I suspect next will be. At 33/34 you'd imagine he would be ready to give way. Brereton was obviously signed as his replacement so you'd have to expect him to be a regular starter from next season

Whether we like it or not I don't think we will have much choice.

There's about as much evidence of that than there is to the contrary though

In hindsight it has been a pretty good season. There was a time when I genuinely thought we may challenge for play offs but it quickly became apparent there are far better teams than us in this league. We are in a fair position relative to our quality. In terms of league position there can be no grumbles whatsoever. Transfers has been a funny one. Ben Brereton seems to overshadow any other player in this discussion and I think for that reason alone it's been quite a poor season for incomings. Rothwell hasn't had much of a chance but looks a real player; Reed superb and a shame to see him go; Rodwell played largely out of position but looks much more comfortable in central midfield (and miles better than the rest we have there); Chapman needs to get fit but glad to see him back. It does seem like there wasn't much thought gone into the deals and a kind of sign who I can approach. Our squad balance has taken a hit but TM has done enough to give himself another couple of windows and hopefully address the balance and put together a defensive unit than can match our attacking capabilities. It has been nice to see the emergence of Travis and a number of our youngsters get signed up. This is one of my biggest praises for Mowbray (but soon to be a slight criticism...) in that he has tied players down to contracts and either secured their services or a fee should interest arise. We gave Smallwood a new contract a bit too prematurely - he had a further year + optional 1 year left on his original contract he signed with us as far as I am aware. Likewise I think we may have rushed to sign Mulgrew on until 2021 without really thinking about the jump in quality to the Championship but hindsight is 20/20. Conway and Graham were good bits of business in my eyes and should Conway not get another extension I'll be sad to see him play his last game for Rovers as he's been a tidy player for us for some time now and never once have I heard questions about his commitment. In terms of quality it's been average. Some real glimpses of brilliance but then a revert-to-type shocking few displays against clubs we should really be competing with. I think this all comes down to the lack of balance in the side and perhaps too much faith given to players who are triers but haven't got the quality to compete. Mowbray hasn't instilled much confidence in his defensive shape and there's been a lot of nonsense around this 2 1/2 attackers, Rothwell not understanding the defensive phase etc etc. I am not a manager or coach so, apart from messageboard chatter (pub talk), can't really comment on whether or not his approach is something football professionals understand but from a fans' perspective we have looked far better with Rothwell on the pitch than without. Rambling a bit here really but in conclusion I believe we need to refresh the guard. This summer I wouldn't be phased if we saw players like Conway, Mulgrew, Smallwood and Evans leave. I like Bennett because of his versatility but I don't think he should be starting. Sign Rodwell. Sign Reed. Sign some defenders. If all remains similar my ideal starting line up for the first game of next season would be Raya Nyambe Lenihan (New CB) (New LB) Travis Reed Armstrong Dack Rothwell Brereton Bench: The Canadian, Wharton, Bennett, Chapman, Rodwell, DG, Butterworth We are one or two good players in key positions away from a really good squad here

To be contrarian do you think any manager will come in and completely decimate the seniority of the squad? No one in his right mind would change out every single one of them players in one window. In hindsight extending some of their contracts may have been a mistake. Smallwood and Evans aren't good enough in the middle when together but you are happy enough with them in the squad. I don't think anyone can be in any doubt that Mulgrew isn't our answer at centre back. For me that will be the big test of Mowbray's management - whether or not he will drop Mulgrew and keep him on side.

I think his return has been pretty good for a lad playing out on the wing. He's contributed to a few goals as well. I honestly thought he had scored more than 4 though so it shows how clouded my judgement probably is on him!! His performance vs Leeds at home shows me that there is a player somewhere in there. You just feel in the system he is being played in he isn't ever going to get a chance to lead the line for a prolonged period of time.

Armstrong has been a great signing. Decent fee, good amount of goals and hasn't ever shown a sign of discontent or off field trouble. He's a steady little player with good potential for resale. He is one of Tony's better signings

A worrying sign is how easy it has been for us to descend into an utterly abysmal run of defeats. Not many managers maintain such streaks but Mowbray has been on terrible spells at every single club he has been at. I'm sure he lost 9 in a row at Cov before finally being potted. It doesn't inspire any confidence whatsoever.

Tugay

To do that we have to push up high Ewood Ace and we currently have a centre half/centre midfield partnership that turns like milk!!! I wouldn't bet a penny of anyones money on us if a team broke and we had Smallwood, Evans, Rodwell and Mulgrew at the back providing cover.

Yep and that would all make perfect sense if he'd suddenly reverted to this system towards the latter end of the season to stem the flow of goals. However that's simply not the case - he floated this idea of defensive attackers when we were in League 1. Then, to compound the confusion, he goes ahead and signs players like Palmer, Rothwell, Brereton, Chapman and Armstrong who clearly have no intention of ever fulfilling the role of "defensive winger". You have to ask the question that if he knew he was going to stick with Bennett and Conway - he must have - why didn't he spend the £10m available to him shoring up the positions he feels like he has to compensate for? Left back, centre back, right back...... Quite frankly I couldn't give a damn about the excuses. I refuse to believe Rodwell would be any less effective than Smallwood/Evans in centre mid; I refuse to believe there wasn't a centre back available in the summer and I certainly refuse to believe that he didn't consider the risk he was taking in not signing any recognised defenders in the summer despite all the warning signs being there that they simply aren't cut out for this level. The chickens are coming home to roost in a truly abysmal run of games, not even just in terms of results but in terms of application on the pitch. If he's playing Conway and Bennett on the basis they are less likely to make mistakes then the experiment has sadly failed.

As much as I detest the ratbags we can't say they haven't given Mowbray something to work with. They continued to fund him in league 1, where he ultimately achieved an aim but no trophy, and have continued to bank roll him apprx £10m this year. They can't do much more. He's got talent coming out of the u23s, that they have funded for these years, and he's getting players signed onto decent enough contracts. As far as owners go they haven't exactly done much wrong since Coyle - although that fuck up was so monumentally huge it makes you wonder how "accidental" it all was.... The blame lies with Mowbray and the players. Managers live and die by their decisions and he has decided to play the way we are and sign the players he has - they may not be good enough but neither is he in that case

That is exactly what we will end up with. Posters on here are carrying the cross for Mowbray by listing Venkys' poor history of recruitment as a reason to maintain the status-quo. That same logic has to be brought through to TM also. It's actually quite farcical the amount of players he has signed only to shunt them all over the pitch. Let us not forget that we have endured a season, or at least the majority of it, with Bennett at right back. Meanwhile Harrison Reed, who is a CM by trade but has also played right back for Southampton/Norwich, has played right wing - the very position Bennett is natural in; we have a 6 foot striker either left or right wing; we have a full England international playing centre back whilst our arguably poorer academy product in Magliore is brought through when Downing and Wharton (albeit Wharton has proved about as much as Magliore in his time at Rovers) are out on loan playing centre half for another club WHILST WE HAVE TWO MIDFIELDERS THERE. I'm actually sick to my back teeth of looking at the team sheet and thinking what the actual fuck have we set ourselves up as here? Some days I think we are going 3 at the back and we aren't, then I think we have 4 at the back and it's 5. I'm not the only one either - aside from Chaddy (.......) I would put money that most fans walk into the ground, see the team and consider a completely different approach to the one that is shown on the pitch. This isn't because Rovers fans have no genuine idea about the game of football but because there has been about as much consistency with our team as there is in Dack's diet. The truth about it is we haven't been good enough for 50% of this season. Now whether that is because we haven't got the quality we all think we have or because we aren't settting ourselves up right is irrelevant because either reason places the blame squarely at TMs door. McClaren has paid for his sins and I'd be hugely surprised if he has spent the amount of money Mowbray has.

The argument that we aren't playing players like Rothwell, or Chapman during his time here when fit, because they aren't defensively sound enough would stack up if we had a great defensive record. As it stands we are amongst the worst in the league and are apparently picking players in order to protect ourselves. Christ on a bike.

I'm sure we could play a few more of them on the wing

I have it on very good authority that the Premier League have an emergency fund of hundreds of millions just in case a big club falls foul of the rules to ensure something similar cannot happen to them. Unbelievable really and goes a long way to explain the recklessness of Premier League finances.

I wonder what the goals scored vs conceded between Lambert & Mowbray is. Always feel we will score under Mowbray but concede 3 more. Under Lambert you felt as though a draw was the expectation every game.

And the rest RevidgeBlue. We just £7m on a young lad with a handful of appearances and goals. If they are paying that for Brereton imagine how much a player like Che Adams or Billy Sharp is worth in their eyes!?

That's fair enough. Based on his time at Lincoln he was always a bit part player but if Bury are proposing to play him every week then it's a better deal. At 21 I'd prefer him to be plying his trade in League 1 but at least Bury win almost every week so he's not gone to get battered and bruised all the time.

Scott Wharton has been given a handful of appearances in league 2 at Bury. In a bizarre move the club considers such a deal as decent business, clearly, because he's been farmed out 3 seasons in a row to act as a rotation player. He will be 22 by the time he lands back here by which time his only notable experience is a squad player at League 2. Frustrating really. In the couple of appearances he had for us I thought he looked a solid enough performer and I have always heard good things from those that watch youth level. I am not against loan moves for experience but there's no way he has learnt more in his season at Bury this year than he would have done had he stayed with us.

I wouldn't say he is rubbish. I'd hazard a bet that whilst he has been in a Rovers shirt we have kept far more clean sheets with him than without him. I don't think he's suited to this level but he's better than some of the other shite we have playing in that position. At least he is an out and out centre half unlike our other options!! Downing will inevitably leave eventually but I'd certainly keep him as back up for the next season whilst shipping Rodwell either into midfield or out the club. If Mulgrew didn't have goals in him he would be gone for me too. Far too nonchalant as a centre half for my liking. The ball bounces every time when he's in there and he lacks pace and strength to recover from mistakes. In a ruthless mind set I'd ship Mulgrew out too.

Surprised by how many want Downing gone. He's probably one of the better defenders contracted to the club right now unbelievably. I want Gladwin and Williams gone and reluctantly would allow Smallwood and Conway to go. The rest can stay because without squad depth we won't last very long in this league. A clear out is only good if you have x amount to reinvest. Over the next few years if our team is likely to progress we will see the likes of Downing, Bennett, Bell, Graham, Mulgrew and Evans go. It shouldn't be a rushed thing though. As a side note despite some impressive early performances I wouldn't be overly bothered if Rodwell went in the summer. He's not a central defender.

I can't believe we are still having the discussion of needing to fill our defence out. Save the 1 season with Hanley & Duffy have we had a proper back 4 since these lot came in and fired our impressively experienced Premier league defence? Even with them two we still leaked goals No manager has ever really addressed this problem. It's been going on for roughly 8 years now. Under Bowyer we would have probably been promoted had we been able to keep a clean sheet. It must be a monumentally difficult task to put together a decent defence because we've seen a few managers come and go now and yet here we are, still discussing how weak we are at the back.

Why? I thought the move by Hughes was a good one.

Whilst waiting for an engineer on site one day I was browsing through the Sun and found myself completely out of touch with their readership. It wasn't that I considered them stupid, beneath me or whatever - it's just that I didn't agree with what they wrote, or what topics the readership wanted to read. I did the unimaginable and stopped reading it. I didn't moan about them or call out all Sun readers, I just stopped reading it. Perhaps that lesson could be passed on to the twitterarti hyper-intelligent few as it would probably save them a lot of heartache, and headaches, moaning about how inferior other fans are for wanting to discuss topics that doesn't involve Howard Kendall, a fixture dating back to the 1950s or cats. Cheers.