I've only seen the highlights but I think most of them have given up playing for him to honest. If I can see it surely Mowbray can.

Well I hope they're really pleased with their two latest big money " investments ",

Just to carry on my point earlier, How would this game pan out ? Blues. Leutwiler Rankin Costello, Lenihan, Wharton, Willams. Johnson, Travis. Buckley, Dack, Downing. Gallager Versus Reds Walton Bennett, Nyambe, Tosin, Bell. Smallwood, Evans. Holtby, Davenport, Rothwell Graham. Which team is better ? As I see it you can mix and match all that lot and still not have a great team. I couldn't find a place for - Chapman, Butterworth, Brereton, Hart, Mulgrew. That I suggest is a ridiculous amount of players for us to have and still be mediocre.

You're right, I'm obviously blanking out a lot of bad memories !

When Coyle was obviously relegating the team I decided to stay away from to much Rovers related stuff before my head exploded. When Coyle was sacked and Lambert and Co appointed I was back like a shot. Only for that to go tits up rapidly !

I know it's a bit early but this is a " Must Win " game already.

Ok. To be honest I was staying off the board at the time because the whole Coyle situation was seriously doing my head in !

Maybe one of the mods has found a horses head in his bed ?

Yes Rob Kelly was the guy I was thinking off. Three very experienced men. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the Lambert and co appointment come out of the blue ?

A mate of mine used to be on Utd's books and later on he was a scout for Man City.. He would only scout players in away games. He said " Anybody can play at home, you find more out about their character in away games ".

It is possible we may pick the same 7 or 8 players but in an ideal world we should be picking the same 11. When we won the Prem and won promotion back to the Prem the team was the same 11 every week barring injuries. Other teams also knew how we were going to play but we stuck to our basic game plan and most weeks it paid off. You and I could name both those teams now. I follow teams quite closely, even the Dingles, but it's coming to something when I can tell you what 11 they'll play next game but I haven't a clue what our team will be. Regarding prospective managerial appointments I despair. Whoever you or I come up with I can almost guarantee that they won't be appointed. How many of Kean, Berg, Appleton, Bowyer, Lampard, Coyle, Mowbray were on your radar ? None of them were on mine. I was delighted when Lampard, Irvine and the other guy who's name I forget were appointed. I thought for once they'd made a sensible decision, what a good experienced team they appeared to be. However for whatever reason they managed to balls that up. I do wonder what that managerial team would have done with the £12 million plus that Mowbray has squandered ?

Billy Barr reckons we could be " On the crest of a crisis ". Billy, we are in a crisis.

Well we certainly need to get about half a dozen off the wage bill.

Or maybe a move in the offing. You wouldn't want an injury to spoil that.

When a new manager arrives, as Mowbray did, you have to work with what you've got player wise. I can understand that. You then evaluate who plays best in which position and sort out a formation that suits their particular skills. It may not be how you want to play but it is what it is for the time being. You have to go with what you've got. Once you've got yourself established and the transfer windows come along you can start building teams to play in whatever style of play you favour. When Dyche came in at the Dingle Dome he said 4-4-2 is my way and they've played that way 99% of the time ever since. No chopping and changing. By and large all his signings have been players who can fit into that system. My criticism of Mowbray is he has never created a team with a consistent style or coherent shape or a recognisable pattern of play in over 2 seasons. Almost from the day we got relegated we've never really known our best 11. You could almost pick 2 entirely different teams from what we have now and one team would be no better than the other team, that's just ridiculous in our position. It's laughable to me that before a game 20 knowledgeable fans on here who go regularly can pick what they think will be the team for the next week and they'll be 20 different teams ! He's chopped and changed relentlessly without ever stumbling across a consistent side. In my book all he's done is collect players without much regard to how they'll fit into a team shape. Look at all the midfielders he's signed ! It makes me wonder who is really behind the signing of some of them. I felt the same way even when we were on the way to promotion. I just didn't think he really knew what he was doing. Most of the time we were less than convincing for more than half a game and it was only a flash or two of individual skill that got us through. I think the bottom line is the players must be thinking that way too and they're just as sick of hearing his voice as we are. Time for a change, let's hope the dice rolls in our favour for once. It happens in football all the time, you outstay your welcome.

That's looking to be a real clanger but I think Preston have a manager who has a plan and Bauer fitted into it. What I can't understand is that we didn't have a short list of centre half candidates when that deal fell through.

I don't want him given the chance to waste anymore money. How many dogshit signings has he made compared with his one success story in Dack ?

10/10.

What make of pie would it be ?

Maybe he will, who knows. We haven't kicked off yet.

I agree but who else is there ? He got unlucky with Cunningham, who was a capable player.

Mm, interesting team. Nearly everybody in their best position for once. Downing on the left and Armstrong on the right with Gallagher in the middle makes sense. If he's going to score goals he's got to get in the box much more. We'll either football them to death or get over run. Looking at our pair of full backs the thought crossed my mind that when we once played at this level before we had Keith Newton and Billy Wilson there. How times have changed.

We could do a swap. Let them have Evans or Smallwood and we'll have Milner.

If you were waiting for Duff to improve the defensive side of the game you'd be waiting a long while. Just give him the ball !

Mm, that could be tricky - trying to run two teams simultaneously, even if it's only temporarily.