Superb goal but a poor performance. I wish we had just one of the striking options of Boro. Someone strong, a nuisance in the air and direct.

When you choose Bennett to play as a number 10, when there are three strikers sat on the bench. Seriously, it can only ever be a no - can't it?

Tony giving the excuse-ometer a damn good charge as we speak. Holtby's injury the day after the window closed will be referenced as frequently as Shakespeare. I seriously wouldn't put it past him referencing Tottenham not buying anyone in a transfer window and making it to the Champion's League final (and comparing it to our Jan).

Exactly.

It does and we are the posterboys for it. A little bit of consistency will take a team a long way in this division.

Thank God we can now put that legendary 12 games form table to bed.

VERY lucky to escape with a point. Never got going. Never got a foot on the ball. Walton MOM.

Yes Trav! Middlesbrough concentrating too much on dealing with the threat of Bennett and forgetting about our new Robbie Savage

Perfect excuse for him. Many will buy it.

Unbelievable. ...only through experience, it isn't.

I always think they are a stupid idea. Whenever I go away during the winter, I feel freezing and cheesed off when I'm home. We are lacking energy and fight again today and can't get a foot on the ball. Praying for a scabby win.

Fuck sake. Any excuse to get Bennett on.

Nmecha hopefully going off injured soon. He's been giving Lenihan a tough time.

Head injury. Not nose

Both teams look very open at the back. It's bound to be 0 - 0.

To be honest, I'm glad the likes of Brereton and Chapman haven't been shipped out on loan. I hope they stumble across a run in the team in their proper positions - so we can give them a proper chance to fail. Currently, neither have had a fair run and both must be pretty low on confidence. Wilcox and Pederson has stop/start beginnings, as have many others. So hopefully they can offer something pretty soon.

Do you not have access to IPTV Philip? All matches are on there. Hoping for a win, Boro aren't all that but it's blustery so I have a feeling our shakey defence will act up today - so I am worried. Gallagher to definitely score at some point and an outside chance of Chapman coming off the bench to help snatch a point or rag a win.

Again, warped statistics. In the last forty years, there's only been one manager in the third tier - so he bloody should have a high win %. Flipside - In the last forty years only Brian Kidd, Steve Kean and Tony Mowbray have relegated Rovers.

I can tell you are mate. I always value your opinion and I agree with a lot of what you've said over the years (not everything obviously ?) To be honest, I'd much rather see us kick on with our own youth players than be loaning some other team's U23's. Every transfer must be meaningful. I liked what JRC brought to the pitch, Thompson is well worth a shot, Buckley hasn't been given anywhere near a fair go in the right situations, Davenport is a busy little bugger and Chapman has been under-used and just needs throwing in at the deep end or moving on.

Who is demanding success right this minute? I see lots of people demanding progress into the playoffs. I see lots of people sick of seeing the same old mistakes. People criticising the selections of players out of place who are stunting the development of youth players, criticising the signing of young players - who are seemingly bought for no reason, I also see people being sick of excuses and being lied to via the press and sick of blame-shifting. I can honestly say, other than the recent very OTT criticism of Buckley, I think people have been very patient with what has been served up. Even regarding Gallagher, the majority don't blame him, they blame the fact he is out wide.

If a big gap develops between us and the playoffs, I agree. We need to increase the value of our young players and fringe players. I just don't feel that Mowbray gives the freedom for exciting players to express themselves. All interviews about young players strongly criticise defending etc. Duff, Dunn, Jansen, Bentley etc. wouldn't stand a chance under him.

No they wouldn't. The 'mob' on here have been pro Nyambe, Travis, JRC, Chapman and many others- whilst Mowbray hasn't. It's a theme that has run for years on here- we are proper supporters of Rovers and would much rather blood our quality young players than persevere with shite or people out of position.

That's one of the reasons for my total disdain towards the manager. The losses are what they are and can't be reduced by anything other than player sales or club revenue. The Vs can't just inject their own funds to reduce FFP losses - otherwise they could throw in tens of millions and we could buy our way out of this league. Our transfer 'policy' has tied us in a knot now to the point that we can't even make small purchases without the guarantee of selling someone. Also, the out of contract players won't decrease the debt in any way, shape or form - only bonus is, they won't increase it...yet they'll need replacing and most likely for cheaper, younger, unproven options. That is something else quite a number of overly-optimistic fans are misunderstanding.

We are top of ONE form table. For a specific amount of games - twelve games. Not twenty. Not ten. Not six. and most importantly, not 29. Within those 29 games, we've been on two horrific runs...again. Same as last season. That's the issue you are looking past - a very poor quality league and poor quality manager not capable of EVER getting us in a position to get out of it. Whether that be through poor selections, poor tactics, poor signings, a lack of organisation, periods of poor fitness or lack of belief - or what my eyes tell me - a large dose of each. No reality check is needed. That's how it is.

Exactly the same points after the same amount of games last season. Same terrible runs of form and same chopping and changing. Never in the top six again but in touching distance. Worse investment than last year but through injury, age or lack of form we've lost the goals and assists of out 3 main goalscorers and creators - Dack, Mulgrew and Graham. It's going to take some serious luck to get us where we need to be.