Johnson is making Evans look good i think we have Whittingham mk2 here only probably costing a lot more.

Gallagher is a workhorse front man so he should be used as such as if you aren't whipping balls into the box in front of him then what is the point ? He's nowhere near savvy enough for the role of loan target man yet and may never be and he isn't a poacher so use his strengths not try and get something out of his weaknesses. In a two dragging defenders about and pushing on defending from the front, the kind of thing Rhodes couldn't do and got slagged for. Or if he has Dack or Armstrong behind him then spearheading attack he needs to be chasing balls into the channels, again dragging the defence about. Utilise his workrate because he's very little else. Otherwise he needs to be a right sided striker in a front 3 where you still need someone like Graham to hold the centre forward position. If you need a target man then buy one, if you need a poacher then buy one Mowbray you dick ! This is another player he's about to ruin...

Fair point about Hughes/Bowen. I've long wanted him back here i think he fits the club really well and in a similar way to when Mowbray came will be the right man at the right time. However the caveat i have on that is i'd want all the original Tafia gang i think that is what is missing at Rovers a proper management team structure. Not sure i'd want Hughes on his own having to work with some of who he inherits.

The top and bottom of the Brereton, Gallagher and that 12 million is simply this, neither were what was really/desperately needed at this moment in time. They are luxury players to sign when you have pot loads of money an already good first 14 or 15 and are just looking to fill it out with bit part young players of potential. We are not that club nobody in this league is so it was completely bonkers to splash that money on the likes of them in this era whoever is really responsible. To me it is obvious the manager didn't have a specific role in his team for either nor are they the types you set up your side around. Bonkers.

I don't remember Dunn being so supportive of Bowyer......

If he sets up like he has been doing we'll be a goal or two behind early on nothing is more certain.

If he took us down again no way would he bring us back that bolt has been shot. He did really well then and got the plaudits he deserved but for half a season he looked like he was needlessly making a dogs dinner of it. Just the same as the first few months of this season where he has employed pointless changes that just aren't working.

Yes madame i know we've spent 12 million on Brereton and Gallagher but they are young and English like Jordan was. That money is safe for a few years and you'll get it back with a cherry on top ! Now look at that million you gave Stevie Waggot he's got some lounges upgraded so that'll pay for itself and Mikey Cheston has got in new caterers to keep the fans happy. Me and Marky who you've just met have spent the extra you gave us on a fleet of ipads, screens and office furniture to scout the world and we've promoted our successful U23s coach to show everybody how to use these for football purposes. Marky by the way is doing 3 jobs as my coach, assistant manager and overall Director of Football operations !!!!!! Trading on bullshit they are now they've a host of things to throw out there about building football to cover over the trash on the park.

I was told by a player at the time there was a lot of one on one type stuff and i always assumed the emphasis was on personal player development and that was why the team lacked a bit overal. Tactics very very bland and basic but probably what you'd expect from a youth type set up. I think they were more interested or focused on getting players experience and putting value in them than any real drive to be in the play offs. I'm not sure what the crack is these days apart from keeping everyone happy and trying to justify a big wage budget to the owners by trying to use everyone. We've no real idea how Bowyer would've spent 5 milion quid if he was given it, i doubt he'd have blown big bucks on Brereton or Gallagher types unless he had no choice. My guess he'd have spread it all around the squad on blandness where's TM has tried to be too clever when all it called for was to be smart.

Bowyer did well with modest bits of money and loans in terms of who he got in even if he fell down a bit in using them. Being fair most of his shockers came when we were under embargo his judgement of lower level freebies was terribly flawed compared to some and it was always a bit bizarre being a youth expert he never went more into that market. However i'll never be convinced he wasn't having some of the rubbish he signed pushed in his direction. He did however repeatedly get the best out of Rhodes, Gestede when he was here, Conway and Marshall, even Steele looked ok for a short spell. I'd say the main reason for that is because he kept starting them and stuck with them and stuck with his boring style. A bit of a law of averages type scenario whereas you've no chance of that with TM. Which 3 or 4 players does Mowbray get the best out of on a regular basis ?

Perfect scenario for Venkys they again now have a set of people all pissing in the same pot running the club for them who are more trustworthy on the face of it. Investing in what they are told to invest in, selling the odd one for a few million to bring a bit back, signing players via favoured channels , using the odd youth player they think will be worth a few quid in time and building the inside of the club akin to a business. They can rest easy now and leave it alone just checking in every 6 months. Any attitude probably comes from being safe in the knowledge they are delivering in all areas....except the only one that really matters to fans, on the pitch but that doesn't concern the ones who are sponsoring it all.

Why sign a midfielder who drives forward with the ball or gets forward to support attacks if you then tell him you don't want him to do it and try and drill it out of him ?

Holtby picks up one of those 'knocks'...

Seems that way although he came out with similar in lge 1 when fans were asking why he seemed to set up just to stop the opposition.

Some skewed logic coming across here but each to their own. For the record not many will bother about style too much if it's delivering results good enough to challenge for promotion. Flip side is you don't get bonus points for style if you end up in a relegation battle due to inexperience. Houghton over Johnson is an absolute no brainer.

They know people are moaning about the tombola team selections and formations so all of a sudden he's touching on his reasons for doing it. They know people are moaning Holtby was withdrawn on Sat after having a cracking game and looking fine so he's now touching on his reasons for doing it. Foxing opposition scouts and the bedding in of an experienced player who's fitness stats were declared good anyway when he signed might seen very odd to us but back in India.... He's covering himself via the press by the sounds of it.

If Mowbray had a similar philosophy to those two i think we might be onto a winner he's old school from a similar mould to them. Sadly whilst his teams might be capable of better bits of football they also severely lack the solidity of the other two. So frustrating.

Just for once it would need a manager with some fairly recent decent pedigree not as guy off the scrapheap books of a favoured agent or someone who had a promotion 10 years ago followed by a catalogue of average and rubbish. They have the clout and the club has the facilities, foundations and potential. I don't buy into this we are stuck with what we have or whatever we can scrabble about for nonsense for one minute and never have. The only problem with BRFC on this issue is those doing the recruiting not the calibre of what is gettable.

He blamed last seasons awful run on the absence of Lenihen which obviously didn't help but everyone watching regularly knew it wasn't all down to that by a long way. Now he has a similar excuse even though he has got what he must believe is adequate cover in with Toisin and he has got rid of Mulgrew. Cunninghams absence to me isn't an excuse because he's continued to have the previous 2 left backs on the books even though they weren't good enough and allowed one to step to centre half. He's also got in a guy he's told everyone can play left back as well as a multitude of other positions. He should have adequate cover there instead of shoving capt fantastic across, another self inflicted wound. He's now in the 3 game territory for me, shape up or....

If you read on here people have been saying that the past few weeks expecting this great win out of nowhere. It's becoming the struck clock syndrome.

This to me is a big contributor to the problem then you've got the manager and now Dack coming out with the old we need consistency line. They way they go about things goes right against this with the chopping and changing you either have multi purpose players and multiple formations or you have a core style which is consistent and the best first 11 to get results out of that on a weekly basis. If they train during the week the same way swapping and changing about instead of drilling stuff in them until it hurts then again no surprise at what happens on a matchday. Even Nixon described Rovers as the enigma team in the Championship looking like several different sides even in one game never mind week to week. It seems though that as long as we plod on with 1.5 points per game type form everything is fine.

We've had some shocking turnouts at Brum in the Prem years especially night games although i think the prospect of a 1.5hr journey often taking double that is largely to blame. They had some bad ones up here as well though to be fair, about 120 in a cup game one night when Hughes was our boss and that miserable toad Bruce was there. So i really wouldn't expect many there tomorrow night even if the form was a bit better. Credit to the hardy bunch who go i hope they avoid the loose change that usually flies at you courtesy of their unwashed.

At Rovers we seemed to get punished when he did but yesterday they had people clearing up for him. He also made numerous good tackles and blocks something that had all but deserted him here.

I'd never judge him on that they're all pish at the min and to be honest i don't think he'd have been anywhere near their starting 11 for a long while if they had any real options. I've always been a fan of Mulgrew the footballer but not Mulgrew the defender but it has struck me a few times how he looks comfortable in the Wigan back line at the min.

Mulgrew looked a good steady centre half on yesterdays evidence not the weak link he appeared to be here.