Said it half a dozen times before but if going into these last few games Mowbrays arse was on the line they'd have all come out fighting on the front foot. It's a good bet we'd have taken 3 to 9 points we've seen it before but we always see too much of is the tepid stuff we even saw it fighting relegation. There was no pressure on them after the lockdown just a case of lets go all guns blazing to win as many as we can and see were we end up. What we've seen since we caught Bristol cold is akin to pre season stuff, tap it about and get as many involved as possible. Really got me angry that more than anything Mowbray says or even his persistence with the nonsense with Gallagher. Actions speak louder than words and what we've seen speaks volumes about the lack of urgency running through the whole camp.

I thought we were on about Travis ? I want to see him become the all action dynamic midfielder he looks capable of not be turned into the next Lowe. I agree on Rothwell i don't think this level suits him at all but on the subject of both players i want to see manager and coaches up off the bench encouraging and hollering at them to do the things they do well. Souness was good at that sort of thing.

Certain managers get hold of a talent and harness it others immediately try and take the edges off but sometimes it's the edges that make that player a bit different. We've seen it all before both sides of the coin.

When we keep going on long winless runs anyway i don't see why he's so risk averse to just having a go. The last 3 games sums it all up for me. He says we probably aren't at that top 6 level yet and he's right but neither are Preston and a host of other clubs but somebody will take those spots. I'd ask is he at that level himself in terms of ambition and balls ? It doesn't look like it and on another note i'm sure a 12 million injection over 2 summers would transform a few into being there. All you ask as a fan is that he and they fight tooth and nail for the prize when it's in touching distance.

He's a fearless young player with a bit of drive. That gets drummed out if them in favour of becoming a water carrier. It's the way these days in this league.

His strengths and his blind spots just about balance each other out i think and that reflects itself in the league positions and transfer business. Any real internal pressure and i think he'd crumble pretty quickly just cast the minds back to that horrendous run when he was whinging about being ( 1.5 hrs ) away from his family and having 2 week breaks etc. It almost sounded like he wanted sacking sometimes to be put out of his misery he definitely looked like he needed a break. Also lets not forget how much he and Waggot have convinced them to spend on the infrastructure recently. There's the alleged new scouting network and they employ people to sit in offices watching players then they employ people to fly drones around the training pitch filming everything. There's probably a host of other stuff as well. Make no mistake these lot are costing the club a lot of money on top of the transfer fees yet we aren't seeing any bang for the bucks really yet. Sooner or later surely he's going to get pulled up on it.

I think he might be about to go from coasting it to having a very difficult job next season given what may happen with the covid fall out and budgets etc. We'll see what the cosy jobs for the boys club he seems to rely so heavily on is really made of. The loss of a couple of top players like Dack & Armstrong, the absence of any luxury style loaness and the inability financially to bring much in other than freebies and lower end loans would there be enough in what he's 'built' to even make midtable ? That's how flimsy it is if you break it down, at present we remain one step away from being a really good side - a good reliable striker would have made all the difference these past few games, or a younger Danny Graham. Yet we are also one step away from potentially being a really struggling one. We need the bean counters to find the Boris magic money tree this summer as much as ever.

True but if he sold 12 million worth of players he's covering his mistakes somewhat financially and in their eyes that'll probably earn him more kudos.

Came, had a listen and fooked off again. One of the most overated managers of modern times though so nowt lost i don't think.

A sense of humour at last ?

I can see clearly both his good points and his weaknesses.

I know you're blinkered in terms of Mowbray.

who was it then last time you were scaremongering ?

Why have you switched from threatening Jurdan Ali to Phil Brown ?

35-1 i'll say no more.

Point was up until he blew that money yes he was doing a good job even if it is frustrating at times with the way he operates. Trouble now is those buys and that money is defining him in reality it's probably an average job as our league position will show.

It really doesn't a plane ride halfway across the world to say here's a budget similar to last season as it's obvious that's what you'll need just to tread water again.

The one person i wouldn't sell would be Armstrong but he's likely to interest a few ambitious Championship sides. We don't know what'll happen with Dack but with Graham now almost done for i think Arma with or without Dack in the side might guarantee 10 goals a season. Lose him and really where are any goals coming from ? He's a match winnner, game changer type we have no others.

If we take away the two big money buys i think Mowbray has done a decent job of sorting Rovers out to be fair. The bigger picture says straight back from league 1, midtable consolidation and what should be higher placed finish this time. Several youth blooded and a couple of his buys worth a lot more that he paid for them. All that is in his plus column anybody looking at managers would say that's a reasonable return. Yes we know when it's analyzed in all its gory detail there's a lot more to it but anybody glancing in from the outside just sees that. Where its all fell down in the minus column is the two huge money by our standards signings and the fact he clearly hasn't got a scooby what he supposed to be doing with them. Added in we'll have to assemble a new back line again with no money shows that he really is floundering to actually build a side. If he'd started from the back like he should have done two years ago we'd probably still only be midtable again but the base for several seasons to come would be in place. For the first time under him i genuinely fear for next season.

The manager has to shoulder some responsibility for the missed chances imo. When you constantly buy wide right sided forwards with no real goal scoring pedigree you simply cannot be surprised when they spurn good chances. Good strikers do but they also sniff out goals and often take that one gilt edged chance that might fall for them in games. Poor strikers don't and there's a world of difference. We know TM has a weak spot when it comes to a proper defensive set up but it seems he's similar in the striker dept. If that was Graham, Armstrong or Dack missing them you moan but when it's Gallagher or Samuel or Brereton you cannot be in the least bit surprised. There's 3 there combined cost of about 12 million with barely a consistent scoring record between them they just aren't finishers or poachers. He should be trying to make at least one of them into a proper target man but he doesn't so putting your stock in them to win you games is misguided. It's poor management i'm sorry but he has to be called out on it, what we see from Samuel is just history repeating itself but he's obsessed with him for some unfathomable reason. What we see from Gallagher & brereton are two lads shot of confidence not helped in anyway by the constant messing around with their positions. No team who was 1 point off the play offs should be playing like they don't believe but this lot do.

I'd have thought you lived in Tony's basement. Mind you i suppose your head office is down south ?

Look at the hole in the finances this pandemic will have created and that's when we were sailing close to the wind anyway. Not sure just why anyone expects any transfer activity inwards at all there'll be a shortfall of about 3 million to cover from this lack of income. Even if they granted him the same budget as last season which would be generous given the circumstances any room in that will be making up this seasons losses. To carry on as we are it will need them writing off similar money to the crazier days of Shagnew etc. I'm with one or two others though and will say whatever the circumstances i'll find it very very hard to stomach if he hands out new deals to the likes of Samuel, Smallwood etc.

TM has this new possession based style in mind but he's forcing it on players who are neither good enough nor confident enough to apply it effectively. That's why we get caught out dawdling or asleep time and again it just doesn't suit what he has and what he's signed. No manager in their right mind would sign the likes of 6'4" Gallagher to play wide right forward in this system. You need a right sided Armstrong to balance it out and either a competent target man to spearhead it or a competent shoe in for Dack when you play that way. I think one of the reasons behind the Tosin signing was because he wanted a ball playing center half as back up. Yet it was negated from the off by letting go the keeper best suited to playing it out from the back so straight away it's being muddled up again. I don't think it's wide of the mark to say some of the best bits of football since Kean relegated us have come under Mowbray. In terms of swift countering and passing and pressing yet he completely shies away from it as our main style. Prefering a regular mix and match set up to accommodate his players and a dull insipid core style. Some of the most frustrating unbalanced stuff in the last 8 years has also being regularly foisted upon us and the team also. It's absolutely infuriating to get themselves in such a good position only to follow it up with the manner of tactics and performances we've seen over the last 3 games. To not just have a go at it when there is absolutely nothing to lose really doesn't send out a good message.

That's the main point for me as we know we aren't spectacular. We know we are missing the talisman but it's the approach to these games that gets the hackles up. In a good position nothing to lose just have a bloody go. Not this guy though not in his DNA unless his arse is on the line of course.

3 on the bounce. Perish the thought anyone might be angry.