57 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

I agree Joe and I’m not knocking their model it’s been good for them...

But jeeeez....can you imagine if we had sold Dack and Arma this summer and replaced them with that motley crew Brentford have signed!! ?

Yet, IMO, Brenford will till finish far higher than Rovers!!!

1 hour ago, neophox said:

Downing still a freebie.

Think he should be told to do one!

We shouldn't be interested in players who, IMO, only rock-up when there's nothing elsewhere.  

IMO, a can't be arsed attitude prevails at Ewood.

IMO, a rocket up several arses needed.  Better still, sack, IMO, the bunch of can't be arsed / lazy b@st@rds and appoint folk with real pride in the club and its community.

45 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

So if you lived in say  a terraced house on a Public street which was littered with rubbish outside your house, you wouldn't tidy it up a bit?

Nail on head!

10 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Reply from Rovers regarding my email I sent on Saturday

Thank you for your email and pictures.  Just to inform you that we are currently looking into this.  We believe that the back alley is not our responsibility, however the parking bay area is possibly ours. 

We will do our best to ensure our areas are cleaned/tidied in the very near future.  

Kind regards

Gary Cowell

Operations Works Manager

IMO, pathetic.  Reflects badly on the club and it would take one person an hour to sort it.  Just feckin do it!

Don't think he knows arse from elbow.

Think Jack would have fired Cowell on the spot for such an email.

2 hours ago, TruRover said:

The signing of Douglas has its pros and cons imo.

There is no doubt that he bringing some crucial promotion experience to our young side, and at the age of 31 you would like to think that he isn’t quite past it. In terms of his quality on the ball there is little to question, his delivery is fantastic and he offers us a reliable set piece option. I’d go as far as to say that when it comes to final delivery I believe he would be our best option from fullback. 
 

On the flip side I question if he suits our style of play. I look at Leeds from last season, whose style has significant similarities to the one we have now adopted, where he actually struggled to fit in. While he played a significant part in wolves promotion a couple of years back, I don’t think the same can be said for his role in leed’s one. I am not quite sure if he has the pace or the legs to play in our current system, which needs both attributes for the press and our play in transition. 
 

In terms of his defending, I don’t really have a clue, though I do worry that his best form has come from the wingback position where defensive qualities are less important than at full back. Nevertheless I wouldn’t be against this signing and he’ll have my full backing if he joins, I don’t doubt that he’ll be an improvement on the bell of last season.

Excellent post.

The lad's been around a fair bit - think he's had something like six clubs in ten years;  there must be a reason for that.

Additional, concern for me is that he seems a bit injury prone - we need players who we know will be available for getting on for 90% of our games.

However, on balance, think he would be a good signing for the season and would take him over Bell any day of the week.

4 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

His teams have always been well organised. It will be tough if he's been able to quickly whip them into shape. 

I remember when Big Sam took over from Ince.

Think he only had two or three days before our next game.  The transformation was quite remarkable in such a short space of time and we beat Stoke two or three nil !

If Hughton has had a fortnight at it then expect a huge difference.

Will be a tough, tough game.

2 hours ago, HowieFive0 said:

I thought Mercer would be all over this ...5.20 pm today  Newton Abbot races ...Ewood Park 5/1 at the mo ..

And NO.. im not saying back this !!

Looked at it but said no - wife chooses her horses by name / fancy, ignoring all conventional betting wisdom and she put a fiver on Onemorefortheroad which came in at 14/1 (15.0)!

7 hours ago, philipl said:

West Brom still interested in King.

Benrahma is not Prem class- would be a big mistake by West Ham.

Armstrong would be a cheaper option for them - flagged some time ago understood there was interest from WBA in Armstrong.

I think the stadium and surround is looking very shabby and potential issues with the pitch have been flagged by other posters.  Perception is so key for those fans, sponsors and corporate businesses etc whose support Rovers look for.

There should be a budget each year for maintenance which is 'untouchable'.  For context, 'half the annual wages' cost of a Smallwood' over the ten years (circa £1.5million) of Venky's ownership would have gone a long, long way in preventing the issues we are talking about here.   

IMO, it's simply inexcusable.  I think It's so, so galling when you look at the tens of £thousands wasted on unnecessarily extending contracts for Smallwood and Hart etc or the £1million+ wasted on Mulgrew's crass contract.

IMO, this is what happens when you have senior management who are simply not up to it and the buck should stop with messrs Mowbray and Waggott.

4 hours ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Corry Evans starts for NI tonight. You couldn’t make it up.

Lasted 73 minutes - injured or fatigued!?

4 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I'm trying to think of the last player with world class attributes that trotted out in the blue and white halves. 

Bentley's crossing, maybe? Bellamy's pace?

Shearer - HAD THE LOT!

12 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I've seen him played thanks. I wouldnt be buying him. Not worth the money at all. Leave him there

But Chaddy, Mowbray and his recruitment team must have scouted and analysed the lad and as you think they are the dog's b0ll0cks, Whiteman must be good?!

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Quality.

This line of discussion is approaching Ray Wilkins spotted at the Wilpshire Hotel cult status now.

We only need to reignite the speculation as to whether a bid for Marcus Maddison by an unnamed Club might be us now!

Remember it well!

BT took on an extra engineer given all the additional phone lines Ray wanted installing in his Wilpshire property!

1 hour ago, Sparks Rover said:

The king is dead  . Long live the king.

I hope for your sake the lads a gem!!!

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

The recruitment team all works together with Mowbray running it from his office. Has 1 collective team. Kaminski was scouting for months by our scouts. 

 

Just fallen off my chair laughing and I haven't had a glass of wine yet!

Have a look out the window tonight Chaddy and you will see a huge lump of green cheese glowing in the sky.

5 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Among their fans, the common consensus is Fulham still need one if not two new attackers. On of the names on many of their wishlists include Benrahma, Mbueno and Armstrong.

Armstrong to Fulham would make a lot of sense for Fulham.

I think Fulham will become a 'yo yo' club and signing players who they know would help fire them back if relegated is not the worse idea.

Not convinced Armstrong is a PL player (IMO, not in same league as Watkins re ability and football intelligence) but I think Rovers are extremely vulnerable to any half decent bid given current financial circumstances.  Anyone thinking we still have a transfer budget having signed 2 goalies and Ayala, and don't need to sell anyone, need to think again as combined transfer fees were probably no more than £500k and we will have big savings on our wage budget given those who've gone and those who've come in. 

4 hours ago, JoeH said:

The stats were quite literally to show that data and factual evidence is extremely hard to determine success for managers. As has been explained. You're either purposefully ignoring that, or you haven't read what you're replying to.

In the post you're referring to I said: "How do you compare the two? What makes him better?"

Then proceeded to show examples as to how you COULD compare them. Finishing with and going on to say that you can't compare managers via data, so to say that factually one manager is better than another is plain wrong.

What is plain wrong is to state, as you did I recall, Mowbray has more career wins when he's substantially 'managed' more matches than Hughton!!!!

Churchill once reportedly said that “the only statistics you can trust are the ones you have falsified yourself”!!!

10 hours ago, JoeH said:

Calling Hughton an undoubtedly better manager than Tony Mowbray, when in fact there’s very little tangible evidence to that effect, is definitely working to find a negative in my opinion.

News story breaks about a manager joining a new club and the first reaction is, “well he’s better than our manager”. That’s glass half empty and then some.

As tangible as you can get!!! :

Hughton took Newcastle back to PL and had them top ten at Christmas until Ashley, IMO, unfairly sacked him.

In his only season at Brum, they finished fourth in Championship.

Steady if unspectacular at Norwich. 

Took Brighton to PL and kept them up until they sacked him in their second season back in PL.

Mowbray took WBA up to PL but they bombed and came straight back.

Mowbray, IMO, bombed at both Celtic and Coventry.

If you were employing a manager and had to choose, based upon their track record,  between Hughton and Mowbray it would simply be a no brainer.

2 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Seems an odd/unprovoked reaction to Forest announcing a new manager. How do you compare the two? What makes him better?

Mowbray has 256 career wins
Hughton has 167 career wins
Both managers have won one major honor
Mowbray's win % is 52%
Hughton's win % is 43%

Maybe you mean their transfer records/pulling ability, but all the same I don't understand how this conclusion can be so easily come to.

Hughton took Newcastle back to PL and had them top ten at Christmas until Ashley, IMO, unfairly sacked him.

In his only season at Brum, they finished top six.

Took Brighton to PL and kept them up until they sacked him in their second season back in PL.

Mowbray took WBA up to PL but they bombed and came straight back.

Be serious.

4 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Hughton appointed at Forest...

Excellent appointment - if anyone can sort out Forest, he can.

Knows the game inside out as his record testifies.

IMO, in a different league to Mowbray as a manager.

56 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Mols has gone out on loan to a team in the Spanish 3rd tier

No surprise to me.

Like water, young players eventually find their level.  The lad's almost 22 years old and the writing is on the wall for him.

Seen him a number of times and never thought he was one for the future. 

2 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

I don’t think so mate. Tbf we’ve set our stall out now and they haven’t sold anyone from under Mowbray yet. My guess is that we’ll only sell for BIG money and if we have replacements lined up.

Watkins form in the PL won’t be going unnoticed for admirers of Arma. Young, English and prolific at Championship level...but I’d want the same as Brentford got for Watkins and then at least £15m to reinvest.

Not a chance.

I think Watkins is twice the player of Armstrong in terms of both ability and football intelligence.

4 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Bonus points for first to answer our last Greek signing 

Donis.

Will be a much needed signing.

Let's be honest, IMO, it's not a case of Fisher 'not being ready', it's a case of Fisher not being good enough.  He's 22 now and struggled to get game time when even out on loan in the lower football leagues.

The Greek lad seems to have a proven ability as 60+ games at the age of 21 testifies.  Video clips can be misleading but he certainly has a presence and agility.  Think there is far more potential in this lad than say Pears at M'boro.