He’ll probably still play and come back crocked.

Surely if you were the manager picking Rothwell, it wouldn’t be for his defensive qualities?

It’s like having a builder fix your roof and deciding to go on holiday for a few days before it’s finished. And it’s pissing down. Yeah, the guy is entitled to have a break but I’m entitled to not be best pleased about the timing of it, and not recommend him to my friends and family.

I’d take Hughes v2019 over Mowbray in a heartbeat. His gravitas would go a long way with Championship players.

Results. Funnily enough the same measure as Howe.

He needs some competition and an experienced mentor. Leutweiler is a neither, and if our goalkeeping coach was any good he’d still be playing himself - he’s only 28. Only 5 years older than Raya. That’s a novice training a novice! Mowbray’s back room team leaves a lot to be desired.

One club. Consistently playing alongside some of the best players in world football. If he had some success in just one other top flight league he would be a shoe-in.

Remind me, which teams were they for then? You can’t ignore the fact that he is playing for a team of stars in a tin pot league, let’s be honest. La Liga is just a warmer version of the SPL. During Messi’s time there, Barca have still won consistently even when he hasn’t been in the squad. They are so far superior to everyone but Ronaldo’s Madrid it’s untrue. Barca also have the benefit that the bigger PL clubs have domestically, in that referees deliberately or inadvertently favour them. Messi is a superbly gifted and lightning quick footballer, just naturally brilliant, but he isn’t proven to be the greatest ever player simply because he hasn’t played (let alone achieved) anywhere else other than Barcelona - one of the best teams from 1 to 11, a good fit for him to play in. Slap bang in the middle of his comfort zone. Very happy and very rich. I don’t blame him but he hasn’t tested himself anywhere else or had to adapt to different styles of football - possibly because he is afraid to. He’s on a great number there and knows it. When I think of Messi, I imagine a South American version of Ally McCoist if he had only ever played for Rangers. Or maybe Jimmy McGrory of Celtic would be a better comparison as a one-club-man record maker. Wonder why nobody has ever mentioned him as the GOAT?

Messi is like the best teenager in his Y11 side playing against the local Primary School kids. He should have tested himself at a higher level by now. Can’t do it internationally because he needs to have quality around him and he hasn’t (and almost certainly won’t) move to another country/league now. He will suffer the same comparisons that Pele did with Maradona: one-club-man at the best club in the country.

After a hectic few months? They’ve been garbage for most of the season. There is no incentive for senior players to perform in this side. They start every week if they are fit regardless of form. Dack has been one of the worst offenders this season and has faded as the season has gone on and yet he keep his place with Rothwell and Armstrong and even Brereton having to play out of position instead. I’ll say it again: play football on Saturday, fly out to the beach on Sunday. It doesn’t look good and must be a distraction. This idea of having a holiday mid season (not a warm weather training camp) is part of a slack culture, and is only justifiable when not in a promotion hunt or relegation battle. If players are only going to get enough points on the board to take the last 8 games of the season off then fans should be allowed in for free. I wonder how the conversation went - and when? “Right lads, it’s been a tough few weeks, we are pretty much safe now, Rotherham are crap (except against us), and there’s an international break coming up. Have a week off and we’ll see you on the 25th. Don’t do anything I would. Wink wink. Ho Ho.” It breeds the wrong mentality. It rewards mediocrity.

But you have missed the point completely. Football clubs at their heart are not businesses, they are not legal entities, they are not even bricks and mortar. They are living entities, with souls. They are not just part of the community, the are the community. If you took away the fans the custodians would have to ditch their asset pretty quickly. People don’t realise the power the actually have. They cling to a stadium or a badge or a shirt or even trophies. Fans hold all the aces but will simply not stick together even when the chips are down. Die hard fans would even walk away rather than support a Phoenix club. This is why I protested and you didn’t. You want the club to survive in whatever form and by whomever runs it - maybe it’s good for sales - I want there to continue be a club that represents this town, ideally Rovers, even a “Blackburn Rovers 2020”. Middlesbrough F(A)C has only been around since 1986 when Gibson came along but everyone still cracks on as though it was formed in 1876 (they even snuck in the change with an update of their badge). Winkleman tried to destroy Wimbledon and it rose from the ashes and returned to league football. Built on blood, sweat and hard work. Football clubs do not “belong” to the incumbent custodians they are merely looking after it on behalf of the local community. Venkys can recruit whichever manager they like, but the choices they make are just as important to the fans as to them - probably more so. If they re-hired Steve Kean that would be me done with “Venkys Rovers” until they left and I suspect a heck of a lot more.

This is what happens every season all over the world. But for some reason not at Rovers. It must be quite easy to get into a very pally mode at Rovers. Everyone does their best (or gives it a right good go) and win or lose, relegation or promotion, everyone carries on doing their thing. It’s unusual for any football manager to feel that he can (and will) be around for longer than the average 18 months. Being a nice person - in the eyes of Venkys - is much more important: Kean, then the chaotic period until (nice guy) Bowyer was promoted, then Lambert - the first credible appointment), then Coyle (the cheap option) then Mowbray (nice guy). Kean and Bowyer stayed far beyond their expiry date and Mowbray is likely to do the same. The next one should be credible again so Hughes would be a welcome change. Get him in now, get the last four home games on a £50 “deal”, and give him a reasonable budget for the Summer. Tell him Tony spent the money so it’s sell to buy. Cash in on Dack and let him rebuild.

Spot on!

Karma! The rugby player just missed the crucial penalty. Ha.

Disgusting stamp by the Millwall lad. Should get a lengthy ban for that. BHA “won” that in extra time but the liner called it wrongly. (2 player on the opposite side of the pitch playing them onside). No VAR to review. Inconsistent use of the technology has made this season’s FA Cup a farce.

So after an absolutely shocking run you might expect the players to be dragged in during the international break for extra training or meetings - at least for those who aren’t called up for international duty. Dack and Williams are instead off to Dubai for some sunshine. The tough life of a second tier footballer. Is it any wonder that we are in the position we are when we have players booked on a flight the day after a match? Don’t think I’d be risking an injury when I’ve got a holiday planned. Do the players actually care? Can Mowbray instil any discipline? Has he told them all to have a break?

Thanks for tempting fate! To be fair though. Millwall should have lost 2-1 by now. That first goal included a rugby tackle!

So I take it that at least one of the admin/mod team doesn’t want a poll then? Who overruled who?

You’ve seriously broken your hiatus to defend Venkys? If they really wanted this club to succeed then we wouldn’t all be terrified of them appointing yet another cheap and inferior manager as a reason to continue to put up with a failing one who is a ‘very nice man’. Instead of the regular chaos, we would have a proper Club Chairman, a 5-year and 10-year plan and appropriate budgets, and maybe even a lick of paint. But let me put you right, it’s a football club so it’s not just her business, it’s all of our business. She needs to learn that. I’m only surprised that you do too.

Hughes is exactly what Rovers need and I think we are what he needs too. He would certainly change the training/fitness regime. They used to play 100 minute matches in training. Knows the club inside out, Ewood and the training ground. The Venkys element would be the difficult bit as Williams dealt with the owners but I expect he could handle it. One thing’s for sure, if Hughes came in and “did a Lambert” then it would be taken more seriously. If Mowbray was to go now, it’d be the obvious thing to give Johnson the reigns until the end of the season - certainly over Venus or Lowe.

It’s an interesting point. He seems to be a pretty emotional bloke in that he speaks with his heart rather than his head. I don’t see us beating Villa and I don’t see him walking.

That’s a great point. Most proper football managers would expect kissing Desai’s ring to be Waggott’s job not theirs.

While I agree, I think only Mulgrew was a Coyle signing. Mainstays like Bennett and Graham were Lambert’s - a guy who was even bringing a young lad called Mahoney through until Uncle Knob’ead outbid “Colin”. He also brought in Jordi Gomez, one of several loans, and a couple of forgettable freebies. Venkys have backed three managers with funds for players: Kean, Bowyer and Mowbray. Ignoring the former for obvious reasons, neither of the latter two have excelled when spending actual cash. But looking back, Souness and Hughes were far better at picking up bargains and blooding youngsters than spending cash.

One of the most alarming things for me is that, regardless of who is playing in the back four, teams always seem to score with their first shot on goal. And very often their second. We need coaching staff who can get them working on the basics. Listening to those who went yesterday though it does sound like the players are not working well together. The Championship isn’t like League One, mistakes are punished more readily and chance converted more easily. I’ve not done any real research but I’d wager that these days a lot of clubs bounce back up from L1 first time - Wigan did it twice IIRC. For Mowbray to have stuck with his L1 team so long he’s either loyal to a fault, or is covering something up.

Well as you seem to know, do tell... What kind of a club/manager would allow the pressure of a ridiculous transfer fee to be heaped onto a “young lad” if it really wasn’t the case?