[Archived] Mowbray stays as manager

[Lancaster Rover]

Sobering looking at that list, Tomlinson and Wharton can be taken out as neither constitute a 'first team player', Stokes won't be here or won't play, so that's down to 12 players, inc. 2 keepers, so 11 first team players really.

[Bigdoggsteel]

22 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

having 15 players that played doesn't mean there are 15 good players.

I would say that they are 15 great league 1 players 

[Lancaster Rover]

I would say can i have some of what you've been prescribed

[JHRover]

47 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

We currently have 15 players on our books who played for the first team last season. If anyone could share this list, it would be great.

So i would say we need 7 players at the moment. Not 10 and definitely not 20. 

3 midfielders, 3 forwards  and a goalkeeper will do it. 

We might even get away with less than that if some of the younger players step up.

Holding on to who we have under contract will give us a very solid foundation to build from.

I agree that the first hurdle to overcome is to retain as many of the existing squad as possible. Both for the sake of stability and because I believe that even the likes of Feeney will be useful and dangerous players in Lge 1. For the sake of stability because nobody is going to be getting promoted with 15+ new players, which is what we might well need depending on how many more depart this summer.

Whilst we've 15 who have appeared for the 1st team, it is worth remembering that 2 of those are kids who have barely featured except for cup games/brief cameos in Wharton and Tomlinson and it would be both risky and potentially unfair on them to expect them both to hit the ground running and win us promotion next season. League One is a place for tried and tested experience. So really we've 12 outfield experienced players, and that includes permanently injured Corry Evans and invisible bar dweller Anthony Stokes. So on the basis of what we saw last season that would be 10 fit able to play outfield players who have experience of what we are going up against next season.

We need a squad of 22-24 players ready and able to hit the ground running in this league to cover for injuries/suspensions and give us options. That's if we want promotion. If we're happy to make the numbers up, make cutbacks and give the kids a run then a squad of less than 20 will probably do the trick.

[JHRover]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

I would say that they are 15 great league 1 players 

I would say if everyone is fully fit and firing we have a strong starting 11. Not much more than that.

[JacknOry]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

I would say that they are 15 great league 1 players 

Pushing a bit - they were all part of a collective that got relegated from the championship (and many of them were not even deemed good enough to be in the first team for that collective achievement). Then the best of that poor collective are likely to be gone anyway. This leaves us with youngsters and any players that nobody else deems good enough to buy from us.

[JonnyP]

Just now, JHRover said:

I agree that the first hurdle to overcome is to retain as many of the existing squad as possible. Both for the sake of stability and because I believe that even the likes of Feeney will be useful and dangerous players in Lge 1. For the sake of stability because nobody is going to be getting promoted with 15+ new players, which is what we might well need depending on how many more depart this summer.

Whilst we've 15 who have appeared for the 1st team, it is worth remembering that 2 of those are kids who have barely featured except for cup games/brief cameos in Wharton and Tomlinson and it would be both risky and potentially unfair on them to expect them both to hit the ground running and win us promotion next season. League One is a place for tried and tested experience. So really we've 12 outfield experienced players, and that includes permanently injured Corry Evans and invisible bar dweller Anthony Stokes. So on the basis of what we saw last season that would be 10 fit able to play outfield players who have experience of what we are going up against next season.

We need a squad of 22-24 players ready and able to hit the ground running in this league to cover for injuries/suspensions and give us options. That's if we want promotion. If we're happy to make the numbers up, make cutbacks and give the kids a run then a squad of less than 20 will probably do the trick.

Yeah I agree and to be fair to TM the first thing he wanted to do was sit down with the contracted players and keep as many as he could which in my opinion is spot on. I'm hoping since he's been here he's built up enough of a relationship with the players that they would hopefully stay on with him. It was very clear they were all playing for him when he came in so if he can retain as many of them as possible whilst trying to add a few key players too. I think we need to nail down a decent midfield partnership if we are going to get anywhere next season with someone who can find the net. Whilst trying to retain Mulgrew and Lenihan 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JHRover said:

I would say if everyone is fully fit and firing we have a strong starting 11. Not much more than that.

Is that not a great start?

Just now, JacknOry said:

Pushing a bit - they were all part of a collective that got relegated from the championship (and many of them were not even deemed good enough to be in the first team for that collective achievement). Then the best of that poor collective are likely to be gone anyway. This leaves us with youngsters and any players that nobody else deems good enough to buy from us.

Others said that they should have been a mid table Championship team, as results were under Mowbray. 

[JacknOry]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Is that not a great start?

Others said that they should have been a mid table Championship team, as results were under Mowbray. 

Possibly could have been - we will never know. Graham and Stokes will be gone for sure, highly likely that Lenihan, Mahoney and Mulgrew will be too. Then depending on the mood of our owners, anyone else worth any sort of value could go as aswell such as Raya, Williams etc. 

Take those away and do you still see an excellent League 1 team? 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JacknOry said:

Possibly could have been - we will never know. Graham and Stokes will be gone for sure, highly likely that Lenihan, Mahoney and Mulgrew will be too. Then depending on the mood of our owners, anyone else worth any sort of value could go as aswell such as Raya, Williams etc. 

Take those away and do you still see an excellent League 1 team? 

We will wait and see if that is the case. Currently it is not. 

[JAL]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

 

Others said that they should have been a mid table Championship team, as results were under Mowbray. 

Idiots Bigdoggsteel made those claims. 

Barnsley at home phoney Tony and his team threw that one.

[chaddyrovers]

Graham said after the Brentford game to some fans he was staying. Plus he and Mowbray have a good working relationship

[lraC]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Graham said after the Brentford game to some fans he was staying. Plus he and Mowbray have a good working relationship

Keep him fit and Graham will be big in league one next season.

[Lancaster Rover]

well 10 minutes after being relegated he wasn't about to start saying, "yeah lads thanks for trecking down here but I'm off as soon as I can". 

I'm not saying he isn't staying but I think using what someone said minutes after a very emotionally charged game is ill advised.

[JacknOry]

Didn't somebody mention somewhere that Mowbray said that Graham is leaving?Apologies if i read wrong. Either way, he is A: worth money B: probably on fairly decent wages having come from the PL when signed C: knows he is far better than League 1 and in the final chapter of his career.

[Bigdoggsteel]

20 minutes ago, JAL said:

Idiots Bigdoggsteel made those claims. 

Barnsley at home phoney Tony and his team threw that one.

Ya, that was a shocking performance. I put it down to Mulgrew and Lenihan being injured though. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JacknOry said:

Didn't somebody mention somewhere that Mowbray said that Graham is leaving?Apologies if i read wrong. Either way, he is A: worth money B: probably on fairly decent wages having come from the PL when signed C: knows he is far better than League 1 and in the final chapter of his career.

He could be a hero if he stays though. It all depends if someone will take his wages on. I'm not sure if that will be easy with his weight and injury record last season. He would be very dangerous in league 1 if we manage to hold onto him and he knuckles down 

[lraC]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya, that was a shocking performance. I put it down to Mulgrew and Lenihan being injured though. 

Those injuries certainly did not help. The game was seen as must win at the time, but with the way things turned out, a point would have done the trick. If only TM had know, the approach to the game, would have certainly been different. To be fair, after that game, I thought we got a decent return, other then maybe the Bristol City game.

[MarkBRFC71]

2 hours ago, bob fleming said:

Here you go...

Raya, Steele, Nyambe, Lenihan, Ward, Mulgrew, Wharton, Williams, Evans, Tomlinson, Bennett, Conway, Feeney, Graham, Stokes

And the ones in bold might be the ones still here at the end of August - I expect most if not all of the others will be leaving, either because their wages are unsustainable in League One or because they're targets for other clubs ....

[blueboy3333]

3 hours ago, bob fleming said:

Here you go...

Raya, Steele, Nyambe, Lenihan, Ward, Mulgrew, Wharton, Williams, Evans, Tomlinson, Bennett, Conway, Feeney, Graham, Stokes

The Rao/Venky legacy laid bare. From a Premier League squad full of Internationals to half a League 1 squad.

 

 

 

[AggyBlue]

1 hour ago, lraC said:

Keep him fit and Graham will be big in league one next season.

He was big in the Championship.

[TugaysMarlboro]

7 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Maybe this is a cynical view, but could it be that Mowbray knows he is in last chance saloon as far as his managerial career is concerned, will never get the chance to manage a club with the stature of Rovers again, and is staying on even though he knows the owners are not to be trusted and he faces a difficult task to turn the club around with a little or no money to spend?

 

Understand your point Jim, but if that was the case, why would he continue if he thought it was mission impossible to improve us and get us promoted? Surely that would damage his reputation further and make him virtually unemployable at any club, never mind one of Rovers stature.

Either way, I'm personally not hopeful it's going to end well.

[Dunnfc]

23 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

The Rao/Venky legacy laid bare. From a Premier League squad full of Internationals to half a League 1 squad.

 

 

 

Time to back the boycotts/protests or action ... when is enough going to be enough with some?

[Dunnfc]

8 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Maybe this is a cynical view, but could it be that Mowbray knows he is in last chance saloon as far as his managerial career is concerned, will never get the chance to manage a club with the stature of Rovers again, and is staying on even though he knows the owners are not to be trusted and he faces a difficult task to turn the club around with a little or no money to spend?

 

Thinking the same myself to be fair. 

I can't imagine you will be wrong either going of the history of these guys. It's not that they are not fit to run a club, it's that they are that stupid to create a team capable of running a club.

[tomphil]

5 minutes ago, Suhail Slayer said:

At least 4 need to be sold to pay for the electric bill plus raise a modest transfer kitty

As per there won't be a transfer kitty just a bit of movement on the wage savings i.e 10k'er out and 3k'er in on a free or loan.