Mercer

Totally predictable result - at least I have decent winnings to ease the disappointment. IMV, an abysmal selection by a manager who has been found out. Two major decisions the club has got wrong, IMV: Agreeing a £7million deal + add ons for Brereton. Seems the penny has started to drop with more and more fans. Haven't fancied him at all right from the beginning - to me, it was obvious he had very, very little to offer Giving Mowbray a new contact that runs until 2022 or even 2023. IMV, utter madness for a tactically muddled manager whose transfer dealings are poor other than the Dack signing. The warning bells are ringing. Fortunately, I think we will scrape enough points from remaining games to keep us up.

Nothing changes with Mowbray, same old, same old. What an uninspiring selection. Think our left flank will be targeted with Bell there. Now doubled my bet on Norwich win.

Two of my most recent wins on Rovers have come from NOT betting against Rovers! So stop talking shyte about revelling in a Rovers defeat. My recent Rovers' winnings have allowed me to indulge in an extra bottle or two of a very nice red but certainly not the 'boxes' you refer to. So again, stop talking shyte. Just get your facts right before you start having a go at me.

Think you need to chill. Firstly, I've never claimed to be "a betting guru" - it's a bit of a hobby which I enjoy and makes an extra bob or two. Secondly, I made quite clear that it would only be a joyous weekend "winnings wise". That is NOT hoping Rovers lose but merely a reflection on what I think might happen in the game. Absolutely nothing wrong in either what I've said or done. Enjoy your weekend irrespective of the Rovers' result - there's much more to life than football.

Whether Rovers win or lose is out of my control. Long past the stage where the Rovers' result effects my weekend. If Rovers win and my bets go down then fine (keep on saying, betting on Rovers is a bit of fun - money made elsewhere on betting), if Rovers lose and my bets come in then hey ho, a few more treats for me and the family. Absolutely nowt wrong with that.

Banker away win this. Unexpectedly, a great start to season for Norwich. Keep saying it but momentum and confidence are everything in this league. Yep, they've scraped a few results but sign of a side going up (bit like us last year). We are conceding goals for fun so going for a triple blast - Norwich to win @29/20, Rhodes anytime scorer @ 7/4 and 3-1 score @20/1. Think it's going to be one joyous weekend (winnings wise)!

Many people overlook the fact that employers' NI adds almost 14% to the cost. In other words, based upon your example, Rovers would pay employers' NI of approx. £100k to £140k pa ! It's a staggering additional cost. My estimate, as previously posted, was between £12m and £15m. Staggering for a lad who only sits on the bench.

It's been flagged on this MB (can't recall where the link is) that the deal for Brereton is a minimum of £7million plus add ons. The contractual commitment for Rovers, after also including wages, is therefore likely to be in the order of a minimum of £12million to £15million when social security costs (NI) are factored in. The latest group accounts show a reported turnover of just £10m (£16m the previous year). This means, at worse, over 4 years (think that's his contract length), Brereton accounts for almost 40% of our turnover. At best, Brereton accounts for approx. 20% of our turnover. These are astounding figures for a player who has yet to start a league game for us or score a league goal. IMV, commercial and financial madness.

and that is putting it extremely mildly!

Sadly not! Lost £50 today on Rovers' betting but as I've said before, it's all a bit of fun where Rovers concerned and I did clear £85 net from previous two Rovers' games. Trouble is, we are so short in so many areas and the Brereton signing really leaves me scratching my head. If a Mowbray signing, how the hell can we trust the guy in the market when he's committed the club to £7million+ on a lad who, IMO, makes the likes of Ashley Ward, Nathan Blake, Kevin Davies and Grabbi look thoroughbreds! If not a Mowbray signing then who the feck does run our club and make football decisions? No matter which way you look at it, it doesn't look good.

Two points. Firstly re Bell - been totally unconvinced when I've seen him. Buck stops with Mowbray - he picks the team. Secondly re Brereton - when even a die hard like you Parsonblue expresses such concerns, the alarm bells must be well and truly screaming.

The fee is key. We have committed £7million+ on a player who, seemingly, is not good enough to start in our mid Championship team. I have spoken to three people who attended the match and their opinion, similar to some of the opinions posted on here after today's match, is that he looked lost and out of his depth and contributed very, very little. This is mystifying when there are so many areas in our team in need of strengthening - how can we trust Mowbray with further funds?

Not there today - early Christmas celebration. Friend phoned me on way home from match, thoroughly pi$$ed off. Thought at first I was already pi$$ed then realised thread full of repeat, repeat, repeat messages! That's 12 goals shipped in last 5 games - horrendous. Understand Raya had a mental aberration, Smallwood again looked way out of his depth and Brereton continues to mystify. Never mind, Christmas is coming. Will be there at Leeds on Boxing Day - why, I'm not quite sure.

Monk has done a decent job with Brum but, like ourselves, they do blow hot and cold. Same number of points as Rovers though with a better GD. Think home advantage will be key. Rovers win at 16/11 offers fair value - also, gone for correct score of 3-1 to Rovers at 21/1. Come on Mowbray, be brave. Get at 'em from the start and let Rothwell and Brereton off the leash.

Disagree. With the club's infrastructure, we should be PL. To me, I would expect a top 8 finish this year and promotion next year.

and Coyle got Burnley up............................... Mowbray has committed the club to almost £10million on Brereton and Armstrong. Brereton can't even get a start and Armstrong, IMV, looks like a League 1 player at best and has made little impact this season. If that's using resources well....................... and Mowbray says he needs another striker!

In the Championship, positivity, confidence and momentum will take you a long way. I think most fans want the club to go as far as it can as fast as it can. At times, Mowbray's tactics, team selections and substitutions baffle me. I also think his game management is poor - @JHRover made this point today on the Middlesbrough thread 'Bristol, Middlesbrough, Swansea, Ipswich - away games we've been in glorious positions and then let valuable points slip'. I also think Mowbray's transfer dealings are mixed. Dack has been an excellent signing and I think Mowbray has to take a lot of credit for his development. However, I think there are very poor signings like Hart and Gladwin, too many Joe Averages (Armstrong for one) and IMV, the biggest mystery and possible clanger of all (Brereton). I think we will know a lot more about our manager and players after December's fixtures. I hope you are right and Mowbray is the man to take us higher but, IMV, based on what I have seen so far, I don't think he will.

Would not be excited by the prospect of either Gallagher or Chapman returning. Gallagher seems to be standing still in his development whilst I think Chapman could be one of those injury prone players who spends more time in the treatment room - each time his 'hammy' goes, so will some of his pace.

Mowbray does the coaching, tactics and selects the team. If he continues to pick players who either can't or don't deliver then the buck stops with him. Yes, we did have chances and we had a striker sat on the bench, who we have supposedly committed to in a £7million deal, who might just bang a few in given chance. To bring him on with only minutes to go is, IMV, a joke.

And he may well think he made the right decision when he sees Brereton has yet to start a league game despite Mowbray signing him in a reputed £7million deal.

I think most fans would agree Mowbray inherited a mess from Coyle. He almost saved us - to go down on goal difference was shattering. Despite all his efforts and good work that season, in my opinion, ultimately, we lost too many points under Mowbray through his caution and game management. I think too many winning positions ended up as draws and too many matches where we were drawing ended up as losses. @JHRover made this point today on the Middlesbrough thread 'Bristol, Middlesbrough, Swansea, Ipswich - away games we've been in glorious positions and then let valuable points slip'. We failed to stay up by a single point and that hurt like hell. Mowbray's first objective was to save us from relegation and he failed. Mowbray brought us back at the first time of asking so job done. However, it should be borne in mind that League One, IMV, is pi$$ poor (nowhere near as competitive as the league that Lee and Kendall brought us out many years ago) and we were the best resourced club. Mowbray has steadied the ship and deserves credit for that. However, IMV, he is a steady Eddie at best and has not got the managerial nous to get us back to the PL.

I think it was one of Graham's 'offish days' and he looked a spent force on the hour mark. Before Middlesbrough scored, I think Mowbray should have made two substitutions (Brereton and Rothwell on) and really gone for the killer second. Mowbray's game management and caution put us down the season he joined us. I think we surrender too many winning positions and end up only with a point, similarly too many positions when we are drawing are lost. There can be no excuses about yesterday. We were leading 1-0 with Mulgrew's superb free kick and we were playing 10 men for 70 minutes - the restlessness amongst the Middlesbrough fans was there to see and hear. We needed a killer second goal yet our £7million striker sat rooted on the bench until just minutes before the end. Absolutely staggering.

Point I'm making is we seem to have committed to a £7million deal for a player who the manager seemingly doesn't think is ready to start a league game and therefore no better than what we already have !!! I think it's madness when as you say, those funds could have been committed on say 3 players who would have made an impact and would have been better than what we already have. I know £7million wont get us 6 quality players but merely pointing out that there are so many holes to fill!

We need to strengthen in several areas! This is what makes the Brereton signing even more mystifying. Those funds we've committed on that deal would have helped with your centre back, a left back, a central midfielder, two wide men with pace and another striker.

As I posted earlier, it was a bit of a Christmas jolly!