Your's is fair point too and probably all of us fear what sort of blunder Venkys could make with next appointment------ but we can't go on like this. I suspect Johnno is in the owners sights and that's why he was promoted--to give him experience in a first team setting. That too is a risk in that he's never been a manager before but its a risk I could live with. He's not a chancer like Coyle or Kean, he's been around Ewood a long time, on and off, so I think he would genuinely have the club's interests at heart. I'm not ruling out an outside appointment and posters have suggested several good choices, however Venkys usually let us down in this area. Conflicted or not we won't succeed under Mowbray, he's had his chance and blown it. Alternatively since we will never prosper under Venkys anyway........

A bit of a beat-up eh? Does anyone actually know he cried? Was there such a crescendo of abuse directed towards the lad? It seems to me that this is deflection. Instead of hearing about another poor performance from Brereton, the discussion is about disgusting Rovers fans, (of which there are some but no more than anywhere else).

But you are uniquely placed to see beyond what we ordinary mortals can see! Tell me that isn't arrogance. Tell me you respect other's views!

When I wrote that we are "in the shit" I wasn't thinking of right now, our position in the league etc but rather the end of the season. We are clearly weak in several areas, we are reliant on loans which can be terminated and we risk losing some players we'd need---eg Lenihan, Nyambe possibly, Dack when he's fit, Travis, and so on. Several of our players are at the veteran stage too. Two we can't sell but cost £12M between them! We will never see that again! So, all in all, after 3 years of supposedly building up a squad I think we are farther way from ever from achieving it. We face a massive rebuilding job for next season or we throw in the young ones and pray. Is there anyone left who has the confidence that TM can manage this situation which he has himself created? That's the whole point for me. Who is going to take us forward and when do we start planning for it? Who at Ewood is even thinking about it?

Modelled himself on Evans as per instructions! Not the same player at all. But if TM is as good as you think why are we in the shit? After all, he's improved the squad so much---2 points out of 15 is it? That £12M well spent?

No, by insisting he plays as boringly as everyone else. What about Paul Johnson---any improvement in him? Most of the ridiculous views on here are your's.

Rothwell, Chapman, Bennet,Travis,Bell--all look worse than they did when they first came. No improvement whatsoever in our £7M striker, and Gallagher is the same as when we first had him on loan. You mention Raya but TM put the blame on him for our defensive woes! Care to criticise the manager for that or is he right? Nyambe---was left out for so long I thought he was on his way. Bell should be. We obviously disagree but he's had 3 years, the owners have backed him and we are in poor shape. Al the excuses you make will not change that.

What a crock! I think it might be you who's biased!! We should be further up the league with all that manager-inspired improvement. The guy's a genius!

Yes, fair comment.

Has any player improved under Mowbray? They all seem to go backwards. You could make an exception for Dack I suppose but he was good when he came.

There's only one change we need imo. The rest will follow. Sorry Husky, I dived in without seeing your post!

the problem being "improve the squad".

I cannot remember us being so consistently boring as we are now in my time of watching. Big Sam had his critics but there were always exciting moments and we often won! People blame the awful atmosphere at Ewood on the stayaways but , honestly, what is there to cheer about? The fact that the Club still exists?

Playing players in their positions would make a big difference surely?

Amazingly he looks like he's led a hard life!

Chicken feed for us! No, he's not that good but everything is relative and, right now, his loss would be a disaster. We really are in a mess. 3 years of TM, all that money spent and we are farther away from the Holy Grail than ever.

Yes, once again everything is OK!

I think Gallagher might be OK. He has something about him, a good work ethic for a start. He can shoot but rarely is in the right position to do so, for which I blame TM. Not much cop in the air, especially considering his height. BUT----he was never worth £5M. He's worth about the same as Armstrong imo, possibly less. Brereton is sadly not going to prove you wrong. We'll still be talking about this signing in 20 years time, (I won't come to think of it!)

the crux of the matter I think.

Do you have any sense of irony? And I apologise for thinking you were younger than you are. (I was a regular ST holder by 1952 by the way!) The appalling financial results are significantly a result of TM"s managership. I don't feel you hold him sufficiently accountable. Time to go TM.

You insult our intelligence. Do you really think your "minority" have the gift of seeing the potential pitfalls of appointing a new manager and the majority don't? Utter arrogance. Most of us on here have been around the block a few times more than you. Do you really think we can carry on like this?

Well there's a welcome change. Nobody arguing anymore that the £12M hasn't "gone" then? No-one expecting Brereton to do a Lazarus?

Surely we don't think its good enough to have a manager who won't take us down do we? He's had the financial backing Bowyer never had after all. 3 years and nothing better than stagnation? And given the financial position, worse than stagnation. We are in an utter mess and I would take the gamble with Johnson, at least on a trial basis.But a good hungry manager from the lower league might do alright as well. I can't see how it could be worse. A load of ageing players with no resale value, several hardly playing a game for us, can't defend, winning streak in combat with losing streak and losing streaks winning, this is absolute torture and I don't see how it can continue like this without very serious consequences for us. But the manager stays----right?

Well. that's a comfort! There's some really strange results today in the Championship, but, once again, we couldn't take any advantage of them. 2 points from the last twelve is relegation form no matter how other clubs' defences perform.

Let's hope we get a pair then.