You’ve casually ignored a huge swathe of history between Bowyer having us there and Mowbray bringing us back in that position, ignored the context of the differing challenges both faced, ignored the turn around in culture and club since, and I have to say it makes me question the judgement of your summary (bold sentence). I guess when you’ve made your mind up about something, it’s easy to come to use individual results, instances, performances, signings etc to confirm previous belief. I prefer an open mind personally!

Fair enough - I think if he was a step above, we would’ve lost him to a premier league club already, but out of all (including the likes of Rhodes) the players we’ve had since leaving the top flight - he has been the most impressive and had most impact in my opinion. Big loss if it’s a long time.

Over 40 goals and 20 assists in just over 100 games? Remind me who else we’ve had with that level of impact since pre 2010? Will be a bitter loss but I genuinely feel Holtby is a perfect replacement.

To my knowledge he’s played 1 game in a front two in 18 months. I don’t think he’s improved, if anything I’d say he now looks bereft of confidence due to lack of game time, playing out wide and fierceness of competition in our attacking positions. That said - I agree I think he has the raw attributes to eventually come good, and there is no real need either way to make a solid judgement on him as of yet, especially with such lack of appearances. If I was in charge, I think I’d be keeping the 4th position for him, and sending the likes of Samuel on loan instead, as I think his development is best served under our staff.

Oh god what has this place become.

This isn’t true either. Quite sure Nyambe went to Wilfred’s after moving here and went to the academy shortly after.

No I remember that - I seem to recall them handing out free pies in certain games post HT.

Also seemingly forget (easily I might add) promotion looked a forlorn hope in October. I remember travelling back from the Oldham game thinking “this is it now..!”

Not sure how to change the font size I used something else to write, to copy n paste in; My first rovers experiences are difficult to fully decipher, present at games as a young child, though I specifically remember the Middlesbrough home game in the 90/91 season. Match Not because of the towering Tony Mowbray playing for Boro at the time, or the quick winger named Stuart Ripley playing on their right wing - but just the colours, sounds, smells and overall feeling of “home” at Ewood for the first time. One aspect I vividly remember from those days was the prospect of moving seats in the lower riverside at half time to sit and our attacking end. Something that I did that day to see Paul Shepstone’s (who?!) only goal for Rovers. I particularly remember Bobby Mimms (one of my favourites of that time) making some good saves, in a season I couldn’t tell you much about at the time. I started sharing a ST for the 1991/1992 season (year after) and it’s not difficult to see why the following few years got me hooked. First away game was early 1992 I think - Notts County away in the FA cup. A team above us a league (lost 2-1) at the time, and I still get the same buzz seeing new away grounds for the first time to this day. Strangely, still never played Notts Co since - somewhere I’ve vowed to re-visit at some point. Thankfully, that doesn’t look as likely at the current time, bar a cup tie!

No, it was when “the square peg in a square hole” Stuart Downing moved to left back...!

Do you not think that perhaps wages and fees have moved on from the late nineties and early 2000’s? Comparison with a transfer the same fee 20 years ago ignores an awful lot of changes in football since. Also it’s funny that people are now concerned about how this affects our FFP, I thought FFP was the perfect excuse owners not to invest? Time to log out anyway. I don’t half get frustrated by close minded “know it all” comments, which likely come from views that haven’t seen BB play more than a handful of games in his best position.

Let me put this into simple terms - 7m is not a huge sum in a climate where the top league average wage for one player is nearly 3m a season. This “so, by that token we aren’t paying him any wages” is just ignoring facts for your own dismissive agenda. You know what I meant I think anyone who uses agent examples from the post takeover and Kean years as standard practice must’ve forgotten what happened. Lowe, Henley and Jake Kean- all given ridiculous contracts, and the amount the club lost over that period paying off the Etuhu’s, Bests et al - absolutely dwarfs 7m Exactly. Knowing the club had recently come from league 1, I can’t see why it’s so hard to accept that we had limited choices in recruitment due to cutting our wage bill after relegation. TM even said he wanted Bamford, but the club couldn’t do the big wage AND the fee, hence all the “flex” talk from SW. He might never make any in roads to our first team - but the whole point of signing someone that age is to give them TIME...! At least this discussion is 12 months on, the same criticisms started last year less than a month after he signed!

45k ain’t no assumption. It’s 7,000,000 divided by three seasons mate. As for the “how many 7m signings”, the average wage for premier league team player is about 2.5/3m a season, so why see it as a huge sum when we spent more in one season on managers 7 years ago. Plus how/why would we be burdened with spending huge sums and wages on someone not proven? The fee represents the potential, nothing more. You’re whole argument here lies on assumption - you have no idea his wage. Even if you’re eventually right about BB, it doesn’t make your current view any less close minded, old fashioned and basically out of touch

I don’t personally judge 19/20 year olds on a hand full of starts so to hear he is “crap” makes me think some patience might be required. Also- the assumption he is a top earner is based on no facts- it’s just a paranoid agenda to add to a rationale that TM made a huge error.

Over 3 years, how much is 7m? ignoring taxes, signing on fee; 45k per week. Johnson and Downing over their contracts + SOF probably cost more than we’ve spent so far on Bb...

For this season it’s addressed. Loans can be frowned upon but surely only someone desperate to point out fault would argue Walton isn’t (initially) an upgrade on David. Perhaps after a good season we might have more choice about who our next permanent number one?

Was a hill I was prepared to die alone on over the summer, thankfully others starting to see it. Id sooner we utilise Benno and see if JRC, Nyambe can step up, as invariably in 50 odd games, injuries, suspensions etc can rack up.

Could you point out when or where?

I agree massively - I would like to see more free tickets as a start, one advantage over our local rivals is we could fit most of their own fans and ours in Ewood. I think the ultimate ends for re-filling Ewood is success though. On the pitch.

At the same time, I very much doubt Holt will be funding an academy in league 1! Whilst I’m all for incentives, schemes and ways to ignite interest in our club - a championship promotion side will do more for that than any free shirt for the community.

And that’s a fair argument but it’s key to remember the examples are few and far between. As for Brereton being a colossal waste of money - I prefer to realise he is 20, and even if he never makes the grade, transfers aren’t infallible. The thing that winds me up with Brereton - we could be (as a club) on a really good spell, but it’ll still be dragged back to prove the close minded idealism that “we’re fucked”. I just don’t get why it’s so important, when signed or developed further by the same staff - the Dacks, the Travis and the Lenihans should be worth 5 times what we’ve spent. If 7m on a prospect is a “colossal waste of money” then surely 750k on someone who has transformed our attack for 100 appearances, is an absolute master stroke/genius move. Balanced views surely must acknowledge that, hence why the unbalanced views here seldom do. We gave Newcastle and Leon, probably twice combined what we will ever give BB, and that’s how I’d justify the terms “colossal waste of money” At least until BB is released for nowt or paid off in a few seasons, but hindsight makes us all experts.

And Leicester, Wolves, Cardiff, Newcastle, Reading, Southampton, Watford and Bournemouth? Not to forget - the Boro’s, the Derby’s and many others who’ve spent a tonne and gone backwards (seem to remember a famous blue and white team doing something similar...) In fact since Tony’s last promotion - I can only see Blackpool, Burnley and Norwich (the former Two twice) have achieved promotion by “not spending much”... even though Norwich and Stendl had 100k PW on the bench last season in Rhodes et al. To quote one of my favourite albums of the last 20 years; “It was supposed to be so easyyyy”

Still though, if we’re top 6 come half ST selling season, it’s likely much easier!

Anyone notice Reading had 15m of strikers on the pitch Saturday? Joao and Puscas.

Holy crap - you mean we’re criticising Travis now? Jesus, lads gone from obscurity to being as good as a ball winning midfielder as I’ve seen at Ewood in years.