It'll take him a while to get to know the natives and how it rolls around Blackburn and some comparisons to Williams are plain daft at this stage but it took JW a while to get to grips with it. He certainly wasn't saint John in the early days and even later circa 2005 ish he presided over a big hike in ticket prices that saw crowds drop despite signing Bellamy and the new found hope under Hughes. He saw sense eventually so maybe SW will.

I think if you read through the Bolton situation they are that rare club and not long ago we seemed to be heading that way when the taps were turned off. Fortunately thanks largely to Bowyer & co we had 30 million worth of players to sell and get out of whatever hole it was. I do get the feeling things are finally balancing out a bit now and a portion of future funding might be available to strengthen rather than just pay bills and mistakes. We live in hope.

I think the glee if you can call it that from a lot of fans on the 'new' stability model is almost 100% based on the fact it could have been a lot worse and certainly looked like it was going to be not long ago. Thankful for small mercies ? Probably. What these present incumbents have done is nip that rot right in the bud and have given the club a chance to flourish again although how much it does will depend on how often it gets fed and the continuing skill of those attending to its needs. There is no such thing as miracle grow for football clubs sadly so we just have to keep grafting away.

The constant swapping of personnel including the player himself really doesn't help a young defender settle into a rhythm and become part of a solid back 4. Hard perfecting the defensive side of it when you are constantly caught in two minds whether to bomb forward or stay back. Working in tandem with someone in front of you who you get to know will certainly help that. The use of Bennett has become a bit ridiculous in recent weeks and needs ironing out next season but if one of your most influential and reliable workhorses is also not one of your best players it creates an awkward problem for a boss.

I think it'll do him the world of good to be honest just hope he comes back knock free and raring to go next season.

Not many good big commanding keepers around these days I don't think unless you are prepared to gamble millions. One thing England was a good breeding ground for down the leagues used to be bread and butter 6ft plus keepers and similar no nonsense centre defenders, not any more it seems. Been a bit spoiled for keepers in my time of watching Rovers, Gennoe, Mimms, Flowers, Filan, Friedel, Robinson then of course we were struck with Venkys/Kean/Anderson/Assorted agencies and aliases and nothing at all has been quite the same. All those mentioned had their little flaws not many are perfect but they all got more right than they did wrong. Get the basics right, eliminate, keep to the bare minimum the mistakes that inevitably happen now and again and the fancy stuff second. Nobody moans at a keeper when he lets one in the top corner but everyone does when he's hesitating or ball watching. Raya to be fair has only just had his second full season and the first was a division below so I don't think he's gone backwards it's just the quality has stepped up whilst he's probably remained the same. Learning on the job and paying the price for not being loaned cutting his teeth properly when he was sat on Rovers bench for a season or two. Certainly wouldn't want rid of him but would feel better if he had real competition but sadly I can see them going down the cheap route and giving JL another contract and imo that's why Mowbray is playing him so he'll trigger another year.

Point still stands on GAME DAY ?

Yet again deterring the many people who might decide they fancy it on the day of the game... !!! Clueless.

Think they have to wait to be invited over after putting a request in I don't think they can just give them a buzz and say they are on their way. Most clubs probably schedule some kind of board meeting for after the season has finished and I reckon the key to ours is pin them down as soon as you can before they disappear for the summer otherwise you've had it for a few months.

The fact Nixon hasn't been trying to sell him means his name must not have been circulated by the usual suspects......yet !

Will WeEck

I reckon the new deals were promised as a promotion bonus/incentive so to be fair he's only being a man of his word there. Can't help but agree on Reed though but then again i'm assuming he knew there'd be no long term future here for that lad as we just can't afford him or he won't push the owners for that kind of ready made big wage signing. Therefore he's just here as back up to our own contracted players and being a good player he's expected to slot in anywhere and contribute. This is the problem with loans who are signed without an option to buy and are just here because they have some pedigree and the parent club is generous with the wages because they want them getting mins somewhere whatever the position. Tony won't upset the status quo over a full season for such a player but his presence is supposed to spur the others on that's how he seems to work.

I think with players like Dack certainly at the moment there is a ball park transfer figure that he'll bottom out at given his known ability, age, stats over past two seasons and of course the contract he's on. For a player like him that there isn't many around like outside the Prem that would probably be about c the 10 mill mark give or take. Upwards as we've seen it could be anywhere up to 20 but his worth as is to Rovers at the min and taking all that into account surely wouldn't be less than that on a bad day, talk of 5 mill etc is horse dung.

Elliot Bennett ? ?

We got Graham in who is a better player than Rhodes no doubt and in the early days whilst on loan he grafted twice as hard and gave another outlet but in truth we didn't play any better. Still the same deep lying mids and lack of creativity and pace in the other 10 and the following season we got relegated. Another important thing though with Dack is he brings out the best in DG now his legs are nearly gone and vice versa of course.

Thought we'd finish somewhere midtable which to be honest is no bad thing for a season just after promotion. I said that Mowbray and his methods would turn out to be good enough to see us around that position over a season like they saw us to promotion last season despite plenty justified concerns at times. In this is league to me he's almost a guaranteed 1.5 pts a game man although it's come about a lot differently than I thought it would I was expecting many many draws ! Hard not to be disappointed with some aspects especially the Jan window as I think if you are in a good position and have the means to strengthen you should do so, always. That bit us on the arse although bad spells are inevitable in this division I think a little bit more urgency and savvy could've made it less concerning. Can't moan too much though in the end when you have good winning streaks balancing it all out. Quite an enjoyable season all in all when you consider the fact they've been able to play it out comfortably in the end which in turn allowed other players chances. Overall conclusion = Comfortable !

If we are going to rehabilitate players then let them be young ones there's a list here in recent years containing a load of over 30s who usually ended up being paid off. Mulgrew & Graham are rare exceptions and if this lad has been free for a while there's a reason probably not a good one or maybe a greedy one.

They couldn't hit the target last summer despite promotion so not sure what they expect this time unless there's going to be some transfer activity that catches the imagination. The possible price rise might be Waggots way of preparing to cover less sales and keep income the same.

Sensible sustained investment ? Wouldn't be adverse to spending on a good striker though because we are going to need one soon.

Back to the old problem of if there would be anything to spend and who would be spending it versus better the devil you know.

We don't know what goes on behind the scenes but Mowbrays appears to have been more than accommodating towards him so if he's still here next season he needs the riot act reading to him once the window is shut. Give him a target weight to be at and an expected fitness level then quite simply hit him in the pocket if he doesn't take it seriously. This is where reserve team football is missed. I still think there might be some injury related issue hampering him though as if he wanted away he'd surely be looking to bust a gut in a game like that live on the box.

Down to the boss though like I said early he shouldn't be immune to be being hooked off early when it's clear he isn't interested and a few extra Sunday morning training sessions wouldn't do him any harm either as regards fitness and keeping his mind on the job. If he isn't really suited to starting away games against lively aggressive opposition then start someone else who'll close down from the front and bring him on later if need be. Treat him like a superstar (which he isn't) and he'll act like one.

£5 million ? Really is the daftest shout ever right there ! Just how the hell in todays market do you replace someone of that talent for that money regardless of where his heads at ??? Skill wise he's the best footballer to put on blue and white for nearly a decade, yes he's inconsistent and easily distracted but you don't throw talent away like that without at first trying to squeeze every drop out of it you can. Only any serious bid around the 15 million mark should get the time of day, most of it upfront in one lump then they might actually buy some other players straight away !

Yep the way I see it with him he's more valuable in the bigger picture to the team to keep hold of unless in the unlikely event there is a concrete offer well north of 15 million. Anything less not worth losing him and they'll never replace him without immediately spending a large fee on someone similar and there isn't anyone I've seen. In terms of goals and assists he's done better than I thought he would but i'd still want a lot more from his all round game as you say though it's just inconsistency like the team in general.

If you want cheap STs and want a full end to create atmosphere then do it in the BBE lower get that traditional 'end' feeling back into Ewood it used to be the heartbeat of the ground even when there was only 6k on. That or do 1000 match tickets per game at ten or fifteen quid each in there, first come first served no moaning get one early or put up and shut up type thing. Any Premium areas should stay where they are in the JW not anywhere else in a ground like Ewood in a town like Blackburn it's a football match for gods sake not a theatre trip !!!!!