JHRover

He's been paid by Rovers since last year but to all practical intents hasn't been our player since we tried selling him off and it didn't happen. I've heard that he's off abroad in the summer and the deal is already in place. No way his next employers are going to allow him to get injured playing for us before then.

I think we are on a knife edge here. As far as I'm concerned Mowbray has done a decent job since getting out of League One but it is clear he's out of ideas and time. Three ways it can go from here: 1) Mowbray goes and is replaced with a good manager and the owners enable that manager to do a good job - if that happens and they continue to invest then the PL can be a realistic aim 2) Mowbray goes but they botch the replacement with delay, indecision and a poor appointment or don't allow the next manager funds/time to do the job - if that happens then League One will be a possible outcome. 3) Mowbray doesn't go - League One will be a possible outcome, mid-table Championship the height of our expectations and more fans drift away I agree it is a big one. I just am not convinced Hughes is the right man for it. IF he was allowed to get on with it, given backing and allowed to bring in his own coaching staff then maybe. But I think the first thing they will do when Mowbray goes is look to preserve the structure he leaves and that means Benson, Lowe, Johnson and maybe even Venus will be kept on if at all possible. Of course that is incompatible with a manager of Hughes' calibre who will want a clean sweep of the coaching staff. I think one of the reason's Mowbray got the job in the first place was because he was willing to work with Lowe, Benson and Dunn and since his arrival the only change has been his mate Venus joining and Dunn being demoted back to the u23s.

Don't get me wrong. I think for an ambitious, well structured and funded Championship club he would be a realistic option and he would 'step down' to the Championship to re-ignite his career and try to get to the Premier League. I just think there are too many hurdles to overcome here. I think many managers would love the job here with the freedom and time afforded by Venkys, but there are flaws and I think everything rolled into one would see Hughes avoid it. He needs his next job to be a success and gambling taking a flawed club like Rovers is going to be brave. Not to mention his ego suffering by returning to where it all started for him 17 years on. If I were running the club I would be putting the feelers out to him - seeing what his plans were, what his demands would be and what staff he would want but we know that won't be happening here at the mad house. If Hughes was expecting a mega budget or big salary I'd move on quite quickly. I wouldn't be getting worked up over him. I still think our best bet is on an up and comer and Cowley ticks just about every box on that front. There are others operating in League One and below but they are employed and haven't had important Championship experience let alone promotions by the hatful like Cowley has to date. Yes it was lower down the pyramid but the process is largely the same. After all we've just seen Sheffield Wednesday in the bottom 3 appoint their 3rd permanent manager of the season in luring Darren Moore from Doncaster - I'm confident we could have our pick of up and coming managers if we wanted them. My original preference would have been a Mick McCarthy, Warnock, Hughton or Pearson but we've allowed all 4 to pass us by in the last 12 months on our road to nowhere and all are leaving us behind in the table. Other than the possibility of Bruce leaving Newcastle or Wilder from Sheffield United I don't think there are any of those sort available any more.

He wants a plan from the owners? I thought Mowbray was the one with the plans and the owners had bought into it and backed him on it? Or did the last 3 years not really happen?

Said Months ago that a bumper sale of Armstrong is Mowbray's get out card. Big money bids coming in saves his skin with the owners and 'vindicates' his approach. He's so brazen and blatant its embarrassing.

I'm getting sick of listening to it now. Why can't we just be a club that acts with semblance of normality. Instead we've a dodgy untrustworthy CEO with no intention nor ability to remove his mate as manager and Mowbray back to communicating with India via the local press. Good to see that IF we LOSE the next two OR three then he MIGHT not be here. Very reassuring. Then again we might do the above and he might not be sacked. Or he might claw a few points out of it and survive. Meaningless babble. All the excuses in the world coming out. I don't believe Waggott's sudden re-emergence from hibernation over the last 6 months is a coincidence. I think he knows the natives are getting restless and he needs to be seen, and he's come out in support of his mate.

The Who could we get better than Mowbray game has just seen tried and tested experience in McCarthy and Pearson pass by both of whom were available and looking for work all season. Cardiff and Bristol proactive and decisive and got their men. Now they reap the rewards. Like him or loathe him (I'm the latter) Paul Cook is another available, experienced contender who would jump at the Rovers job with success everywhere he's been that is passing by, now heading to Ipswich. I'm afraid we are running out of options. So frustrating when there were so many good ones out there but typical Rovers inertia sees them head off to rivals. I don't think Mark Hughes is a realistic contender. I don't think he would particularly want the job, he would certainly expect good money and I just don't see it as a realistic option. We can also forget these chumps going abroad for a new manager. The only options then are getting towards the Cowley's, Rowett, Neil, Monk, Harris, Pulis before the rookies and lower league options who haven't done the business at this level.

Not necessarily you but many Rovers fans do. I think the £20 million a year thing is a red herring. It isnt a natural amount to lose but is increased by inept management/ownership. Obviously we are going to lose money at this level like anyone does but I think under competent ownership we would be looking more like £10 million losses a year max. Preston, Millwall, Barnsley aren't losing £20 million a year so there's no automatic reason that we should be. Losses could be cut considerably on the basis that new owners would streamline the club, boost commercial activity and corporate income and cut unnecessary costs back. Dishing out 3 year contracts to Ayala wouldn't have been possible elsewhere. Starting from a very low base here. Id like to think anyone remotely competent would quickly get more bums on seats and income coming in.

So foreign buyers are interested in purchasing a 3rd division debt ridden loss making town club during a pandemic with significant monthly losses (rumoured to be over £700,000 per month at present) and Evans is walking away from his £100 million loans and leaving them debt free. Yet Rovers who are at least as good an investment as Ipswich especially in our current position can't hope for anything other than Venkys and would 'do a Bury' if Venkys left. How does that work?

Surprising one. Sheffield Wednesday have appointed Darren Moore as their manager. Looks like that defeat to Luton persuaded them to get a proper manager.

Reading a club on a real journey. Relegation battles the last 2 seasons. Get rid of Bowen in ruthless yet decisive fashion and bring in Paunovic who has had them in the top 6 all season. No doubt Mowbray will wax lyrical about what a strong quality side we are coming up against. ignoring the reality that they've left us in the dust this season after we finished well above them last year. I'm interested to see how things unfold from here. If the worst does happen and we lose most of the March fixtures just how far can Mowbray and Waggott blag it before they have to hold their hands up?

Lucky Ipswich. Rid of an underachieving manager, soon to get taken over and probably get a better manager than us.

I think the similarities between Bowyer and Mowbray are significant. Both immediately in the aftermath of horrible seasons got on a plane to India, came back after 'positive' talks with new contracts and backing to do some decent transfer business. Both knew the way to get things done was to go off to India every 12 months and tell the Desai's what they want to hear. Neither should really have got the job as manager of this club given their CVs. Bowyer had at least earned a crack following his impressive caretaker spell but Mowbray was an outsider. Nevertheless he earned a shot at League One despite relegation. Both had to assume an all powerful role of managing the whole club with little to no power in the board of directors. Bowyer had the Shaw and Myers presence whereas Mowbray was able to bring his mate Waggott in but none suggest that there is any real power, presence or capability at executive level. I think Bowyer was more powerful than Shaw or Myers and Mowbray is more powerful than Waggott. Both made 2-3 outstanding signings - in Bowyer's case we got Cairney, Gestede and Conway on the very cheap and also still had 2-3 excellent players here from the parachute money days. In Mowbray's case he's delivered Dack and Armstrong and a few others (mainly loans) who are excellent players on their day. Both, interestingly, didn't treat the defence with much interest or priority. In Bowyer's case the need was probably less with Hanley and Duffy the established decent partnership. Sitting here now I enjoyed Bowyer's time more than I have enjoyed the Mowbray Championship period. Many are skewed by the promotion from League One season. I certainly felt we were harder to beat and while Bowyer was negative and too accepting of draws on plenty of occasions, we didn't surrender to defeats or capitulate like we do with Mowbray. Both reached the end of their shelf lives - Bowyer after 2 full seasons and Mowbray after 2 full Championship seasons yet both were left in place too long. In Bowyer's case it was obvious his days were numbered from summer 15 when they refused to meet him and flogged Cairney and Gestede behind his back yet it took until November for the axe to fall and for Lambert to be appointed, which was too late to do anything that season. Mowbray should have gone last summer (probably before) yet they plod on because he's a nice bloke and here we are now with things unravelling. History is repeating itself and the owners still don't get it. We're nearly 6 years on and it's the same old story.

My understanding is that when Brockhall was a hospital the JTC grounds were outside the hospital footprint and used solely for recreation and sports. The difference with the areas 'up the hill' were that these were within the 'footprint' and when the hospital was demolished planning permission was secured to build housing over it. If you ever go to Brockhall you can tell feel this is the case, as the JTC can only be accessed through the village, passing the houses and going down a lane to the bottom of the hill outside of the village. It feels very much separate and outside of the village area. Also the north side of the site has very impressive unrestricted views out into the Ribble Valley and over to Stoneyhurst. If you look at the satellite images of the JTC on Google Maps other than the pitch markings and the building itself I don't think the site has ever really changed since before Rovers got hold of it. That is there's a narrow lane down to a tarmac area with a car park and pavilion. The building Rovers use was built in the early 90s as the STC, but I think this was only allowed because it sits on where the old changing rooms were and so wasn't a development as such, rather replacing existing facilities. It's also a single story building with a shallow roof and hidden on 2 sides by the hill to the village. My understanding (from the information I've picked up from people and online) is that when Gerald Hitman got hold of the lease to the Brockhall hospital, and then it was closed and ripe for redevelopment into housing, he found that the JTC site was useless for housing as permission would never be obtained to develop it. It was this basis on which Jack Walker came along on the look out for a new training ground for Rovers, and did a deal with Hitman for site relatively cheaply. It was worth little to Hitman as it had to be preserved for sports purposes although it did sit right next to his mansion. The 'plans' that Rovers have submitted show that the dimensions of an indoor pitch could fit over the existing car park and building. However there seems to be no provision for all the other facilities that would be required down there - which even if built multi-story would still take up a lot of room. I think that any building down there will have to be done strictly on where the existing building and car park are. I think it will be difficult or impossible to be able to build out beyond that footprint, and they know this, which is why the 'plans' released reference this footprint and make no mention of going beyond it. Building an indoor pitch down there? Not going to happen in my opinion. Access will be a huge issue. It isn't wide enough for 2 cars to pass in some places. When games are taking place down there the existing car park fills up and cars have to park on the road up to the village. Personally I think the issues are going to be insurmountable to build anything remotely close to what we need. This leads to a few possibilities. 1) Waggott knows full well this site can't be developed for what we need, yet has cracked on with this regardless - why? 2) Waggott hasn't even considered the above issues and has simply focused on the housing development side with scant regard for the replacement facility at this point. 3) They are going to crack on and build something that isn't suitable or good enough but they don't care and will not bother if we lose the academy or facilities.

We have to play both Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday away. Defeats in those games could be fatal, wins could keep us up. The next month is going to be a fascinating watch. We have a set of fixtures that are tough by any measure, our record this season shows we struggle to get results against the better sides and rely on individual quality to dispatch the poorer sides. I don't think it is unlikely that we go through March without winning. By the time April arrives we could be looking at 0 wins in 12 games and if we were to even go as far as to lose them all it would be 11 defeats in 12 games. I expect we will eke out a couple of points here and there. Millwall away and Brentford at home are my predictions. Get through to April and it doesn't look much easier - away games at Wycombe and Sheffield Wed could decide our fate but other tough fixtures away at Cardiff and home v Bournemouth and Derby. I don't think there's any point even kicking off against Bournemouth because they were in the Premier League last year and spent money so we've no chance.

He'll end up going to a Championship rival. There will be no new contract and no buyers at big money from the PL. Expect a sale of £8-10 million. To be honest I couldn't blame him in the slightest leaving the club. Devoid of ambition and prioritising preservation of the status quo over a real push for promotion.

So Nixon 'might' have an update on Mowbray but it will only be in the paper and not online. Guess we're all going to have to go out and buy the paper then? He must think we were born yesterday. Another Armstrong 'update'. Who's pushing this and why?

Another one who won't have paid for a ticket in years along with Dunn, Myers etc. Earning a living out of the game distorts perceptions.

Myers applies double standards. If it was his beloved Everton struggling with horrendous form he'd be keen to see a change, and if there was the opportunity of a far better manager coming in he'd jump. Then little old Rovers are supposed to accept their lot in life and trust good old Tony to plod on forever.

Our Match Sponsor today is the Rovers Community Trust. They are also the Sponsors of the Family Stand and took the advertising space the club tried selling on the Jack Walker stand windows when the ground was shut. Here is the problem. Commercial and corporate development is non existent, to the extent we are relying on the Community Trust to sponsor the club. It is embarrassing. But that's what happens when you neglect this important part of the club and treat fans and partners with contempt. Get rid of Waggott and pay a top drawer Commercial director to increase income.

How about a starter from the club to evidence their intentions before cracking on with this Brockhall project? If the owners and club management are so keen to improve the club, facilities and modernise things then lets see some FFP exempt investment into these facilities that doesn't rely upon selling off acres of prime land for housing. A new or refurbished Riverside should convince people. Or how about a deep clean of Ewood to get rid of the filth that has built up over the last decade. Or how about we see if this major pitch project actually happens without needing to sell off players or assets to fund it. I'm sure if I saw some more sustained and wider efforts to improve the club I might believe a corner had been turned. But when it goes from one extreme to the other it rightly gives rise to suspicion. A club that can't even be bothered to clean it's own stadium yet will spend millions building a new training complex that isn't even needed is suspect.

Can't be right. Ipswich in League One and a Town club millions in debt. Nobody would buy such a club, so they would have us believe. Evans is walking away from £100 million in loans to Ipswich. That's what Venkys would have to do with their £200 million.

If you believe that, you'll believe anything. Talk about trying to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted. He talks about being sorry for the fans finding out via the Ribble Valley planning website in Friday night and that he didn't expect it to appear so soon. Then says he is experienced in large developments and the sensitivities of these at football clubs. Surely with that experience he would have been wary of the risk of this leaking and done something about it? I dont believe much of what he comes out with. I think he speaks with a forked tongue. The only part that I welcome is that he says the Cat 1 academy is essential. The £2 million pitch refurb will not happen, that i am confident about. Perhaps someone could measure the size of Everton's Finch Farm compared to the academy at Brockhall and contrast.

I dont understand this suggestion or theory that Venkys are effectively being held to ransom by Waggott threatening to leave immediately if Mowbray gets potted. It seems to be reminiscent of the rogue Shaw period where they are unable to act due to an employee being untouchable. Remember that Waggott only arrived in late 2017. So who was doing all these essential jobs of his before then?

For what its worth i heard last week that both are going in the summer. Trouble is the summer is a long way off with our results and position. I still think Mowbray is under the misapprehension that our owners closely monitor results and are prepared to act when they aren't good enough and that means he's on thin ice. I'm not sure that is true. Not now he's ensconced himself with the top dogs in India. They've shown before that they'll sit back and watch the club burn and fans rebel rather than remove someone they like. And lets remember that Coyle got to wreak havoc until February 2017 despite sitting in the bottom 3 all season. They did nothing.