Ben Brereton Diaz

[Don Said]

Just now, Amo said:

Yeah, after Rovers cut their losses and he no longer had that £7m price-tag hanging over him.

There are huge similarities between the two in all fairness. But Davies wasn't just low confidence and that boy to man transition, he seemed to have something severely mentally wrong at Rovers, you could've asked him to jump and with all effort his feet wouldn't have left the floor.

Big Sam obviously did go on to get a tune out of Davies by spending 6 months or so coaching him very closely whilst getting him physically up to scratch. Totally different scenarios but a similar approach to Hughes with Pedersen/Samba. There's a lot of work between Mowbray and BB to be done this summer on that front.

[Don Said]

Just now, tomphil said:

After he got with a manager who knew what to do with him, signed him for a specific role instead of shoe horning him in and coached him in that role/

Bang on with that too.

If my boss gave me 3 totally different roles to fulfil from day 1, whilst giving me very little time to do it each week I'd be fooked.

[Amo]

18 minutes ago, Don Said said:

There are huge similarities between the two in all fairness. But Davies wasn't just low confidence and that boy to man transition, he seemed to have something severely mentally wrong at Rovers, you could've asked him to jump and with all effort his feet wouldn't have left the floor. 

It was one thing after another with Davies. He became our record signing on the back of one decent season at Soton. That weight of expectation, followed by the poor start to the season, Hodgson losing the dressing room, injuries, etc, it's no wonder he needed a clean break elsewhere. 

[Tom]

I seem to remember Davies having glandular fever or similar.

Was often seen in clubs out by himself as well, think his head was all wrong when he got the move here 

[47er]

4 hours ago, Tom said:

I seem to remember Davies having glandular fever or similar.

Was often seen in clubs out by himself as well, 

telling everyone who'd listen he was worth £7M!!

[Stuart]

On 06/03/2019 at 11:53, Don Said said:

There are huge similarities between the two in all fairness. But Davies wasn't just low confidence and that boy to man transition, he seemed to have something severely mentally wrong at Rovers, you could've asked him to jump and with all effort his feet wouldn't have left the floor.

Big Sam obviously did go on to get a tune out of Davies by spending 6 months or so coaching him very closely whilst getting him physically up to scratch. Totally different scenarios but a similar approach to Hughes with Pedersen/Samba. There's a lot of work between Mowbray and BB to be done this summer on that front.

Interesting that you bring Big Sam into it. What Allardyce did - and Mowbray hasn’t (yet?) - is make sure that he had the right people around his, all doing their jobs.

Mowbray has his right hand man and has been loyal to the guy who has been around the club the longest since Venkys rocked up.

He needs to sort out his backroom team and projects like Brezza will take care of themselves.

[Husky]

What's happened to Big Ben?

Since his start against Reading he hasn't featured in the last 4 games. Why not? Has the Rovers set-up started to male him even worse than before? 

Baffling!

[Tom]

33 minutes ago, Husky said:

What's happened to Big Ben?

Since his start against Reading he hasn't featured in the last 4 games. Why not? Has the Rovers set-up started to male him even worse than before? 

Baffling!

Because he’s found some scoring form in the under 23’s it would obviously be silly to play him when he’s confident 

[Amo]

54 minutes ago, Husky said:

What's happened to Big Ben?

Since his start against Reading he hasn't featured in the last 4 games. Why not? Has the Rovers set-up started to male him even worse than before? 

Baffling!

Can't have a bad game if you never play

[Mercer]

Mowbray in Thursday's LT:

“Brereton will be on the bench as he has been recently. I have had a good chat with him recently,” Mowbray said of the teenager who has been an unused substitutes in the last two matches. 

“He’s a young boy with amazing talent, we have to be patient"

Amazing talents command a place in a starting eleven and are game changers because they have 'amazing talent'.

I am totally fed up with all the soundbites, platitudes and b 0 l l 0 c k s that I think Mowbray offers.  Feck his purported values, I want an organised team that plays attractive football, entertains, gets decent results and can be seen to be progressing.

I defy anyone to articulate a case for Mowbray remaining as Rovers' manager.

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Mercer

[SBlue]

6 hours ago, Mercer said:

I defy anyone to articulate a case for Mowbray remaining as Rovers' manager.

 

My expectations and “demands” for this season differ from yours.

I’d say I’m a realist.

Spread our boom and bust runs more evenly over the season and surely there would be less knickers in a twist.

At this point you will probably say “but look at our defence and transfers” and something like “you can’t think he is the man to take us to promotion”.

But as I say, I’m realistic about who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment and he deserves the chance, and I trust him, to lead the rebuild.

Things change, and my thoughts may change - although I doubt yours will.

So it’s a difference of opinion and of outlook.

Articulated.

Cheers.

[LDRover]

1 minute ago, S8 & Blue said:

My expectations and “demands” for this season differ from yours.

I’d say I’m a realist.

Spread our boom and bust runs more evenly over the season and surely there would be less knickers in a twist.

At this point you will probably say “but look at our defence and transfers” and something like “you can’t think he is the man to take us to promotion”.

But as I say, I’m realistic about who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment and he deserves the chance, and I trust him, to lead the rebuild.

Things change, and my thoughts may change - although I doubt yours will.

So it’s a difference of opinion and of outlook.

Articulated.

Cheers.

Good on you for offering a different opinion on things.

However, I'm drawn to your comment that you're realistic in who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment. The fact is we're the worst team in this division at this time with no green shoots of recovery that I can see. I find that position difficult to accept, I'm surprised you can.

[SBlue]

Just now, LDRover said:

Good on you for offering a different opinion on things.

However, I'm drawn to your comment that you're realistic in who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment. The fact is we're the worst team in this division at this time with no green shoots of recovery that I can see. I find that position difficult to accept, I'm surprised you can.

We’re in the worst form, yes.

I’ll see where we finish the season before passing judgement on it as a whole.

[blueboy3333]

Is 12th good but 19th bad? I don't think finishing in either will have any impact on next season. I'm not even sure it matters. What is worrying is the emerging pattern - a manager looking increasingly out of his depth whose team is a soft touch and who seems incapable of making positive changes. Thats before you even get on to the scapegoating, recruitment and lack of tactical progress. 

 

[Amo]

It's all about how you finish the season, not how you start it. If we continue in this vein of form, I really don't see any way back for Mowbray. He's run out of ideas and shoehorns players into positions rather than play his best XI. If he can't see that Williams, Smallwood, Bennett, Evans are not up to scratch, when will he? Why do rank-average players like that forever get the nod over somebody like Rothwell? Not saying he's a world-beater but he offers more than any of them going forward. However, we're back to another 'safety first' manager who's too busy fretting about the opposition rather than trying to win a game.  

[arbitro]

5 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

My expectations and “demands” for this season differ from yours.

I’d say I’m a realist.

Spread our boom and bust runs more evenly over the season and surely there would be less knickers in a twist.

At this point you will probably say “but look at our defence and transfers” and something like “you can’t think he is the man to take us to promotion”.

But as I say, I’m realistic about who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment and he deserves the chance, and I trust him, to lead the rebuild.

Things change, and my thoughts may change - although I doubt yours will.

So it’s a difference of opinion and of outlook.

Articulated.

Cheers.

In truth I'm not overly disappointed with our points tally. With the future in mind I'm exceptionally fearful as we have a squad which currently has League One running through it like a stick of rock. We have crashed and burned and major surgery is needed. We have bang average players on good, long contracts and very little chance of moving them on to bring in more quality. We have one saleable asset and it appears the majority of our playing budget has been spent on a player who has been 'dropped' into the under 23's and hasn't kicked a ball in the first team for weeks. 

The reality for me is that we need up to eight new players in the summer and to shift some of the current first team out. Given Mowbrays record so far with signings I have very little faith in this happening. He talked about a number of transfer windows to get where he wants to be but we have regressed since the January one.

For me it boils down to trusting him with the future of our club. Given the above I have grave reservations that he can move us forward. His recent interviews indicate to me that he doesn't have the answers.

The old football saying of 'taken us as far as he can' has never been more apt in my opinion.

[Ewood Ace]

8 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

But as I say, I’m realistic about who Blackburn Rovers are at the moment and he deserves the chance, and I trust him, to lead the rebuild.

Things change, and my thoughts may change - although I doubt yours will.

So it’s a difference of opinion and of outlook.

Articulated.

Cheers.

What makes you think that he is going to rebuild even after 1 point from 6 games he wasn't ruthless enough to make changes. He's spent a great deal of money in the summer yet 10 of our starters were here last season and Reed who wasn't will be gone in the summer and when we need a goal for the second week in a row our £7 Million striker stayed on the bench. 

[SBlue]

56 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

What makes you think that he is going to rebuild even after 1 point from 6 games he wasn't ruthless enough to make changes. He's spent a great deal of money in the summer yet 10 of our starters were here last season and Reed who wasn't will be gone in the summer and when we need a goal for the second week in a row our £7 Million striker stayed on the bench. 

I’m not arguing about his mistakes - whether trumped up or real.

I’m saying I don’t want him to be sacked.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, S8 & Blue said:

I’m not arguing about his mistakes - whether trumped up or real.

I’m saying I don’t want him to be sacked.

If I thought the Chokers would make a sensible appointment I'd be in favour of making a change now. He has taken us as far as he can. The trouble is they won't make a sensible appointment. When Coyle was binned and we were discussing prospective new managers dozens of names were mentioned but nobody that I recall mentioned Tony Mowbray.

[SBlue]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

If I thought the Chokers would make a sensible appointment I'd be in favour of making a change now. He has taken us as far as he can. The trouble is they won't make a sensible appointment. When Coyle was binned and we were discussing prospective new managers dozens of names were mentioned but nobody that I recall mentioned Tony Mowbray.

Hard to fathom for me that people can’t see how we’ve moved forward since then. 

Minds are made up now though so there’s no point trying to fight that tide.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, S8 & Blue said:

Hard to fathom for me that people can’t see how we’ve moved forward since then. 

Minds are made up now though so there’s no point trying to fight that tide.

I just pointed out on another thread that we stand a very good chance of staying up on less points than we were relegated with two seasons ago. I don't see how that can be described as " moving forward ". 

[Ewood Ace]

12 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

I’m not arguing about his mistakes - whether trumped up or real.

I’m saying I don’t want him to be sacked.

I asked though what makes you think that he is going to be ruthless enough to conduct a rebuild when he wasn't even ruthless enough yesterday to ring the changes for a side with 1 point in 6 games.

[SBlue]

8 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

I asked though what makes you think that he is going to be ruthless enough to conduct a rebuild when he wasn't even ruthless enough yesterday to ring the changes for a side with 1 point in 6 games.

Dropped Bell and Rodwell (two of the main offenders at Rotherham) and got Travis out of the firing line (been poor lately)... what more did you want, or expect and who did you want in their place?

[SBlue]

16 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I just pointed out on another thread that we stand a very good chance of staying up on less points than we were relegated with two seasons ago. I don't see how that can be described as " moving forward ". 

Suppose we’ll have to wait and see won’t we?

[Mattyblue]

5 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Dropped Bell and Rodwell (two of the main offenders at Rotherham) and got Travis out of the firing line (been poor lately)... what more did you want, or expect and who did you want in their place?

Smallwood was dreadful at Rotherham and righty hooked at half time. He should not have been anywhere near the side, but it is a sign of a manager under pressure reverting to his comfort zone.