Turns out my game over prediction was right. Lovely stuff. We are still the fragile team that JDT inherited, that culture hasn’t gone yet. Let’s break the cycle with a win on Tuesday. 3 in the midfield again please

Game over

Get rid of the 5 at the back, play three in midfield instead with Wharton a must start. The wing backs don’t get forward like they do for other teams so what’s the point of them? Both the Rotherham and Millwall games could have been very different if either of those sides had scored first. This may be a project but at the moment I’m losing faith.

It’s a matter of when rather than if Wigan will score and win 1-0. We could play until next week and not score. Too many players doing nothing. Get Hedges in central midfield alongside Morton so that Trav isn’t an outball as he offers nothing going forward. Get Gally on for Hirst and Dolan on for Sammy. Looking like another nil away from home

Yesterday left many more questions than answers for me. Firstly, why play a back five when the players at wing-back offer next to nothing going forward? Brittain was surely bought to offer that option after years of Nyambe’s inertia. Pickering looked decent going forward when he first arrived (even scoring twice) but has since regressed massively. When we ditched the back five in the second half we looked so much better…and then he reverts back to it when we go 2-0 up…inviting pressure and sending out the wrong signals. The two planned subs should have been scrapped as soon as that goal went in. They didn’t work and handed the initiative to Millwall. The first halves of yesterday, Stoke and Bristol City have been some of the worst 45 minutes of football I’ve seen us play at Ewood in a long while. We create next to nothing whilst racking up the passes in our own final third. It’s hard to watch and their were some justified boos in the JW at half time yesterday. It was a strange feeling leaving Ewood yesterday. We won but I didn’t have the usual buzz I do after a victory. It was a ‘papering over the cracks’ moment for me. My one big positive was the the squad depth which is finally looking above average. The bench was strong yesterday (not that it was used well!) and with the likes of Wharton, Phillips, Mola and Marakandy not involved, for a long time in ages I feel we have genuine depth. All feels a bit weird at the moment!!!!

Doneil Henry. Looked decent in the few games he played. Injuries prevented him making a bigger impression.

Need a win today given that the next three fixtures have not borne much fruit for us in recent times (Wigan away especially). I’d stick with the Wharton/Morton axis in midfield for the simple reason that it allows us to play out from the back in a purposeful way, as opposed to the nightmarish first half against Stoke where we dallied at the back as no one was demanding the ball in the centre of the park. Travis hasn’t got the ability to do that and I prefer Buckley playing further forward so it was always going to allow Stoke to swamp us. Cue the second half when Wharton showed for the ball every time which gives the back four a constant outlet. Couple this with Hyam’s ability to play out from the back (more so than anyone else we’ve got at the moment) and a feel that midfield is the perfect balance. I quite like Trav at right back. When he gets past his man he likes to surge forward and it seemed to create space for others on Wednesday. Put Hirst up top instead of Dolan but stick with the rest from Wednesday.

Neil all but appointed. The players will know and that will galvanise them.

Every Stoke player out to impress their new manager who no doubt will be watching on…I’m not feeling positive today. Prove me wrong Rovers!!!

Damned lies and statistics alert: the five fixtures played brought us only three points last season (QPR being the only victory, the other 4 being defeats). That puts us 6 points up on last year. I’m consoling myself with this tonight. These five games have certainly thrown up a myriad of positives and negatives (I list them in no order): In a parallel universe West Brom (with a functioning striker) would have beaten us at Ewood. Wharton’s injury has been crucial. Trav was outstanding in the first three games and has been diametrically abysmal in the last two. Buckley is not suited to the formations and can’t influence things. Brereton looked at his best against Swansea and the Baggies, Smodzics has scored one tap in and done nothing else. Gallagher remains Gallagher. Pickering seems to regress with every match. Edun must have a purpose but has yet to find it. I quite like Brittain. Hedges has shown glimpses but still flatters to deceive. Maybe more negatives than positives on reflection. We need some serious incomings in the remaining days of the window. Up next in the league is Stoke at Ewood…a fixture we haven’t won since Big Sam’s first game in charge (barring one FA Cup humbling). They have four points from five games, manager seriously under pressure (the Potters are revolting) and should therefore be a real litmus test for us after the highs and lows experienced so far. I’m hoping he keeps his job this week! Let’s see how things pan out. I’m not going to make any seismic predictions as yet. Early days.

Decent bench if things have gone awry. To be honest, I prefer to see Dolan coming on to test tiring legs but we’ll see.

If Wharton doesn’t make it then JDT will have to factor in West Brom’s primary tactic which is to get the ball to Jed Wallace and for him to whip in countless crosses. In this instance it would probably be better to pick Phillips over Pickering at CB. Ayala will guide him through the game. Not ideal but I saw enough of Phillips on Wednesday to make think he won’t be a fish out of water.

After years of witnessing 2-1 defeats to lower league reserve sides, last night was an absolute pleasure to watch. The intensity was brilliant with any lost ball being rectified with a pack like hounding mentality….Markandy in particular was like lightning in these circumstances. I can see what the sponsors were up to by giving Phillips MOTM (and he was very good) but I personally thought Dolan was the strongest performer…not that anyone had a bad game. I know it’s only one match but I feel confident that, if needed, these youngsters can step up to the plate and perform in the league. We will need them at some point but I have a funny feeling everyone in the club is being coached to a much higher standard than under Mowbray. These lads should flourish

Deepdale next Monday will be my first of the season and I’m only going because they moved it to Monday. I turn 40 on Saturday and I didn’t want the day to be ruined! For me it’s family commitments…I get enough stick for going to every home game so away days are off the table at the moment.

I’m more inclined to link their recent malaise to Mowbray’s tactics and him asking them to perform roles to which they are not suited. Johnson as a false nine against Derby being a prime example. I don’t think the players are throwing in the towel, rather they’re being badly managed

The lack of dissent towards Mowbray at Ewood is due to a combination of factors. Firstly, those who continued to buy season tickets throughout Venky’s tenure are those who want to watch Rovers regardless of the circumstances. I’m unashamedly in this camp and the people who surround me in the JW upper are probably the same. I can’t speak for the rest of the ground but I’m convinced the majority are there to support Rovers come hell or high water. Secondly, said people are less likely to attend away matches. This season, a supporter who has attended every home game has only witnessed 3 defeats (admittedly one being the worst in our history!). The home form has been good and even in the post Christmas slump we’re still picking up points only being defeated by Forest (ref from hell) and Bristol (robbed). The crowd aren’t going to turn on Mowbray under those circumstances as their football fare has been better than average at Ewood this season. The gutless collapses witnessed at Peterborough, Coventry, Sheff Utd, Reading, Swansea etc are not being taken into consideration by many. I’m not saying this is a good thing…far from it, but I think it’s a reality. This could be construed as apathy; there may be a hardcore group of fans who think: I’ve seen them win the league, league cup, play in Europe etc etc and therefore sit contented by the memories. There are many factors that have neutralised the home fan base. To summarise, away matches since Christmas I’ve had to endure…home games still give me hope. I still want Mowbray out mind

I said after the 99th minute at Coventry that we wouldn’t win another match this season. I stand by that. Another weekend ruined. We have been abysmal since Christmas with every acquisition failing in different ways. Giles? Shocking in a Rovers shirt. Edun, never a Championship player. We’ve had some shocking refs (again so today) but Mowbray and Mowbray alone is responsible for such a dramatic nose dive. All I wanted was to finish above the Nobbers and that useless smoggie doom monger is going to deny me that as well! Phone call to Dyche tonight please.

Putting aside today’s abject showing for a minute, am I the only one to correlate our post Christmas demise with the arrival of our new stadium announcer? I can understand the odd mistake at first (there were many) but today took the proverbial. It was clear that Gally scored the goal given the abysmal touch he took that nearly ruined the chance completely. The MOTM was also ballsed up and a substitution as well. Frankly it’s a dim reflection of the whole club at present.

A new low. We could play right through the international break and wouldn’t score. Toothless. Buckley was chronic, Gallagher reverts to type, Travis has zero distribution skills, Rothwell a passenger, Giles rubbish. Utter, utter predictable ineptitude and I’m done with it.

If Mowbray can get a consistent tune out of Gally then it will go down as a bigger achievement than any influence he had on Armstrong and Brereton. The lad gave us one of his best 45s tonight after arguably one of his worst ever displays on Saturday. Tonight we saw the £5m striker we signed, doing what we signed him to do. Sadly he’ll start at Reading and be crap. Whatever shit went down in that dressing room at half time needs to be bottled and brought out more often.

Buckley was fantastic in the first half…shades of Dunny

Well it was fun while it lasted. Thank you SKY, EFL and Hull’s new owners and another shocking referee for conspiring to bring an end to our heady days. Yes we’ve been shocking but circumstances have sure conspired against us. Play this game on Boxing Day and we take the points. Feeling very bitter this evening.

The most frustrating thing is that realistically, we defended well throughout the entire match, limiting them to a few crosses and not much else. Pears moves into the inglorious Duffy club for single-handedly throwing away a game for Rovers. I’ve just watched the highlights of Newcastle’s match where Cambridge’s keeper pulled off a succession of blinders. To say I took no enjoyment would be an understatement. I hope Wigan get the most mundane and pointless away draw in the next round or that an extended cup run knocks them of course in their promotion race so we don’t have to play them next year. We might as well waive the away fixture. To quote his autobiography…even Heskey scored the last time we won there. Tommy K back in next week, hopefully some positive transfer news in the coming days and we can put this pie eating nightmare to bed. ‘Dispear of hands’ should be the headline

If Buckley and Travis don’t get yellows in the first half then I think we go on to win that match. The Buckley yellow was just one of Stroud’s baffling to shocking decisions that ruined an otherwise competitive and relatively enjoyable game of football. Buckley has been booked a number of times in first halves this season and it has always led to a reduction in his presence in the second period. Huddersfield were rarely overran in the second half, unlike the first 20 minutes where I thought we were outstanding as they struggled to come to terms with the conditions and the tyro that is the ‘new’ Buckley was at his best. We didn’t create too much throughout but I put that down to a very solid defensive display from the Terriers. The most influential person on the pitch was the referee and that tells you everything you need to know. He’ll be back in Huddersfield by now, genuflecting to his bust of Herbert Chapman. Twonk

Conclusion made after that atrocious 45: Sheffield United must be abysmally shit