Dreams of 1995

BRING CHADDY BACK

I turned 26 one week ago today. Fuck you Waggott.

I liked what Mowbray said more than the next guy but I hope with all my fecking heart that the comments about selling a player to avoid an embargo are a bit of excitement rather than an actual plan. Surely no one buys as many new players as we need for enough money to push us into embargo territory with the plan of selling some if it doesn't work. What if we buy tosh? What if they don't cut it? What if Dack breaks his leg, back or neck? Let's not be pinning our financial future on the POSSIBILITY of recouping fees on certain players. Buy players but buy well.

I don't quite get what you are getting at. We very well could have 6,000+ more fans attend the Swansea game than usual (we certainly did vs Oxford) but imagine if all those fans that attended Oxford just turned up on the morning to buy tickets and the club didn't have sufficient provisions in place. The club would be torn to pieces on this forum for not planning ahead. Part of that planning process is to first understand how many people will be attending in order to assess requirements. There has to be an incentive to buy early and a charge, if you will, for not because it means the clubs' contingency is effected. On the day prices are almost always more expensive than pre booking in every single industry. We aren't the only club that does it. It isn't like the "old days" where you could walk on - clubs will have to ensure they have a certain staff vs fan ratio, adequate emergency plans in place etc. It just seems an odd gripe to have with the club. If somebody wakes up on Saturday morning and wants to go to the football then I'm sure they are adult enough to realise that a lack of foresight means an increased cost. I would...

Hopefully he looks at that Nigerian winger Quikli Zooma

Do you disagree with the colour scheme used?

To put an incentive to early purchasing, allowing Rovers to know roughly how many people are turning up. Imagine if on the day 6000 people turn up to buy tickets @ £15.00 only to find out the club either doesn't have enough people on the sales desk to cope, enough stewards, pies, beer, water etc etc. Discounts for early purchasing happen in everything from trains, planes, festival tickets, nights out - you name it there's "early bird" specials or tier price increases. Can't blame them for that really. What you can blame them for is the fact that they have waited until now to give any form of discounted tickets. Can't see many rushing to get these - dead rubber vs Swansea...................exciting!!

Neither look like pacey wingers to me

The lifting of the famous Bullshiiiit Warchest from the depths of the Sea of Lies.

I wonder which one will get approval

I think we need a pacey winger, a tall defender and a brown eyed midfielder. But our focus should definitely be on a pacey winger. A slow attacker might be worth a shout, mix it up. Have I mentioned we need a pacey winger? MarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauerMarcusMaddisonPatrickBauer

Do you really think the club feels inconvenienced by having a full house?

Wigan can't possibly have had a better season than us. We are ahead of them in the table in every aspect. I don't buy this whole comparing it over a few seasons - the table doesn't lie I'm afraid and there isn't a single thing that Wigan beat us in. If we are having it right they had a significant advantage to us in League 1 in the fact they had only just bounced out of that league. Our poor start to the season cost us but I wouldn't say Wigan outclassed us. They came above us - they were the better team. We came above them this season - we are the better team. Frankly it's as black & white as that.

Tit for tat though. What you may find sad others don't. They absolutely hounded our phone lines under Steve Kean and are now on the receiving end of something similar. Anyway to tell the truth I aint bothered. If people are sad for doing it then people are even sadder for giving rise to it.

If we cast aside the end of the relegation season (Coyle's fault) Mowbray is currently on an upward trajectory. Little sense in disrupting that at the moment. He's definitely done enough to give him another season and 2 transfer windows. A defining summer I'd imagine as no one can deny the positions we need filling. His transfers have been hit and miss like Tyrone has said so here's to hoping his centre back is a hit...... Are people actually getting offended at that? Bolton, as in the fans who bombarded our club with phone calls when we got relegated? Jeeeeesus - you can't make it up! I think his generation coined the term "snowflake" but have since took on the mantel themselves.

BB still has to offer more regardless of the goal. Great finish with his weaker foot though. Thought that whilst he looked tidy around the box he didn't offer anything as close as DG does. To be expected, perhaps, as Brereton is 10+ years his junior. Here's to hoping he starts the last two and Graham gets a well deserved rest. If Brereton gets two hat tricks vs Norwich and Swansea he can stay I suppose

Under Coyle I swear we bought a few players within days of the market opening? Might have all been bobbins but we definitely moved quickly to get them in

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.