Reading on here Downing has now come in as a replacement for Conway, potential replacement for Dack, Smallwood, back up for Evans & Travis and personal betterment coach to Chapman and Armstrong ! You can see how Mowbray gets these signings pushed through, ok he might be on double the wages of some but he's doing the job of 6. A multitasker who once played for Liverpool Just the kind of signing they love, give that manager an extended deal he's genius.

Dear me, how long have you been watching Rovers ... ? They'll be decent additions as opposed to nothing or worse which could easily happen, Downing is complete meh !

My hunch is he had some targets then got alerted to Downing becoming available and couldn't resist it so switched attention and funds to that to get in there first. It's a typical Mowbray siging in terms of joining dots, knows the lad etc

39 appearances and only 2 goals and one assist ? Did someone say he was a creative player ?

Like I said as it stands, just saw a William Hill tweet listing those forwards and saying it's shaping up nicely so thought i'd look at it from a neutral perspective. The biggest IF and BUTs for me are in regards to the manager and how he uses them because more likely we'll end starting every game with DG & Dack behind him again, Downing in the middle or somewhere else and Samuel coming on in front of Rothwell. We shouldn't have those kind of concerns when we have a decent forward line imo.

As it stands.. Graham, Dack, Armstrong, Rothwell, Downing, Chapman, possibly another.. Other clubs fans might look at that and think we should be a handy side in attack next season. Sort that defence and loan out Samuel in favour of someone who offers a bit more.

Did Mowbray ever have a position at Southend ??? Seems to me the only 'thinking outside the box' really good player he's ever actually sourced and bought comes from a club he's had nothing to do with ! We've not had one from Celtic yet I suppose ....

It is as are the people who think these types come to Rovers for 5 grand per week and a similar in appearance money. He might be 35 he might be a millionaire but like Rodwell you still have to lure them here with more than just games when there are other packages on the table perhaps from clubs with a lot more loose change than us who don't mind chucking 20/30k per week on squaddies.

I predict you're halfway down a bottle of something very good and very strong ?

She'd look at the law of averages of these types of signings, look at the financial sense of it all and say...nah !

Bringing out more in them by going ahead of them in the team pecking order ?

I just hope he uses him properly I was in favour of Whittingham because I thought cracking back up for Evans in lge 1 then TM decided to try him in different formations and positions and made a hash of it. If he can still do a job on the wing even if it's half a game or last ten mins then use him there but it would be nice if he had a couple of good strikers to aim for as well...

Defensive Mid ?

Well if O'Neil has the same energy and commitment levels as Neil and Bert Emerton he'll be handy to have around. Yet another defensive mid though who only scores once in a blue moon ? Haven't we been here before ,,, I hope this isn't Mowbrays answer to tightening up the defence !

True it's a more sensible approach and basically you can see TM and and agent or two aren't trying to screw the club over with this as it once would have been. I also reckon there'll be option of another year I think that's a given at Ewood these days as is the opportunity to get the games to trigger it if the manager likes you. So whilst not the eye watering financial commitment of the past these deals still represent very little in the value for money stakes he'll still be on big wages by our standards and this along with one or two others who are still pointlessly on the books could all have been pooled and put in a different more needy direction for a decent player. Non of that will matter of course if there is an ample budget to recruit such as well but I won't hold my breath.

You can stick billboards in every town in the North of England but it's pointless unless you do something to lure fans back like maybe sign some good players over 19 and under 30. It's a total waste of money paying for these things otherwise..... Except the ones in Preston they have provoked almost as much anger as the Burnley fly over ?? Up yours Knobend !!!!

Never happy with these kind of signings under these owners no matter who the manager or how many games they played last season. Not one has worked out yet and financially lessons never get learned. Biggest worry for me comes down to Mowbrays handling of it as you fear he'll try and come up with something to accommodate this player rather than having signed him for a specific role, he does that wuith most signings anyway so this'll provide plenty talking points and arguments next season if nothing else. As for the player himself he's got good pedigree (they all usually have at this age) and hopefully more desire than the likes of Whittingham etc. And he does look lithe and fit for a 35 yr old although legs can go overnight. I'm wondering if this is really creative cover in prep to lose Dack but nevertheless we do desperately need creativity in the squad. Wish him all the best he has a clean slate from me to prove himself but I've no expectations whatsoever. Welcome Stewart.

Old boys network as in his pals. Fake contradiction.. ?

He isn't going from 30k pwk to 5k either, it's a short term deal probably with another year on offer but he'll be on about 15 to 20 I bet there were a few in for him apparently so possibly his last contract etc will have had to make financial sense he's to old to be a mercenary gun for hire now

Said right from the off this was a done deal... ? Cast iron typical Mowbray old boys signing they'd rather push the boat out for a guy like that than invest what'll amount to similar money on a younger centre half modest gamble who'll cover his costs. All depends on what context this actually ends up in, if there's a few good signings then it'll pale into insignificance if not it's a terrible sign from club and manager i'm afraid. Whatever you think of it it's hard to get away from expecting it to be another waste of a million or two quid that should be invested better elsewhere and may well end in yet another pay off. I don't see just why some would expect this to pan out any different than Murphy, Whittingham, Wes Brown, Greer, all old all getting a gig here they'd get nowhere else and all paid off or swallowed up wages and contributed nothing. Nice one Tony, better pull your finger out your arse now lad.

He did start off ok and he had his good spells but disagree he's too inconsistent for me if we want a solid base to build on. More of a cultured player than bread and butter and as far as the injuries and his body goes if he wants to prolong a good club career he should jack in Scotland. Yet again another at Ewood who's on a good number when it comes to understanding his international commitments, admirable but counter productive to the team who pay his wages.

It's not about thinking in Mulgrews case my friend it's about seeing and last season defensively in the Championship he wasn't good enough for certain periods, similar to last time in this division. He's an odd one is Mulgrew because he's clearly a very good intelligent football player but the guy is far too lax at times in the bread and butter of it all, his goals were very welcome but covered over a lot of flaws.

Nah mate if he gets in Downing he'll be looking to shoehorn him into some daft system like he did Whittingham. If not then yep it'll be between the trio of Travis, Evans and Smallwood again, if you think Ritchie won't be here you need to think again I reckon.

Again I know I keep saying this but I reckon it's the plan THEY pitch to the owners, we won't spend loads of your money, we'll try and find cheapies to get games and value into, we'll keep blooding youth. We'll keep faith in the ones you are already paying generously and somewhere along the line there'll be a big sale or two to cover things whilst we bubble along nicely. We'd prefer to add short term old heads to help this along (jobs for the boys) and if you want to invest we'll find another young player who top clubs are allegedly sniffing around and nick them now for our bench so that when they blossom they do it here and are worth billions. No undue pressure or expectations a nice comfort zone that might flatter to deceive and hover round the play offs briefly to keep them interested.

At the expense of Travis who'll then drop behind Smallwood in the famous pecking order ! Slowest midfield in the history of the game if that occurred.