That wasn’t happenstance though. Someone persuaded the owners to fund those salaries and someone persuaded current Scotland and NI internationals, along with an ex-PL striker, to stay and drop down a division with no guarantee of bouncing back when their careers might have been better served by a move. Mowbray made his own luck in this area IMO. And for every team in Div 1 that’s stronger this year, there are the Shrewsburys and Plymouth’s who got weaker. I don’t recall too many fans quaking in their boots about having to face Luton this year had we failed to go up.

As I recall, the PNE comparisons began on here during our bad run, it being pointed out their in-demand manager had done some stellar January recruitment to push on to the playoffs. 3 points from the last 18.... And they did finish 7th last year.

So nothing to do without having Charlie give away two goals a game or with the picking of Rothwell or with Dack making up with that slapper. It was Smallwood all along!!

Fair. Bolton have been a lot more direct when they have the ball

Two highlights in the half both heavily featured Brereton. The goal came about by him coming short for the ball and turning with it, with is something I think he does well, then two passes later he’s through one on one with a very cool finish. The trouble with having all these artists on the field at once is it all gets too tippy tappy. And I really don’t get the Nyambe love in, he has no idea what to do with the ball.

Could it be that Mowbray has a Mercer riding on Dack finishing top scorer....? I hope today’s Tockholes Blues had plenty of cow pat ammo laid in to welcome Trotters fans who came that way. 5-0

If Ben can’t score against relegated Trotters with that line up behind him, he should be despatched to Neale’s scrapyard forthwith.

He should be in India now. First club to know our fate and we’ll still be last to enter the transfer market. Normal club my arse.

Beg to differ. Walking to and from the Turd was a pleasant stroll; every trip to and from Burnden was a heart-stopping footrace and sheer luck of the draw if you got battered or not.

I thought today was his most complete performance: fewer (if any) blind alleys, tracked back really well when QPR were attacking down his side, but didn’t sacrifice those quick burst of speed darting runs with the ball glued to his feet. He took all the corners and attacking free kicks with great deliveries - the one to Lenihan well past the back post was perfect and deserved a goal. Smart move by him to make himself the go-to guy for set pieces: makes him a lot harder to drop and, along with Graham not missing any pens this season, is a big nail in Charlie’s coffin.

You mean the same fans that have been clamouring all season for Williams to partner Lenihan at the back? Another immense performance from that pairing today, Charlie’s circus trick corners are starting to seem like an expensive indulgence now.

Entertaining game so far, lots of action at either end and some great chances for us. We do look much more solid without Mulgrew at the back.

Burnden Park in the early 70s was my least favourite place to go. My first visit we went in the Lever End - rookie error - but subsequent visits to the crumbling terraces of the Railway End, which provided an endless supply of missiles, were no safer. Even one year in their enclosure got a bit fractious. Then there was Arbitro’s sprint back to the station - one of the very few times I was able to keep pace with him as he was nippy in those days. I believe Cersei’s Walk of Atonement was modelled on the Burnden - Trinity Street ordeal, minus the Doc Martins. Home games featured thousands of Totters driving through Tockholes, grown men not being averse to stopping the car to chase us V-flicking Tockholes Blues into the treacle mines. And, of course, the year they comprehensively took the Blackburn End, running out of Rovers fans to fight. No love for the Wanky Wanderers. Hope we win, send them down, they finally go into liquidation and follow Burnden Park in crumbling into dust.

From what has been said about his ambitions in the press, he doesn’t seem to have given up on breaking into Soton’s team. Plus didn’t he play mostly wingback last season with Norwich?

He’s certainly got Hamlet’s indecisiveness.

He’s more a Shakespearean tragedy!

Hard to account for transfer fee inflation, but Jimmy Kerr used up our entire transfer budget, played about ten minutes and we got relegated. Kevin Davies and Grabbi’s fees in today’s money must be north of £20 million.

Maybe, but defensively, Bell is awful. Doesn’t get close enough to his man, rarely stops a cross coming in, and has a tendency to commit shocking errors.

So, in 2019, that’s 7-1-9 is it with four to play? Disappointing after the first half of the season but not far off mid-table form from a mid-table team. If the losses hadn’t come all in one go there wouldn’t even have been a thread. In Jan + April-to-date we let in 3 goals in 7 games whereas in Feb + March we let in 21 goals in 10 games, most of them horrendous errors by Raya, Mulgrew, Nyambe, Bell and Williams when LB. I feel this has been a bigger issue than whether or not Mowbray picks Rothwell. But he’s accountable for that lot being the bulk of our defensive crew. They’ve been found out at this level and, unless he fixes it in summer, so has he.

Our second goal showed the difference between Evans and Travis. Evans spent the entire game, as usual, passing backwards or sideways to players under more pressure than he is. He did so to Lenihan, but Travis helped out by running into a receivable position - basically where Evans had been, and demanding the ball. He then turned, ran with it and played a peach of a diagonal pass to Bell’s forward run from which we scored. Evans never does that. I thought Rodwell looked class in the Evans role after he came on plus added some extra height in front of Lenihan/Williams. So, for me, we can ship out Evans, Raya and Bell, keep Charlie on the bench for late set pieces when we are chasing a game, and keep Williams as the third CB behind Lenihan and a new Kevin Moran.

I think players from that specific period hold a special place as they were part of the turning around a ten-year continuous decline: Sir Roger, McNamee, Tony Field, Kito, Johnny Price, Terry Garbett, “Tex” Eccles et al, made us believe again.

I was a big fan of K-I, K-I-T, K-I-T-O, KITO!! but he was with us barely a season 45 years ago. If he got a minute there’d by 10 of them a game

Raya and Bell are too calamitous to be part of a promotion push. Lenihan and Williams were immense today I thought and Bennett got in sone good blocked shots. Rothwell’s goal was terrific, but he’s had enough minutes on the pitch this season to do things like that, plus faded second half I thought. Dack back to his post-Xmas form. Rodwell for Evans was a terrific change that I thought closed out the game for us. Overall a good game to watch, plenty of everything, including our defenders yelling at each other, which was good to see.

I’m beginning to come round to not Nyambe at RB, he really is useless past the halfway line. Conway and Bennett have enough between them to offer something both defensively and offensively, so good enough till Summer then upgrade both. Having seen us lose 6-1 at Forest in the league cup, I hold no fear for tomorrow. 0-3

The players clearly pulled out their tripe for the manager tonight and I wonder how much Mowbray shielding Dack with the clearly bogus hamstring story helped in that. Not sure how many people would’ve had Williams, Bennett and Conway in their teams, certainly not me, so Tony “finally learning” might’ve been a different story had we lost. Football is such fine margins though, Rothwell’s chip was two inches off being another miss and Dack’s could’ve easily bobbled off his knee out of reach. But they didn’t, we earned our luck and we are safe for next season - biggest win since Doncaster away.