Settle On Eleven

Saturday’s victory over Barnsley by no means convincing, but it was another 3 points in the bag, 3 goals scored, and moves us on to 21 points and up to 17^th in the league – 7 points from relegation, and 8 points from the play offs; but at 1-1 and 2-2 on Saturday was the first time there’s been noticeable and audible discontent at Mowbray on the side-lines.

At the start of the international break, the home tie to Barnsley looked like a certain 3 points, but you never know what you’re going to get when a new manager comes in, and Barnsley didn’t look like a side rooted to the foot of the table. In the first half in particular they passed the ball around better than Rovers without really creating anything. Then, as always happens when you are at the foot of the table, one mistake and the opposition are in and Rovers took the lead. That should’ve been the game and we should have been able to push on and put them to the sword, perhaps even giving Big Ben Brereton some time game without the pressure of needing to score – but it wasn’t to be.

As Barnsley equalised once and then twice, the crowd vented their frustrations towards Mowbray – mainly by calling for Graham to come from the bench and change the game. It wasn’t quite back to the Coyle or Kean days, but had Barnsley taken the lead, I don’t think we would have been far off. So, what is the issue?

To start with, away form. It doesn’t seem to matter how much of a lead we build up on the road, it only takes one goal for us to seemingly capitulate – case in point, Preston away. Earlier in the season we were able to hold on to one goal leads at the likes of Hull, but that steely determination and resolve seems to have waned. At the time I put it down to the experience of the likes of Downing and Johnson in the middle keeping the ball turning over and stopping us from dropping back, but they have played in games since when we have thrown leads away. For me, Mowbray’s problem is that he doesn’t know his best 11 and hasn’t settled on a first choice throughout the team – perhaps with the exception of Dack.

Goalkeeper

Starting between the sticks – Mowbray made the decision to cash in on Raya and bring in Walton on loan as stop-gap. At the time I thought this was a step backward as Raya had the potential to be our keeper for the next decade, with the better option being to bring in someone experienced to bring him along. In Walton we have gone backwards. For such a big lad he doesn’t command his box, isn’t a great shot-stopper, and looks like an accident waiting to happen every time there is a ball in to the box. I have seen nothing so far to tell me he is any better than Leutwiler – I’d much prefer to see Leutwiler given the job between the sticks with young Fisher getting first team experience on the bench, and then look at an experienced keeper on a permanent move or a loan deal in January.

Full Backs

The biggest blow so far this season has been the loss of Cunningham. In the games he played for us before his injury he showed us how important a good left back is, and he has been a massive loss. Mowbray has put Bell back in and even tried Bennett, but this is an area we need to strengthen in January, perhaps with a loan move, and I’d be looking to snap up Cunningham even if he is still injured. At right back I don’t know who Mowbray sees as his first choice – Bennett isn’t a right back but I feel he gets slotted in there because he ‘can’ play there and as captain needs to squeeze him in somewhere; but in terms of the best player for that position at the club I think Nyambe gets the nod, but he’s looked better at times at centre half, so right back is another week spot we need to strengthen in.

Centre Backs

Which brings us on centre backs. When everyone is fit – Lenihan, Williams, Adarabioyo and Nyambe – I’d be interested who the starting pairing is; it will be Lenihan plus another, but who usually depends on injuries. For what it’s worth, Lenihan should be wearing the captain’s armband. A solid keeper and back four are the key to any good team and the key to consistency – at the minute we change the back four every week and that is creating problems for us. Although most of the time this is due to injuries and out of Mowbray’s hands, we do have players who always seem to be one over-stretch away from two weeks out.

Centre Midfield

When everyone is fit in the centre of the park, in the system Mowbray plays, he has to pick two from: Travis, Evans, Rothwell, Smallwood, Downing, Johnson, Holtby (and Gladwin, LOL). It’s no easy pick as each have their merits, but Mowbray needs to pick a partnership and stick to it. Travis looked like sure thing last season when he broke through and was all action for 90 minutes, breaking play up, carrying the ball and starting attacks, but he looks like he’s only playing at 80% in comparison now and that lowers the intensity across the pitch.

Wingers / Attackers

Prior to Saturday I would have said that Armstrong is probably the second name on the team-sheet to play one of the wide attackers but then Mowbray played him through the middle. I can see his thinking – get the ball in behind and use his pace, but when that isn’t working, he doesn’t offer much in terms of winning headers or holding the ball up to bring others in to play. Almost immediately after being switched out wide he beat the full back with his pace and created a chance – something Gallagher had struggled to do all game. Who plays on the opposite side has varied almost weekly with Downing, Gallagher, Bennett and Rothwell all spending time out wide.

This position poses one question which is possibly more key than any other: Where is Harry Chapman? When we re-signed him last January, we knew he was still working his way back from a bad injury and it was going to take time, and it would be better not to rush him. But then we saw him at the end of last season, and it looked like he was well involved in the first team. Fast-forward 6 months and there is no sign of him. With Armstrong on one side and Chapman on the other that is one hell of a one-two punch with pace and trickery – like the days of Wilcox and Ripley getting the by-line and crossing for Shearer, only now it would be Gallagher or Graham. Imagine the lift it would have given the crowd on Saturday if, struggling at 1-1 or 2-2, Chapman is brought from the bench?

The number 10 spot looks like it is Dack’s whatever, even though I think we lose the impact of Holtby by playing him deeper, you can’t argue with Dack’s stats and contributions. Maybe the answer with Holtby is to play him as a wide 10 (i.e. attacking midfielder but not a winger as such). You could see on Saturday that Dack was the one getting the players back going after both equalisers, and he was the one pleading with the referee that the second goal was hand-ball – he obviously cares. Mowbray could do worse than give him the captains armband.

Striker(s)

It is fairly clear now that Mowbray only has space for one striker. On Saturday he played Gallagher out wide but its evident he isn’t a winger or a wide forward. Yes, he wins the flicks and can run with the ball, but he often tries to do too much when he gets it, and he doesn’t provide the cover going the other way (Barnsley left-back had a relatively clear run all through the first half). What must be frustrating for Gallagher is that he, a no.9 is farmed out wide for 60 minutes, then when Danny Graham comes on the pack is shuffled so he can play through the middle. I’m not saying that Graham isn’t our best option in that position, but Mowbray is asking a young centre forward to play out of position and contribute to the tune of the £5m Rovers spend on him. Graham and Dack have a special relationship on the pitch and the key to moving up the table towards the promised land of the play-offs depends on getting the most out of Graham whilst we still can – Mowbray doesn’t currently have the luxury of playing blooding Gallagher in – he needs results now. Play Graham, put the game to bed, and then bring on the likes of Gallagher and Brereton.

This coming Wednesday against Brentford is a tough game, made tougher by the fact David Raya will no doubt be looking to prove to Mowbray he was wrong to sell him, but Mowbray needs a fast start or else the crowd will turn and once that happens, it’s a long way back. I don’t agree with those saying he needs to move on for the club to progress, I think he has earnt at least until the end of the season, but football is a fickle game.

The Same, But Different

The rules of football, the Laws of the Game, are tweaked every now and again but the beginning of this current 2019-20 season saw more changes than usual. To provide a quick overview, this current season will be: the first to provide a mid-season break with the league splitting a round of matches in February over 2 weekends with 5 matches taking place the weekend of the 8th February, and the remaining 5 the following week. It has also seen the introduction of VAR (Video Assistant Referee), in the Premier League only in England, and it is to be used for “clear and obvious errors” (remember that phrase) or “serious missed incidents”, such as goals, penalty decisions, red cards and cases of mistaken identity. The Handball Rule has also changed meaning that deliberate handball is still an offence, but accidental handball can also be a free-kick or penalty – even if it’s a mistake, if the ball goes in the goal after hitting an attackers arm/hand, then a free-kick will be awarded; it’s also handball if a player’s arm is above their shoulders or if their arms have made their body unnaturally bigger. Defending free-kicks has also changed – if there are 3 or more defending players in a wall, the opposition (attacking team) will have to be at least 1 yard away from the wall; referees can now also allow a quick free-kick to be taken even if they are booking a player. For penalties, goalkeepers can no longer leaver their goal-line (they couldn’t previously either) but the penalty won’t be taken until the keeper has stopped touching the frame of the goal or net, and the goal has stopped moving. When a player is subbed now they have to leave the pitch at the closest point to them. The coin toss has also changed, with captains now choosing which end they attack or if they want to kick off first (previously the decision was just which end to attack). Goal-kicks have changed majorly for the first time since the back-pass rule was introduced in the early nineties, and now goal-kicks can be played to a defender within the box, with the attacking team not able to enter the 18 yard box until an outfield player has touched the ball. Finally, and possibly most heart-breaking, the drop ball has been abolished, with the ball being given to the team that played the ball before the referee stopped play.

So what’s changed then? VAR, Handball, Penalties, Free-kicks, Goal-kicks, Substitutions and the Coin Toss. Not much then. All bar the VAR rule has been introduced in to the entirety of the football pyramid – my personal opinion is that this isn’t right, and the game is being played by different rules at different levels; the rules for the Premier League should be the same as the rules for a Sunday League Pub Team game – my stance is the same for goal-line technology.

So, with VAR not being a factor in the Championship, I’ve found the biggest impacting rule change to be the playing of the ball to your own players inside your own penalty box. This first hit home during the Millwall game at Ewood. Rovers continued to play the ball out within the 18 yard box and try to play the ball out from the back, rather than the traditional goal-kick up the pitch to the big man up top. The rule has been introduced for a number of reasons, mainly because the game of football is changing to a more possession-based game, but the rule stops the time-wasting that was creeping in last season whereby a team wanting to run the clock down would step in to the box to receive the ball, which under the previous rules, resulted automatically in the goal-kick being retaken, and a good 30 seconds run off the clock. The rule change also helps the younger generations develop – playing the ball out from the back should, in theory, result in more young players who are comfortable and composed on the ball, and it should prevent the teams with the biggest goal-kick and tallest striker dominating games.

This new goal-kick will cause thousands of near-heart attacks week in and week out as defenders play about with the ball across their own goal-line about 6 yards out – it is not something the majority of us Brits are used to seeing. In that Millwall game, Walton would play the ball to one of the centre-halves or full-backs who would then draw in the opposition attacker and play the ball between themselves to get out of the situation and open up the midfield. When it works, you can create a big gap between the strikers and the midfielders, or better still, a gap in the midfield. It worked for Rovers in that first half, and we got to the half-way line on many occasions, the only problem was that once the midfield line was reached, we didn’t really know what to do with the ball, and this allowed what spaces had been created, to be re-filled.

Just because the rules say you can play out inside your own box doesn’t mean you have to. For example, Arsenal have already been caught out more than once this season, and this playing out from the back has resulted in goals being conceded. If you don’t have defenders comfortable on the ball and comfortable passing under pressure, this approach isn’t going to work. Even Pep Guardiola has changed his teams over the years, moving a midfielder, more comfortable on the ball, back to centre half (Mascherano and now Fernandinho), to provide that experience and composure to pick the ball up and pass their way out of defence and around the opposition. Rovers problem in that first half against Millwall was the lack of a Plan B.

By playing Armstrong as the lone front man, and Bennett and Downing out wide, there was no out ball. This meant we had to play the ball out of trouble, which often meant laboured movement and passing just to get us to the half-way line, or a big boot back to the opposition. There are merits to playing out from the back and drawing the opposition on, but you have to have the personnel and options for it to work. As we saw in the second half of the Millwall game, with the introduction of the height and physical presence of Gallagher, we could play out from the back, draw the opposition on, and then play the ball over the top, or if in trouble, we could get rid of the ball up the field with a good chance of retaining the ball or at worst winning the second ball or a throw-in or corner. In a way, it is a shame that Mulgrew isn’t at the club at this time when we are experimenting with the idea of playing out from the back as he is arguable our most composed defender with the ball at his feet. The additions of Johnson, Downing and Holtby will surely only help take the ball off the back for when they’ve beaten the press, and allows us to be more clinical with our passing from the half-way line forwards.

So, to VAR. In many ways I’m pleased I support a Championship club and don’t have to bother about VAR at least for this season – but ultimately it will gradually be introduced in to the top four tiers of the English game, much the same way goal-line technology has been introduced. For the record, when VAR makes a decision, the decision is correct – it is the rules/laws of the game which are wrong, or perhaps now outdated.

VAR rightly identifies when someone is offside, or when someone handballs the ball in the build up to a goal – in both situations, mainly when the officials have missed the incident. As per the statement above, VAR was brought in to correct “clear and obvious errors” and/or “serious missed incidents” – it was not brought in to identify when Heung Min Son’s toe-nail is offside. The number of goals which are being scored, celebrated, and then subject to 2 minutes of VAR review before being chalked off is ruining the game of football both as a spectacle and as entertainment, not least for the paying fans in the ground. We are going to get to a situation where players score, stand still and stare at a screen for 5 minutes before they can celebrate a goal. FIFAs laws of the game state that a referee must always make a decision and that the original decision given by the referee will not be changed unless the video review clearly shows that the decision was a “clear and obvious error” – offside by less than 5cm, is not a clear and obvious error. The only references to “offside” in the VAR protocol/rule is that it can be used for “factual decisions such as position of an offence or player (offside)” and for “subjective decisions such as interference at offside”. For me the solution is quite simple – if a goal is reviewed for offside and lines have to be drawn across the pitch to work out whether the player is ahead of the defender by cm/mm’s it can’t possibly by a clear or obvious error, and the rules of VAR don’t apply. We need to go back to the old days of the attacker being given the benefit of the doubt – in it’s current guise, attackers will be penalised far more often than defenders, and the intensity and pace of the game will drop significantly.

In the NFL, if a decision is given and it goes for video review, there must be “clear and obvious” evidence to overturn the referees original decision – why can’t this be applied in the Premier League, maintaining the authority of referee without undermining them? To make it even more clear, set a time-limit for the review – if it isn’t clear that the decision was wrong within 30 seconds, it’s not a clear and obvious error.

It’s not just the goals which aren’t given which affect teams on the scoreboard, there is evidently a psychological impact. In the past weekend we saw Spurs score a goal to go two nil up, only for it to be chalked off and Leicester to go on and win the game. We also saw Chelsea equalise, only for that to be ruled offside by the tightest of margins some time before the goal was scored, with Liverpool then scoring almost immediately to go two nil up. In the example of Chelsea you could see the look of despair and utter “what is the point” after he was penalised for a soft free-kick in the build up to Liverpool’s second goal, only moments after his goal had been disallowed. The impact of scoring a goal and then having it taken off you could arguably be worse than the feeling of conceding – heads drop and a negative mentality sets in. Had Spurs gone 2-0 up it would have been difficult for Leicester to find a way back in to the game, similarly, had Chelsea equalised they would have had the momentum and the outcome of the game could’ve been very different. I don’t think this psychological impact has been looked in to enough – it won’t be long until clubs are employing psychologists and therapists to help teams deal with this mental trauma so it doesn’t affect them for the remainder of the nineties minutes, especially the immediate time after the decision reversal.

Back to the Championship and it has been refreshing to see Rovers hold on to slender leads late on in games and see them out to claim all three points – Reading away at the weekend, the draw to Cardiff at home, winning at Hull and the win at home against Middlesbrough – all games last season we would have probably drawn or even lost last season. I think a big factor in this is the experience of Downing and Johnson in the middle of the pitch and their ability to keep turning the ball over and not giving away position. When you are winning games and approaching the last 10 minutes of a game it is imperative that you keep the ball – if the opposition doesn’t have the ball they can’t score. What Johnson and Downing also do whilst keeping the ball, is open up gaps and opportunities to put a game to bed, without over-committing ourselves and leaving us wide open at the back. Against Millwall, something noticeable about Downing was his ability to miss the middle man out – in previous seasons, to get the ball from the edge of the box (A) to the man out wide (C) we would have had to pass it via a middle-man (B) – missing them out keeps the momentum and keeps their defence moving and thinking about defending.

When we signed Lewis Holtby, I automatically thought he must either be coming to the end of his career, or he must be injury prone. Before his move to Spurs, he was one of the hottest prospects in Europe whilst at Schalke, and the fact Spurs spent some of the Bale money on him shows the regard they held him in. A look at his Wikipedia page shows he is in fact only 29 (some 6 years younger than Stewart Downing), and he has played over 20 games in all bar one of the last five seasons since leaving Spurs – so he’s definitely not over the hill and after a big pay-day, and he definitely isn’t injury prone; this will also be only the second season he has played football outside of the topflight in the last decade. If the wages are right, this is a win-win situation. Rovers get a player who, if he can perform as he did at Schalke, can either push them up the table towards promotion or put himself in the shop-window to make Rovers some money. At worst he is a free transfer, nothing spent nothing lost. After just one week at the club he looks to have settled in fine and looks to have the right mentality and personality to fit in at the club and with the rest of the squad. Tony now has a few selection headaches when everyone is fit, and that can only be a good thing. If Holtby can perform on the pitch, his arrival probably does spell the end of Richie Smallwood and potentially Corry Evans (Evans is actually older than Holtby) – both of whom have been great servants for the club during what have been incredibly difficult times.

On paper, Rovers have a good run of fixtures coming up (Luton, Forest and Huddersfield at home and QPR and Birmingham at home), and with us currently sitting just 2 points of the play-offs, a return of 9 points or more should see us close that gap.

 

Image: https://images.app.goo.gl/12o2XvEU2m9JZ75o9

Promotion Window

In American Football, the concept of a “Super Bowl Window” is that a team has its best chance of winning the Super Bowl due to a number of factors; mainly: the quality and age of the quarterback; the squad depth and weapons available on both offense and defence; and, their salary cap. In the top divisions of football, the similarities with the Super Bowl window theory generally stop at how much money a team has to spend and the age of their key players. However, as you drop down the leagues, the potential for key players to be snapped up or sold, adds another factor to this. Thus, creating a “Promotion Window”.

A Promotion Window situation seems to be developing at Blackburn Rovers, owing to both key players constantly being rumoured to off to bigger and better things, and the more experienced players taking a step closer to retirement (or dropping down the divisions) each summer.

With regards to the former – it is only matter of time before a team in the topflight takes a punt on Dack. Many questioned his ability to make the step up from League One to Championship, but he made it and finished the season with 15 goals and 7 assists. For me, he is a player destined to play at the top level, but I worry that if someone takes a chance on him in the top flight, it will be someone in the bottom half of the table and he won’t be afforded the chance to play in the number 10 role behind the striker, and instead will either be played up top on his own, out wide or central midfield, were he would be very much wasted. My other worry for him is he wouldn’t be playing with Danny Graham. Rovers should hold out for £17-20m for him which may be seen as too pricey for some suitors, but you’d be looking to pay that for a similar player from the continent, not adjusted to the English game.

Second up is Darragh Lenihan. He is an absolute competitor and it would be no surprise to me if he started the season wearing the armband. A product of the academy, he is without doubt the first name on the team sheet in the back four (back five now Raya has left). He loves a tackle and a battle, and what I like about him is the way he wants to win every header, attacking the ball. At 25, for any team interested in him he has many years left on him, and his value is only likely to increase. He’s not a glamour player like Dack and that would be reflected in his price tag. He wouldn’t get the £17m+ I’d expect for Dack, but with Raya rumoured to have gone for £3m, I’d be looking for upwards of £6m for Republic of Ireland international.

David Raya was another on the list of talents I thought we might lose and so it came to be. His sale opens up a big gap both in the team and the changing room as I think the videos from Austria show he was well liked by his teammates. Although he never looked commanding when coming for crosses and you never heard him yelling at defenders, in terms of shot stoppers I don’t think there was anyone better in the league. Given he had come through our academy since the age of 16, I was sad to see him go. A lot of Rovers fans think he is a weak link, but I was excited by the prospect of him being our number one for many years – I’d have liked us to bring someone experienced in to push him and develop him for the next two years, and if you could add influence and assertiveness to his game, we’d be looking at a £10m+ goalkeeper. It wasn’t to be though, and now I’m hopefully we invest the money wisely in someone with a lot of Championship (or higher) and promotion experience. Given the signings made by Brentford along with Raya, I can see them challenging for automatic promotion this season with Raya between the sticks and it’ll be interesting to hear the opinions of those Rovers fans who said he wasn’t good enough to get us promoted if they do indeed finish the season with promotion.

As much as we want him to, Danny Graham isn’t going to play forever. The energy and fitness levels of the man have amazed me over the past two seasons, especially when I fully expected him to either leave when we got relegated or simply sulk and not feature. So much of our game relies on his running and pressing, and we’ve seen with the likes of Nuttall and Brereton (so far), neither come close to his contributions in that way. His link up play with Dack is also going to be difficult to replicate. I think this coming season could be his last big contribution at Ewood as he turns 34 just after the start of the season, but I think in Gallagher and Brereton we have potential players who can fill that gap and also add a bit more quality and pace, but it isn’t going to be a straight swap and it may take time.

The other main man on the list of players who we need to make the most of whilst we have them is Charlie Mulgrew. At age 33 now, last season I questioned whether he was in the team purely because he was captain, or because of his dead-ball abilities, as, at times his defending was questionable. He was undoubtedly a big factor in our promotion from League One, and in the Championship last time around he looked more than adequate at centre half, but I think two and three years on he relies on his teammates to often to get him out of trouble. That said, there is no-one else I would want taking a free kick within 25 yards of the opposition box. As a leader and technically quality player he is a good back-up to have on the bench and to bring on if we are chasing a game (maybe in a midfield role), but if we don’t make any signings at centre half, I’d rather see Williams alongside Lenihan.

If you look at the players who broke through in to the first team last year, in the right circumstance, I’d like to see Grayson, Magloire and Butterworth given more game time, and also see Joe Rankin-Costello get some game time. What we want to be able to do is give them opportunities when we are winning, not rely on them due to injuries, or throw them in to halt a bad run.

What is important is that if we do lose the likes of Dack and Lenihan, we get the fees they are worth, and we spend that money wisely. With them in the team I believe we are very much in a Promotion Window and we should have a good go at it, but if we lose them, it’s not a time for the money to spent in a rush; the money should be spent re-building the squad whilst remaining competitive, and working towards a promotion push in the next 3 years, not just the next 12 months. We can have a promotion push with the squad we have and we don’t need to spend millions to improve that squad to a top 6 team – if you look at last season, without injuries at Brentford, I think we would have been sniffing around the top 6 in the last weeks of the season; and that’s in our first season up, a seasons experience and know-how, and considering the sides in the division, and I don’t think our squad is too far off pushing for the play-offs.

There haven’t been too many signings in through the door so far this season and it looks as though the bulk of the Raya money has been spent on Gallagher which is sensible, and believe we’ll be looking to pick up an experienced keeper either on loan or on a free. People are moaning about the lack of activity, but I’d rather go with what I’ve got instead of panic buying on someone to make up the numbers – we have a fantastic academy that we should be giving the opportunity. Lets also not forget that Chapman and Davenport will also be like having new signings.

The fixture list hasn’t looked favourably on Rovers for the coming season and a win at home against Charlton is needed. Fulham are an unknown quantity, but they were fantastic last time around in the Championship and they have only added quality in their time in the topflight. A points total of 9 or 10 would be a great return for August, with us then having 3 winnable games against Millwall, Reading and Luton in September. If we don’t start well, fans need to consider the opposition and give Mowbray time – if the start of the season is tough, it makes sense that there will be winnable periods later in the season to make the points back up.

Silly Season

At Blackburn Rovers it has been announced that Tony Mowbray will have similar funds to spend as last year – when they spent around £10m on acquisitions – and that Mowbray will be able to flex that by opting for free agents and putting some of that budget towards wage demands. Last season saw Rovers flirt with the idea of the play off’s for about 7 minutes at Griffin Park, before succumbing to worrying about being dragged in to a late season relegation battle, before eventually finishing a comfortable 15th, 20 points clear of relegation and 14 points off the play-offs. For a first season promoted that’s not a bad return, and it could set the tone for a more progressive and upward looking 2019/20. That will all depend on the dealings this summer though.

A good start to the season showed Rovers could mix it at this level, and if it wasn’t for the routine conceding of late goals to sacrifice wins or draws, that 14 point gap to the top 6 could have been a lot narrower. What Mowbray has admitted is that he knows he knows where he needs to strengthen and he isn’t afraid to make changes, as we saw towards the end of the campaign. In interviews given in his recent trip to India he has also shown that he is looking up rather than down and that we will have a good go at making the top 6 next term; he even has plans in place should we lose key assets, to ensure the club build in a positive way from any such sales.

The optimist in us all will be looking at the Premier League, particularly free transfers to see who we could swoop for and pull off a coup. However, depressing although it may be, the vast majority of Premier League players are on wages Blackburn Rovers have simply never spent, even in the days before relegation from the top flight; those who are willing to drop out of the Premier League are only likely to do so for inflated wages and I think you always have to be sceptical about why they are dropping down a division: is it because they are a gun for hire and only interested in the money (cough* Danny Murphy *cough); or is it because they simply not good enough? If we are looking at anyone released from contract in the Premier League, we need to be sure of the motive and fitness of those involved. As a starter for ten, we can laugh off suggestions of Daniel Sturridge purely based on what his wage expectations would be and also the fact his ego won’t allow him to drop a level; on the same ground we can forget about Andy Carroll, in addition to his horrendous injury record (him and Vince Grella would have become the best of friends in the treatment room); and I think we would be wise to steer clear of Phil Jagielka – Charlie Mulgrew has struggled at times this season and I don’t think a player 3 years his senior is the answer, especially considering the wages he would likely ask for.

So who does that leave from the Premiership that may be a realistic target? Let’s start with goalkeepers – Mowbray made no secret at the end of the season that although Raya had done admirable in his first season in the 2^nd tier and he is ultimately the long term number 1, more experience is needed both on match day and on the training pitch to help progress Raya. West Ham’s Adrian is out of contract this summer, and at 32 is by no means past his best and brings a depth of experience and is also Spanish, like Raya. For the right wages he would be worth taking a hit on to provide that know-how and experience at the back; and, looking at the Premier League, there is only potentially Watford and Bournemouth who may be on the look-out for a new keeper.

Next up, a position that has been a weak spot for a couple of years now, right back. I like Ryan Nyambe but he has very much been thrust in at the deep-end and I’m not too sure Mowbray fully trusts him in the position yet. One player available on a free transfer is Carl Jenkinson. He has never really cut it at Arsenal but has arguably had stiff competition, but he has experience at the top level, and lets face it, Arsene Wenger doesn’t sign too many players who don’t have something about them.

Another option at full-back could be proverbial loanee and former Rover Todd Kane. He is probably the last consistently 7 out of 10 every week full back we had at the club (back in 2013-14) and he comes with the added benefit that he can play at either left or right back, with Rovers being weak on both sides. Since graduating at Chelsea in 2011, Kane has spend six season out on loan at various clubs amassing 155 appearances. Wherever he has been, he has played, and that says a lot about his quality and consistency. I don’t imagine he’s ever been a mega-bucks earner at Chelsea so his wage demands, especially for a permanent place in a team, could be well within Rovers’ budget.

As well as looking at free transfer options to bring in, Rovers have also inevitably had to let players out of contract leave or be free to discuss potential moves with suitors. Of those to be allowed to leave the majority are youngsters such as Jack Doyle and Lewis Mansell, but the biggest surprise for me was to see Paul Downing wasn’t having his contract renewed. Downing came in to the club on loan at the beginning of the 2017-18 season in League One and was made a permanent fixture the following January. However, despite proving to be a more than able replacement for Lenihan, as soon as the Irishman was back fit, Downing dropped to the bench and has found first team starts somewhat of a rarity since. However, when he has played, Rovers have a very good record – I know that at least up to January/February of last year, there was a ridiculous statistic like Rovers hadn’t lost with him on the pitch. I truly believe one of Mowbray’s biggest mistakes at the helm was to allow Downing to go out on loan to Doncaster last January without the option to recall him – with him at the back when we succumbed to a number of injuries after the Brentford game I’m sure we would’ve picked up more points and the run not been as terrible. At 27, Downing still has a number of good years left in him and I can’t see him having been on massive wages, so I can only assume Mowbray doesn’t see him as a starter every week so is letting him go so he can play first team football. Someone is going to get a bargain in Mr Reliable, Paul Downing.

In addition to those released, Rovers confirmed they are discussing potential stays for Craig Conway, Jack Rodwell and Ben Gladwin. Conway has been Mr Consistent for Rovers since his arrival from Cardiff and in particular Rovers have turned to him during bad runs, knowing what they are going to get: 100%, quality balls in to the box, and someone putting a shift in going both ways down the wing. He is another I believe is being allowed to leave to get more football than he would likely have seen at Ewood next season. Ben Gladwin is a strange one as he’s never had a run in the side and my only memory of him is blazing the ball over when confronted with an open goal 8 yards in front of the Blackburn End, akin to Ashley Ward against Manchester United. I don’t see him being at the club this time next year which tells me he’ll be given a contract to get fit and will probably then be out of the door.

Which brings us to Jack Rodwell. I wasn’t sure about Rodwell when he came in, but as long as his wages were sensible and he didn’t upset the apple cart, I thought he was an interesting signing. He’s proved to be a good option both at the back and in midfield, and I think he was treated harshly by the Sunderland Netflix documentary. At 28 he still has years left in him and as a free transfer, and on the right money, he isn’t a bad squad utility player. I can only think we are in discussions about new deals because he wants more money than we are willing to give him, or he is interested in the rumours of a move to Serie A with Torino or Sassuolo. He did a job last year and I don’t think many Rovers fans will see him in the same light as those at Sunderland did.

There reported to be some 130 players who are out of contract and played in the Championship last year, and I think Mowbray will look to exploit this market. As touched upon earlier I believe we need to strengthen at centre half, both full backs, a central midfielder to push Travis, Evans, Smallwood and replaced the outgoing Reed, a striker to take the weight off Danny Graham, and an experienced goalkeeper to push Raya.

Looking at the published lists of free agents, names like David Marshall (age 34) and Kieren Westwood (also age 34) stand out as potential experience who could be brought in on short-term deals to help develop and take the pressure off Raya (and Leutwiler to an extent). Looking across the back four, and Martin Cranie could provide experience at right back and give an option at centre half at 32 with over 300 appearances to his name, as could former Brentford right back, Moses Odubajo, 25 with 112 Championship appearances.

Moving in to midfield and two players who interest me but would have to be on the right wages are Villa’s Mila Jedinak (34) and Glenn Whelan (35) who are both available and are both a nightmare to play against; they also know how to get in the play-offs and would provide steel in midfield. Jedinak could also be an option at centre half as well. Other available midfielder of note include Bradley Johnson (32), Chris Brunt (34) and Wes Hoolahan (37). I’m not too sure whether Stewart Downing would improve the squad considering he would be on a decent wage, especially considering we’ve let Conway go.

Finally, further up the pitch, Frazier Campbell (31) is available after a somewhat less impact-full second spell with Hull and he has always been an enigma to me. He had a great record during his first spell (on loan) with Hull but has failed to live up to that reputation since – he’s an option as someone to take the load off Danny Graham, but I think we would be better giving Brereton, Samuel or Nuttall the chance, and possibly looking abroad for other options. The last player to make the list is someone I don’t expect to end up at Ewood, but at the same time he is going to have to take a massive pay-cut and I can’t see anyone higher up than the Championship being interested in him – Ross McCormack (32). Last seen doing a world tour after claiming his gates at home had broken preventing him making it to training, he has since spent loan spells at Nottingham Forest, Melbourne City, Central Coast Mariners and Motherwell, scoring 16 goals in 32 appearances. It comes as no surprise that he has been released by Villa especially after the rumours that despite no involvement in their promotion season, he was set to receive a pay-rise to £75k a week – I very much doubt he’ll get half of that wherever he ends up, but with his stock so low at the minute, there are worse options if the numbers are right.

“If the numbers are right” is a phrase I think we’ll hear a lot this summer. Mowbray obviously sees an opportunity for Rovers to have a good go at making the top 6 but I think he is a sensible man who is all to aware of the financial restrictions Rovers must work within; and the club are all too familiar of what happens when you bet the farm on promotion. Rovers need to be looking at building on the good young squad that they currently have, seasoning it with some experienced pros – but those that come in must be on sensible money, maybe even incentivised deals, and they must be committed to the cause – the last thing Rovers need is spending money we don’t necessarily have on has-been mercenaries after one last pay check (cough* Danny Murphy cough*). When you look at the teams who’ll compete in the Championship next season, there isn’t anyone you look at and think “they’ll run away with it”, and similarly there aren’t any teams you think Rovers can’t beat, so there is a real opportunity for Blackburn to make a mark next season.

You never know.

End of Season Review 2018-19

As the curtain falls on another football season Blackburn Rovers must be pleased with their final standing in the league.

Reaching 60 points and finding themselves closer to the play-offs (14 points) than the relegation zone (20 points) in the first season back in the second tier is an achievement, not to mention finishing the highest placed of the promoted teams and above the likes of Stoke City who had been tipped for promotion. Some fans wanted a tilt at double promotion especially after such a positive start, but realistically, anything other than survival and stability this season is a bonus. The club are back to the level they arguably should be at this moment in time, and to secure survival with games to spare shows how good a job Tony Mowbray has done in his two and a half years at the club. It would have been nice to get the winner our second half performance against Swansea arguably deserved so we would have finished above Preston, but on day one of the season I would have happily taken finishing 21^st on goal difference.

Making the play offs looks like it wasn’t too far off on paper, but anyone who has watched Rovers this season will tell you that the number of late goals conceded this term was ultimately what cost them a run at extending the season, as well as the number of goals conceded in general away from home. Probably my biggest criticism of Mowbray from the season has been how we start chasing games, particularly away from home, when we go behind, making multiple changes in personnel and formation, only for the game to get further away from us. On a number of occasions, we would concede at around the hour mark and instead of keeping it tight for 10-15 minutes, Mowbray would throw an attacker on or change formation to make us more attacking, only for our defensive frailties to be exposed. The away game at Brentford for me was the turning point: two goals up away from home and on a decent run would have given momentum and belief to a play-off push but to end up losing the game 5-2 and picking up injuries to key players ended up with Rovers looking downwards with growing concern rather than upwards.

Mowbray put his faith in the players that got him promoted and stuck with them for large parts of the season, but as we entered the final third of the campaign and with a poor run of results meaning relegation was a possibility, he changed his team and picked players on current form and ability, rather than his loyalty – and this is something I expect to continue as we prepare for next season. He was right to repay the players who got us promoted, but he was also right to change things when he had to, and this can only be seen as a positive. Looking at the Swansea game and it was good to see the likes of Chapman and Davenport get some game time, following on from Brereton’s recent start also.

The average age of the squad for the Swansea game was just 24 and when you factor in the outliers of Conway, Graham and Mulgrew, that age is even more impressive. It is also a sign that the future is bright for the club. Most of those youngsters have proved that they can at least compete at the Championship level, and with the right experienced heads in amongst them, there is every chance we could make a tilt at the play-offs next season. We do need to strengthen though, and nowhere more so than at the back. Williams and Lenihan have formed a good partnership at the back over the last few weeks and although it pains me to say it, I don’t think Mulgrew is good enough as a centre half at this level, at least not anymore. I think earlier in the season Mowbray played him for his set pieces and attacking contributions, but it is no good scoring 2 and conceding 3. He will be a good backup next season but I think we need someone in their mid to late twenties, with experience, to come in and marshal the defence and provide some stability – I think letting Downing go out on loan is what killed our season, but it shows Mowbray doesn’t perhaps see him as the solution, so I’d expect a new centre half in over the summer. I’d also expect at least a new right back or left back – time again this season sides have exploited our full backs. My opinion is that Bell isn’t up to the task as he doesn’t sense danger and doesn’t provide enough going forwards. Nyambe on the other hand has the potential to be a very good right back so I’d expect to see more of him next season, especially having signed a new contract recently. If I was playing Championship Manager, I’d be looking for a DC and D (R/L/C) to provide cover across the back four.

Mowbray’s experiment with Leutwiler will have told him that he isn’t the answer in goal – he has made some good saves, but they have been right at him, and he has looked painfully low getting down to shots either side. David Raya is for me undoubtedly the future for Rovers in the number one position, but he needs to be pushed by someone with more experience. Like the last time we got promoted back to the Premier League when we had the old head of Friedel coming in, I’d like to see us bring in an experienced keeper to take the heat off Raya and to help with his progression. I don’t like the idea of Joe Hart or Scott Carson, but someone along the lines of John Ruddy wouldn’t be a bad signing.

Further up the pitch I think this season has proved a step too far for Richie Smallwood and although you can never question his effort, I think he lacks the quality required to impact games going forward in the Championship. Apart from a couple of patchy performances in the final weeks of the season (by patchy I’m referring to his passing and nothing else), Travis has looked to be the find of the season and adds the quality Smallwood lacks whilst keeping his energy and combative nature. I think we need another central midfielder who can break games up but also contribute going forward – providing the backbone for a young and pacey attacking corp. Rothwell has been impressive towards the end of the season when given game time and he always looks to move us up the pitch when he gets the ball. Add in to that mix the pace of Armstrong and Chapman and we could be very dangerous on the counter attack next season.

Although at times this season, I’ve criticised Dack, his stats speak for themselves and 18 goals and 7 assists in his first season at this level is a fantastic return which will attract interest in the summer. My advice to Dack would be to think about the teams that are interested and whether he would get the permission to play in a relatively free number 10 role. Any Premier League club interested in him is unlikely to play with a 10 the way we do with Dack, which will result in him either being played deeper in central midfield, out wide or up top, and that is a waste of his talent. If he keeps his head-down and works hard clubs won’t be able to buy him and play him out of position. Hopefully he’ll give us at least one more season.

Danny Graham deservedly won player of the season and he has worked hard for it. He’s proved me wrong yet again as I thought he’d jump ship when we went down to League One and I didn’t think he’d be up to it back in the Championship. As an aging striker so many younger players could learn from his work rate and performances on the pitch, and it is testament to how well he as played that he is arguably the most important player in the team – so much of our game relays on his efforts at the top of the pitch and the way he brings players in to the game from midfield. Ben Brereton looks to be the future up front and there is no one better for him to learn from; starting by getting on the weights and bulking up so he’s not as easily brushed off the ball. His goal against Bolton shows he has pace and ability and let’s not forget he’s still only 20 years old – if you forget about the price tag, he is another exciting youngster. It will be interesting to see how Dominic Samuel comes back as well after what will be almost a full 12 months, he could like getting a new signing. Given the question marks about Samuel after his injury and the lack of Championship experience in the youngsters, I’d like to see us move for an established striker to take some of the load off Graham – someone like a Shane Long, who I thought would be available given his poor scoring record in recent seasons in the Premier League, but then went on a scoring streak, so maybe he won’t be available now, or not at the price and wages we would like him to be. It will also be good to see Dan Butterworth get some more game time as he looked like another exciting youngster coming through when he came on against Bolton.

When we went down to League One, I thought it was a good time to put our faith in youth but if we could blood them in to a winning team in the Championship that would be even better. Recent media has said that the Academy costs around £3m each year to continue running and you have to acknowledge that the owners didn’t look to cut this cost when we got relegated. It only takes a couple of good prospects to come through and be sold for decent money (or help us get promoted) and the Academy has paid for itself. I’m interested to see how the likes of Butterworth, Magloire, Grayson, Buckley and Rankin-Costello can progress next season if given their chance in the first team – just look at how well Travis has done this year since coming in.

In my opinion the best team I’ve seen at Ewood this season was Sheffield United by a long way, so I’m pleased they got promoted. They also got dealt a bad hand the last time they were in the top flight, and with Chris Wilder in charge they have a very good manager; I’m also pleased for Billy Sharp to get his chance at the top level, he’s been through a lot but he has always scored goals and his moved at Ewood caused us no end of problems.

Where should we be aiming next season? The pessimist in me says anything other than relegation is a good season, but I can also see the potential this squad has, and I’d hope for us to be pushing for the play-offs at the end of next season. If you look back at the points we dropped late on from winning positions this season, those 14 points may not be too difficult to make up. Ultimately, I think we may fall short, but it would be good to have a real go and look upwards for a season rather than over our shoulder at relegation – get to 40 points and then see where we can go. If we don’t quite make it next season it will be another year of experience for a young squad and we can look to the following season. What we don’t want to do is gamble the future of the club on new signings to get us promoted (like in the Kean era when we gambled and spent big on the likes of Best, Murphy and Etuhu, which still cripples the club financially to this day). I trust Mowbray to get it right and bring in the right kind of player whilst also introducing some of the Academy products in to the first team. I also trust that the Venkys appreciate how good a job Mowbray is doing and don’t get trigger happy should we not start the season on fire (look at how close Daniel Farke was to the sack earlier in the season and how they ended). They continue to bankroll the club and finance the debt and Rovers supporters must realise that without them we would undoubtedly be the next Bolton. Yes, they have made mistakes in the past, but I truly believe they were badly advised by people motivated for personal gain, and they came in to it with their eyes closed (or blindfolded), but they obviously have ambitions and an affection for the club, or they wouldn’t continue to pump the money in. I think most fans who attend games know this, but it would be nice for those who still stay away to acknowledge this by returning to games next season – we need every bit of help we can get. The way Mowbray plays gets you out of your seat, and you can’t ask for more than that.

We’re (still) on our way back.

Smells Like Team Spirit

One of the many ways football has changed even in the last decade has been the advent of social media. It is a tool for two way communication – for fans to communicate with players, and for players to communicate with fans; but there are no filters, either way.

From the players side, there are countless stories like the one where Joleon Lescott “accidentally tweeted a picture of his expensive car from his pocket whilst driving” following a bad result (for anyone who has a smartphone, which is pretty much everyone, the phones aren’t that ‘smart’), which do nothing the make players more relatable to fans, or to dampen the stereotype that some players don’t care about clubs, results or performances. However, something Blackburn Rovers have got very right is social media and building that relationship and communication between players and fans – bridges that needed to be re-built following years of mistrust and silence. We are now accustomed daily videos tweeted by the club, and general banter between the players on twitter visible to all.

As with all clubs and players, following every game we get the obligatory tweets from players about how happy/disappointed they are with the result, and always how amazing the fans where (again). I used to think this was a standard post sat in every players draft box ready for posting at 5pm every Friday (minus the “say something like” faux pas made famous by Victor Anichebe), but I, probably like fans of every club, have been suckered in to thinking that Rovers players do actually care and they do notice the support and care about the result and performance – call me an optimist, or an idiot (you decide).

I feel at Ewood Park we really do have a good team spirit and this is outwardly visible through both the individuals posts on Twitter and Instagram, and also there demeanour and attitudes toward the club and each other on the content posted by official club channels; I just don’t think you can fake it that much, so often, you’d get caught out at some point. Look at the jokes and comments between the likes of Dack, Armstrong and Chapman, and the videos and photographs of players heading to Las Vegas after the promotion last season – there is a real team spirit there, and a team spirit which ha probably influenced the likes of Armstrong and Chapman resigning for the club on permanent deals.

The club have definitely rebuilt that social media bridge and the outcome has been incredibly positive, impacting performances and results on the pitch. But it is a two way thing.

After a victory, social media is a bright and shiny happy place with players high-fiving each other, sharing videos of goals; and fans talking of how far a team can go this season, how good a player is and players on their performances. But visit Twitter after a loss and it is a very dark place indeed. Gone on the high fives and congratulations, replaced by tweets about where we are poor and need to strengthen, what the faults of the team are and even tweets aimed at specific players to tell them how poor they have been (regardless of the praise sent their way the last time the team won).

In the 12 hours following defeat, Twitter may be the darkest footballing place on the planet. Players know when they have been poor and I truly believe they know when they have not got what they should from a game. The last thing they need is a teenage brat with a sense of entitlement telling them they were poor and how they need to find a new club. The amount of times I have come away from a defeat and thought “yes we’ve got beat which is disappointing, but I don’t think I could ask anymore of the players and their efforts”, only to head on to Twitter to be confronted by ‘fans’ who must have watched a different game.

The dangerous thing with social media is people only post when they are either elated with joy, or upset with something – there is not middle ground. The other problems with Twitter are that a large percentage of active users is 25 to 34 year olds, and the ability to send any content of 280 characters to anyone with an account. Hypothetically speaking, a 5 year old who has never attended a football match in their life, or know what football even is, could send a message to a young professional footballer,who may be low on confidence anyway, and tell them they are the worst player they have ever seen and they have no future in the game.

Fans at Ewood have become so used to winning ways under Tony Mowbray that they have a sense of entitlement that we should be winning every game; tie that in with an underlying feeling of some fans that we are still the Jack Walker-built team of the nineties and we should in the upper echelons of the Premier League, and after a loss (even a first defeat in 5) if you only logged on Twitter to see how the game had gone you would think we had waved a white flag when the first whistle was blown, the players hadn’t broke sweat and relegation was a certainty. In reality, we are a team newly promoted from the 3rd tier still finding our feet in a higher division, sat 15 points above relegation with 14 games to go – a bit of realism and reflection is what is needed after full time, not a full blown Twitter rant about how unrealistic expectations aren’t being met.

Social media is a two way thing. From a players point of view, you come off the pitch having given everything, and let’s say we’ve been sucker punched by a late goal or on the end of a bad refereeing decision; you get back in the dressing room, shower, change and pull out your phone only to see tweets like: “x isn’t good enough”, “x isn’t fit to wear the shirt” or “that performance is disgraceful”. More than likely the impact is going to be negative and potential affect future performances and attitude, and worse still, impact upon that great team spirit. It is very short minded from the so called fans to vent that frustration.

It’s not too long ago at Blackburn Rovers that we had an endless line of loan mercenaries with no real interest for who they played for just that they got some game time whilst they were unwanted by their parent clubs; at one time there were so many so many at the club it was difficult to remember who we owned and who we didn’t, and very few of them made any lasting impact. Things are different now and we have players at the club who want to be here and are working together with a common goal of making us a better team and moving us up the league.

A case in point regarding the idiocy in Twitter was after the Reading game midweek – yes it is a game we should have won on paper, but history tells us these are the sort of games (where the opposition hasn’t won for months) that we do lose, and you don’t win games on paper. If you’d logged on to Twitter after the game you would have thought we hadn’t turned up and that we’d been outplayed and outmuscled. When, in fact, we were the far better team for 75-80 minutes, but undone by a late goal in the first half and then a quick counter late in the second after equalising. Mowbray’s team selection dropping Dack, Graham and Reed has been questioned, but in my opinion the decision to take Dack and Graham out and play with a central three in midfield and use Armstrong’s pace over the top worked in the first half as we dominated the game for large spells, but could fashion a clear cut chance or take the half chances that fell to us. Conceding right on half time a was a killer – the defending for the goal was poor, but it was the only time in the half they had a sniff. Then we have to change it in the second half to get back in to it, which we ultimately do, but by which stage we are so attack-focussed one decent cross field ball tears us open and a very good punch suckers us once again. Mowbray was right in saying he was be,used we got nothing out of the game as we did boss it for large parts, but just couldn’t fashion the chances. We haven’t had a great record away from home all season, but the win at Millwall looked to be a blueprint for the performance on Wednesday, opting for bodies in the middle to prevent the threat and then the pace of Armstrong, Conway and Brereton on the counter, and I honestly believe if we’d got to half time either level or ahead we would have gone on the win the game, brining Dack off the bench for creativity late on in th same way we brought Armstrong and his pace on at Millwall. Don’t be fooled by twitter reports of an “appalling” or “disgraceful” performance, it most definitely was not, it’s just as happens so often in football, the team that deserves to win does not.

For now we sit 14th in the league, 15 points above relegation with 14 games to go. There has been talk of play offs but this season is about survival and building for next season when a play off run may be more realistic and prepared for. We need to finish the season positively both on and off the pitch to enable us to build for next year, so if you’ve got negative thoughts after a game, leave your phone at home and go for a beer rather than venting on social media.

Expectation Vs Optimism

As another Transfer Window closes with little more than a breeze of activity, it was a similar story at Ewood Park with just one semi-new face coming through the door. In some Rovers fans eyes this was a missed opportunity to kick on for the play-offs, but ultimately, was keeping the cheque book in the pocket and the fax machine switched off a more sensible approach?

Following four league wins on the bounce Blackburn Rovers headed in to the last day of the transfer window in a lofty 8^th position just 3 points off the play offs. For many Rovers fans this was an opportunity to spend some cash and really make a push for the play offs. Harry Chapman had come back through the door, followed by rumours of interest in the likes of Britt Assombalonga and Charlie Austin. At the time I thought: “Assombalonga would be a great signing, but I bet he’s on a packet” and the same for Charlie Austin; I also thought Austin was more than capable of still doing a job in the Premier League, not to mention his former Burnley connection. In the end, Chapman was the only new face (back) through the door, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

As deadline day progressed, I heard of how Cardiff couldn’t afford Austin’s wages, and found it highly unlikely that we would be able to offer more than a Premier League side. Then mid-afternoon I saw comments from Mowbray saying: “In January the numbers seen ridiculously high for the players we’ve asked about, particularly players in our division. I didn’t know (those salary levels) existed”, adding “Yet, there they are, that’s what you’re quoted and you have to put in to some sort of realism that we’re miles short salary levels of what some clubs are paying their players” – I think these comments in particular are aimed at the potential Assombalonga deal, and pretty much put the nail in the coffin of any further deals getting done.

Yes, we are very short of experienced Championship strikers behind Danny Graham and it would have been nice to bring some back-up in for him; but ultimately, I’m more pleased with the comments from the Manager. In other instances, even at Ewood, Manager’s have seen the chance of investing in January to push for the play-offs and gone for it, without a thought or care for the long-term repercussions financially for the club – we’ve even done it in the Summer before (think: Danny Murphy; Dickson Etuhu; Leon Best etc etc) – and where did it get us? In to League One, massively in debt after years of transfer embargoes and players at the club taking home a wage without really wanting to be here. It’s refreshing and reassuring to see a manager put the club, and even the town, first ahead of a gamble at quick success. I’ve said it before, Mowbray is the best thing to happen to this club, especially in its hour of most need – he understands the financial barriers the club has to operate within and the risks both short term and long term of outspending our means.

What spending the money on players with astronomical wages also risks doing is upsetting the apple-cart. We have a tight-knit squad with a great team spirit which will win us points alone this season. The last thing we need is someone coming in on big money, breaking the wage structure and leaving established players disgruntled asking why their efforts for the club haven’t been rewarded with the same money.

In years to come we may look back and this may be seen as our best chance to push for promotion; but equally, in a sliding doors moment, we could have spent the money and look back in a couple of years time, back in League One, struggling with loan signings and think “why did we splash that money and risk all the good work on and off the pitch for one shot at promotion?”. I truly think that buy not overspending in this window, and probably others in the future, we are giving ourselves a better chance at future success built sustainably where in years to come we will be able to compete financially in this division – it might be a few years off, but we are heading in the right direction on and off the pitch.

We also need to remember where we are and where we have come from – following this weekends game against Brentford we are sat in 11^th position on 43 points, 18 points above the relegation places – almost two years ago we were relegated to League One at the Griffin Park. This is our first season back up in the 2^nd tier. We need to be realistic – survival has to be the aim this season, anything else is a bonus. Which raises the issue of expectations versus optimism. Expectation is a dangerous thing, when you start expecting things and you fail the fall is twice as hard. If we start expecting to be winning games and challenging for the play offs and promotion, when we don’t achieve these things, we make stupid decisions. If we expect to be challenging for promotion and we aren’t, people will forget how far we have come in the last two years and start asking for change at the club. We need to remember the dark days under Lambert and Coyle and how far we have come since then – it wasn’t that long ago and we could quickly end up back there. If by some chance we make the play offs this season we need to treat it as a learning experience, not a chance we have to take; the last thing we need is a play off run and defeat in the final and then some sections of the fans to start thinking we should have gone up and the season has been a failure; likewise, the following season can’t start with the expectation or ultimate end goal that we have achieve promotion – stupid decisions get made with that thinking. Similarly, if we do go up, the best way to approach the Premier League would be to enjoy the experience but ultimately use it as a learning curve for the players, and more importantly, as a financial platform to get the club properly back on its feet again.

In comparison, what Rovers need now is to continue that feeling of optimism that has got us to the top half of the Championship and has made us potential play off candidates. If we’re optimistic the future continues to look bright, and any success you have is brilliant and enjoyed; any set back you have is just that, a set back, not the end of the road and not a failure. Turn up every week optimistic and you get behind the team and push them on for the win; turn up expectant and you could be booing your team off at half time and getting on players backs – and that helps no-one.

Back to the transfer window and although we only saw Chapman come in, having Travis be given his chance in the first team, and seeing Nuttall come back with goals and Rodwell showing what he can do is ultimately like having three new signings, without the transfer fees or risks of dressing room unrest. As for back-up for Graham, I would much rather see Nuttall and Brereton given a chance should we be without Graham at any stage, it also gives Samuel something to aim aim at to come back for the end of the season. Let’s be honest, 43 points with 18 games to go, we should be safe (we would be safe already based on last seasons standings and again in 2015-16, only our points return in 2016-17 getting relegated with 51 points bucks the trend), so why not give Nuttall and Brereton a run if we need to do?

Without doubt the most disappointing part of transfer deadline week was the game at Brentford. To go two goals up in the first ten minutes and to end up losing 5-2 is a massive disappointment. Brentford are a good side, but when you go two goals up away from home, the least you should come away with is a point. I know injuries played their part in the changes, but one of my only criticisms/frustrations with Mowbray is the number of changes he makes when we go behind in a second half away from home. He reminds me of my younger self playing Championship Manager – tight game for an hour then I’d concede, so I’d throw all my attacking players on and change my formation, the outcome usually being conceding another two or three before the final whistle. Too many times this season – I can think of Bristol City, Swansea, Sheffield United and Brentford today for a start – we have made changes and ended up conceding more goals. In my opinion we are guilty of changing to many things in a short space of time, when we may be better off leaving things as they are for 5-10 minutes and getting a foothold back in the game. Again, I know the changes with Dack and Graham today where forced by injury, but go like for like with Nuttall and Rothwell, not Conway and then change it again a few minutes later. We have conceded more goals away from home than any other side in the top half of the Championship and I think this has a lot to do with it. Our goal difference was also starting to look better, but that has been blown out of the water again now.

At the end of the day, we are very well placed both for survival in the division and also for a run at the play-offs. The fact we have dropped at least 22 points from winning positions this season probably tells the story that we aren’t ready for promotion yet; but it shows us that the signs are there for a bright future.