I’m very clear in my mind. After Saturday, I said that I felt it was time for a change. The reason you’re probably confused now is because I didn’t think it necessary following my decision to jump up and down shouting, screaming and hurling insults at players, managers and the owners in order to make my point. Ive been pretty clear on why I have made my decision. The other references I have made to the manager, being safe for the moment are based on a wider view of what is likely or unlikely imo. So essentially, if it were upto me (which it isn’t) then I would change the manager for the reasons I’ve outlined. But I don’t think Mowbray is at that point yet with the owners, directors or the vast majority of the fans.

Absolutely true story. I sat with my mate on Sat aft having told him there was no chance we’d leave deep dale with a single point. He laughed as the second one went in but in absolutely the same way as you ‘knew’ I turned to him with my phone saying I was that confident that I’d have a tenner on us to lose at that point. I got 9-1 at BV and the rest is history. I’ve never done that since Kean. The teams ability to implode is written into Mowbrays regime now. He’s consistently terrible at managing games to a favourable end and that’s the reason why I personally now want a change.

Of course we’re in debt. We’re propped up financially by our owners. This isn’t uncommon in football, especially amongst small town clubs like ours who want to be in the PL but can’t even fill our stadium. There’s essentially three options available: 1) Cut back to a point where we are self sufficient based on our income. This would realistically leave us in League 1. 2) Develop incrementally focussing on academy development with the odd splurge into the market for quality. 3) All out money ball approach. Gamble £50m in the summer with a focus on promotion immediately or risk sinking the club. So what would your solution to this be?

Waffle.

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting. Talk of relegation and limbo etc...this coming from a person (myself) who thinks we would benefit from a change of manager. Mowbrays biggest issue is the pressure he’s heaped on himself by publicly aiming for a top 6 finish. Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less. He’s naturally under pressure with the recent run of results because they have been poor. But he can quite easily mitigate those runs with key injuries in the new year and at present. More importantly, this pressure isn’t putting his job at risk. Not at the moment anyway. Because his employers, the players, coaches etc all know what is going on behind the scenes. In fairness, the only metric the fans have are winning or losing games...but surely most people can see that the club are going to stick with him until he has drained that professional bank account with everyone. I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out.

I’m astounded by this sentence. So you’re that desperate for immediate gratification that you settle for a bad appointment for a 5-10 match boost in results? Wow...

He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Has got plenty in the bank with the owners, the players and majority of the fans. I can’t see any review of the managers position coming before the end of the season UNLESS something pretty huge happens which forces their hand. (An extended run of losses going into the new year or TM takes it into his own hands)

I’m 100% sure that if Dunny thought the manager needed changing, he would say so. Yes.

OR that’s just what they believe is right Stuart. I personally think that TM backed himself into an impossible position by aiming for promotion this season. He’s done a fantastic job overall but the questions and rumblings around the big money signings, finding his best team and shaky defence are amplified by the expectation he has built. But we have to be careful what we wish for. There is much more chance of us getting another Coyle or Kean after Mowbray than a Pearson etc Id have been happy with a top 10 finish before we were promised a top 6 push.

Sadly, I agree.

I agree with your point re the writing on the wall. Though I still think we can rescue this season, even after Preston batter us on Saturday (I’m in no doubts). But I don’t think we’ll be relegated. I can’t see Mowbray being sacked until the summer.

I like the analogy and you can see where that sits right mate. I’m actually in the services industry, though my company deals a lot with engineering companies. Im not sure it runs so deep at Rovers. From what I understand, there’s a good vibe about the place. I hope Tony and the team pull it round. I just knew he’d placed a target on his head the minute he mentioned promotion. Charges the owners and the fans up when he doesn’t have a top 6 budget. Plus, if he wanted to sneak in there like a Preston etc then it would’ve been better to keep quiet and ‘over achieve’. Thanks for the post mate.

Really interesting point. Thank you.

What is it that you think is fundamentally broken?

I understand some of your points but it’s very much written in the moment. I’ll bet you didn’t harbour half of those opinions just before kick off against Luton as we set out to achieve a third straight Clean sheet and victory with a host of seemingly winnable fixtures in front of us. At that point, many were lauding the keeper and defence whilst eulogising over the signing of Holtby. Confident in the knowledge that we were making fine progress. The key here is not to knee jerk imo. I feared for the manager as soon as he said that we were hoping for a top 6 finish. I don’t know how many managers come up from league 1, finish mid table and then go up the season after. He needed a big injection of cash in the summer rather than a couple of million net spend. Now he’ll end up throwing himself on his sword. I would give Johnson a chance.

Both tbh. Massive overhauls are rarely a good idea. They cost a fortune and very rarely bare fruit. In any case I don’t think we need one. Improve the defence, get the strikers firing and settle on formula that works.

I don’t think we need, or can afford wholesale changes. The first XI is good enough to challenge for the top 6 imo. The problem lies in the managers seeming inability to find the formula and his best team. The failure to adequately improve the defence is also coming back to bite him as are the impotent performances of Gally and Brereton. Either way, if this or the next manager can re-invigor the team, improve the defence and get the best out of Gally and Brereton then we won’t be far off.

If the manager was to leave, the sensible option is to bring Johnson in. Keep a little bit of consistency. Otherwise, you’re changing everything which is unnecessary and expensive.

Ben Brereton is 20yrs Old (2-0) and has represented England at U19 and U20 level. He has also played in 79 Championship games. You’re writing him off. Let that sink in. Give your heads a wobble lads.

Read the post mate. Really read it please.

I think you’re misunderstanding the size of the wages paid at many of the clubs you have mentioned there. In any case, you just reeled off every pin up “we did it on the cheap” club. In reality they didn’t. Relax. The money spent is about par (fees and wages) with most clubs looking to get in the top six. There’s nothing scatter gun about that approach. It’s playing the % game. As far as your expectation of ‘a level of planning and competence “needed” for promotion’. I am genuinely interested to know what your experience of planning for such an event is and your take on what is “needed”. Don’t you also think it would be better if you actually knew what the plans were prior to judging. Apologies in advance if you do know.

Tbf I think the “Top ten” rhetoric is more of a nod to Venkys as he wants more money in January if we are in the top 10. Target is defo top 6 and promotion

We couldn’t even dream of affording top quality forwards. Even the loans want 40-70k a week in salaries. Hence why we have spent our money on the former category I outlined. Gally, Armstrong and BB are young and fit within our wage structure. The mandate therefore is to develop them and find a diamond. Again, just common sense really.

Exactly right. Ultimately there are short and long term goals. The long term goals are achieved through funding the academy and creating a pipeline into the first team as well as buying hungry, talented players like Dack, Rothwell, Arma, Gally, BB etc with a view to developing them and in order to win you promotions and / or create revenue in the future. The short term plan is to go up THIS season and that involves the introduction of top quality. We couldn’t afford to buy a Tosin or Walton plus wages and could get nowhere near a Johnson or Downing in their prime so what we do is loan them or pick them up later in their career to provide that injection of necessary quality over the short term. Its straightforward enough really.

Lenihan and Travis are better than most of the managers signings. Buckley, JRC and Butterworth are expected (by the current management) to play in 10-15 first team games this season. Magloire, Grayson and the striker (can’t recall his name) expected to integrate as above next season. Very strong pipeline into the first team created and instigated by the manager. Jonty is the conduit and has also brought in the technical analysis booths as well as bespoke individual programmes with the focus on development. The increasing expectation of the club and obvious quality additions in the summer means that the young players need to continue raising their standard to break through but there are a lot of last years team (Bell, Evans, Smallwood, Graham and even Benno) who know that the writing is on the wall. The likes of Johnson and Downing may not have another season in them either so the opportunity is there IF they’re good enough.