…upwards of £20,000. - Try £60k!!!!! 🙈

You were absolutely bang on the the money. Confirmed by quite a few….for JDT to bring back he’d have to go against the coaches and most influential players wishes.

Rothwell pissed on his chips before he left. Common knowledge that he doesn’t believe that he has any developing to do…but also accepted in the training ground that he completely downed tools after his move broke down in Jan. Mowbray tried publicly to protect him but everyone knew….Prob the reason he hasn’t had a sniff yet this season either. I just can’t see a point where anyone would want him back.

Urgh 🤦🏽‍♂️

Yeah, sorry….I meant we need to find a combination in midfield that works consistently. But the big challenge is to get the front players firing!! 💪🏽

All the forwards are out of touch. Iv watched a couple of games on the Tv over the last week or two and it’s less obvious until you see them live. Today I say the front four trying desperately to spark…Dack was slightly off the pace at times but played some nice passes which weren’t picked up by Gally and BBD who are not making the movement at the right times. The decision making in the final third is absolutely atrocious. They need to play themselves back into form asap and get some fresh blood in there. Dack at full flow would really help as he is the glue and can feed team with assists too…🙏🏽

The truth is that we didn’t spend £6.5m on Szmodics, Hirst and Brittain.

My take on the game.. Back four and keeper Solid. Now a little worried about how serious JRC’s knock is. Midfield - Garrett’s best performance in a Rovers shirt. Broke the play up and range of passing was very impressive. Morton was decent. Trav tried when he came on but was still a little ineffective and rash for me. Little cameo from A.Wharton was good value. He prob should have had a goal at the end when BBD blazed over. Forwards - All out of form. Dack the closest to his game, Hedges decent but BBD and Gally look miles off it. My opinion - if the forwards can get going then we’ll go on a run. We should’ve been 3 up at half time vs Boro and BBD could’ve easily had a hat trick today. We need to find a solution in midfield and get this front quartet firing! New options in both area would help 👍🏼

Wow, don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story eh? Actual spend this summer closer to £3m on Hyam, Szmodics and Brittain with potential to increase to close to £5.5m. Based on how good Hyam is, if they’d spent the full £3m on him it would’ve been fine! The other two have been positive additions too and but for injuries would likely be fans favourites, and the rest were loans 🤷🏽‍♂️ But yes, they need to back him this month. A midfielder and two forwards please…send Mola and Hirst back 👍🏼

Excellent post, finally some balance! Happy new year guys 💙

And just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not possible pal. Happy new year 👍🏼

I’ve explained my rationale re 4 of the 6 having a positive impact on our current position, based on the mess we were in when 6 of our first 15 left in the summer. Re The Irish fullback…we don’t have a clue about what went on. So it looks odd, but without the benefit of any context we’re just guessing. Re The Plan - it’s a simple as this. The summer was the first time they’ve appointed a strategic figure AND that party openly talked about ‘a plan’ 👍🏼 The world would be very odd if we all held the same opinions. I’ve provided mine on all of the above points. Judging on the interaction and individuals who’ve contacted me personally to show their agreement, I think it’s fair to say those opinions are shared with some on here. Completely understand that you don’t feel the same. Hope you can respect my opinion and leave it there 👍🏼

Football needs real planning and a formula. I have never seen either from Venkys until the summer. The appointment of GB in theory is their first move towards a strategic approach and we’ve seen some players sign extensions since so fingers crossed 🤞🏽

It’s relevant for sure, one win in 5 is worrying form, but not surprising. Go back to my post on the summer leavers and it’s clear that we were alarmingly short of players and backfilling with U23’s. So it makes sense that even with the incomings, a few injuries and poor form of Travis, BBD and Gallagher (Key players) we’re now struggling.

The ferocious return of our club captain, Travis and goals for BBD, Gally and Dack as Rovers romp away with a 3-0 win. Mark my words!! TK JRC Ayala Hyam HP Morton Trav Hedges Dack BBD Gally

It was a weird signing. But I guess we don’t have all the information 🤷🏽‍♂️

FYI - I’m not saying that Morton and Szmodics are world beaters but I do believe that they have both improved the group and played a positive part in the position we find ourselves as the third best team in the league over 24 games. Brittain, for me is the best RB we’ve had for a decade. In the games I’ve seen him play he’s been our best player. But for injuries, he’d be rated higher than Hyam as a new signing. Great to see JRC re-emerge…I always rated him as better than Nyambe. Hope his form continues. For context we could also add the likes of Hedges, A.Wharton and Phillips into the ‘new signing’ mix because they have been given their opportunity by the regime and contributed positively to our current position. Fair to say, none of them would have played much, if at all this season under Mowbray. All of the above leads me back to the opinion that there’s only two players - Hirst and Mola, who have failed. They’re the only two that haven’t made a positive impact on the group. It’s a simple enough process if we just focus on the squad list last summer. at the point where JPvH, Khadra, Rothwell, Lenihan, Nyambe and Bradley Johnson walked out of the door. Fixate on that point, then look at the additions and consider our current position. Honestly, considering they came in late, the current regime have done a bloody good job in my eyes. Many of us were fearing a season at the bottom of the division knowing all those players were leaving.

Nah, 1x top signing - Hyam 3x good signings - Brittain (would be with Hyam but for injuries), Morton & Szmodics 2x poor signings - Hirst and Mola So 4 out of the 6 have / will improve us. I’d say that’s pretty good all being told. I reckon we need another 6 and some dead wood out over Jan and the summer. RB cover, LB cover, Top CM, LF to replace BBD, ST to challenge Gally and RF. So basically 4 players to improve 1st eleven and two to cover 👍🏼

Wasn’t it reported earlier this season the we spent the least in the league on agents fees in the last 12 months?

What Buckley did does form a part of the discussion though. Because it was he who set the chain of events off. If he doesn’t have a brain fart then there’s no decision to make. That decision won’t set off a chain reaction of ‘similar’ decisions, will it? No chance…we see weird, wonderful and terrible decisions every week. It’ll be forgotten tomorrow, most will have already forgotten it!! It’s a game run by human beings who are flawed and bound to see situations differently. The clamour to focus on third parties in this situation is, in my opinion an insight to modern day culture. Focus only on what we can control. The rest will happen in spite of this, sometimes it will fall on your side and other times it won’t.

The Buckley debate is a nonsense. His act sits in a grey area of interpretation, which was interpreted by the officials as a red card. I’m sure Bucko has done exactly as he should do and accepted responsibility for honestly, a thoroughly stupid act that has cost his team. The more worrying thing for me is that we never lay a fucking glove on anyone in these situations. No one snaps into any tackles, we don’t EVER bang at the door….I literally would’ve put my house on us not scoring once we went 2-1 down, with or without the sending off. Which pisses me off even more because you see this type of drive and hunger in loads of teams. Us getting a last minute equaliser last night having been down to 10 men would’ve felt like a big win! But it was never on the cards, it was the same with Mowbray which is why we need this overhaul.

He needs loads mate…I accept the ones you’ve mentioned and I’d get those as a minimum in Jan, but for my my money, excluding loans and current form we need to overhaul the midfield and forward line as well as fullback cover. Its a big job for any manager.

I’m not saying the manager appointment is irrelevant. My point was that the sacking of Smith is not the ONLY reason they’re likely to finish above us and that the extra £50m p/a spend probably contributes the most to the situation. Smith still had them in the playoffs too and based on his managerial career it probably would’ve turned for him there. So JDT’s Rovers are currently sat in 3rd with a mid to lower table budget, a squad full of u23’s and he’s what, four months into his tenure? In my opinion, there’s only one reason he should be sacked and that is if GB, the players and SW are seeing something massively wrong in his character. There’s not a single one of us who can know that. Other than the above they MUST back him to overhaul what is ultimately a pretty poor squad.

I hope I’m overthinking it… My ‘non football loving’ wife sat next to me on Boxing Day watching the Sunderland game and just blurted out… ”Paul, why on EARTH do you watch this? It’s awful. It’s like watching a kids game, no one knows what they’re doing” She went on to say that because I always have football on the tv she’d actually began to watch it (it’s taken 20yrs) and she could see now the excitement and enjoyment it brings. But watching Rovers was “nothing like that” 🙈 ”Paul, why don’t you just support someone else? You’d be miles happier!!” Me….”If only I could…” Shes got a point though…😩

If they do finish above us (which they should) , then it’s probably more likely to do with the £50m difference in annual budget, rather than the point they changed manager.