Glad that Gallagher is out, but Buckley wide/false 9? Bizarre.

I never said that it can be done or indeed that I can do it. I also don't fully understand the full intention of the purpose of this thread. Mystery, confidential meetings aside.

I think Nyambe is miles ahead of Rankin Costello who I suppose isnt a right back but cannot defend one on one at all. I also think that whilst Nyambe doesnt have the best end product, his assist for the first on Saturday isnt the first in which he has powered through and played the ball back for a goal. The fact that he is an international is (like with Annesley) an irrelevance due to the fact that his national team is a footballing minnow. I think he is an average Championship right back, and definitely our best full back on what has been seen so far.

I agree with how you mention his hesistance, that very much sums him up so far, hesitant. His set pieces have been pretty poor and he has often played safe passes, indeed when he has got forward his crosses have tended to be loopy and straight towards the keeper. His goal was excellent both in how he took not the best pass from Brereton and also the finish and he is definitely technically better than Bell, he is much calmer on the ball whereas Bell rarely had the ball under control and often gave away needless throw ins. His or indeed any targeted left backs defensive ability shouldnt have been seen as less of a priority than his ability to go forward though. Our defensive record and inability to keep clean sheets is horrendous, is it 16 games? And that is with individuals (Ayala and Kaminski for example) impressing amidst that. I definitely think that he is better than Bell (and Douglas) but merely being better than 2 players who were awful is not the benchmark that should be set. I do agree with how quick people have been to try and big him up, not only on his reputation but perhaps also in the absence of many other signings?

I would definitely agree that he is an upgrade but the standard of Douglas and Bell was so low that it isnt really a barometer of success. I think technically he looks very tidy but he looks particularly slow on the turn and has been caught out positionally a few times. I think he will need to perform to a higher level if he is to ensure that he keeps his place in the team with Edun soon to be pushing him, I look at our defence/goalkeeper and individuals within it have received praise this season but as a team we are not keeping clean sheets which worries me. Definitely worth persevering with and an ok start but I do think the official website has gone well over the top with its praise, although no issues as I suppose thats it job to a certain degree.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2021/september/Pickering-I-m-learning-all-the-time/ I have seen a lot of praise from the official site and in the local media regarding Pickering in the last couple of weeks. "For those who turn up to Ewood Park not knowing anything about the Rovers squad, many would think that Harry Pickering's been a Championship regular for years. The 22-year-old full-back looks right at home in the second tier." What do people make of this? I personally think that he definitely looks better than the 2 incompetents of last season, but he is still a long way from convincing me.

There is too much focus on those in the middle, an underperforming manager, an incompetent CEO and middlemen who may give "advice." The people who need holding to account are those that have not attended a game in years and years and are in India.

To be fair, Robbie Savage would be probably the best midfielder in the League.

I am not suggesting that we stop trying to explain things that invariably we are unlikely to ever fully know the reasoning behind, and perhaps the word conspiracy is a little strong or ill advised. I just cant see personally how the specific theory put forward is likely to be true. I would personally suggest that they havent lost faith in Mowbray or indeed lack the interest levels and engagement to hold a strong opinion either way, perhaps aided by those between Mowbray and Venkys certainly not pushing for his sacking, and that the extreme budget cuts are something that have fairly suddenly happened more than once under Venkys (perhaps when they are particularly disengaged?) and are probably accelerated by the financial issues caused by the pandemic. I dont think or see any evidence that potential ambition from them is in any way stopped by FFP, and I see no reason to suggest that they dont trust him with money but do trust him to continue as manager. It is like if I or anyone was to disagree with a suggested transfer target or potential new manager. It would be totally reasonable to dismiss the idea or not want that person even if I lacked full enough knowledge of potential alternatives in various leagues to be able to strongly recommend someone else.

Great post especially on the style of play. Experienced managers tend to get judged collectively rather than individually, all under the "boring," direct football tag. When a younger manager who supports the club whilst sporting a rock star image plays direct football, it seemingly is seen as more exciting.

Ha!

Was blatant cheating, Oldgregg86 is spot on. Manufacturing contact, simulation, lets cut straight to the point, it was a simple dive trying to con the ref and cheat. A blot on the copybook of an otherwise very impressive performance.

He is not having a good time at Forest, no denying that, being sacked would be fair. Equally he did an excellent job at Brighton. Norwich is inbetween the 2, he left them 5 points clear of the relegation zone. For both jobs you seem keen to make out that he had them in a position which is untrue and fabricated to make him seem worse than he was. Brighton stayed up in both seasons in the Premier League that he had them for following the promotion that he earnt, those are the facts. We are a Championship club and his Championship record prior to Forest is excellent. The issue is that experienced managers all seem to be generically banded together as if they are all the same. Sometimes people want excitement and something new but there is a reason why Hughton, McCarthy and Allardyce repeatedly find work and more often that not succeed. I can never understand anyone who doesnt like their team getting results purely based on aesthetics. Style is subjective, Mowbray tried to play what is deemee commonly as the right way last season, it was very boring.

I think Hughton had taken them as far as he could but he did a fantastic job there and it is unfair to do him a disservice by suggesting what could have happened when it didnt. Decent football is subjective, its all about results.

Have to see a close replay to appreciate quite how bad that dive was by Dolan.

He took them up then kept them up twice. We can speculate what nearly happened but those are the facts. I dont think in his full seasons that Potter finished any higher.

I think its a certain number of years at an academy in this country before a certain age. Ayala was at Liverpool.

I suspect his stock is much higher than mid to lower Championship after his last 2 seasons at Swansea. Hughton has a very good track record, the job he did at Brighton was excellent although his current job at Forest will undoubtedly somewhat tarnish his CV. And who you support or used to play for should be an irrelevance so agree there.

Gallagher has to be dropped, I cannot remember as poor a performance in living memory from a forward as Gallagher's on Saturday afternoon. Butterworth is the only option from our injury prone, skeletal and under funded squad to come in. Clarkson could potentially come into the midfield for either Buckley or Rothwell too.

Utterly bizarre. With Hughton, not doing well at Forest, so I somewhat would understand a bit of reluctance. McCarthy is doing very well at Cardiff. Everything is about perception, anyone over a certain age is grouped together in the "boring" category, regardless of their individual track records. Warnock is different to McCarthy who is different to Hughton who is different to Allardyce who is different to Pulis. They all get the same sort of tags, boring, dinosaur, long ball etc. I am not suggesting that we get McCarthy or indeed Hughton, neither would come, nor would Cooper in a month of Sundays. Most of the managers you suggest are what you deem to be exciting, mainly based on Rovers links, Ainsworth, Davidson (very average league record) and Hughes.

I dont have an explanation, I just dont think that FFP is the only thing stopping them from being ambitious and engaging in a genuine attempt at moving the club forward. Nor do I leap to the illogical conclusion that Venkys dont trust Mowbray to the point whereby they give him no more money yet allow him to keep his job. Venkys often lose interest to the point whereby they strip back any investment.

Straight choice again, McCarthy or Mowbray?

I dont get the loanee obsession. Of course based on Saturday, Dolan is part of it but the objective of tomorrow should be to select the team with the biggest chance of winning the game rather than obsessing over the contracts that they are on. We know that the contractual situation in general is piss poor but its a seperate issue going back to the owners. Would you drop Nyambe, Lenihan, Brereton and Rothwell?

Our wage bill will be fairly low down I would suspect now with our skeletal squad and over Mowbrays tenure, surely the fees spent will be close to a net spend of zero. I stand by the fact that there is a lot of assumption and speculation as to exactly how close we were pre the Armstrong sale to going over FFP regulations, especially as the published accounts only take us to June 2020, and indeed how much we could have spent of the Armstrong fee whilst staying within FFP. The wage bill wasnt necesssarily extortionately high, and of course there would be some wastage, proportionately our income is low and it is very common for Championship teams to have wage bills too high in comparison to their income, that is a fundamental issue beyond our club I think. My point was that this idea that Venkys are being reigned in by FFP and/or would be spending much more if it didnt exist is total speculation, I suppose it couldnt be proven or disproven as it is hypothetical but there is no sign whatsoever based on their overall reign that they are being held back solely by FFP. None at all.

Regarding FFP and how close we are to it, there is a lot of conjecture, speculation and assumption. Taking snippets from previous public forums etc from years ago. The one thing that I dont get is the theory that if it didnt exist, that Venkys would actively invest and be interested in getting us promoted. And the whole nonsense that they will sign any cheque if asked. The reason given for the lack of spending this summer in the LT by Mowbray was the pandemic affecting India, nothing to do with FFP, it just seems to have been assumed that FFP is the main hindrance. Any theories on top of that of Mowbray not being trusted with money but allowed to carry on can be filed under conspiracy theories.