Dreams of 1995

I thought that was a given 47er. If tomorrow is dry it's because it's not raining. If tomorrow is Saturday today must be Friday.

100% agree with this. Mowbray has been overseeing quite a change in the way we operate, and there are signs we are actually becoming a properly run club once more. A genuine criticism of him is that he gets his tactics wrong quite a bit - it's a fact based criticism based on the last two seasons (PNE and Wigan games spring to mind). It's just disheartening to see so much unfair criticism levelled at the man, from his apparent poor man management to the downright insulting "he doesn't know shit". I can't say I have been happier as a Rovers fan in near enough 9 years. I hold my hands up and say during our year in League one I wanted the man sacked, felt like he wasn't the one to take us up. I was wrong and one thing I wasn't taking into account is the task he's had in turning this club around to a functioning club as opposed to ticking over and doing the bare minimum to get us through anothr season.

1) The latter two left because they were................................................on loan. 2) Yes they did get dropped..................................................because they didn't play. 3) Is not upsetting players a sign of......................good man management? Especially as he DID drop players and they are still here, without kicking up a fuss. 4) That's simply not true and has no basis. If Mulgrew plays tomorrow it is because Mulgrew is fit enough to play. It has no bearing whatsoever on the man-management approach. Unsure whether you are being disingenuous or your desire to be edgy makes you say pretty silly things.

Nobody has let Nuttall down. I for one championed his inclusion in the squad but simply put when he had appearances he didn't put the kind of shift in you'd expect from a striker in this league. Too lightweight, not the greatest touch in the world and would never hammer defences down or run the channels. The three lads we have in front of him are all better and one could argue Samuel is better too. Whether Nuttall will do well at Blackpool is anyones guess. I think he will. He gets in the right places and has an eye for goal. That level may suit him more. It's crazy how players that sign for us are instantly confined to the poor player category, where their bad attributes are highlighted, and suddenly when a player goes he becomes the best player we've seen in that position and sorely let down by the club. There isn't one. One bit of positive feedback Mowbray used to get on here is that he looks like he has the squad playing for him, which they are, and that the dressing room atmosphere has taken a massive up turn since he came. It has. There's not been a hint of bad management on behalf of Mowbray, it's just that on here some wild assumption like that has legs all in the name of "opinion", whether or not it is fact-based is irrelevant.

Yep. Being jealous of Wigan's transfers. It's nonsense. In fact, I remember the exact same being said last season when they signed that Wolschild guy or whatever his name is at the back. "Wigan are buying better players than us"......meanwhile, they spent the season fighting relegation and we sat comfortable for the entire time. Wigan have lost Powell, Grigg and Macnanaman in a short space of time and suddenly people are saying they have done better business? Who have they signed, Antonee Robinson, Marshall? Bear in mind Robinson is replacing Reece James, probably one of the better players in the league last year. None of their signings are exactly renowned players. The only lad I'd entertain having from them is Macleod from Brentford but there's a reason they released him - he's full of injuries. It's just b/s. I'm all for opinions but I'm struggling to understand how Wigan's recruitment is thought to be more considered and professional as ours. All they have done is replace the players they have lost with arguably worse players.

Because he had to due to fitness issues. Whereas now he doesn't need to play because Mulgrew is fit. Paul Downing sank into a defence with Elliot Ward and I remember most on here dreading the thought of it. It worked out ok but don't pretend like it didn't worry us at the time, and that was a poorer opposition (although only just, Charlton aren't any great shakes).

Swear Mulgrew was injured and then put back into the team the following game when he wasn't..... He stayed in the bench for a few games before unseating Elliot Ward around the Gillingham game if I remember correctly? Don't let that get in the way of your argument though.

Nah, not this time, you don't get away with that. It's the go to argument of those that incessantly place a negative slant on anything the club does in the name of "debate". I have no issue with you putting up your opinion but if it flies in the face of what professionals are saying, and has no basis except some bloke on twitter, then expect it to be treated with the same derision.

Crazy how football is a game of opinions, some you value, some you don't. For example, I value the opinion of Pep Guardiola (multiple champions league winner, best ever PL finish x 2 years in a row, won everything as a player and a coach and universally respected by players, fans and managers alike) way more than I value the opinion of "MDavis1414" (Has a picture of him holding a pimms and lemonade in a holiday resort pool, and likes the Miami Dolphins). See what I'm getting at? Yeah, winning the 5th most aerial duels in the league isn't that imposing at the air - you're right. Yeah, being either footed is ungainly and clumsy - you're right. Fuck the stats, opinions of professionals, roversfan99 as it nailed down because of two appearances he's seen on Sky, and that's the reason this signing isn't impressive and why a 6 foot 5 lad who has secured a professional contract at the best team in the country is otherwise known as "Bambi on ice".

Doubt it and wouldn't be bothered either. 3 days to fit in to a back line isn't a lot of time. As Mulgew is our club captain he should be more than able to play against a newly promoted Charlton side and hold his own.

Yeah roversfan99, you're right. Let's listen to you and Tommy the tit from The Black Countraaayyy over Pep. "Bambi on ice" is going to be the new catchphrase on here. How you can call a guy that is supposedly both footed as bambi on ice is beyond me. He's won his fair share of headers too. I dunno man, what have you seen that we haven't? Like what actually happened for you to refer to him as "Bambi on ice" (?) in the games you saw him play? Or is it just because some guy on a baggies forum said it and now suddenly it's stuck because God forbid there's a signing this summer that actually impresses....

Johnson will make the world of difference in terms of game management. We lost a lot of games last season because we went onto the back foot and tried to defend our lead. When you add a player who can dictate games in the way Johnson has done over the years suddenly game management improves. I have no doubt that Tosin is a great player judging by the comments from Pep. I saw him on Sky last season for West Brom and he looked a player then - only when I googled him and saw he played for City it clicked why he looked a step ahead of them. At the end of the day I'd take a baggies fans opinion with a pinch of salt - he's rated by arguably the greatest coach in the world as someone who will play for the first team of the best in England right now. If some weirdo from the black country reckons he's like Bambi on ice then whatever, he'll do for me.

Palmer was - is still - a very good player. It's just that Dack is better and he couldn't play out wide. Simple as that really.

Give it a rest ?

I thought Chapman was fit?

Exactly. A big example of this is a player like Ethan Ampadu. Highly rated, obviously got a big future in football, and he only got released for loan bids yesterday. If the advice of Brfcs football experts had been followed we'd have had all of our players in by now and not been able to consider, or even bid for, a player like Ampadu. I'm not saying we will get him by the way, or even are interested. A lot of players are currently in pre-season with their clubs and are fighting for a place. Within the coming weeks (it has already begun) you'll see a group of players that become available as they haven't cut the grade at their club. With inflated prices and the ridiculousness of agent demands clubs like us simply have to wait to see what deals there are available.

I'm sure that statistic page people posted showing just how reliable and good Raya is (was) also showed statistics which put Elliot Bennett as one of the best right wing backs in the league.

Anything shy of £5m for a striker is good business. It shows how good of a deal we have got for Gallagher and Armstrong. Granted the Brereton deal may be steep for last seasons returns but he's still a teenger and has scored/played more games than Zohore in England. All in all we have 3 good strikers all bought for reasonable sums of money in comparison to the silly deals some clubs are making.

In line with this we should also consider who our "senior" players were last year, for the sake of clarity I will use 26 and above as senior: Strikers: Danny Graham (33), apps 46, great season Midfield: Ellliot Bennett (30), apps 42, utility player, had a good enough season in my eyes Richie Smallwood (28), apps 33, dropped at the end of the season deservedly and not a starter anymore Ben Gladwin (27), apps 0, seniority by age only Cory Evans (29), apps 36, nowhere near consistent enough, not exactly a "leader" Conway (34), apps 26, mainly a sub, good player in his day but not with us anymore Defenders: Rodwell (28), apps 22, not a centre half, doesn't seem to want a new contract Mulgrew (33), apps 31, a great set piece taker but dropped at the end of the season Downing (27), apps 4, released Goalkeeper: The Canadian (30), apps 5, not good enough An interesting stat if you take out Downing, Gladwin, Conway and Rodwell our average age becomes: 23.885 Again for the sake of clarity squad list and ages taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018–19_Blackburn_Rovers_F.C._season A further argument could be that you remove Smallwood and The Canadian from the list as they are no longer considered first team players (I'd argue neither is Mulgrew but as we haven't had an incoming centre half I won't remove him yet) that would make our average age: 23.459 We obviously have a crying need for QUALITY experience as the older players we have now are being dropped through either an emergence in a younger, better player (Smallwood/Travis) or through not performing to an acceptable standard often enough (Mulgrew, Evans). Also, a little tidbit for the "Dads Army" myth that is currently being thrown about the board, if you added Johnson, Downing & Gallagher into the squad (along with Smallwood and the Canadian) our average age is still only: 24.483, which is still younger than the season before and you'd argue Johnson is a starter and Downing is a bit of a like for like of Conway. We are arguably in a much better situation now in terms of squad age/experience balance than at the end of last season. If you throw in the experience of Carson or similiar and a centre half of similar ilk you suddenly have a squad laden with both quality experience (as opposed to P. Downing or Rodwell, who are either not really experienced in this level of football or just not great role models) and a definite chance for youth to break through and establish themselves.

I'm sure he called them out in his interview where he stated he had no defence and that defenders are coming. He obviously didn't rate Raya, has made moves to replace him. From what little rumour we have it seems a centre half is incoming also. I'd say he's making moves to address those problems.

Rather his best performance in my eyes came against Bolton, where he played in midfield! He isn't a centre back. We have a midfield and whilst I'd love for him to partner Johnson in the middle I don't think he has it in him. It was an experiment, it failed, I think it's time he moved on. He hasn't done himself any favours with the fan base with this contract situation.

Tbf tomphil it is only a poster on here who has said that, not the club. We don't hear a whiff from the club these days!

Not Dann and Skrtel. One or the other in my eyes. You have Mulgrew as your 2nd choice back up. Lenihan partnered by either Dann/Skrtel, with Mulgrew, Magloire, Wharton as back up. That said I could miss both Dann and Skrtel in truth, but out the two Skrtel is the better player

Scott Carson has been a consistent top half Championship player for 3 seasons now. He's experienced, played for England, played abroad, been there done that. I'll be happy with him between the sticks. I'd have been happier with him and Raya competing but that's not going to happen. 33 isn't old for a goalkeeper, some may say these are his best years, and I couldn't see a keeper of his calibre coming whilst Raya was here or Raya staying whilst a keeper of Carson's calibre came in. This is if it is him.

This is all hypothetical of course but... We could be bringing in a defender, but he'd be on loan. £5m in todays market is decent for Sam Gallagher. The opportunity came and we took it. You could argue that DGs options are limited and bringing in a replacement now is sensible business to allow him to settle in whilst DG still leads the line. Gallagher and Brereton are two good English players with resale value if they reach their potential. On the contrary, a centre half may simply not be available for a reasonable price. We all criticise Mowbray for rushing through the Brereton deal and the last thing we want is an over priced, not quite good enough centre half costing us £5m+ I get the criticism that will be levelled if we don't sign anyone in any form. However I don't understand the chirps of mismanagement of a budget when we really have no clue about what has gone on behind the scenes, the true scope of the budget or what players/agents were ready to talk to us and accommodate a sensible transfer. Rather, you could argue that a loan signing is shrewd budget management, obtaining a player way above what we could afford for a season whilst we search long term. Everything seems to be "one way" on here when it comes to judgement of Mowbray, maybe a different perspective should be used at times.