According to Wiki, Artell has a degree in biology. That's a better degree than the one Mowbray has (in monotony). I'd rather take a punt on someone like Artell than end up with another dinosaur, which is the most likely outcome. We've already missed the boat with the Cowley brothers.

and, sadly, the owners are naive enough to believe him. Surely, even the most optimistic of happy clappers can see there is more chance of hell freezing over. The latter two are more in the one man tent category. An absolutely scandalous waste of money.

I can see the similarities, but Mowbray has had relative riches to spend compared to Saxton, who really did have to beg, steal and borrow. So nearly led us to promotion to the old First Division in 1985, under those circumstances. I don't see Mowbray getting us anywhere near the Premier League.

+ a downward spiral since last February. The writing is firmly on the wall.

Another Mowbray & Waggott transfer window? Terrifying!

Trains are currently running on the West Coast Main Line, but severe weather, & subsequent blanket speed restriction, is causing delays. The blanket speed restriction is still scheduled to be in place in the north tomorrow until noon,so services heading south will almost certainly continue to be delayed.

I wonder if Wigan are paying all of Mulgrew's wages? This is the problem of having older players on long contracts.

If he's still here in January I will be surprised.

I take your point, but you can't waffle on about a slow build, then build your defence on loanees. That's the point I am making. If they were top draw players it would make more sense, i.e. For a shit or bust assault on promotion.

But Cunningham is only on loan, as is Tosin & the keeper. Makes a mockery of all this "slow build" nonsense. In an area we desperately needed to significantly strengthen, we have applied a sticking plaster. To me, the whole window has been a mess and Mowbray (& his TV extra chief exec) have completely lost the plot.

Enough said!!! The usual singing nuns are already out in force on twitter, claiming everything is fine with our window dealings. Nauseating.

Trust Tony

Yes, my sources tell me that Mulgrew criticised Mrs Mowbray's lemon drizzle cake in front of the group on the grass.

That's that, then. Bauer will tell Cunningham not to bother speaking to dithery Tony.

Just to escalate the disappointment & unrest come 17:00 ?

A load of waffle from a guy I definitely wouldn't buy a second hand car from. Chancer.

Tony's finally remembered to put the ad in the paper. All systems go ?

On paper, Mowbray was one of the daftest appointments of the lot, considering he left his previous club at the bottom of League One. If the conspiracy theories regarding transfer policy being dictated by others are true, then he should resign. I'm not convinced about that and think he has been relatively well backed. I agree that another daft appointment is likely. Damned either way, but there is always the slight hope they will get it right one day. I believe there is more chance of Mowbray taking us back down at some point rather than up. I look at Waggott and question what he actually brings to the table, especially when we hear about Venus being involved in transfer deals.

Meets the criteria for us then ?

First day matches are a bit late like cup ties, (i.e. no form guide), so you can't read too much into the results. The problem in our case is that the result stemmed from long standing deficiencies, and we have much tougher tests ahead.

The fact that he made the comments about the defence in public, (unwise), and has done so little to back up his words has put him under extreme, self inflicted pressure after only one game. Only has himself to blame.

Clearly at fault for the first in my opinion. Looked uncertain at times.

What about the two fullbacks we desperately need? Whoever comes in now is likely to equate to too little too late. It will no doubt take Mowbray an eternity to let them join the "group on the grass" in any case!

For all our ponderous possession, how many saves did their keeper have to make? They even gave us a chance by scoring a comedy goal for us. The whole performance was a dog's dinner, and even a late leveller wouldn't have masked that.

Only one game, but if we can't beat that standard of opposition then we are in trouble. All so predictable and avoidable. A worryingly unconvincing display from our "at least as good as Raya" keeper, too. I fear this will prove a season too many for Mowbray.