Wow, absolutely spot on, mirrors my feelings exactly. I can barely drag myself down to Ewood. You know there's absolutely zero chance of doing anything with Mowbray in charge and as such matchdays are about as enticing as a trip to the dentist. Our "style of play" such as it is seems to have graduated from hoofing long balls up to Graham to hoofing long diagonal balls out to Gallagher on the right touchline like a Rugby Union team trying to nick a few yards and win a lineout. Pitiful. The problem is that whilst those in charge and a section of the fanbase still cling to the notion that Mowbray is actually doing a good job then there's no hope of any improvement.

Absolute garbage. Players looking forward to their summer hols already. No passion desire or commitment whatsoever. One shot on target over the 90 minutes. A new record probably set as we saw all five of our available central forwards strung across the pitch at various points. If Chapman couldn't do better than Samuel or Gallagher out wide I'll eat my hat. Message to the owners: please sack this idiot of a manager now and put him and us out of our misery. Otherwise it'll be just more of the same next season.

Thanks chaddy. I think that illustrates the point I'm making.

Thanks for the view Parson. I hope he isn't going to be viewed as a Jack of all trades utility man who can play anywhere as that is probably the best way to ensure he doesn't maximise his potential. I hope everyone including the player has a clear idea of his best position and sticks to it. So far we've had inside forward from Skip, left sided midfielder from Chaddy and attacking right back from you! Even from Saturday I was surprised to hear post match he is viewed as an inside forward as during the game he seemed to be merely filling a hole on the left hand side of midfield and like most of the rest of the team I thought he was completely ineffective.

We'll have to wait and see. We have been talking about extending into Europe ever since we got promoted from League 1 so the fact something is only just happening now isn't the best sign but we'll have to see if things improve in that respect.

I've not seen enough of JRC to make a proper judgement but gut reaction on seeing him for the first time is that if you were to ask me which of him or Buckley is more likely to make the grade I'd say Buckley. The only way to see if they've got what it takes is to give them both plenty of game time. No-one's ever going to improve if they get the Brereton/Chapman treatment and never play.

If that's you not in a huff I'd hate to see you when you were!

The answer to "can" we make the play-offs is of course "yes". The same as the answer to "can" we win the next 16 games or "can" we win automatic promotion next season and follow that up by winning the Premier League and Champions League in seasons 2 and 3 respectively. Of course we "can". (If we win enough games). "Will" any of those events occur?. No.

Quality!

I've no idea as I haven't seen him play before, I was merely responding to Skip's assertion that he was actually an inside forward as that was not the role he was performing yesterday.

If that's the case, does it not beg the obvious question of why we're expecting a young lad to play out of position on his first start? It would be hard enough for an experienced player. Why not just put him in his normal position?

Absolutely spot on. I find it incredible that there are still people about who think he's doing a good job, although I'd say a few I've spoken to recently seem to have changed from being staunch supporters of his to being completely unsure about him so maybe the mood of the fans is shifting somewhat, albeit slowly.

The fact we've advertised our interest in the lad from Liverpool for next season instead of just keeping schtumm about it and getting the deal done when the time comes should ensure that it comes to nothing. I really do despair as to what is going on or rather isn't going on with our so called recruitment department. Agree with the comments above on Mowbray as well. How can any manager be shocked by or unaware of the amounts players earn or expect?

"One or two?" He made two mistakes that led to goals away at Forest alone!

I thought JRC was pretty ineffective yesterday and like another poster abovw I was somewhat underwhelmed given the sort of build up he has had from those who have seen more of him. Nevertheless it was only his first game so you can't judge him too harshly and I look forward to seeing what he can do given an extended chance. I'd far rather see him and Chapman in the side than Gallagher and Bennett.

Just got in from a night out in Middlesbrough. Fortunately it was a lot better than the game. Terrible game between two poor sides. We actually took the lead through an excellent goal from Travis against the run of play at that point and it was the first effort I could recall feom us being on target. After that Boro were so bad I thought we were nailed on for the win until Wally Walton gifted them a goal by pushing a tame shot straight back out into the six yard box. Following that we were lucky not to lose as Gestede in particular put a header wide from point blank range when it was easier to score. The result and performance merely highlighted for me we're going nowhere and never will do with Mowbray in charge.

Really don't think they would. Similarly you could put up with finishing 15th or lower temporarily if you could see evidence that there was a promising team of youngsters emerging. But not a load of sad sacks who are never going to get you promoted and never going to get any better.

It's not hard info, I'm only surmising, but you're right, if your projections are anywhere near correct then this summer is vital.

Please don't. Being made aware of Chaddy's increasingly frantic attempts on Twitter to find out if there was any Rovers related news when he should have been enjoying a night out with his good lady was bad enough, the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Like Alan Partridge self imploding live on air when Roger Moore should have been coming in. But didn't. Don't take it the wrong way Chadster, everyone should have your passion and enthusiasm.

I'm fairly sure the rule is simply that you can't lose any more than £39 m over the 3 year period. As far as I'm aware there's no restriction on annual losses before that which is presumably why you see some Clubs vastly overspending in the hope that they'll be promoted before the sanctions come into effect.

That would sound feasible wouldn't it, but if there is a bit of wiggle room overall it makes the failure to bring a couple of bodies in last month even more inexcusable.

This transfer approach of Mowbray/Waggott/Venus is a work of art and will surely become the industry standard for a lot of Clubs. 1) At the start of a transfer window put in various bids for players at a fraction of the asking price. 2) Sit back and pick fluff out of your navel until just before the end of the window. Make regular press releases to elicit sympathy about how difficult the market is and how other Clubs are pricing you out. Discourage loan activity by making it plain that any potential incomings will only be coming in as squad members and not into the first team. 3) With a couple of days left before the end of the window if you've done your job properly and pitched your bids low enough and been plain enough with your press releases then you should have successfully blocked any permanent activity and ensured other Clubs won't want to loan you players. Well done! Release a few hard luck stories about alleged near misses and put your feet up until the next window then repeat. 4) If despite your best efforts above you are still getting excessive heat from either the owners or fans about lack of activity then there are 2 options: a) In the extremely unlikely event any of your original targets are still available and haven't been snapped up by Clubs making a sensible offer, go back in and pay the original asking price for a player you could have had weeks or months earlier or more likely if they have been snapped up: b) Vastly overpay for anyone who is left regardless of whether they suit your purpose or you've done adequate research on them. If you're not too keen on them label them as "one for the future" and promptly forget about them as soon as they arrive at the Club. Genius.

I'm guessing J*B's figures exclude our annual operating losses which usually run at 10-15 m p.a. As such we needed a manager who invests any available funds wisely, offloads players who aren't contributing and keeps the size and balance of the squad under control. In Mowbray we have the polar opposite.

I think you're being argumentative for the sake of it there. I'd have sacked him long ago and if it was my money wouldn't give him a bean. However as it appears that the owners seem happy with the job he's doing, his job appears relatively secure and the owners don't seem overly concerned either that he has wasted millions of pounds of their money, it stands to reason that a poor manager with superior players will fare better than a poor manager with worse players!

I want a well paid job in the so called Rovers "Recruitment" Department. Must be the cushiest job in Britain. Assuming nothing happens in the next hour, over the last two January windows we've brought in a total of one player who hasn't even started a game for us, making just two substitute appearances and who was here on loan before we brought him in permanently so we knew all about him. We haven't even gone to the bother of shifting anyone out this time round either. Money for old rope. Ten years on and people are still taking advantage of Venky's it seems.