Look, if we had avoided Dack's injury, or Cunningham's, who knows? We had a very competitive 14 but to lose 2 from it for such large parts of the season killed us. Despite that and despite misfiring forwards, we were still in the hunt until last week. A couple more timely goals and we still would be. It's fine margins. Take Phillips out of Leeds, Mitrovic out of Fulham, or Grabban from Forest, and they're struggling for top 6, no question. So is Mowbray actually that bad compared to his competitors? No, he isn't. Give him this short close season, get Dack back, let him finish what he's started re overseas recruitment, bring through another couple of Under 23s, & maybe even find a nugget like Dack or Armstrong & go again.

I take your point, but I just don't have confidence that lightning would strike twice in that respect and would rather let TM continue at this moment in time. As I just said to Stuart, I'm not saying it's not possible to improve on TM, just that it's unlikely that we would. It'll be much harder for Venkys to find someone to improve on TM than it was to find someone to improve on Coyle.

Yes it's possible, of course it is. But is it likely? No, in my opinion. Was it likely that TM would improve on Coyle's tenure? God yes, he certainly couldn't have done any worse!

If you could guarantee me a manager who could do that whilst also willing to work with all this club's foibles & idiosyncrasies, then I'd agree. Sadly he doesn't exist.

Come on, there was no stability under Coyle, that was a completely different scenario to where we are now.

Pulis is far more anti-football than Allardyce ever was. And MGP had a lot more about him than did Rory Delap. Yes his past record may eclipse Mowbray's, but you also accept his best days are behind him. That doesn't bode well for our next appointment.

I've admitted I was underwhelmed when TM was announced, but overall since the day he arrived he's done more good than bad IMO and I've been pleasantly surprised, without being put on the edge of my seat or being part of a cult. This club needs stability right now, in these most uncertain of times.

We're not "most other clubs" though are we? We have unique problems with basketcase owners who lack footballing pride, ambition and nouse, and whose prime concern now is navigating the pandemic. We're low down on their priorities, always have been, now even more so. I'm afraid it literally is a case of better the devil you know, stability over likely chaos.

He did well at Stoke for a while granted, but grew stale and his footballing philosophy is dire. You remember the Delap long throws, right? At times they were effective yes, but if winning like that counts as "infinitely superior management", you can keep it thanks. Furthermore he underachieved massively at Boro, and I think is a busted flush.

In this context my interest is Blackburn Rovers success, pure and simple. But that's within the context of reality; we are in a period of stability after what, 8 years of dross. It's not nirvana of course, but then it never will be whilst Venkys are here so we have to work with what we have. Yes the last 3 games have been disappointing, yes some of TM's decisions are baffling; wasn't it ever thus in football between fans & managers? Why does sacking the incumbent always have to be the only route to success? I'm not saying job for life, or that he ought not to be accountable, of course he should. And I was pretty underwhelmed when he was announced too. But he's done a solid, if unspectacular, job all things considered and I just don't get why so many have the pitchforks out for him as though we couldn't possibly do any worse. Some people have very short memories.

None of them shout out to me as likely to be better than TM, I don't know about anyone else...

Thanks JH, it's an extensive list but I'm sorry, most of the names on it are unsuited either due to being in better existing positions (Farke, Stam, Jokanowicz, Garcia), unlikely to work for Venkys due to personality or wage demands (Hughton, Hughes, Warnock, much like Lambert decided he couldn't), or are no better than Mowbray IMO either in terms of their achievements or the style of football they advocate, or both (Neil, Poyet, Karanka, Pulis, Johnson, Stendel, McCarthy, Carvalhal). I get the desire to be ambitious, but we're not in 1991 with Jack Walker at the helm. We have to be realistic about who we can get. Sorry Waco, that means Gerrard is off the scale too. At the same time, so many names on that list would be frying pan into the fire stuff, and IMO represent change for change's sake but without any wow factor. Yes one or more of them could change things for the better, but it would be a lottery which one amongst them that might be. As I said in a previous post (possibly on another thread), the only change most people on both sides would get behind is moving TM upstairs and making DJ 1st team manager with his own coaching staff. It would be a move that would promote stability whilst also injecting fresh ideas at 1st team level, and I think most agree the U23s were pleasing to the eye under his guidance, as well as successful.

I do acknowledge (and share) the disappointment & frustration felt by all, but for a bit more objectivity with regards to Saturday, my Leeds-mad workmate said this about the match: "I enjoyed the game on Saturday. Had you taken your chances (and had a bit of luck) following our opening goal I think it would have been much closer" When I told him most on here feel our performance was abject / pitiful / spineless, he replied: "I didn't think it was a rubbish performance from Blackburn, there wasn't much in it. We were just more clinical on the day." Obviously there are common threads in our recent defeats - namely missed chances & individual errors - but to describe those performances overall as abject, pitiful or spineless is, I think, overly critical.

Leaving aside whether or not Mowbray deserves to stay (for the record I voted stay, & explained in the Leeds thread why he's not as bad as he is often made out to be), it is impossible to ignore the question of who might be appointed in his place should he be sacked. Just rolling the dice is not a meaningful strategy, is it? So those who are asking that question are entirely reasonable in doing so, and before he is sacked proper thought should be given to it. In the real world, there's more to it than just "he's crap and should be sacked", howsoever we might wish it were otherwise.

Brentford are a better side than us granted, but they came up against a club that fell on its knees just 2 days pre kick off with the Administration debacle. When we played them, they were a top-of-the-form table team that until then was unbeaten in 7 with 5 clean sheets in a row. As for Stoke, yes they put Barnsley away very well yesterday. But 4 days earlier they got rinsed by Wigan more so than we did, and I don't think anyone would swap our position for Stoke's, right?! Like I said above, nothing in this debate is black & white.

ARA, folk are entitled to an opposing view to the majority and to express it, whether or not you agree. There's nothing in the few posts above that doesn't stand up to reason, albeit it is a minority view. Not only that, DaveyB, Waco & myself have done so whilst recognising the merits of the arguments against Mowbray. All we're saying is there's always 2 sides to the argument. It's hardly ever black & white, things are always more nuanced than that.

I think this is a really well reasoned post and offers a great counter argument to the (also well-reasoned, mostly) criticisms about lots of Mowbray's transfer activities, team selections & tactical decisions, and i agree with pretty much all of it. Teams that succeed are lucky as well as skillful, most successful teams will tell you that. With injuries we've certainly been unlucky & they've served to highlight deficiencies elsewhere, which would have been less obvious otherwise. As ever, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. Re transfers he's failed spectacularly so far re Gallagher & Brereton, yet done wonderfully with Dack & Armstrong. He's made some strange team selections, but whilst some failed others have come up trumps. He's a steady pair of hands, not great but not rubbish. With a bit more conviction and / or luck, we'd be much better off. Would we be better off without him? Maybe, but many alternatives that others have touted as better than Mowbray have struggled too when managing at clubs that are far better run than ours. Others have gambled on young management potential, but also struggled. There's no obvious, likely-to-succeed choice for next season. The option that would be most economical & probably garner most support from the fans on both sides would be for TM to take a DoF role & for Johnson to take the helm as manager, a best of both worlds approach. Does Johnson's recently-obtained role with NI scupper or assist in that? I don't know, but I think that could succeed and I would support it enthusiastically. Otherwise, think he's just about done enough to start next season. Money is low, this close season is short and alternative options are thin on the ground, but there's no doubting he has a big job on his hands close season and it's a close call with him in last chance saloon.

Bonus Jovi - Living on a Prayer

Black Box - Ride on Time

Feeling very down tonight. That was the first must win game of the season for me (maybe now the only one); at half time I feared that those missed chances would bite us hard, and boy did they. How poor was Samuel's decision making? Credit that he got into some great positions, but his choice & touch was horrendous. He had 3 gilt-edged chances & fluffed them all. Much as I don't like the fact we relied on Bennett & Mulgrew, they weren't major faults tonight. I thought Adarabioyo & Nyambe were very average & clearly at fault for the first goal. Rothwell was anonymous again, Downing subdued, Johnson nowhere. BB"s challenge was daft, but a red? No way. Injuries to Travis & Evans are such bad timing. The space Barnsley found wouldn't have been there had they played. I guess, clutching at straws, there's still a glimmer. There are some strange results happening so it would be typical Rovers to beat Leeds & Cardiff next up. It's hope rather than belief, just to keep some interest going in the next few weeks. I trying to find positives, but it's incredibly hard & painful.

I like this. Solid defensively, with good creativity in midfield. I might be tempted to swap Travis & Davenport, and if Travis is unfit then it was have to be Johnson. Brereton has looked good & can surely play that role better than Gallagher (in the absence of a proper wide right player), possibly even having licence to come inside and play in between the lines, and Graham & Armstrong can work well and a big man / small man combo. In the starting lineup, there must be no room for Bennett, Gallagher or Rothwell I'm afraid.

As disappointing as Saturday was, I'm not as despondent as most. At the end of the day, the bare facts were that Wigan were flying on form and confidence, inc having recently beaten Leeds & W Brom and having kept 5 clean sheets in a row. Ignoring local rivalry, previous results between us & a healthy dislike of Paul Cook, a draw was what I realistically hoped for in that context, and would've been what we'd got but for Walton clashing with Tosin. That said, it was a chalk & cheese performance when compared to Bristol City (esp 2and half) and we must do much better in possession tomorrow to stay in touch with top 6, and cut out individual errors.

There's no easy games from here for us home or away, above or below us. Just got to take each game as it comes.

Initially I got a message that Rovers.co.uk wasn't responding, but I refreshed & got in ok, been fine since.

Re ifollow, do we get Rovers commentary, or Wigan's?