Nowt much changed on or off the pitch since Mowbray although it will take time to shake that off. Not sure they are bothered about that though it still seems a case of as you were. Signing players from his lists, getting a new director who then quickly does a disappearing act leaving the head coach to bat off the usual questions. Waiting on certain players at the expense of finding others then likely getting knocked back and panicking or doing nothing. Imo Broughton has stepped in and thought easy stuff this i'll just shove another 3 from the academy into the first team and let the head coach deal with it it's his problem then. Still no thinking out of the box they are all just following the ex managers blueprint.

Trying to squeeze Dack out and get him off the payroll ? I'm beginning to wonder.

Szmodics was signed to do a specific job and that is work harder and cover more ground than Dack dropping in the middle. He is doing that, all well and good but he has about a fifth of the quality of Dack so we see nothing going forwards. Can understand the drop back and pack the middle mentality again a footballing side away from home, Swansea being a good example. Against powerhouse teams like today just conceding space to then is utterly pointless and counter productive that's the easiest home game they'll have all season. Sunderland just up from the division below weren't strong enough but did a far better job on them than us.

I'd say tactical naivety and poor application by the players was the biggest difference today just as it was in midweek. If we'd gone toe to toe and lost you can maybe point to the difference in quality because of budget. Not throwing a punch or laying a glove for the second game in succession suggests there is a bit more to it.

Oh FFS we are back to using the budget excuse again already. Turn it in.

New manager bounce at the start obviously and still early days however.... I can confidently say these tactics he's employing will NOT work out well in this league it just plays into opposition hands.

The warning signs were all there the second half of last season with a stronger squad. Swap a perennially confused manager for one who doesn't know this league and a weaker squad and hey presto after the initial 'bounce' reality sets back in.

He's all fur coat he needs to put some knickers on first. I'd rather sell him for ten million now and keep BBD !

Buckley has been a bit overated by us after a decent couple of moths last season if we are being honest.

Quite literally a panic buy imo

Why would anyone care about that it's a dose of reality they've been protected from for far to long. #### em!

I'd say they probably needed a good rest and a good tactical plan for today above all else. Get the sticks out on Monday if they are abysmal again !

An 11 million outlay there with 15 million recouped so far less 40% of c12 mill and 1 top 8 finish in 5 years. Lets drop the 'king' bit.

Knowing how these owners work we are probably going to spend the next decade and another 150 million trying to find out.

This is what i worried about when he first came and as we know from Mowbrays time even with deeper more experienced squads you can't just throw a load in and out randomly. Let alone when you already have glaring weak spots in the team that need protecting. He has to take some responsibility for it although the application across the park was generally piss poor as well. The championship finds you out very quickly so hopefully he has learned, that goes for Greg Broughton as well looking on from the stands.

Tony Mowbray and Steve Waggot

If it's Rovers you're referring to the manager got them all contract extensions on thousands per week so i doubt they were bothered about watches.

With that coming to light it might be better if we leave it alone it'll be better all round if he gets a move closer to home.

The way we transition from being a middling championship club to a top one is by buying in quality when we have the chance. A 7 million fee over a 4 year contract is nothing in the current market. We'd all have jumped at the chance to grab Tosin or Reed and we'd have been better off as a result of it. Loan fees for good young players from Prem clubs are coming in at 1 mill per season now. As for 7 million being terrible for average championship form i was clearly talking about him being a long term signing. If he costs that money and stays as captain for seven years it's still good value for money. He's our player steadily performing every season in our team so there's no headache or funds needed every year to replace him. That's how you build teams but it's hypothetical anyway because it would be a worst case scenario. I'm just pointing out quite reasonably that it wouldn't be a disaster. He's clearly better than that though so he would be worth a deal up to 7 million imo.

So you wouldn't invest properly in a good young defender to hopefully serve the club for many seasons instead of filling the gaps with constant loans who also cost money ? Odd way of looking at it i'd say treat this guy as a one off like Brereton. If he becomes really good there'll be a profitable sale in a few years. If he maintains average championship form season in season out we've got a good solid reliable defender of our own to build around. As long as they covered all angles on the contract and he wasn't on silly wages it's a bit of a no brainer to be honest.

Ince i had high hopes for and could see the logic in going for him but the reality was starkly different. His recruitment Robinson aside was very poor no bones about that and his management methods were lower league to say the least. The guy blew his big chance here and for once in regards to Rovers there was no one to blame but himself, good to see he seems to have finally grown into it at Reading for now.

A deal rising to would be fair enough he's only young and even if we paid 7 if we got 5 good seasons out of him it would be a bargain.

Waggot was on public record saying he had over a million left in the pot pre covid after that Jan window because Tony didn't spend it. That came from the horses mouth in an interview and when covid hit a few moths later they extended the contracts of several players who were never going to play. That's how Mowbray worked he was a players man a good steady hand but very little actual ambition other than to protect his own status quo. I can fully believe he'd always try and leave some in the pot if in his mind he thought he was keeping the owners onside. I can 100% believe he would never ask for substantial funds to go for a promotion push and make himself fully accountable. Other side of the coin i think if he was given 2 million and told to spend it he would've done.

Given decent money and TOLD to go for it i think he might have done better. Left to his own devises as we assume he mostly was then no i don't think he had enough appetite for it personally. So we got what we got and like i and many others said last season Markanday wasn't the striking option to make any difference to the promotion push that's clear now. Plenty hid behind that as an excuse for no striking options brought in.

Yes when you put it like that he's getting on with the job but we can't say he isn't responsible for recruitment then credit him with signing 3 players. It's his dept whether there is a HoR in place or not.