Morgan Fox has joined Stoke on a free transfer. Another left back we were linked with. Wonder if Mowbray is back from his holiday yet?

Yep, would be in Armstrongs best interest to stay as he is for now in terms of not being tied down. By the way, Florian Hartherz has joined Fortuna Dusseldorf I believe.

Any managerial appointment in theory could work but its what is most likely to work. I personally think for Bournemouth, at a time of an inevitable turnover of players, probably with a bit of money relatively speaking even if its a fraction of the proceeds from selling off their crown jewels, when they really could do with getting back up if at all possible. They should go for someone with fresh ideas and can attract someone with a proven track record Obviously as a Rovers fan in the same league I would prefer them to appoint Tindall and Bristol City Holden because whilst of course there is a chance that they could do well, as with anyone, we want other Championship clubs to be as weak as possible. Maybe Hughton realises that his stock is high because of the Championship record that he has and he therefore has the choice of being able to wait and pick and choose his ideal job at this level.

Yakubu.

If ever there was a sign that things got stagnant and samey, it was there. For me, it cries out for a bit of experience and a bit of outside thinking. Bournemouth arent a big club so could struggle to get back to the Premier League unless its fairly quick.

He also went to Wigan where he couldnt get a game, and then settled in League 1 with Oldham. Maybe he isnt good enough to play above League 1 level, suppose the Irish league is difficult to directly compare.

Because they are at a juncture whereby they could easily become further and further away from a Premier League return the longer they dont get promoted. They are obviously going to sell a number of key assets, Ake has already raised 40m and the likes of King, Wilson and Brooks will all probably be off. Beneath that they do have some players capable of being good Championship players, but will likely have quite a bit of money to play with. I think they would be best served getting someone more proven. Also, Howe has been there for so many years and things had become stagnant and I think they are in need of a fresh face, not his rookie assistant. Hughton is the obvious one. Proven track record at this level, a fresh face, experience, a track record, the ability to tighten up a historically leaky defence. You mention Fulham @Bigdoggsteel they were very much in the best position of anyone, financially and in terms of playing squad to come up, fair play to Parker for getting up through the play offs, and I am not saying that Tindall is definitely a poor choice. But I would personally go for someone with a proven Championship track record at a time whereby they should be one of the favourites for promotion and need to make a strong push to get back as soon as possible otherwise they are likely to settle outside.

Very strange.

But Walton was part of our team last season which was on Mowbray. The team we had last year even with a fit Dack had no evidence of being capable of becoming a top 6 side. Lets not pretend otherwise.

Hes not good enough to be playing for Man City. He is very good on the ball but lets not forget that he was a mainstay in a defence that has conceded 63 goals this season at Championship level. They are potentially going to lose Eric Garcia though who wants out though.

I think you are set for disappointment if you expect that.

Why would we extend Bells contract to loan him out? Not feasible really. I think a competent first choice left back, with Bell as back up as a second natural left back and Williams in an emergency (a player who has played most of his career there) and if all THREE got injured, potentially Downing, I think is more than enough. All 4 of whom can play that position far more competently than Bennett can play right back. Rankin Costello is a wide man, but again could play either full back position but only ideally in an emergency. Personally think a first choice left back would very much be enough in that position. We was unfortunate to suffer both of our left backs being injured at the same time.

There wont be a market for teams willing to pay a fee for Bell. To be fair, assuming we got one in, we would have 3 left backs (compared to for example 1 right back) which is in terms of numbers, plenty. We was unlucky to get both left backs injured at the same time, but its unrealistic to stock pile in case of things like that happening.

We surely cannot justify the expenditure already committed to Bell and Williams to be 3rd and 4th choice left backs. Its not feasible to have so much natural cover in one position. That would make 4 left backs and only 1 right back. We just need a first choice that is a significant upgrade on what we have. Cunningham did tick that box last season. Not sure if Brad Smith is just a lazy suggestion by Rich Sharpe from rumours eminating from before Mowbray was even in charge. Questionable CV, most of his game time in the last 3 or 4 years has been in the MLS so difficult to know how he has done. If he is an upgrade on Bell, fair enough. We shouldnt have extended Bells contract but now we have, we need to try and get an improvement on him to go straight into the team.

Was at Sheffield Wednesday last season and could never get into the team. Dont think him or Brad Smith are the calibre of players that we need really. You've moved away from your own argument There is no evidence at all that even with Dack, we would have got into the play offs. Even this pie in the sky hope that we would sneak in last minute against all probability and previous evidence. A bottom half defensive record doesnt help! I think this is the time when he has benefitted from his price tag. We are so desperate to see him succeed that we cling onto the merest of flickers of anything we can to justify the hope that one day he will come good. Because the precedent is so low, ultimately a few tidy dribbles in nonthreatening areas and we are all expecting a new dawn. Fact of the matter is in them first 2 games post lockdown, the one time he got himself into a goalscoring position, his touch to round the keeper took the ball behind him and he fell on his arse. Then in the next game he was sent off. His customary one a year goal when there is nothing left to play for was a tidy one but I will need to see much, much more to have any real expectation. We can but hope.

Its all hypothetical and excuses. If mt aunty had balls shed be my uncle. Would Armstrong have had the run he had with Dack in the team? Possibly not. Shouldnt 12m worth of strikers have filled some of the void? Definitely. We conceded a bottom half level of goals, 13th in the league. Any improvement was primarily due to Adarabioyo so thus any minimal "progress" in that regard has already been removed again with him returning back to City.

We will never know, not enough to get us into the play offs though. That wont happen while we treat the defensive side with such little priority. Its hard to be to sympathetic considering that we had 12m worth of strikers that couldnt even partially fill that void.

To be thankful towards the owners solely for not putting us out of business is mind blowing.

We conceded 63 goals chaddy. Lets not forget that or make out that Dacks injury was what cost us a play off place.

Its totally disingenous to say "theyre still ploughing £7-8m a season in" without reference to what happened before that. And once that is considered, such a "good deed" loses any credence. For a Rovers supporter to dismiss anyone who doesnt attend as not a supporter whilst being thankful to owners that have allowed our club to go through the gutter, be rinsed by agents, keep Kean for so long, then appoint Coyle a few years ago who steered us to an inevitable relegation, all the while being totally absent and disinterested far, far away, but one who havent totally pulled the plug, as if thats something to be grateful for. Its the old metaphor of being thankful that the guy who shot you took you to the hospital! To be content that they are still here simply out of necessity I can somewhat stomach. To be vocally supportive and thankful to them and slagging off hurt supporters as collateral damage is unfathomable.

The reason that there is far less discussion about Dack and now Armstrong is not this massive objective to spread "bile." Everyone is in agreement that Dack was a brilliant signing, same now with Armstrong. With the other 2, some such as yourself seemingly are not willing to criticise them, which is fair enough, but that creates debate because there are contrasting opinions and viewpoints. Whereas with the first 2, everyone agrees so there isnt really any discussion to be had. You can describe it as "slating" them to add an overdramatic touch but we are on a messageboard. The signings deserve criticism because they were signings for large money and has both looked really poor. Theres also a confusion from the manager on how to use them. And then the fact that we always seem to be just off really competing for the top 6, which adds to the frustration when the majority of our budget since promotion has been wasted. Was signing good players a piece of cake even with 12m for Mowbray? Of course not. Have other teams made poor signings too? Yes. But ultimately part of Mowbrays job is to sign good players and when he makes 2 expensive mistakes, he will be called out for it. You cherry picked 3 examples. Wells is a proven goalscorer at this level and got 5 of his 18 league goals in his half season there. Ultimately the manager lost his job soon after mind you. Glatzel has started to score now he is settling, but again Warnock lost his job early in the season. Zohore was poor but had Mowbray got us promoted, the criticism of the 2 strikers would very much quieten down! What about as others have mentioned, Watkins, Karlan Grant, Pukki etc. You say write them off, we can only judge on what weve seen. If they both start banging in the goals, something neither has promised thus far, then everyone will be happy.

I read that Gibbs is on Premiee League wages so cant see that at all. Plus he is really injury prone.

Exactly. As you say, it applies to any player. As the money was wasted and we didnt replace Raya, they have to be considered when considering any judgement in selling him in the first place. Was he replaced? No. Are we weaker post Raya (ie we now have Gallagher plus have spent 1.5m extra) from that transaction? Yes. Therefore it was poor business to sell him.

Such a flimsy defence of a signing, that other teams have wasted money. Obviously they will have done. No one is saying that it is impossible to not make poor signings but equally it doesnt justify doing so. You say Gallagher played out of position but that only further warrants criticism on Mowbrays point for signing him. He has been a poor signing. Brereton has been a really poor signing. Equally, Dack and Armstrong have been very good signings, you dont see people saying "yeah but other teams have found bargains too" do you?

The fact that other teams have also wasted money doesnt mean that ours isnt any less worthy of criticism.