The old lack of thorough warm up routines is a recurring issue here as much as the two defensive mids and certain players guaranteed starts. Would certainly go some way to explaining the slow starts to nearly every game. Slow starts and bad endings are a standard feature in this era it seems.

It's been an up and down season so far so don't be too despondent they might all be great again by the end of the season with the manager resuming his god like status. All in time for the summer excuses of no need for major changes..... ?

So he made this converted midfielder a defender now and put him ahead of a proper tall defender in the pecking order then let that defender go but we have to keep him their because we lack height at the back ? Oh Tony Tony Tony......

Agreed on most of it although I think Evans will be here and be starting as long as he wants he's another who outlives every manager and is almost guaranteed a place. I'm amazed at the amount who think there'll be a mass clear out there absolutely won't most of the faces from this season will make up the starting 11 next so spot on recruitment and a bit of investment is crucial this summer. Anybody who Mowbray has signed will be here till their contracts expire and at some point will probably be given opportunities to earn another it's how he works.

Don't be surprised if Conways regular involvement between now and the end of the season triggers another year, just saying.... Don't mind him knocking around the place to be honest he might make a decent coach and there are others i'd replace first as he isn't really first team starter material. Imagine Allardyce with Mulgrew ? He'd certainly make him earn his corn he'd take every single corner, free kick etc ?

Yes a big dolloper, nothing to see there, move him on. Yet another injured player who ends up on a contract at Ewood when no one else would probably take a punt on him in similar fashion............

I'm amazed he wasn't rested on Saturday maybe Mogga isn't a soft touch after all.

Does ok keeping stable Prem clubs stable but flounders at the more ambitious ones it seems but I think here he could build a team again in the mould of the last one on modest funds. Of course it would be a shadow of his side here last time but he brings everything that's missing at the moment like the tactics of a solid settled side with some physical presence both ends and some graft in the middle dotted about with a bit of pace and quality who can go toe to toe and grind out results and also play a bit when he lets them off the leash. Players would be coached for and signed for specific jobs within the team although not sure how he'd cope with an Indian middle man maybe dumping players on him he didn't want and telling him others were un-dropable - hypothetically of course.

Speaking hypothetically if I was a manager and maybe i'd fallen out with my most senior and experienced player who was my captain and he'd done one I think I might be going to great lengths to butter up the next one or two down in the pecking order. Even if it meant accommodating them in the team somewhere / anywhere to keep them and the rest onside. I don't think even his fiercest disciples would argue that TM does stuff and always has that's a bit detrimental to a best 11 in their best formations settled side in favour of putting harmony first and players involvement. That's why they love him as a man manager but i'd also say it's a contributor to the inconsistency and has lost as many points as its won overall.

I think a big clanging bel has gone off that there really isn't the ambition there they've tried to portray and it's spread a bit of malaise from the manager down, not on purpose just but a general damp cloth over the flames.

He's been busy on twitter banging on about we'll sell half the squad, they aren't on big wages and we'll bring in 6-8 better ones to replace them, Mowbrays got this...? Never ever ever grasp it.

Starting paying people off again is lunacy and to be fair they don't fall into that category of previous piss takers and utter dross that hamstrung the club for years so in most cases there is no need. Most have done a job for us and are being given fair contracts and further chances in return but now some need to be relegated to back up and others where possible moved on. You might get a cut price deal for a few but their wages here compared to going to a league 1 team will be a major sticking point so maybe a few will go on loan. As for the Evans, Mulgrews etc they are here a while yet so it's a case of getting in some steel at the back first and foremost then a target man up front and then quality if possible wherever else possible but you can bet your house thee'll be no budget for all that. Next season will be another of biting the bullet I think and just trying to improve THIS squad.

Two nil up and thinking they'll coast it so minds all turn to the night out and bang ... doesn't really help the weak mentality and if TM uses it as a carrot and stick approach then if they balls up that badly the stick should come out and the night out gets shelved.

Although they made an attempt of sorts with Irvine etc, was it before Lambert ? Where it seemed they set up the backroom staff on short term deals before appointing a manager ! Then promptly ended up paying them all off again....... Agents work if I ever saw it.

It's been said numerous times that Venkys have to sign everything off even the fresh kits when they come around and all that doesn't seem to get done until their summer board meetings. Probably similar to the budget and anything extra that might be granted for players and it always seems to be done around the same time mid summer regardless of the clubs situation, probably just before or after their summer vacation and in between religious celebrations. Everything else especially the football club takes a back seat to all that and boy have we suffered for it time and time again in the last 8 years or so. Of course you might be able to jump this scenario by getting on a plane for India and turning up at Madames front door for an early audience that's worked a couple of times for those prepared to do it. Wasn't having a CEO along with the middleman supposed to cover such things ??? About time he started to earn his crust. Although that runs a risk turning up over there if it happens to coincide with the cat not feeling well !

It's amazing how quickly people forget just how good of a manager he was here and how good a fit he was for the club like Mowbray himself has been a good fit but his failings and mixed up approach to stuff on the pitch seems to have finally caught up with him again just as it did at Boro & Cov. He was more of a busted flush than Hughes before he came here that's for sure but you only have to look at the coaching set up Hughes brings and their ethos to see it would be a step in the right direction.

Doubt we'll have that particular problem next season which is maybe why he should mix it up a bit now.

Just a proper coaching team full stop would help including a proper keeper coach, Venus obviously there because he's TMs pal but Lowe & Benson are just cheapo appointments I struggle to see what they bring to it other than stuff straight of the standard FA coaching manual which anyone could do.

I'd like to see a graph of results for the first game back after International breaks over the past 6 years as i'm pretty sure it wouldn't make good reading. These kind of jolly ups are routine these days I think. I remember going on about how slow and poor we usually look after a break a few times over the Championship years.

Nothing new this just the perks of being a hard done to footballer on thousands per week win, lose or draw. They were all over social media in GBs time you often got the impression they only turn4d into training to organize their social lives whilst the manager laughed at them. It will probably do them good to have a break though and I usually hate International breaks but this time it might just break the cycle of the malaise that's set in. A nice result away at Villa and the manager setting a points total for the last bit of the season would be good. Otherwise bench these ######s and turn out as many youth as possible for the rest of the season regardless.

Possibly but you have to add in the other 3 and their various advisers and our middleman who's recently landed himself a job title after hiding in the shadows for nearly a decade. I think they might all have different ideas about how to go about it and what they actually want or need from it. I feel it would work better if there was just once voice, one driving force.

Totally agree i'm just saying what I think their mindset is because they're safe in the knowledge their contracts are done and there's no chance of the play offs. Also I think something that won't have gone unnoticed amongst the group is the lack of ambition and seeming job done attitude in the Jan window after some big talk earlier on by the manager. It's just going through the motions time and has been for a while and we have passed that point again I think where losing just doesn't bother them that much anymore whereas not long ago they bristled to put it right after every slip up, shrug of shoulders now and ok we'll try again next week. Managers pre match stuff has summed this up as well and as time goes on there's a lot of ready made excuses presenting themselves for him.

As a club yes probably but as owners/advisors/budget probably not but if we or they had any serious ambitions they'd certainly look into it.

We can argue all we want about the player himself and if he'll ever be any good but the main problem with the Brereton situation has always been questions about the wisdom of investing a large chunk - and it will be - of this seasons budget on a deposit/first instalment of a player like him. It's a long term punt / a gamble with probably making money on him the first thought and football the second so was it wise doing that right now when even back in summer the team definitely needed vital strengthening elsewhere ? There were no guarantees at that stage that we'd do ok once the season started we could've lost ten out of the first 16 for all anyone knew as we all expected it to be a battle. So no it wasn't wise at all it was downright daft by people who should know better if it was their call, do we really think it was though ? As usual at Rovers under Venkys there's probably another angle to it and as to why it actually happened. It's been said a few times that this kind of money was only available for a certain kind of signing, well ask yourselves just WHY that was and what good it actually does the team ? It's never been there before so why has it suddenly appeared and all gone into one lad ? Last time there was a little bit of unexpected investment out of the blue was when Bowyer squeezed a couple of million out of somewhere and got in Cairney, Marshall, Evans, Rudy etc. Then the tap turned straight off they grew the team, began to sell it from under him, didn't reinvest, sold off the rest them we went down with not so much as a whimper. Rinse and repeat is on its way imo

I've been saying this all season, not that I want him sacked but what we are seeing is standard Tony Mowbray stuff it has been since he's been here but his real strengths have lain away from the pitch and rebuilding the infrastructure of the club and up to now man management. It will be no different next season no matter what happens in summer and like last season to make the best fist of this management style you need an extremely strong deep squad splattered with quality to allow for all the messing about and still remain good enough to win the majority of games. That will cost a lot of money or will need some expert recruitment and dealing. It'll be so vital we get a good start again so that's why it's vital we finish this season as well as possible to give something to build on in summer instead of having to pull it all apart again.