arbitro

Blackburn Hawks sent a representative and the club mascot to my granddaughters school a couple of weeks ago and wooed the kids with a presentation about the club and ice hockey in general. They offered the school 250 (I think) tickets for an upcoming game at a pound per ticket for both adults and kids. I believe the uptake has been good. For the life in me I don't know why Rovers aren't tapping into this too.

The EFL flexing their muscles on Coventry whilst Bolton and Birmingham ride roughshod through their financial regulations. They should be looking to help Coventry not threatening them with expulsion and virtually killing off a football club. I see Shaun Harvey is leaving the EFL at the end of the season.

i was at that game and I honestly don't remember Brereton standing out. As I recall Forest were poor on the day and we scraped a 1-0 win.

Some interesting stuffing Mowbray and reassuring to hear that he acknowledges some points that the more grounded, realistic posters on here have been saying. What irks me a little though is why some of the players who he says now aren't good enough got new contracts. Surely they should have proved themselves at Championship level first. The real stumbling block to a rebuild of the squad could well be our esteemed owners. Now Mowbray has gone public he has done so will the knowledge and confidence of financial backing. Thanks to those who attended and took the trouble to post updates.

Just what the doctor ordered. Playing away at a ground where we rarely get anything, in poor form with an acute shortage of centre backs. Using the twisted logic we football fans sometimes apply I'm going for a comfortable away win.

After the first game of the relegation from the PL season I called 606 and told Jason Roberts and Darren Fletcher that we would be relegated and cited several reasons why. They were both so condescending and said I was talking rubbish, too early etc. Like you I wanted to shove it up them both when the inevitable happened.

It really doesn't matter how many chances either side missed, the result is the only thing that matters. It riles me when managers or supporters use this as an excuse for a defeat. Missing chances regularly, like conceding sloppy goals is usually the result of ineptitude and ultimately the manager has the responsibility for results. I've never heard of a player being sacked for poor results, the buck stops with the manager.

My point was to show how ludicrous it was to drop Nyambe after his perceived two 'bad' games. I agree with your second sentence which in my opinion highlights that Mowbray has his favourites and will drop others to play them even if they are out of position.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the point of a poll is to gauge opinion. Now we know that less than 4% want him sacking and the majority want to review his position in the summer and 40% are happy with him. Job done apart from a small minority who want to take some kind of moral high ground and not accept other people's opinions.

So on the back of two poor performances does anybody expect Mulgrew to be dropped? And in those games Mowbray mentioned Nyambe was far from our worst player. Against Birmingham Raya turned the game against us with his ridiculous decision to chase a loose ball. Had we won I'd wager Mowbray wouldn't have considered that Nyambe had a poor game.

I noticed that the volatile East Midlands derby is being played on Monday night. I really don't understand Rovers (or Caleys) concerns for the Nobbers game. Any disorder will occur away from the ground and the police will, as always deal with it. The 'bubble' we have for the Burnley matches is at the request of the police but clearly they don't have any concerns for the Preston games as evidenced by the 3 pm kick off over there. But ultimately Waggott should be questioning him and linking the ridiculous decision to lost revenue and another example of pissing off supporters.

Out of interest Chaddy who would you get rid of?

I agree but that should have been identified and remedied by Mowbray as soon as promotion was achieved. Instead he rewarded average players who clearly wouldn't be good enough with new, improved contracts. This has inflated his wage budget by a significant amount and he is in danger of the loyalty he showed to some players backfiring on him. From a progression point of view we can write this season off as we have predominantly the same players who are clearly punching above their weight. Whether Mowbray is the man to take us to another level remains to be seen.

But that doesn't explain how the intensity has dropped off alarmingly, the passing has been woeful and a sedentary pace.

A few weeks ago we played a high intensity, fast passing game against Hull when the consensus of opinion was that it was the best we have played under Mowbray. Since then (10 minutes at Brentford aside) we have been as poor as we have under Mowbray. Has something happened in the interim to cause such an extreme change in form? None of us really know but Mowbray needs to get to the bottom of it. If it's players then weed them out and get shut. If it's him he needs to perhaps review his methods and coaching. Whatever it is (and clearly there is something wrong) it can't be allowed to fester otherwise there is only one way we are going.

Sometimes when listening to Mowbrays interviews I really wonder if he is on a different wavelength to the majority of us. To evolve a different playing style could take years and a huge overhaul of the current squad. Similarly he was talking about setting up a European scouting network. This simply can't happen in the short term, certainly not before the summer which is the time we should be looking to bring new players in and strengthen the squad.

Wharton, Grayson and Platt are all out on loan too. Hopefully Magliore will get a call up, at least he is a centre half.

Although it hasn't been confirmed I think Rodwell might have been injured. He seemed to be holding his back towards the end of the first half.

At the Riverside earlier this season Boro went down to ten men after about half an hour and it didn't seem to effect them as they came back from a goal down and finished stronger.

So much about the deal doesn't seem right. The timing, the fee and the loan aspect are serious questions that should be asked. It was reported recently that Brereton and Davenport weren't Mowbray signings. When I hear Mowbray talk about inflated fees and wages in January I get the impression he wants value for money and yet the Brereton signing and fee was a huge gamble which has so far massively backfired. It almost goes against what Mowbray preaches.

I really wonder about our fitness levels which seem to have dropped off alarmingly over the last few games. Boro had a corner towards the end of the game and I saw four of our players on their haunches. It was the same corner when Boro took a short one and Reed really struggled to get out to prevent it. I know we only had ten men for the second half but it wasn't like Boro made the extra man count by working us.

I couldn't believe how bad we were in the first half. Mulgrew played like a drunken Sunday morning footballer and there were many others who were lethargic and lacked any kind of commitment. We were better in the second half but I won't be kidded by that. Most teams in the Championship would have gone for the jugular and been out of sight but Pulis was happy to win by one goal. I am starting to feel sorry for Brereton and more anger to whoever sanctioned the move and agreed the fee. Where does Mowbray go from here though? He has chopped and changed personnel and tactics to no avail and it really does seem that many players, with contract extensions in their pockets have gone back into Easy Street and are going through the motions. Mowbray has never totally convinced me and he is facing a real test now to start getting results again from a squad were many players don't appear to care. Looking ahead and we could have only one centre back available for next Saturday after Mowbray's refusal to bring in another one in January despite most people's concerns. Hopefully he bloods a kid or two but my guess is that he will simply play players out of position.

I fully expect a dull, low scoring game with both managers being content with a draw. Boro won't have the same aerial threat with Flint doubtful but Pulis (much like Mowbray) doesn't really have another game plan.

Four points dropped and four goals conceded.

I'm sorry I don't know for sure. I would hazard a guess and say no more than five or six who work for the senior team. Again a guess but there will be another group identifying the youngsters.