Bernd Storck I tell thee and I'm not his brother, agent etc. 😄

Depends how you look at it. I get the negativity because of what has gone on before but they have stepped back and they have bank rolled the club through a pandemic with little income compared to a regular season but the players and staff still cost the same in wages and they have supported in strengthening all of which has been done with no definite end to all this and a return to normality. Why do we think Venkys should treat the club differently to any of their other interests. Is it right to make thousands of people redundant in India in favour of spending 600k on a left back? I personally am open minded to the proposal. Yes it's smaller, yes its selling off something that was state of the art 30 years ago but even the great Mr Walker would accept the need to modernise and move forward, its just a shame he isn't still here to over see it and make it happen as he had that trust and status which until the Venkys achieve something significant, most won't accept, some will never accept. If a new state of the art facility can be provided albeit smaller and generate funds its not the worse thing to happen. If Mr Walker was still about and made the same call it would be recieved completely the opposite way around. Yes it was his to do what he wanted with but people would see the positive in it.

Mowbray himself banged on at the start of the season that we should be top 6 which even if that was ambitious, it wasn't ridiculous. I'm pretty sure the transfer window backing was based around a similar commitment. I didn't expect anything in January after the Summer work but to me it looked like he was saying we are nearly there, we just need a bit more. I personally think there will be a change as its clear its now out of reach so why waste time with someone incapable. Better to start planning for next year in the hope positive signs with the right coach may convince others to stay or even join. Venkys still get a lot of stick and I understand that but for me they have stayed away from interfering, they have backed us financially and whilst it's a sour debate, maybe their plans for the training pitches do have the best interests at heart whilst raising much needed cash. Until I see plans I don't have an opinion but they aren't football people and if they are advised it's the way to go whilst supporting the club financially, why wouldn't they listen to the people they employ. I believe Venkys will make that change as I think as business people they will recognise and can see a slide and performance drops like the rest of us. And they have seen it before as we have been inconsistent for a long time.

Well that he was fit and available for it was nearly every game. He missed at least 16 matches over that same period with a ligament injury keeping him out for 3 months so when you factor in the time to get back up to fitness, it's not bit part as was quoted previously. Dack and Travis have played less but would we refer to them in 3 years time as bit part?

I think the market is tricky if you look purely at the unemployed. Lamport mentioned but he himself makes some strange tactical decisions although does do well with a limited budget and a young team. Eddie Howe would be an interesting prospect having worked with a tight budget and a decent brand of football at times. Benitez is a pipe dream but I think a chap called Bernd Storck makes for an interesting read albeit in work but wouldn't be a costly appointment. He has done the impossible many times and proving himself again in the Slovak league with underdogs.

Not sure of your source but if you include Premiership season I agree. The two years in the championship were 22 and 31 according to my source without wishing to turn this into the Tom Trybull thread. Point is I don't agree he was bit part, he was a key player in their championship seasons but wasn't cut out for the Premier league and thus like Douglas has found himself surplus and back in the Championship only he's not shown us anything either

Trybull bit part player??? 80 appearances in 3 seasons? Bit part in the Premier league but played nearly every game of their league campaign in the 2 Championship years he was with Norwich

So perhaps all points against us at the moment don't count coz we are in a crisis? We could play that same match against Derby, Wycombe or Coventry now as they were and we'd draw at best. My point is there was an energy, drive, passion, belief and above all a slickness that even in the closer games teams couldn't live with so yes top 6 was possible but all of that has gone so is it the squad or something else?

Did you feel that way when Coventry, Derby and Wycombe were torn apart or right now following this dismal run? 2 to 3 months ago this team were the top scorers in the league with Armstrong toe to toe with Toney as top scorer which after 3 or 4 games fine, but so far into the season it showed this squad had real promise. The last transfer window should have strengthened the gaps and with injuries returning it was looking up, plus the run of results where they showed they can grind out a result when not at it and nick a last minute winner like all th ebest teams can do. I personally think the team has stopped playing for TM because like most fans they can see this opportunity going to waste.

I could be wrong but the players also seem eerily quiet in their support perhaps further enhanced by the lack of commitment through contract extensions apart from 2 youngsters who have plenty to prove at this level

Hi all, I'm a first time poster having followed Blackburn since a kid. Some would say a glory supporter but I took to Blackburn when all my friends were Spurs fans because I wanted to be different and I loved the team that was being assembled and Shearer was my idol. I started following Blackburn a couple of years before they won the league but the likes of Flowers, Berg, Hendry, Le Saux, Batty, Sherwood, Ripley, Wilcox, Shearer and Sutton amongst others just gripped me. Like most, the years after Allardyce were horrific and difficult to watch but since Mowbray came in it became a breath of fresh air which is easy to forget when you get used to that uplift and you just expect it to go on. We were so unlucky to get relegated that year but the league one season after a slow start was fantastic and the stability brought by Mowbray and Co cannot be under estimated. A season of consolidation fine but for me the cracks started to appear last year. Incidentally the 1st post on this thread from August 2019 doesnt contain much difference to what we would post now after Barnsley. Contradictions and excuses galore I can't even be bothered to read Mowbrays thoughts anymore, it just irritates me. The work done off the field is great to build this club for better things but that squad is capable of so much more. Everytime I get to see Blackburn on Sky I regret it. I can't remember the last game I watched and felt entertained and buzzing at the performance or even proud that this is my team. Grinding out results is a must, we are not Barcelona but there have been so many abject performances and when I watch Blackburn I liken it to my days on a school playground recently. Hit it forward and chase in the hope it falls on the feet of one of your team. No? OK try again, and again.... There has to be a better Manager tactically who can get the best out of these lads who mostly are good footballers as we have seen. A Manager who can see the potential given the ability in the club and the infrastructure behind it. I'm a Manager by day but don't claim to be a Football Manager but I do know from my days football coaching that a 6ft plus striker in the middle doesn't mean you have to play long ball and chase. Armstrong is great but Gallagher was great through the middle when on loan. Elliott the assist man of the Championship can't play every game but two games out of the starting 11 and we've thrown it away. Gallagher flanked by Armstrong, Elliott, Dolan or Brereton is exciting. Dack with his neat touches and arriving in the box or Rothwell on a swerving run just adds to the ammunition with a Travis, Evans or Johnson holding. Swap Rothwell for one of those holding when away if needs be knowing that Nyambe and Douglas can get forwards and with a steady and consistent Centre back pairing governed by Kaminski and we look pretty formidable. Bennet and Downing can be an influence and play cameo roles and add experience to a young team. Just spend a week with Kaminski to teach him that he needs to kick the ball anywhere on that green bit, ideally to a blue and white shirt and that's another step forward for the great shot stopper. JRC is another youngster I like and I think another manager could get more out of Chapman as Cotterill is proving albeit the level below. Bin Trybull and Holtby. Nothing against Germans but both are injury prone and I'd prefer to see the likes of Buckley and Davenport develop more for the future. As for Bell, I'm not sure what I can post so will leave it at an end... In summary, TM did a great job but like most have said, stuck for ideas and it's destroyed another year of hope. I don't mind not being in the Premier League for another year but to be ruled out in February again is a disaster. Mulgrew was a favourite of mine and someone I thought could have played the holding midfield role last year utilising his goals and delivery whilst being able to tackle but time moved on, now it's karma and time for Tony to do the same thing. I wish I could see signs of it clicking and coming together and injuries were a valid excuse at times as was the pitch but these last weeks have seen better pitches with a squad of footballers so hoof and chase just doesn't cut it anymore. Tony took the wrong turn if it was Bolton he wanted... that's a taxi I'm willing to fund and tip.