jim mk2

Watford signed Danny Welbeck, still only 28 and an excellent player, and broken their transfer record for a Rennes player. That's third division Watford in my eyes. Sodding Venkys

Charlie Austin from Soton to West Brom for £4m. What a great signing, the sort that gets you promotion. Much rather we had signed him than Gallagher

An appalling and very insensitive statement by Mowbray. It might be his private thoughts but he should not be saying that about a young player in public. What is he thinking of, and what about the feelings of Magliore? Mowbray should get a bollocking from his boss about that - except he doesn't have one

It's obvious no one else is coming in - at least no who will make a difference. In any other multimillion pound business a manager who failed to address a weakness in that business and wasted money on another part of that business would be hauled before the board to explain his actions and probably given the sack. Mowbray is allowed to get away with it because he is obviously answerable only to people who clearly do not understand the business they are in.

Is it possible for Rovers fans to pay on the gate?

It's not that - it's the hubris, the constant bullishness when it is clearly unwarranted that is most irking. I had the Charlton match down for a draw because a newly promoted team would be playing well and we're clearly no better than we were last season. I don't know why you thought we'd "put them to the sword". Fulham had a wake-up call at the weekend and will be going at us from the off Can our defence keep them out ? High unlikely. This is the real world - the post Brexit world - not the dreams and silly chutzpahn of Boris Johnson

A reminder of your prediction for the Charlton game below. Give it a rest, please No ifs, no buts, Charlton should be like lambs to the slaughter. They are newly promoted and seem to have more defensive problems than even us. It has to be a home banker. Highly likely we will concede so it's just a question of how may goals we can rattle in. Piled on at evens for Rovers win and a 'fun' bet of Rovers to win 4-1 at 45/1.

Yep, if I had a choice I'd gladly forgo the World Cup win if we could win back the Ashes.

.... yep, and the back 4 starting season 2020-1 will be Bennett, Lenihan, Mulgrew, Bell.

Left side of that back 4 looks very dodgy. The problem is Tosin and Lenihan are both right sided players - I can see all sorts of problems between Lenihan and Bell. Fulham had an unexpected setback on Saturday so will be going at us from the start. 3-1 Fulham

Then you come back to the ownership problem. Burnley's off-field system however will count for nothing if they get the managerial appointment wrong. Swansea were a model for many years with their chairman Huw Edwards (?) identifying a succession of promising young managers - Martinez, Rodgers etc. I accept that basic structures have to be in place to make Rovers successful, and it's likely they are not at present, but that all comes from not having a strong and intelligent manager.

I prefer the all-powerful manager. Running a football club by committee with DoFs may be the modern way and might work for some clubs but you only have to look 10 miles down the road to Burnley to see how a top-class manager can transform even the most unpromising clubs. I would have trusted a top football man like Sam Allardyce to have to run Ewood from top to bottom, like Ferguson at Old Trafford. You can have a great "system" in place with scouting and coaching teams but unless you get the right manager, you're not going to get anywhere.

Tom Lawrence double for Derby. Lots of Rovers fans were glad to see the back of him.

Top class rant that. Well done.

You can change personnel all you like but if players don't have the temperament for Test cricket, eg Roy, then there's no point picking them. Test cricket is, or used to be, game of patience. Burns showed the way in the 1st innings albeit with alot of luck but that is the mentality you need.

Pathetic and so predictable.

I should have put some money on

Brainless by Roy. In the context of trying to save a Test match, why would you play a shot like that?

Barely 15 minutes in and 1st wicket down. What's more agony, supporting England cricket or Rovers?

I can take a bad result like Saturday's on the chin because bad results can happen at any time to even the best teams but Mowbray has lost an awful lot of Brownie points by not strengthening the defence, and it is this failure more than anything that I think fans find most frustrating.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I get worse as I get older. Perhaps it's the advancing years and the realisation you don't have many football seasons left but I want Rovers back where they belong in the big time before I pop my clogs and results like yesterday's make you realise it's just not going to happen. Coupled with England's useless cricketers it would make anyone depressed.

I don't see this - in my view Mowbray is under no pressure at all from above. His remit is most likely to keep Rovers out of trouble and safe in the Championship - hence the conservative team selections and lack of risk taking. Let's face it, Mowbray got a nose-bleed when we reached the dizzy heights of 7th last season. Why should he put his nice sinecure at risk by raising expectations?

I'd bet my house on us getting nowhere near the target. There's only one likely scenario tomorrow - England steadily losing wickets all day and finally succumbing just before tea. Lyon is the dangerman.

Mowbray would do well at Westminster. Tell the proles what they want to hear, promise to spend fortunes to fix their grievances, and pledge a better future that they know they cannot possibly deliver. Sound familiar?

Of course it is. It's fans letting off steam and venting their feelings at events that are largely out of their control. This messageboard won't get Mowbray sacked but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be debated.