Mercer

There is a reason why Norwich let Trybull go and, IMO, that reason is plain to see from his performances for Rovers. It's what players do in the here and now. As for not seeing Whiteman play, have seen him 'live' (not TV!) against local teams on three occasions. Think he has the attributes to develop into at least a very good Championship midfielder. For a 23/24 year old, he's already got good game time under his belt, is combative (and boy we need some of that) and has an eye for goal. We signed Dack from League One and I think he had a similar appearance and goal record to Whiteman and although obviously a different type of player, he turned out to be a bit of a player didn't he!?

Wow. IMO, Rothwell different type of midfielder, Holtby now washed up and never box to box and as for Johnson and Trybull, you surely are trying wind someone up if you would play either of those in front of Whiteman. We have only seen the odd flash from Davenport and, at 22, nothing to suggest he is going to be anywhere near the dominant midfielder we need - IMO, he is playing at least one league too high. As for Buckley, I don't think the lad has potential - he simply hasn't got it. IMO, all this stuff about PL clubs being interested and worth £10million is pure cr@p and for the fairies. If he was that good, he would have nailed down a place with us two years ago and would have been whisked off by a top PL club. Players with REAL potential show it an an early age. Look at 17 year old Elliott. Look at Foden, City - same age as Buckley but with 60+ senior appearances to his name and effecting games at the highest level. As for Whiteman, if he is only a "middle of the road Championship" player then he would feel quite at home at Ewood because that is, at best, what I think we are and where we will continue to be with, IMO, the managerial dinosaur Mowbray and his 3rd rate coaching staff in charge.

Feckin hell, we are playing Donny of League 1 who have been ravaged by Covid. I expect to see Dack and Brereton start. Unless Mowbray throws a complete wobbler and lines up with 4 dustbins across the back then it's a nailed on home banker. Rovers' win is 13/18 and barring any Mowbray idiocy (I'll make that call when I see our line up at 2.00pm), I'll be placing £180 to win £130. And before anyone questions my sanity, I made a bundle on Man City tonight who, after their Chelsea performance, were as high as 11/10 to win tonight - a licence to print money.

Allegedly, we parted with a member of the team for disciplinary reasons.

Always good when Rovers win and you make a bob or two. However, sadly IMO, this just papers over the cracks and eases any pressure on Mowbray and we are likely to be stuck with, IMO, this dinosaurian lummox of a manager until hell freezes over.

I'd take a loss here to get rid of Mowbray. IMO, we are truly hopeless and going nowhere but downwards.

It's football but not as we know it! TBH, watching Rovers, to me, is so feckin depressing. Now a toss up as to whether I go for a walk (lots of folk seem to be having fun in the snow and can see a couple of fire pits glowing) or whether I open a red to console myself!

Brum are as sh1te as I thought. Stick as much money as you can on Rovers' win - this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

IMO, Douglas should not play for Rovers again - he's just sh1te. Would have played Pike. Glad Davenport given a chance from the start. Unbelievable that Travis starting. IMO, Mowbray must be very desperate and just maybe, under more pressure than we think. Williams played when he shouldn't have and we know the outcome. I just hope Travis comes through but, IMO, can be nowhere near ready for the physical battle it will be today. If the lad breaks down, make no mistake, it can only be MOWBRAY'S RESPOSIBILITY. Gallagher out wide again - FFS, does Mowbray ever, ever learn!? I think Birmingham are absolute sh1te and you could have called up 11 lads from Pleasington and got a result today. Therefore, nailed on Rovers' win. Happy New Year!

Great post @philipl With my accountant's hat on, to you all, I hope that 2021 multiplies your joys and divides your sorrows. Happy New Year 2021!

If you banged every spare penny you had on Rovers to beat Rotherham (as I suggested)! New Year optimism - WE WILL BEAT BRUM ON SATURDAY. One point from their last five games - get on it!

A relative of mine who is a keen PNE supporter with some decent club connections reckons Alex Neil will become our next manager and neither of us were p1ssed when he told me! I was more than a tad surprised but when he agreed to a £100 bet, I began to wonder !

and look at the comparative resources!!! For a start, Cook didn't have £12million+ to spunk up the wall on two strikers and what he did there was really quite remarkable. Go beyond that - Cook did well at Stanley in extreme circumstances and took both Chesterfield and Pompey up. Wherever he's managed, he's been successful and moved clubs forward and hence he's moved up the managerial ladder. Think Mowbray was on the scrapheap when he came here having bombed at Celtic, Coventry etc. If our owners were more savvy then there might be better options out there. However, where we are with ownership etc, I'd take Cook every second of the day over Mowbray.

Davenport. Can tackle and has the physicality.

Not a Bilic fan. Think WBA limped over the threshold into PL. Think Pearson would be a decent appointment. Wouldn't give Damien Johnson the opportunity. IMO, doesn't have the dynamism and drive we need. Sadly, think our owners will be looking at a 'B list' and managers such as Pearson, Howe etc will be financially out of our reach. A manager makes or breaks a club and the penny doesn't seem to have dropped yet with our owners. Consequently, I think we could do worse than give Paul Cook a shot at it. Been successful wherever he's managed and moved clubs forward - a bit nasty with loads of passion and drive. Not my first choice but with owners like ours that's the level where I think we are. Would be, IMO, a huge improvement on Mowbray.

It does. I need an extra bottle of red to numb the pain and depression.

Almost speechless. Just feckin sick of, IMO, the Mowbray shambles. Excuse after excuse after excuse. Feck off Mowbray.

and to think Mowbray was on the verge of loaning Travis out and only circumstances forced his hand!

I am usually optimistic where Rovers are concerned and this match is no exception. I look at the players we have who are capable of producing something special (Rothwell's goal being case in point) and think we should be winning lots of games in this bang average division. Sadly, IMO, our buggeration factor is Mowbray! Staggered when I saw the odds but we are clear favourites (2.3 against 3.3 - decimal odds better when fractional odds are 'silly' ie Rovers 25/19) away to a team who have just 1 point less than us! I think we'll win this one and therefore staking a sizeable part of my season's Rovers' winnings on a Rovers' win at 2.3. Let me know @jim mk2 how much of your £8,787 winnings (think you missed a decimal point out between the 7 & 8 !!!!!) you will be staking on Huddersfield.

You are spot on. Every single person should feel comfortable in expressing their opinions - some of those opinions will curry favour whilst others wont. It's the way of the world and only natural. If you aren't prepared to rationalise your views and opinions or recognise the right of others to express opinions, though they may differ to yours, then it's simple - stay away from MB's and social media.

Chaddy, all I have done is to ask you under what circumstances you would sack Mowbray. I think this is a perfectly reasonable question and one you have not answered. One can therefore only draw the conclusion that you are an avid admirer of Mowbray in a way that borders on boyhood / hero worship. That is your right and entitlement should you feel that way. I have made the observation that, IMO, as there do not seem to be any circumstances under which you would sack Mowbray, it seems, at least to me, to be nonsensical and absurd. As for Paul Cook, I think he has done very well wherever he has been and the run Wigan put together in the final part of the season was fantastic and without that points deduction, they would have finished just two places below Rovers in 13th. I would take Paul Cook over Mowbray every second of the day as, IMO, he has been successful, unlike Mowbray, at every club he has managed. I also think it's time to drop all this 'dingle sh1t'. I have good friends who are Burnley supporters and as I have asked you before, if you were lying in hospital needing emergency treatment to save your life, would you refuse the administration of that treatment as the consultant was a dingle!

So if you were CEO at Ewood, Mowbray would have a job for life irrespective of league results, league position and even what league we were in- could even be combination football at Pleasington with just you and half a dozen others watching! - ??? To have any credibility Chaddy, you have to stipulate under what circumstances you would sack Mowbray. IMO, you are saying there are no circumstances that would make you inclined to sack Mowbray. Do you have a photograph of Mowbray on your living room wall as he seems to be something akin to a 'boyhood hero' to you? IMO, nonsensical and totally absurd.

I asked you a specific question: "Under what specific circumstances would you sack Mowbray in the summer eg he doesn't get us promoted, he doesn't finish top six, he doesn't improve on last season's position?" You have not answered Chaddy. I honestly think you are both hopelessly in love with Mowbray and you are pretty clueless about how a football club should be run and how accountable the manager should be. My position is quite clear and I've said so on many occasions. I would not have appointed Mowbray in the first place. He failed to keep us up as was his target when appointed to the job (his words in Blues in Feb 2019). He got us promoted at the first time but with the biggest resources in League One by a country mile - we scraped in 2nd behind mighty Wigan and, IMO, played football that was dire, dire and more dire. In his third season back in the Championship, we are worse off at this stage of the season than in seasons one or two as @J*Bdemonstrated: After 21 games... 18/19 - 30 points, 6 off the play offs. 19/20 - 31 points, 3 off the play offs. 20/21 - 29 points, 7 off the play offs. At best we are stagnating and some of our football is, IMO, just feckin awful and some on here have the temerity to knock Big Sam who knocks spots off Mowbray in every conceivable way as a football manager. Difference between you and me Chaddy is that I try to rationalise my arguments whereas you don't and therefore have little credibility.

A question Chaddy. Under what specific circumstances would you sack Mowbray in the summer eg he doesn't get us promoted, he doesn't finish top six, he doesn't improve on last season's position?

FFS Chaddy, this is the problem! It's like we go round and round in circles. It will then be 'we showed good form in the final few games, let's give him the window' which then becomes 'let's give him a dozen games to see how much difference his new signings make' and then it becomes 'let's see where we are at Christmas' and then 'let's give him the January window and review at the end of the season'. IMO, it's mind numbing bury your head in the sand nonsense. If my head wasn't so feckin delicate I'd be banging it on my desk!