There is one constant in our dramatic fall over the better part of the last decade. It’s not on the pitch or in the dugout, it’s four and a half thousand miles away. Problems have a root cause.

The “Venky’s have learned from their mistakes” rhetoric has addled some minds... what possible hope can anyone have that any replacement for Mowbray would be anything other than an absolute joke? Which of the 7 appointments they have made give you any confidence they would employ any one of the names mentioned above? They stumbled across a likeable but limited trier, who replaced a previously unemployable dingle, who replaced a spineless spent force, who replaced a well meaning out of his depth youth coach, who replaced a well connected novice coach, who replaced a misguided attempt to appease the fans, who replaced their beloved Steve fucking Kean. Each and every one of their appointments has been met by, at best, scratching of heads, and at worst near mutiny. We can all come up with fantasies of who would get the job... and that’s exactly what they’d be. Mowbray has been adequate in his tenure so far. He looks as though he’s going to start slipping below that level. In my opinion he is worthy of faint praise for modest successes. He’s not the biggest issue. I’ve said plenty of times he has taken too much credit for last years achievements, but now I think he is shouldering too much of the blame for the shit state of our squad. Yes, our lack of formation and tactical identity is on him, as is his misplaced loyalty to players who helped get us promoted (and relegated in the first place now I come to mention it). But you cannot possibly tell me that Mowbray was given a 7 million budget to do what he pleases with and spunked it all on Brereton? There is something decidedly iffy about that deal, and indeed our whole transfer policy which seems to have a complete make do and mend approach towards the defence - something I keep banging on about, but has been the case since the Rao’s rocked up. I also very much doubt he turned up at Brockhall on his first day and went “hey, these academy coaches are the best I’ve ever seen... let’s get them working with the first team!”. Mowbray has his failings for sure, but the club remains a basket case. As has been proven since the days of Kean, managerial issues are the tip of the iceberg.

Balaji has remembered he owns a football club in which he has very little interest and decided to give a local kid a nice experience in a pretty well publicised act of philanthropy. Nothing to see here.

That’s exactly what’s happened. No intention whatsoever to sign him apparently. This is what Balaji had to say... “We, as supporters of sport, especially football, want to help young Indian talent. "Our Academy at Blackburn Rovers is one of the finest Category One Academies in the UK. "This training stint will definitely help Aniket to develop technically as a player, which will in turn contribute to the improvement of his performances on the pitch. "We want to support young talented footballers in the best way possible to help improve the Indian national team’s performances and FIFA ranking on the world stage.” Not really bothered either way. No skin of our noses, but no benefit for us either. It barely registers on the scale of silly Venky decisions. What is interesting though is how readily Balaji will pass comment on this, considering they have all been mercifully silent on all things Rovers over the last few years. Appears he cares more about this little vanity project than the mess he has made of our club.

Doesn’t really require any hindsight, and the anomaly that was the now seemingly very distant purple patch we had in January never really masked the fact our defence isn’t up to it. This is nothing fresh though, it’s been an issue throughout the entire Venky era. Scott Dann (a panic buy resulting from NZonzi having to start as a centre back) aside, there has been a complete reluctance to sign defenders for anything above a nominal fee. Evidently in January it was mistakenly decided we weren’t in dire need of reinforcements in that area, so much so that we loaned out players leaving us woefully inadequate in terms of cover. Mowbray is now publicly stating that we need actual centre backs who can actually perform the basic duties required in that position. Surely he knew this all along though, so rather than lamenting the fact this glaringly obvious weekness wasn’t addressed, we should be asking why.

I am beginning to doubt Raya, who I did think had the makings of a top keeper. I think a major reason for this is our goalkeeper coach. Ben Benson is 28 years old and was promoted from academy coach. Now, academy players need to be taught things like footwork, starting position, hand shape, technique etc. Raya should be well beyond these basics and these should be second nature. As an established first team keeper he needs coaching on playing to his strengths... he can’t deal with crosses very well, but then again, neither could Brad Friedel, so he stayed on his line rather than coming flapping. His distribution is poor, so why on earth does he attempt to launch counters with quick kicks that seem to invariably go to the opposition or out of touch. Raya needs an old head who has been there and done it... I’m not suggesting we are going to get a world class keeper coach... Bobby Mimms was a good un, and while we might not get anyone quite on his level I’m pretty sure we can get someone who has actually played at pro level. Anyone can knock a few balls into him in a pre-match warm up, he needs some wisdom imparting, not the stuff the FA give you in a folder when you take your coaching badges.

Really enjoying seeing these! For me there are some really tough choices. I’d go for Wilcox over Duff, but I’d like to find a place for them both... and Sellars! Gordon Cowans was unreal... but can’t shift Tugay. We’ve had some excellent centre backs, which makes our current indifference towards them all the more frustrating. And while he’s not in the league of some of the strikers we’ve had over the years, I’d love to see Gestede getting his head on Wilcox/Ripley crosses... he’d score bucket loads! Friedel Berg Moran Nelsen Le Saux Ripley Batty Tugay Wilcox Shearer Garner subs: Mimms, Hendry, Atkins, Cowans, Duff, Speedie, Gestede

Thanks for the summary @Wing Wizard Windy Miller. Actually a lot better than I thought. He’s saying the right things in the main, which is a relief. Let’s hope he can put them in to action.

Of course there would have been more positivity... but 4 losses on the bounce, on the back of a disappointing transfer window that failed to see us address some glaring defensive issues, and comments in the press that give the impression that Mowbray is struggling to see any problems where many of us have has led to people asking questions. If we win the next 4, people will be a lot happier, but the majority recognise he can’t walk on water.

The more prominent Rovers tweeters are in the main unswervingly positive. I find my cynicism much more well received here. I’ll be the first to admit to having a pretty pessimistic view, and to being vehemently anti-Venky’s, and sometimes the positivity on there regarding all things Rovers borders on deluded for me. Twitter generally has two functions, to preach or to argue. The self righteous outnumber the stirrers.

We probably made a couple of hundred passes in each of those games pointlessly knocking it about the back 4 til the opposition inevitably close down and we resort to an attempt to hit Graham, or it goes right back to Raya to kick out for a throw in. Sadly that’s what passes for good football these days and plenty of teams do it.

Make no mistake about it, while things have improved while Mowbray has been here, the club is still a basket case. Behind the scenes roles and remits are only ever loosely defined. We’ve witnessed power struggles and infighting before, and while the current set up of Waggot, Cheston and Suhail “international man of mystery” Pasha appears better than the Singh/Shaw/Agnew farce, god only knows what goes on. Our transfer business is baffling, and I’d question how much say Mowbray has had in some of the signings. We have a “head of recruitment” but a pitifully limited scouting network by all accounts - who does he report to? And I still maintain there is something decidedly iffy about our reluctance to sign proper defenders - a constant during Venky’s reign of terror. Whether it’s paranoia brought on by past experiences, I have a tendency to deeply analyse and think about all comments made by the manager... these recent ones down playing our chances of promotion, and in my mind the stature of the club, are irksome. Are they born of Mowbray trying to dampen Venky expectations? Does he really mean it? Is he trying to over deliver? Is it just the common rhetoric these days? I think Mowbray is naturally a pretty straight talker, but I get the impression there is something bubbling under the surface. Personally I think Mowbray gets cut a lot of slack from the fan base as a whole. Last season was adequate. Anything less than promotion would have been unacceptable. While he may get too many plaudits for this, he probably also shoulders blame for things beyond his control at times. There are certainly things Mowbray carries the can for completely that must be improved. Lack of fitness, silly defensive lapses, soft underbelly, pandering to certain players, team selections, limited tactics etc. So he’s far from infallible. If the only reason people think he should keep his job is fear of who his replacement would be, then he probably isn’t the right man for it. It’s a valid concern though. We are all approaching this question with passion, logic and above all else genuinely caring about what is best for the club - stances that will not be taken by Venky’s if and when the time to make such a call arises.

It’s time for Balaji or Suhail to dust off the address book and give every agent in there a bell. We need the names of every unattached centre back out there. Not midfielders who can slot in, proper centre backs. And we need to get one in ASAP.

Oh behave! We’ve had Venky’s apparent traditional Indian approach to business used as an excuse for their aloof and arrogant practices since the day they took over. The caste system is still alive and kicking in India, and no prizes for guessing where on the social strata people who slap raja plates on their rolls Royce’s see themselves.

a) Anything less would have been a complete failure b) Blackburn Rovers falling into the third tier was utterly disgraceful. For it to happen again would be unforgivable c) True... but he gets a lot of slack for not being I have been stopped from posting this by moderators. Coyle d) Wigan aren’t a club we should be happy to benchmark against e) People are always going to react to a result and performance like this. Much of the criticism isn’t knee jerk, but well reasoned and perhaps most worryingly things we’ve been hearing time and time again

Problem is they will all be sat there in the dressing room, deflated, pathetic and despondent. Mowbray included. I’d love to be proven wrong and see a reaction, but we lack character. When the going is good and we are winning, they are all happy pissing about and having a laugh together. Need someone in there to crack a few heads and fire them up.

Yeah... it seems to have replaced “one for the future”. Amounts to the same thing.

Absolutely agree, we need to get the signings right. Some seasoned Championship competitors, an older head or two who will drag us up kicking and screaming are what I feel we need. Players who will compliment the good, young talented players we have, and provide a bit of bottle and a hard edge we are severely lacking at the moment.

This new phrase that is cropping up - “project signings” is a big worry for me... We have a top academy that should be about building players for the first team squad. IF there is any desire for us to get back into the Premier League in the foreseeable future, I don’t see how these so called project signings fit in. Are any of them going to be able to cut it in the top flight? Our efforts at the moment should be concentrated on Promotion, and signing players who can help us get there... and before anyone chirps up and tells me it’s unrealistic to expect that this season, I don’t expect it, I’m not saying this season. But I am saying ASAP. Also, let’s not forget it looked distinctly within reach a fortnight ago.

Bennett also helps his own cause with our fans hugely with his use of twitter.

I think it’s important to get a good mix every year. Wouldn’t have defined categories as such, but I’d try and make it look something like this... No more than one from each of the following: Pre-War years 50’s/60’s 70’s/80’s Jack Walker era This millennium Non-player And maybe as a bit of a wildcard someone who made a big impact in a short period.

Claiming that Venky’s were simply badly advised is a case of revisionism, at best born out of hope and love for the club, and at worst of deluded and misdirected blind loyalty. Plenty of reasons to despise Jerome Anderson, but to absolve Venky’s of responsibility is rubbish... idiotic and damaging decisions like employing Coyle were theirs alone. Them providing funding to keep us a going concern makes perfect sense to them from a business point of view and doesn’t make them some sort of benevolent benefactor.

I struggled with a couple of different streams today and missed big chunks of the game, but from what I did see... Our 2 early goals came from putting crosses into the box - Something Brentford have struggled with over their last few games. They’ve conceded quite a few in this manner, and I thought we had it spot on. Dack and Graham linking up through the middle would have played into Kona’s hands, he’s a very good young defender (bought from Charlton is the summer for about 2.5 million) and key for them at the back, but looks far less comfortable dealing with deliveries from wide than when players run at him directly. I can’t really comment on whether we continued to do this between 25 mins in and half time due to the issues with the stream. I’m guessing we didn’t, but we should have been getting it out wide and knocking balls over at every opportunity. I’m convinced that it’s the best way for 80% of teams in the country to play, but that’s another discussion. We have struggled when opposing teams have a decent ball player who sits deep. Evans and Smallwood both tend to sit deep too, and allow such players to dictate. Travis is more box to box and does some of that closing closer to their back four, but he’s also somewhat youthfully naive with some of his play. I haven’t seen that much of Sawyer’s since he signed for them, and in his Walsall days he played a lot higher up the pitch than he did today... but he was pulling the strings this afternoon and we couldn’t cope with it. Raya’s rush of blood to the head was stupid. I’m a big fan of his, but he needs to work on the fundamentals of his game more and cut out these daft errors that are in all honesty becoming too frequent. This in itself is a worry as they should become less frequent with experience. We need to work on our shape and how he distributes the ball too. Far too often it comes straight back due to him rushing. Occasionally it works wonders and we catch a quick break, but we try it every time. Nyambe should have started. I get the argument about sticking with a winning team, but playing someone out of position, who hasn’t excelled in there is needless, and I suspect down to Mowbray liking Bennett character more than his ability to do a job there. While there have been countless arguments lately about nurturing Brereton, Mowbray’s approach with one of our best young prospects is confusing. I’ve often heard how quiet and unassuming Nyambe is... maybe he needs to be less so, because he seems an easy target for Mowbray to drop to accomodate his favourites. Bennet was dire today. We were vulnerable down that side for the entirety of the game. Brereton looked better when he came on today, which offers a bit of hope, however if we are missing Dack or Graham for any length of time our inaction in this window will come back to haunt us. Less said about the defence today the better, and after recent improvements I’m again left thinking we need a proper old fashioned centre half. Conceding 5 is a joke. We also need someone to issue the odd bollocking on the pitch when someone does something idiotic, rather than give them a silly handshake. We are so inconsistent we can go from looking like world beaters to relegation candidates in the space of half an hour. These cheaply thrown away points are getting ludicrous now, and we’re it not for these capitulations of varying degrees we might be talking about automatic promotion, rather than hoping we can sneak the playoffs... which all of a sudden seems a lot further away than it did at lunch time.

I wonder what the feeling is in Venky towers after that. If recent reports are to be believed, and they were keen on bringing players in only to be talked down by Mowbray, they may well be asking questions.

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