JHRover

No word from our CEO? How long since he made a public appearance or speech? I expect he will know which way things are going and will keep himself hidden until the summer then exit stage left before things turn really sour.

Dunn is now employed as assistant manager at Fleetwood. I actually think it is unprofessional and bordering on inappropriate for him to be going on Twitter discussing these sort of things. I'd be horrified if Mowbray or Venus were on twitter discussing Middlesbrough's tribulations on twitter with their fans.

It's a strange one. There was never any mention of a year option for the club up until Christmas when it suddenly emerged as an apparent 'safety net' leaked to the press to try and calm concerned fans down. I'm not convinced it is actually an option for the club but if it is I suspect Mowbray is revving up for the sale of Nyambe this summer. By ostracizing him now it paves the way for a sale this summer. If he was happy playing every week then he wouldn't push for a move in the summer even if the club activated an extra year on his deal, whereas if the club do that but before then make his position almost intolerable, then any player or agent worth his salt would be actively looking to move on, which might suit Mowbray and others at the club very nicely. For Nyambe to not feature in the squad tonight with him being the only RB at the club I'm afraid is sacking territory in itself. It is one thing throwing Bennett in after the absence he has had but to not even put Nyambe on the bench stinks of sinister goings on.

I'd be on the phone first thing tomorrow to Danny Cowley. Offer him a deal until the end of next season and review at Christmas.

Exactly. If he's going to come out with the old 'get real' routine he'd be better saving it for just after we've been beaten by the 'big boys' like Watford and Norwich. At least referring to PL pedigree would be partly relevant. But doing so after abysmal performances against 3 sides with no recent PL pedigree just shows him up even more. He thinks he is clever but ends up just getting more and more egg on his face.

David Dunn out in force defending Mowbray. Surprise. The same Dunn who was Mowbray's assistant, and also got the job with the u23s when Mowbray was manager, and has been getting free admission to Ewood during the prohibition of fans, now vociferously defending him. Who'd have thought it?

The desperation level comments of an increasingly desperate manager. Attempt to drag expectations down to the level being delivered. He set the target and expectation at top 6. He's falling well short of it. So why is he surprised when people are fed up at being well beaten by QPR, Preston and Barnsley?

I agree. I get no pleasure from wanting him gone. Ideally he would lead us to better things but it just isn't going to happen. We're going backwards rather than forwards. I don't dislike the bloke, I have some good memories from the last 4 years and I think he has brought a lot of good to the club. Sadly though the focus needs to remain on progress, and that isn't going to be achieved unless a change is made and quickly. Emotions, nice guys, memories all pale into insignificance. The club comes first.

Nyambe in, Mowbray out is my preference Game 29 of Mowbray's new journey and we're back to Elliott Bennett at RB. Never mind journey its groundhog day.

I'm not particularly bothered how old they are or what country they are from. I think Rowett and Neil have done good work, better than they get credit for, at smaller or not well funded clubs. If we were in the game of headhunting decent up and coming managers then they would be high on my list. Both know the Championship inside out which is very different to a rookie or lower division manager. Sadly we seem to prefer to do nothing, wait for the job to become vacant and then chose from those desperate for a job. I've no strong preference if it is a 60 year old or 30 year old as long as they can manage.

Bristol City selected Holden for all the same reasons people put forward Johnson as our next manager: Already at the club. Cheaper. Trying to be clever rather than going down the tried and tested route. An inexperienced coach who won't rock the boat. People want a 'new' name with 'fresh' ideas. It very rarely works out. Meanwhile seasoned campaigners McCarthy and Warnock once again proving their abilities in turning around disaster zones in a matter of weeks to the cusp of the play offs.

Mowbray is just going to use Nyambe as the scapegoat for his own failings, in much the same why as he did with David Raya. Fast forward a few months and Nyambe will be down the road. Mowbray will paint him as uncommitted or not good or reliable enough for our 'system' and 'tactics' and promise we will do better. Then we will be linked with a raft of established 'big names' who pass the summer window with fans salivating at the prospect only to end up late on with a loan of either a kid from a Premier League club or senior player unwanted at his parent club. Then its rinse and repeat next season. "Not my fault" says Mowbray "it will all be better next season when I've signed a proper RB/LB/GK" Then by the time we realise nowts changed another year has gone. Nyambe's not perfect but he's good enough and a better management team would iron out the issues and have him excelling. Sadly we've a second rate management team who have a 4 year track record of not being able to put out a decent defence and just about everyone to appear in Mowbray's defence has either stood still or regressed. Someone like Allardyce or McCarthy would have the same group drilled so much better. Infact any manager who takes the defensive side of the game seriously would.

I think it is probably a combination of a few things that have led to the increasingly bizarre and unhinged comments from Mowbray. Going off his performance and decision making in games it is clear there is an element of losing the plot. When you end up like we did against Preston you have to wonder what is going through his head. Quite obvious that his head goes west during games especially when we are behind and he has no idea how to turn a game. The stats prove that. I expect that he is also feeling pressure from several angles. Having sold his project to India and been well backed on it yet be no further on than 2 years ago he will be expecting scrutiny or restlessness in India as it becomes clear even to the slower folk that the playoffs ain't happening. Of course at a normal club he would be under pressure. But here it is probably more just expected pressure than real with these owners. He obviously doesn't like pressure or questions from the support base and is probably realising that all his stalling for time and excuses over the last 2.5 years are wearing thin. He comes with baggage of Venus and Waggo so will also be trying to preserve their positions. He needs putting out of his misery now. Trouble is that we will pluck a win or two from somewhere and then it will be 'back on track' etc. safe as houses because we are 'only' x points off the top six.

Holden at Bristol, Tindall at Bournemouth, Woodgate at Middlesbrough, all examples why appointing internal coaches isn't the answer.

Pretty sure on net spend over the last 3 seasons we are in the top ten. Also at the bottom end on players sold and money brought in. Our CEO has said we are mid-way on wages. Anyhow, it comes back to time in the job and overall conditions. For example, Stoke and Derby are top end on wages yet both have been disaster zones over the last 6-12 months, and have been splurging away most of that money on dross they don't want. They are going through choppy waters with successions of managers and patchwork recruitment over 3-4 years. Nobody in their right minds would expect Rooney or O'Neill to finish above Rovers this season because they've inherited shambles and have to sort it out. Mowbray is well past the shambles stage having run the club to his liking over 4 years. He's had it plain sailing with little to no issues externally to deal with. No forced sales, no interference, no major cutbacks, takeovers, boardroom instability. Infact he's had it all how he likes it yet here we are no further on than we were at this stage in 2019.

Bristol City reacting to a poor run. Holden out the door within an hour of their latest defeat. They've now got first dibs on new managers. I'd expect Paul Cook in there soon.

Mick is going to put the handbrakes on soon and deliberately avoid the play-offs because they aren't ready for the PL yet and need a 'slow build' over the next 4 years.

There's a group of fans who will accept anything Mowbray comes out with no matter how ludicrous as it sits easier to just lap up what he comes out with rather than call it out as rubbish. If someone at Rovers told them the moon was made of cheese or that the earth was flat they'd accept it as gospel. As before, if Mowbray was so disappointed in Nyambe's performances then why didn't he put his 2nd choice RB into the team instead? Last time I checked that was 'skipper' Bennett who is back from injury and on the bench. Surely he would have been preferable to Gallagher?

“I think the right full back who’s played in the last two games has struggled in the last couple of matches and so I made those changes. “I don’t think there’s anything of a secret about that" Appalling comments from our great leader but nothing to be surprised about. There are some players he likes to pick on and others he's scared of criticising. We know how this game ends - Nyambe sold and made the scapegoat for our problems, Mowbray tries to avoid responsibility and the gullible elements of our support base lap it up and argue we should give Mowbray yet another window to replace him Meanwhile Nyambe will be snapped up by some tinpot outfit like Preston and will play every week and earn rave reviews under a manager that can improve him. Pack your bags Mowbray.

No problem at all if Mowbray wants to sit down during games. Alex Ferguson sat down most games, Steve Kean stood up all game and Owen Coyle running around like a dad at a 5 a side competition and it didn't do them any favours. Trouble is Mowbray has changed. In earlier days he was a manager who prowled the touchline shouting at players, now he's making a conscious effort to move away from that and not stand up. I'm not sure its because he doesn't want to or its a natural occurrence rather a deliberate attempt or act by him, with motives unclear right now.

Mowbray thought our first half v Preston was unrecognisable? Really? I thought it was all too familiar. Sh1te for the most part after the first 10 minutes. The only difference was we actually managed a goal for once thanks to the penalty, but then again we conceded 2 which cancelled it out. Usually we go in at half time 0. The only home game this season i don't think we've been rubbish in the first half has been Wycombe. Anyone suggest any other decent first halves at home?

Sigh. How do you know we don't have the finances for those managers? We are losing £15 million a year, so how can we not have room in there to employ a good management team? Its like owning a mansion and paying £2000 a month on your mortgage but not having the finance to put the heating on or repair the roof when it starts to leak. It makes no sense because longer term it will cost more to continue. Hughes and Pearson are two well known options. Both are unemployed and facing the managerial scrapheap unless they get back to work and quickly. Neither have the clout these days to wait for a PL job because they aren't going to get one. The Championship is the best they can hope for. Personally I'd go elsewhere because I don’t think either would be ideal options for us. Neither have assembled promotion winning sides recently although both are better than Mowbray and have accomplished more than him in their management careers. I'd be looking more towards an up and comer like Cowley, Neil, Rowett or failing that overseas like Brentford and Barnsley have done well. No baggage, on their way up in the game. Presumably we couldn't afford any of those even though we could pay them more than £0 or whatever PNE/Millwall are doing. The 'building' is just a myth. Half the senior players are out of contract in 4 months time, our top goalscorer is likely to be sold and our defence is built on loans. It is time a different manager 'built' in the summer window. I know what the next excuse will be. Once we've lost all these players and sold Armstrong it will be all about reinvesting and giving it time to settle. It never ends.

Bit of an exaggeration with this. Dolan will have been on a very basic academy contract having joined as an academy prospect from Preston. This will just be converting that towards a senior level contract given he has been in the first team squad all season. These deals like Buckley and Dolan whilst welcome news are not difficult or substantial deals to do. I'll be more impressed when it is Armstrong and Nyambe.

Couldn't really care less any more. A win is highly unlikely. All I really want is for Rich Sharpe and the other media guys to ask Mowbray how Barnsley's slow build is coming along having had 3 managers in just over a year, spent very little and sold their best players yet are now looking a better side than us. Wonder what his excuse will be on that one.

To be honest pretty much every reason the 'Mowbray in' group give for wanting him to stay revolves around side issues or non-footballing issues. Getting us out of League One 3 years ago - a good job yes - but not relevant to 2021 and our future if we are an upwardly looking/mobile club or planning on continuing to lose 20 million a year - for that sort of money we simply have to be looking forward rather than behind and looking to the Prem rather than being happy with mid-table. If we were breaking even, selling our best players or balancing the books with minimal debt like Brentford, Preston, Millwall and co. then there might be more patience to float around at this level. That Mowbray has delivered stability/sanity/been better than Coyle - again all might be true but there's something wrong if these are the best arguments for keeping him. Venkys are meant to have learned tough lessons and Mowbray will leave of his own volition sooner or later even if we don't sack him. So what happens then? He's put in place scouting/recruitment/coaching that we didn't have before - again all maybe true - but why does that prevent another manager doing the same or progressing further? Why is he the only manager in the world willing or able to do these things? Are we supposed to believe that nobody else would have signed a few decent players, bought some computers and drones and employed the services of a European scout? I mean these are bog standard elements of 21st century football not reinventing the wheel yet Mowbray would have people think he's a pioneer in management. For me it comes down to this - loyalty only gets you so far in this game. Make no mistake if by some miracle Mowbray was offered a Premier League job tomorrow or indeed even at his beloved Middlesbrough or some 'massive' club like Stoke or Forest (I jest) then he'd be on the motorway in no time. Then we would have to find a new manager potentially at a much more difficult or inconvenient time and we'd get nothing for our loyalty to him. Likewise he might decide in 6-12 months that he's had enough of the pressures of management and want to go and retire and spend time with his wife and kids. Again that's fair enough, but we'd be in the same boat as firing him only at a more difficult point. At least if it is done between now and April we can take our time weighing up options, move when one becomes available and approach the market from a position of strength rather than weakness.