No names have been mentioned yet. At a guess, I think it's more likely to be Tchaptchet and Will Smallbone. Two youngsters. I would prefer Valery and Obafemi but I'm not sure how realistic that is right now.

It's looking all set for Mowbray's contract extension, isn't it? All his mates in place, the cushiest job in football, I doubt he is walking away next summer. That lot gave our worst ever and most hated manager a new contract in the face of severe opposition. Giving Mowbray a new deal is small fry in comparison. I can only hope that this new guy has a better eye for a player.

This is why I want us to sign two midfielders this summer. Johnson can't be relied upon to stay fit and the jury is still out on Davenport and Buckley.

It's hard to be optimistic when the manager doesn't view the club in the same way that we do, nor when he doesn't have the same ambition for the club that many of us have. I am hoping that next season is his last one at the club. The owners, for whatever reason, can't sack a manager without needing somebody else to do it for them, so he's probably here till next year. I'm intrigued by the summer transfer window, though. Despite everything, I'm looking forward to seeing who we bring in. We need fresh faces and that is what is keeping me interested. I think it's more in hope that we may land a good 'un or two somewhere along the way.

It was in an interview with Andy Bayes. He said something along the lines of "we weren't getting results, but he (Mowbray) thought the performances were good".

I imagine it will be disheartening for those players who have a bit about them and who want to achieve things. Downing was left bemused by the 'performances have been good' nonsense during that awful run. He can't have been alone in thinking that. Having said that, there will also be a few taking advantage of the holiday camp setup, happy to just collect their wages with no pressure to succeed. If there's one club that badly needs a shift in mentality and culture...

I'm not comfortable at the thought of throwing the kids in and just hoping for the best. It's a massive step up from U23's to Championship football. It's easy to say we've got Pike, Carter etc so we don't need to sign a, b, c. Yet the reality is football doesn't always work like that. If it did, why has Klopp signed Konate when he already has Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams at the club? Or why should Pep be looking for a striker when he's got Delap he can bring into the squad? That's what some of our fans are doing when it comes to Carter, McBride, Vale etc. Relying on these kids isn't going to take us where we want to go. They might have potential, but right now, are they good enough to get us towards the top 6? Mowbray messed up by not giving minutes to Pike, McBride etc in the dead rubbers towards the end of last season. They would have got a feel for senior football and we would have had some idea of how they might cope with it. In our situation, we desperately need experienced players to come in, particularly in defence and the centre of midfield. Our defence right now is a massive concern. Ayala unable to stay fit, Wharton out injured (though he looked good before his injury) and Carter. It might sound harsh, but my personal view is that Carter isn't good enough for Rovers. He is levels below Harwood-Bellis and not the answer to our defensive issues. Yes, he had a decent loan spell at Burton, but to now count him as one of four centre backs we can rely upon next season? Not for me. The way Mowbray has already come out and said "young team, needs time to develop" suggests we are going to be relying more on the youngsters next season and it doesn't fill me with much confidence, to be honest.

Remember Danny Graham saying how Mowbray and Venus have opposite views on how the game should be played. One prefers tippy tappy, the other prefers a more direct game. Wouldn't surprise me if, under this shambles of a setup, it's now time to go back to Venus' preferred method.

Obafemi coming to Rovers, even on loan, would be an exciting signing. He is rapid. I was impressed with him in the few appearances he made last season. I can't see the club selling Armstrong for £10m though.

From a Leicester City transfer account on Twitter. Not the most reliable of places, I know, but sounds like a plausible deal based on our current transfer policy.

Bannan would be a quality signing. I've seen a couple of Leicester fans say Rovers are after Leshabela on loan from them. He's a centre mid. No idea how good he is though.

I think we need somebody to challenge Nyambe at RB and also another left back. JRC isn't the answer in either position, imo. A decent centre back on a permanent is a must, that has been needed for a long time though. We need at least two central midfielders to come in to replace Holtby and Evans and a proper right winger to avoid the madness of Gallagher being played out there. A lot of work to do with not much of a budget. My guess is that Rhys Williams will be the next Premier League loan to arrive here.

This reminds me of that 'Jason Roberts finishing masterclass' video that surfaced around 2008/9. In a way I'm glad to see a wave of interest in Rovers from South America. The Brereton story is putting Rovers back on the map, so to speak. The sad thing is that the club has been reduced to this shell with no ambition, ran by people who are out of their depth. There's sudden excitement around Rovers from abroad, it looks like there are going to be many new onlookers next season. However, the reality here doesn't tally up with that excitement and it hurts to say that.

The stage is set for us to seal promotion at Deepdale again. We won't be visiting there until late April. As for Swansea, not the easiest of starts, but it's better to get one of the tougher games out of the way early on.

I see, thanks for that. The lack of communication from the club shouldn't surprise me. It looks like it's a case of ring up and collect or it will be binned if the club doesn't hear from you.

Does anybody know what is happening with the cardboard cutouts? As far as I know, fans had the choice to either collect their cutout from Ewood after the season had ended or ask the club to dispose of it. That was a year ago, however. The cutouts got an extra season for 'free' with nobody able to attend last season. I'm assuming the club will be in touch at some point (probably a week before the new season starts) with fans now being allowed back in. Is there a chance that the cutouts could be moved to the otherwise empty Darwen End?

That would be fantastic. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks in advance.

He's just saying that. He doesn't want the Dortmund fans to think he was close to signing for a bigger club than them 😁.

Yes, I remember that game. Rovers were 2-0 up. Shearer scored a penalty at the Blackburn End to make it 2-1. The Blackburn End and parts of the Riverside, including me, stood up to applaud him. It was a landmark goal for him. I can't quite remember the reaction when he made it 2-2 that day, but the penalty sticks in my mind. I did not like the initial reception he received back in '96 one bit. I remember him being shocked and angry about it in his post match interview. That's probably why he did that celebration towards the Blackburn End in the cup game in '99. It's great to see that he still holds the club and his time here in high regard. I think the street naming and being inducted into the Rovers Hall of Fame has shown him that he's still appreciated around these parts. For me, it's ever since the 20th anniversary get together that I've really noticed him speak fondly about the club. That's not to say he spoke poorly of the club before, he just didn't mention Rovers much. You can see that he genuinely enjoys telling Lineker, Richards and others how "little old Blackburn took on the big boys and beat them" and I love hearing it 😁.

It's as bizarre a call up as any of us are likely to witness. Hope it goes well for him though. If he can score a few for them it can only be a good thing for us. I'm quite happy at the thought of there being more interest in Rovers from fans in Chile as a result of this.

Yes, that's right. Yuran lobbed Flowers for their goal. I've posted that goal below: Extended highlights of that Spartak game below if anybody is interested. With Russian commentary, however. I remember being excited about that Lyon game being shown live on the BBC. It was a corker from Bak to be fair.

That mob acts as though we have a Brian Clough type figure as manager. Somebody who has won us a European Cup, who they can never find it in their heart to go against. Their arguments are flimsy and all on the same lines. "He's a nice guy" and "look at everything he has done for us", oh and "who else can we get". They forget that Mowbray had 15 games to save us from L1 when he arrived. Yeah, Coyle did a lot of the damage, but that doesn't mean Mowbray was totally innocent that season. I don't recall the "look at everything he has done for us" line for Souness in 2004. Now there's a manager who that line could apply to. However, in football every manager has a shelf life and when things are going pear shaped every normal club acts. That's the life of a manager. The facebook lot being all sentimental about a shit manager, one who looks down on our club, who talks our club down, need to get a bloody grip!!

I can believe that. He said exactly that in an interview with Andy Bayes not so long ago when he was questioned about our poor form. It angered me as his response to mild questioning was basically "I don't need this" and he gave off the impression that he was doing us a favour by being here. I see he has got "honesty" and "integrity" in there again as well as mentioning his family. If he ever does get sacked here, just watch the sympathetic reaction he gets from the press as the fans are made out to be 'ungrateful', 'spoilt' and so on. Only at this club, under these owners, can such a charade play out.

I have no issue with Bell leaving. He looked ok in a couple of games here and there but he is League 1 level overall. The question is can this lot find a decent replacement for him? That's my worry. I really hope they don't go and do something like George Friend in on a cheap deal from Birmingham. Friend was good about 6 years ago, I wanted us to sign him back then. Not now though. We haven't been linked with him. I just see an ageing, experienced left back with a Boro connection. Don't do it, Tony.

Thank you for the detailed response, Rogerb. It's interesting to read that the attendances for the Champions League games were not that much higher than those for domestic cup games. 20k sounds decent, though, when considering the low number of visiting fans and the tv factor. I had completely forgotten about that potential game in 2007. Maybe it's just as well that we didn't face Legia at the time. They are well known for having an element of their support whose main interest isn't the football on the pitch. Looking back now, it's so disappointing how our European campaign fizzled out. The only game where we performed was the last one, when it was too late. A great opportunity was missed to build the club up. We could have had Zidane and Dugarry in our side that summer too, ready to help us in the Champions League, but it wasn't to be. Our time in the Champions League is remembered for two things: Le Saux and Batty fighting on the pitch in Moscow and Mike Newell's record setting hat-trick. A record which stood until 2011 and something that I had over non Rovers supporting mates 😁.