Mowbray’s Future

[tomphil]

2 minutes ago, OnePhilT said:

I think the supporters will turn on him before the season is out. And I don't just mean disgruntlement on a message board. You heard it here first.

And some at the club will then deflect the blame onto fans again to save their own arses, fans will turn on fans again there's already loads out there and on here who just can't wait for that from their lofty perches, usually an armchair 100 miles away or on a different continent.

We really don't want a return to those days so everyone needs to hold their nerves and accept it as a bad run there was bound to be a few although it can't go on. Next three games are vital and the ones to judge but it is fair to say Mowbray needs to up his game considerably and get angry instead of this shoulder shrugging every week, he's contributed to it as have the players.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

My concern today is at one point we had Bennett left wing back with Dack playing as deep as our centre halves at times, not quite the same level but had echoes of the infamous Souness / Matteo game.

Doubts will start to surface again and whilst Mowbray is in credit he’s going to have to start answering some questions soon enough.

A poor end to the season and not as many people would question us rolling the dice if there was a Jokanovic / Wagner in the offing 

It was unacceptable levels of players seemingly not knowing what roles they were in and players out of position.

There was no excuse to get into that situation, Boros formation was well known and he named an incredibly top heavy team. That being said, if he wanted to be reactive and match them, it took one brave sub in the first half to make such a drastic tactical change at least somewhat feasible. Bell for Brereton would have had a domino effect in terms of putting players back into their correct positions.

[DeeCee]

2 hours ago, K-Hod said:

Date has finished, I’ve just come home and smashed some fast food. 

I’ll let you know if there is a second date!

What sort of date finishes before 10pm and doesn't include eating?

[chaddyrovers]

16 minutes ago, DeeCee said:

What sort of date finishes before 10pm and doesn't include eating?

A very cheap one. 

1 hour ago, OnePhilT said:

I think the supporters will turn on him before the season is out. And I don't just mean disgruntlement on a message board. You heard it here first.

deffo don't see this happening this season at all

2 hours ago, K-Hod said:

Oi Oi!

For real though, I’ve done the unthinkable and gone out on a date with a woman today...

I’ll sort the poll out tomorrow ?

Another pointless poll. 

totally unnecessary poll and we are where I think some of us would be league position wise. Did people really expect Promotion? 

[Mercer]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

A very cheap one. 

deffo don't see this happening this season at all

Another pointless poll. 

totally unnecessary poll and we are where I think some of us would be league position wise. Did people really expect Promotion? 

Let's see if he's 'losing' the fans and please don't offer your usual claptrap that there's no evidence of that where you sit.

It could be suggested that he's 'losing' the dressing room based on recent performances.

What people did expect to see was a physically and mentally fit unit, well organised with consistent selections and tactics with the manager getting the most out of his squad.  Also, a manager successfully player trading and strengthening the starting eleven on an ongoing basis.  I would suggest to you that this has not happened. 

[martonrover]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

totally unnecessary poll and we are where I think some of us would be league position wise. Did people really expect Promotion? 

You have to look a bit deeper than that and see the pattern of results.

Had we arrived at this position / number of points by building steadily after a tough start, (a bit like PNE), it would auger well for next season.

It looks ominous.

[Parsonblue]

It's only a month or so ago that we gave what was probably our best display under Mowbray when he beat Hull.  Since the collapse at Brentford we've looked pretty poor.  The manager himself acknowledged that some players who were bought to win promotion from League One have started to struggle at Championship level and would be replaced.  I suspect we will see a fairly hectic summer of transfer activity.

What we need now are players who are good enough to hold down a regular starting position in the first team.  A commanding centre-half needs to be top of the list followed by a centre-forward in the style of Graham.  

Mowbray is the first manager that the owners have given a long term contract to in recent years which would suggest that they see him as the long term option and rightly so.  It's now up to the manager to spend whatever funds are available to spend wisely on rebuilding the team for a realistic challenge at the play-offs.

It's going to be an important summer for the club in terms of transfers and one which will determine the future of the manager and the club.

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, Parsonblue said:

What we need now are players who are good enough to hold down a regular starting position in the first team.  A commanding centre-half needs to be top of the list followed by a centre-forward in the style of Graham.  

 

Agreed, but players who could come straight into the first team were exactly what we needed last summer and in January as well and nothing was done about it, indeed the manager apparently didn't see the need.

Will it be any different this summer?

[JHRover]

5 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

It's only a month or so ago that we gave what was probably our best display under Mowbray when he beat Hull.  Since the collapse at Brentford we've looked pretty poor.  The manager himself acknowledged that some players who were bought to win promotion from League One have started to struggle at Championship level and would be replaced.  I suspect we will see a fairly hectic summer of transfer activity.

What we need now are players who are good enough to hold down a regular starting position in the first team.  A commanding centre-half needs to be top of the list followed by a centre-forward in the style of Graham.  

Mowbray is the first manager that the owners have given a long term contract to in recent years which would suggest that they see him as the long term option and rightly so.  It's now up to the manager to spend whatever funds are available to spend wisely on rebuilding the team for a realistic challenge at the play-offs.

It's going to be an important summer for the club in terms of transfers and one which will determine the future of the manager and the club.

The concern I have is the entire premise of Mowbray's management since promotion last season has been the slow, multi-year gradual build, the idea that the way we are going to do things is each transfer window add 2-3 decent players, replace the poorer ones and end up in a couple of years with a promotion capable squad, and yet what has happened and what looks like happening come the summer is going to be very different.

To me it seems more and more to be the case that come June we're going to have to carry out a major rebuilding job, with a huge amount of new players required who are up to Championship standard. Even if we strike lucky and keep Dack and our other 'assets' there's a huge amount of work to do, and perhaps more importantly a lot of money or incredibly shrewd business to be got through. Given recent signings I'm not particularly confident in the recruitment policy here and I don't believe for one minute, despite the claims of some, that Venkys will be sanctioning major expenditure for multiple quality players. Much cheaper to keep those already here under contract.

[tomphil]

Instead of giving them nice bonuses as a reward for promotion and then the carrot of a nice new championship contract in summer they go around dishing nearly all of them new deals tying them to us but us to them for several more years. Some needed doing understandably but some really should've been given an opportunity to see if they were worth it at this level.

I see a lack of serious action this summer unless there is big money coming in and a desperate need to replace, even then we could see the taps stay off after the outlay on Armstrong and that there other expensive gamble.

Summer is indeed going to shape the next year or two.

[blueboy3333]

15 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

It's now up to the manager to spend whatever funds are available to spend wisely on rebuilding the team for a realistic challenge at the play-offs.

I think you've identified the flaw in the plan. 

Edited February 18, 2019 by blueboy3333

[blueboy3333]

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I don't believe for one minute, despite the claims of some, that Venkys will be sanctioning major expenditure for multiple quality players.

They committed £10m last summer without recouping any money from sales. For a Championship club without parachute payments that is a huge amount of money. Mowbray said he still had money left too. I'd bet the Assombolonga bid was real and that as Mowbray indicated we couldn't afford the wages. 

I think they trust Mowbray. However, that trust may be eroding the more BB fails to deliver.

[Parsonblue]

Just now, JHRover said:

The concern I have is the entire premise of Mowbray's management since promotion last season has been the slow, multi-year gradual build, the idea that the way we are going to do things is each transfer window add 2-3 decent players, replace the poorer ones and end up in a couple of years with a promotion capable squad, and yet what has happened and what looks like happening come the summer is going to be very different.

To me it seems more and more to be the case that come June we're going to have to carry out a major rebuilding job, with a huge amount of new players required who are up to Championship standard. Even if we strike lucky and keep Dack and our other 'assets' there's a huge amount of work to do, and perhaps more importantly a lot of money or incredibly shrewd business to be got through. Given recent signings I'm not particularly confident in the recruitment policy here and I don't believe for one minute, despite the claims of some, that Venkys will be sanctioning major expenditure for multiple quality players. Much cheaper to keep those already here under contract.

I suspect we will be looking at adding four, perhaps five additions to the squad who would be first team players.  Building gradually seems to me to be the way for a club like Rovers to go in the long term.  We are going to have to rely on our Academy to produce the players to fill the squad places and you know as well as I that we have a really promising group at the moment just under first team level.

One or two of the present squad, who should be good enough, are going to have to 'up' their game - Dack included - after several very indifferent performances.  At the end of the day players have to take some responsibility for what happens on the field.  It's too easy to push all the blame at the manager's door. 

The owners will put in whatever money they feel is appropriate - which is entirely up to them at the end of the day - but they have supported Mowbray thus far with a decent budget for this level.  

I think that have a strong relationship with Mowbray - more so than with any other manager they have employed and thus the long term contract.  I believe they will be happy to stick with him because I suspect they respect his honesty and approach to the job.

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

I think you've identified the flaw in the plan. 

That's were we differ.  I believe Mowbray is the right man to spend the money to take the club forward in the right direction.

[arbitro]

27 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

It's only a month or so ago that we gave what was probably our best display under Mowbray when he beat Hull.  Since the collapse at Brentford we've looked pretty poor.  The manager himself acknowledged that some players who were bought to win promotion from League One have started to struggle at Championship level and would be replaced.  I suspect we will see a fairly hectic summer of transfer activity.

What we need now are players who are good enough to hold down a regular starting position in the first team.  A commanding centre-half needs to be top of the list followed by a centre-forward in the style of Graham.  

Mowbray is the first manager that the owners have given a long term contract to in recent years which would suggest that they see him as the long term option and rightly so.  It's now up to the manager to spend whatever funds are available to spend wisely on rebuilding the team for a realistic challenge at the play-offs.

It's going to be an important summer for the club in terms of transfers and one which will determine the future of the manager and the club.

I agree but that should have been identified and remedied by Mowbray as soon as promotion was achieved. Instead he rewarded average players who clearly wouldn't be good enough with new, improved contracts. This has inflated his wage budget by a significant amount and he is in danger of the loyalty he showed to some players backfiring on him. From a progression point of view we can write this season off as we have predominantly the same players who are clearly punching above their weight. Whether Mowbray is the man to take us to another level remains to be seen.

[tomphil]

Changing 5 key first team players all at once for 5 new ones isn't a slow build it's a big change and that will take time to bed in that's why this window just gone was important.

[blueboy3333]

6 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

 

That's were we differ.  I believe Mowbray is the right man to spend the money to take the club forward in the right direction.

Based on what? 

[Parsonblue]

23 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

Based on what? 

Based on what has been done since he took over.  At the end of the day everyone will have a different opinion about the manager but ultimately the only one that counts is that of the owners.

[roversfan99]

9 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

A very cheap one. 

deffo don't see this happening this season at all

Another pointless poll. 

totally unnecessary poll and we are where I think some of us would be league position wise. Did people really expect Promotion? 

You are only saying that because you fear the results. A poll gauging opinion is the whole purpose of the messageboard. You seem to think not being near relegation means he is covered by a cloak whereby he cannot be criticised, "what do you expect FFS!" Its how we are were we are as to why people are worried.

Managers get sacked in 2 different circumstances, when they clearly are incompetent and are falling below expectations (Coyle) being the most obvious one. I dont think anyone could suggest Mowbray deserves sacking this way.

The second would be when you feel like there is an element of stagnation and there are aspects of his management that dont seem to be fixable by him (defensive record being the key one) and you take a calculated gamble. Bowyer was an example of this but its only an option if the club has ambition (including financial backing) to progress and also if they find a suitable replacement who is an upgrade, both of which Venkys failed on last time.

I am torn personally. I think he should be given the rest of the season but I worry we are in a bit of a tailspin and our defensive organisation will continue to be neglected, and his naive loyalty to certain players/characters will hold us back. Its up to Mowbray to prove between now and the summer that he can organise a team capable of pushing on next season.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Agreed, but players who could come straight into the first team were exactly what we needed last summer and in January as well and nothing was done about it, indeed the manager apparently didn't see the need.

Will it be any different this summer?

Exactly so. Even the dogs in the street knew we needed a proper centre half and a proper stand in for Graham.  Maybe they don't exist !

[J*B]

As requested... 

[J*B]

As requested, a new thread...

[Bigdoggsteel]

Ah man I had a response written in the other thread, then you deleted it. Now it's gone. 

[Mattyblue]

Can the last one be re-written? I’m happy for him to stay currently, but I’m not sure I would say he’s doing ‘great’.

[Bigdoggsteel]

He deserves the summer. He has big job on his hands. 

Laissez-faire Mowbray needs to get harder. Get Dack off the frys and mayo. Give player power when necessary, but let them know who the real boss is. Yesterday's performance struck me as one where the players decided the season was over already. They wouldn't do that if they feared the manager. 

Stop shoehorning players into unnatural positions. Bennett does not need to start every game. 

Try and play football. Mowbray is starting to remind me of Martin O'Neill when Ireland manager. Constantly saying he has to play long ball football badly because we don't have the players for anything else. We have better footballers. Currently we are far too one dimensional. 

 

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

At any other club he would be getting summoned to the boardroom at 8.30 sharp this morning for a frank exchange of views as to what was causing the current collapse in form. I'd be telling him that if things don't improve significantly in the next month he could be on the way out. I'd also be quizzing him as to the imput of his coaching staff because for me we play like we haven't got any.

Having said that we aren't a normal club so it will be business as usual and the lads can laugh it all off just like it never happened.