Not a massive liar , no. But I think anyone working here as a manager for long will find themselves in the position of having to say things they don't believe. The one exception was Lambert who walked.

I disagree. If he had little input in to a signing made by the owners on the advice of their representatives he was never going to come out and be anything other than positive if he wanted to keep his job. Instead what he did was never to pick him for the team.

Steve Kean didn't have much going for him but I suspect he had little input regarding transfers. Wasn't Jordan Rhodes bought by football expert Shebby Singh ? Also there is a story that when Jordan Slew turned up for his first day at training Kean greeted him with the words "Well, who are you then ?" I agree with you that strong managers can stand up to owners trying to foist players on to them which I'm afraid is why our owners do not and probably will not employ any of them. You have posted optimistically about the likes of Hughton, Hughes and Pulis replacing Mowbray; in my opinion men like that will stand up to the owners and get a P45 for their troubles just like all the other employees who tried to do the right thing for the club.

I agree with you so let's consider this closed.

Everyone here can look at your original post to see if your words were twisted. I'm pleased to see that you have expressed the views you have in your first paragraph. The exception is your reference to Brereton being a "millionaire" which follows on from a previous reference you have made to him having an attractive partner. I just don't see the relevance of these statements. Either we care about our fellow human beings or we don't; there is not a lower threshold of care for those with money and a beautiful girlfriend.

I think he's taking one for the team by saying he made the signing. He can hardly come out in public and say that it wasn't down to him and the player was effectively foisted on him. Generally I'm afraid that over the last 9 years the nature of the club's transfer dealings have pointed strongly to the conclusion that the manager whoever it is has to accept a significant degree of interference from external sources.

1. I agree with you that it is a good thing that the player cares about how things are going. I think that the overwhelming percentage of professional footballers do care and that the non trying accusations that are levelled against some of them are unjustified. 2. The discussion about crying which developed on this thread came after one poster made a statement that he thought it was pathetic for an adult man to cry. On a day when football was trying to highlight mental health issues and a few days after 39 year old Chris Barker committed suicide some of us thought that was inappropriate. 3 Doesn't Mowbray's handling of the player point to the signing being a decision made by someone else ? If he hasn't rated him how can he play him ?

My point was that the ratio of spending transfer fees is overwhelmingly skewered towards attackers rather than defenders which points to a deliberate policy laid down to all our managers by the owners. Nothing to do with a PR act for anyone but an indicator that managing this club is just that bit harder than some people imagine.

Thanks. Sad to say that one can't rule such a theory out of hand. If true,this sort of thing does of course point to how difficult it would be to recruit a manager with a high standing in the game - the likes of Hughton and Warnock would simply refuse to go along with something like this.

I must have missed it. What was the conspiracy theory ?

I saw Marriott play on Friday night where he scored his first goal in 18 games with what looked like a mishit. The half time interval was spent with the TV showing the extraordinary number of good chances that he had missed prior to that.

Scott Dann arrived before we were relegated whereas I specifically referred to what has happened since then. How are you in a position to know what the loan fee is for Tosin ? Duffy is the most expensive defender at approx £450k since we were relegated. We did of course make a substantial profit on his sale.

I was giving it the local flavour.

They are Brummies aren't they ?

Too down market a rag for us, mate.

That has been the philosophy ever since we were relegated from the Premier League. The imbalance between transfer fees paid for forwards and midfielders on one hand and goalkeepers and defenders on the other is extraordinary. Given that it has been going on for so long under so many managers points to there being outside interference presumably from the owners; I don't think you can blame Tony Mowbray for that.

Like you very few would have faith in Venky's to get this sort of decision right. But for me that worry is compounded by 2 things. Firstly their reputation in the game is so toxic that anyone good enough to have a choice about which club they go to is going to be very wary of signing up with us; the manager that they recruited with the highest standing in the game was Lambert and he would only come here if he had a release clause in his contract so he could get out if his nightmares came true. Secondly the financial numbers reported last week point to significant potential FFP restrictions ahead which must deter the better sort of manager.

Criticise on a messageboard - yes. But if it is true that the young man was driven to tears by his treatment from Rovers supporters -no.

Garbage to blame Mowbray; the people to blame are the morons booing.

Yes I heard the radio commentary on the game and they were very impressed with Matheson. To be fair to Magloire they pointed out that he had had a long absence with injury and thought that was the reason he was taken off; they suggested there was a 16 year old playing for Rochdale who was way off the pace and thought that was the player who would be substituted.

And yet the Rochdale manager started Magloire ahead of him ?

Bringing in young players is something of a poisoned chalice for a manager. If things don't go well they are criticised; yet, as we saw with Lewis Travis, if they perform well people complain the player wasn't in the team sooner.

If it is true there were "supporters" booing the primary responsibility falls on them, not the manager.

As you say, it is complicated. I think you are right about the academy although there is a grant from the Premier League for that which reduces the net spend.

Part of the problem is that unfortunately Brereton has been so poor that it is difficult to establish what his position is.