Impossible to learn anything against such poor opposition. Abraham does however look rather clumsy and ungainly and the ball bounces off him too easily. I do wonder who would play as the striker if Kane got injured, no one really stands out. Greenwood is out of favour and is he a natural striker? Then the likes of Abraham, Calvert-Lewin, Watkins etc, none are top class. I worry that Foden isnt seen by Southgate in his first 11. He is considerably better than Grealish, Mount and Sterling, and that is based not against a pub team tonight but consistently across the last 18 months. He is a special player.

Out of interest, did you attend the Blackpool away game? And what specifically did he do to cause such personal offence and for you to call him a prick, just not come over at the end and clap? I was there but left at full time, whether Mowbray came to clap wasnt a concern. I also think that to take offence from his post match interview merely complimenting a good atmosphere, you would have to look for that as some will do. What I find is that because weve all agreed that Mowbray should go, some people become focused and obsessed in finding fault him in everywhere even when it is unfair. I thought his main error at Blackpool was the avoidable selection of Magloire as a right back.

Which would also make the 4 wins on the bounce the best run in our history, easy to focus on specific runs. We finished 15th over the course of the season, that is what matters and that wasnt good enough. Again, this need to make him out as this ignorant "prick" to further tarnish him, there is more than enough regarding last season to justifiably want a change of manager. No need to become petty and nasty.

I don't get why Raya and Rothwell are directly comparable to be honest. There will be examples of players who were highly rated here and deemed to be not managed correctly who left and faded into obscurity too. Raya in that first season following promotion cost us a number of points through his eccentricity. We dont see Brentford week in week out but even when I have seen him in the last 2 years in the Championship, he made horrendous errors, one v Hull away and one in the play off final in the first year stand out, the key is to reduce those errors which he seems to have done, his shot stopping was always excellent. After over 2 years of development, he is obviously a different player and how much of that is purely down to continuing to play regularly and learn from mistakes and how much is down to coaching is purely subjective, but what he is doing now doesnt mean that the criticism and doubts over 2 years ago were invalid. The big issue for me is spending the money (plus a bit extra) on a striker we already knew was poor, then loaning a sub par replacement for Raya, it was a double whammy. Rothwell has played this season much deeper as has been touched on, in more of a defensive role than an attacking one, and still hasn't totally convinced. He played to the left of a three last season and has played on the wing prior, in all positions it has been flashes of genius amidst general mediocrity and anonymity.

Think chaddy said that "it was his understanding" that he was. Rich Sharpe seems to disagree though.

Ultimately we are all somewhat speculating and estimating no matter how much some profess otherwise but that would mean that we would have been over 10/15m over FFP regulations prior to the Armstrong sale. I don't doubt that Mowbray's spending has been far from 100% efficient. Gallagher is the stand out mistake, not very good, big fee and big wages. Often criticised a lack of ruthlessness upon promotion when he dished out new deals too. I don't doubt that he played a big part in coming into the summer with a poor squad, and based on last season he shouldn't be here, but he has been very restricted by an uncompetitive budget this season, and it is not Mowbray's fault that he got such a restrictive budget, he isn't in charge of the purse strings, and being so restrictive will actually impede us financially when assets leave for free, so it is short sighted by Venkys. The lines have been about how tough it has been in India and putting the breaks on the journey, the FFP reason in the main has come solely from supporters, surely if we was so far over regulations, Waggott in particular and even Mowbray would have regularly brought it out as an excuse throughout the summer, but they didn't. He does want as a big a squad as he can but even by loaning 4 in, the squad is still very thin and massively depleted in numbers compared to last season and we are struggling to name a squad with just a few injuries.

Mowbray has repeatedly said that he would like the current players to be given extended deals and regularly mentions the idea of selling players at a profit and then reinvesting part of that windfall, which should be the policy. He has also (as well as Waggott) mentioned the strict wage ceiling which has been enforced above his head that is preventing those players from signing on. He has just made 8 figures worth of profit on one of his signings, if the owners allowed just a little flexibility in slightly moving that ceiling up, they could then sell on some of those assets down the line and financially benefit. Sadly, they don't have a plan. When those players contracts were renewed, it was a very strange decision and compounded by the decision by Waggott and presumably those above to refuse refunds on season ticket holders, it felt like a slap in the face. But for an extra month, it would have been small fry overall if you compare it to the potential budget to sign players, and that strict ceiling would still remain. I don't get how is to blame for the uncompetitive budget of this season. I take on board and share the criticism aimed his way at the state of the squad going into the summer, 100%. But why is he to blame for the uncompetitive budget this time? FFP regulations? Something that regularly crops up but Mowbray/Waggott never once really mentioned it in regards to the low budget. A lack of trust? In which case, why is Mowbray still manager?

Could argue that he is keeping his feet on the ground. He has been publically very supportive of Brereton for years.

I am unsure how you have concluded from my post that I am constantly making excuses from him when you agree with the point I am making, that the only reason that people even notice his touchline demeanour is because of results, especially in the second half of last season. In regards to the other stuff, Mowbray is not the one who sets the budgets, so that is nonsensical. What he is to blame for somewhat is the state of the squad going into the summer, that I would strongly agree with. The budget this summer was not a competitive one, unable to even sign experienced loanees despite selling one of his own signings for a profit, mind you, he shouldn't have been manager going into the summer. But me constantly making excuses for him doesn't fit in with the fact that I have consistently said for months that I want him to be sacked and that he would have been if the owners had any interest in us. His touchline demeanour is an example of a stick used to beat him unnecessarily, the results and 15th place finish last season is a strong enough argument.

The squad does not have the quality to be in the top 6. Last season prior to selling Armstrong and being so hamstrung in the market, he should have been far, far closer. There will not be just one reason or specific failing as to why that didnt happen, and indeed suggesting it is all solely down to Mowbray "being tactically awful" is a massively presumptious oversimplification. I dont think anyone is comparing Mowbray to any of those. Point being that there is minimal correlation between animation on the touchline and quality of manager. Scott Parker, top of the league, very placid on the touchline. Mark Robins, doing brilliantly, not the most animated. Daniel Farke, 2 recent league titles, again not a shouter. You get the picture.

"Falling asleep" again is obviously blatantly not true. Your illustrious sporting career aside, I don't get the fascination with how he behaves on the touchline. There are many better managers that are equally if not even less animated than him as I gave an example of in Allardyce. Alternatively, some of the most incompetent managers in the game kick every ball on the touchline like Coyle did. I dont really think that it makes any difference, you could argue that a manager constantly running around like a mad man would only pass over signals of panic and chaos if it did. If the results were good, as they were for example in League 1, no one gave a shit about his touchline demeanour. Ultimately, when results became poor last season, his unchanged touchline demeanour then became a further stick to poke him with when inadequate results is more than enough on its own to justify an opinion of wanting a change.

I have always found the regular conversation about Mowbray's touchline demeanour to be a little strange, I do get the frustration about him in general and he shouldn't be here any more but ultimately, better managers than Mowbray are more reserved and worse managers are more animated. Coyle used to jump around wearing full kit and he was as bad a manager as you could wish to see, whereas Allardyce used to spend the first half sat in the stands and he was a very capable manager. Mowbray was the same in League 1 when we won almost every week, that is just his personality. I don't think that his failures are down to a lack of ability to inspire, nor do I think that players are motivated by a manager jumping around like a maniac on the touchline.

What noise aside from nonsense about Alex Neil's imminent appointment?

A yearly 20m loss isnt obligatory as part of being a Championship club.

If he has had to go, then its totally crazy.

Surely they will come over to Ewood now that they said in a letter that they still care? Maybe not.

Yes.

Brereton will miss the Coventry game, but I think that Brereton suits being left of a 3 ideally, he showed in a couple of games lately in which he played centrally that it doesn't suit him to play central. Burns would be a total wildcard selection.

Still not many goals there, and absolutely no evidence based on Mowbray's selection history that he would start Butterworth over Poveda or involve Burns.

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-injuries-break-blackpool-21746960 Gallagher is having a scan on a hamstring injury. Not that he in isolation is a huge miss, but a potential front 3 of Khadra, Dolan and Poveda certainly won't put any fear into Coventry in a couple of weeks. Really lacking in forward areas.

Clearly not enough as its not signed.

How could you possibly know that?

Absolute shite with an underfunded squad lacking in quality and depth showing further signs of being lacking. As soon as Magloire was named in the starting 11, we had as good as forfeited before the game had begun.

You do wonder if giving him an extended deal was premature. Doesn't seem close to being up to the rigours of regular football.

Sounds like a mismatch for Saturday. Johnson is going to be involved, Van Hecke "not ready" although has been in full training for 2 or 3 days, Rankin Costello not mentioned but shown on the video, Lenihan a big doubt, Nyambe definitely out, Rothwell and Gallagher big doubts should be ok. I personally think we need to weigh it up and potentially take a small risk. If we go with Magloire, it will be a mix of a player not up to it and also some sort of mismatch, either Buckley at wing back or Magloire himself out of position. I think we need to weigh it up and decide who is fittest from Lenihan, (perhaps with a pain killing injection) Van Hecke or Rankin Costello. Not ideal but even if it backfired, we have loads more bodies back in 2 weeks, Lenihan, Van Hecke, Nyambe, Rankin Costello and Wharton.