3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I'm not sure about that, I don't rate Warburton, seems more like a sideways move to me. I suspect a QPR fan would presumably say the opposite, and a neutral would have them on par, at a guess.

Has similar strengths and weaknesses to Mowbray too.

I think we could do worse to be honest, but not an inspiring option. 

2 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

I won't hate on anyone and that includes TM. It's right he's going but that's for football reasons.  I struggle to understand why people pour such vitriol, he's not S. Kean. He's fallen short of my expectations on the pitch but I personally thinks he's a good human being and I'm surprised that Rovers fans who have a reputation for decency feel the need to hate so much.

Anyway let's see how the next guy is received, it will interesting how long some on here give him before he becomes the next target.

For the avoidance of doubt I'm glad he's off, just wishing for a bit more civility from our side of the fence. Hey, call me old fashioned.

I don't think most do to be fair. I know he comes in for plenty of stick on here, but I think personal dislike of him is still a pretty niche position amongst the wider fanbase. 

3 minutes ago, goozburger said:

I think Mowbray has done well overall. Understandably, there is a lot of frustration at how badly we've crashed since January, but we're as close as we've ever been to promotion under Venkys. Mowbray deserves some credit for that, but also rightly some criticism for not making the most of the positions we've been in. Gut feeling tells me he's held a lot of things together behind the scenes where the owners probably don't have a clue. I think he's been a good bloke, done a decent job, and although he should have gone some time ago, he's come back from those positions and given us some hope where we thought there'd be none (only for it to kill us later, mind). Comparing him to Kean is absolutely ridiculous.

I also think he's done quite well with recruitment. Made an £8m profit on Armstrong, could have made a good £15m-£20m on Dack had it not been for his injuries, and Brereton could still go for a decent profit in summer. Mowbray has had more money to spend than most managers here since Kean, but I would hardly say he's pissed it up the wall as many make out. Perhaps his fault has been tactically, rather than the players at his disposal.

The lack of contract renewals cannot be laid at his door. Many clubs are suffering similar issues with players running down their contracts for a new challenge, so this one is on the owners (and their past financial misgivings).

As club, I feel like we've clawed a lot of esteem back under Mowbray. We were absolutely on a death spiral before he came in, and he deserves credit for seeing us where we are today. I'm hugely gutted and frustrated that we aren't still in the race for an automatic spot given where we were, but I'd have snatched your hand off at being in with a shout of the play-offs with two games to go. It's unlikely, still, but it's the closest we've been for a decade (I think).

The big question is what will Venkys do next? They've got a good opportunity to mark their intent by getting a quality manager in and giving him a sensible budget for next season, but I sit here with virtually no faith that will happen, and somebody will weasel their way into a job that's way over their head. We will see, I suppose.

Pretty close to my own thoughts. I think we really can't be ignoring the seriousness of the drops in form that we've suffered, especially this season, but big picture wise I think your summary is a good one. 

I think he needs to be replaced, but i) it should've been handled more professionally and that's a real worry in itself, and ii) I'm pessimistic that we'll get someone better. Although we'll soon find out. 

Undoubtedly a shoddy way of doing business.

I hope - but certainly don't expect - this to be a case of the Rovers hierarchy waiting and seeing how the season will develop whilst taking the opportunity to do the proper groundwork for identifying the best man to take us forward next year.

Sadly, it seems far more likely that we've sleepwalked ourselves into this position, which if so is very worrying. 

Just now, jim mk2 said:

It's a huge risk. He's got enough to think about with his batting and bowling. It didn't work for Botham and made him a less effective player; Brearley took over and Botham was unleashed to win the Ashes

I cannot see Stokes working but then anyone will be better than Root's recent dismal record that has taken England to the bottom of the Test "championship"

You're right about leadership too: it's a national problem. Look at No 10. 

As long as Root continues his form with the bat, I'd have preferred him to stay on. That's not to say I think he was doing even a semi-decent job as captain, but at the very least you could say it wasn't affecting his form as a player, and that's what I worry about with Stokes. The lack of a single other sensible candidate means I understand this decision, but to say it's not ideal is a massive understatement. 

Just now, den said:

I got told last night that he was retiring at the end of the season and that Duncan Ferguson was on the shortlist.

Take that as being a rumour from someone apparently with links to rovers.

Left field one, certainly. Can't pretend that I wouldn't want someone with more a proven managerial record, be it in Britain or elsewhere.

Looks like tomorrow will be his last game at Ewood then (bar us sneaking in the play offs)

6 minutes ago, Mellor Rover said:

One of the few bits of credit Mowbray deserves is this guy. Albeit he accidentally realised how good he was (Smallwood sending off at sheff utd) I think Mowbray’s bollocks team selections fires Travis up sometimes so every cloud ey 🤣

Agree - although I would once again take this opportunity to remind everyone that Trav started that game at Bramall Lane alongside Smallwood!

The only appointment! And one which itself brings with it loads of risk.

How we've ended up in the position where we have so few even passable candidates for the captaincy is beyond me. 

2 minutes ago, tomphil said:

He seemed quite quick and that would suit Mowbrays wing back system they seem to put pace before defensive ability.

Apart from that i didn't see much in him if i'm honest but i think we are highly likely to see JRC starting there next season. That's a whole other debate.

Hard to speculate too much when we don't know who the manager will be, but if Mowbray was to stay on I can see it being a loan replacement for Nyambe, with whatever money we have for permanent deals being spent elsewhere.

I get the sense that he'd like to move JRC to a less physically demanding position than wing back if possible, but equally I doubt that he'd want to use our budget to bring in two right backs if he can help it, so he might be forced to carry on with him there. 

2 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Zeefuik flattered to deceive but personally i don't think he's physically up to championship football.  Nor does he fancy it that much he reminds me of another Henley who'll break down every few weeks.

He might fancy the wages though but i think Rovers would be daft to spend money on him. They'd be better giving Nyambe the money !

He might be unlucky with the timing of his injuries, but it's a massive red flag that he's missed so much football already.

Perhaps he's still a v. decent player at this level, but we'd be mad to risk millions of pounds on finding out. 

5 minutes ago, BigUts said:

Not if he costs £3.5m!

I can't see us paying that for anyone who isn't a striker to be honest, and even then only if Brereton goes. Having said that it begs the question as to why we would agree in principle to that price if we never had any intention of paying it. Maybe we only saw him as a short term loan and the prospect of buying him for a few quid smoothed out the move in January?

12 minutes ago, RoversTilliDie said:

I think it's time for a new manager next season like most supporters, but some of the criticism aimed at Tony Mowbray has been unfair. It's not all he's fault things went pear shaped.Let's give him a decent send off at Saturdays last home game and move on to next season,We have some decent players at the club that would do well in the premier, we have the basis for a premier team we just need more strength in depth,

I've been slower than most on here to get to the Mowbray out camp, and I agree that some of the stick that's aimed his way isn't warranted. I think he's shown at different times that he has quite a lot of what is needed to be pretty successful at this level, but sadly none of that really matters because of these horrible spells of form that his teams always seem to go through every new year. I'd be more inclined to share the blame around a bit more for this season if it wasn't such a consistent trend that's followed him his entire career. 

9 minutes ago, Tom said:

Could go either way if Bournemouth lose they could get nervy on Saturday but alternatively they will need to win

 

We'll certainly see what they're made of now! I think they'd have been well up for the game on Saturday anyway, so I'm happy at least they'll be under more pressure (assuming they don't come back to win of course).

42 minutes ago, deanives said:

What does everyone think of lenihan at RB in a back 4? 

I'm shocked at how comfortable he seems in the position, I know he doesn't give us the attacking threat that nyambe or another attacking rb does but he looks and reminds me of an old fashioned rb of yesteryear

He was very good, and put a cross onto Brereton's head which was better than any that Nyambe has done for me. Horses for courses though, Bournemouth will be a very different game and (assuming he's fit) I'd have the specialist right back who remains an excellent 1-on-1 defender.

What that means for the rest of the back 4 (or 5?) god only knows. 

6 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

I think so too. He didn't score but played well last night. 

I said a week or two ago that the Sheffield Utd loss was the worst one. It's looking more prescient as the end nears. I still don't understand why Khadra took the penalty.

Agree, I look at that one and the Coventry result as being the biggest kicks in the teeth. Sheffield United looks like being the worst seeing as it's them who we're competing against and we didn't even get a point in the end, but with Coventry being the first game back from the international break (and the first with Brereton back), I think having the wind taken out of our sails there has proven to be a disaster. 

Is there any prospect of getting an increased allocation for this? I imagine there's a big group who will be waiting until the weekend's results before making the call about whether to go. 

16 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

Last night was any of; a return to form, PNE on the beach, Rovers under no pressure. The players certainly looked happy to be playing. 

I thought that they played well. The spark was the front 3 constantly harassing PNE and not giving them any time at the back.

I feel that it's too little too late though. 

The what if's are numerous. How many last minute goals cost points? 

Would it have been different if Brereton didn't get injured?

We might well have still tailed off, but I think you have to say yes. Those two missed penalties alone look like being decisive. 

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Just watched the highlights again. Travis did really well to shape his body for the side foot finish. We need to get him in there more often. Brererton a bit unlucky hitting the post and skimming the bar with those two headers. He’s definitely improving that side of his game.

Never saw him as a natural header of the ball until this season, but he has really stood out as a threat in the air this time around. Brilliant goals against Millwall & PNE, the one for Chile too. Sure there are others I'm forgetting too. 

Agree about Travis too, his goals when they come around tend to be well taken, so that's definitely a sign that we need to get him in those positions more often. 

23 minutes ago, islander200 said:

No we didn't miss him last night.

But he has been a good servant to the club and it will be a sad state of affairs if he doesn't get to say a proper goodbye to the fans on Saturday.

He deserves a place in the squad, if it was anything other than injury as to why he was missing last night then it is a joke imo.

Zeefuik and Poveda shouldn't have been given a place on the bench ahead of him.

 

I think we can worry about saying proper goodbyes to players once we finally have nothing left to play for. Being hard-headed about it, he can have no complaints about being dropped after his performance with the ball vs Stoke, where for me he was the worst culprit of the lot for hiding and taking the easy option. The total opposite of how we played yesterday.

I'd have had him on the bench over Zeefuik to be fair, but Poveda I can definitely understand as an option who can call upon if we needed a goal. I think if a player has made it clear that he's going at the end of the year (even if most of the blame for that can be put at the clubs' door) there's no need to treat Nyambe any differently to a loan player who we also know will be gone in a few games. 

2 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Nobbers love him mate...player of the year etc....did you not hear the sky commentator saying Lowe should build his team around him next season....and he will

That was the impression I had before yesterday to be honest, just made the comments on their forum all the more surprising to me. 

5 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I thought your pal had a game to forget. He was playing  too deep with no support. Too many opponents to mark. That’s not his game. You want your playmaker further forward. Frustration crept in at the end. 

I don't watch him enough to really comment, but I had a brief look at their message board after the game and he's been getting absolute pelters. Quite a few of their players are to be fair, so maybe there's not too much you can read into that. 

36 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Gallagher would probably notch 10 plus goals over the course of the season if he played centre forward all the time but sorry, he is not a good player. His touch, passing, ability to lead the line, lack of physicality and general all round play is poor even when he’s played in his “best” position. 

The talk about him being played out of position is massively over done in my view - it's a factor to be sure, but his touch and his lack of a proper goal scorer's instinct to be in the right place are much bigger ones for me. They'll prevent him from ever being near a top-flight standard player.

That said, he was very good yesterday, and shows that he can still be a real handful at this level, despite his deficiencies. I even like the attitude that he's shown in recent home games when the rest of the team went into their shells, and whilst Brereton was the more impressive of the two yesterday, his all round play looked a million miles ahead of Archer and Riis (admittedly in a strong team performance). 

If we were to go back a few summers ago I think we all would still spend the £5million very differently, but I'm willing to see him as a useful player in the squad now. He just doesn't have the quality to be the main man, so we can't be relying on him as that next year if Ben goes. 

6 minutes ago, OsloRover said:

Not sure why people are getting on Hedges' back. He looked good to me last night, especially considering his lack of game time for us.

I thought he looked okay to me, a big advantage over Dolan (who I like, and need to remind myself how young he still is) is that he has the physicality to keep the ball more easily. 

7 hours ago, WacoRover said:

Looking at who’s out there, Bilic isn’t immediately looking for work, but he could probably be had. Bilic has one of the highest win%, 45.6%. We could do a lot worse. 

Bilic would be a very decent statement of intent. 

I think so much of success at this level can be right-place at the right-time, so I'm pretty open minded about who we end up getting assuming Mowbray's on his way. Hughton's record was stellar until he was a disaster at Forest, and there are loads of other cases of managers doing well with one club and stinking the place out at another. I wouldn't be against a left-field choice like Wagner or Farke were at the time, but I suspect that requires a bit more imagination than we presently have in the Ewood boardroom.