It wouldn't be a surprise if he came back from India with a new contract.

Where is that from? Seems a bit strange.

You said this last season and he stayed. He's just quite a dour man, this is what he's like and like many managers he gets particularly crabby when he loses matches. Why do you think he will be at Birmingham when you was saying that you believed rumours that hes agreed to join West Brom and take Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell with him?

Mowbray will be here. The twats in India will see giving him a new deal as the easiest option to allow them to forget again about us.

I suspect not very credible at all.

Goes without saying that the manager must be replaced, he is responsible for the results and his bizarre tactics again led to a loss. Not good enough. Sadly, everything boils back to our absent owners who won't know the score today and will probably give Mowbray a new deal. I remember so many people saying how "likable" this team is earlier in the season, I couldn't disagree more, no bollocks and no personality. Johnson was a joke, he shouldn't play for us again, he is finished, an absolute liability. Travis again bog standard in the middle, outclassed. Has there ever been a more overhyped player than Dolan? Today was like 99% of his performances, stepovers when he gets it, unable to release the ball and absolutely nothing of note, he shouldn't be around a first team of a top half side, he was fast tracked into the first team but he was so poor again, Hedges did far more in 15 minutes than Dolan has in months, why hasn't he played more? Gallagher grafted hard and showed more character than anyone, not much at the end of it but gets some credit, Brereton was poor however. Nyambe again is overrated, slows evreything down and doesn't look like he's putting everything in. Lenihan will be lucky to move up to a better club, Van Hecke and Wharton were shakier than normal too. What is wrong with Dack?

Giles apparently has just not been selected according to Rich Sharpe. He has been shit to be fair since he signed.

You have to have a pretty terrible track record if even chaddy doesn't believe a word you say!

This utterly bizarre idea of assembling a combination of former players. Its unlikely to lead to success on the pitch but at least they might jump about a bit on the touchline which is the priority. (Saying that, I am unconvinced that either Johnson or Dunn are that sort of person)

He hasnt put in an alternative "most of the time" just on a few temporary (and puzzling) occasions, the most bizarre being when he played the terrible Bennett for the first 10-15 games or so a couple of years ago. He does seem to rate the back 3 all ahead of Nyambe, he seems very reluctant to take any of them out. I would say that he is one of the players in the team who especially when we need a goal he is most prone to sacrificing but I dont think his treatment has been as shoddy as many have painted. He has established himself as a regular throughout. @chaddyrovers it is up to you if you want to believe everything. I choose to keep a level of skepticism as to whether Mowbray has agreed to join West Brom, and that Venus has told Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell to all join them. Maybe it will all happen unlike the majority of rumours, lets see.

Mowbray was a guaranteed appointment at West Brom the day Bruce was appointed. He was so sure that it prompted roversclitheroe to put a fiver on if I recall.

If I had a pound for everytime that Mercer has hoped for a defeat over the years, it would go some way to covering the amount he must have lost on the various appalling tips he has put on here.

Fair enough, thanks and my apologies. The rest still applies, even assuming that he left on good terms.

The main reason is and always will be Venkys. Obviously Mowbrays recruitment over a lengthy period is a huge contributing factor and I want him replaced, so how that is me living in fantasy world is beyond me. But whoever the manager was, we went into this season having to pad out the squad with 4 loanees because the owners refused to invest at all last summer, thats half of the overhaul, and despite a major sale last summer. Add in a 5th replacement needed for a signing Mowbray made set to bring in a 8 figure fee, and a 6th replacement for a player that could have been sold in January had it not been for the owners stubbornness, a move which would have swapped an unhappy player for 2 new signings, any manager under the same restrictions this season would have had the same issues.

You also said repeatedly that Alex Neil was imminently about to be appointed. Your track record is laughable. The number of changes needed isnt comparable to Liverpool because we went into this season only able to bring in a series of loan deals despite bringing in a substantial 8 figure fee for a Mowbray signing, so there would always be 4 holes regardless of manager. You then throw in replacing Brereton which will bring in 8 figures, and the 3 out of contract players, one of whom would have generated a fee and filled 2 of those gaps in January had it not been for Venkys. Venkys will also presumably give little if any of that major sale for reinvestment. So it is unfair to put the upcoming necessary overhaul solely down to the manager.

Even if you assume that there is scope for a more suitable manager being appointed either to keep you up or at worst, getting you straight back up. If there is any truth in the reports, looking at financial risk and reward, you are paying potentially £15m to pay off Dyche plus the salary of a new manager to roll that dice. It makes no sense in any way.

I think assuming that we finish just outside the play offs (practically certain) and he leaves/is let go this summer (I am unconvinced) then I would describe his tenure as mediocrity personified. Ultimately we have never come close in any of his full seasons of significant regression or being dragged into a scrap at the bottom, that in itself puts him well ahead of a number of people he has been compared to, obviously that is not enough to warrant him keeping his job indefinitely either, merely treading water, and only this season have we come genuinely close to the top 6/in with a proper shout. I would suggest that had we accumulated points evenly across the season, this season would be seen far more favourably that it will, but that is somewhat justified because we have blown such a big chance. I don't think it is fair at all to suggest that his tactics "have always been poor" either though, as much as he is definitely prone to trying to be over-elaborate at times. When he had a transfer window he seemingly wanted us to play a certain way, and he showed a real level of pragmatism and flexibility to totally rip those ideas up so soon into our League 1 season and to play direct off Graham, and that was a big factor in our promotion. Initially when we came up he stuck with that, and then he initially made us slightly less direct in the following season to a degree of success as we finished 4 places higher. It was only when he tried to take that to an extreme that we regressed, and he then again changed his tactics totally once we lost players last summer. Even then, we was not really exceling this season until he changed until a back 3 and played Buckley as a false 9 and I think it is forgotten that those tactics initially were the catalyst to us being where we were. Injuries have played a part since but Mowbray has just been far too stubborn sticking to those tactics though since when the balance has totally gone without Brereton able to run in behind, and he has also thrown in weird additions to the tactics, notably Giles on the right. His tactics across his tenure have changed a number of times, he has 3 times changed them to success but he has also been guilty of overcomplication. A real mixed bag.

If they are communicating with random individuals with no scope for transparency, then are they communicating with the fans?

There is demand, I and others have said we would be interested on here. How much exactly I don't know, but surely such information would be easy to gather if the club had any interest. One of the major questions would be where, it would make sense to do it in one area at least at first, the question would be where. I am guessing that what with your lack of empathy, your view would be totally different should you be affected compared to your dismissive attitude when other areas of the ground were closed without supporter consultation. One thing we have been told on here is that Venkys never refuse to sign a cheque. Like with the pitch situation, would I be right in saying that any infrastructure costs such as this would not fall under the usual excuse of FFP? Alas, in fans forum minutes earlier in the season, Waggott dismissed the immediate prospect of safe standing for financial reasons so it won't be happening regardless.

Me not being excited about a summer off the back of a league collapse in which we will lose a number of first teamers on free transfers and our top goalscorer who we are heavily reliant on, in the following summer in which our owners allowed none of a major sale to be reinvested, under aforementioned owners that have done nothing to provoke positivity across their reign isn't me being a bit of a misery! Surely its logical not to be excited about that prospect. The problem is that you believe every single rumour that you read. The rumour was that Mowbray has agreed to take over at West Brom and that Venus has spoke to Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell lining up all three players on free transfers in the summer. Maybe all of that will happen in the summer and it will be proven right, but I have many reservations. Firstly, it would mean that Rothwell's dad is an absolute tosser, going out of his way to tell any Rovers fan who will listen on a train about all of this information. It would also mean that Steve Bruce has not sniffed any of this out based on recent interviews whereby he expects talks ahead of continuing next season which he claimed he would like to do. It would mean that Mowbray has agreed this ahead of the end of the season, at a point previously in which we had a chance of the play offs, at a club that he has previously been sacked from, which is further away from his home in Middlesbrough. It would also mean that he has allowed his assistant manager to leak this information via trying to illegally tap up our captain and also 2 other players, one of whom tried to leave (something Mowbray was not allowed to let happen) in January to go to a team on the South Coast.

Why would we create safe standing in 3 different stands, surely it would make sense to have it all together.

Why would anyone anticipate the next step under Venky's in anything other than a supposed negative light? Using words like sensible and logical under Venkys. Regarding the West Brom link, I am not taking that as gospel just like I don't take every piece of gossip as guaranteed facts. Why would Rothwell's dad know that the manager is going to West Brom, and why would he be going round telling randomers outside a stadium that it was the case? Like I said, even if he does go, the replacing of him will not be this proactive, seamless process. I certainly wouldn't view the summer as "exciting."

Brereton will go otherwise we will lose him for free. Venkys will probably not reinvest that money as they didn't last year, factor in either a new deal for Mowbray or an unnecessary delay waiting for a new manager as a best case scenario and a minimal budget, and I wouldn't expect these 8-10 players to be of any quality, if indeed we sign that many players. Dack, Markanday and Carter will probably be seen as three of those "new signings" and Gallagher as the man to score 20 goals to replace Brereton, of which there is more chance of pigs flying/Venkys attending a game this season. What should happen is Venkys should show that they honour one of their promises for once (not that I personally want them here) and attend the Bournemouth game. If we are as expected not mathematically in with a chance after that, they should sack Mowbray whilst here and strive to get a manager in as soon as possible after that, failing that, wait around for the season to finish and be proactive for once in their bloody lives.

Is interesting the right word? Mowbray will probably get a new deal, otherwise we will likely appoint someone not good enough. We will sell our top scorer and lose several starters on frees, and if last summer is anything to go by, Venkys will not give whoever the manager is any of that money to reinvest.

Edun was so stupid to get especially that second yellow card, he would probably argue that it was rustiness that saw him lose the ball initially but why youd even give the ref a decision to make is stupidity. Edun hasnt impressed me so far, he was a clear weak point at left back and has been marginally better in midfield but he really cost us yesterday. @starscascade that Wigan selection was actually a strong team, far stronger than people had predicted. Goalkeeper was the obvious costly exception, and even then, Pears had kept a few clean sheets just before.