No, just the hours of spinning it out and tweets about "Agent Benno" getting ready

A Lads & Dads team. Heart warming.

But it can't help when you have a terrible defence in front of you. It's an old saying that a keeper is only as good as his defence. When Mowbray has finished collecting elderly midfielders, perhaps he will get round to our biggest problem area.

I was speaking to a Blackpool supporting colleague yesterday, and he said Adam had been touted for the managers job there, prior to Grayson's re-appointment. So, yes, potentially Mowbray might see him as a threat.

Brentford look set to sign Pontus Jansson. Good luck to Raya, who will be well shot of Mowbray & the Dad's Army squad he is assembling.

Are we running out to the theme from 'Dad's Army' this season? Funny how club officials denied that Adam was training with us a few days ago. Same old pantomime.

Another spin of Mowbray's transfer tombola, selling a shot stopping but error prone keeper and probably replacing him like for like, (Newcastle fans seemingly can't wait to get shot). Still, Darlow is almost perfect for Mowbray as he plays in the North East, and although not a native of the area, his name sounds like the local term for a North Eastern town. Any sign of a defender or two? Nope, but hey, trust Tony.

I agree with much of this, but the problem is that when you stand still in this game, you stagnate and then start going backwards. That's what happened in the letter years of Bowyer and I think we have probably reached the turning point under Mowbray. He did a sound job in getting us straight back up, but the warning signs were there last season that a struggle lies ahead. Mowbray cannot complain about the backing he has received, (e.g. Brereton for silly money), so I don't agree when people start making excuses for him. There are several examples of clubs with mid-table resources making a push for promotion under the right management. That said, we all know that our owners, (and a chief exec who I wouldn't trust to pick his nose), will more than likely make another poor appointment. So it's catch 22 and an end product on the pitch that does not capture the imagination or excite, and will doubtless be watched by fewer and fewer people. I haven't renewed as yet as it's got to the stage where I'm going through nothing else but force of habit.

We are in a different era and the game has got quicker and quicker. Even with many of those mentioned above, we did not achieve promotion in that era. The team that got promoted with Cowans and Moran in was littered with other good players and signings. If the manager had come good on his spiel about recruiting from the continent and if he was showing a little more imagination, the odd mid 30 year old wouldn't be so bad. He's also blatantly backtracked regarding the need for a new defence. In 2019, signing players in the autumn of their career is not the route to a promotion push.

I'll have a guess that Alex Neil came across as an ambitious, young manager who sold his club and showed belief in the player, and Mowbray came across as a dithering, wittering old lady who didn't. Any serious runners and riders for next season will now be executing clear strategies, e.g. Stoke City. Okay, they have the advantage of parachute payments, but I would wager that if their manager was at Rovers, things would be moving by now. Time to get the transfer tombola machine out and pray.

I have no problem with people having a different point of view, and clearly there are those who still have faith in Mowbray. Sorry, but I just don't anymore, and the Bauer scenario is a good example of why. Mowbray has basically told the player he has little chance of getting in the team for the foreseeable future. To me, that is ridiculous. He could have chosen a better way of selling the club and the move to the player. It wouldn't be so bad if our defence was already adequate. What is the point of chasing a player for so long and then telling him he's not good enough to feature in a very poor defence? I'm afraid I expect the penny to drop for many people as the season progresses. We still await any fruits from the policy of having staff watch European leagues on tv. We've now moved on to the inevitable, "I don't really want to bring in loan signings, but might have to." It's all so predictable.

No surprise that a player would be put off by Mowbray's incoherent wittering. He probably lost the will to live during the talks.

But still deemed surplus to requirements by a fellow Championship club on account of his age. The other club that were chasing him are in League One. Enough said.

Good to see us building for the future. After all the garbage Mowbray spouted about slowly building and bringing in talent from Europe, this really is a signing devoid of imagination, common sense and excitement. Evidently too old for Middlesbrough, but not for us. A 35 year old winger. Dear oh dear.

Spot on, whereas we have a manager who says all the right things, but evidently has a transfer strategy decided by tombola. Anyway, I look forward to the new defence he promised at the late season forum, (not holding my breath). Some of his more recent interviews have a subtext of a major climb down on expectations. Luckily for him, the people who own the club will swallow his wittering as being factual. If Bauer chose Preston over us I really don't blame him.

Good grief, it really does beggar belief. Mowbray witters on about slowly building with younger players and recruiting from the continent. I then watch video footage of an interview where he must have mentioned selling Dack about half a dozen times to follow Norwich's model, (it was essentially an advert). Then we start making moves for 35 year olds, probably because he knows the players personally. How many of those did Norwich, Leeds or Villa sign? He's done well to re-establish us as a tier two side, but does anyone seriously believe that a guy whose one and only promotion to the Premier League (followed by immediate relegation) came more than a decade ago, is capable of taking us any further or is it just because he's a nice bloke who says the right things?

The push for mediocrity is in full swing. Mowbray talks in riddles and very often does the exact opposite of what he says. This news should have season tickets sales soaring (not).

Exactly. Talk is cheap (& easy). Turning words into successful actions won't be that simple. The recent upturn in form provides a little more hope that Mowbray can take us forward. All we can do is watch and hope.

I voted other. As someone else suggested recently, Danny Cowley (Lincoln) would be a great shout. We need someone on the way up, not a dinosaur.

Great shout. They wouldn't, and I doubt the actor Steve Waggott would either.

Warnock only took over in October in his first season with Cardiff, who were struggling at the time. He kept them up, (comfortably), and won promotion the following season. Mowbray has awarded new contracts to three of the players you mentioned, so I would imagine they will all remain in and around the first team.

Posters on this board tend to be long term fans. In my experience, long term fans are less easily pleased and view events more analytically and objectively than newer, younger supporters. There are, of course, exceptions to that rule.

I think a solid, middling season would constitute a good season for us. I agree with you that we over achieved in the first half of the season, but the slump has to be a major worry. It's a pity we didn't add a couple of players before the January window closed, as we were on the up around that time. In this game, you have to strike whilst the iron's hot. I would reserve judgement until May on whether Mowbray has earned that right. Should results not significantly improve, I would say it's time to move on. My personal view is that if we are looking at a slow build, we would be better served by a young, hungry manager.

If you look back you will find evidence that your logic doesn't always follow. Teams newly promoted to the Championship don't have to struggle. I don't think anyone expected back to back promotions, but Mowbray himself spoke of "bouncing through the league". As I posted earlier, I think the biggest concern is how we've arrived at our current standing, , i.e. a solid first half of the season followed by a slump. If it continues until May, the writing will be on the wall for next season, (unless a change is made).

We spent one season out of this division, so the "just promoted" line doesn't wash. It's not uncommon for a well run club to have another strong season following promotion. It's the direction of travel that's hugely concerning. Had we started poorly and clawed our way out of trouble, there would be some grounds for optimism. Eight defeats in ten games is abysmal form over a sustained period.