The more he doesn't want to talk about it the more i'm thinking he's staying and it's already agreed. He could well be playing hard ball with the ownership who've asked him to stay but he wants them to beg. Maybe it'll get him a better contract and maybe a budget although i doubt that bit. Hopefully it would be a short or rolling deal because nothing will ever change under his management in terms of falling short.

Surely some sort of mutual consent could be agreed right now seeing as he allegedly only has a few months left.

Yep allowed to bring 4 in in Jan when we normally do nowt. Not one of them made a jot of difference a complete waste of time. When the height of his ambitions is always back up squad type players what else can we really expect.

To answer that rhetorical ... No i don't think they are but what i do think they are is ignorant towards us minions the fans and stubbornly arrogant. Still putting who they like and how important that is before progress of the club.

Best chance in a decade of this division to finally crack the top 6 because it's weak and wide open. I would not be surprised if it takes another ten years to get so near again.

Marginal gains. Pension top up. Another mate on the pay roll. Another player ready for a double figure sale. Several out of contract to be replaced by cheaper paid or kids. The Venky Rovers Mowbray tick box.

Harping on again but since that Derby game no way are a lot of these players playing for that manager.....or earning their wages come to think of it. Tools have gone down, bottle has disappeared and it's far more than just being naive or nervous. It's a real shit show that very few come out of smelling of roses. We are reaping what has been sown in previous years in terms of the shoulder shrugging lack of urgency that starts at the top and rubs off on its way down. The enormous vacuum between Ewood and the paymasters is still a serious issue and far too much of a comfort zone for those who inhabit it.

At no other club in the land does a manager and his staff serve up these kind of horrific runs EVERY season and keep their jobs. Doesn't really matter if it's 2 nd to 9th or whatever or 8th to 15th ( we've seen that ) the point is still the same it is simply not good enough. Some of the stuff is unprofessional really, Derby Johnson 1st half, his antics in the 2nd half, last season when he was literally screaming out to be paid off, 0-7 biggest home defeat for a near 150 year old club. The few months following that defeat were some of the best for over a decade but several seasons before were nothing remotely over average. Since then have seen some of the worst stuff since Kean was here make no mistake how we habven't had another few hidings is puzzling. Iv'e been maintaining every season for past few years he should be let go in the following summers and go with our thanks. Now we've finally reached that point were he needs forceably booting out the gaff which is a shame but justified. Many in the past would have but no one there cares now they all just cover each other time and time again. Our piss weak modern day fanbase is just as bad populated mainly by older heads who just go along with it because they can't be arsed. And kids brainwashed by one good season years ago when they were just getting into it. Sad state.

As mentioned elsewhere it worked for a while because he was so good at pressing and winning the ball back in that advanced role. Could never really do the stuff you highlighted though so never actually a false 9 looks a far better footballer playing deeper. As the season has gone on he's looked lost and for me doesn't put enough effort in at times so i understand him being dropped. Just like a few others though he needs a proper position that suits what he has an where he can grow into it. That never happens at Rovers in this era they are more concerned with trying to get them to do what they can't.

Yes i suspect that's why Hearn has been holding him back a bit from a real step up. There is two relatively easy domestic nights there imo, for a lot of money and exposure. It's not a world title path though and that's what fast Eddie claims he has him on but i think he needs to be pushing him now. Still young but he's an explosive fighter not a boxer, a bit like his dad. Those types tend to have shorter but more spectacular peak years and that is probably right now.

If Preston did finish above Rovers again i think that'll be 3 different managers that might have done it whilst we've had the same guy. Lower budget, lower wages aside from maybe this season, no 7 or 5 million pound players and no academy. I think that says a hell of a lot.

They found something that worked but strayed away from it then never went back to it. That's the real issue.

Not sure how he'll fare at Sunderland as that's a different kettle of fish but i do think Neil would have been a breath of fresh air coming in here a year ago.

I think they'd throw it back out pretty quickly.

Pretty convinced now that Conner Benn can be the real deal and i think Hearn is holding him back too much. Time to start mixing it with the likes of Broner now. Campbell Hatton they are going to have to work extremely hard to avoid him being beaten by someone not very good. Meanwhile Spence v Crawford is surely a step closer although i suspect it's destined to become the AJ v Fury of its division. They love the publicity off the calling out more than staging the actual fight. I actually fancy Errol to nick that one he's a class operator.

After watching 2 seasons of that stubbornly imposed possession rubbish nobody would be surprised if they are now back to being drilled into something else just to try and make it work. I'm glad someone else has noticed the subtle differences that started as soon as a few enforced changes had to be made. We've never gone back to what was working in that great run at all this more resembles what was going on in the period that led to a 0-7 home clumping.

We can't be wanting to get beat when there is still a chance of the play offs winning tomorrow then taking that confidence into the Knobbers game could really set us up again. Can't see us turning it around but if nothing else beating Preston on their own patch would be welcome.

If a CEO or chairman at most clubs got hold of this kind of rumour it would be looked into and if correct the ones responsible would be hauled over the coals. No chance of that here with this old boys club watching each others back. Venus should never set foot in Ewood again if this is true.

Why are these posters so keen to put this about ? Sharpe did say Mowbray retains admirers in the Hawthorns corridors of power but that doesn't mean there's a contract on the table. Might mean some are trying to engineer one or engineer him a pay off from here. Strange that this would be mentioned in public alongside word that Venus is advising not to sign here, it's quite serious stuff.

Good post sums most of it up he's far from the worst manager and has done some much needed stuff. Nothing any competent average guy shouldn't have been capable of doing though. I guess the difference with TM is to be fair to him he's stayed in his lane and never had aspirations above his station. Thats meant hes been happy to stay here and plod instead of chasing greener grass at the first opportunity once he'd restored his rep. Other side of that coin is of course its meant he'll never walk away without a payoff and kind of shows how limited his ambitions were. I agree his legacy could be more than it's likely to end up being because of the constant team messing etc that leads to no consistency. The most frustrating manager iv'e seen at Rovers.

You post your assumptions and people give you the facts to counter it so i don't need to really, besides i already did over the WBA stuff. If you only want to believe what YOU believe then fair enough. BERG SUED FOR A PAY OFF OF 2.65 million after 57 days of a 3 year deal.

Facts don't matter to Gav lads. This club will pay out somewhere between 1 and 2 million per year for Mowbray and Venus combined, double that when you add in the rest of the coaching staff and directors. It is anything but peanuts.

It's not the fall away and the realization we just aren't strong enough although that would be difficult anyway. It's the whole nature of it and attitude and as if the manager and co were expecting it anyway. So they just shrug their shoulders and play out the season trying not to get whalloped every week. That was going back several games ago not just from Saturday. This is why it is so annoying and tragic because we are good enough to be in that top 6. We just aren't applying ourselves correctly nor being applied in the right way by those in charge of it. It's piss poor no other words for it.

Well we have the 8th or 9th highest paid set of directors in this league and long gone are the days these types earned more than managers. Venus also seems to fill multiple rolls or should i say he's had multiple job titles so he won't be on peanuts either.

If he was facing the sack they'd be sent out there to jump on Stoke, get in their faces and we'd probably trounce them. As it is it'll be another 'we'll end up where we end up' attitude.