Can you remember a time our defence hasn't come under scrutiny? There is no appetite for defensive signings. Liverpool have shown that when you put together a good defence the rest of the team falls into place. Attackers aren't under pressure to score 3 every game, although with a very good defence they do tend to be more likely to do so anyway. If the promotion of Mark Venus, or whatever it is, then I only hope he presses the need for defensive reinforcements.

Off the top of my head I could name Chris Samba, The Axe, Bennie McCarthy and Steven Reid as BAME players that all achieved cult-like status with the Ewood faithful at the time they played for us. The colour of a players' skin has never been a problem for as long as I have been following Rovers. Jim Wilkinson is a hawk; he's no better than 98% of the journalists out there in that his dull nature requires outrage to attract readership. A brief read of his twitter tells you what you need to know about the man- he attempts to up his readership by targeting the content of others, with no chance of reply. An opportunist and one that should have been banned a long time ago. Amari'i Bell is a bad player because he is a bad player not because he is black. Ask Tugay (Muslim) or Samba if this club has a problem with racism.

Do you have this on good authority or is this a dream? If minimising casualties means Venus retains his job then what's the point? He's gone with TM everywhere and no doubt if Mowbray got another job after us he'd follow him there too. I don't get the appetite for DJ as manager. I'd sooner we looked in the market for someone who has had promotions under his belt. DJ may turn out to be the next Pep but he may also be the next Bowyer.

Relying on Amari'i Bell for the remainder of the season is actually heart breaking. Can Sam Hart step up?

He also has 13 years on Brereton in the sport so is of course more ready. I can’t say I’ve read many, if any, posts on here saying DG is past it. That line has been typed more by the people trying to bash BB than those trying to defend him, weirdly.

Has Danny Graham never had an injury before?

You call practically every player shite so that comments means feck all to me Ah yeah I don’t doubt that. I meant more in terms of forcing mowbrays hand to play Holtby.

I agree he’s played very well in his time here but I’m more going down the road of forcing Mowbrays hand to make the change. Holtby looks a class above and sometimes clouds do have silver linings.

Downing injured may be a good thing. He has to give Holtby a start soon and against a QPR side we usually beat is as good as any. Dack, Holtby, Rothwell all to start with SG up front. Let’s go at them early. I wouldn’t even mind Armstrong starting up front but I think it’s imperative we get them 3 lads on the pitch together to see what they can do.

What “risks” were these?

Some great items on there. Half expected terrace fashion wear but that store looks like I have Father’s Day sorted for the next 10 years. Well done!

Holtby is another level of a player ain’t he? Not seen class like that on a ball for a lot of years in a rovers strip. He just has that zip about him that all good players do. Him, Dack and Rothwell need more minutes on the pitch together. That said, Downing looked a better player when he was on to. They all did. Holtby has to start

I can't make it tonight (again...mid week games are making a ST not worthwhile but that's another story) but if anyone knows of how a man can watch without sky I'd be appreciative wink wink nudge nudge PM

Armstrong is lucky. I’m probably one of a few who has been happy with SG. His work rate is great and he is a menace - just wish he’d add more goals to his game!! Armstrong must be under the impression he’s due a performance soon or he will be dropped. Funnily enough, though, I think his best performances have often come from the bench!!

I heard on the vine that Johnson had a bit of a falling out with Mowbray prior to the reading game. Anyone on here know anything? Probably explains his absence lately. I thought he’d transform our midfield but at the end of the day there’s also a reason Derby let him go.

I think it's the total amounts of saves / matches For example, if he made 16 saves in 5 matches it would equal 3.2 saves per match

I was unhappy with his treatment of younger players at the time - still do think he's way too critical compared to how he is with older players. I was unhappy at the time with the window. I was far too premature. This window has been a huge success in my eyes as has shown. At the time of writing what you are referring to we had loaned out Mulgrew and not replaced him - it seemed an unmitigated failure to do so. History, so far, has shown us otherwise. Mowbray knows more than us, that's why he is the professional. Then again Matty we could go back months and months on this board on what was said and not said and find out 98% of us are talking utter shite but you of all people wouldn't want such a move happening. In that post I had not said I was happy for him sacked. I think, even, I referred to the fear of what would come next and even at my lowest point of faith in TM since League 1 I still would have kept him as manager because the next man through that door could be Owen Coyle. I also think there's a difference between point blank refusing to apply context and a reactive post on the back of 2 losses, the sale of our captain and a Boomtown comedown. Then again, who gives a shit

Nah nah nah nah nah, you have gone way too dramatic man. For one, nobody is saying it is all or nothing. I gave an estimate of 66% of our signings have improved the squad. Therefore it would be safe to assume I'm not saying it has been "totally good", duuuude. You may be questioning the effectiveness now, but your comment was in response to me telling Stuart I believed we have been performing adequately in that area. If you can point out to me somewhere where I've said otherwise then I'm happy to rescind that comment but I think you'll find I admitted there were some faults, but not enough to warrant the level of criticism. His windows have been successful. Our team has improved year on year and we are improving year on year. A measure of success is growth and we are growing. My reasoning for not judging transfers on league 1 is because people are trying to judge that level of transfers against what we currently have. We were a struggling side then, on a downward spiral, and desperate to get players in. We could only attract the likes of Whittingham and Caddis, but people forget Samuel got gols, Antonsson got goals, Dack, Downing, Bell have all turned out to have, at the time, improved the squad or continued to be important players. You write that transfer window off on the basis of two players - fine, but you should also expect it to be argued against. However, at the end of all of it, we got promoted as we should and now sit with a squad that consists of far superior players than he inherited. As a measure of recruitment, Blue Blood, here is the squad Mowbray had when he took over: Steele Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Conway Guthrie Lowe Feeney Graham Emnes Bench: Stokes, Raya, Joao, Tomlinson, Gallagher, Mahoney Our squad vs Reading: Walton Bennett Lenihan Williams Cunningham Evans Travis Downing Dack Armstrong Gallagher Bench: Nyambe, Johnson, Graham, Canada, Bell, Holtby, Buckley. An absolute vast improvement. It was Mowbray who brought in Travis; Mowbray who brought in Mahoney; Mowbray who brought in Buckley; Mowbray who moved Williams to CB; Mowbray who bought those players. His recruitment, and team management, is being shown to have been successful because we are improving and HAVE improved. There's a big difference between criticising certain signings and considering Mowbray;s recruitment as a failure, which is what was being painted prior to my comments, and which you are now denying is the case. I'm not saying 100% of signings have been successful but it is in no way, shape or form been a failure. With reference to Brereton vs Holtby, you are comparing apples with pears. One is a player that is 29, had Champions League experience and hundreds of games at an elite level; the other is a 20 year old lad who had a lot of pressure and under 100 appearances at a second tier level. Not comparable. I'm not willing to write Brereton off after a season but I am willing to put my neck on the line that Holtby will be a good addition to our squad. What I did to come to that conclusion was look at the situations of either player (context) and form a judgement that isn't black and white in order to further a point I wanna make. BB hasn't shown enough so far but BB didn't choose his price tag either. I am willing to give him, and Mowbray, the benefit of the doubt for now. "It feels like any criticism of TM gets you rather worked up so probably not worth continuing this debate. TM has done some good stuff and great stuff but I think, and have given reasons for, his transfers not being his strongest area. " This line is pathetic and is just trying to take away from the discussion (exactly what 47er did too...shock). A lot of people have appreciated my posts, and I certainly haven't got worked up. It is tiring reading the same lines after lines though, especially when different posters at different times have addressed said issues- it disappears and then rears its head 3 weeks later but rewrapped in a different tone. You are allowed to have a different opinion to me Blue Blood and, in truth, I thought our two posts were us discussing and not arguing. I'm sorry you've got the impression that I'm trying to stifle debate but a brief look back through the posts will see I haven't been. Indeed I think they have been appreciated by quite a few posters. All talk of dramatic rhetoric and being worked up is just another way of trying to play the poster and not the point at hand. If you have points worth making, make them, regardless of whether you feel it will "work me up", which I can assure it almost certainly will not.

I'm not reading the rest but for the last time.......................SHEFFIELD UNITED AND NORWICH SPENT A LOT OF MONEY GETTING PROMOTION. SEE WAGES.

See comments in red. In summary though Blue Blood I believe it only fair to judge Mowbray on his Championship transfer dealings, as understandably a lower league = lower class of players. Since we have been in the Championship each one of Mowbray's signings has a) improved the team and b) improved in quality as we have. That can only be a good thing. Expectation has improved because quality has improved. If that isn't a major indicator that his dealings have been partially successful then I don't know what it is. Finally, I'm sick of seeing comparisons to other clubs without the full context applied. Yes, Norwich signed Pukki for free and he's turned out brilliant, but they also have a wage bill that dwarfs ours and have a structure at the club that remained from the PL years. Every club since Burnley that have got promoted have spent huge sums of money in comparison to what we are now spending.

True Joe but we are still liable for those payments, as such have effectively 'spent' the money. Transfer fees are amortised over the length of the contract if I am correct. As such, if we signed Brereton on say a 5 year deal for £10m we'd pay £2m for 5 years, or so it would show in our accounts as.

I deny it, yes. I don't deny we paid over £10m but I don't think they are poor. A clubs finances goes way and beyond transfer fees paid and is a very, very simplistic way of looking at things. Norwich's and Sheff Utd's expenditure outweighs ours so to say they went up spending less, or that we wasted more money than them, or that they are a model to base ourselves on is wrong because it isn't considering all the facts. Modern day real-life comparison: Leave the EU we save circa £350m a week. Truth: We do, in one respect, but we lose x this way and x this way. There is always more to a stat than the simple 1 line you are trying to peddle to criticise Mowbray with. You tell me, K-Hod. You provide a contrasting view from other posters and you are labelled "Half-Full Brigade". You try and use a post that applies actual facts, accounts and context and it's dismissed as over enthusiastic happy-clapping nonsense because the other poster has 0 to come back with. It seems only one side of the "positive vs negative" argument is punished or remarked upon

Transfer fees are impossible to ascertain in an era of undisclosed fees. See above posts listing that Norwich's wage bill is amongst the highest in the league and has been throughout their years as a yo-yo club and beyond. The budget that Mowbray and Farke has is not comparable. Farke's far outweighs ours. Farke also inherited a club just out of the PL, whereas Mowbray inherited a basket case club destined for relegation with a squad of loanees and retirees. Not comparable in any way, if you apply context, and don't stick to a redundant stat like transfer fees and that alone to back your case. Apply some context, come back with a new argument and then the discussion can move on from "half-full" or "half-empty" because currently you and 47er et al aren't giving anything in the form of fact or context.

I will put money now that Norwich/Sheffield Utd dwarf our wage expenditure.

Pretty good actually Stuart. Our signings since promotion to the Championship: Gallagher, Downing, Johnson, Holtby, Aradabiyo (loan), Walton (loan), Cunningham (loan), Brereton, Reed (loan), Palmer (loan), Rothwell, Armstrong, Rodwell, Chapman, Davenport. 15 signings I make it, of which 10 have improved the club (Brereton, Palmer, Rodwell, Chapman and Davenport excluded, although 2 unfairly due to injuries) which gives us a success rating of 66%. Since our current manager/coaching/scouting team has been around we have improved year on year; our ambition has increased to where we are now once again discussing promotion; our youth players are being given first team chances...and succeeding; there is a better link between club and fans (although could be improved); and lastly, but more importantly, we have a manager with many faults, many pros, but at least the man has some damn good integrity and a real desire to improve this club which, for me, is just what I want.