might not be bothered about it. The rest I would be fascinated to see how they would manage to parachute one of that lot into this club and job. They'd probably have to bring them into another role first with the aim of promoting them in due course as it would be obvious something was amiss otherwise.

You didn't answer my questions. How and why are Steve Cooper and Neil Critchley 'dynamic' or 'good training ground coaches' as opposed to anyone else? How do you know that they are more dynamic than anyone else? You seem to attach great importance to these 'attributes' so I was interested to know what they actually were and how you determine if a manager has them or not. It seems to me you are referring to younger end managers who have recently emerged from coaching at youth or reserve levels and have transitioned well to managing at senior level. If that's what you want us to do - identify someone to transition from coaching youth teams to first teams fine - I'm not sure why you want that or think it is essential. There aren't many who make that transition. Even Critchley has a lot to prove yet with his career still in its infancy. Gary Bowyer made that transition yet wasn't deemed good enough here. Who would be on my shortlist? Off the top of my head, without applying much thought to it, I would think about the following people who are currently available or working at a level where they should be obtainable for a billionaire backed club: Slaven Bilic, Daniel Farke, Slavisa Jokanovic, Gary Rowett, Chris Hughton, Garry Monk, Mark Bonner, Danny Cowley, Liam Manning, Ian Evatt, Uwe Rosler, Nuno Espirito Santo, Vladimir Ivic, Wayne Rooney, Lee Carsley I accept however that it isn't easy - because we won't go for any of these names either because we won't pay for them or won't allow them to do their jobs properly or because they don't have the right agent. So instead we scratch around for the desperate and willing - those who nobody else want or who know the right people. We could and should have moved for Chris Wilder, Steve Cooper or Alex Neil - all of whom were available last summer and are infinitely better managers than Mowbray, now we won't get any of them. I'm trying to be realistic - I don't apply arbitrary requirements like age or unmeasurable metrics like being a 'training ground' coach or 'dynamic'. I just look at track records and reputations in the game and don't care if they are 70 or 40 or are used to working in youth systems or if they come from Blackburn or Brazil. I don't think it matters. You just need a good manager able to work for lunatic owners. By taking your approach - limiting options to those of a young age, those who have never managed before or those only who have recently worked in someones academy - I think you are taking needless risk for little reason. The first team isn't an academy and one of the problems is Mowbray treating it as a shop window or development centre for players. We need promotion and we need a manager who is going to focus on that and that alone. Just watched the interviews of Corberan and Jones after tonight's game. Corberan clearly has a far greater understanding of the game than Mowbray and you can tell that just by listening to his interview for a few minutes. Jones disgusts me but after losing an important game tonight he is clearly raging and is wound up like a spring, raring to go and coming with the fighting talk. Beats shoulder shrug Tony going through the motions.

We aren't getting in the top 6. Looking at the table tonight that is unforgivable. Heads need to roll.

I'm going for a repeat of the Coventry game and a score draw. Another 45 minute performance will either see us trailing at half time before we recover in the second half or we play well first half but then let it slip in the second and concede an equaliser. Posh aren't a good side but will be fighting and have put a few decent results together recently.

Define a 'good training ground coach' - what does that involve and how do you know if someone is that? Define a 'dynamic manager' - what is one of those and how do you know certain people fit that criteria? Define 'young' - what does age have to do with it? Would you turn down Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp who are both in their 50s because they aren't young enough?

Adkins ticks every box going for this lot. Available and desperate for a Championship job. Record in the distant past of a promotion to the PL. Would willingly work within the structure we have in mind which is basically to agree to work with Lowe, Benson and Johnson and accept only being able to bring one staff member in. I also remember that when Coyle was sacked and just before Mowbray arrived he was heavily linked with it.

Spot on. PL clubs are desperate to find somewhere to send their youngsters and will do so if it ticks the boxes for them. That is they can go somewhere where they will be played on a regular basis and get development time. Due to the way we operate it is no surprise we are well up the queue. Well located for NW and Midland clubs, mid table Championship football, almost certain to play people on a regular basis because we've such a reliance on loans and a manager who loves to rotate and tinker even to the detriment of results. Mowbray has had 5 years as manager and 10 transfer windows so it isn't exactly an achievement that within that time and opportunity he has brought in a few good loans. Clubs know we need them and will play them. But it goes beyond that - look through the Championship and I doubt you'll find a club that hasn't got at least a couple of players on loan from PL sides. The Mowbray crew would argue that he has the ear of Pep and Jurgen, that they trust him more than any other manager, that it is only due to Mowbray and his contacts that we can bring in any quality on loan. It's just another strand to the mythology that we need him and without him it all falls to bits.

He's been in charge for 12 games. Bit early to be brandishing him a failure. They were a sinking side when he arrived and there are signs of them starting to turn a corner. I find it utterly bizarre that you would support the appointment of people who have never managed before - Wilcox, Johnson or of extremely limited experience - Mason, Edwards - yet you would turn your nose up at the most successful manager there has been at this level in the last 20 years with 4 promotions and a play-off final. I think you are more interested in image and perception than in cold hard results. I think you are more interested in unearthing a hidden gem or doing the weird and wonderful and then being able to celebrate if it works out well than you are just going for tried, tested, proven.

As if WBA are going to sack Steve Bruce after no transfer window and appoint Mowbray. If they did we should do a swap.

There's a perfectly good reason nothing has happened on the Riverside. It's the same reason the ground is filthy, the pitch is knackered, we aren't selling season tickets. Waggott doesn't have the authority. He's a CEO in name only. It's a sham. It can only come from India and nothing has come from there in nearly 2 years.

Ideally you would yes, but that doesn't mean you stick with Mowbray after speaking to others and offering them the job. You decide Mowbray is done, you identify and speak to alternatives, and select one, then appoint them. You don't decide Mowbray is done, speak to alternatives and then decide to stick with Mowbray for at least another 12 months.

Is this based on anything other than online rumour? I mean if it is true the club spoke to numerous people last summer about taking over then this causes all sorts of issues - firstly why on earth persist with Mowbray if you have reached the point of actively speaking to alternatives? Secondly what sort of a shambles are we if we can't even source a different manager even after going to the trouble of speaking to them and instead persist with the bloke we were trying to replace?

But we had all this last year. He was clearly fed up, out of ideas, looking like he wanted to be elsewhere. Then the season ended, he had a holiday and it all started again.

Tony Mowbray will be our manager next year, provided he wants to be. Little doubt in my mind on that and I will be surprised if he isn't. What happens now is that we get through the next 5 games with no news or announcement. A couple of weeks after the season is over and Mowbray has been on holiday we find out when he is going to India with Waggott. They go, we hear nothing for another week or two, and then at some point in early June they confirm he is staying on, references to the 'young team' and going ever so close this season and building on that. It will all be about how the owners have reaffirmed their commitment and are determined to keep building. By this point everyone else has another major head start, made worse by the shortened summer break and early start to the next season.