I said that before Jack Walker we were not DESTINED for greatness (As a top PL team)...I stand by this. Without his money we would’ve settled into a similar position as we are now imo. His money and hard work jolted us into an amazing but unsustainable position. Once the cash withdrew, so did this status... I’m a realist who wants more... I’m not entitled and whining about something which never was.. As for settling for mediocrity? Haha be fantastic to stand shoulder to shoulder with a few in here and find out who really accepts mediocrity in their lives! ???

Nah not really. The size of the club, fan base, commercial potential, economic demographic and sustainability tell you that without a benefactor we are very much at our level. Of course that doesn’t mean we are accepting of this and always want better but I’d say you believing otherwise is down to you believing the golden years were real when in reality, Jack Walker inverted the whole thing with his millions. The truth is, we werent destined for greatness before Jack Walker and we began fading soon after his money dried up.

Do you know I was just going to say, one big positive for anyone who has been watching for 30+ years is that we got to see some top teams and players as well as watching us lift the PL. The negatives of the last 10yrs were accentuated by the huge highs that Mr Walker brought to us. For what it’s worth, all things told where we are now is probably a natural-ish position. Maybe lower level PL. Unless we can get some more rich owners!

A bloody knighthood mate!! Must be a gluten for punishment!! ??

I just say it how I see it. Plenty of you guys do too but you’re protected by the masses. You earn respect mate. ‘Supporting’ them for decades mean nothing when you’ve spent most of that time hammering everything about the club. Kudos though if you’ve been at it for over 30yrs! ??

No hyperbole. I said IF we went up....IF. I’d prefer it if people had the maturity to deal with what’s actually going on rather than constantly trying not to enjoy themselves by placing obstacles in front of it. It’s boring that the same people who’ve been hammering BB, SG, Mowbray, Mowbrays signings whilst bigging the likes of Preston etc up are now scrambling around blurting out stuff like “If we don’t go up, I’d sack him”. Almost like some have lost sight of what it is to support their team. The top and bottom of it is that Venkys patience with Mowbray is paying off. We still have a mid table budget and the money he’s spent is coming good. He’s given more of our academy debuts than any other manager in our history. AA, Dack and Kaminski are outstanding. The way he’s put that team together is great and THEY NOW HAVE TO DELIVER! So yeah, whilst we’re sharing opinions...the ‘hyperbole’ does you in and incessant fuckin whining has the same effect on me. ✌?

Cracking result in that this is a game we’ve tripped over in on many occasions. Barnsley’s pressing upto 40th minute was unbelievable. But we never became impatient and when we got our chances, boy did we make them pay! Kaminski and AA on a different planet in terms of ability to effect results. Whilst the likes of Holtby, Rothwell, Brereton, Harvey and dare I say it, Gallagher look ready to decimate opposing teams if they get even a whiff of space in the final third. The expectation now is of a top 6 finish and I’ve publicly stated my frustrations before. But if we go up to the PL playing like this with a mid table budget 4yrs after Mowbray inherited Coyles shit show of a team, then I think Venkys and Mowbray deserve a lot of credit. Mowbray has in effect built three teams. One to get out of League one and then another to solidify our place in the Championship. These two teams relied on a direct style. Then thirdly this team which has completely evolved into a free flowing, high press outfit. To build different teams like that is not easy. I really enjoyed yesterday’s game. Felt like the performance of a team who know what they want. Long may it continue.

Ayala is in the same mould too ?

Worst I’ve seen us play. Sure the ref was piss poor and those two decisions at the end genuinely mind blowing. But that performance was pretty abject....said it before, if Mowbray was ever going to lose his job, it’s this season! We need to win three on the bounce soon to get us back in the running. Think we missed Holtby today.

I think he prefers JRC to Nyambe in the games we are going to have more possession. I like Nyambe but I don’t get the hype. I think Trav replaces Johnson and Dack when fully fit replaces BB with Arma moving left of the three. Im not sure we’ll have 9 fit first teamers to sit on the bench tbh! ??

Kaminski JRC Lenihan Ayala Douglas Holtby Johnson Rothwell Elliot Arma Brereton Pears, Williams, Trybull, Buckley, Downing, Dolan, Gallagher That first XI is only missing Travis and Dack...much better ??? Luton 1 - Rovers 3

I agree, he’s somehow assembled a top 6 squad on a mid table budget and deserves a lot of credit. BUT...the time is now. Feels very much like ‘that’ season under Bowyer. All eyes on the manager.

It’s too early to speculate on this seasons rankings yet but Rovers have had roughly the 13th - 15th ranked budget in the Championship over the last two seasons. I’d imagine that may have risen to 10th-ish in the current climate, but any Rovers manager knows that they need to overachieve to get us up. Overachieving is something that Mowbray hasn’t demonstrated at Rovers so far, but the expectation of all interested parties (fans, players, board etc) is that we will be in the top 6 come May and that is why there’s never been so much pressure on the manager. Rightly so.

Nope, you’ve gone completely west (once again) with this in an attempt to tighten the noose around the managers neck. Mowbrays stated target is top 6. He’s been backed (in context) to reach that mark and if he doesn’t get into the top 6 then imo he has failed and it will likely be time for a change. In order for his target to be “up or out” our overall budget would have to be top 2 and it’s not even cumulatively top 10 in size.

Yes.

I meant not selling any of our stars.

Brereton excellent! Wharton good too but the difference was getting Johnson, Rothwell and Arma back in that team! Add in Ayala, Holtby abd Douglas after the international break and we should have a good end to 2020....then don’t lose anyone and get Dack and Trav back in Jan and the charge is on!

Correct, very difficult to get into any type of rhythm. But hopefully with more quality on the pitch we can get the job done.

Rothwell and Johnson back? Hopefully Armstrong too...let’s get these lot beat!!

Sound. Good call ??

Well I think we were watching two different games. I saw a second string 11 battle hard and defend from the front. They found absolutely no fluidity in their play and as fans if that we’re our first 11 we’d expect to be amongst the mid to lower teams in the league. Thankfully we have a boat load of top players to come back. So, I think we’ll be fine.

White flag.

Nope, it’s not baseless to need your best players back in order to meet your potential. I genuinely believe we will get in the playoffs, yes. SG and BB haven’t been good enough and IF we fail I believe their inability to effect games will be the sword TM lands on. Rothwell on the left of a 3 man midfield has been a revelation this season. But even if you take the ‘myth’ out, how do write off the absence of Ayala, Trav, Dack and Arma who would probably get in any team in the division?

Eh? Crossing is about several skills and is developed over time. Decision making, timing, physicality, technique and confidence are just some and young keepers often struggle with it in men’s football. Yep, he’s a young lad and not fully developed so he got pinned a few times but he’ll grow and get more confident. The one time he didn’t have a blocker he came out and caught a real dangerous one clean...I think he has potential.

They never got near the goal tbf. We were very disjointed and lacking in rhythm. The injuries are killing us...having said that they both look toothless!