JHRover

Jokanovic had a poor record at Fulham in his first half season. Did enough to keep them up and then the next season got them up through the play offs. Cowley's record is unbelievable. If he hadn't been at Huddersfield I would have doubts about him stepping up in size and division to the Championship. But he's now had that experience of managing at this level at a sinking ship and kept them up in poor circumstances, inheriting a right mess from Wagner and Siewert He's low risk, potentially huge rewards and would offer something different. Having squandered the opportunity to get McCarthy, Warnock and Pearson in the last 12 months I think Cowley ticks most boxes for us right now. If it doesn't work, let him go and try someone else after next season. We don't have to give the next manager 3-4 years to deliver "stability". Much sooner Cowley with his experience and record than a rookie like Johnson or someone like Pulis.

That's what my money is on unless something drastic happens. Venkys will put their liking of their manager before the fans and ticket sales. Waggott will accuse people of disloyalty before telling us all about what a small club we are with hardly any fans.

I, and I hope others, knew this point would come sooner or later. Investing everything into Mowbray's hands, just because he comes across as a nice man or did a decent job 3 years ago, was a disaster waiting to happen with this ownership. We were always going to hit the buffers or unravel, because that's what all teams do sooner or later. Everything that has happened here has been on Mowbray's say-so or suggestion, not because the owners have suddenly changed their ways. They still don't get what football manager is and how results and performances have always decided the position of a manager, not individual qualities or trust. What a sorry, sorry, mess. We were always going to hit this point sooner or later. Mowbray won't walk unless his position becomes untenable. That would only happen if we ended up like Coventry when he gave up there. As long as we're outside the bottom 3 he won't be under sufficient scrutiny to throw in the towel. He's got the owners on side, just like Kean managed to do very quickly. We know how that works - go to India, have a few cups of tea at the bungalow, tell them how brilliant they are and ask them for some money and tell them you'll sort it all out without the need for them to do anything. The benefit is we get stability and money going into the transfer kitty but the downside is underachieving or failing managers being untouchable. I had hoped this had changed with mystery man Pasha there to act as a buffer but it seems not. Mowbray's not going to give this job up easily. Who can blame him. Its the best job he could hope for. The onus shouldn't be on him to walk. It should be the club thanking him and parting ways in an orderly fashion.

Cowley brothers. Now. Deal until summer 2022. Crack on. Let's reassess into next season and extend contracts then if we are making progress. We need fresh eyes and voices and energy in the dugout. Available, affordable, quickly improved failing Huddersfield last season. No time now for rookies or caretaker coaches.

I see we are back to injuries being the excuse for some for these results. 11 out apparently. We need to get them back apparently. Of course we couldn't have predicted that Ayala, Williams, Holtby would spend swathes of the season out injured. And Trybull was in and out even when fit. And we signed 2 CBs in January to cope with it.

I've been thinking it for months that an Armstrong sale in the summer saves Mowbray's bacon with the owners. They'll be wondering why we haven't been promoted and why Mowbray wants more money for the transfer window in the summer. If he can flog Armstrong for good money then he'll be able to fall back on that and show them how his dealings have delivered them a tidy profit and ask for a slice to spend in the summer.

Sickening. Not even a whiff of the bloke being on his way out. Instead all the talk about Saturday now being a huge game. Correct. Saturday is a huge game. But for all the wrong reasons. That doesn't mean he should be here to oversee it. If the people running this club had a clue they would already have had the feelers out over the last couple of weeks and would remove him and his mates and make a swift appointment. Cardiff and Bristol City did it in a matter of a couple of days.

So maximum 2 acres per pitch. There are only 5 pitches on the academy, space for a sixth where the car park is. Never get 9 or 10 pitches on it.

That's still far too big. 1 football pitch is roughly 1 acre. There's no way there's 19 acres on each site.

I can only assume that the 19000 figure should be square metres rather than acres. Thats the only explanation that makes any sense. Not off to a good start with this exciting project are they? News leaked from fans and forced to hastily release a statement Nobody putting their name to it Manager denying any involvement Inadequate site to accommodate what is needed. Company instructed to prepare plans can't even distinguish between square metres and acres. Maybe that explains why they think they can get it all on one site. They might have measured everything in inches. I'm sure we are in good hands...

The same document states the senior training centre is 19,140 acres. A mistake made twice in the same document? Odd.

They've made a rod for their backs by mentioning the indoor pitch being built down there. That will be the expectation now. If that can't be built then not even the imbeciles on Facebook will be able to claim that its anything but a drastic downscale of the operation.

I'm not a planning expert. But I would think that if 6 floodlight pylons would be refused due the above concerns then constructing a 50ft+ tall indoor training pitch might be difficult to get through.

https://www.ribblevalley.gov.uk/planningApplication25634 The club sought planning permission in 2015 to construct floodlight pylons on the academy site. They sought this because it is one of the requirements of a Category A academy. The application was refused because the light overspill and reflection would cause increased visibility of the training ground, cause harm to nearby residential properties through noise and light disturbance. Also concerns about the impact upon ecology and protected species. This was why the floodlit pitch was then built at the senior site instead. So I wonder how they are going to get around this with their "all in one" complex down at the bottom?

You'd think the owners would value that and realise having sold Jones, Hanley and co already that there's value to our academy. But no, they're a plotting to downgrade it. Unless Venkys aren't in on the plot and its being pushed by others.

It seems likely to me that the 3 promoted clubs will go straight back down. Last time that happened? Wycombe need a miracle despite a good win last night. Rotherham are still in there despite a very good run over January. I still think Sheffield Wednesday will be just about OK. Big Club would be enjoyable but they've a nasty habit of surviving by fine margins and expect they will do it again.

Only 8 of the other 23 clubs have picked up less points than we have this season, we are 2/3 of the way through it. It would have been 7 had Millwall not got a late equaliser at Luton Town. We need to drop this act of misfortune that we are just on a bad run or suffering through luck/injuries. Over a majority of the season we've shown that we are mid-table. We've gone no nearer the top 6 than Millwall, Luton or Barnsley. Mowbray needs to go because of that alone. It's quite simple. Either we are much better than our results and position suggest, in which case he needs to go for not achieving what he should, or we aren't better than our position suggests, in which case what the hell has 3 years of slow build been for?

Yep. I predicted on Saturday that we'd get a minimum 3 points from these two home games, just because that's what we do. These death spiral runs of defeats usually last 3-4 games but no more. Watford will be a tough nut to crack but they don't score goals and we don't concede that many at home so I wouldn't be surprised to see a bore 0-0 or 1-0 either way tomorrow. Anything but a defeat will be hailed as stopping the rot against a brilliant side and even a narrow defeat and it will be all about the positives and fine margins. Coventry will be the one. They are a poor side away from home and if we don't win that one there will be panic. Fortunately for Mowbray he has form for pulling wins out of those sort of fixtures and with the squad comparison even I am confident of winning that one. Then the next cycle is underway until mid-late March.

I simply refuse to believe or accept Mowbray's suggestion that the training ground stunt is above his pay grade and inference that he's had nothing to do with it. This is a guy who has been undisputed 'boss' of the club now for 4 years. Survived longer than anyone else has under Venkys, is the man who goes off to India and has the power to influence his budget, recommend investment in players and training ground changes, appoints or recommends his mate from Coventry as Chief Executive. He has the club basically eating out of his hands and the owners like him. Yet I'm supposed to believe that he's not been even consulted on this and it has happened behind his back. Sorry Tony, I'm not buying it. He'll know this is a very sensitive subject that has the potential to spill over into something much more messy with the fans. He's distancing himself from the project and instead pointing people in the direction of invisible and silent 'superiors' who will never be identified nor questioned on it. The only good news is that he accepts it will take many years to deliver. Hopefully by then him and his mates will be a distant memory and we can forget all about this scheme.

If FFP is the motivation they could 'sell' Brockhall to a separate company at a fair market price and then lease it back to the club at a peppercorn rent. Similar to what Reading and Aston Villa did with their stadia.

If you go back and read Mowbray's comments when Venus joined Coventry as Technical Director it is interesting and baffling. I certainly don't think there was such freedom or scope when they were working at Celtic, or indeed at Peace's West Brom or Gibson's Middlesbrough. Yet the trio seem to have had immense power at absent ownership regimes at both Coventry and now Blackburn. Keep on joining dots.

The sale of Ryton for housing never came to fruition. I'm sure the changes in personnel there were entirely unrelated, as was the fact that they haven't looked back since those changes winning two promotions. So they are still at Ryton. There were more talks in 2018 about building houses but then in 2020 they spent money improving Ryton to get it up to scratch ahead of promotion to the Championship. Both Brockhall and Ryton are prime sites for development of housing and quite affluent areas. Big difference is that Ryton is or was outdated and much smaller than Brockhall, whereas Brockhall remains a world class facility that doesn't need expanding or upgrading. The ONLY acceptable reason for the Rovers plot is to get everyone under one roof and on one site. And I dont think that is do-able on either of the Brockhall sites, as neither are big enough alone for the requirements of a modern senior training ground and academy. This simple insurmountable issue was why Jack Walker developed the second site elsewhere. A simple fact that the bottom site didn't have the room nor freedoms to build what was required so he went up on the other site. Unless brainbox Waggott has managed to do what Jack Walker couldn't do 20+ years ago with all his money, ambition and contacts and develop an all in one facility on Brockhall then the only conclusion to reach is that the planned facilities will be significantly inferior to what we already have. Given sweeping up rubbish and power washing are beyond the capabilities of Waggott's administration I know which I think it is.

Mowbray was probably hoping Nyambe was injured for the rest of the season. Would make things a whole lot easier before he exits stage left and Mowbray could then get Bennett back in every game. It not being a serious injury and Mowbray's failure to recruit any decent alternative in that position means he is under pressure and expectation to play him, even when he clearly doesn't want to.

People reading too much into this. The Twitter administrator has the birthdays of all Rovers players, including academy lads and ex players, saved in their calendar to wish happy birthday to. They won't have saved the date for Mowbray's anniversary. It really is that simple. He's going nowhere.

Having failed miserably in his target of the top 6 now for 3 years he will have to arm himself with something else to try to keep favour with the Indians. By telling them about how much players are now worth or indeed selling Armstrong for good money to a top flight club he will be able to lean back on that and promise more to come if they stick with him. He's not as clever as he thinks he is. But he's clever enough to have worked out what he needs to do here to keep things ticking over nicely with the owners and keep him playing football manager for another year.