Dreams of 1995

No we are not.That's the narrative you are pushing. By all accounts we went after two wingers in January but the finances on the deal weren't right. Gallagher isn't a poor player either and coupled with your "joke footballer" comment on another thread it'd be nice if you weren't so disrespectful to the lad. We can all have opinions but he tries his hardest every time he walks on the pitch for Rovers and that's more than can be said for Brereton and, indeed, Chapman. He's had several scaving reports during his time in the U23s and quite often whenever there's whispers of a bad attitude they aren't wrong. Never once heard a whisper about Gallagher's professionalism. We are desperately light on the wing because Downing has had to move centrally, Rothwell out now and Armstrong proving more effective up top. January showed that Mowbray is trying to address the problem so we can assume in the summer we can see some wide attackers brought in, providing the finances are right.

We got anymore yoots? JRC getting injured is actually mind blowing. What is happening up top? Freakishly bad luck for the boy, he would have had a run if only out of necessity. Let's hope its a tweak and he's back the weekend. What about the likes of Butterworth, Buckley, Mols, Vale? How many of them are ready for first team action because we are running on volunteers right now....

Yes Alejandro! I clicked on this topic first this morning and I won’t be clicking on another all weekend. All you need to read. Let’s hope we get a win today! Come on you blues

January is always a frustrating window. Prices are sky high and teams are scrambling to cover themselves. It's all well and good naming random player names that may well have fit in but ultimately they didn't come. Most would cost too much, some are unknowns and the truth about it all is you don't know if any of them names would have worked at this club. It's a real easy argument to have to say "x could have improved us - what a terrible window!!". Out of all of them players the only one that would have got me out of my seat excited is Wells because he has proven goals at this level, but there's no way Burnley are going to send us him. It wasn't a waste. We've kept our squad and can build on it again in the summer. Our squad now is the strongest it has been since Bowyer's time, which is in part thanks to the work Mowbray and co have done. You will do well to remember that in your haste to throw shade his way. To end discussion, because I have 0 interest in going into a back and fourth with you about Gallagher as a winger ala every topic on this board, I'd have personally spent the Gallagher money elsewhere (on out and out wingers) but I am not a football manager, I don't know the market and I can't grumble given our current position.

Definitely not considering the players and budget he has at his disposal. He may sneak into the automatic spots simply because Leeds crumble time after time.

We are now short in the attacking areas because we have Holtby, Dack and Rothwell injured. Prior to them being injured you'd have them 3, Gallagher, Brereton, Graham, Armstrong, Bennett, JRC (now), Chapman and Downing. That's 11 players vying for 4 positions. Hardly short of numbers. Definitely not "desperately short". Players have contributed goals and assists from there. We have scored 43 goals which is comfortably in the league average so we are definitely not short of goals. I'm struggling to see how we have not been effective going forward. Dating back to the 0-0 vs Cardiff in August we've only not scored in 2 games. I'd say that's relatively effective... We are short of quality in them areas but there was no way we were going to get an attacking midfielder of any higher quality than we already have in Jan. Quite simply our injuries have been horrendous in this department but Mowbray can't be blamed for that, however much you and the hornets nest stir and try your very best to do so.

They've not lost their last few games though so on some decent enough form. This is a tough game but our home form is very good. I'm calling a score draw.

It doesn't fall on anyone. Rothwell is a short term injury and Holtby was injured after the fact. You'd be hard pressed to sign anyone worth signing to come and sit behind Holtby and Rothwell (when fit) for 6 months until Dack comes back.... You tried too hard with that post.

But above all else, Mowbray should listen to the fans because they know what they want.

Mulgrew............................................at left back?????????????? The man turns like milk. If you are too slow to play centre half you can't play full back. This isn't fucking sunday league where you put your weakest players at full back.

Che Adams is supposedly available on loan from Southampton. 100% worth a punt. James Chester going to Stoke. Would have been a good loan signing to provide cover for the remainder of the season. Cardiff signed Brad Smith yesterday on loan. He's a good little left back and gives us more than Bell. These are the type of transfers we should be seeing at Rovers. They are the type of loans that give your team an extra bit of firepower and see teams mount promotion pushes....or in Stoke's case survive Also if Sheff Wed sign Wickham then it just goes to show just what FFP means to owners who care to navigate the system.

I'd be very disappointed if we have to endure a season of Amari'i Bell. I was mildly excited about the prospect of a winger from Lech Poznan or Ronan Curtis but at the same time I don't want a repeat of Brereton. The deal has to be right. I can't say I know enough about Curtis to say whether or not £3m is enough, but in terms of value if we could have got Curtis and Maddison for £5.5m then they must not be fancied because why wouldn't you? Both of them stink of goals and assists, fill positions we need filling and cost the same as Gallagher. I don't think Mowbray's transfers are as bad as people think. Attacking wise we are improved under him but we should point out his defence when he started was Steele, Lenihan, Nyambe, Williams and Mulgrew. It wasn't good enough then and the defence still isn't good enough now. Our midfield and attack I believe to be amongst the top 10 in the league, top 6 with Dack firing on all cylinders, but our back line simply hasn't improved in depth or quality. If Nyambe and Lenihan get injured our season is effectively over baring a worldy season from the youth. More than likely Williams and Bennett to cover though and quite simply they aren't good enough. The reluctance to sign defenders is a Venkys problem however and not a Mowbray one.

Rovers must be a frustrating club to deal with. Most of our moves take weeks to get finalised...why do we need to get the QPR game out of the way? Is the club doctor doing the medical part of our match prep? Is Steve Waggot doing some coaching? Absolutely no reason to see a match out before making the signing. Get it done, get him down to watch and then have him in training today.

The UK invests a hell of a lot of money in foreign fossil fuel initiatives. Really, really hypocritical from us. in my opinion the plastic waste is a bigger concern to “climate change”. Climate change has happened throughout time, emissions will fall as we invest in renewable energies (this is happening, the social change is happening) but alternatives to plastic are limited and strangled by business because currently they’re making fortunes producing and packaging everything in cheap unrecycable products that will last thousands upon thousand of years.

I always heard that Friedel left due to his investments in the USA suffering and he needed some cash quickly. A signing on fee + an agreement from Randy Lerner to help fund some USA soccer centres meant he wanted to go to Villa. That doesn't detract from the fact Ince was a terrible manager.

Wow. I know they’re academy lads but how on earth is Nyambe and Travis propping that list up? Gallagher needs to earn his money. Johnson needs to fuck off. The rest is as expected really, except for Davenport and Chapman who are both stealing a living at this club right now. We will lose Travis soon to better wages if we don’t bring him in line with the rest. In my eyes Travis is one of the first names on the team sheet every week

So why isn't he in the team or even close? I don't think I have ever seen Mols even on the bench.

Buckley was chased by Liverpool weren't he? I don't doubt the lads ability, despite him being shown up physically he's made some touches / passes in his time that have shown he has a football brain. I don't think we are going up this year, sadly, and I'd love to end the season with the likes of Buckley, JRC, Nyambe, Lenihan in the team whilst Butterworth is back fit and pushing for that place too. We need to start using these academy kids given our financial situation. I've heard good things about Mols too and I suspect he won't be far off a chance given the amount of chances being handed out at the moment.

I fuckin hope so now lol. Always assumed they were ?

I don't doubt there are occasions when players need to be sold for the sake of dressing room harmony but I'm not buying the whole "not fitting in" scenario. If the coaching staff is strong enough and the dressing room is together one bad apple won't set in a rot. I don't particularly buy into the fact that certain players shouldn't be signed because of attitude problems. In the past it has worked for us - Bellamy, Bentley - players that had bad attitudes that excelled in their time at Ewood. If we look at Wilder for example he brought Ravel Morrison to the club. A free signing that maybe hasn't worked out but it's not disrupted the dressing room in any way. Now, 2.5m is a bit different from a freebie but is Marcus Maddison that bad of an egg not to warrant a punt with the kind of returns he boasts of? I think not having seen his brothers application. You'd also think with James Maddisons past with TM we'd be front runners in any chase for him. Edit: Turns out I was talking shite and they aren't brothers. Who would have thought two people could have the same surname and not be related.

Personally think we should spend £3m on a left sided defensive player / centre back in truth. I'm certain we could afford one at that fee. That said this Curtis lad seems highly rated and I'd rather him be in a Rovers shirt if that's the case. Can't say I've seen much of him to warrant £3m to be honest and if we are going on stats you'd have to argue £2.5m for Maddison is a better deal........................

What else do you call the same handful of people who ask him the same question topic after topic? no he wouldn’t sack Mowbray, yes he trusts Mowbray in the transfer window, no he doesn’t think there’s a better manager out there for us. We’ve all read it before and it’s getting annoying seeing the same questions posed to him to get the same answers back all the time. Clearly you will have to agree to disagree.

Jesus Christ, talk about setting a man up to fail.... We all know Chaddy wouldn’t fire Mowbray and he’s explained why he wouldn’t a billion times. For once can the mob leave him out of it ?

I'm not a football scout, and no expert by any means, but I don't for the life of me understand why we haven't bid for Maddison. If his release clause is 2.5m and Ronan Curtis is 3m then we should sign them. 5.5m to basically solve our out wide problems. Play Holtby between them, Graham/Gallagher/Armstrong up top and suddenly you've got a front 4 of players in their actual positions. If you need to raise 5.5m sell someone but make sure that money is spent on them players.

This just proves all of the thoughts I have had in my head over the Christmas break. I was looking forward to it as I knew I'd be back in town and could attend a few games. I didn't go once. The truth about it all is that all of our talk about Mowbray is guff - it doesn't matter who is in charge because nothing will ever change whilst they are here. We are shackled by three people who will probably never step foot in our town again. It's disgusting that the EFL allows this kind of thing to happen. All this talk every time we are on sky about how much our owners are pumping in, how committed they are to our cause is bullshit. This is their own doing. They bought a club for £20m and sold a player for £17m. They had the perfect business, ran by genuine football people and they threw it all away in their pig headedness / desire to have a club to write off loses in the Indian market. I've no sympathy for them and honestly I would rather face the bullshit we'd get from our rivals and start again in the lower leagues than have them three wankers have anything to do with us. What are we supposed to do now, be thankful they service their debt? No, fuck them, they made this bed. Sadly for us fans it's our ego and our club that suffers but part of me is happy it's denting their wallets too. Sacking TM, hiring Pep, whatever it's all pointless. We may as well appoint Kermit the Frog so Balaji can actually have his hand up its arse rather than pay a person to masquerade as a coach. Nothing changes. It's the same shit, different year. It's about time the football league and its sponsors started to consider the communities that these clubs service as opposed to their bank balances. The Venkys have no affiliation to this town, club or county; they are strangers in the company they own and are nothing more than deadwood with deep pockets. Well done for paying the electric bill but when you eventually do swallow your pride and piss off the only legacy Venkys will leave is one of pure filth. If family reputation is as big in India as they say you should know that in this town you are bottom feeders.