That's the one, cheers! What a great season he had for us in 91/92, there was no doubting his ability or commitment.

Totally agree re Cunningham. For us to challenge for promotion, Bell & Williams both need to be cover not 1st choice, and Evans needs to find consistency or be replaced by Davenport (or Whiteman sounds promising). But they're all 3 solid, if unspectacular, players at this level I think. You could probably say the same of Mowbray. I think he is potentially only 4 good signings away from having a really strong squad. A 1st & 2nd choice keeper, CB and LB can do it, provided we avoid long term injuries such as those that happened to Dack & Cunningham and which can't really be legislated for.

I hope that's not whoever our new 'keeper is gonna be...

Just, wonderful. What's the phrase? Better to have loved & lost than never to have loved at all? Sigh.

I do think many of our players are vastly undervalued on this site sometimes, just like Mowbray himself is. eg Bell is frustrating at times, but not without ability, and he was looking much improved last season until his injury. eg Williams is an Eire international; that doesn't happen without having ability, and the manager who gave him his debut for them followed by subsequent caps in qualifying matches is one whom many on here would swap Mowbray for in a heartbeat. eg Evans is a fulcrum of NI's success. He has his limits & has also been frustrating during his tenure, but again is a good quality player at this level and probably played his best football for us last season. They're players other managers will want. They're not irreplaceable and should be improved upon if we are to have a realistic chance of top 6, but to suggest that we are relegation fodder if we start the season with a back 4 of Nyambe, Lenihan, Williams / Wharton & Bell, with Travis & Evans in front of them, is a bit far fetched IMO.

They're both lemons.

There's surely only one isn't there? "Bouncebackability." Wonderful. Take a bow Iain Dowie.

This thread was showing "hot" when I switched on to read whilst I was having my tea. Turns out it wasn't even lukewarm... ☹

It does seem rather draconian, but then maybe that's what's needed to give a chance for most clubs at that level to survive until crowds can return. I think, in these extraordinary circumstances, the top PL clubs & the PL itself should be doing more with their colossal TV& global sponsorship money to support these lower league clubs and show some solidarity until "normality" returns. But of course there's a fat cat's chance of that; some would rather pay 6 figure weekly salaries to 31 year old inconsistent free agents... (Arsenal/ Willian springing to mind).

I looked him up on wiki, it looks like he only played 63 games in his whole career across 11 seasons. Theres also something in the MEN about him conceding 15 goal in 4 games for Rochdale whilst on loan from us. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/what-the-dickens-was-matt-doing-as-rochdales-1127141.amp He could actually quite possibly be Rovers worst signing ever, literally; certainly the worst one signed in the modern era, and by King Kenny of all people!!

I don't remember Stuart Metcalfe personally as I think he played before my time as a supporter, but I certainly know his name as someone who is part of the fabric of the club. My dad talks highly of him as do all those who've commented above. Such a shame when news like this is announced, albeit it revives find memories for so many. It sounds like no-one had a bad word to say about him. RIP sir.

Matt Dickins anyone? Signed as cover for Bobby Mimms, played just 1 game for us though (v Wolves I think) and let a long range speculative shot from distance flap through his limp wrists and drop over the line near the end of the match. Think it cost us a draw iirc.

Maybe he's looking to return home; I doubt he's likely to get a Prem move having looked at his stats on wiki. He does seem to tick many of our boxes and appears the sort we should be looking at, being a free agent.

Does anyone know much about Mike van der Hoorn, who's just been released by Swansea? He's a 27 y/o CB, signed from Ajax 4 years ago; been a regular for them in the last 2 seasons besides a spell out last season with a knee injury. Came back to start in their play off semis. Seems a good age, and will probably have to accept a wage cut. Not sure why Swansea aren't renewing his deal though. Edit: Mike Adrianus Wilhelmus van der Hoorn - what's not to like about a guy with a name like that?!

We did get one though, Cunningham, who most agree was a very good signing but sadly got a season ending injury half a dozen games or so after signing. So of course the extra year in Bell's contract would be triggered. Even if a new LB was signed in January, Bell would still have been needed as cover.

I like JRC and think he is an exciting prospect. He certainly appears to have natural ability and a forward thinking attitude, and doesn't seem afraid of getting into dangerous positions and taking responsibility for a shot. However I don't think I've seen much to indicate creativity. His pass for Gallagher at Sheff Wed was sublime though. I'm hoping to see more of him in a more naturally attacking role next season and all power to him; he seems like a swashbuckling up n downer type to me rather than someone blessed with creative wizardry.

Yeah, Butterworth really seemed promising, I hope his injury doesn't derail his progress. JRC I like, have heard a lot more good stuff about his U23s performances. I'm not sure he's what you'd call creative though from what I've seen, in terms of unlocking tight defences. Dack, Holtby, Buckley & Rothwell all have that in their locker.

Fair enough, that is quite surprising esp when you think of efforts like Samuel v Wigan & Barnsley, Davenport v Leeds, Holtby v Leeds, just 4 off the top of my head. But it still doesn't alter the fact that we finished 6th highest scorers, without playing 2 of the previous season's top scorers most of the time.

I'd be genuinely interested to see that quote from Mowbray?

Dack - if he goes, point accepted, but then we can look to replace. But he is our most creative player, and we missed him for what, 25 games? Rothwell - agreed he needs to find more consistency, but he has a style that frightens opponents. He's still worth sticking with imo, though I have wavered in that opinion over his time here. Holtby - think that's a massive exaggeration; he's a player without natural pace but has natural flair. Similar to Tugay in the respect, albeit a few rungs lower down the ladder. Buckley & BB - I think both of these showed more in the last 9 games than they did previously. They both have attributes to frighten defenders. Encouraging signs from both to build upon next season. But I get the apprehension. I'm not saying it's the bee's knees, just less of a problem than is often made out.

If one of our main tactics was to use Tosin's passes through the midfield, then midfield will naturally create less opportunities surely as they're being bypassed? I think some of this bashing of our style of play is unwarranted. Yes without an incisive pass or sparkling dribble it can become ponderous against defensive teams, and plans B and C need to be developed to beat those types. But creating chances wasn't the problem last season, and despite some profligate finishing at times (particularly from Gallagher throughout the season & notably Samuel after lockdown) we finished 6th for goals scored. There's enough individual creativity in the squad (Dack, Rothwell, Holtby, Buckley, post-lockdown BB even) to continue to create chances through individual spark. Our problem was keeping them out, esp at the start of the season & post lockdown. As a unit, the defensive 5 was not solid enough, and the midfield too often failed to give them enough protection. Get a solid keeper, CB partner for Lenihan & improved LB, with decent back up in each position and a clear understanding of how the unit functions should injuries / suspension/ loss of form force personnel changes, then we can save 10-15 goals at the back which should be sufficient for top 6 . The issue is finding & building that 10-man defensive unit on whatever funds we have & promoting from within; that's the real challenge this summer for me.

Dack's a diamond geezer alright!!

I think I read somewhere on here that Armstrong is, too.