Forget Chapman, Dolan is the answer. This guy is going to be massive. We'll look back and think how the Hell did we every have this guy on our books. Preston have dropped a MASSIVE bollock.

Welcome Nobby ...

Watched Dolan tonight and against Fleetwood. IMO he's the real deal. Obviously young and slight but he's oozing talent and desire. I think we may have a player on our hands.

Phili, both you and Blue blood make good points. Lots of good stuff written there. My take is slightly different though. If I had a budget of 12M I could spread it evenly and stock up with journeymen OR I could take a punt and spend it all on two great prospects and cover the holes with good loan players. Walton turned out to be ordinary but Cunningham and Tosin were stand-outs. We couldn't have bought better. So we ended up with a multiplier effect on the transfer budget. There's always the thought in the back of your mind that there'll be more funds available for the next season when we can have a look see at what worked and what didn't. Walton is the one that didn't work. Unfortunately it seems we now have a close to zero transfer budget thus year... who saw that coming? My belief is, for what it's worth, that without the injuries we would have had a fighting chance of going up with that team. If that had happened we would have had to dismantled the team and build again if we had hopes of staying up. So a sensible call not to spend money on players we would jettison in 12 months. Bangs per buck! I think Mowbray did a reasonable job. That said we're in a new world. Gambles backfired and we're in hole, actually several holes. Onwards and upwards eh.

You're assessment of Walton is a 'with the benefit of hindsight' comment, mine was a before the season started assessment. He had a reasonable profile. Fair enough he disappointed in the end but yes when he joined he was a reasonable stopgap (IMO).

Come on Tyrone, I normally love reading your contributions but isn't this a little extreme? Reading the guy's comments there's stuff like: ... there are no easy games in football ... they'll come with a game-plan, they have good individuals and we'll have to take our chances against them ... it's preparation for this season ... seeing it is as an opportunity to blood some young players There's nothing defeatist there just respect between managers. If the game is tough for us then it's likely to be because we're taking a look at several kids before the season starts to see if they've got what it takes. Also how many recent losses are down to us not converting our chances? Lots. He's not saying anything we wouldn't. I'm getting a bit tetchy with the constant Mowbray out stuff. What's he supposed to say that will get a favourable response other than I'm leaving. The team has holes in it I contend this is not his fault. He saw the chance to onboard some great young prospects for a lot of money knowing we already have the likes of Dack Cunningham and Tosin in the team. Not his fault two were then crocked for most of the season. Tosin is a great player that we couldn't afford but Mowbray somehow landed him on loan. I don't see he did a lot wrong. Raya was constantly being pilloried for his errors/distribution. Walton was a reasonable stopgap until this years transfer funds came around to buy a proper keeper. The world falls off a cliff. The transfer budget disappears. If clubs won't sell we can't buy! IMO he's making the best of a bad job. Just because he's a decent guy who says respectful things about the opposition doesn't mean he's a surrender monkey.

That's not how it works though is it. You don't go to D2 to learn silky skills. He's got the skills already else we wouldn't persist in giving him contracts. You put him into D2 because it's full of big strong evil bastards who will kick you, stand on you, jump into you, elbow you ... Learn how to cope with that and you come back a more complete player.

Thanks. I can see the purchase recorded, so all good there. How do I actually switch it on? Where's the GO button or PLAY button or JFDI button. Aaargh! Who wrote the software it's awful.

I've not got a season ticket this year, I buy tickets for most matches individually. I'm also a tech dinosaur so am quite lost with this streaming stuff. Help! I think I've done stuff the wrong way round. I went to iFollow and bought a ticket. It then said I needed to get the Rovers app in order to watch the match. I installed the app and it then made me set up a MyRovers account, which I did. I now have an app, an iFollow account, a MyRovers account and a match day subscription. HOW DO I ACTUALLY WATCH THE MATCH?? When I say dinosaur I mean Dinosaur! Can someone please tell me (as if I was a 5 year old) what the hell I do next to see the match.

Always thought that was a mistranslation, to my mind it should be "By Skill And Endeavour".

Tricky one this. Being exposed to counter-attack is something to be wary of. Plugging positional gaps across the mid-field is key for me. Graham to hold it up and attacking midfielders to bomb on when they can. I'd go with : Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Bennett Reed Evans Dack Rothwell Graham

I'm out of the country for a bit so can't get to the next few games. Could somebody make up a big placard please and carry it to the games in my stead - Words to read ... "Am I the only one not getting this!?" Thanks.

We've had a few great players at Ewood over the years but in my eyes the top two are Ronnie and Dougie. Ronnie was what it was all about to be a Rover he embodied all that was good about our great club. The spirit and tradition that we stand for grew out of his talent, loyalty and good character. A lovely guy, you'll be sorely missed Ronnie. Condolences to his family and friends.

This is why Sam's so good, often though we don't get to see what happens behind the scenes to give credit where it's due. We struck lucky then on a number of counts : - Benni's place in our team was taken by someone more fit and therefore more effective, just when we needed it - we lost his huge wages - we got paid a fee - Sam demo'd his authority by showing the dressing roonm that he will get rid of anyone who crosses him Thinking about Maradona and what caused his weight gain - perhaps it's not beyond the bounds of reason that Benni has a 'medical' reason for his weight gain caused by who knows what (one can speculate of course). Surely lack of games through injury isn't enough to make you blow up like that, neither is it credible that he really does go out and gorge on junk food. He wouldn't he be that stupid surely, especially with his swan song World Cup coming up. Whatever the scenario, Sam done good :-)

John was a good friend of members of my family. They're gutted, I'm gutted. Such a tragedy. Respects to all his family and friends. He was a good lad. RIP mate.

I also remember McCarthy's advice to Santa Cruz when he was 'weighting up' a move to City. He said that the grass was not always greener on the other side, that BRFC was good club, count his blessing 'cos the fans love him - in short - stay. Shame he decided to revise his earlier opinion when the opportunity came his way.

I said a quite a few posts back that Benni was a toxic influence in the dressing room, now it makes it into the public arena. Goes to show that it's often the invisible behind the scenes stuff that explains why a player doesn't play and we are left bemoaning the alternative on-pitch selections. Giving him away would be a good option right now, a transfer fee would be icing on the cake IMO. Disruption in a dressing room equals relegation. Get shut and let him and the porno kings think they've won. Chickens coming home to roost etc..

Amen theno. We should only play wingers when we have players who can play the wing position. We don't, so we should line up differently (taken from the Duh book of football coaching). Personally I don't care who we play in the striker roles just don't leave him/them isolated and alone up front. Benny is a great player but only when he decides he wants to play, no use owning the world's greatest car if you drive it around like a 2CV. Jason is worth his place which IMO is on the bench. Di Santo starts every game for me but then he's going so we need to replace him. Kalinic I'm hoping will turn out OK, his cameos have looked good so far, Sam is protecting him and giving him time to grow into the role and not fear his 6M price tag, which is a good thing. Strikers will come and go, who cares whether they're called The Tank, Slasher or whatever, they can do no worse than our current efforts on goal total. The real issue is that having to replace strikers is a distraction from the main task in hand which surely has to be about sorting the midfield positions out in January. On that count alone Benny and Jason's outbursts are unwelcome.

I'm generally quite a happy chappy who has good chuckle when I read amusing stuff in the paper but for the first time in years I actually broke out into a belly laugh when I read this. I was in hysterics, tears down the cheeks stuff. Absolutely priceless. You couldn't make it up. What a set of numpties. Caveat Emptor guys Caveat Emptor

There speaks a wise and sagacious man (or lady - as we don't know each other).

Maximum respect Andre and thanks, you did us proud mate. Good pro with good skill and an even better attitude. If they ever find a way to reverse the aging process please come back