Great post Crimpshine sums it up perfectly, forget all the soundbites about top 6, play offs, finishing 7th etc i think it's a given if we finish in the same position or slightly better it'll be spun on its head as we needed to consolidate etc. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but when they are putting prices up the moaning about lack of crowds increasing and terrible atmosphere it's a bit rich when all the signs are 'we'll just plod on win a few lose a few and see where it takes us come May'. Fans aren't daft, players and manger all need to be switched on every single game and have a collective desire to aim as high as possible. I called for a bit of a shit or bust mentality from them, not the investors in terms of spending but the efforts on the pitch. We should have more than enough to not go down even if we go all out for wins and don't get them. There's nothing to lose by having a right good go to win every game and if we still end up midtable so be it. Think we should try and maximise what's at the disposal whilst we have it.

I think Boro were going through a transition and bit of a downscale when Mowbray was there similar to GBs time here. They had a few big earners and a lot of young players so were trying to strike a balance again plus Gibson had business issues to sort allegedly so he turned the tap off a bit. They wanted a steady hand and got one in TM but when it came time to push it on again, well... you know the rest.

That's exactly what boils my piss regularly but he'll never change and it always seems the remit to whoever is in charge here to use as many players as possible for some very odd reason. My guess would be word from above to keep value / get value in players by appearances and justify the wages they are paid otherwise the football experts in India will say you don't need so many on the books. In TM they've got the perfect guy to apply that he must lay 12 shirts on the bed every single morning and 24 pairs of socks before looking at his diary and selecting accordingly for the day in hand.

It's a Saturday 3 pm, averagely priced it's the localest derby this season and it's ten mins up the road. No excuses just man up get down there and show some support. If they don't turn in a performance of some description there's the added bonus of thousands giving them a roasting. The yellow streak in some of our fans at times is as bad as any player or manager, boo hoo i'm not going if i don't think it's a nailed on win etc. Derbies are derbies anything can happen there's no excuse for less than 4k for this we always turn out at Bolton on non tv Sat aft games despite their price rip offs down the years. It's about time we turned them over again and we'll be going there as underdogs now so just think if we win and it sends them on a bad run. Be there !

Unless disaster strikes and we plummet down the league on a similar run to last winter i see no point in any change this season even though he's beginning to boil my piss in many ways. Best thing to do would be asses it before or after the next window depending on what investment might be available and if or how he chose to spend it. Then make a decision that if we are well placed and we don't make or nearly make the play offs or if we are just plodding along to a similar finish as last season it is time for a fresh approach next season and stick to it. Get the irons in the fire, make plans and shake hands in May. Knowing them and us lot though we'd be howling for him to come back by next October !!!!

Except if it's influenced from upstairs he might have a free pass on that for now.

The man who decides how much VH money needs distributing over here and when is best to do it i'd wager. Wonder if he's a 'stakeholder' as well ?

He's missed too much regular football in the last few years i'm afraid and he's made an awful lot of money whilst doing so. His rep as a big money goal poacher is all but gone he needs to start again. By league one i mean he'll score down there in a decent set up however they play as long as he gets chances. In the Championship it's just about nailed on fact that a team has to set up a certain way to get the best out of him and nobody seems to want to do that or persist with it at least so he's expected to be a super sub or something.

When other teams sit off a bit and look to stop you/counter and you retain the ball often sideways and backwards for long periods it gives the impression of dominating the ball. I'd much rather we dominated the opposition. On Gallagher i actually think he'll serve us well over time and at 3 million down plus add ons it's a lot of money tied up not as crazy as the pointless and very silly Brereton signing. Gallagher wasn't a goal getting type before he came so i wasn't expecting what some seem to be and to me he's another who'd better suit being in one of those things of the dim and distant past - a strike partnership. Him doing the graft and running the channels looking to drag defenders around and open up space. But again in my humble opinion the wrong signing at the wrong time just like BB and having all that money tied up there is crazy and another reason the squad is lop sided. Chuck Samuel in there and you've THREE non scoring non creative strikers the manger is persistently trying to make into 'wide right sided' strikers or some other bizarre name not yet invented. Quite ridiculous really. As for Rhodes absolutely no point Mowbray getting hold of a guy like him and tbh although i'll always hold him in high esteem he seems a proper busted flush now. A stint in league one playing every week would do Jordan the world of good i think that's where his future as a goalscorer lies.

I think we might pinch this one, Gallagher netting the winner. QPR 1 Rovers 2

Better all round two evenly matched teams grinding each other out first half but Rovers stepped up a bit second half. Never ceases to amaze how we can do that against the better sides but often not the bread and butter in between, where was that urgency on Saturday ??? Armstrong did well after his recent non performances maybe someone has had a word or maybe it's just him being him, when he's up for it he's a decent member of the squad but when not looks very dispensable. Good point in the end but i still don't get nor like this managers tactics and formations in attack or his obsession with strikers wide and in particular his fondness for Samuel. Said it loads before Mowbray is a long ball pragmatic manager dressed in fancy clothes i wish he'd just bite the bullet and sign players to play that way and make us hard to beat ugly bully boys or get them playing some more urgent dynamic stuff from the start and sign some pace up front because this caught in two minds act holds back the decent squad he's put together. Having said all that it's a tough old league but that bit of savvy is what can separate very evenly matched squads and there is a lot of those in the champ.

Now i'm not saying it's easy but if you have the ambition you are half way there, with the money Mowbray has spent and some of the wages we still throw round anyway i don't think it's beyond unreasonable to assume they could have sourced a good striker on loan and invested properly in defence and keeper. BB, Gallagher, Downings contract and the loan fee etc of the City kid is what ... c 15 million right there. They have shown they have good days hopefully to outweigh the bad but defence still consists of a loaned in keeper, someone converted a few seasons ago, a newly converted LB, a loanee and a midfield utility man. The same things will continue to bite us on the arse this season that's obvious and next season or even before the end of this it could be all change again, that's part of our problem.

Holtby shown signs of that as did Johnson at first, lets see how long it takes to drum it out of him. Don't give and go son give and stay !

Are we in the territory of they can't do what he wants them to do i wonder ? Zipping it around on the training ground and square pegs looking comfortable in round holes then on Ewood faced with real opposition applying their own tactics it's a case of stage fright and we get the nervous sideways tip tap stuff ? Either way a lot of it is down to him if that's the case as by now he really should know how to get the best out of what he has and in what formation and tactics they are most effective.

So if TM had spent that 12 million on an actual decent champ striker ? The main point is if you have money to spend then use it properly in the right areas and build around a good keeper and defence. If you already have one who can put it in the onion bag regularly then get proper back up for when he's out. All that team started with Mimms it was imperative we get a good keeper alongside a rugged defender, a full back and a lump up front. All disgarded when the upgrade continued, obviously we can't do that now but it all started with the basics the bedrock and cornerstones of keeper, centre defence and striker. Kenny had money true but he followed at plan still.

Sadly that's how a lot of them roll that's why a managers job is so difficult and imo why they should rule firm but fair from the get go take no shit whatsoever. I don't think that's the case either with some managers it's just a wage to them. Look at Mowbrays comments in the Bennett article regarding training etc it's easy to see why he's big on the pecking order in the dressing room but that just like only signing nice lads has its drawbacks. Once they get their name on a several year thousands of pounds per week contract owt can happen, they are on too much doh at most clubs in the top 2 divisions now that's the root of it all. No wonder the likes of Souness would never get back into the game he'd knock the living shite out of a few of them within the first few weeks.

Not under a gaffer who tends to put the least suited to his tactics up front when the only man suited to it isn't playing.

A team with the correct balance put together on modest investment to specifically do one job, oh for the days.. ? Mind you the right side has a modern slant with a young centre back at RB and an experienced RB at right wing.... But if they are good enough to do it it'll work. Today that would see Price on the left to come in on his right foot, Newell on the right because he runs up and down all day long and Speedie on the bench with probably Sellars up top on his own !!!! I'm not joking either.

They must have some serious training sessions because the way we approach games it often looks like that's where they've emptied the tanks.

That doesn't mean he won't put it in if he plays to try and prove a point. He'll be thinking why did they chase me for so long and shell out a million pound loan fee for a season if i'm not getting a sniff. A few reasons for that right and wrong but you can understand it from his point of view although no excuse for not being serious about the warm ups. Something a young player has to learn, someone goes over just before kick off or goes back in the dressing room and spews up and he's in, then he's putting himself at risk from not warming up properly. Yet again though it's down to the coaches to get on his case or report it to the manager who then bollocks him or sulks himself and ignores him even more. When all is said and done the onus last summer should've been to sign a good centre half to replace Mulgrew and then a good back up to cover Lenihen and Williams, it's as simple as that really we've been being undone by the same type of goes constantly.

The only pressure that'll come from some of the owners or whoever will be when they start asking why their 7 million and 5 million 'investments' aren't doubled in money and ready to sell. Until then it'll remain as you were.

Spot on the rebuilding has to hit a peak every now and then before it needs doing again through the natural course of football even if it isn't forced by a need for money. As pointed out we saw with GB a good squad put together it just needed a few astute final pieces and steering in the right direction. It wasn't it was allowed to bumble along just doing enough over a season then after a while it starts going backwards and all of a sudden there is no money to sustain it or rebuild it when it starts to be dismantled. Real danger that'll happen again the signs are all there although i still believe we'll go a place or to better than last season. That'll be celebrated but sooner or later the inevitable will happen although maybe this time there'll be instant reinvestment or a continuing rolling modest investment season on season like we've seen recently. Again that's a good thing but the problem i see with this manager is he goes for stop gaps, old boys connection and favoured agents players rather than going all out to get serious quality in the right area's i.e the spine of the team and building around that. A Boro fan said a frw months ago that if Mogga was there and given the money they'd spent he'd have them promoted in a season, i seriously beg to differ. Unless of course there is a different remit within the club there from Gibson than here at Ewood..... Again i'm not advocating his removal for a second and i like a lot of his signings this season but they still aren't horses for courses everyone seems to be a utility man in some form and that's how he uses them so it's no wonder we get disjointed performances. In the bigger picture the money he has spent in the last two seasons could and should have been spent better even before we go on about the tactics etc.

What we have is Keith Hill and David May, good honest pros trying their best and learning that position as they go along but only really in there by default. Wouldn't it great if the City lad turned out to have a big Col style impact....at both ends !

Correct the soft underbelly and mentality continues to let us down you have to do it every week if you want to be successful you can't just switch on and off according to opposition, general mood etc. For the managers part in it if you don't strengthen properly in the areas that really need it you won't progress like you should or at all even. Central defence being the case in point as it has been ever since the relegation season and why lavish money in another area on people who aren't really what you desperately need ? You need goals from front men, you need an eventual replacement for your talisman striker so for gods sake buy or recruit somehow a goalscorer not a hard working 'wide' striker or the most expensive young sub in championship history.

He's playing Bennett because he's now his lieutenant in the dressing room and i'd suggest he needed one after easing out Mulgrew. He had an obsession with Samuel all the time before he was injured and although it's good to see him back fit it's 100% typical nice guy Tony to involve him as soon as he could. He's a player who never made any difference before so he's not going to now never mind the nailed on fact he can't play right wing. It's getting ridiculous now he spends millions on non scoring strikers yet tries to patch up the defence with moving people about and loans then wonders why we keep getting undone conceeding the same type of goals and not being strong enough to notch enough upfront in tight games. Keeps playing, returning to, doing the same thing over and over with his favs etc, this nice guy act has gone on long enough now !