I don't think he's by any means a potential great but you'd have to be daft to dismiss he outdid Mowbray in league placings a couple of times. No academy to pick from at PNE, no 5 and 7 million pound strikers, no 3 million ones either i doubt, smaller wage bill at the time and so on. Yes probably a more stable run club of course but did he bring all his mates in in key positions as well ? Doubt that also plus he did good things at Norwich for a spell and the fella is still only 40 that's why he has a bit more life about him. It only started going backwards there when they sold some of their best players and he had no budget, not uncommon in management. He isn't a yesterdays man like some on the list we now might face is what i'm trying to say.

To me it would all depend on who they brought with them. If he'd come with someone else who he works with at Everton and maybe some proven coach who know the championship then yes give him a go. I quite like the idea of someone like Ferguson who seems like he has the right attitude to make the job his own. It's just that Mowbray and Venus seem to have run the whole inside of the club below boardroom level and their experience was vital in that. They probably had to build a whole new set up from scratch because i doubt we had much of a one existing. Not sure a rookie will be able to do that but then on the other side of the coin it might be better just having someone concentrate on the team and not be involved in the rest. As i feel that was probably a big distraction to Mowbray at times spinning too many plates and trying to keep too many happy and in jobs. It's a dilemma for anyone coming in really because of the daft set up at this club where they expect 1st team managers to call all the shots.

This 100% Ferguson etc are all interesting but too risky if they are just expected to come in with a load of random new staff. The clubs infrastructure just isn't set up to support these types and if they just come in to work with existing staff it's a bit pointless. We are in Berg, Kean territory again there so it really needs someone with some established backroom people who know what they are doing and have a plan.

Rothwell this season gave us something a bit different and added another dimension. He was a big part part of the great run but before and after it he was average to poor. After the Fulham game i said he should never play there again in fact i felt it should have been Davenport or someone else even before that. Like the rest of them that beating gave him a rocket up the arse but i'm not sure how well it actually worked over the whole season. His set pieces are abysmal, a handy player lost though.

That's the arrogance of the guy though that's how comfortable he became here and how bullet proof he assumed he was.

Sigh, not even worth rising too. Put your rod away and get back to that spade in your deep hole and keep digging.

I doubt there is any brass left in the pot for even that but he certainly shouldn't be bringing any players in at this point. Maybe he could get a ladder out and scrub the brickwork on the outside of the JW stand ? That's a good way of utilizing his remaining 100k or so eh Swag ? Come on it fits right in with your penny pinching.

Should have had Neil in last summer or before imo. He just strikes me as having a bit more oomph about him than the shoulder shrugger, ok he might have not done any better but it would hardly have been a huge gamble.

Jacket probably wouldn't be the worst choice but if we want fresh ideas and a modern way of doing things then it'll need to be a younger guy. With that tends to come less experience but that's the gamble and at least give yourselves a chance by getting someone rated and with a bit of pedigree. The last attempts at a young manager were pathetic to say the least.

The only thing surprising is the sudden fake outrage of Mowbray when there is no contract on offer. After years of being happy with it all when there was one.

30-1 and cheaper than Mowbray or any of the others mentioned then yes that's the list. Just needs the ones prepared to sign with the smog agency outfit and they are in.

If Waggot is behind it then it'll be another cost cutting measure hes sold to the Vs i think there is a real danger of this. Not that Mowbray is going but that there'll be not much made available to replace him.

Neil also had a couple of their best players sold from under him which is when things stated to go backwards. Unlike our mon who only had AA leave and he practically advertised him for sale himself. Then had a 7 million pound buy waiting in the wings to throw in with his 5 million pound other wide forward. Very badly treated though....

So Alex Neil who at Preston finished above Mowbrays Rovers several times despite having less to work with goes into basket case Sunderland and helps them to the play off final.

Managers at BRFC get owner input to allow a competitive midtable budget and pay several players 14k pwk or above.

Didn't he randomly drop Nyambe for the Forest game and Zeefuick the headless chicken gave the ball away for Forests first ?

If we had Premier league profile they'd probably suddenly become life long fans. Plastic Reds, there is nothing worse in E Lancs.

Was that headquarters there back when they met Her Maj ?

In what universe would anything other than freed up wages from a Rothwell sale have been reinvested in Jan ?

He would have made his case better had he altered 3 months of relegation form and finished in the top 6. Maybe instead of shoulder shrugging 'we finish were we finish' or sulking and doing stupid things with team selection. He would have been better off getting his head down and going for broke. If they'd said top 6 or no contract yes he'd have known but would that have altered anything he's saying now. He'd still be moaning it was unfair and the pressure was un called for etc to gain a swathe of sympathy. The biggest narrative alterer in Rovers history this fella is. And as i keep saying it is ALL about him, has been for two years now and the sooner this sorry mess is brought to an end the better. Keep giving him airtime and he'll keep stealthily angling for them to come beg him to stay. More the propaganda rag gives him headlines and other media outlets follow suite the more groundswell of faux anger builds, the more the fanbase gets divided. He gets a new long contract he'll be sneering at fans again whilst reeling off every excuse in the book by November.

Brainwashed the fanbase said the Coventry forum ? Hes certainly brainwashed a lot of our fanbase into thinking life without his input doesn't bare thinking about. So easy for him here as at Coventry to direct everything towards the ownership and lack of funding. It gets swallowed here far too easily and that is no defense of the ownership but half the clubs in this league have problems, it goes with the turf. Now just look at Coventry since he left and took his negative mindset with him. The ownership methods there didn't change.

He's is just altering the narrative to suit himself just as hes done as manager over the last few years. Taking the juicy money home and doing what he wants then fine they can handle behind the scenes. Which is basically a vacuum between club and ownership. Everyone happy to sit in that void, not rock the boat just scratch their heads and get on with it. Now the invitation to continue in it isn't forth coming rats desert and others get sour.

Is Tony staying up all night or is one of them ? That's the question.

He should have been a shoe in in the past when there was a bit more budget and a few more experienced players. Not sure how he'd handle a squad of young guys though and integrate others i think he more prefers the ready made players.

I said that before, let Mowbray be in charge summer to Jan then let him have his holidays and family time. Leave the backroom staff in charge for the rest of the season. I 100% bet the bad cycle would be broken there is something more to it involving him for sure, as far as i'm concerned it's because he'd rather accept it than admit and change it. Too stubborn for his or should i say his teams own good his go to option just like his subs when losing has always been throw people on for the sake of it.