He's also 56, not 57 until late this year. Nearly right though.

I think the majority, myself included, were very frustrated with what we were seeing which seemed to be a never ending cycle of repeating similar mistakes stretching back over more than 12 months and very little suggestion that things were going to change for the better. Preston away was the nadir and I make no secret that after that particular horror show I would have waved Mowbray off with thanks and replaced him. That didn't happen, it probably was never even a possibility, but it was clear around that time including after the Barnsley win that things weren't quite right, the fans were unhappy and Mowbray wasn't comfortable. Very easy to sit here now 5 months on after things have picked up. That's the beauty of hindsight. Of course Mowbray, his confidants and some fans will do the 'i told you so' routine but that can carry on forever in football if you give it long enough. I don't subscribe to the theory that Venkys are backing some long term project. I just think they don't care or pay attention and are happy to leave Mowbray to it because they like him. They did the same with Kean and it ruined us, so thankfully this time we've got someone likeable, trustworthy who is also a decent manager and has been able to turn it around. Some people always want to try and take the highground when there's never any guarantee any particular course of action or in our case no action is going to result in an improvement. I also think this good run of form has really crept up on us and rivals - we haven't really appeared as a side taking things by storm yet we've quietly gone about becoming hard to beat. We've also managed to dispatch teams e.g. Bristol City and Charlton away in clinical fashion. We've managed to get our home form back towards what it was last season where we don't ever seem to play particularly well but don't lose games, whilst away from home we've started picking up some good wins, built upon a solid defence. Long may it continue. First few months of the season i was quite despondent about things and wasn't really enjoying games or how we were playing and wasn't seeing much sign of any progress. Since Xmas I am seeing positive signs and indicators of progress. Lets see what unfolds over the rest of the season. Problem I have is lets suppose we get to 7th or 8th come end of the season. From there we need to invest, be decisive and move quickly to plug gaps and get ready to hit the ground running next year. I don't think that is ever going to be an option under this regime which is why we usually start off slowly and by the end of the season aren't in the mix because we've been playing catch up for so long.

Lol he only joined us to work with Mowbray again. Not because he wanted to be here more, rated us more, we paid more or sees us as a better bet all around. Thank god too. With their excitement over 'beating' us to free agent Bauer and landing Scott Sinclair I wonder how hysterical they would have been had they spent a club record on Armstrong.

Start off by doing away with international breaks and that could reduce night matches by 4-5 a season.

True, credit to the owners and club for that (although we had similar under Bowyer 2013-15 before the rug was pulled out from under him). I'm not criticising Rovers here. I'm criticising certain elements who seem to enjoy creating gossip and uncertainty about our better players when there's very little evidence of anything happening. These sort of things quickly spiral out of control and become fact in the eyes of some.

Never going to get past 99 appearances ?

It's not even a story. Its spreading gossip and rumour. Not doing Rovers any favours. https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/02/20/report-suggests-newcastle-want-to-re-sign-10-goal-eight-figure-a/ Here we go. Doesn't take much to get these sort of things going. Next news is 'local press' in Blackburn have reported interest in him, even though they've just picked up a rumour from elsewhere. Then it snowballs.

It's not even a story. Its spreading gossip and rumour. Not doing Rovers any favours

I'm suggesting that they dont pass off gossip from miles away as real interest in one of our better players. Not really asking for a 'cover up', just report on facts preferably unearthed at Rovers end rather than fanning the flames of what might be a Nixon style column filler and nothing more. These sort of things spread like wildfire and within weeks will be going round as clubs preparing bids. That can't do us or the player any good at this stage.

Who says that's a fact? It's a rumour. It might be true, it might not. There's no way the Telegraph know. So they are piggy backing on a rumour from elsewhere. Saying he is being watched by others is fairly obvious and could apply to most players in the Championship. Premier League clubs spend fortunes scouting players all over the place. The vast majority don't get bids and don't move. Telegraph are mischief makers who are always quite quick to jump upon distant rumours of interest in one of our star players but never actually come up with anything positive about the club e.g. new signings or spending.

What facts have the Telegraph reported? Relaying a rumour from another paper isnt the purpose of their existence.

This is how transfer rumours start. Telegraph doing us no favours once again regurgitating 'news' from other outlets and passing it off as 'interest' in one of our players. Before long it will be a fact that Armstrong bids are coming and it will snowball from there. Of course PL clubs will have had a look. He's young, English and not only in good form but scoring quality goals. Can say the same for half the Championship players who have played well this season. Some things never change and before long it will be fact that he's going to be sold and we are going to struggle to hold on. With Dack out and other business not great Armstrong might be Mowbray's saviour when it comes to his India trip.

Suspect it will be true. A relatively small allocation, large portion of Southern Rovers based fans, last trip to Griffin Park. Think each previous occasion we've sold out or gone close. Just save it in the archives for when dingles go on about support. 800 at Southampton last Saturday lunchtime, 1600 at Brentford with Rovers this.

Proof will be in the pudding. It will put hundreds on the crowds, not thousands which is what we need. Waggott, Chaddy and everyone else can say it's a great offer and the fans are to blame for not buying, but the fact is we are treading over well worn ground here. Every season they come with stuff like this and it makes minimal difference. Need to do better and think outside the box.

Off topic but why have dingles got England u21s v Turkey at Turf Moor. Why isn't Ewood hosting such fixtures? It is bigger and better including better access and parking facilities.

Is the allocation usually only 1650? I seem to recall it usually being over 2000?

Highly unlikely IMO. Let's suppose we get these 4 points from the next 3. That puts us on 54 from 36 matches. Likely needing at least 20 points from the last 10. In those last 10 we play Bristol City, Leeds and West Brom at home and have to travel to relegation threatened Wigan, Barnsley and Luton and tough sides Cardiff, Millwall and Derby. You reckon we'd get through those without dropping more than 10 points? Even then 74 might not be enough.

Anyone heard anything about the small matter of the dingles match on Thursday at Morecambe. Both clubs maintaining a complete wall of silence and pretending nothing is happening, despite numerous requests for information.

What does that even mean? You have your budget, identify attainable players and work on those. You have a plan b, c and d if a doesn't work. Everyone else manages it. 2 years running now we've been told there's plenty of money yet it doesn't materialise, except in odd cases like Brereton. If a deal was unaffordable e.g. Assombalonga then why bother trying? Personally I suspect it is just arse covering when the fans question what is happening. Don't think India would be too impressed if Mowbray and Waggott pointed responsibility at their front door. Much easier and more sensible to keep in their good books.

What sort of manager turns down the option of funds to strengthen his squad? Can you imagine Mark Hughes telling the Abu Dhabi group that he didn't want their cash because it might break the wage structure or upset one or two around the place. A manager works with resources available to him. If it is correct that Venkys have offered money but he has elected not to spend it then that is a very unusual thing to happen. Imagine if we get to the end of the season and finish 1 point off the top six. Normal owners would be asking why the manager refused or failed to strengthen in January with promotion obviously achievable. Mowbray must have a very relaxed view about things if he thinks he or we have all the time to turn down transfer cash when in need of more depth.

They are a West London based club, just a couple of miles down the road from Sky Sports studios, who score plenty of goals and unearth good foreign players. If ever there was a perfect storm for positive publicity and being over hyped they're it. Can practically smell the excitement at Sky/Talksport of having a new London club in the Premier League stacked full of foreigners playing nice football.

Not really sure saying West Brom are in poor form is accurate at all. Seem to be doing perfectly well to me after a short wobble. Bilic an outstanding manager at this level with a very strong squad. Derby and Cardiff tough places to go. Derby terrible away from home but very hard to beat at Pride Park. Cardiff right next to us in the table and have only lost a couple since Harris took over. Those are the sort you need to win to put yourself in the driving seat. Fail to win at least a couple of those big 6 and we will have too much to do from the other 7 matches.

7:35 train from Manchester gets in at 9:40. With split tickets and railcard it was about £28 return. Last year we went to Vauxhall then the train to Brentford but still a decent trek out.

Best part of an hour to get to Brentford from Euston. Should be fine if in Euston for ten past 11.

Realistically we are going to have to pull at least a couple of unexpected wins out of the bag against the sides above us or in games we would usually embrace a point in. I'm talking Leeds, West Brom, Bristol City at home, Brentford, Cardiff and Derby away - tough fixtures. Mid table sides would happily take draws from those - promotion winners need a few wins.