A terrible performance in which 2-1 flattered us. I'd have hoped that we would be looking ahead to next season now yet we put Bennett back in at full back, it's bad enough that he's on the pitch but even worse when at full back. We have Conway coming on who surely won't be here next season. Rodwell didn't show much in the midfield role to earn a new contract he's not mobile enough, hope to see Davenport given ago next week. The only player to come out of the game with any credit was Leutwiler because without him it could have been 5 or 6.

Scored at West Brom playing central midfield and put in the best individual performance that I have seen from a Rovers player for many years. Also his goal at West Brom was a fantastic strike from outside the box, how often do you see a Smallwood, Evans or Travis take a shot from outside the box?

If we are to push for promotion we need more goals from Midfield. This season we have been too reliant on the goals from Graham, Dack and Mulgrew (who shouldn't be starting next season). You look at the likes of Norwich, Leeds, Villa and Sheffield United or even say a Preston their midfield either score or create plenty of goals. Whereas our current midfield options for next season have 1 assist and 0 goals between them.

Hope the manager shows more faith in him next season.

That's why Reed has 3 goals and 5 assist this season whereas the other 3 combined whereas Travis, Smallwood and Evans have 0 goals and 1 assist between them. You only really need one man doing the job of sitting and recycling the ball at this level especially with 4 defenders behind him

I was merely pointing out that no matter how much cosmetic work takes place on the face of it the rot is still underneath. People use to laud Bowyer with bringing stability to the club. We are in a nearly in a similar position to what we were in under Bowyer top half (or in this case mid table) with a promising squad and look how it all ended with our best player being sold, cheap options being signed and relegation. The simple fact is Mowbray is powerless just like Bowyer, Lambert and Coyle before him if the owners decide to do similar again and with these owners nothing would surprise me.

Not for the first time you have totally missed the point that I was making. Do you do it on purpose?

Going forward Brentford are as good as anyone in this division, a joy to watch.

I can see the benefits for both sides of face to face talks. My problem is the timing of them, why not have them this week or next week (given we know where we will finish around in the league) instead of at the end of the season when other sides are well in to their recruitment process.

People said the same about the job Bowyer had done and look how that ended. What Mowbray has done is purely cosmetic on the face of it we may look a more efficiently run club but scratch beneath the surface and you will find that nothing has really changed and it won’t change regardless of who is manager whilst the Venky’s are in charge.

Still have to favour Stockport to go up as I can't see them dropping points to Curzon or Nuneaton. Whereas Chorley have two difficult games in Spennymoor and Bradford PA. Spennymoor tomorrow will be a very tough game as they are an excellent team.

Bowyer signed the likes of Cariney, Duffy, Gestede, Marshall, Conway, Evans combined for less than Mowbray paid for Brereton. Just let that sink in he signed 5 player who either before or since have played international football, 3 of them have gone on to play in the premier league and combined all 6 combined cost less than our £7 Million forward who still hasn't scored a goal. Bowyer's could spot a player but unfortunately he wasn't very good tactically and was too conservative in his approach just like Mowbray.

Rothwell-6- It should be a higher mark as he has shown nearly every time he has played he has a lot of ability however he has been terribly under used by the Manager. Palmer-3- Like Rothwell had a lot of ability but was under used and when he was used he was played out of position. Armstrong-5- Has flattered to deceive to often, an excellent January but not a lot else and a return of 4 goals is disappointing. Next season a massive season for him to prove he is a good Championship player rather than just a very good League 1 player. Needs to bulk up in the summer. Rodwell-5- Formed a good partnership with Lenihan, however much like the team his formed dipped with the return of Mulgrew. Overall he has done ok considering he is not a centre back, I would like to see him get some starts in central midfield to see if he has a future here. Reed-8- A brilliant player who I'd love to see signed permanent. His performance in the centre of midfield at WBA was the best individual performance I have seen by a Rovers player for many years, its criminal that he did not play in his best position more but it's a testament to how good he is that he played most of the season out of position and has still been one of our best players. Davenport and Chapman-0- Both have been fit and playing for the u23s for a while now yet still haven't made he bench, which makes you wonder were they signed for the first team of U23's. Brereton-1- A terrible player who no matter what position he plays in does not even resemble a footballer. Mowbray can talk him up all he likes but until he starts perform anything like a £7 Million player then he will be a millstone around Mowbray's neck. The biggest problem with this seasons signings is that most of them have played the majority of their game time out of positions.

I think he's afraid of the older players, I get the impression that they run the dressing room and he is worried that if he upsets them then he will lose the dressing room. Whereas young lads like Reed, Nyambe, Raya and Rothwell are easy pickings.

He regularly singles out young player's for criticism in the press. Yet older players like Bennett, Williams, Mulgrew, Smallwood and Evans can be consistently poor but are seemingly immune from Mowbray's public criticisms.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17581217.tony-mowbray-on-exceptionally-talented-rovers-loanee-reed/ An exceptional talent who like Palmer and Rothwell this season has had that talent wasted by Mowbray. Good luck to Reed wherever he end's up next season, one thing is for certain he will be playing Premier League football long before Tony Mowbray is managing in the Premier League.

A great achievement to survive especially after the start to the season, congratulations to Damien Johnson and the young lads.

The pressure won't be off him. The only time the pressure will lift of him is when he puts in some performances to warrant such a large fee. If Graham isn't going to be playing then Nuttall should have a game he's done more than Brereton this season despite playing less. Assuming we still play with 1 up front next season then Graham and a new signing will be competing for first and second choice then I would have Nuttall as 3rd choice. I would send Brereton out on loan because he is miles away from being able to help us push for a top 6 spot next season, Nuttall's no world beater but at least he would contribute.

Over the last couple seasons in the premiership they spent around £70 Million just on Bony, Mesa, Baston, Clucas and A.Ayew all of whom were flops. Also that is without mentioning wages numerous reports put Bony being on around 100K a week at Swansea. Clucas was there one season and they made around a £10 Million loss on him, Mesa was their for half a season and they made a £3 Million lose on him. You don't take those sort of loses so readily unless you are desperate for the money.

Ah so you know more about Swansea's finances than their Chief Operating Officer. Swansea spent plenty of money in the Premier League the problem was it was on player who flopped.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/swansea-citys-trevor-birch-appointed-15989333 The Americans' man on the ground, chief operating officer Chris Pearlman, has admitted that finances remain extremely tight. Pearlman said last month: "We have spoken publicly on a few occasions since relegation about the club’s current financial position. Simply stated, our current contractual commitments are higher than our expected income. "Relegation has seen our annual income this season drop by approximately £60 million. That is inclusive of the parachute payments we received from the Premier League. Our transfer activity this past summer enabled us to address approximately half of this deficit. "On top of the decrease in income, the club still owes some transfer fee payment instalments on players we have bought over the past few years. "Furthermore, our financial position across all transfer windows in the past few years has shown a net loss. "Fans have every right to be critical about some of the transfer decisions that have added to our financial challenges.

Would be surprised if Swansea were giving a new signing 25K a week considering over both windows this season their priority appears to have been getting big wages of the books even if it meant selling for less than they paid in some cases. The only players who'd I'd think would be on around 25K would be players who played for them in the Premier League the likes of Routledge, Naughton, Dyer, Fer, Olsson and Narsingh (who never plays). Also I'm not sure how you can say they kept most their squad the Ayew's, Bony, Clucas, Fernandez, Fabianski, Ki, Mawson, Carroll have all left along with loans like Abraham, King and Sanches.

Raya is a strange one he's saved us plenty of points with his shot stopping but he has also cost us plenty of points with his decision making. What Raya needs is an experienced goalkeeping coach who has played the game at a good level to come in and work with him on his decision making. I wouldn't be looking to bring in a new number 1 as it would cost a lot of money and we have other positions where it is imperative to spend those larger fees. Also I look at teams like Villa, West Brom and Leeds who have all spent big sums on keepers or Sheff Utd who have a prem loan and I don't think that any of them have got anything significantly better than Raya. What we do need is a number 2 who is going to put pressure on Raya, Leutwieler has always done fine in the little that I have seen of him however it's clear that the manager has little faith in him. I think he was signed to make sure we didn't during internationals last season.

Not far off so at least you acknowledge now that over a 4 year period with wages and transfer fee combined that someone like Celina would have worked out cheaper than Brereton. I would also be surprised if Swansea were giving 25K a week to new signings considering they spent most the summer and winter windows trying to offload high earners.

That's still 22% short of a £1 Million extra a year which would still only make their wages and fee combined equal. Then you have on the pitch where Celina has had an impact unlike Brereton.