32 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I think and I'm not making excuses, cos it isn't one, but did/does he find defending so straight forward that he can't teach it or identify issues tactically? I mean ultimately it is simple, but the way he sets us up, makes it difficult for even good defenders.

I mean look at his career in management. Let's call a spade a spade here. He has had ongoing issues. Take that WBA promotion out and it's pretty shit. Yet he talks about how he likes his team's to play, as if it's a proven method of gaining success. It isn't. 

I blame the media for being very inept when it comes to questioning him. At other clubs, managers would feel the pressure via questioning from journalists. Now, granted we aren't on TV often, but when we are it's like they have watched the first 10 games of the season and just discarded what has come since.

As for the LT, well I don't understand why they let him off with it. Would it really matter he refused to talk to them? I'm sure many would be impressed my them for putting that pressure on. Grow some balls. 

I think it all comes down to him over complicating again and like you say trying to play up to this 'footballing' stereotype.  He doesn't like bread and butter center defenders like himself he wants ball players instead.

Difficult to get at this level but Tosin, Harwood- Bells and even Ayala fall into this category.  The best defender he has is a more rugged one in Lenihen and he was inherited, that's the types we need though.

Probably why he's struggled defensively everywhere he's been managing. I think teams can still play decent enough football without having to have cultured center backs.

Was watching that Jack Charlton documentary the other night and he was more to the point. Defenders defend, two touches at most then away and it doesn't always have to be long ball.  You shouldn't need to be Frank Rijkaard to pass the ball to a team mate at championship level.

17 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Absolutely, where is the consistency? Our budget year in year out (when our seasons tend to end competitively very early due to our constant mediocrity) is not sorted until well after the season ends, so communication between manager and owners is non existent, the manager going to India with a begging bowl weeks into the summer is hardly proactive, and always his interviews prior show he hasnt the foggiest what the budget is, so how can we plan.

There is no rhyme or reason. First signing this summer was Kaminski, one from Europe that was well scouted. The second one was a Boro old boy on a long deal with seemingly no due diligence done in the medical. We sign another European goalkeeper who is nowhere to be seen. Then we do most of the business on the last day, 5 or 6 games in. An aging left back on loan to plug the gap, another Boro old boy on a long deal to sit on the bench, a talented player on loan who seemingly was very much a last minute bonus, and then yet another central midfielder unwanted by his club. And then another few weeks down the line, a player who did very well in his first season here, a Boro old boy, but who is very old yet we for some unknown reason waited so long to sign him back up, even when we already have so many midfielders and who was chronically unfit due to the delay and has rarely featured. 

The lists are clearly hardly watertight either. When we came up, Bauer was clearly our main target at CB. A big, tall, aerielly strong centre back. We didnt get him, so we then signed Rodwell, an injury prone midfielder who Mowbray planned to move there. Hardly similar! You also look up front, he signed Gallagher and publically admitted an interest in Joao, so he is just going for familiar faces. Dack, Gladwin and Brereton all signed based on "playing well" against his teams in the past.

Considering how tough he looked as a defender is odd but Mowbray the manager has balls the size of raisins.

He really isn't very good at backing himself with an aggressive attacking team or signings outside of his black book.

All about the comfort zone for our Tony.

Wonder if the leak and the departures recently are in any way linked ?  Or just another of those Venky era coincidences.

Because there's no real intention to knock it down and rebuild it. They just want to flog the land and get the money then worry about what to do next.

I urge any Venky related people who might see this to investigate just exactly what that CEO and his cronies are really up to. 

Mowbray manages and spins his tombola to the law of averages.  

'I'll keep doing this and it'll come off sooner or later'

'Surely we'll win a game or two soon we're only losing one nil'

Never ever have a night at the casino with this mon but if he invites you for a game of cards grab it with both hands, you'll fleece him.

3 hours ago, MCMC1875 said:

Correct. The bottom line for me is that our fans haven't had the unity and/or the clout that, for example, Liverpool's  fans had when they succeeded in ousting Hicks and Gillette.

Difference there is when Liverpool fans said they were going to boycott Barclays that potentially could have a massive effect on their business.  We might have slowed trade in one branch for a day or two.

With Venkys and their businesses being so far away we've never had any specific targets.  Apart from Kean obviously who was quite willing to have it painted on his back whilst he held out for his millions. 

Plus now just as back then half our remaining fanbase NEVER wake up to what is right under their noses until it's too late.  Very easy to unite our lot when the club is going places though !

14 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

OR 'my job is to see the sale of the STC land finalised and football is a distant second'

What the charlatans failed at at Coventry is well under way here.

There's been suspicion something like this would kick off from the min these lot rocked up.

Mowbray at the time was another very odd choice of manager it makes you wonder if he came as part of a package deal with other stuff in mind. The owners and their advisors had the wheels of relegation firmly in motion with their previous shenanigans.  

Lets face it had we stayed down they'd have sold at least half the training ground now anyway i'd wager.  Makes you wonder what the HSH boys and Pasha sold to Balaji and co to get Mowbray in the door.

13 minutes ago, 47er said:

We seem to draw up lists for every summer but other clubs get there first. There's a long list of them.

 

Yeah they are really good at these A/B/C lists it's almost like they are trying to find people something to do.

They only really need the C list and a list of potential loanees.

11 minutes ago, Dolly blue said:

I read a “ post “ on Facebook earlier....as usual , littered with expletives at someone suggesting Mowbray should go.......and he finished it with.........”.support him and support the club or.....we could end up like Bolton “.....  now, there is a thought..

.. How they have been to hell and back during the past 3 or 4 seasons ...duped by ownership whose only interests were self, lead by management out of its depth, paying players with no heart or guts to fight for the shirt....does that sound familiar?

...and where are they now? A united fan base  great in number, owned by people who have a genuine interest in the club and its community, lead by a manager who is progressive in his approach playing players in their correct positions .... and where do they sit currently?......in the automatic play off spots ..

..maybe, just maybe that is our only way out . Their fans have that something we crave......pride in our club...

It is true that whilst these owners are here they are sustaining the mess they created and we are still at a better level than some.

However it won't last forever and whilst this continues we just seem to live in suspended animation. Just loitering in a void of nothingness waiting for a miracle or the inevitable next implosion.

At least once its happened it has happened and is done and dusted. Then the only way should be up.

Can't stand Bolton and some of their stinking Manchester overspill OAP/Kindergarten stone island wannabe hoolie's.  Can't help but admire the way they are bouncing back though and the hardcore are sticking with them.

1 hour ago, DE. said:

The only minor positive from this disaster is that it proves to those who insist otherwise that the owners are indeed as clueless and apathetic as the day they darkened our doors. Nothing learnt, nothing gained and nothing to be optimistic about with them at the helm. If Mowbray goes the best we can hope for is that they luck into a cheap appointment who does well for a couple of seasons. That's our limit under the present regime and always will be, as they are simply unsuited in every way to own a successful football club. 

It's definitely a wake up call to fans who are softening to their continued debt undertaking ( debt they've created ).

Seems they took an interest again because we got promoted, briefly got excited and got the cheque book out only to be told 'slow build' and please give me 15 million annually for stability.

Now in typical rich Indian business nature they lost interest when it was clear there'd be no double bounce. A few years down the line it's going tits up so they inevitably bury their heads in the sand. Ignoring it other than leaving instructions to keep the lights on.

Yep, it's still 'us' and 'them'.

Drugs don't work and neither does our version of possession football.

His style of football allows players to hide far too easily and again that's another symptom of the real problem.  It allows multi personnel changes and kids to be plonked in without falling to bits and getting tonked every week.  I think that's a large part of the reason he's adopted it, however...

It's no good losing, losing is losing whichever way it's dressed up and here he's now presented them with a raft of ready made excuses. Mentality is all wrong and has been since they dumbed everything down after promotion. When instead that should've lit the fuse.

If he wanted to create a pressure free enviroment he seems to have done that certainly. Soon  turns into holiday camp mode, it used to be just do enough to keep everyone off our backs.  Lack of fans means they aren't even bothered about that now by the looks of it and the sounds of him.

I'm unlikely buy one again in the Venky era to be honest i just have no faith in this club with them steering it.  The appointment of Coyle tipped me over the edge after about 9 straight years. A few long term fans i used to go with stacked it before that because of the awful agent led nonsense. Non have yet returned full time and some of these date back to early 80's attendance like me.

To be fair the early Mowbray era restored a bit of faith in the football side of things if not the rest of it. I was tempted but then Waggots handling of ST's and closing more of the ground etc put me off.  For over 18 months now though iv'e seen straight through TMs babble, when you've seen a lot you just get a feel of how things start to shape up and where they'll head, ie nowhere.

I don't want fanciful guarantees of success or massive transfer spends. I just want to see the real above weight punching ambition that was always associated with this club.  Bad seasons, transition seasons are all part and parcel of it and so is changing manager when needed.

That's where we've been at for a long while.

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

It looks like it, but hard to tell. They just tend to grow a lot quieter after a defeat, and quieter still the more of them there have been. But come a win they seem to feel vindicated and spring back into life.

Of course, the same can be said for those who want him gone. It can feel churlish, or open you up to a lot of nonsense, to publicly state you want the manager gone after a decent result or two. Yet when we don't continue to state it at those moments, the happy clappers come out with 'where are the Mowbray Out brigade now?'

It's all very peurile. People should be able to just have a mature discussion about it, but it isn't the way of the world.

In truth with TM i think most of those who want change have wanted it for a while and made their own minds up over the last 18 months.

The glass ceiling was hit with some force a long time ago.  However last summer and the unexpected backing he received allowed a bit of breathing space and presented him with his best opportunity to back up his talk.

He's failed miserably on all fronts sadly, so a few victories in end of season dead rubbers and more bold talk aren't going to alter much opinion. We know what we are dealing with now and expect bucket loads of the same, great backing or not.

In short nothing will change he is what he is but all this 'integrity' and the rest of it veneer is wearing very thin now. Only the most head in the sands or manager over club lovers will remain his staunchest allies. 

He has a fragile ego we've seen that the min the media asked him a few searching questions.

That lasted all of 2 mins before they either bottled it or got reigned in. Things were probably said off record to fend them off. However it flagged up just how untouchable he sees himself here so any aggro from a crowd would tip him pretty quickly.

The covid situ has been both a hinderance and a help to his position this season. I'd like to think results would have been better with a crowd in but not naive enough to think they would have been good enough. 

I'm beyond bothering what anyone else thinks or says to be honest. SKY always have one agenda or another and we are already in their fans to blacklist book. Don't think it's an anti Rovers thing it's just too much internal influence in there from certain agents.

We'll never get away from that so just got to live with it. The thing is the truth always outs in the end, it always does.

They took Kean and Andersons side against the fans, they took Coyles to. Funny how they didn't throw out widespread support for Bowyer though who'd done far better than both and was getting a far rawer deal.

Look where Kean and Coyle are now though and where they've been since. Fans proven right all along and it'll be the same here. Mowbray might get a decent job somewhere but it won't last. He'll be back in footballs wastelands in no time without the the security of clueless billionaire backing.

I'm only bothered about what i see and hear on matchday week in week out at Rovers.  Sod the wider football public and media or what they think, it doesn't matter diddly squat outside of the Blackburn area.

10 hours ago, booth said:

Mowbray has obviously dug his heels in so I reckon they are going to give him the first 10-15 or so games next season and if flirting with relegation places they'll sack him. If we're heading towards another mediocre but safe season, they'll keep him till his contract runs out. They are trying to save a payout, it has to be.

This is how it'll play out except he'll walk and play the victim.

We are going to end up being the only club in England whose fans aren't looking forwards to getting back to normal in the ground again next season.

Instead of an expectant crowd turning up we'll have a 'Mowbray out' lynch mob.

Press will love that, Kean/Coyle mk2 is set to play out again here.

33 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

So it should- for me it wasnt the result that upset me (though that was bad enough) it was how we were outfought by a team which is (on paper) far inferior to ours. TM seems to lack the ability to get the best out of the players- surely a sign he needs to go.

Its been a regular theme through his tenure that though just cast minds back to us playing Wigan etc this stage last year. That's why it's vital we avoid another relegation scrap under him because the fate is sealed before it starts.

Although his points tally since arriving might have been midtable we went down with a whimper. The only real fight was on the last day, that's also why we never challenged for the lge 1 title. He threw the towel in on that way before he could have when the job was done.

Again upon promotion it was a case of job done, why push and try to kick on when we can plod to stability.

It's also we we've crumbled every time there's been a whiff of the top 6.

He just doesn't have that mentality it is all about the plod and it rubs off on the team and whole set up. Sadly over a year ago that turned to arse covering as well, there is no journey there's only the plod under him. The bus might get a few new tyres or a new gearbox every now and then but it'll always stay on the same flat route.

It doesn't have the horsepower or the driver for anything else.

1 minute ago, bluebruce said:

The problem with that theory is Waggott is already on record saying it won't make us any money and we may actually need to borrow more from the owners for it.

That's his sales pitch to the fans but i'll bet there are a different set of ideas in place in his head. 

22 minutes ago, matt83 said:

The irony is the system he’s brought in is a similar (the same) system he attempted in league one. A system by his own admission he had to change to get results. It didn’t work in league one but bound to work in the championship.

Thick as mince our Tone. Bless him. 

He lost plan A when Graham's legs finally went then of course Dacks injury last season. His answer to DG getting old was to get BB and Gallagher with an eye on changing the system.

Quickly realized that was never going to work so decided in his wisdom last season to use transition to possession based game as his excuse. This seasons seeds where sown long ago and it was unlikely to yield much covid/injuries or not.

He's ballsed it up when there was no need to other than his own two dud signings. He's been trying to cover those two up for 2 seasons now.

2 minutes ago, darrenrover said:

He ain't though! They think he's a prick and who could argue?

Just look and observe their body language!

Some should be very very grateful to him they should be nowhere near starting or even coming on as subs.

9 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

They have it easy under him. Holiday camp training. Nice wages. No pressure. It's a viscous circle. I'm sure some players want him out, but he had his crew. He's clever like that. 

As you touched on, we would have been better off playing our own players ,rather than loan in young lads. We can nothing from this set up. 

I understand using a few loans trying to get a bit of quality in we couldn't otherwise afford.  Just fluffing out the squad with other teams youngsters and playing them in front of ours though is twisted logic.

He should be starting our young lads every game now and phasing out the loanees for this season.  Makes you wonder what he's really up to but going off the honesty and integrity he keeps reminding us of, i'll just assume it's his method to keep everyone liking him.

45 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Give it a couple days and the Mowbray fan boys will be creeping back out of the wood work. We’ll get another draw soon and then it’ll be party time for them.

The theme now in the snowflake land of twitter and FB seems to have switched back to lay off Brereton.

They've given up seeking offence on TMs behalf so it's Bens turn again now. Fans on his back...from 200 miles away today.