6 hours ago, DE. said:

Don't we already have Dack and Rothwell who can play the Cairney AMC role though? 

Dack plays off the striker or even false 9 at the moment. Rothwell mostly plays on the wing and neither are left footed so I wouldn't compare them to Cairney and Holtby. 

The Cairney replacement finally about to arrive? Holtby, if motivated, is a top player at this level.

10 points from the last 5 games you say? Promotion form.

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

You mean the managers of the clubs who have the same points as us give or take 1? So, sorry, what exactly have they done? 

I think quite a few fans on this board are ageist against our Tony, sad to see.

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Nice team

Funny how some choose to only focus on Smallwood and Evans, as opposed to any of the positives. Decisions that would be complained about if not made! 

Spot on, people desperate to find a negative! The back 4 is strong and the front 4 exciting. Smallwood and Evan's need some minutes and are clearly backup.

I imagine a tight game but we seem to have the edge over Hull in recent times so I'll go with 0-1. A miraculous away clean sheet..

Cunningham would be a quality signing.

13 minutes ago, Scotland1 said:

I think Williams is better than Lenihan to be honest. 

Put the drink down!!

The main problem for me is tactically Mowbray has got it horribly wrong. We need 3 in the centre of midfield to win the most important battle on the pitch but instead we only have 2. Dack and Graham are effectively a front 2 with Armstrong and Downing not too keen on tracking back. This leaves Evan's and Johnson having to cope with the whole of Rangers midfield, always going to be a losing battle! Having such a poor defence and goalie behind doesn't help either.

Slow, lacking energy and just sitting off rather than applying any kind of pressure.. 

1 hour ago, ChickenBolty said:

"Mr Minimum". What an insult that is. 

I think you forget the state of the moral of the squad, fans and entire community before he was appointed. I for one, can say that it finally feels like being a Blackburn Rovers fan again and it's took some years to feel that way. 

The owners clearly trust him and this has shown by the significant transfer fees he has had since taking over. 

I think his biggest downfall was spending the money on Bretherton. If that transfer didn't happen I think the general consensus of the fan base would be that last season was a success. However, unfortunately (and understandably) people felt that money could have been used to strengthen other areas of the squad. 

The grass isn't always greener and for me and I don't think there is many managers out there who care as much for their club as Tony does for us. 

Spot on. He isn't a coaching genius but his man-management is right up there & that got us promoted out of a division that the likes of Leeds, Sheff Utd and now Sunderland have found out isn't a walk in the park, however big you are. 

We both know last season was not bare minimum touch and go 'survival' but some twist the truth to suit their agenda. These people need to look up the definition of 'support'. 

Neck on the line this will be a good signing. Experienced, quality, not a complete softie like Whittingham. Hes got a great engine and I'm looking forward to him picking out the likes of Armstrong, Dack, Rothwell and Graham. Now for some defenders please.

Unfortunately we are 3 steps behind. Same with Mcginn last year. 

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

'We've shown we can mix it with the big teams'

Who are the 'big teams' exactly?

Mixed it with Leeds, West Brom and Derby pretty well who have all secured play-off spots this year. Yes they are over egging it to get ST sales but we have certainly mixed it with some of the bigger/better teams in the league. Our failures against lesser teams was more worrying.

An idea I thought of to get money in but also give an incentive to fans would be to give a 'bonus' top up to those who preload their season ticket cards next season with money to use in the ground. Example;

£50-£99.99 = 10% top up by the club

£100-£199.99 = 15% top up by the club

£200+ = 20% top up by the club

This would bring in revenue up front for the club but also gives something in return to the fans who get a little bit extra in return for loading up their season tickets with cash up front. 

Am I talking rubbish? 

Great initiative, we should try to get as many as possible sold and look to put on a show. Announce season tickets a couple of weeks before at a fair price and we should see a few more through the turnstiles next season. 

Graham only contender for me. Important goals and our only striker we could rely on all season. Without him where would we be?

Danny Cowley would be my shout if Mowbray leaves/gets sacked. Will Venkys even know who he is? No chance.

Obviously it is difficult to comment on the training that goes on behind closed doors but I think it is abundantly clear from the lack of progress and failure to learn from our mistakes that the coaching at Ewood Park is not up to scratch. I do believe Mowbray is a good man manager but really worry that we aren't going to progress with the current coaching setup. From my understanding Ben Benson is the GK coach and he was promoted from the u18s along with David Lowe who became first team coach? Last year it seemed to be our quality of players at that level that pushed us over the line and never did we have a particular style of play. This year whereby we don't have the best squad in the division and need the coaching and development of a style of play it appears our coaching isn't up to scratch. 

Just wondering if I am talking rubbish or if people agree that our current backroom staff department is severely under par? 

Tony needs to stop with jobs for the boys and bring in a younger coach with fresh, modern ideas that can help the team. I have very little faith in David Lowe and Mark Venus and Tony clearly is not a tactical genius. I still back him at this stage but ask me again in October. 

Nuttall and Graham both with a brace. 0-4

Adalberto Penaranda Maestre worth a late move on a loan deal from Watford. Can play up front or wide and doubt his wages are daft as he's only 21. 

16 minutes ago, Tom Stinny said:

He's not saying they are on the same level. I have a little respect for Mowbray but his achievements are increase ten fold because he's liked. Not because what he's done is some miracle. 

 

There's a lot of managers out there who fail left right and centre but have long careers because they know the right people or have the right reputation. Steve McLaren is one of them and I honestly do not rate our manager as highly as some do.

 

Best budget in league 1, with Danny Graham, Bradley Dack and Charlie Mulgrew who was also a Scotland international along with a few others. Finish 2nd and that looked in doubt for a while before the obvious clicked and he started playing effective football. Which many on here at the time stated.

 

This year, he's had over 10 million to spend so expectations go up. It's inevitable and unreasonable to state otherwise especially from a manager who keeps saying we are building slowly yet doesn't seem to want to buy anyone this window. Another thing I don't agree with.

 

When you look at the players you say he's assembled together, who in the team did he bring in? Armstrong, Smallwood, Dack and sometimes Bell along with Reed as a right winger.

 

Now look at how many he's signed. Whittingham, Gladwin, Hart, Caddis, Davenport, Rothwell, Chapman and the list goes on. Many on here could name more.

 

I'm afraid you have your blinders on when it comes to this manager all because he's nice and slightly stable. He will never get us up as he is not good enough. Prove me otherwise I'd say and give reasons why what I've said is a load of rubbish.

When he joined we were in the bottom 3 with many fans fearing we might never recover. He managed to get 22 points from 15 games but failed to keep us up. Just shy of 2 years on we are 10th in the Championship with one of the most valuable assets in the league in Dack (a Mowbray signing). We have a young squad with considerable potential and this season certainly isn't over yet. Mowbray certainly has his flaws, his tactics, Brereton signing and love for the dreadful Williams but overall he's done a great job. That could all change in a few months as things change quickly in football but to say he's not good enough is naive and silly.

7 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

https://www.lep.co.uk/sport/football/this-is-the-market-value-of-every-squad-in-the-championship-and-the-total-is-more-than-1billion-1-9528021?page=6

I'd say our squad is worth a lot more than £23million surely. Dack around £18milllion, Mulgrew at £3million, Nyambe £3/4million, Raya similar, Lenihan similar again. Then you have young players like Armstrong and Travis who are worth a few bob and then the rest of the squad. I'd say a figure of £35million would be more accurate.

Should be a mainstay in central midfield for many years. What a talent we have on our hands.