Another season of clenching teeth 'stability' is the plan behind closed doors i think despite what bold words were trotted out previously. Clearly the focus is on blending youngsters into the squad and a few in the team hence putting so much stock into Bennett, Downing Johnson etc and you'd have thought Mulgrew but his attitude seems to have changed once he's realised he isn't going to be the main man anymore. Top 6 was just bluster talk now whether that's changed after the Pune meetings and who's presented a plan to who we'll never know but i said all summer how relaxed TM has seemed and how i think that affected him not prioritising the defence. As we know with V's though they can bite you on the ass and no amount of 'investing' their money wisely in strikers to double your money will save you if they get twitchy. I reckon TM and the gang thought they were on a real cushy number the past couple of seasons but fans getting tetchy, journos asking probing questions and possibly a few questions being raised from India has pricked the ego's a bit. Still has a very familiar feel to it all this like an air of inevitability. A few goods wins spins it on it's head though.

I agree but it often doesn't work like that when you just throw a random side together. What we lack is a core style of play that they are all being coached in and a bit of cohesion at the back then it's easier for others to slot in. Mowbray is very much a squad man who seems to want 100% flexibility in formations and players in and out so that results in making games like last night difficult for ourselves.

Graham and Dack will keep him in a job and the money on Brereton and Gallagher will remain wasted at the present time. Good win entertaining game, same old weaknesses and strengths on display whatever side he turns out. To be fair though it's not unusual in these type of games to rest the big guns then have to wheel them off the bench to get a result Liverpool do it all the time.

Complete contradiction i'm afraid, why throw 12 million on two 'investment' type strikers if we are at such a financial disadvantage and why chuck about a million quid on a 35 year old squad man for a season ? Never mind almost ignoring the defence ! Doesn't add up and somebody has to take responsibility, who knows for the future but right at this moment with this backing we actually hold a financial ADVANTAGE over a lot of clubs in this division who'll probably out perform us. Nobody expects top 6 but you expect the team to be built in a balanced way whilst there is good backing.

You cover your arse more than he does, talk about back tracking.... ?

I know they'll worry about injuries given the lack of depth in defence but i'd still really like to see his first choice keeper and defence again tonight. They really need games together to bed in and let's face it he'll be looking to get Evans back in there at some point so lets see what he can do sat in front of the new back line. He can experiment with the rest of it. People keep saying TM is old school well this is exactly what an old school manager would do never mind the bollocks of too many games for the modern snowflakes.

They been repackaged as generous owner on every live game in the league 1 season i also think in the last few years they could've slipped away quietly if they'd wanted as long as they weren't bankrupting the place. Mind you if they wanted great publicity then writing off 170 million and putting the club in better hands would do the trick. They seem totally anonymous now aside from the logos at the ground and the odd '20 mill per season pouring in' comments from their media friends. JUst the way they like it i expect.

Could say the same for Bowyer, Rhodes performed consistently which kept his head above water and if he had more experience and more about him his squad should have been top ten at least every season. Same thing here if the men he has get some consistency it should be top ten despite his meddling etc. Good defence and you're looking higher no doubts.

Iv'e never really bought that long term, maybe in the very early days but sorry any business persons very wealthy, cultural pride or anything otherwise would pull the plug and protect themselves their wealth and assets overnight if it was bringing them down.

It's plain crazy though it's all so avoidable just as it was last mid season the guy is either deluded so much by his loyalty to player pals or he wants out. Such a shame if it goes tits up but don't know what he was expecting really although as iv'e said before i think him and the team have enough about them to get a few points and a more comfortable position in the table the next few months but where it goes by next May who knows. Been banging on all along that he'll never change the way he works he's always done the same and flunked after a few seasons, not hard to see why yet a bit more planning and less old pals acts and he's a solid defence away from being a top ten finish championship manager IF his main men perform consistently, would've had that last season had he sorted the defence and not spewed money on an 'investment'.

Yeah one or two me included have been quick to point the finger at Mulgrew but there is the possibility it was the other way around and he was questioning the tactics etc quite rightly.

2 to 3 million sale with add ons in Jan iv'e been expecting it since last season when he was bizarrely frozen out. They smell an outgoing fee here and think they can cope without him.

But i don't think it is a money making strategy so that wouldn't be priority it's more just something to do or whatever their motives, owning a little bit of England probably. Don't forget they've met the Queen on the back of it and if their little ego trip/business advertising tool saves them a bit of tax all well and good i'd say. Probably either a lot more complex than that or what some would believe there's no thought to it all they just got involved decided it was fun and continue to just wing it because they can afford to. It's one of the biggest mysteries in the modern world.

There's a few ways it could be done but in the simplest way of looking at it VLL is an oversees subsidiary belonging to VH group in India. VH group makes a few million profit every month whilst VLL needs propping up with a few million every month . Otherwise they'd have to find something else to do with that money or pay tax on it, not saying that is actually the case but it's a reasonable assumption and a theory put about by better qualified people as part of the set of reasons they got involved. Nobody really knows probably not even them but i bet there's a few in India tasked with running it and a go between earning a good wage out of it as well

So that's him shoehorned in forever now, the new Jason Lowe ! Anyone else think Mowbray is turning into a stubborn mule who'll become his own worst enemy ? Think half of the stuff with Mulgrew and not sorting the defence was down to pure stubborness to go with his blind loyalty and then it backfired probably instigated by the guy he was being loyal to. It's a sure fire recipe for all good work to unravel if he's not careful.

Most of it will only be 'paper loss' money though i think that is the main point. Pretty sure if they were racking up borrowings to the tune of 170 million it would've gone pop long ago they are just flushing money away in the main they can afford to play with. It'll all be stacked on a balance sheet somewhere that works in their favour when it comes to accounting and besides how many of us tot up or keep a list of what we've spent on football, TV subs, petrol and ale for the last ten years and consider it a loss ?

Actually looking forward to this any game against Oldham always has a bit of an edge for me seeing as growing up they were seen as a rival because the that lot, Bolton and North End were bobbling around in lower divisions for a decade or more. Think this comes at a good time so i'd play the first choice defence - not that he knows what it is - but still play the same one as Saturday and let them bed in and let the shackles off the rest. Oh and here's a novel idea play people in their natural positions and give the team some balance never mind being terrified of what Oldham will do !!!! I remember a game similar v Shrewsbury a few years back under Bowyer where him and the side came under more scrutiny than they normally would for a game like this, tomorrow has a similar feel about it.

I think both manager and squad have enough about them to avoid the drop comfortably even if we lose the next few but it does make a potentially good season has gone up in smoke and this time it will be at this managers door nothing else. However i totally agree when the writing is on the wall it's there for all to see and the ten games then becomes christmas, jan window etc then we get down to the next 3 and it goes on like that. Sometimes the best thing to do is look at the bigger picture/long term goal then plan, source and make the change when safely in midtable mid / late season before the summer scramble starts. Besides we'll know if/when TM is coming under serious Venky scrutiny because SKY will be all over it and other managers will be making special appearances saying what a great bloke and manager he is. Then tell me again certain influences have nothing at all to do with this club these days still. Mowbray came via the path of the other managers......

Similar with Mulgrew who yes needed replacing but doing it with a young player who was playing RB most of last season and has very limited experience plus he's next to a converted midfielder still learning his trade. Key positions in the team that anchor everything GK & 2 CBs yet they are novices and not only that two are new to the team and club, why does the bedding in period not apply here that applies elsewhere also ?

Such a difficult call and it has a similar feel to GBs last months where we played quite well but kept losing and he kept faith in certain players who weren't up to it but he had the misfortune of a period of FFP and best players beginning to be sold from underneath him. Oh how he'd have loved the chance to invest like this manager has although we have to say the league is tougher than then and he did have Hanley and Duffy but never put his finger on the full back situation. He was potted after an indifferent start even though things stacked against him but what followed was far far worse !

After what they've allowed to be spent over the last 12 months i doubt they'll let anything significant be spent again for a long time now the defensive recruitment points to that. Most of it will be covered by selling Dack if he pulls his finger out again this season then the next sales after that will be recouping running cost money i think.

Hanley had the turning arc of an oil tanker when he was younger here so that'll never improve but he's more than good enough to cope with a Championship slog. Does need to stay in midweek though !

Boro is rarely an easy game so i wouldn't be expecting the resounding reaction to a defeat win just yet.

That's why i said he's like a lower level Hodgson in the way he recruits and selects and sets up but the personnel don't match the set up and vice versa as you say. It's just overcooking things all the time to the point it helps the opposition rather than hinders them. The wily nily recruitment is such i think just like Woy if he could spend 20 mill on players we still wouldn't get promoted it would be a real mess although as you know i'll never be 100% convinced in the transfer policy at Ewood and who and why runs it. Take Gallagher as the most recent example he's a big mobile lad who'll put a shift in and he isn't good with his nut be he'll get it on things so the best way to play him is down the middle. He isn't DG but Graham wasn't what he is now in style when he 20 odd but Gallagher could be a bit like Beattie or Newell and defend from the front, cause the other team hassle and let the guys behind him pick up scraps. He's just an upgrade on Samuel at the min with the way Mowbray uses him. He can play wide striker but that really isn't getting the best out of him the way we do it. Similar things can be said of Armstrong and BB although Arma can get away with it better being quick but still the side is so unbalanced up front it causes problems for the rest when it shouldn't given the quality of attack we have to call on.

Put Raya behind a more solid defence and he'll do better, put Walton behind a weaker one than he had before and he won't. Not rocket science..........unless you're Mowbray.