It's the modern way mate. Some want pure athletes with muscles in their spit. I remember reading once that Jason Lowe was our fittest player ?. Buckley has fantastic balance which more than makes up for his lack of physique. I remember refereeing Ryan Giggs (nee Wilson) when he was 15. He was playing for Salford Boys against Liverpool Boys and the Manc/Scouse rivalry was evident and with Giggs' reputation he became a target for these hairy arsed Scousers. As we were walking off at full time I noticed his pristine kit without speck of mud on it. I then realised that despite many attempts to kick him he rode every challenge and never went to ground. This was on a shit heap of a pitch too. His balance was exquisite and Buckley has that same attribute. He seems to glide around the pitch. Patience and a platform to play are the most important aspects of his development in my view.

Buckley is one of very few of our players who has a change of pace when he has the ball. This was typified on Boxing Day in the left band corner of the Blackburn End. In no space at all he left two Birmingham players for dead on the goal line. He also plays on the half turn as well as any of our players. What won't help him is Mowbray putting his hands on his head when he makes a mistake. He has to be nurtured and given the platform. Interestingly Mowbray names him in a list is several players who could replace Dack. I really hope he does.

Joleon Lescott looks after all the players out on loan from City and if there was likely to be movement of Tosin surely he would be the man behind it. An agent wouldn't have any say in it I don't believe. On that alone I think it's somebody putting two and two together.

Sorry I read your post as letting them go in the summer. They would still want paying up though.

Yeah that Paul Cook has a right gob on him.??

We are paying them anyway to do nothing so why not do a deal for say 80% of the remaining time on their deals and let them find a new club each in January. Win/Win.

Nobody in their right minds would pay money for them and they will be paid far too much for the level of their ability primarily down to Mowbrays benevolence. The only option I believe would be to do them a deal on the rest of their contracts, cut our losses and get shut of them.

Due largely to Mowbrays incompetence in the transfer market I believe that the summer window will need a large influx of quality and in this department he has been more but than miss. Assuming Tosin, Cunningham and Walton go back to their parent clubs that is going to leave a huge void. Graham, Leutwiler, Downing, Bell, Bennett and Samuel are all out of contract in June 2020 according to transfermarket.co.uk. With the dross like Smallwood, Hart and Gladwin too that could be twelve players not reporting back for pre season. That is going to be some rebuild from a normally cautious manager who will only bring a certain type of character into the club and they had to bed them in. It's going to be a massive eight or so months for Blackburn Rovers.

I wouldn't consider the likes of Gladwin, Smallwood and Hart as first team squad plays they should all be given early releases from their contracts. One big problem with the squad is that it's really unbalanced with it being top heavy in certain positions and light in others. Mowbray should really address this but as you say it doesn't look like it will happen next month.

If Tosin is still out for Sunday and Nyambe is injured we are down to Williams and Lenihan as centre halves. A training ground injury to either of them would be catastrophic.

I was pissed off with the performance and result today but what got me more angry was Mowbrays annoying trait of putting his hands on his head (or spreading his arms apart) on lots of occasions when HIS players made mistakes. It looks pathetic. In the game we were only worth a point as we were on Monday. Today was two bang average Championship teams with plenty of endeavour but hugely lacking in quality. With the news that Dack is out for the season Mowbray really needs to pull some rabbits out of hats if we are to be anywhere near the top ten. As with Monday our passing today was poor in the extreme with so many careless passes from nearly every player. Mowbray mentioned the unbeaten run we are on but we would have been better losing one and winning one of the last two.

Don't rise to the bait Chaddy.

I wonder if Dack's agent turned down the new contract that Mowbray mentions in this interview from the end of November. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18070592.latest-rovers-contract-talks-star-man-bradley-dack/

And there is the rub. Some are saying we won well at Bristol City without him but being without him forced Mowbray to change the shape completely. On Monday when Dack was available again he reverted to type. For me replacing his goals is going to be one of Mowbrays biggest challenges.

A happy and peaceful Christmas to Rovers fans everywhere especially the ones who keep this site running and allow us all to discuss the one thing we all have in common.

Having seen several bad injuries on the pitches up and down the country Andy my rule of thumb was if they are screaming it wasn't that serious but if a player was lying prostrate and in silence the chances were it was more serious. I once asked a club doctor about this and he said when a serious injury occurs your bodies defence mechanisms kick and and the shock can mask the pain. It's far from an exact science but it helped me when dealing with injuries.

Too true. Some are using the win at Bristol City and saying we won and played well without him but over an extended period his absence will have huge impact He is probably our most important player in my view.

I agree but would extend the criticisms about poor passing to the whole team. Simple passes were often misplaced, over or under hit or the wrong weight. And that is almost the polar opposite of how well we passed it at Bristol. To offer a slight defence I thought the pitch was too dry but that is is no way excusing the overall quality which was poor.

His absence again highlighted the need for another centre half. For me it's still the number one priority in January.

I honestly don't know how anybody can speculate how long Dack will be out unless they have seen the scans. Knee injuries can be hard to diagnose and the only definitive diagnosis is through a scan. This should happen over the next couple of days providing there is not too much swelling.

The tempo we had at Bristol just wasn't there as our slow play allowed Wigan to keep their defensive shape as we were far too predictable. This changed when Holtby came on and his fast feet and movement allowed him to find space which was previously elusive. I have to say that the pitch didn't help our cause as it looked bone dry and didn't allow for any of the really slick passing like we have recently seen. As I predicted the referee was as weak as piss and just wasn't aware of Wigans obvious tactic of slowing the game down at every opportunity. This certainly didn't help us as the game was so fragmented. I'm starting to think that we just can't play against teams who come to Ewood and play in such a way. This is evidenced by our poor results against bottom six teams at home. Mowbray has to address this and find a way to be such teams. All in all hugely disappointing with far too many players just not performing.

Methinks there is an element of over confidence in some quarters. I really hope we batter them but I'm expecting a fractious game with them coming to spoil. I'll take a win in any way possible.

I can think of a few who played professionally who played for Blackburn schoolboys. James Beattie, Chris Holland, Mark Brennan, Mike Duxbury and maybe Chris Porter. All of them are from different age groups. Can anybody think of any more

Another great player (and person by all accounts) passing away. He was so graceful and he seemed to glide around the pitch.I RIP.

Impressive. Having seen that I now understand Damien Johnson's role and the reason for his promotion. I will definitely not think of Mowbray as a dinosaur again ?.