Does that mean Waggott has been offered a new contract? I sincerely hope not.

Did anyone make the point to him that it would be completely pointless letting DL RN and JR go for a relative pittance in January due to the contract situation then spend a similar amount bringing in inferior players?

Real "can't do" person isn't he. Every time someone comes up with a positive suggestion he is there with a reason why it can't be done or might not work. Extremely rare he comes up with an initiative off his own batt which takes everyone by surprise and which could generally be regarded as positive.

Thanks for clarifying.

Personally, I don't think he is as good as as Wharton and I'd rather give another of our youngsters, (Carter) the chance rather than push him out of the picture by signing Van Hecke.

You're being a bit vague1864, to boil it down to the nitty gritty, are you suggesting there's a chance we might not be able to meet certain conditions necessary to activate an extension, or are you saying it's simply a case of the Club has to wait until the appropriate time. I always understood it to mean that IF there is an option to extend a contract in our favour the player had absolutely no say in the matter.

I think he's been bloody awful but it's a game of opinions.

Didn't think it did improve to any noticeable extent John, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. The surface per se was passable yesterday but there's obviously an issue with the drainage and I can only see it deteriorating as winter goes on.

Pretty fair. On the basis that things are going extremely well at the moment I'd stick with the mantra "If it ain't broke don't fix it" and wouldn't rock the boat at the moment in any respect, be it changing the manager or selling any players in January. That doesn't mean to say I think Mowbray's a good manager I think he's a pretty poor one and if we suddenly went on a run of one or two wins in ten and dropped out of contention I still wouldn't be able to make any case for not dispensing with his services. I think it goes without saying no-one wants that to happen and we all hope we make the play offs, and, even more difficult, emerge victorious after the play off matches.

Everyone (including Mowbray) will have to accept that Gallagher is useless whatever position he plays in and it's no coincidence whatsoever that we're playing far better without him in the side. It will be a minor disaster if he is reintroduced in any position at any point other than small cameos off the bench and even then I think we could do better.

An occasion and result that was very nearly ruined by a waterlogged pitch due to Waggott reneging on his promise to provide a new one and the worst officiating performance I think I've ever seen from the referee and the linesman on the Riverside. But we managed to score a superb winner from the one real moment of quality in the game and it turned into a massive three points. Credit where it's due, we didn't really adapt to the freakish conditions first half but in the second someone had obviously had a word, we moved the ball about far quicker and fully deserved the three points in the end. The owners need to step in and take the contract situation by the scruff of the neck now, no-one should be permitted to leave in January and de-rail the momentum we have unexpectedly built up. I'm really enjoying my football for the first time in many years, probably for the first time since Hughes left. You've got to love the spirit these young players are showing. Still think the pitch will become more and more of an issue the deeper we get into winter.

Yet, I don't recall you ever lobbying for a statue of either Souness (who won promotion from this Division AND a League Cup) or Dalglish (who won promotion from this Division AND the Premier League) next to Jack's............ Yet you'd countenance it for someone whose managerial highlight here so far is finishing 11th. How odd. People might be forgiven for thinking you were on the wind up or something..............

I don't think most would dispute that "improved" terms have been offered it's more a question of how much they've been improved by. To use an extreme example to prove a point it's been rumoured that Nyambe is on a ridiculously low £4k p.w. as a result of coming through the Academy initially. If the offer was "improved" to say £4,500 p.w. then surely no sane person would expect him to accept that and personally don't think that even if his wage was "doubled" to £8k p.w. it would reflect his true value to the team. I've no idea what Nyambe and Lenihan (or maybe their agents) are asking for. I've been told what Rothwell (or probably his agent) is reportedly after and if true it's an eye watering sum way in excess of the figures being guesstimated on here. Then again you have to factor into account that to get anyone of the same quality you might well have to pay a substantial transfer fee, agent's fees and their wage demands might not be that much different. Still think the root of the problem is the amount of money completely wasted in previous seasons.

You've still to inform us how much you think DL, RN and JR are worth with 6 months left on their contracts however.........

Hope the fax machine doesn't break down at the last minute next summer then! I'd be triggering the extension at the very earliest opportunity in the case of BBD. If we don't, how does that square with the rule about players in the last 6 months of their contract being able to sign pre contract agreements with another Club? Plus, BBD is worth more with c18 months left on his deal than with c6 months even if he leaves in January. It doesn't stop us superceding that default position with a longer deal subsequently if one can be agreed.

Not saying that isn't the case, but if indeed we do have one, why haven't we triggered it long before now?

We've nowt to worry about then if you're correct, if he was even half as bad as you're cracking on then no-one would want him. He's a bloody good defender and that's all that matters to me. Not everyone can be Roberto Carlos in the final third.

Are you being serious?

Yes, precisely, but let's not "distort the facts" eh!

Unless you've been sent on here by your Club to try and persuade us that Souttar would be a good acquisition for BRFC my advice would be, when you're in a hole, stop digging. You're an employee of Hearts now not just a random Rovers fan discussing all things BRFC related on a m/b. Going online and accusing a fan of another Club that their opinion is "a load of bollocks" isn't the best of looks either.

Alright, everyone's being very pedantic on here today, two wins in sixteen, three in seventeen was it, the third worst run in our history? Near record 17 game "mainly" losing run if everyone is going to insist on being completely literal.

Why have you suddenly popped up on here again? Don't you work in some sort of capacity for a Scottish Club now? Was it Hearts? If so you shouldn't really be on here extolling this guy's virtues trying to persuade us the player would be a good fit here if your Club are desperate to keep him. If it's another Club you're working at, my apologies.

That's not quite right is it, he was allowed free rein to stockpile players and bring the Club to it's knees by our over indulgent owners and was only halted in his tracks by falling foul of the FFP regulations. Had those not existed, there's nothing to suggest the situation wouldn't have continued unabated.

Christ, is that the quality of crock, sorry player, Jocky has us chasing after? What's Rab C Nesbitt up to these days? He might be able to get a gig.

See, this is the nub of the issue. Mowbray isn't in the same stratosphere as certain managers we have had pre Jack like Furphy, Lee and Kendall. The most accurate comparisons are probably Saxton v Mowbray and Mackay v Mowbray. Mackay's funding was pretty limited apart from the period after Jack took over. And whilst I wasn't a particular fan of Saxton there's no doubt he had to oversee a period when we genuinely didn't have a pot to piss in, I recall a story doing the rounds in the mid 80's that consideration was being given to flogging the table in the Boardroom to raise a few quid. Without looking at their respective performances in detail I'd say off the top of my head Mowbray has delivered worse results than the penniless Saxton on a champagne budget and way way worse performance than Mackay who with relatively less backing delivered several back to back play off finishes. At the end of the day Mowbray is an extremely poor manager who has carved a lucrative career in coaching out of the back of a decent playing career. He's had barely any success anywhere he's been apart from West Brom and a heavily funded promotion campaign here and it has been more common for his managerial stints to end in disaster and the sack within a relatively short space of time. Has also been exceptionally fortunate here to survive three very disappointing seasons, a near record 17 game losing run and a Club record home defeat despite substantial backing. In summary a poor man's Saxton and a very poor man's Mackay. All that said we obviously all hope that a miracle occurs and we somehow scrape up via the playoffs this season with a hungry, talented but threadbare young squad.