Was thinking exactly the same myself jim.

This season is starting to feel like the Lambert season. Poor football yet somehow in contention for a play off place leading up to Christmas before completely playing ourselves out of it over the festive period. We'll never know now if our best player would like then have been sold during the January transfer window but we all know what happened the following season.

Should have been potted last February. Nothing has changed and nothing much will change until he goes.

A keeper would have been my priority before Dack got injured, now I'd say it was a reasonable striker closely followed by a keeper.

Considering how desperate Middlesbrough have been, they are only six points behind us.

Our overall points per game over the last fifty odd games is actually extremely poor, it's just that we seem to be able to string the occasional run of results together which prevents us from falling into the bottom three. The momentum derived from gaining promotion from League 1 ensured we just about had enough in the Bank to survive last year and likewise the recent run before the last three games should mean we have enough in the Bank not to be relegated this time round although without Dack I wouldn't be surprised if thinks look fairly ugly by season end. Either way I think we could and should be looking to do a lot better than Mowbray

True, but if he could hang on long enough to be given another unwarranted new contract, then him and Venus really would be set for life. Probably his last job at a decent level and I get the sense he's trying to eke it out for all it's worth.

Because, obviously, if there is no actual expectation on him to do anything worthwhile, and he can continue to hoodwink the owners and the majority of the fans that the dross we watch every week is all part of some long term masterplan then the greater the likelihood is that he and is mate Venus will be able to continue in their cushy no pressure jobs as opposed to getting sacked for underachievement. As others have said, now Dack has been injured we are likely to pay for Mowbray's complete and utter ineptitude in the transfer market.

Nailed it jim. When was the last time we ever tore the opposition a new one inside the first 20 mins at Ewood? All they're expected to do is muddle through until half time then put a bit of a late spurt in second half to make things look good. Said it a million times before but we'll never ever progress under TM.

And we have a bottom six manager. If Dack isn't replaced with a decent striker who can find the back of the net reasonably consistently, will we win again this season?

Bell for Rothwell is a really bizarre substitution. Are we just trying to hang on for a point from half time onwards? Plus, it's not inconceivable that Downing will run out of gas after 70 mins and also need replacing.

Probably very optimistic to assume we can unload said players in Jan, even on a free. Would you move to another job which entailed a huge pay cut if you were under no obligation to do so?

Atrocious game between two poor sides managed by two poor managers. Still heading down the road to nowhere under Mowbray despite a flattering run of results which promised a false dawn. Was especially disappointed with Johnson who given his lack of effort might as well have been sat in the stand and Holtby who was heading for the deck almost before he received the ball every time. With Bennett just being well, Bennett, that left our midfield practically non existent. Also think Lenihan has had two really poor games this week, he seems to find it more or less impossible to pass to a blue and white shirt. Only minor positives today for me were Buckley who despite one or two errors looked very lively and the only one capable of making anything happen and Gallagher who Im not a fan of but whilst as usual never threatening goal today I thought he put in a much better shift than normal and looked a lot fitter than the rest of the team. We still need to dispense with Mowbray imo if we're ever to have any hopes of finishing better than below halfway in the table.

Dack hasn't been playing astoundingly well but has still been chipping in with plenty of goals.Not sure we could replace him without spending Premier League type money and I'd be looking at Holtby and Rothwell to step up and fill the void between them. I'd be more worried about the situation up front. Graham imo has completely gone and Rothwell and Brereton still have it all to prove. Wouldn't disagree with Chaddy about needing a keeper CB and LB as well though. Thought William's was dreadful last night.

I was initially going to come on and moan about a typical Mowbray performance and result after an atypical run of results which briefly gave us hope of doing something worthwhile rather than hoping to finish 15th to 20th. As we tend to do we simply didn't turn up in the first half and a bit of a spurt in the second half was too little too late. None of the outfield players played particularly well but sorry, Danny Graham has completely gone and shouldn't be starting. However I ended up more incensed by the actions of Morsey who in my opinion is an out and out thug who should be nowhere near a professional football field. I've seen a replay of the Travis incident and my reading of it was that he walked right up behind Travis so no-one could see him and then trod on his Achilles whilst trying to make it look accidental.In real time I also thought he stamped down studs first on Dack whilst trying to make it look accidental. I don't mind if someone goes in for a full blooded challenge and gets the ball but cleans the opponent out in the process which is deemed to be violent conduct these days but those were the actions of an out an out coward. We could have done with a Glen Keeley to take him out at about neck height. Hope the EFL throw the book at Morsey and wish Bradley Dack all the best for a speedy recovery. A win on Boxing Day and last night's disappointing result won't be a total disaster. All the best to everyone on the message board for Christmas. Have a good one.

Bennett should be nowhere near the starting line up regardless of the opposition. No coincidence the better run of results coincided with him not being in the starting line up.

I must be in a minority of one but I thought Evans was terrible last night, back to his usual self, completely anonymous which left Travis having to try and do the work of 3 men to try and make an impression in midfield.

Not usually one for conspiracy theories but Olivia must be fuming that Bradley will only cop a one game ban for two yellows and did not earn a straight red and three game ban which would have freed him up to spend Christmas with her down in Essex. He's gone a bit too early as well. Must not have been listening to her closely enough...........?

It was a 1-1 draw where we played a fair chunk of the game with a man advantage. I agree with you, it is all about picking up points consistently. If we won thirty plus games 1-0 and stunk the place out I couldn't really care less but apart from the last four games before last night we haven't done that. There will also be other games where we do play well but don't get what we deserve so you have to take your chances where you can. Last night was another two points dropped due to the way the game panned out in my opinion.

Nonsense. I personally wouldn't blame him for not bringing Dack off but it's not unreasonable to make the observation or hold the view that he could or maybe should have brought Dack off at 10 v 11 because he was already on a yellow. For me that's not the main point though. We were terrible whether it was 11 v 11, 10 v 11 or 10 v10. That is Mowbray's fault.

Result just about ok but I thought we were absolutely atrocious last night. The game was there for the taking when Swansea went down to ten men and any side that was going to do something this season would imo have found a way to secure the 3 points despite not being at their best. Yet we made no impression whatsoever with a man advantage and after Dack was sent off we were lucky to scrape a draw. The game encapsulated in a nutshell for me why we will never do anything with Mowbray in charge. The Division this season is the worst version of the Championship I've seen and although there are only six points separating fifth and fifteenth with us slap bang in the middle of the sea of mediocrity, I wouldn't put a single cent on us finishing any higher than bottom of that cluster of teams. I can't understand why many people appear to be so happy that we are so poor. Those that are "happy with a point tonight" are probably those that will be satisfied if we finish 14th this season as opposed to last season's 15th. Those that glibly observe "It's where we are, our players are too inconsstent, we're a mid table side" are either missing the point or deliberately ignoring the fact that the reason it's where we are is because the manager's overall recruitment is so poor. He has been well backed but either spends big money on the wrong players, signs others who he doesn't then fancy once they get here, or can't bear to let others go who should have been offloaded long ago. Everyone is entitled to their view and it seems many are happier than I am but for me it's not good enough, and I'm sick of watching it.

Sad news, his teams played entertaining football which made today's version lseem extremely drab in comparison. If memory serves me correctly the only thing preventing us from making a sustained promotion push for the top division in his time was the lack of a prolific goalscorer. The Board of the day refused to back him in a move for Steve Kindon I seem to recall. Two things stick in my mind about Jim. Firstly that famous 3-2 win at Turf Moor Boxing Day 1977. The managers had to walk diagonally across one half of the pitch to get to the dug outs and the reception the bald eagle received from the Rovers fans packed into one half of the Longsight stand as he walked across the pitch was like nothing I'd seen before or since. Secondly, fuelled by the impetuosity of youth I wrote to Jim at one point suggesting players we could possibly sign. I certainly never expected a reply but much to my surprise and delight received a beautifully typed letter on Club notepaper detailing individually why it was not practical to sign the players I'd mentioned. Signed with a flourish from the fountain pen of the man himself. You couldn't imagine a manager even reading such correspondence these days let alone going to such trouble to reply. RIP.

True. Mowbray correctly conceded we needed a new main striker, the trouble was he wasted the funds on the willing but basically talentless Gallagher.

What a thoroughly depressing prospect. I do agree with your post though unfortunately apart from the fact that I would say mid to lower mid table will be the best rather than the worst case scenario this season and it will be for as long as Mowbray is in charge as well. Either way, since when did anyone become happy with that rather than challenging for promotion if you're in the Football League or playing entertaining stuff and winning the odd bit of silverware if you're in the Premier League?

You're right to a degree, Bennett is probably the worst option at RB I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt, Walton is one of the worst keepers I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt and Armstrong constantly looks out of his depth up front. However none of that makes Gallagher a good'un! Unfortunately.