Let’s be blunt- he’s a good shot stopper but an absolute clown at times. The Birmingham game was the worst I’ve seen at Ewood in living memory from a keeper, for how it cost us. I don’t think having an inexperienced coach helps though. 

I reckon we’ve got another keeper lined up, and my money’s on Frank Fielding. 

Leeds red card now- this game has everything! 

3-3 now- Leeds have levelled it up. 

Unreal- Derby penalty and now they’re 3-2 up in the tie! 

The Leeds keeper has just done a Raya  - like he did against Birmingham-and cost them a goal. He’s made the exact same mistake as I type this out, except it’s not gone in this time. 

2-1 Leeds as it stands over the two legs.

Charlton are walking all over Doncaster- 2-0 in Yorkshire as it stands, but it could well be more. 

Just now, AllRoverAsia said:

and took 6 off us plus GD

..and still only finished 1 point above us. If we’re looking at a side above us, Norwich is the way forward. Preston fans expected the top 6 this year, and they bottled it yet again. 

Are people really looking at Preston as the way forward? They’ve finished 1 point above us. ??

A good first season back for me- there’s work to do across the board, but we’re in a good position for next season. Here’s to hopefully an exciting summer!

Game’s completely changed since Travis has moved to right back. Mowbray’s made the wrong call putting him there. Bring Mulgrew for Evans, and put Lenihan or Williams at full back. 

Big question is- where is Nayambe? 

20 minutes ago, DE. said:

If Dack is sold and we start next season with Smallwood, Evans and Mulgrew lining up it's probably best to be left up. Hopefully such notions will be considered nonsense by the time we get to August though. Come on Tony, you know what you need to do. 

Like anyone’s going to come in for Dack, offering the kind of money we’re wanting. He’s looked bang average for a long time. 

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That's serious stuff. If their results ended up getting expunged we'll be 6 points worse off.

To be fair, so will most of the league. ?  

Blank

40 minutes ago, Proudtobeblue&white said:

Bent, so bent, yet nothing was ever done.....if Bassini is "fit and proper" after that, then so am I. Fat and pissed, perhaps?

He hasn’t passed the test yet though has he? He was also banned from owning a club for a good few years after the disaster as Watford. 

Just now, davulsukur said:

Incredible stuff at Bolton. 

It just looks like it will end in an even bigger mess than it is now.

I don't know a great deal about this Bassini character but his time at Watford appears to have been a disaster.

Unsure how I'd feel if I was a trotter. Things will either stay similar to how they are now or get much worse. I can't see it getting much better under this shady new owner.

My mate’s a Bolton fan- he’s prepared to give him a chance, providing he pays up. His patience is thin with bad ownership though. That interview is car crash though- he looks like he’s been in The Brown Cow since lunchtime. 

3 hours ago, Stuart said:

Agree with most of that. Rodwell is someone I think has real quality but lacks hunger. He’s the kind of player that would want a 3 year deal, accept two and then coast for a season. We would do well to hold out by putting a 12 month deal with a one year extension if he makes so many games.

Although I’m a fan of Nuttall I don’t think he is going to get a chance here, as his natural position is to lead and I’m not sure he can do that against Championship defenders. If he could bulk up then he could be an asset though. He is also up against the £7m man - whether that’s fair or not.

We are definitely light up front though and with Reed and Rodwell gone, light in midfield too. Williams has done well but I think we need a Mulgrew replacement to play alongside Lenihan and have Williams as cover. We also need to replace Mulgrew’s goals and Conway is our other man set-piece specialist so there will be a gap there too.

Raya definitely needs competition - even more so now that we have no No.2. A credible Championship keeper, not Canada’s finest.

We really do have a lot to do in this next window and then get them to gel.

Well said that man! I think my biggest disappointment would Nuttall moving on without being a given a fair shot. I get the sense though that he doesn’t give it his all in training, otherwise he’d have probably been playing a bit more now. 

On another note, the transfer window might not be the full answer. The youth setup might be worth having a look into. From the Radio Lancs interview too, I get the sense that the wage budget needs culling for any movement in summer. 

8 hours ago, Stuart said:

You’ve got a point. I think his good runs and bad runs have polarised opinion, yes, but as I’ve been saying for some time, Mowbray - like Bowyer before him - is a WDL-man. Over a season that amounts to 61 points and a 12th-16th place finish.

Mowbray’s own target is 60 points. ? 

He needs to raise the bar.

WDL? We’ve drawn once this year(2019), and that was way back in February. In addition to that, if you look at last year, that wasn’t very Bowyer-like either. 

60 points is a great return for the first season back- Rome wasn’t built in a day afterall.

34 minutes ago, Biz said:

First paragraph - mentioned three who you want to play, who don’t play, I see it as finding/developing players that are turning into quality players through our system.

Rothwell particularly - I’m sure I don’t have to point out the irony in “look, I told you he’d do well if he played regularly” when it’s the manager who has worked the particular player into the system in training, and the team reaped the rewards. Many will openly criticise the BB 7m disaster, but I don’t see anyone here praising Joe R’s signing adding way more than that cost into the first team for zip!

Smallwood, Bennett, Evans, Conway - castigated for their inclusion at times, but a more reasonable commentary would be the senior players have played there part this season. Most fans know the dangers of changing things too rapidly, yet many here would sell/release 5/6 players without even blinking. I think some individual things could’ve been done differently, Elliott Bennett at number 10 would’ve never happened for me either, but in a season with 1000’s of individual decisions like that, we’ve got far more correct. (Despite TM ruining Bobby Moores career in a different life)

On squad building - there’s an assumption it’s a simple task too - the way you particularly compared DJ’s squad assembly for the PL2 with TM’s for the championship shows how little you seemingly understand the competition for the better players in the top few tiers of football, and the huge jump between cost from second to top tier.

For all the “warning signs” being ignored, I could point out good signs across the board, in the first team, overall squad, attitude and application at ALL levels, potential within the group, the u23s, recruitment, expectation et al.

You think it will turn sour, and I’m not denying that possibility, but I think you and others need to start embracing the positive steps the club has taken in 25 months of the current manager’s stewardship.

If TM walked tomorrow, the club he inherited is a completely different to the one he’d leave!

Well said that man. It makes me wonder if the people who moan about Mowbray were advising Venky’s, when they sacked Allardyce. God forbid they still read this message board- some people genuinely scare me to death with their opinions on here. 

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Yep. The strikers head beat his leap and arms. Pitiful.

Just seen it on SSN- absolutely awful. I do wonder if the keeping coach could be the problem. 2 keepers are making very similar, daft mistakes! 

Goalie at fault according to Radio Lancs? The commentary is absolutely dreadful though- I’m finding it really hard to tell what’s going on listening. 

Just now, USABlue said:

I'm sorry but Nuttall is just flat LAZY.

I’ve been impressed with him this year- sounds like he’s off the pace today though. 

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Keep this up and we could finish top 10

God forbid- some on here would have a meltdown at the thought of Mowbray doing well. ?

Sounds an entertaining game on Radio Lancs, but the commentary is once again very poor. 

I’ve voted for him to stay. It hasn’t been perfect this year, but he’s achieved what I wanted- survival. 

I might get slated for saying this on here by some, but looking ahead, another mid table finish next season would keep me happy, especially with some of the daft money that’s being chucked around. 

Here’s something that’s cropped up on Twitter- 

Wouldn’t it be great to send them down on Monday, if they can cling on, on Friday? 

Just now, yellowsubmarine said:

Mowbray (if he's still here next season), he needs to sort out the left back problem. Both Williams and Bell has been horrible there all season. Williams looked so much a proper player at CB, alongside Lenihan. 

Couldn’t agree more, especially about Williams. I’ve been really impressed with him since shifting to centre back against Derby. 

Officially safe- looking forward to next season. Well done Tony Mowbray and the lads. ?

Just now, Stuart said:

100%

I wasn’t even sure we’d scored. The crowd noise has been turned down to almost zero so we’re relying on a bit of passion from the commentator.

Exactly my thinking! It’s like cricket commentary?