Bells words about not having seen a manager with the passion and drive is also maybe an indicator. Mowbray seems a nice bloke but i can't imagine him giving much of a sales pitch in terms of ambition. I reckon quite a few of our players have drive given the age of them but that gets tempered by the dour demeanor and tactics.

You know very well neither of those things are likely to happen under this manager and owners.

If there's no re-investment and we have to rely on those he's already spent on, that has helped push us into FFP bollocks again. Then yes it's very possible. I don't consider any of the names linked to be anything other than a cheap hopeful punt. That won't cut it trying to replace someone like Armstrong it'll need BB and Gallagher to really step it up next season.

Remember the Rhodes long drawn out exit. He ended up leaving for about 9 million with add ons to take it to about 11 million. It was nowhere near the owners valuations and fantasy figures in the end. Realistically it got back what they paid and probably covered his wages whilst here. I expect this to end up similar, so costs and fee covered and we've had him help us to promotion and mid table security, then obscurity. Not bad business but when we can't make real money out of our top assets again it's not great business either. We again lose the top player and just cover a hole in the books with probably nothing but wages made available. Not really the Brentford/Barnsley model is it.

Watch out for the Facebook/Twitter Mowbray Ultras though !

Reason they hang on so long here is the reluctance to sack them and pay them up. Probably because of the stupid contracts they sign off in the first place. Also yet again could be down to the void between here and ownership and it all having to be agreed. Clouded by never having a board in Blackburn either with the power or capable of doing it themselves. So, someone usually tries to get them to walk of their own accord first. Kean - Singh brought in to annoy him at every turn but he still managed to engineer his own exit. Berg - Ended in court costing 2 million after about 2 months work. Appleton - Singh at work again. Bowyer - Started selling his players and bringing others in without is consent. Then the famous leak that he'd been sacked. He hung on though and got payed off. Lambert - Wise man covered himself. Coyle - Senior parachuted in, then out again after he'd got rid of clownpants. So quite what would happen now god only knows but the big difference is TM has the inside of the club in his pocket. Or so you would assume so getting an outside influence in will be tricky this time.

With Newcastle in the usual Ashley/sale/takeover induced turmoil and often seemingly in need of a few quick quid. It might have been an idea to low ball them 12 months ago with an offer to buy out AAs sell on clause.

So there's a bid but they don't say what it is ? Sounds like a sure fire way to start an auction without frightening anybody off. Get the lines in about wanting 20 million but will leave in a free in 12 months to balance it. Ground being prepped.

He's always struck me as a complete over thinker stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even when he did well for the first few full seasons a lot of the stuff caused some real head scratching. Now years down the line it's gone from constructive criticism to fearing for his sanity. Truth is he cannot resist meddling, changing and mixing and matching and it's down to him. There is no real 'model' ever being followed or formula being built up to it's just Tony Mowbrays DNA. It's his journey and his experiment not ours. About time we just became Blackburn Rovers again and the only model we need is one to believe in.

He's so full of sh#t these days anything can happen especially if it preserves his job.

Which turned out to be nonsense.

The manager preaches various models to follow ( most of them we already way ahead of funding & facility wise ) Yet his CEO is seemingly intent on the Charlton, Coventry league 1 downscale models he knew so well. Anyone would think he isn't really capable of anything better.

Wasn't Cheston semi in charge around then ? Just another in shoes two sizes too big for his feet, although i heard he did some sterling work in the last mess of taps off / FFP thumbscrews etc. End of the day it's a collective cock up that's landed us here again. Manager and CEO wasting money and not making the most of it. Owners spending big on whims then not on essentials. Yet happy to lose 20 million through the clubs books per year. Doubt anybody takes much notice or the power point man, doesn't sound like anybody listens to anybody much.

Probably can't even offer Armstrong a bigger contract to cover all bases whilst under embargo. Whatever variety of embargo it actually is. Useless the lot of them, i often get the impression Mowbray is more concerned about where his players go next making sure it's all smooth for them !

Called it ages ago and i still reckon Mowbray will have some kind of extension. It'll either kick in this season or after a small good run that happens occasionally it'll 'leak' out. Silence on this speaks volumes and maybe it's the real reason he appeared to be so disinterested and sulking. Something has clearly gone on last season and probably it was him seeking the assurances of a longer stay for his journey.

So we need an influx of big transfer cash to balance out FFP yet they are talking about part player swap ? No, not having that.

If we only have survival in mind then hoof might be the way to go. It would be handy to have someone like that in the squad though and an actual plan B. How many set pieces did we score last season or the one before that ? A pathetically low number i assume. Would do no harm having another option, another attempt at dominating possession stats style football will only deliver similar to last season again.

That's hindsight though as he wasn't crap at Leeds but if we are really being honest he was average. Like the term legend, or brilliant or great the crap jibe gets chucked about a bit too often. This is the Championship after all and for whatever reason he couldn't recreate his past form here. For me Tommy Spurr had his limitations but he was a better actual defender than either Douglas or Bell. From what we've seen of all 3 here so i'd be looking at someone of his ilk from the cheap section. Does what it says on the tin, everything here under this present regime seems like it has to be a damn experiment !

Yeah they all pour it on thick when they get signed but i just thought the last bit about not seeing that before was telling. I don't think it was a dig just an observation but it touches on something missing here as you say. Mowbray is clearly a passionate football man - when it comes to talking it - but drive to get us in the mix over just maintaining something he can cope with ? No chance.

Do you not read the LT ? 'On Jones, the 27 year old added: 'Meeting him, i saw his passion and his drive. I really bought into that and thought it was something i definitely want to work with. "It's different to what i've seen before" Pretty much what a lot of us feel is the missing ingredient here with a guy who prefers to plod on and protect his status quo above anything else.

Bell will probably finish above us in the league next season as well. His comments on his meeting with the Luton manager were quite revealing imo.

Coming to terms with owners giving so little a toss that they'll sit back and watch relegation form week after week, regardless of the possible consequences is one thing. Watching the manager overseeing it look and sound like he gives even less of a care about it is another. Worst thing about it all wasn't the predictable nature of the defeats etc it was having to watch and listen to him.

Changing full backs according to opposition at this level is a bit daft especially when they are of the Douglas/Bell variety. Lets just a left back in there and let him defend first and foremost, then leave him be if he's playing ok. Douglas looked a good signing on paper and most were pleased with it but in the flesh not so good. Never looked like he settled here and was obviously on the wane ability wise. For me just another get him for the sake of it signing with not enough thought into whether he'd do the job defensively. Like Bell more emphasis on what they want from him going forward.

He loves a project does Tony though.

Lets hope he's just one of those who needs a change like the usual championship journey man. Short contract then he can try and earn another.