Classic Bell

They may or not have a seat on the board I'm not sure. But even if they do it is very much a token gesture. One of the terms of the deal was total control. Eisner was putting that much cash in that he's pretty entitled to want complete authority over it. Fans did get too vote. How much that means in my opinion isn't a huge deal. All it takes is a small bit of media spin. No fan can really know what potential owners are like. And there were no caveats as part of the deal in terms of Eisner had to do a, b, c. A couple of my good mates were shareholders (I live in Portsmouth) and I was a little perplexed when they were happy to sell to Eisner. But these are just normal people who'd put in about a grand or so of their own cash to buy the club when it could have gone into extinction. But they could see there was no possible progression unless the club was sold.

My personal opinion is if we saw him centrally pushing right up with a central striker as Dack does we would have seen more in terms of goals/assists. Opportunity hasn't been given though largely down to the good form of Dack. I have the feeling if Palmer was still here he still would have brought Conway on. It was 55 mins, we were under the cosh a little. Mowbray square pegged it trying to shoehorn a little game management in the form of Conway when there was an outlet on the bench in the form of Rothwell. A very negative, ineffective and ultimately costly decision.

Unless he got a shout. Which is probable

Criminal he didn't come on yesterday. In what I'm sure could be his best position on the park. Few defensive responsibilities. Brentford still chasing an equaliser. His pace and ability and the opportunity to play centrally was perfect for yesterday. I genuinely think that sub could be the final nail in the coffin for him mentally when it comes to his rovers career. Very much expect him to move on in the summer now and be a huge success elsewhere

Any clue as to what we've paid to bring Chapman in?

Personally I'm disappointed we've not been able to go for Gallagher. I don't want to see us dropping totally unsustainable amounts of money signings. I doubt we'll go up this year. Still could. But we've got our club back. We have pride. Mowbray values the club rather than short term success which is very rare for a manager. Hopefully the summer is better. But I think we've got it pretty good

A journo Alan Nixon used to post on here years ago. Giving out the tiniest tidbits of information followed by "more in tomorrow's paper" which whipped people up into such a frenzy. The term nickoteen was even created. Anyway he used to post at about 11pm as the papers were already being printed at that time which coined the phrase 11 o'clocker.

What about. Harry Chapman's on a sledge, on a sledge, on a sledge. Harry Chapman's on a sledge. He hates Burnley

Peter crouch talked about pulis in his book. Said he did nothing on fitness but all team shape. Robert Huth used to cycle 40k to training to up his fitness as he felt he didn't do enough under pulis

How I feel about this signing

Bloody love that bit where he's on a sledge

I can only assume you didn't watch that game. Nyambe proved me wrong. I hope Bell can progress in the same way. I just really don't think we've seen a recent consistent upturn in form

Against Millwall. Literally our previous league game it was one of the single worst performances I recall from a rovers player. Just because he wasn't tested much against bottom of the league doesn't mean he's improved

Anyone who posts on here asking for links to streams. You're better off looking on reddit. Loads of links posted from there

Chapman will in all likelihood be very cheap. Nobodies seen him play to say whether his pace has or hasn't gone. For the ability we know he possesses he's worth a gamble if the price is right. But not as our only winger as it would be foolish to relay on him

Not quite as good on the ball tonight. But how good is this bloke at winning possession back. I lost count how many times he won the ball in midfield battles

Exactly. It's a skill which can be learnt. Technique and mentality. Having the frame Brereton does is a great headstart though.

Hopefully dropping below Nuttal will give Brereton a kick up the arse that he's not doing enough. He says he's been quite pleased with some of his cameos. He shouldn't be. First things first he needs to start working hard for the team. Mowbray said it in his post match interview that Nuttal regaining his place was largely down to him understanding he needed to defend from the front. Brereton needs to understand this also. Secondly he needs to beef up and use his size more. He doesn't need to be a pure target man but it needs to be an aspect of his game. He could be decent at a few things but not excelling at any one (e.g. Armstrong and his pace) so needs to develop into more of an all rounder. I read Peter Crouch's book at Christmas. He was talking about how he was never a natural at heading the ball. It was learnt. And a major part of it for him was programming himself to forget he might get hurt. Brereton is a big lad but he needs more of this type of mentality. If he can do these things then the things he is naturally better at such as running with the ball will mean he can be a decent player. It's all up to him though. Needs to stop being happy with cameos and being one of the lads and push on

Nuttal worked his socks off yesterday. I was very discouraged to see him start as he's been terrible whenever I've seen him previously. But he was a physical presence who worked hard and got himself into the 6 yard box when it mattered. Plenty of players have made a career out of this. If he can learn to control a ball he may make a championship player in the future. He's not there yet. What's encouraging is Mowbray managed to get him chasing down. If he can get Nuttal who was one of the laziest players I've seen defending from the front, then maybe he's able to give Brereton the rocket he needs to start actually running. There may have been a small bit of psychology today too. Giving Nuttal the chance must surely play on Breretons mind that he needs to do more

Would it not be possible to discuss Brereton in the Brereton thread?

It may still be neglecting other areas which need improving. But I would be over the moon with a beast of a centre back and Reed permanent. It would give us more of a spine for next season.

I'm so infuriated to see Armstrong back in. He's our worst player. And considering we play so few attacking players it hinders us so, so much. Why is he picked. He's crap. Mowbray you idiot

The problem with youth development at rovers is there is no clear pathway to progression. You can be the best player on the pitch and guaranteed to be dropped simply because you're young. Surely that hunger of youth is fired by the thinking that if you make an impression you could secure on ongoing place in the side. Tony's version is you're young so you're only going to get 10 or 20 mins here and there regardless of all other factors involved. The opposite of progression!!

Signing Reed permanently and having those two in the middle of the park will be a great basis for the future.