roversfan99

I only started discussing it because I saw biz mention it. (who said he was replying to someone else to be fair) Have a bit of empathy for those who think giving 100% for a week and a half longer prior to 3 months off to try and win a very achievable league title is a big deal. You seem to have missed the point again with your "missed chances" comment. People werent so upset that we didnt win the league and thus it wasnt saying 2nd wasnt good enough. People were aggrieved that Mowbray had implied prior that it wasnt that big of a deal and picked a team sheet accordingly. People arent bringing it up randomly just to moan about something during our excellent run. I had forgotten about it until I saw someone who is defensive of Mowbray for it mention it, and I am full of praise to Mowbray for the job hes done.

I know. This is a messageboard for our opinions, not to echo the managers opinion. That being said, it is not about playing a certain way, it is about players being effective in the positions they play. Take Armstrong. He is a striker, but he is very (more?) effective from wide, his goal yesterday was a carbon copy of a number of goals last season. I have seen Gallagher play wide, and his effect on a game is massively diluted, he doesnt understand the defensive side, and he is a lot more ungainly than Armstrong. And that was in a front 3 with 5 defenders, making his defensive game less important. His skillset means it is far more important than he plays central than Armstrong. Likewise with Assombolonga, he is very much a goal poacher, move him wide and lose his effectiveness.

I am sure he does, and I agree. But if a bigger club (Prem or Championship with strong chance of promotion) comes in for any of our players, they are more likely to want to leave than stay.

Don't want either him or Gallagher to be used wide. Would prefer an actual wide man wide. Neither of the 2 would dislodge Dack and Graham, nor would they be effective wide. Assombolonga a far better player though.

Greed is a little unfair. Plus its naive to put so much emphasis on a supposed healthy relationship with a manager/club especially after 6 months. If a bigger club offers a bigger wage, as in any industry or to any person, the likelihood is that someone will move on. We have to get him tied down to a longer contract, otherwise we would only have ourselves to blame.

Especially just to bring on Anderson at half time anyway. West Ham are the same as Leicester, a cup win would turn an ok season into a memorable one. I remember the dilemma when Wigan won the cup and went down, as if the 2 are mutually exclusive! But id rather Rovers won the FA Cup and got relegated than stayed up and didnt. Easy to say after a win but i felt that Solskjaer treat the Arsenal game perfectly. He did make 2 or 3 changes but they didnt necessarily weaken them, they gave starts to Lukaku and Sanchez with Rashford and Martial both coming on later. The game on Friday night was excellent to watch with 2 of the big 6 wanting to win. Klopps team selection v Wolves was very strange for a man yet to win a trophy in England. Him and Pochettino should be all out in the cup to get a trophy.

Think thats a little unfair. Reed has fair more ability than Kane and Kane was at a far bigger club. Southampton do have the likes of Romeu, Hojberg and Ward-Prowse but its hardly Todd Kane trying to dislodge Azpilacueta and Reed could push amongst that lot following another successful loan spell, with his high energy style suiting Hassenhuttls style, a manager who seems keen to blood graduates. Even here, hes rarely played in his favourite position.

Gallagher can not play wide and Assombolonga I have never seen play wide.

We will have to agree to disagree that there was more (negative) focus around the surrender of the league title than the (positive) focus around promotion. There was a full house v Oxford and it was forgotten about. If you choose to believe that there are hoardes of fans who dislike Mowbray, who arent behind him (the fan base is united behind him) or who didnt appreciate the promotion, or whatever exactly you are suggesting, then thats your issue. For me though, if hes fit obviously then hes in our 18 man squad every week. Making him too important to loan out. I would have more faith in him starting than Mowbray seems to (was superb when he started v Portsmouth and the pressing he showed for our first that day would have been right at home here yesterday) but even if he failed to dislodge the Dack, Graham, Armstrong attack that most would struggle to remove, then he would be my first sub, above Rothwell, above Nuttall, above Brereton. The one that would end up not making 18's who has struggled for game time and form anyway would be Brereton, who would be perfect to loan out if the club could swallow its pride and let him for the good of his development.

Also, Samuel has been mentioned once or twice. Hopefully he will be moved on in the summer, an opinion I held even prior to a serious injury. Lets not make his absence allow us to forget he isnt of the quality to push us forward, a player who failed to score after November in League 1.

Dont see us paying the wages for Assombolonga. Would be a terrific signing and is a proven goalscorer, that being said does he dislodge the Graham and Dack partnership? Not for me. Theres no reason to sign Assombolonga and Gallagher and I don't suspect any chance either.

@Biz as you are liking my posts sarcastically from 5 months ago! Whilst not forgetting his injury problems already with us and a couple of less than competent performances at centre back earlier in the season. I am happy to state that Rodwell and Mowbray have proved me wrong in the last few weeks with some superb performances, and I hope he signs longer term.

I would probably him in the squad over any of the attacking players on the bench today whenever he was fit, and as close to starting as any of them. For a start we are a Kasey Palmer down from the start of the window. Dont get it at all.

It was brought up by @Biz

What sort of hypothetical situation is that? It only has any meaning if winning the league has any knock on effect the season after. It doesnt. The argument is seperate to both getting promoted, as that was already secured, and anything to do with this season. Guess it rankles more when you pay to travel down to London, and for a ticket. I dont understand it at all. We do not win any league titles very often. Its not dismissing the overall good job Mowbray has done so I dont understand the defensive nature of these posts. It is also not a scathing criticism of finishing 2nd being not good enough. Promotion is irrelevant to the argument, at that point it was guaranteed. It is about NOT BEING THAT BOTHERED as to whether we won the league or not. There was a week and a half of the season to go, 2 more pushes and we could have been champions. And @chaddyrovers it was brought up by someone who is defending Mowbray for it, lets be clear.

We did really need to win. Promotion was secured, and a win was crucial to winning a league title! It was mainly the attitude of Mowbray pre-match. He seemed like it wasnt that big of a deal. Blackburn Rovers winning a league title, not that big of a deal. The most puzzling aspect of the side he picked was that it wasnt even one with this season in mind. Token starts to Caddis as a wing back after months on the sidelines and also Payne as a false 9 with Graham on the bench were bizarre.

Once promotion was confirmed at Doncaster, it had to be the only priority. At that point, promotion was already secured. It is not dismissing the achievement of promotion to be aggravated to disregard the importance of a league title. I dont believe you can recall loans out of the parameters of the transfer window but may be wrong. Do you agree or disagree with loaning out Chapman?

Excellent performance and result, best performance of the season for me. We are such a threat when we press and pin teams in, and Hull were hopeless. Evans was for me the stand out player, he was absolutely outstanding. Travis I think had his poorest game since he broke in, his passing was loose at times but he was still 7 out of 10, he still complimented Evans perfectly and he still offered plenty that Smallwood wouldnt have so fair play to Mowbray for continuing to pick him. Raya could have sat with me. Kicking a bit off but didnt have much to do at all. Rodwell HAS to be given a new contract immediately, outstanding with Lenihan yet again and got a goal too as a nice bonus. Bennetts passing was off and I still dont trust him as a one on one defender but his pressing was indicative of the team, superb in winning the corner for the 2nd goal and he was good on the ball too. Bell was fine as well which is far better than he usually is, I cant recall him doing anything wrong bar one awful clearance from a Grosicki cross in the first half. The defence as a unit should be kept as it is after 3 very impressive clean sheets even though I think Mulgrew and Nyambe are both important players. A very good problem to have. Armstrong is on fire at the moment, superb finish and always a threat again. Reed was much improved and back to the energetic displays we have got used to, and superb composure for the goal, would love him signed up long term. Dack has come in for some harsh criticism, even though the goals have dried up slightly he is still a joy to watch and the pass for Armstrongs goal was sublime. Graham continued as our player of the season, his hold up play again was text book, especially for the first goal and was very unlucky hitting the post. Subs were all fine without really doing much. Well done to Mowbray for getting things spot on today.

Welcome back to the messageboard. I sense an inconsistency in your comments about Chapman compared to Brereton, done perhaps to fall in line with Mowbrays exact suggestion on what he will do. Brereton has been the very definition of a bit part player here. If Chapman was fit he would be in the 18 every time, above Brereton in terms of someone who could improve us. So why keep Brereton collecting dust on the bench (at best) and loan out a player who has shown far more in a Rovers shirt to suggest he can give us something different and offer a real threat? Regarding scouting, I suspect @Stuart shares the same mindset of me, in that Chapman and Gallagher would be very unimaginative signings, solely based on knowing them based on previous mixed spells at the club in the past, there has to be better out there than a striker who is not a focal point in attack so will no doubt be put wide, and an injury prone winger the manager doesnt trust to start football matches.

1.Has anyone even mentioned the Charlton game in months and months? You are over exaggerating the fall out of seeing a potential league title as unimportant, in comparison to the praise and unified backing he received on promotion. The Charlton game was only such a big deal because he had implied in the week that basically he wasnt arsed about a league title. We had 2 more games to push through, and a very realistic chance of a title. To see that as unimportant is a pretty big deal. That being said, it was forgotten about soon after, we had a full house on for the Oxford celebrations and it was praise from there on in. No one has said they would swap the title for struggles this year. If you see a potential league title as unimportant, then thats up to you and fair enough. It is a big deal to some. It doesnt mean that people havent praised or dont appreciate a bloody promotion! 3. I am more referring to fans on here, not to Mowbray and the team. 4. I agree that centre back is not first priority to be honest. I think a left back and a winger are bigger priorities. My views on the Chapman deal are as I have said before, I think its an unimaginative one, and one we should have avoided based on his injury issues. But there has to be an element of excitement because he is undoubtedly talented. I dont get loaning him out at all though. We need a winger. Does a fit Harry Chapman get into our 18 man squad? Certainly. Would he be possibly the first name to be brought on off the bench if he didnt start? Yes. So why loan him out, rather than Brereton for example, who hasnt offered a threat off the bench, perhaps wouldnt get into the 18, and is in need of a pick me up?

The Charlton game was a valid criticism and one in isolation, I don't see how it is or has to be related to the promotion at Doncaster? I went to both games, and I was annoyed at Mowbrays attitude (quotes in the media and team selection) towards the potential winning of a title. Obviously that feeling wasnt as strong as the happiness of Doncaster away, but thats seperate, the 2 dont have to be intertwined. You say second was seen as an "insult" and I do get that promotion was the priority, but why stop there? We are Blackburn Rovers, we dont win titles very often at any level, and we had a very realistic chance of winning one if we went at it full throttle for another week and half, but for no reason at all, we didnt. Had we finished 2nd after Mowbray had done all he can to get to first, then that bad taste in the mouth would have been avoided. Overall, I was still happy obviously with the job Mowbray had done, and is still doing. But what he has done well and the achievements he has undoubtedly done (which has given him the backing of the fans and has done throughout) does not give him a free pass to avoiding criticism when he does things perceive to be wrong or faulty. Take his Such an attitude seems prevalent this season by some of our supporters too. People already seem content enough with were we are in January to already be focusing on planning for next season. Why cap your ambitions and aspirations like that? We are doing well, and an unlikely play off place would be an excellent overachievement. A win today and we go 3 points away. We should go all out and aim for that until its mathematically impossible. In regards to our centre back conundrum, what you fail to account for is that many people do not consider Derrick Williams to be a competent Championship centre back. He should never have been above Downing in the pecking order in that position. So we have 3 centre backs, all with historical injury problems, one of whom has only become a centre back this season, albeit very effectively recently, he has also had spells where he has looked really poor there.

No one is, you are taking comments about your terminology out of context.

Maja is going to Bordeaux.

Signing Chapman would be a somewhat exciting signing, but also a worryingly unimaginative and heavily risky one. His injuries are a primary concern. To have recurring hamstring problems at his age is obviously a huge issue, especially someone so reliant on pace. This nonsense about loaning him out needs to be dismissed too. If he did sign and was fit enough to play, he has to be around our first team. He provides width which we sorely lack, therefore Mowbray said either today or yesterday that he wants players who can come straight into the 11. Signing a player he has specifically stated that he wouldnt see as a potential starter would contradict that. All that being said, there is part of me that would be excited having seen him play before. Hes the type to get you on the edge of your seat.

I find the hypothetical scenario that you have put in bold very strange and specific. There is a chance that in the last couple of games, we may reach a stage where we cannot mathematically reach the play offs, nor be embroiled in any danger towards the bottom 3, that I concede. Even if that happened, we should still want to finish as high as possible, but I would appreciate there is more scope to blood a youngster or 2 if they are ready. Win tomorrow however, and we would have 17 games to go and be 3 points off the play offs. I dont get this suggestion that we should already be looking to next season! We need to ensure we have enough quality and enough depth to sustain us to do as well as we can for the rest of this season. I cant profess to be an expert on our younger players in the under 23s but from what I can gather, Wharton and Grayson are the young centre backs closest to being ready and they are both out on loan. I have seen no suggestion that Magloire is ready for Championship football. We have to be careful to manage not to become over reliant or overly dependant on the academy. What I mean by that is that we do have Raya, Nyambe, Lenihan, Travis and Nuttall all within the first team. You have to be careful not to rely on the others as immediate cover and only bring them through when they have shown enough to warrant it. The latter 2 are the most recent break throughs, seemingly standing out in the younger teams, and now Travis has made a midfield spot his own in the area we are arguably the strongest. If we were promoting based on areas we are weakest in terms of senior players, a new young central midfielder would not have been the priority to promote. You promote youngsters based on their quality, not what we are short of in the senior team.