yep

I'm sure he's not but the '2 and a half' get in the box. The rest of the team don't seem to. I think that's because Mowbray is wary of the counter-attack, he's mentioned it a few times. Bottom line, if Mogga was cautious in League 1, and he was, then that isn't going to change now we've gone up.

They surely have the internet in prison?

Very niche.

True to a point but Bennett isn't one of the fabled '2 and a half attackers'. Goals and assists are the job of Dack, Graham and Armstrong. Only 2 of those are doing their job. Bennett also tends to play a bit more centrally than his equivalent on the left hand side, and a bit deeper. He's more part of a three man central midfield - in much the same way Reed is when he plays there.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/dec/28/craig-bellamy-raised-the-club-and-swung-he-could-have-ended-my-career-john-arne-riise-liverpool Bellamy sounds like a lot of fun on a night out?

Agreed he's not a winger, he's a bit of an Emerton. RWB may be well be his best position but when we play at our best (shutting the opposition down and pressing high up the pitch) Bennett is our most important player IMO.

Disagree. Bennett is fairly poor at right back but when he's RM he contributes massively to the team and helps protects what is a fragile defensive unit.

Bennett isn't the problem. Maybe look over the other side of the pitch at the total non-contribution of anyone who plays on the left. Bennett also works harder than anyone on the pitch. We haven't won many since he's been absent from our midfield.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/december/a-z-elliott-bennett/ Starting to feel a bit sorry for BB. ? N – NICKNAME – What's the best nickname you've come across in your footballing career? We call Ben Brereton Coco Pop Neck. That’s my favourite! Tombstone Teeth is a good one as well. Stick with Coco Pop Neck. [Ben: Why do I get hammered in this every single week?!]

Rothwell is the quickest player Bennett has ever played with so it can't be that! https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/december/a-z-elliott-bennett/

If a Championship club which is £150m+ in debt spends £7m on a player who can't get in the team because he isn't ready (according to the manager) then I think that is a fair time to judge whether it was a wise move financially. We will only be able to judge the quality of the player if he is ever deemed good enough to get in the team.

Look and learn @Mercer. That losing streak has to come to an end sometime. Keep the faith!

The problem with Mogga is that he reverse ferrets quite often. Straight after the Leeds game he was saying 'the stats add up' https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17320535.leeds-united-3-blackburn-rovers-2-tony-mowbray-reaction/ Two days later he's saying stats don't matter. The 'man of integrity and honesty' comments always raise a wry smile.

???

I'm worried that we've only scored 7 goals from open play in the last 12 matches (how many against SWFC?) and that we have conceded 18 goals in the last 16 minutes of matches. We are poor from open play over the whole course of the vast majority of games. You can't keep getting away with it as we are now finding. We either don't have the players or the coaching is shite. These arguments were had last season when we had a bad start to the season (culminating in the Oldham away game). Some said it was the players but then we battered everyone in sight for most of the next two or three months and then went on to clinch promotion. We seem to be back to the same discussion.

I think that's just a nice way of saying he's going to replace them without actually saying it. He probably realises it's team spirit that has had a lot to do with our success over the last 12 months and he doesn't want to upset the troops. He was interviewed the other day and said Nuttall was now back to where he was when he joined the club and that the hunger was back.

“I’m not going to be critical of the team, people will have their opinion, everyone is probably a better manager than me"- Mogga. At least he doesn't lack self-awareness?

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17322890.why-mowbray-is-judging-rovers-with-his-eyes-not-stats/ Asked about the recurring theme (of shipping late goals) the boss said: “With total respect to the media world it’s full of statistics but I have to judge with my eyes. If we were miles away and had lost 3-2 then I’d be saying that. But we’re not a million miles away"

According to who? There was a lot of talk about the possibility 'bouncing through the divisions' by our esteemed manager, although he later ruled it out in a classic case of managing Pune expectations ? It's all about the nest few transfer windows now, which is probably what he should have said in the first place. Anyway, Sheff Utd, Millwall etc did well on their first season up (top 10 pushing for the play-offs). Mogga may be a victim of his own successful start to the season but with the players already at the club I think mid-table was always a reasonable expectation for this season. Most teams are similar in quality.

Sorry, thought you said 2013.

Shrewsbury at home. Smallwood and Bennett battered them. They never recovered.

Good Andre Preview. Who are these two beautifully coiffured young studs who also played for both clubs?

That wouldn't be a bad thing if we had players further forward who could create. It may have been a different story if we'd signed Freeman. Every team needs an anchor. At least I think that's what my old manager said.

Agreed. I think Mowbray is fairly average but Venky's are more than capable of appointing someone far worse.