You admitting you were wrong would represent a significant one...??

Eh!? Bowyer had Hanley, Duffy, Ollsen, Cairney, Marshall, King, Gestede, Rhodes etc....he MASSIVELY underachieved with a squad that were the envy of the whole league! Mowbray doesn’t have that. The end.

Relax lads, he’s openly said he’s going to play them. The same manager who’s given 11 players their Rovers debuts in the last two years....stop worrying and enjoy it. I’m so excited to see them. There’s nothing to suggest he isn’t brace enough. I expect to see Magloire, Butterworth and Buckley. As well as Davenport and maybe Chapman.

Had a really interesting conversation yesterday with someone who has spent time professionally and socially with our youth lads....was absolutely glowing in his views of the group as a whole and believes we have a really special group. I asked him if he had to pick one out of the whole bunch....he replied emphatically - “BUCKLEY!!!” Apparently has it all. Physically, technically and mentally. He’s the one...?? Obviously cant name the person who wouldn’t go into any personal info but I was excited and thought I’d share ?

Please could you apologise for your patronising, inflammatory post.

If Stuart were here he’d probably ask you to apologise for your disingenuous tone....ohhh wait a minute.

No one is ignoring history. Some people choose not to live in it.

Been explained about 5 times now pal.

*Realist

Ok, so winning one game isn’t luck. What about winning enough games to hit your season targets for two seasons? That lucky too?

It’s a constant shifting of the ground to fit an argument mate. He loses games and it’s his fault. He wins games and he’s lucky. Even worse, there’s a genuine belief that they know so much more than the manager, regardless of the fact that we never see the players in training, have no idea of personal issues etc. The manager fronts all of that up btw. He loses 9 games in 13 or whatever and is castigated but keeps hitting season goals by pure luck...??

??

It will for you Stu. I never care much for the past. The present and more importantly the future is all we have ??

Haha as always, the forum police when it suits ??

I’m not the one trying to take the moral high ground for a win I had absolutely nothing to do with. A point made even more odd by the fact that the two systems were picked by the same manager!? So both the criticism AND the credit should go to him? ???

Both his teams though...? This really is painful ???

Can someone find the bit where I said every time we play Reed and Travis in midfield together we get annaihilited please? The point I made related to the discussion on Reed and Travis but was about midfielders who vacate the midfield.

Hahah you’re definitely emotional mate. FYI - none of that is fact, it’s opinion. Just saying ??

They played together once. So what? Midfields that vacate the centre of the pitch are always a worry for managers. It’s the same reason Gerrard and Lampard never worked. Any examples of midfields with two players who chase fullbacks down and vacate the middle of the pitch? There aren’t many mate because managers don’t pick those players in a two together!

Stuart, in the season we went down TM’s team went at a play off rate of points from Coyles catastrophic grounding and ended up getting relegated with the highest ever points tally to go down. They basically ran out of time. He then got rid of the deadwood and managed to keep the better players adding Dack, Downing, Antonnson, Armstrong, Smallwood and Payne who ALL played their part in promotion. That’s not luck. This season, he has steadied us and we’re on for a mid table finish in line with our budget and far in front of the other two teams who were promoted. Im not saying he’s perfect. He’s made lots of bad decisions, questionable team selections and weird team choices. But ultimately he’s done his job. Surely?

Reed didn’t play. He’s injured...keep up old chap! ?

Obviously all opinions but what has he stifled? We’ll finish around mid table, he’s blooded some youngsters, not all of his signings have worked but Reed, Armstrong and more now Rothwell can be seen as positive. There’s a player in Rodwell too. Still question marks over B.B but he’s young so there’s time. He’s guided us to a respectable finish and has invited the pressure of challenging for promotion next season. When you consider what he walked into, that’s not bad. Is it?

Ahh mate, I think that’s really harsh. So he’s got ‘lucky’ with recruitment and coaching both seasons? Surely it’s unfair to hold the manager upto the highest standards when we disagree with his decisions and then say his successes lucky? Theres lots of examples of managers who have not achieved their goals and are still in a job. Ive been frustrated with the winning and losing streaks too but they quite clearly suggest a lack of depth in quality. Ie when we have our best players available we’re pretty good but we don’t have much behind them. Surely this is normal for a team who came up last season? I just think that the losing streak has put a massive negative tint on what has been a brilliant couple of seasons. I still feel that had the losses been spread out over the season, then everyone would be happy going into the summer. Like it or not, the guy is doing his job.

Interesting that people (including me) are sceptical. Understandable to some extent but ultimately, it would appear that Tony coached and recruited the right players to get out of league 1 and then the right players to achieve this seasons target. So why are we all worried for next season? The managers not hiding and has long stated his and the owners intentions to target the playoffs next season...maybe the scepticism is based in the main on the emotion from losing so many games on the bounce. I wonder - If those losses were spread over a season where we had accumulated say 57 points would any of this criticism even exist?

Raya has fantastic potential. He was voted into the league team of the year last season and started this season well. It’s no surprise that a young keeper is targeted whilst results were poor. He’s made some bad decisions this season, in particular since Christmas but no more than the likes of Dack, Mulgrew etc...keepers mistakes are naturally higher profile. I’d be happy for us to sign a keeper with experience who can actually push Raya. Bell and Mulgrew need replacing in the back line. Smallwoods time is up. The midfield should be lead by Travis plus one with Davenport Evans and the under 23’s (Buckley / RC) backing up. We can’t hope that Graham will fire us into the playoff spots.