Since the day he got here it seemed that Ben was the main recipient of dressing room bantz from Dacky, Danny and the lads. And the big goof seemed to take it all in uncommonly good spirit, but I wonder if endless, merciless piss-taking might have held him back. Last summer he beefed up and was generally worth his berth in the team I thought. Now, this summer, to fly on your own to the other end of the world, join a squad of internationals that you have never met before, probably never even seen more than one or two of them play before, be with them for weeks in end, and not speaking a word of the language, takes a lot of balls for a 22-yr-old. So, when Ben comes back, I hope he’s a different man in the Rovers dressing room. By scoring a winning goal in a top international tournament, being on the same pitch as Messi, and adored by a nation, he’s achieved more than anyone else in the dressing room has or ever will. He should have the mentality his is now the first name on the team sheet, any piss taking is answered with “so what did you do this summer?”, and grow mentally as much as he did physically.

Soon to be followed by the usual Mercer they are bust / can’t afford it / we are fooked post first seen in 2012

Matchday income for a year was only around £3 million wasn’t it? Plus there’d be savings on all the matchday expenses. I imagine commercial income wouldn’t have suffered as much since it’s mostly about being seen on Sky than by the 8,000 diehards.

Or perhaps Rothwell himself could stop running into blind alleys, passing to opponents five yards away, putting crosses into the Riverside and shooting weakly straight at the keeper. But I will grant you his runs are good. Which clubs have joined the chase for him?

Part-timer!

Totally agree. Thinking they bought us and run us as a business is the thing that makes no sense: we bleed money and have zero to do with the chicken industry. City and Chelsea weren’t bought as businesses either; all these clubs are vanity playthings. Our problem is we are not Woody or Buzz Lightyear to our owners, we are Wheezy, covered in shit up on the top shelf.

Me too, but it’s happened five times in my 55 years of support. It’s the soullessness of Venky’s regime that takes the pleasure out of all the seasons we don’t go up.

Re Rothwell, I think people vastly overestimate how much a manager factors into their decision to move or not. The average manager lasts 15 months while a new player signing is expected to commit to 3 or 4 years. It’s a rare Kenny or SAF that players will sign for just because a it’s them. Players leave for money or for the prospect of more starts, I think very few, if any, leave because of what fans think of a manager.

Bloody Hell, Jim! Mulvaney, Darling, Metcalfe side by side on the back row starting second left, Wilson and Rogers RHS front row. Arthur Fryer in the suit? And the keeper looks in his mid-50s!

I’m beginning to doubt there’ll ever come a time when you don’t confidently predict their imminent tipping point. Personally, I haven’t met many Indian multi-billionaires so can’t say I know how they think.

I made a point of keeping my eyes on him, he’s a real talker and organiser to everyone around him. I was impressed.

Of course he is going. Would a manager planning for next season bring on two midfielders with a combined age of 69 - both of who are leaving - in the last game? I think everything he has said and done the last few weeks has been about burnishing his legacy IMO.

Totally agree. But, Mowbray or not, that promotion team would be as dominant over the current one as it was over Burnleh.

Great watch that Souness team - I wouldn’t put any of the current squad ahead of any of them.

Maybe some of them aren’t going to push on under anyone; I’d be amazed if Lenihan and Rothwell have another gear in them. The only real complaints a player can have about his manager when it comes to hindering the realization of his potential are not being picked, being played out of position or playing a system that doesn’t suit the players strengths imo. After that, it’s mostly up to the individual. Can skills be polished? Of course, Federer has a coach. But can coaching make the majority of average players above average? I think not. And if all these players have been having their career stunted by the Moggasaurus, then why have precisely zero of them asked for a transfer in all that time? Our problem is getting players to leave.

I don’t disagree, but defending is easy when everything is going well in front of you. Good off the ball defenders have a nose for danger, anticipate and block off runs, know when to come inside and when not. I think Nyambe gets a lot of those decisions badly wrong no matter why the situation arose.

Mind reader as well, eh? Too many people IMO conflate Nyambe with their (or others’) views of the manager. I don’t rate Nyambe because I don’t rate his positional awareness. So many goals this season from his side where he has been in no man’s land, he rarely seems to know who is around him. His big strength is one-on-one attacking and defending, both of which catch the eye, but his defending off the ball is poor to abysmal.

Hunter, Knighton and Rogers would transform the current team.

Should’ve got Coddington. I was expecting to see Mick Wood but maybe he came through the season after. Never heard of Ray Charter, did he ever play?

A couple of guesses: Back: D/K, Conlon, Fryatt, D/K, Martin, Mulvaney Middle: Hunter, Knighton, Kopel, Barton, Blacklaw, Sharples, Sir Keith Front: Connelly, Wilson, Hill, Darling, Eamonn, Mekky, Atherton

Brereton was an interesting watch today. He made really good, intelligent runs for his first chance that was saved for a corner, his goal, and his assist for Armstrong. But his shooting technique for his two great chances was God-awful, as it usually is. If it was the other way around I’d be more hopeful of getting our money back.

Missed sitters, laughable final balls from Brereton and Rothwell, weak fullbacks, Evans - quite the journey.

My reading also. I interpreted the dallying over new contracts as “let the next guy decide”.

Wycombe not down yet...

Yet another of Mercer’s stellar choices to add to Coyley and Wee Duggie! I’d love to think big and get a name manager in but I’m sure many would look at what being here has done for the careers of the previous 7. The one guy I think would jump at it is Gareth Ainsworth - get him in, build on the younger players and see how far he can take us. Now that would be an actual journey.