I don't get you? If they had 10 days, of course they could have worked religiously on it. That blanket defence is how O'Neill made his name at NI. Did you ever watch them play? Did you watch either of the 2 games you mention where they conceded 4? We lacked a bit of quality, no doubt, but they defended very, very well. Organised, disciplined with a solid keeper. They will get more points away if they defend like that.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/11944257/premier-league-to-launch-hall-of-fame Shearer surely in the mix for one of the first 2 places. Him and Fergie.

Oh my god I f**cked Bell out of it when he did that. He could have crossed first time or taken a touch and then crossed. He took a few touches and ran straight into the only Stoke player within 5 yards. Such needless over complication.

Ya, so O'Neill obviously worked religiously on their shape and defending before playing us. Unfortunate. A goal would have opened things up and they might have actually pushed put.

Whats the crowds excuse

Missed that. I think he is better in scrappy games where we don't have as much of the ball and there is a bit of an aerial battle in midfield. He reminds me of Glen Whelan insofar as most of his passes go sideways and backwards.

I don't think he's lazy,just a bit cumbersome. Playing very conservatively too. Not sure if that's a confidence thing. Didn't need him last night I feel.

Nyambe, Gallagher,Bell all available too. The problem was he didn't get on the ball and when he did he put his head down and ran into trouble. He's not playing well. Pretty sure he started in the number 10 role last night. Plus he played some of his best stuff off the left for us. Where do you think he should play?

Travis for sure. Johnson too,but he wasn't on it last night. He seems to only very conservatively at home, afraid to try anything expansive for fear of giving the ball away. He's better in away day scraps.

Is he being asked to play out of position? Not sure he is. As for no runners, you do know Adam Armstrong ,don't you? That's pretty much his game. A dream for players who have vision , hence why Dack set him up nicely on occasion. He occasionally flashes what he can do,because other times he simply fails to do it. I mean he went on that run last season where we was genuinely good. We haven't seen that since and it's not because he is out of position or because other players are bad,it's on him. I am pretty sure he would admit the same himself.

Ya,that was all part of the carnival back then. Things are a bit more personal and I suppose respectful at Boro now. I'm sure it would pain Gibson to have to sack Woodgate. It's a tricky one because if he kept them up,who knows,it could be a starting point and they could be good next season. Dropping to leave 1 would obviously be very bad though!

No,but he is a club legend so it's not as straight forward sacking him, I am sure he would have been gone by now if it was anyone else.

They have quality players. We were lucky Powell didn't put one away. I bet we would have been more progressive and attacking if he did. I mentioned it last night,but seriously between the crowd,the manager and most of the players bar Travis, why is everyone so nice and kind of respectful? That bullshit that Allen pulled was a fucking joke. Went down for at least 4 minutes , hobbled off and then immediately ran back on. He should have been nailed with a tackle for that. Imagine if ,and I know he is the extreme, someone tried to pull that if Roy Keane was playing or managing? The crowd booed a bit,but my god I can't believe some of the stuff that teams try at Ewood. That killed the momentum we had, the ref didn't even attempt to play it as extra time. Imagine Warnock was on the bench and a player tried that. Ok ,I'm rambling now but I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Mowbray has pretty much said it will be Nyambe to CB,with Bennett right back. We might get away with that against Swansea,but an away day at Derby,I'm not so sure.

No,I reckon there would be much more movement in than that. We signed 7 last summer. I also don't think one of Lenihan and Nyambe will need to be sold. I have a feeling it will be Armstrong. Lenihan might push for a move though,but I don't think Nyambe would.

Why?

They have gotten themselves in quiet the pickle. I think firing him would probably end up badly for them at this stage

Separate issue. The post you responded to was discussing progression Anyway,ya I agree that generally we are a tough watch,but we have played some decent stuff on occasion and I'm pretty sure you couldn't score some of the goals that Armstrong has scored. Teams have been promoted paying a far less possession based game than we play. If we went up,I doubt anyone would care about the football. So,if the manager is responsible for the play,which of course he is, is he responsible for bringing us to the cusp of the play offs?

How in gods name can you not acknowledge there is progression? By every barometer we have progressed since Mowbray took over. He's far from perfect,but I just don't get how you can claim we haven't progressed. I don't think we will get promoted either,but how is going from relegation,to league 1 to where we are now not progression in and of itself?

Stoke were set up very well defensively , that was his trademark at NI. They were well drilled and we didn't have the creativity to get through. O'Neill has clearly tried to improve them defensively and I would say they have done a lot of work on this. It was actually a compliment to us they way they turned up. One of the most defensive sides at Ewood in a long time. Rothwell was very,very poor. A frustrating player. He had taken the title of most frustrating from Armstrong. I wouldn't exaggerate about us playing badly, I thought we were decent in two thirds of the pitch and totally controlled the game. We just didn't have the speed of thought or guile to fashion any decent openings. A few shots from distance that Butland made look very easy. I'm not sure any keeper would have made them look so easy, his positioning was excellent and he tries to calm the team. I think Downing should have been central,with JRC on the wing. We didn't need Johnson last night, he was too slow on the ball. He's good when in a battle away from home. Not sure if it's been mentioned,but imagine the scenes if that shot from Nyambe went in. Lordy. I thought it was in.

There is a lack of urgency for sure. Only Travis wanted to take things quickly, complained to the ref about Stoke time wasting. The nasty teams with the winning instinct do that We should have went with Samuel and Armstrong upfront. Stoke were one of the most defensive teams I have seen at Ewood (on ifollow ?) the 3 centre halves are decent and we don't have a centre forward who could have bullied them , maybe Samuel could have done that. Must win on Saturday

We definitely were. We were dire against Wigan, much better tonight,just couldn't nick a goal. Win a must on Saturday

I think we were a lot better than the Wigan game. It felt like Wigan probably should have probably won that. Tonight we pegged them right back, didn't have enough quality ultimately,but didn't get that luck break you need either. Most of the second half was played in their third. Swansea will be more open I would imagine. That is certainly must win now.

Maybe, Butland is a very solid keeper. Makes a huge difference for a team playing that defensively

Great defensive display by Stoke. We miss Dack on nights like this. How the fuck was there not a riot(or even much booing) when the ref said 3 minutes extra time at the end of the game? At least 7min by my count