JHRover

Not sure how much of that is down to Mowbray or the club being decisive/proactive and how much is just down to being skint/not dealing with contracts. Seems very convenient that those we are looking to keep all have 1 year option mechanisms in their deals, enabling the club to exercise those quickly and easily without the need for any negotiations, meanwhile those that will require talks and space on the budget to sort are all being left. They'll have us believe that there's some well thought out plan being followed when really it's just that the deals are ending and there isn't the organisation, money or approval to offer them new ones so off they go. I'm not losing any sleep about those leaving but they need replacing, under a clueless manager and badly organised club with no money. Relegation is nailed on.

What happened to the summer review? For weeks, no months, his story has been that we need to get through the season to the summer and then we can assess, review and see what the owners want to do. Now all of a sudden he knows his budget, knows who's going, knows who he wants to keep and is planning ahead. How? When?

Maybe he's retiring from football and going into housing development, Mowbray was showing him around to get him on board with that scheme. Probably more likely than us signing a player this early.

https://www.accringtonstanley.co.uk/news/2021/april/season-ticket-information/ Accy Stanley have released prices for next season, adults at just £219. Strange because I thought the uncertainty and pandemic were stopping us announcing prices. Must be another case of Covid stopping at the M65 and affecting us in ways it doesn't affect others.

The bit I'm struggling to justify is paying £400-500 for a season ticket to support a setup that is all geared up for the benefit of 5-6 people - the owners, Waggott, Mowbray and the underlings. Waggott gets to keep his cushy number protecting his mate and trying to strip the club of its prized training ground Mowbray gets to keep his cushy number going through the motions and failing at his job. They're laughing at us whilst treating us with contempt and expecting us to pay them to do it. I'd really like to but I don't think I can look in the mirror and hand over my hard earned money to keep that going. Shame it has come to this.

Anyone who applies any analysis to Mowbray's career will see a theme of winning and losing streaks. Its why he's got a reasonable win percentage as a manager even now, and has often had his clubs in good positions, only to collapse and not achieve anything in the end. With this in mind he has always had that streak up ahead to turn it around here and bounce back up the division and 'answer' the critics just as the heat starts to turn up. For the same reason he will probably get off to a decent start again next season. The loons will probably see that as evidence that sticking by him was the right thing to do. Those with any memory or sense will know it won't last.

I dont think it is loyalty any more than negligence. Loyalty would be based on a belief or delusion that he is the best man for the job, based on their experience, or that whilst they understand results and performances are dire they would much rather not fire him because they like him but instead will try and move on and better the club by encouraging him out or even sideways. None of that here. They just don't care so won't do anything. Same old really. It was only ever their underlings who got rid of managers. They've been happy to stick with all of them.

Oh well. There goes the season tickets. Just need to decide where to book the extra holiday to instead.

I know we won the January transfer window with the loans of Harwood - Bellis, Branthwaite and the Crewe LB but that lad Dike at Barnsley has done alright. Another winning goal takes him to something like 10 or 11 since joining in January. Proper season changing transfer business, rather than going cap in hand to City and Everton and asking to borrow someone on the cheap to fill a gap for 5 months.

This season has been littered with bad stats but I think there are a few honours still up for grabs yet. We need a minimum of 2 points from our remaining 3 games to surpass the 51 points we went down with in 2017. A failure to surpass that figure will take some explaining from the pilot of our journey. We have now lost the same number of games, 19, as during our entire relegation season, so a defeat in any of our remaining fixtures will mean we have lost more than that Coyle coached relegation side - abysmal. We are just about to be overtaken by Coventry, fresh out of League One and skint. This is particularly relevant not just because it makes a complete mockery of Mowbray's journey talk, as after 3 years at this level we are behind clubs in their first season, but also because he was the one who set Coventry on their way to League Two before getting the job here. Coventry have now come full circle under his successor and have overtaken us. Bravo Mowbray. Take your pick but the above 3 stats are inexcusable and should be put to the manager immediately, along with his p45.

Because its Wycombe and they're bottom of the league? Gary Johnson did a good job and got Yeovil to the Championship. Anyone want him? This is Blackburn Rovers and we need to get to the PL. The reason we are in this mess is because we cut corners and go cheap/easy on appointments and go for people who are just grateful to be here. I dont get this obsession with looking down the leagues and trying to be clever and find someone different or new. Why not just target someone established. Remove lots of risk and pay them the going rate.

We are losing £20 million a year. only 3 ways of stopping or significantly reducing that 1 - get promoted 2 - slash costs and likely go and stay in League One 3 - unearth gems to sell each and every year whilst surviving in the Championship Option 3 isn't going to happen, because you need to be very astute with your recruitment and contracts and very few clubs are so savvy. Barnsley and Brentford the two obvious ones. These owners aren't up to it and we are going to be forced into selling Armstrong at an undervalue due to his contract status. Option 2 should be off the table So it needs to be Option 1. Why when able to sustain £200 million losses you'd cut corners on the coaching staff i do not know. This is a huge decision, not one that should be influenced by emotion, place of birth or convenience You get a manager with the track record to do the job. That might mean you have to pay more, or agree to his demands. Just because a manager might require persuasion rather than crawl over glass for the job doesn't mean we shouldn't get him Wilder. And a big bonus if he succeeds.

He's got a worse record than Lambert so far. Having said that we just need to hope they start going daft and fire Cook then approach Mowbray and Venus. Leave Cook in charge through the summer and he'll have them thereabouts next season when he sorts their squad out.

If Coventry beat Stoke tonight and/or there's a winner between Forest and Birmingham then we'll drop another couple of places to 18th. Good job the league tables don't matter.

Some ambition would be nice. Just something people can believe in. Not sure replacing Mowbray with Wycombe's manager shows that, but I suspect they'll make such a mess of this from here that he'll end up looking like a great appointment compared to the more likely alternative of keeping Mowbray.

More outrageous comments from Mowbray. After the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral was arranged for 3pm Saturday we, quite sensibly IMO, took the option to bring the Derby game forward to the Friday evening. I rather naively assumed there was some method in that decision in view of tonight's game - e.g. doing it to give ourselves an extra 24 hours rest/recovery between the games, including over Sheff Wed who played on Saturday afternoon. Then we turn up tonight with wholesale changes throwing in some players who have barely featured recently - and 7 of the starting 11 are out of loan or contract in a few weeks. What's that all about then? You take advantage of the fixture rescheduling to buy yourself an extra day head start on your second-bottom opponents, you then turn up and make 5 changes to your side that finally won a do on Friday, many of whom have no right to be here next season (journey my ar*e) and then after a disgraceful performance mention they seemed jaded. He's desperate to be sacked and has been for months. But not desperate enough to hand his notice in. Please just do us a favour. Someone. Somewhere. Soon.

Oh good, it's nearly full time. Stewy Downing has driving duties tonight so I can have a kip on the back seat and a free lift home from Sheffield to Teesside.

Over 4 years in the job No interference, off the pitch trouble, left to get on with it with trusted staff. No legacy of FFP issues or crippling wage bill. No forced sales or major departures. Net transfer fee spend pushing £20 million and enviable wage budget. Productive academy and class training facilities. Anyone else other than Mowbray had the above?

Extreme end of the scale but how about the government take steps to nationalise these clubs or expropriate a majority shareholding from their existing ownership on the basis that it is in the public interest to do so?

The man is a buffoon but he's also a crafty sod who is very consciously painting an image of continuity and "as you were folks" into the minds of supporters. A few more weeks of this and a couple more wins in the dead rubbers and it won't need much for him and his acolytes behind the scenes to cart on into another season, claiming that there is a process underway, continuity is needed, development is in progress. Not long ago it was a case of getting through the games and then reviewing things in the summer when a parting of the ways would suit all concerned. Prepare yourselves for a shift away from that with a series of interviews like this one to implant reluctance to seek change and convince people that no other manager could match Mowbray's performance and journey. It would be almost funny if those behind the scenes didn't actually believe it. By end May there will be no question about the manager's future and the only question will be whether we fans are prepared to tolerate another year of it or cough up another £450 to have the p*ss taken out of us again.

Expulsion from Premier League, Serie A and La Liga is the solution. If it becomes a club v country row then the clubs will win. Players aren't going to turn down millions a year at their clubs to be able to play half a dozen tournament fixtures every 2 years. See how they get on with no domestic league and no local support on a weekend. That will break it.

The thing that is making a mockery of his identity and slow build drivel is the fact that most of his squad are out of contract in a few weeks. So there is no build or identity. Its a hand to mouth existence of recycling players and assembling a squad on the cheap. Whatever identity he desires will have to be rebuilt over the summer in recruitment and coaching. Presumably this will take months or years to take effect and we will need Mowbray to lead us on that journey. No thanks. He knows he can't point to progress on the squad or the usual claim of we are a couple of defenders or key signings short of being the finished article- we need more than half a squad- so instead he is trying to play down the scale of the impending exodus. Like a worm on a hook and I pity anyone who still has genuine belief in where this is going. They're more bothered about protecting St Tony and his staff than what is best for this football club.

Got to laugh at the faux outrage from the ex players, pundits and journalists. Presumably they will boycott any coverage of this competition and refuse work for it. Of course not. Half this lot will be straight on the plane to Milan and Madrid, 5 star Hotel and all expenses paid.

Super League indeed Arsenal - no European Cup and no league title in 16 years. Now a mid table side Chelsea - minimal success prior to 2005 Man City - minimal success prior to 2011, no European cup Liverpool- 1 league title in 31 years Spurs - no league title in over 60 years, no European cup Man Utd - no league title in 8 years At Madrid - 1 league title in about 15 years and no European cup AC Milan - 1 league title in about 15 years

I'm not saying he couldn't. I'm saying it is a big risk that appears to be based more on his origins in Blackburn than on anything else. I've already named half a dozen other managers who have also taken unfashionable, low budget clubs to the Championship in the last 10 years. I haven't seen any of those people linked to the job and can only assume the reason for that is because they weren't born in Blackburn. Infact I'm sure if Gary Johnson, Darren Ferguson or Steve Evans were the names being put forward there would be uproar, yet I fail to see what Ainsworth has done that the others haven't. I've already explained why we shouldn't appoint an 'up and coming' manager e.g. one from the lower divisions - it is a compete gamble and unnecessary risk when the club cannot afford another gamble. Wilder has just left Sheffield United en route to relegation and previously managed Northampton, Oxford and Halifax. Can we attract him to the job? Good god, we've got problems if not. I agree on Neil and Rowett because both have proven over many years that they have what it takes to haul clubs from the bottom end of this league into the top 6 or contention on limited budgets.