There is absolutely no way that we can get away without signing a striker, the goalscoring threat yesterday is minimal.

I am certainly not convinced that Buckley has the capability to guarantee himself a place in the team due to his consistency and performance levels, but I am against the idea of repeatedly changing players and indeed the formation through over thinking over the opposition. We are facing 2 decent Championship midfielders, nothing special, nothing that warrants tinkering too much. Sadly, Mowbray is always keen to overthink things like this rather than striving for consistency and focusing on the form and performance levels of our own team. Buckley warrants his place on Saturday through his performance last week, we should be keen to go to Millwall and for Buckley to go and stamp his own authority on the game and utilise what he is good at. If we based it too much on last night, I suppose that no one would play who played last night but Buckley perhaps was less responsible having been hooked at half time. Mowbray said that Johnson wont be back until I think after the international break so I suppose it is hypothetical anyway the only alternative really is Davenport. I would out of a lack of alternatives go for the same side from Saturday, aside from putting Gallagher down the middle. I am not sure how many times Dolan has been effective from the bench (3 of his 4 Rovers goals have been as a starter) and whilst he is so raw at the moment, it seems illogical to drop him for a player who has never kicked a senior ball.

I was in the Blackburn End and it looked like a blatant dive to me, a very desperate attempt to throw himself to the floor. Might be wrong having not seen it back.

Not entirely surprising, but a rather depressing indictment of where we are as a club that Obafemi's rejection was inevitable. Reach seemingly rejected us to sit on West Brom's bench, Mpanzu saw Luton as a more attractive proposition and Obafemi seemingly would prefer to wait with little security at Southampton and with a number of strikers ahead of him. This has been an absolutely shambolic transfer window and the state of our squad is an urgent worry. I was never totally convinced that Obafemi was who we needed simply because not only is he injury prone but mainly because he hasnt got a record of scoring goals at senior level, but he is definitely a talented player, I liked what I saw of him and he has really good attributes. The thing is that we can almost be sure that the money wont go on another striker, this is another excuse, we as a club dont seem to have the organisation to have another permanent target waiting to press the button on. There is this narrative about being patient but by the time the end of the window comes around, we will be 5 games down, 6 including the cup. It is not acceptable to not have signed a single player at this time.

The criticism was more about the way the club is run and the lack of clarity regarding finances available coming from our negligent owners.

I thought that Davenport was really poor when he came on, I think he may be one of those players that gets better in general when he doesnt play. He is not technically particularly good and he is so rash and ill-disciplined, I can understand the seemingly lack of trust in him, the yellow card was totally avoidable and its not the first time that he has needlessly thrown himself into a challenge, we had them penned in if I recall too.

Johnson is injured, but I am surprised to see that you have left out Buckley after the praise you gave him for an impressive half at the weekend in which he impressed. Would that be down to his lack of physicality against a stereotypical game away at Millwall? If so, he is going to struggle to make it as a Championship player if we are picking and choosing his games based on what he can physically withstand, games like Saturday just gone will be few and far between. Millwall have average experienced Championship midfielders like Kieftenfeld and Saville, but Buckley needs to learn how to make the game more about the skillset that he has and trying to influence the game in his own way. I am also surprised to see Dolan dropped too.

I thought Brereton had a dreadful game, he lacks composure and even with little 5 yard passes he either passes it behind the player or too short, neither into their stride. More often than not he has very little positive influence on a game for all of the hype he has got for his Chile appearances, does anyone really see him scoring plenty of goals this season? Pickering was poor, doesnt look comfortable defending and for someone hyped up for his crossing, they tend to be loopy and aimless in the main and straight at the keeper. Obviously for the goal his cross took a noticeable deflection. Lets hope he massively improves soon. Also a word for Davenport who was all over the place when he came on, as he often is and maybe showed why there doesnt seem to be much trust in him. Needlessly aggressive and lacking in discipline. Magloire again looked out of place and Butterworth didnt get involved once he came on. Rothwell didnt really get involved again and Travis is really limited on the ball.

I do have a huge worry that he has no record of scoring goals, of course due to his age. Looking at the squad, there is so few goals. People have got carried away with Brereton mania but he will never be prolific, nor will Gallagher, and beyond those 2 there is barely anything. This new loanee doesnt have senior experience either so its just risk upon risk. I do get that Obafemi is a talented player with obvious attributes and I liked the look of him when I saw him. Yates I think would be unobtainable so it is hypothetical but at least he scored plenty of goals last season, and is actually a player I really like in general, brilliant with his back to goal. It may be a case where taking a risk on Obafemi coming in and scoring goals at a decent rate is our best bet with the money and time we have. The scouting issue you bring up is a fair one, you, I or indeed anyone on here will have a limited knowledge of players especially abroad but in reality we should be able to find one with some record of scoring as a club. That Healey at Toulouse seemed an interesting one with a good goal record although I couldnt recommend him personally, but we are presumably fishing in a self inflicted limited pool. The owners should have been clear, if he is in the dark then that is on them. The shite I paid to watch tonight with the squad he has put together, different matter.

100%. The graduation of as of yet totally untested kids should be a bonus, not something we depend upon. There is a lack of experience on top of a lack of quality in our team.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19504748.tony-mowbray-delivers-blackburn-rovers-transfer-update/ “Let’s wait and see how the next few weeks go and whether we can spend any money on players or are looking at free transfers.” Why does he not know?!

Absolutely shit, horrendous performance from basically our first 11 against a much changed Morecambe side. We lost and could have no complaints, and the 3 at the back needs to go in the bin. Swansea played right into the hands of our limited team, wont be like that most weeks. 2 issues that I worried about before the season were evident today. Firstly, there is very little quality in attacking positions, without Armstrong, there are very few goals. There is very little quality in general, a lack of technical ability and a lack of intelligence. Just little things like passes played behind players, making them check back or having to get the ball out from their feet. That team tonight is our first team and its piss poor. Also, the team is too young, a blatant lack of experience and adding kids will only make that worse. Any sign of a loss and I dont see character to turn it around. What is there to be excited about?

Do you think they could utilise the bottle bars to help to reduce queues that way?

https://www.the42.ie/obafemi-not-100-as-professional-as-i-could-be-4959468-Jan2020/ In an interview with The Daily Mail, the 19-year-old insisted that he enjoys “a good relationship” with Hasenhüttl, whose side are currently on a five-match unbeaten run. Obafemi, whose progress has been hindered by a couple of recent hamstring injuries, is now stretching more often. He’s also addressing his diet, with the club encouraging him to increase his intake of vegetables. “I know I’m not 100% as professional as I could be,” he said. “I’m still young, I still need to learn certain stuff.” Was there also an issue with him being put out having been put back in the Under 21s for Ireland after a senior call up? My personal opinion is that the deal is a mixture of pros and cons. Totally unknown whether he could score goals at senior level on a regular basis, and has had muscular injuries which is a worry. Attitude less of a worry personally especially as he seems to have learnt from it. Would ideally prefer someone with some sort of track record for scoring goals but I like what I saw from the few times that I have seen him for Southampton and like the attributes that he could give especially from a pressing point of view. I have no idea how the thread has descended how it has to be honest to the point that I am now deemed to be a "mood hoover" especially over a player that I am in the middle over but there you go. I think a lot of the reservations are fair although there are always going to be one or two who take it to extremes on either side which seems to have caused a lot of provocation.

A bit like yourself when Coyle was manager? If Armstrong is replaced permanently, that fact alone doesn't mean that people have to be content with the individual that comes in. If the Obafemi deal doesnt happen, then people are right to presume and expect that we will find someone else permanently. There are in the main 2 posters who seem particularly dismissive of Obafemi to perhaps an unfair degree, although the main 2 issues flagged up have been valid ones, injury record and attitude, and no matter what way you twist and turn those to be typical of the general response to a potential deal for Obafemi, neither are as outlandish are suggesting that Venkys will sign any cheque or that Buckley is worth 10m. If the forum was quite as perpetually angry as you suggest, then you wouldnt ever come on. No one here (with presumably occasional exceptions) properly knows footballers personally but the bad attitude is not something fabricated, it is something that his current manager has flagged up, and Obafemi himself has admitted, especially around his diet. Of course, it seems from afar that he has made a conscious effort to change.

Is it straight to penalties after 90 minutes if its a draw tonight?

Thanks for chasing these issues up @only2garners much appreciated. My worry on the concourse issue is that I think it needs a bit more out of the box thinking rather than putting it down to staff, especially as it is unlikely to cause much improvement going forward. Pre-preparing beers and also using the bottle bars could be huge helps however.

I think that the idea that Obafemi has been written off again by an angry mob insistent that he is forever injured and has an irreversible bad attitude and thus would be a terrible signing is disingenuous, it is 2 posters saying that, both of whom regularly have provocative viewpoints. More constructively, one of the main points to which any deal is being dismissed is to me an illogical one, that we should "give a chance" to the strikers that we already have. Its nonsensical in that if you look at the team on Saturday, just that first 11, the weakest area is 100% the front 3 in its sustainability. Armstrong leaves a massive hole and our attack is massively light both in depth and in quality in front of goals, Brereton contrary to popular belief is unproven and not even necessarily a central striker, so that just leaves Gallagher. If we do not sign a striker, we do not have enough goals within the current ranks. There is also seemingly many wary of FFP regulations, but we are bringing in a considerable fee, which is the whole process that we should be regularly undertaking, reinvesting only a small % of that is not going to jeopardising that, indeed it could lead to a future big sale in the future and if we dont sign a striker, we risk our own competitiveness. The idea of investing in January, equally illogical, both from a footballing perspective and also in that the January market is notoriously inflated. Back to the player, and I am mixed on it really, having seen him 2 or 3 times at Southampton. He has all the raw attributes, he could press high, he is really quick and powerful and he would supplement what we have. Obviously it would be a huge risk because he is injury prone (that is a fact) and there is no evidence that he can score regularly. So there are pros and cons but I would much prefer him than no permanent signing. I wonder if we will look at Rhys Healey at Toulouse who we have been linked with and has been banging in the goals in Ligue 2. Meanwhile on Khadra, annoying that he seemingly comes injured, we could have done with him in the squad at the weekend.

Without Armstrong we have nowhere near enough goals to sustain us and January is not a good time to do business. We need a permanent striker now whether its Obafemi or someone else.

I can just see the Obafemi deal not materialising and us signing solely loans, with the money set aside for that deal never being seen again.

The payment plan will surely be part of the contract whereas if there is a gentlemans agreement to knock a few million off both fees to reduce any sell on, that couldnt be a legal obligation otherwise surely it would cause issues with blatantly window dressing the fee to avoid paying as much to Newcastle.

How many times have you seen out of interest and were they for Southampton or the Ireland under ages groups? I have seen him a couple of times for Southampton including v Norwich post lockdown and he looks bright and his assets are obvious. Do you think that he would be a good signing? The one aspect that would please me would be the long term nature of the deal.

I dont get how the price can be affected by a potential Obafemi deal as Mowbray isnt even sure if he is interested and whether a deal will be agreed with him. Plus if Armstrong is at a favourable rate, what stops Southampton cancelling the deal?

I think about any loan signing with no/minimal senior experience is a stab in the dark, hence why I am against the idea of getting 5 of such players on top of an already young squad. It doesnt mean that he will be a poor signing, as Harwood Bellis and even Elliott proved, but there is no way that anyone can say that he is a good signing, I bet no one had heard of him this morning. Assuming that we are fishing in the loan market for flair players, I would have liked someone like Morgan Rodgers who at least as proven his ability to score and assist at League 1 level. Tatith Chong is also an interesting one who has had loan spells abroad who has gone to Birmingham.

Well no, I have just pointed out 2 positives from a cup, well I can think of 3. Most of our seasons just fade into mediocrity and have very little excitement. Why as a fan would you want to dismiss a potential bit of excitement, a game or 2 against big teams or getting quite far? Financially, people keep banging on about FFP, getting further especially if we end up on TV, have a couple of extra home games and/or play a bigger side might get some unexpected income in. There is also momentum, win tomorrow and we go into the weekend on the back of a couple of wins. By all means rest a few, no point playing Ayala for example, put in a couple of youngsters amidst mainly the first team. Mowbray has said that there wont be wholesale changes which I am pleased about as I havent paid a tenner to watch us forfeit with our under 23s. Are you attending, and if so why if a cup run is not what you want, surely a win would be an unwelcome distraction?