2 hours ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

This.

My kids have been calling me Mr Negative for a few weeks because I think relegation is a strong possibility.

We have no method, no leadership, no fight and we look too easy to play against. 

The situation requires a managerial change!

We are also ill equipped to battle for points as we don’t have enough fighters in the team. 

Is Lewis Holtby still playing?

1 minute ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Taylor Bellis ain't great 

That’s an understatement!!

Just now, roverandout said:

With a proper manager these players are good enough to get into the playoffs. Shame its wasted on that clueless numpty

Sorry but they are anything but good enough. Much too lightweight and easily muscled off the ball. Too many not interested in receiving the ball or putting a tackle in. 

15 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Yes. I've been wondering about something like this during the course of this season. I certainly think they will shuffle the pack to try and maintain the status quo but perhaps with different job titles in place.

It was a similar weird arrangement at Coventry if I remember correctly when Mowbray took Venus with him there but Venus wasn't assistant manager, instead he was director of football and on the board. This in turn led to all sorts of accusations from Coventry supporters as to what he was up to. Not the sort of thing you expect to see happen - a manager appointing his mate to the board - yet Mowbray has a record behind him of doing that. 

I certainly think that something you mention will be the outcome - I think there is zero prospect of Lowe, Benson or Johnson being sacked off, and in a desperate attempt to avoid making wholesale changes or upsetting the apple cart it is much more likely they will attempt something like the above, with Tony going 'upstairs' effectively as general manager of the club whilst the coaches operate downstairs.

Hope your suspicions are wrong because it will be a disaster waiting to happen and it suggests unhealthy levels of power and influence here for the manager once again.

It needs a clear out and rebuild with new ideas, faces and voices.

Sadly in the cut throat industry of competitive Championship football coaches and nice men lose their jobs from time to time when targets aren't met. The club shouldn't be held back or resist ever making changes just to avoid making painful decisions.

Surely we couldn’t afford the additional salary required. 

1 minute ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Flooding the team with forwards and still losing was the tactic that got Mowbray sacked at Celtic.

There is still hope.

There is no point having loads of forwards on if there is nobody to provide the chances. Clueless!!

We needed midfield players to create things, but the whole game we were light weight there. You have to win the midfield battles and create pressure, we couldn’t do that because we had too many forwards on who just weren’t good enough. Travis was working his nuts off and Davenport did well whilst he was on, but why take him off?!! Elliot hasn’t been good enough for a few games now, it’s like playing with 10 men when he doesn’t perform. What formation was TM playing? He is a bit clueless at times. Throwing a load of forwards on and hoping they will come up with something is not tactics. Why have we gone back to hoof ball when the pitch seemed in decent nick. It meant that we couldn’t get a decent head of speed going. Dack was also completely ineffective.  Maybe I should really have calmed down before I posted, but I feel so frustrated right now. No real tactics so we got what we deserved. Nothing!!

18 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

You think we will reach the Premier League this season with these loan signings? Because I don't and if we don't then the loan signings haven't been a success for the club all we have done is helped develop another clubs player.

If it gets us close then I will still consider it a success as we will be more likely to attract good signings (permanent) in the future to enable another crack at promotion. Also losing games playing our young players who are not ready might bring fears of relegation and have the opposite effect on future player recruitment. 

7 minutes ago, TruRover said:

While I agree with you in regards to loans signings, I don’t believe we are in that situation. 

Let’s break down our loans:

- Trybull. Clearly a decent player and a upgrade on Evans, but has been far from integral to our season and I doubt he will be missed when his loan comes to an end. Along with this we have a significant amount of central midfielders at the club

- Douglas. Finally starting to show a bit of form and hopefully can carry that into the 2nd half of the season. However he has been relatively poor for us so far, and we seemed to have signed a long term replacement for the beginning of next season in Pickering. Him leaving will not be an issue.

- Braithwaith and Harwood Bells. Both seem to be great prospects and should give us some really good depth in that position, which we have lacked this season. For sure when they go back to their parent clubs next season we will need to sign proper first team centre back, but even then we will have 3 very decent centre backs in Wharton, lenihan, and Ayala. And who knows, we may be able to get one of them back on loan next season.

- Harvey Elliot. Surely no one can complain about this loan. Has been one of our best players this season and will surely end up winning young player of the year. Unless we get promoted I can’t see us getting him back, which will leave us a little short in the winger department. However by next season Dolan will have had a full season of first team football in the bank and should be able to step up. He certainly looks like he has the ability. Either way though I would imagine we would go out and get a winger. 
 

Overall, when our loans go back we won’t be left too short, with Pickering signing for next season, we will only really need 1 centre back and 1 winger to cover the loans of this season. 
 

Having 5 loans this season isn’t ideal, and it’s a trap we mustn’t fall into, but in the case of our loans this season I can’t see them leaving us with the need of an overhaul. This seasons we have been massively hit by injuries, and loans are the best way to cover that. At least we seem to be bringing in quality.

one thing I have say is very pleasing, is how venkys have been so supportive in terms of transfer dealings. I’m far from there biggest fan, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for everything, but their financial support through the pandemic has been outstanding. If only we had a top tier manager to make the most of it...

let’s hope that we get these deals over the line and continue our push towards the playoffs.

 

Totally agree, the CH loans are only there to cover a disaster of an injury crisis in that position. It will also set us up well for any future star player loans. We can’t afford to buy quality permanent signings so it serves us well to get these players in. If our youngsters were currently good enough they would be playing. They still need to develop further before they can play in the first team. If Pickering is an upgrade he should be playing for helping us get promoted rather than being loaned back. 

15 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

There's absolutely no way Johnson should be getting a new deal for me, bar a few flashes this season he's past his best and has been another of Mowbray's poor signings. But he probably will get one.

Nyambe should be the priority but probably won't sign if he's any sense and will go somewhere where his talents are appreciated.

Rothwell is probably worth a new deal. Again would probably flourish under a different manager.

Holtby has a bit to prove and on balance I'm not sure he's consistent enough.

JRC will probably re-sign but I'm yet to be convinced by him or see anything that blows me away.

The rest forget it. However Moggasaurus is probably hoping we can flog AA so he can give everyone new deals "and keep the squad together".

I agree he is way too soft. The amount of money he wastes by being “a decent sort of caring manager” we could have made up the difference in value with the Pickering deal. It’s very frustrating. I don’t think any of the 30 plus year olds should be given new contracts as their legs will not be able to provide the high intensity that our play demands. Any money should be used to protect our young assets. 

Is Elliot still on the pitch!

We are second to every ball!! Unbelievable. 

Travis is way off being match fit, he seems rooted to the floor all the time. 

There is no bite in our midfield, we are too slow to react. We look one paced. 

1 hour ago, Blue blood said:

Not really kept up with this - mainly because our season is over. But to chip in my thoughts on players currently being discussed. 

The Everton loan lad - meh, well we need a centre back but it's another sticky plaster on a big wound. A loan with option to buy from a player who would sign permenantly would've been my preference, as it might go towards addressing the defence long term. Maybe a promising league 1 player or a defender who is out of favour elsewhere in the championship.  That said we never do that, so this is probably as good as it gets. 

Trybull - compared to Evans I really rate him. Compared to others less so. If he's occupying Evans place in the squad I'm fine with him being here as it's a clear upgrade. As a long term (though it isn't given its a loan) first team midfielder I think he's far too mediocre 

Buckley - I like him and think there's a heck of a talent there. Getting that talent out of him is the trick as plenty of talented players don't go on to make it. The right back nonsense will not help this in the slightest. A loan may be the best option but think he is worth persevering with as IF he lives up to his potential we have a very good player. 

Other signings - only if it benefits next year and are permanents. After all this year we ain't going anywhere so it's a bit of a waste in some ways bringing in more players. 

 

 

I think Buckley is a bit like, for those who can remember him, Lee Mackel. He was highly talented and arrived with great expectations, but sadly never fulfilled his promise. 

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I hope we go back in for Pickering later in the window and get the deal done. Perfect sense deal for us. Young, British, and will develop here. Get it done Mowbray..

I expect Trybull to have to loan spell cut short for us after reading Sharpe's article today. 

Not if he is only costing us £2K per week- cheap at the price. 

2 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Two obvious things from today's game. We have to drop Gallagher and Douglas. 

Gallagher should be pretty straightforward with Dack and Brereton back. However we absolutely have to sign a left back from somewhere. Douglas is an absolute liability.

Totally agree, an absolute must!!

Armstrong can’t pass to save his life.

I think Douglas is slower than Mulgrew!!

Gallagher tries hard but is absolutely clueless. 

Douglas is crap. 

3 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Amari Bell please

Yes, don’t rate Douglas on his last few performances. 

How many times did Ayala try to handball it in that match!! Unbelievable how he got away with it. 

It was a pitiful performance where we could not string two passes together. I thought that it was Halloween it was so scary to watch. 
However, I was sick and tired of being the better side in matches and yet still losing. Gaining a point in an ugly way was at least gratifying. We didn’t  have strikers on the pitch who can score goals so it was always going to be difficult, but the team as a whole defended manfully and for once luck was on our side even if the games officials weren’t!!

we need our best players back and fast so that we can start winning games and get our confidence back. Fortunately there is still a long way to go so will remain hopeful for the future. 

42 minutes ago, philipl said:

Just make sure that iFollow picks up that you are outside the UK

Cheers. Hopefully it will be automatic. ?