With the pitch could go either way. That being 3-0 Swansea or 2-1 Rovers. 

I don't see us sticking with 4-3-3 until the pitch is sorted so I assume TM will go 4-2-3-1. 

                   Kaminski

Nyambe  Lenihan Branthwaite Douglas

                Trybull     Holtby

Gallagher      Buckley       Brereton 

                    Armstrong

This is what I think TM will go. Not what I believe we should go. He will play more direct up to the big boys. Buckley looked good for the 15 mins when he was on in attacking mid so I believe will get a start. I would go Trybull and Holtby because Johnson and Travis aren't looking good at the moment. Davenport could start but I think we need more experience in midfield against Swansea. I'd also give Elliot a rest. 

30 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

This is a spectacular list of excuses whilst glossing over mistakes. 

Priced out of moves and forced for loans? Bereton's fee alone would have paid for McGynn, Pickering and Kipre's fees. I get there are wages too, but then loan players have a big wedge of wages as well. I'm not quite sure up to this season that we are the paupers you suggest. Or taking another example Bauer was no way more expensive than Tosin. Not saying he's better but actually owning a solid championship player would have benefitted us more long term. 

As for Downing we brought him in because we needed experienced heads. Again this is damning with faint praise as if TM has assembled a squad with no leadership skills that he needs to bring a free agent in - well that says a lot about his squad building abilities and not in a positive way! Also players under 33 can be leaders too which again supports the idea that TM can't assemble a squad. It's not only available in a 33+ year old. 

Moving on ignoring that fact we blew 12 million - and if you think a couple of goals in an admittedly much improved Bereton warrants a fee of £6-7 million I fear you will be disappointed - you want a team that can sustain itself in the Prem. Given we don't even look likely of making playoffs under TM I'm not sure how this is a reason for keeping him. And whilst we would all prefer to stay there comfortably surely a yo-yo club is much better than being a mid championship outfit? And as for needing to impose ourselves playing football a certain way to stay in the league is sadly news to our 5 fingered neighbors. The inference from all that is we need to keep TM because he plays a certain way that will get and keep us up. History and the present shows that a) such a stylistic need is not true (Warnock with promotion, Big Sam keeping teams up) and that b) TM couldn't get us anywhere near promotion much less keep us there. It's a poor argument. 

Your optimism on the team is also a tad ambitious. Suggesting players will stay if we get near promotion? Everyone knows how the majority of footballers are massively disloyal. That's wishful thinking which goes against what's been seen over and over at our club and many others. To think those players will do well and still be here in a year or two just doesn't correlate with every championship team that we have seen. 

Another damning with faint praise is the can't rely on Johnson. That's been vintage TM for the last 2 years! 

As for the top 8 finish I feel that's a tad arbitrary as a cut off point. Is 9th and 2 points off worse than 8th and 10 points off? Also there's a heck of a difference between making a late surge up the table when it doesn't matter and genuinely be in the running for playoffs. 

Again you state keeping TM will help us attract players? What evidence is there for this? You even say he has wasted money and hasn't been able to afford targets (although I disagree with this point.) So by your own arguments it's hardly like he is a master recruiter. 

Not trying to have a go. Apologies if it comes across this way. I just don't see any evidence backing up your optimism. 

 

 

I agree mistakes have been made, specifically the amount the money we paid for Breo and Gallagher. I'm not saying either has made up for their price tag for scoring a couple of goals, it hasn't been good enough. With Breo though, he's still 21. We will get our moneys worth in the next couple of seasons, we've seen a good improvement already and still plenty of work to do.

TM has failed to bring in a leader. Money that we have spent has been on players for the future. Maybe money could have been spent on a leader rather than young lads who we have to wait a couple of seasons for in order for them to develop. But its difficult bringing in leaders on loan so we've had to resort to bringing in experience players on a free. 

We have gone from hoofing the ball up to DG last season to playing some really nice fast attacking football this year. To me this shows that we are adapting and improving. I am in NO WAY comparing TM to Klopp or Rovers to Liverpool, but what was the reason Elliot came here, because of our new attacking style of football similar to Lpools and because of everyone's respect for what he did with Tosin last year. Look at Liverpool now though, hampered at the back with injuries and because of this, confidence lacks and goals at the other end have dried up. Similar to Rovers in a way. You have to remember we've only been playing this new style of football with 4-3-3 since August. Liverpool have been playing that way for years and have the money to fix their defence. I know we don't have the money to do so, but I would rather go up as a team that dominates in the championship (which still can happen this season) like how Wolves or Leeds did. I know we don't have the money but I believe we have the attacking players to do this. I wouldn't want to go up like Huddersfield did, undeserved, rubbish football, scraped staying up straight back down. I want this club to establish itself again. If we were to get promoted I don't think we should go back to playing Big Sam football with the players we've got, I just don't think it would work. 

My optimism is ambitious but why can't we look forward to this young, exciting team we have. It's not come yet, but we have had glimpses of it which haven't been helped with a dodgy defence and injuries. I would rather be optimistic about this team not playing so well to getting rid ruining what has been built and going back to the days of Venky's hiring a yes man.

Dack has already put pen to paper which TM had a big part to play in. Armstrong still has till the end of next season, he may sign a new contract if we're looking likely to get promoted next season. Rothwell, Nyambe and Holtby I believe will sign again when things improve. The likes of Bell, Evans, Williams and Bennett are all dead weight and should be released. 

I don't believe TM is a master recruiter. We aren't a club with the money to attract top players so who can we bring in instead? Young, talented players who are here to develop themselves (Elliot and Branthwaite). Neither would have joined if it wasn;t for TM. Klopp would not allowed Elliot to go to any random club and neither would have Ancelotti. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect yours, I enjoy a debate. Maybe I am delirious and believe that this club is in a good position under TM. The memory of Owen Coyle and Lambert conning this club out of money still lives fresh in my memories. 

I truly believe he has the best interests of the club at heart. 

6 minutes ago, Dolly blue said:

I wish I shared your optimism......I can see very few committing to Ewood whilst Mowbray is at the helm....what’s he ever done for Nyambe ? ....only played Travis when forced....Davenport must see his opportunities limited.....Armstrong will have eyes elsewhere.......Lenihan has regressed .

Nyambe should play more and be at right back every week IMO, I think he misses games due to injury or being away with Namibia more than TM leaving him out. Travis was a certain starter every week before his injury, he will back in the side fully fit every game before the end of the season. Davenports time will come, this issue is that we've gone from playing 5 in the middle to 3 in the middle, so it has become harder to fit midfielders into the side. Armstrong can have eyes elsewhere but we all know his relationship with Mowbray and will leave in the summer if we have a new manager. Lenihan has regressed because he runs round like a headless chicken every game because he doesn't trust his centre back partners, it will change with Branthwaite. 

Without TM we wouldn't have been able to bring in Elliot or Branthwaite on loan. We try to sign players permanently but are priced out so have to resort for loans if it wasn't for TM's style of football this season or reputation neither would have joined. Elliot has shown more promise than any other player. Branthwaite looks like he's got a cool head on his shoulders at the back, which we have been missing since Tosin left. 

We would not be able to buy players or get players on loan from big Prem teams if for example Ainsworth was in charge. 

5 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So 8th is fine, 9th is a failure? Is there a prize for 8th in the Championship?

Obviously it's more to do with how many points we finish off the playoffs. I believe if we're very close, players will be more likely to stay.

15 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

You as touched upon seem to have fallen into the trap of falling for what he says. If he is all about the long term, why did he sign 4 loanees this season and Downing for 12 months? You acknowledge that he has failed to improve the same achilles heel in defence that we had since promotion. Inconsistencies in selection are mainly from the injury prone players he has signed or refused to let go even when interest arose. The intangibles behind the scenes are not bearing out improvements on the pitch. And this idea of our fully fit squad is really speculative, its the argument of an underachiever in Mowbray making excuses. So many teams have had injury woes on par or worse than us this season. We will rarely if ever have a fully fit squad.

The Premier League argument is heavily flawed. There are only positives from us going up, no negatives at all. Financially is the obvious one. On the playing side, Armstrong would likely sign a new deal so we could protect that investment, Nyambe likewise. Elliott could well come back. And we would have the platform to invest sensibly and prudently, we wouldnt have to be using Gallagher, Brereton, Buckley and Rothwell every week. As long as we genuinely gave our all and tackled the league with enthusiasm rather than throwing in the towel before a ball was kicked, then even if we came back down in the first season we would be in a much better place. And there are some crap teams at the bottom of the Premier League so with savvy signings survival is not an unreachable dream. There is no genuine reasoning in being ready or not ready for the Premier League. If you get promoted you are ready, if not you are not.

If the only alternative is to keep swapping between a Kean to a Berg to an Appleton then maybe we would settle for Mowbray. But it isnt and that is hardly a ringing endorsement anyway.

Maybe I have. I understand everyone's point of view. Some bad decisions have been made, but the amount of loan players we bring in is down to us not being able to bring in transfers due to lack of funds. We've tried over the last 4 years to bring players in but have been priced out and have had to resort to bringing in loans. Most recently with Pickering and Kipre, in the past we tried to sign the likes of Mcgin. We've had to settle for Ayala and Douglas. I believe Downing was signed with the thought of a lack of leaders and to add experience to a very young dressing room after the loss of Graham and Mulgrew in the dressing room. You can't say Lenihan is a leader. Maybe he will improve now he seems to have a defensive partner he can trust but we're yet to see Lenihan act as a captain. 

I agree that money was wasted both on Breo and Gallagher, but the improvement in Breo this season has made me question whether at some point he will come through and show he is worth the price we paid for him. Gallagher has regressed yes, his touch is terrible. 

Of course I want Rovers to be back in the Prem, I would rather just go up as a team that dominates games can keep hold of the ball and can sustain itself within the Prem. I understand we need the money from being promoted. But wouldn't everyone prefer that if we were to go up that we would stay up rather than being an up and down yoyo team. 

Since being relegated from the prem, the future hasn't looked so bright for Rovers. I don't think there has been a season where I have been excited to watch Rovers every game. I know things have been dire recently but I am still excited by the prospect of having a team with a fully fit Dack and Travis in. We cant rely on Johnson to do a job every week in midfield or defence. I am excited by the likes of Armstrong, Nyambe, Rothwell, Breo, and Buckley (I know he's weak at the moment but he'll get stronger and more powerful). 

I would give TM till the end of the season to make a real push for promotion. Anything outside the top 8 is a failure. Even if we were just to miss out on the playoffs. I believe the likes of Arma, Rothwell and Nyambe would be convinced to stay if Mowbray stayed. I think we're at greater risk of losing them and not being able to bring players if we get rid of Mowbray now. 

I am baffled beyond belief regarding the amount of people on here calling for Mowbray Out. Can’t people see what he is doing for this club? Everything he does is because he’s thinking long-term.

Maybe, I believe too much of what he says. But, I am excited for the prospect of a fully fit team playing together our old attacking flowing football. At the moment, yes, the defence is on its arse. Yes, Ayala is a useless donkey on a silly contract and can only get through 70 mins a game. Yes, we STILL haven’t found a suitable left back but we’re trying to fix it. 

We’ve been hampered by injuries at the back. Leading to a lack of consistency, this has led to a lack of organisation, leading to sloppy goals being given away. This affects confidence which is why we aren’t controlling games at the moment and we’re just not creating clear cut chances and putting them away. Half of our shots is Armstrong just shooting for the sake of shooting. If we did get promoted this season miraculously, we could not rely on Armstrong to keep us in the prem. He’s not ready for that, we’re not ready for that. We’d come straight back down. We cannot rely on Breo, Gallagher, Buckley, Armstrong, Rothwell, Dack to keep us in the prem next season. They’re not ready for it yet, but I think they will be in a couple of years. 

Under Mowbray, we will go up with time. Why jeopardise that with the risk of going back to the days of Henning Berg in one week, out the next. Appleton in one week, out the next. Instead of pissing away money on paying off managers, back Mowbray, develop the pitches, develop the squad for when we are ready to be promoted. 

We are very good. We’re just not ready yet.