So who was at fault ? I suggest you watch the full first half then you might actually grasp what people are on about. Wrong game and wrong opposition.

He certainly looked to be the scapegoat on Saturday i felt sorry for the lad.

I can't recall him ranting at a player directly the way he did at Dolan on Sat. Maybe i'm wrong but make of it what you will.

Will this permanent signing have the name Middlesborough somehow connected to it i wonder ?

The first half on Saturday with those 3 was ridiculous but to be fair on each player they still put a shift in doing the dirty work. Maybe that was just part of the plan but so many times when we had the ball it came to nothing because it was so disjointed and the ball wouldn't stick. His response was to have a rant at Dolan then haul him off at half time. Young lad under the bus again because the manager plays him out of position but he didn't seem to be ranting at BB or Gallagher. Both were useless anywhere near the ball despite trying hard. I actually felt sorry for all 3 of them rather than angry because they aren't really good players each one has their good points. That system against that opposition didn't play to any of them, i can't see how not utilizing your own strengths is supposed to hinder the opposition.

This is where i'm at with this although it'll probably just end up in rotation. Hopefully the lad is the real deal but after Elliot it seems a few are getting carried away with expectation.

It would be such a Rovers thing to do that after years of taking punts and wasting money, they end up landing in the play offs via a depleted squad and bunch of kids and loans ☺️

If someone on a contract on a modest wage does alright you can offer to extend it and keep them around. Chances of us keeping a loan after displaying their talents is zero. However i'm not about all that now like i said earlier it's a bite the bullet season. They've set out with a high risk strategy anyway. Instead of spend on wages and gamble it's prune everything back whilst there is opportunity and hope to get away with it. So having started that i think it should be seen through now as best it can. Then hopefully there'll be a bit to invest again next summer. And our young squad is a season wiser and ready to be built on. As always though most things rest on the nouse of those doing the building.

There are no guarantees loans work out either though the only ones that really have here will have cost a few quid. Tosin, Reed, Elliot, THB etc They've already taken that gamble of letting experience go and not replacing it so we are already in the hands of the gods. What if there is as i suspect no real money for loans either ? Just whatever we can get for the smallest wage contribution in return for guaranteeing games. Then they have to be found a place in the team, get several in under those conditions then what does your season then become about ? It becomes about them.

Nymabe and Rothwell are still Rovers club assets so any available funds should first be directed into trying to secure that. You are generalizing a bit there whereas i see it like someone else pointed out. Get a couple of good loans max to help ensure the season isn't a disaster but the rest should just be back up to our own. I'm still non plussed about getting excited about big clubs kids here. They should be the icing on the cake in a squad going for promotion. Not the main feature in one happy with midtable and supposedly rebuilding with a youthful lower wage set up. Then money might become available again down the line to get in some better players of our own to add to what we have. I'm trying to take the longer term view here as we are supposed to be on some sort of journey. Yet what gets proposed is often just short term fixes.

Just show at least some kind of attacking intent from the start so we don't end up under the cosh so easily. If he starts with BB and Gallagher wide and Dolan or another small player isolated up top and virtually writes us off as an attacking force i think i'll give up. Forest 1 Rovers 1

Surely it is the only way to actually build for the future with a lower cost base. Instead bringing in loads of short term fixes and prioritizing them and their appearances is counter productive. Finish 12 th, go around in circles every season wasting a few million in loan fees. When you get lads like Elliot as good as they are you end up building your team to suit them. They prosper and move on and you have to start again. This season should be about utilizing that 12 million quid strike force and our own assets. They need some help but they should be the priority not some kid from Liverpool or City.

The whole point is to grow the ones we have and grow as a team. You have to start somewhere and now is the time to do it. We need some depth for sure but we need to utilize what we have first. Second half Saturday we ended up with several attacking players on pressing Millwalls back line. It took going behind then fans getting restless for that to happen. It shouldn't have to be like that. We have the bodies he just needs to start using them properly and play our strengths.

Correct, everything that tends to rile fans in general he takes the opposite view. It screams of ten bob journo trying to garner a bit of attention on the back of controversial opinion. Loads of them on there and best served by the mute button.

That can awkward as well though as the tickets come back down on the supporters coach i think. A few people on Saturday turned up early at the Millwall visiting end ticket office only to be told your tickets haven't arrived back here yet.

When we were signing the likes of Tosin, THB, Reed and co they were in seasons with bigger squads were the objective was 'supposed' to be a crack at the top end. Now we are in a season of complete transition to younger less costly players to reset the books. Therefore imo this season should be all about getting games into our own players and seeing who is ready and who isn't etc. By all means get some decent back ups in but the priority and focus should be on our own. And hopefully getting another few young players in for the long term. It's a bite the bullet season with the aim to stay clear of trouble so why waste money and squad places doing other clubs/players favours. I was encouraged by what i saw on Saturday in terms of effort and resilience.

Looks a shaggy haired weedy donkey when he's wide striker getting knocked over and just falling over. Looks like Diaz the Chilean powerhouse when he's in and around the box though and making goal facing runs. Mowbray just sort yourself out once and for all with this lad and he can be a baller.

A hard earned and fully deserved point in another game of two halves. First half absolute disjointed rubbish again with big lads wide running around not even looking like footballers. And a lost little boy up front chasing shadows then copping an earful of his manager for some reason. Quite why he persists with that is beyond puzzling and it's now wonder people want change. Millwall had one trick and that was bang it down the right side all day but i thought Rovers defended well. The young lads stood up to everything thrown at them and there was plenty from a bullying home side. Impressed with Pickering who showed more reading of the game in that first half than Bell did in 3 years. Likes a challenge as well and tends to win them, behold a defender who can actually defend ! Ayala was good there is no doubting his calm presence will be vital this season so pray he stays fit. He also didn't look like he was afraid of relaying his frustrations towards the bench. Second half was better and they looked a different team once he abandoned the first half tactics. Their goal finally came out of the blue but they'd been trying that all afternoon so no real shock it paid off. Was impressed the way the team and fans rallied to get back into i thought they were going to cave in. Mowbray got his changes right but there was a 'sort it out' chant in bis direction. Anyone who thinks the whole match going fans are still worshipping him couldn't be more wrong. I got a sense it would've turned yesterday if we'd let another in. Two blokes were having a row about it at half time that looked like it might come to blows. Group of young fans kept trying to get the blue & white army chant going but it rarely caught on. They were getting miffed about it as well. Players are clearly playing for him and following his instructions though and he was quite animated yesterday. He really needs to sop making rods for his own back though with the stupid starting formations. That has held the club back when the squad was stronger and it's easy to see why we have these season ruining death spirals. Good point though in the end and fans were good second half supporting the team.

Aye and he peaked here the season after league 1 i'd say as it was obvious then he wasn't going to kick the team on. A bit like Souness though if he'd left this or last summer then history would be quite kind to him in fans eyes in years to come. After promotion he had an increased budget and 6 million to invest but there was nothing wise about where it went aside from AA. Now we are such a mess again he can't even re-invest that so instead of a repeat of his West Brom miracle we are more likely starring down the barrel of a Coventry job.

Fans have to accept most managers even good ones have a shelf life and Souness was no different. They need their big signings and big players to keep performing and they need big money to replace those when they don't. Without that then what once worked stops working the same and then the rot sets in and it's time to move on. Souness took Rovers as far as he could and it was a spectacular ride but after it peaked he was out of ideas so started gambling. His policy was big names and big egos, don't need much coaching just need motivating and pulling into line. Amoruso, Ferguson, Yorke, Sukar etc just didn't work like Tugay, Friedel, Cole and a few others. You could see what he was trying to do but it didn't work and he lost the plot and his rag. We were just fortunate he peaked in his management years here for a few years and it was always going to come off the rails at some point. I get people like to point out the failings but he really should be judged on his success. The rest doesn't really matter because the club was run superbly and we turned it around because they employed the right guy. A guy who they probably wouldn't have appointed if it wasn't for Souness introducing him to the club in the first place. Oh to have one of them back now!

Yep they might get one in fit for purpose but the rest will probably be just grab the cheapest. Then try and fit them in anywhere anytime.

Jc 19 to 20 i think. All 3 lanes and hardshoulder need resurfacing.

There remains the prospect of him finding his rhythm and some fitness and doing well. The prospect of getting value for money out of him over 3 years remains dubious. Although if he was fit and under contract when we signed him he'd still have cost millions before any wages. So it's swings and roundabouts when it comes to the money i suppose. It's only ever an issue when they don't play or are crap.

He feels sorry for the billionaire owners whose share prices remain strong despite the pandemic. He feels sorry for his squad so rotates them, he feels sorry for other players who can't play or he isn't going to use. So carries them on their contracts or sometimes even extends them. All using the clubs money. He feels sorry for anybody who might leave Middlesbrough FC and be without a nice secure contract. He feels sorry for himself and every challenge managing a football club might bring. Sorry for everything he can spin to cover his own arse yet never sorry for the death spirals and never finishing in the top 10. Martyr.

I mentioned it because it was one of the more plausible theories iv'e heard. This guy is adamant Ayala was going abroad just for the money until Rovers upped their offer. Probably got a whacking great signing on fee and the balance on the contract is a bit less per week.