I suspect there will be a few more of these type of articles about Brereton and Gallagher before the end of the season. Brereton looked as weak as ever on Sunday and he looked really tired. Maybe the two go together.

Why should we inconvenience our own fans? But then again I suspect you aren't one of us.

One thing that really hit home to me yesterday was the lack of positional awareness of our strikers. Early on I thought Bell put in some good crosses from the left side which were dealt with comfortably by the Derby defenders. Our forwards just didn't make good enough runs for one of them to at least challenge the opposition players. And after the first fifteen minutes they got lazy and didn't press high enough and allowed Derby to play from the back through midfield where invariably we were outnumbered. I don't know if they are lazy, unfit, poorly coached or just useless. I do know though that so far there has been little indication that two of them are anywhere near Championship standard.

Just back from a hugely disappointing afternoon in which, once again Mowbray was trying to be far too clever. It was clear to everyone that his system and square pegs in round holes wasn't working after half an hour but he didn't do anything about it. I would have put money on changes at half time but nothing. His project signings were poor today as were several others and with one eye on next season it doesn't augur too well in my opinion. A mid table finish under Mr Average beckons now after the debacle today.

I would hazard a guess at Mark Atkins simply because he dropped down into League One and then non league.

According to the FA website the game against Man City has to be played before March 21st. Looking at the first team fixtures we have no game the following Saturday (presumably an international break) which would be an ideal time to play and hopefully pull in a big crowd.

Yes and we really need to go for wins. A draw tomorrow, under normal circumstances would be decent but the dropping of two points could have a real adverse effect. Mowbray needs to be bold in his team selection and tactics, get us on the front foot and go for it. Under those circumstances I think most would accept the gamble to a degree but going there and not having a go would lead to criticism.

Excellent performance from the youngsters who had pretty much everything. The game was hugely enjoyable and Arsenal were a distinct second best all over the pitch.

Thanks for the information Kamy. I really don't think the criteria will be too prohibitive. The points for language and salary are pretty much nailed on in he markets we will be looking in. The only one that might give issues is the appropriate skill level. Some pen pushing bureaucrat might struggle to understand the cases that clubs put forward. As has been said in the long term it could well be good for the domestic game outside the Premier League.

And Mowbray had Gary Pallister alongside him who is a similar age.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18278184.mowbray-opted-nyambe-centre-half-rovers/ It's a good thing Mowbray wasn't the manager when Phil Jones made his debut against the likes of Drogba. In my view it's another load of twaddle from Mowbray (and he actually had Carter on the bench at Charlton and Brentford). Edit: Just checked and he made his Middlesbrough debut at 19 and was captain at 22.

This probably explains it. https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-bame-community-relationship-17576954

All defenders?

We will be looking to revamp our squad with up to eight players during what will be Mowbrays seventh transfer window. Where is the succession planning?

Your memory is correct Lenny but she referred to them as lease players rather than loans. I remember it because it was strange terminology but, given the Rao's naivete around football I felt it was a line fed to them by one of the many pariahs they employed and relied on.

Whilst you are right with your first sentence (as was Mowbray) I don't think anybody thought that 60% of our first choice defence would be loans. In anybody's book it's not healthy and smacks of a lack of succession planning. We are better defensively, without doubt but in the summer we are pretty much starting from scratch again from a defensive point of view. Do you think that's a healthy situation for a club with supposed ambition?

At the supporters meeting he was asked about the 'defenders are coming' comment and he said that defenders did come. Whilst that happened it's stretching the truth somewhat as the three that came are all on loan and reading between the lines he doesn't inspire me to believe they will be back either on loan or permanent. I terms of improving the squad we will be in the same position this summer as we were last summer.

Your post emphasises the unfathomable decision not to include Carter on the bench in Saturday. Should there have been an injury to Nyambe or Tosin on Saturday just who would have dropped into centre back. Carter was deemed able enough to be on the bench at Charlton and Brentford but not at home to Swansea. Instead we had a plethora of attacking players which, in my book left us really vulnerable.

If we are sending players off for that then the game is in a worse state than I thought. It's a collision as Walton got there marginally before the Swansea player. If people think that's a red card offence I'd be keen to know what they thought of Johnson's challenge. I thought the referee was decent on Saturday. He was generally consistent with his cautions.

No need mate. Although I don't always agree with your posts you are consistent with your points and debate them well.

I can accept that as frustrating but it doesn't come across well to other posters.

I never even mentioned anything like that. My point was to give credit to the staff for player development as several of them have themselves. Of course Mowbray plays a part in the process. The drama of the first two words do you no favours either.

That emphasises my point that praising Mowbray alone for any upturns in players form and development isn't true. It seems that several players hold Johnson in high esteem and give him credit for their improvements.

I saw a recent interview with Nyambe where he heaped praise on Damien Johnson for his work with him.

Nyambe is finally showing what many of us thought he had but giving Mowbray praise for this is debatable. He has had him on the bench for big chunks of this season preferring to play Bennett. One of the criticisms of Nyambe was his lack of penetration going forward as his preference was sideways or backwards. Another was a perceived lack of confidence. These two issues only seem to have been addressed in the last couple of months. Mowbray has been here three years. To say he has been managed fantastically well is really pushing it.