I don't know what the balance is between retaining a team spirit and key players and occasionally accepting the Bosman risk and letting players with value leave on a free year after year. But, I do know that the club has got the wrong balance after departures of Rothwell, Nyambe, Lenihan and soon Brereton-Diaz. That's not to say we would necessarily be in any better position on the pitch but long-term, this is a sure way to decline.

I think the U23s have to be expected to hold their own without over reliance on over-age players or first team fringe players. After all, fringe players will need loan moves next season to further their development. This campaign has seen few loans for fringe players as far as I recall. Markanday went to Aberdeen and Butterworth to Port Vale. Can't think of others, except the likes of Pike and Annesley who weren't close to the first team. It might not be possible due to financial circumstances but a loan for any of Wharton, Garrett or Phillips - not to mention Vale, would potentially aid their development next season.

Watchers of the youth set-up will know better but it does seem as if due to circumstances youth players are getting more of a chance than before. We have had a strong U23 team (disbanding greatly this summer) and yet to see how the next crop fare. However, as an example I think the team with Willem Tomlinson and Lewis Hardcastle, Travis at right back and so on was extremely strong at that level. For different reasons Tomlinson and Hardcastle's careers fell away. Incidentally, the three players that I was most hopeful about from the stellar U23 campaign led by Billy Barr were Lennie Cirino, Isaac Whitehall and Connor McBride...so that tells you what I know! Albeit Whitehall and Cirino have suffered from injuries and barely played this season.

You might be right, but my impression is that the standard of the players coming through is not dissimilar or, perhaps, might be a bit lower, generally speaking, compared to previous years. However, given the financial circumstances that the club finds itself in, more are being given a chance at an earlier stage - and for longer. There's high hopes for Ash Phillips and Adam Wharton but, to my mind, they have yet to prove that they can turn their precocity into a consistent high standard - albeit, they are the special talents out of the crop. But, I do agree that, with exposure and development, players like Garrett and others could become solid Championship players and might even do better than that with a bit of luck. -- On a different note, thanks for linking the highlights to the U23 game. Some excellent goals - including the consolation by Forest. Edun seems to do well at this level, especially, pushing upfield - however, his defensive game was, I think, exposed for their goal as he neglected the far post. (I assume it was Edun but stand corrected if not). It's very harsh to judge him in such a low status game when the team are cruising but it makes me wonder, again, if he has the mentality to make it at left back.

Seems like the standard of player coming through, injuries and, just maybe standard of coaching and management, comparatively, not to mention the reliance on U21 players in the firsts, is making the PL2 a struggle. Whilst fielding first teamers makes sense, we also need to push the U18s to step-up and takeover, as there will be a whole host of fringe players exiting this summer. The standard in the PL2 will, presumably, only increase with the huge sums being spent by Premier League clubs. I have been wondering if the level of injury to the U21 squad is precedented - whether it's bad luck or something else going awry. As far as I can tell we have Barnes, Batty, Whitehall, Cirino, Burns and Baker all out long-term. Ethan Walker, Dan Pike (now on loan) and Jay Haddow have rarely or intermittently played, presumably due to injury and Gent seems to have been out recently too. That's nearly a full team of potential starters absent for games, whether injured or some other reason.

Ryan Giles' incredible transformation into a LB/LWB continues at Boro as he notched two more assists and a clean sheet and is the now the highest assist-maker in the league.

He was prolific for the U21s, pretty much scoring most games he played. He also grabbed some goals for the Welsh U21s, albeit, I believe, mostly against weaker sides. However, he didn’t score much on his loan spells to Rochdale or FC Halifax, in non-league, with injuries playing a part. Clearly, he’s playing because he’s seen as a centre forward, unlike say, Markanday, who has shown more but is now out on loan. It’s clear he’s struggling and having not sent him on loan, I think he really needs U21 games to try and regain some confidence - and show he’s worth persevering with. That bench vs. Leicester makes me quite sure promotion is unlikely, though should we get into the play offs, the unexpected can happen. Not to mention that we don’t have a reliable midfield pairing, with all struggling to implement the tactics - though Travis hopefully has recovered from his poor form.

Wonder if we are hitting a trough, when it comes to the youth conveyor belt, given the struggles of the U23s to compete in what is, admittedly, the top tier of reserve football in this country. It might be unfair to judge yet, as many are new to this level and with the growing investment in the Premier League, those clubs are getting ever bigger squads. Injuries to Cirino, Batty, Whitehall, Barnes, Baker and Burns have weakened the side further and, also, perhaps, the departure of former manager, Billy Barr.

Nyambe was good for us at times, for this level, and played in some woefully ineffective sides. Branthwaite, Bell and, to a lesser extent, Lenihan, struggled for us but have found better form elsewhere - so there's hope for him, albeit, at the moment, his team are heading for relegation. If the management couldn't improve him, they needed to bring in some competition to push him and this is something that Mowbray failed with. Rankin-Costello was always a decent player but injuries hit him badly and this is the first time he's managed to stay fit since, perhaps, his reserve team or U18 days. A positive is that the academy continues to provide useful players at this level, including Nyambe, JRC, Carter, Wharton and so on.

On Dolan's development, I think moving a player around in different positions doesn't help. Damien Duff, to give an extreme example, honed his talents as a left winger (and may, I think, have played right wing for Ireland at times) before, as an experienced player at Chelsea, moving to playing centrally, at times, if I remember rightly. Now a young inexperienced player is thrown into a new position, like lone No.10/false 9 and expected to perform. Remember the days when Rovers tried and failed to get the supremely talented and more experienced Bentley and Dunn to play in that role. They struggled and managers soon gave up. The tactical strategy and formation of teams has changed, which makes it different and, perhaps, young players are becoming more accustomed to growing up with different roles on a pitch, but I do believe it is expecting too much from them.

The club has risked large losses on potential transfers in the hope that the team might eke out promotion. Brereton-Diaz for one has, presumably, been kept for this chance and last year it occurred with Lenihan, Rothwell and Nyambe. And, yet, now the club have a chance of the play-offs, they didn't risk a smaller additional loss/outlay on a loan fee or small transfer fee for a striker or central midfielder to boost the team's chances. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Why make high stakes risks with expiring contracts if you're not going to back the team? Sorba Thomas is proving a useful addition but we needed more. Might as well just cash in on Brereton-Diaz because, frankly, the team's promotion chances are low because there is no central forward and the midfield is struggling with the manager's instructions. I hope my pessimism is misplaced.

Eastham not playing is no surprise as the U21s have bizarre goalkeeper rotation policy in which a keeper rarely plays three consecutive games before dropping out completely. It makes little sense to me because exposure is one thing but continuity and building confidence through sustained games is a completely different matter.

I don't recall seeing Lenni Cirino on a team sheet for some time. I presume he's injured, along with Sam Burns, who seems to have not played much. Also no Saadi, Gilsenan or Eastham today. Cirino had shown a lot of promise but it seems he's never recovered from injuries last season.

Famed right winger, Ryan Giles, continues to make a name for himself at left back for Boro, who look destined for the play-offs. Carrick has got the players performing, with Lenihan a regular after a rocky start - and with Alex Mowatt and Isaiah Jones on the bench, their squad looks impressive, though, looks like they can't catch Sheff Utd. Moreover, as we struggle to find a striker with a goal in them, Boro managed to get in Cameron Archer on loan from Villa.

I haven't followed the match so no comment on how we've played but that first eleven might be one of the slowest, on average, that we've had for some time. Aside from Dolan , Thomas and, maybe, Brereton, there's no pace out there at all. The back four of JRC, Carter, Wharton and Pickering has some ability on the ball but little pace. But, we've got a draw against a highly rated team, so fair enough to the team.

My guess is that it is, at least partly, a strategy to keep the Champions League expanding and, effectively, becoming a European League. Apparently, from 2024, the new Champs League will have a single league stage and the tournament as a whole will now be 189 games, compared to the 125 currently. English clubs might publicly reject the ESL, these days, but I would bet they want it to keep rumbling on in some way. There will be 36 clubs (increased from 32) going into a single league, playing eight games each. Two of the additional four places were intended to be selected based on individual clubs' past record in Europe. Now, two places will go to the league whose clubs have collectively done the best in Europe, I believe - which currently is the Prem and the Erevidisie, according to the BBC. The effect of this collective achievement extra place will be that it will be in the interests of most, if not all, Premier League clubs for Man City, for example, to dominate Europe and, arguably, to grant them as much slack as possible - so that a floating extra Champions League place comes to England on a yearly basis. It would be frowned upon for Blackburn, or another smaller club, to ever get back into Europe (as we did in the early 2000s) because the chances of us boosting the Premier League's coefficient are much slimmer. It is, possibly, a further incentive for oligarchy, especially, in regards how the Premier League clubs vote in league decision-making with more power granted to the wealthiest. It could even influence transfer sales - Tottenham would have an additional and significant incentive to sell Kane to City or Utd, rather than abroad.

Alex Baker had a promising start as a U21 striker but I haven't seem his name mentioned lately. Another who succumbed to injuries? I see that his contract might expire this year.

On the topic of Rovers' home grown strikers of note, perhaps, Ellis Simms might become one, even tenuously. He was on the bench for Everton (and scored for Sunderland recently against Rovers). Though, according to Everton's site, he joined their academy at sixteen and had spells at Man City and Rovers before that, so don't know how much of his time was spent at Brockhall.

I think Burns is all but gone, though, surprised he didn't get a loan move. The problem we face is that no-one is setting a standard, which is needed, I feel, for most young players to come in and perform.

An experienced but mobile CM to direct the flagging Travis, Morton and Buckley is essential. Someone of real ability and authority could revive their forms. But, then, we've been saying that for an age and the best that's come in have been Johnson, Holtby and Downing and the odd youth loanee, like Clarkson. The manager wants a certain style and the current crop are struggling to implement it.

How did Reda Khadra play, aside from his goal? I felt that he or Poveda would've been good options for Rovers to add some pace and trickery to the forward line and give Dolan and Hedges some competition.

I see Boro were trying to use the dark arts by not playing Ryan Giles as a right winger but Mowbray and team were unfazed.

Not a lot of options at the moment but there does seem to be an inconsistency with the relative treatments of Vale and Burns, who has fallen way down the order. That said, neither have shown enough on loan and Having given Vale the nod, it makes sense to give him sub appearances to try and reach the necessary level until an alternative is found. I guess the next in line is Leonard until we bring someone in, unless Markanday can do a job there.

The Rovers official site match report gives an alternate view that it was an even contest!

It's surely a bubble that must burst, if you consider how much clubs like West Ham and Everton have spent to poor effect this season (and in Everton's case, for maybe a few seasons). Player fees and wages are skyrocketing at the elite end and the quality of football is not necessarily rising proportionately with it. I would suspect that there is or will be a mental health crisis in the Premier League because given the money spent by pretty much every club, the pressure to win is only increasing. Clubs like Palace, Everton, West Ham have spend huge sums or have amazing players that are internationals and probably good enough for Champions League clubs, in some cases, yet, they languish, because the league is being rigged by money and the even wealthier. There seems to be bigger expectations but, perhaps, less opportunities of success, because of the money at the elite end.