That's weird, I don't think I said what you quoted there? Anyways, ya I think Holtby and Johnson are getting too much game time than their performances deserve. It's perplexing how Davenport hadn't played more. It's classic Mowbray though. He did similar before with Rothwell after he played well and then proceeded to drop him for ,I would say, questionable reasons based off his view of what a midfielder should do.

I like the two lads as well to be honest, Thompson yesterday had a very boring voice though, reminded me of the priest out of Father Ted. Only a young lad though, so I won't be too critical. Warren can be gas, cos of the two, he certainly is the most likely to be critical, even though both of them clearly try and keep that in check. To a level that's frankly absurd at times. You could get a few interesting candidates off this message board I reckon 😂

Yes, but surely a good and unbiased CEO would feed their views into the proper channels if they saw things weren't working?

Good post. Dack was midfield wasn't he? He looked to be centre forward almost on top of Armstrong at times. I think you hit the nail on the head here about players getting in each others way. Always seems to happen I think we have the players too as well though, so that makes this type of performance even more frustrating!

It's funny cos I agree I don't think he likes unhappy players, but his ham fisted methods often lead to this happening anyway. I would love to hear the inside track from the players on what the make of him. I wonder is it mixed? Dack seems to be a huge fan, as are a few others. Did ye watch the brains of Brockhall on YouTube? It's good craic, but Gallagher was on the other day and they asked him his position he said "right back, am no right wing isn't it? Then laughed and said "striker" he then asked "can I do that again" or "can we leave that out?" And started laughing.

I think fair play to them. What I'm "arguing" about was that we were never that negative against a similar placed team under Hughes and Allardyce. It's a style of football they play that I will be very interested to see what chants their fans sing whenever they get back into the ground. I just think its so negative that you need to be getting top 6 to put up with it for more than a season. Parking the bus from the 6th minute, against us, come on that's a very specific way of playing. Our brand of shite is uniquely frustrating to us, I'm sure a neutral would find us more entertaining to watch than Stoke. As I said though,fair play to them, I would have no issue with it if we were top 6 come the end of the season.

Nobody is suggesting we "start playing the percentages" and hoofing long balls in on top of our midget attackers, but the reality is we have struggled to break teams down as late. Brereton and Dack will be huge additions to have back. We must be the most impotent team from set prices as well though, so I do wish we have a player step up and start getting on the end of them. Ayala and Lenihan, here's looking at ye. Issues remain with the defence though and that will probably be our undoing.

Plus I never said drop him or said he was easily replaceable. So don't put words in my mouth. Thanks. Also, it's not an over reaction to say his display against Bristol would damage morale or that he was playing up to the cameras, even though ,again, I never said the latter. If you play on a team and someone is extremely greedy, you will give them leeway while things are going well, but the goodwill won't be long disappearing when they aren't. You keep mentioning selfishness like it's a good thing, then say you acknowledge Armstrong has been too greedy at times. As before with results, being greedy is fine ,if you are scoring and most importantly of all THE TEAM ARE WINNING.

Not exactly against all evidence if you look at the rest of his career, but you seem to have focused on the last 12 months ,from 2 separate seasons only. Which is a bit blinkered,but how and ever. Hopefully his drought doesn't go on too long and that he starts passing instead of taking hail Mary shots at every opportunity. I am certain his teammates have said this to him already. So should be all good.

Well obviously Douglas is playing awful, but Murphy was an out and out snake on top of it

Ya, I don't get the comparisons with Rhodes. Completely different situations. Simply, Rhodes far more prolific, less mobile,yes, but also far better at shot selection. If there was a prize for hitting defenders with shots, the competition would be over by now and Armstrong would have his award at home.

It was grand for me, apart from the numbing commentary

Armstrong is the focal point of our attack, we have most possession in every game and have had the 2nd highest number of shots in the league. Something is malfunctioning and to me it looks like his link up play is a part of that. Clearly not the only thing, but you shouldn't be shot down or scoffed at for suggesting that it's an issue. Anyway, Holtby and Johnson were shite too. Gallagher, well that goes without saying. Elliott still looked decent, as if he wanted to move us forward, even though it was poor by his standards. I said it already, but I'll say it again, Holtby epitomises us at the moment, need , tidy but no end product to hurt the opposition. After so much early promise, things have stalled, badly. Dack and BB back now though, so the cycle goes on and it's the hope that gets ya.

Desperate to discredit him? Jesus man, relax, you're losing the run of yourself in an attempt to defend any criticism Just like having more possession doesn't win you anything, neither does having the top scorer if he is for himself too much. Another striker could bring more goals out of others. There have been numerous examples where Armstrong could have played someone in a better position in. I don't think Dack will shy away from telling him that he needs to pass if he continues doing what he has been doing for a few games now. It all started with that game against Bristol city where he took on more pointless shots that I can remember, with teammates in better positions. A game we ultimately lost and the defence basically got all the flak for off some. It's clear to see though I'm not the only one who notices this. Armstrong is a funny one, there is has just always been something about his body language on the field too. Ever since League 1. I would say sulky. If he's scoring great, but I do standby the observation his goals have been mostly from penalties and against 3 teams we steamrolled. Now hopefully he makes me eat my words and starts sticking in worldies every week again like he has done in bursts in the past. Can he do that playing centre forward? Doesn't look like he gets the space. How many games would you give him without a goal before you would be happy to see someone else given a go there?

Good target man. Here's one that comes to mind, David McGoldrick, no world beater, but was class at this level. Actually wins the ball, holds it up and gets others involved. He isn't pushed off it easy and doesn't try and take on the entire defence with pointless runs and shots. To be fair ,he scores a few too. We are too predictable ,tapping it around waiting for what to happen I do not know. We won't even get the ball in from the edge of the box unless we are losing in injury time. Teams know this now. Dack and Brereton will open things up a bit more and hopefully Armstrong gets back amongst the goals too. I still think we need a physical presence up there though. Nobody should get offended or their knockers in a twist because our top scorers contribution is questioned to a small degree.

Wycombe and Coventry were so naive. Didn't one of them get their centre half sent off for exactly this? Teams have clearly figured out how to play against us to stop us

Ah no, I criticized other players too. As I said, if you don't understand the context, keep scrolling

Chris Brown could do those things? Lol. Ok. Amazing he wasnt paying for a top club so. Particularly with good target men difficult to come by these days. Obviously I wouldn't rule out a target man that could score goals, I think you took a major leap there 😂 My point was we need someone who can actually make the opposition concerned we might do something different than tap the ball around outside their box.

There are other leagues you know, not just this one. He's not getting the space to run into, so something has changed. Plus he has clearly gotten greedier. He has the goals, can't take that away from him, but if he had 9, I'm sure people would be quicker to point out the issues. Now it seems some get offended if the GOALden boy is questioned. I'm not referring to you there by the way. I know you're open minded. I think a few are even starting to sound like Mowbray with your inability to see when something isn't working and going on regardless. Hopefully having Dack and Brereton with him will get him back amongst the goals.

Don't let it bother you, especially if you don't fully understand it!

It doesn't have to be from 40 yards. We seem incapable of going direct from the fringes of the opposition box. Yet our goals against Rotherham and Millwall came from this type of ball. Both games we only started doing that in injury time. You can surely see that teams are now sitting deep and not giving Armtrong space to run into?

In your opinion. Any good team is about more than who scores the goals and at this point he ain't even scoring them. He has been poor since his spectacular self indulgence against Bristol. I just wonder did that impact team morale. Anyways, that's it on Armstrong. I've said my piece.

If your centre forward brings others into play, the burden isn't on him to score all the goals. Do you really think Chris Brown could hold the ball up well, bring others into play and win headers? Then maybe your not the man to be discussing this with!

I said I would take 17 million. I didn't say he's the problem. Teams have figured us out. He's not doing enough for me in the last 5-6 games..some of which he actively hindered the team with his greediness. So ok 3 of 15 penalties, then 6 against Wycombe, Derby and Coventry. So that's 9 out of 15. Not doing it enough when it really matters. Well I would also add ,forget about the end of last season, pressure was off then. That seems to suit him I suppose. I just don't think he is bullet proof in centre forward and that we can't even raise the suggestion that he shouldn't start there. He's struggles to get the better of the centre halves when they sit deep. Early on clubs foolishly played a high line against him. Nobody is doing that anymore and it's killing him. Of course, we dont know how 17 million would filter back, but don't tell me a manager couldn't get a better championship striker for that much. All hypothetical of course.

We were creating plenty when he scored most his goals. Teams have figured us out since.