Find these 2 comments incredible, not sure if they are reactions to their respective performances in the last 2 days, but they are crazy. Far better player? Theres no way that anyone could argue that either is "a far better player." And doubts that Messi is able to handle the pressure?! The awards hes won, the trophies hes won, the important goals hes scored, how can you question that? Neither of them have naturally replicated their club form amongst national teams that otherwise are far inferior to other teams. Ronaldo won the Euros, Messi has got to quite a few finals including the last World Cup in which he got player of the tournament. Its a flip of a coin decision whose better, personal preference, I prefer Messi but certainly would never argue that theres anything but a minimal difference. Quite right. People also seem ignorant to the fact that Ronaldo was a work in progress in England, moving from winger to goalscorer, only got 20 goals or over once I think, and stepped up a couple of levels to one of the all time greats once he moved to La Liga. So I dont understand the obsession about Messi being able to do it in England, when Ronaldos career in this country has been greatly surpassed since he moved to La Liga.

I dont personally think that the 22 points in 15 argument is a totally fair point in that I do feel that its impossible to extrapolate that over an entire season. Many of the teams we played in that last 15 games had nothing to play for, take the last 2 games v a Villa side on the beach with a Darwen End full of their fans cheering us on, and Brentford. I dont actually think that weve actually added loads of new players capable of excelling at Championship level either. There's Dack whose obviously our star man. Smallwood I think can step up but some understandably have question marks. Bell and Downing have it all to prove but I think they can be squad players. Then theres Samuel, Gladwin and Hart who for me all are sub standard. The biggest boost arguably, bar Mowbray and also the momentum of a promotion, is whose left since. Lowe, Akpan, Guthrie, Mahoney, Gallagher, Hoban, Hendrie, Emnes, Brown, Greer, Henley and since, Ward and Feeney, have all gone. None of them players are nearly good enough at Championship level. Players like that had a catastrophic impact on our relegation.

Hes managed Athletic Bilbao and Marseille, you are deriding them and championing managers that have come from Brentford and Barnsley. I dont think you are reading what I am putting properly. I keep insisting that it is a gamble, that it is a risk, but I just feel like its an exciting one, read up on him, he adopts pretty unique tactics, different formations, aggressive presses, hes obsessed with football and watching players and improving players, hes well reknown so I have no doubt that he will have contacts and an attraction to players that Smith and Heckingbottom can only dream of. How have they gambled for years? Theyve appointed a mixture of managers from the merry go round, Garry Monk, Steve Evans, Neil Redfearn, Uwe Rosler, Brian McDermott, none of whom where ever going to provide anything but a bit of stability, and a few foreign no marks with random CVs who no one had heard of.

Absolutely correct, otherwise you are losing the point of an internet messageboard. There was almost unanimous praise for Graham signing a new deal the day before, its not as if people are just solely being negative. Not seen Clare play much and has only played 5 times at Championship level. You say he could get 1st team football here, hat sort of player is he, do you rate him higher than Evans/Smallwood, and have you seen lots of him. I think you are being incredibly generous by saying he is brilliant in the air or has a good first touch. And as been touched upon, to add to this, his goalscoring record is incredibly poor.

How am I building him up like Pep or Mourinho?! I said it is a big gamble that could end in tears. But its a big name whose managed big clubs, whose made a big impression on some of the best managers in England at the moment, whose tactical approach was at a time revolutionary, who would you have appointed may I ask? Probably boring choices, or Heckingbotham, who might have kept them pottering along, but theyve stagnated for too long, maybe they want a gamble. Cant believe you are correcting people on spelling either.

I acknowledged theres a risk but Leeds have stagnated and maybe need to think outside the box. Could be a masterstroke, could end in tears. But its exciting. Hes a big name with in the main an impressive CV. What has McLaren done to suggest hes anything other than a poor manager amidst the typical merry go round?

Chaddy, not everything is positive. Never mentioned either of those things. Im on about solely Conways contract and "stop being negative" doesnt in anyway support the decision made by Mowbray. Just as I was delighted that Graham is staying, as he offers plenty on the pitch as well seemingly as off it. Thats nowhere near enough to be considered an attacking threat. 2 goals when already winning games so his goals got us 0 points. His assist v Southend was good but overall. Nowhere near enough. His legs have gone.

I hate when people say too much negativity. People can give views contrary to what has happened, and ones that go against what Mowbray has done. Just like I was delighted about Graham, and said why, I feel that I am entitled to say why I dont feel Conway offers anything ON the pitch.

But whilst I appreciate that professionalism, experience, all these buzzwords, are important traits. They are not enough to earn a contract alone. You need to be offering something on the pitch and me and many others seem to think that hes not offering enough any more. The argument of "he must be good for morale therefore no one can question the decision" is a faulty one.

Bielsa finally confirmed. Interested to see what happens there. Potential for further chaos but id say its a more exciting, interesting and potentially rewarding appointment than plucking an average manager from the merry go round. Leeds have Bielsa, QPR have "experienced" McLaren, I know who id prefer.

If you think them 2 are anything but shocking then lets agree to disagree.

Players who are known not to be good enough, who hes signing even though he knows that. He has done well so far in terms of getting them promoted initially, but hes not the best manager as he proved here, and the signings hes made there suggest hes running out of ideas, in my opinion. Chris Taylor and John O'Sullivan are really poor signings, theres better out there.

All these buzz words are just the same ones regurgitated by Mowbray and others to mask the fact that hes not offering anything ON THE PITCH anymore. Experience and knowledge of this league, attitude, commitment, personality, professionalism - none of these are reasons to sign a player alone. If they were, wed sign back up the team that got promoted in 2001, they obviously had all of these in the promotion winning season. Keeping people in check is Mowbrays job, he shouldnt and am sure doesnt need to sign a player who doesnt offer anything on the pitch to do that, he should use his own man management skills, and rely on the many other experienced players we have who ARE contributing significantly on the pitch still. The paragraph in bold is your only relevant argument. I would argue that them stats, in a far inferior league to the one we are going in to, are nowhere near good enough. Aging further, by 1 or even potentially 2 years, in a far better league, them stats are likely to go down even further. Regarding Bennett, there are games in defensive midfield and right back amidst that, but I spent much of the season insisting that he needs to do far more in terms of offering an attacking threat, so you wont get any arguments from me there. But one wide man (Bennett has the advantage of being younger and being incredibly versatile) who isnt doing anywhere near enough going forward is more than enough. And please stop going round saying "dont be negative" people are offering their opinions which are valid and constructive, not everything will be agreed with by anyone so please accept that as constantly bleating at supposed negativity (ie valid opinions) just makes it look like you dont have a valid point yourself which im sure you do.

Firstly I was pointing out in jest that you ridiculed someone suggesting a 29 year old, based on the thought that Mowbray wouldnt be signing someone of that age, now hes come out and inferred he would consider someone of that age it goes against this. The only reasons are his work rate, character, personality, professionalism etc. These are not enough without offering something in terms of actually on the pitch. If they were, wed sign him up for 15 years more. And last season, sadly, he didnt offer that. A winger needs to offer at least some attacking threat, and he doesnt. His legs have gone. And for all the spiel about defensive wingers, if say we are away at Stoke or Swansea on the opening day, and we want one of our wingers to be more defensive, we already have Bennett. I dont want it in Mowbrays words, think for yourself, please outline the reasons why you are happy he has stayed, without using the words character, experience, professionalism etc. Out of the 3 reasons that I gave, you probably come under the category of being unwilling to question any of Mowbrays decisions.

Gary Bowyer making some really poor and unimaginative signings at Blackpool, bringing in John O'Sullivan and Chris Taylor. Add them to Spearing and Delfouenso and youve got a mini Rovers reunion. Can see them struggling if thats the calibre of players they are bringing in.

“Where you spend the money in your team is important. Who’s the really talented free transfer who might be touching 30" Looks like theres potential for disagreement between yourself and Mowbray... Anyway regarding Conway, really disappointing to see him given a new deal. His legs have gone and hes too old to contribute anymore. Only 3 things I can possibly put anyone putting a positive spin on the move down to; an ignorance to his performances last year (perhaps not seeing him that often live), a reluctance to be negative about someone whose been a very good servant, or a reluctance to be negative about any decisions made by the manager. His first 2 and a half seasons, he was excellent, he did have Gestede to aim for during alot of that, and he was never fast, but he had enough in his legs to get that yard, often cutting back, and his assist tally was competitive with the best in the division. He did have spells of decline during his last 2 Championship seasons, he had times in both seasons where he wasnt in the team, and last season, importantly against far inferior players, his attacking output was almost zero. And him being a good character/influence is not a reason to give him a new deal alone, we needed to be ruthless, Mowbray needed to be ruthless and I dont feel he has been. Sadly, not only is he taking a space up in the squad and a wage (however big or small )up that could have gone to someone external capable of having an impact, but we now also risk having a good servant to the club becoming that player who people dont want to see on the team sheet for another 1 or even 2 years.

Agreed on Uruguay. They have a centre back pairing in Godin and Gimenez and strike pairing in Suarez and Cavani that are as good as any team and some handy players in between, Torreira and Bentacur. Belgium going forward are as good as anyone but their undoing could be their manager. Why they appointed Martinez I have no idea. They also have Carrasco at wing back whose a winger playing in China, and if Kompany doesnt recover theres going to be a weakness there. Spain and Germany dont have a Neymar/Messi/Ronaldo but a well balanced team with quality everywhere and tournament experience and know how. Seems the former are in disarray with the manager potentially leaving though. Im not 100% convinced by Germany, they looked poor the other day when I watched them, im still baffled theyve left Sane at home but they will no doubt turn up once the opening game comes around. France have possibly the most exciting squad, their main doubts are temperament and whether Deschamps is up to it. Brazil are rightfully favourites.

Who do people see as potential dark horses? On paper, can see Germany, England, Belgium, Argentina, France, Spain, Uruguay/Portugal and Brazil getting to the quarter finals if thats possible but youd presume 1 or 2 might not top their group or whatever and a shock caused somewhere along the way. Croatia, Denmark and Colombia all have good squads with talented players like Modric, Eriksen and James so wouldnt be surprised to see one of them at least get to the quarters. Beyond that, can see Senegal getting out of their group, with Mane, Koulibaly, Kouyate, Gueye and Keita Balde they have some useful players in what looks a fairly even group. Also, think Serbia have the potential to pip Switzerland in their group, Milinkovic-Savic has the potential to be one of the young stars of the tournament and they have plenty of quality in Matic, Mitrovic, Tadic, Ljajic, Ivanovic and Kolarov.

To be fair, I dont think you can blame him for not cancelling Agbonlahors contract. Im sure he would had he had that luxury.

Whilst you are right @chaddyrovers that we can only sympathise with Bruce regarding his sad personal circumstances. On a totally seperate note his signingw have been in the main poor and the gamble of money he spent has now backfired, regardless of previous managers. Also signed Hogan, Bjarnason, Neil Taylor, probably 1 or 2 more and they havent really worked out.

Ruben Rochina, a player who had the Rovers fans eating out of his hands at times but gave flatters to deceive a new meaning.

Nope but its silly season. Todays rumoured signings are tomorrows fish and chip paper. Bring on the World Cup.

John Cross, a journalist for the Mirror newspaper? Chaddy, it is a rumour until we see it in black and white.

Really pleased to see Graham sign a new deal. Never expected anything else amidst the rumoured multi year deals apparently on offer elsewhere. Only speculation, probably agents promoting their players or whatever, but not sure thats what we need. Hector is an ok Championship defender but cant see him dislodging Mulgrew or Lenihan, nor being happy as a back up. Not seen Chalobah but surely it would make sense to loan an attacking player, maybe Hudson-Odoi, who can give us something a bit different? The gift that keeps on giving. Was the other club Blackburn Rovers? Agreed. If we do sign a loan or 2 it should be someone who can make a difference, no Harpers ie signed for the sake of it. Armstrong, Payne, Chapman, Conway and Payne have all left and id only probably want Armstrong back, but theres a lot of attacking players that need replacing one way or another. Sub centre backs should be well down the priority list.

If you look at the seasons theyve both had, in terms of actual output, comparing 2 incredibly promising talents, youve got 1 who is delivering regularly and one who for whatever reason has yet to fully show his raw talent into consistent goals and assists.