When Paul Gallagher left I had the idea he was playing for Norwich. Turns out they had a keeper called Paul Gallagher playing for them which I must have subconsciously absorbed. But I full on was convinced he was there. Obviously the mind playing tricks because they shared a name.

Can't watch this one tonight. Pretty gutted about it Same team should be nailed on. Win would be sensational, draw okay. Hopefully Rothwell will get a bit more space and can have more of an impact. If not bring Holtby on early-ish. Also drop in Sam Gallagher if Graham struggles to hold up. It's nice knowing we have two options off the bench who give impetus without weakening the starting side.

I dont think that's true. He's a great player, but he's here because prem and CL teams wouldn't take him. Think a mid/lower table prem club might take a punt on him next year. But walk into a CL club XI I don't think so. When has a previous season Champ loane walked into a CL XI? Mason Mounts played a few games but outside of him I'm struggling.

If he was prem league quality already, let alone CL quality, he wouldn't be here.

I can't see Tosin making City but a mid table prem team will take him I'm sure. We should make a cheeky 3m bid in Jan but don't think it will happen unfortunately.

I agree that the oppo will figure us out to an extent. I would say the two most likely things they'll do is put a big man on Downing and a high press. On Downing we need to see how it goes as there's not much we can do about it, but I don't think a high press will work as Lenihan, Tosin, Downing and Evans will be able to pass around the press. I also can't really see how they cut out the pass through to the forwards from Tosin. Basically Tosin is a huge asset as he opens up the whole team and as he's a CB you can't really mark him out. That said probably the main problem is if the other side is a good attacking threat who play their own game and control the ball and put us consistently on the back foot. Thinking Leeds, WBA, Fulham. That's a different sort of game where it's about defending well in numbers with the attacking mids covering in which I don't think we can do well to be honest.

Watching the Derby game back we did look very very good. Got me thinking why that is exactly. In priority order I would say 1) Tosin - decent defender, but absolutely exceptional with the ball. Looks the best player (let alone defender) we've had in terms of picking a pass since Cairney. Probably better than him. I don't think I've ever seen a defender play like that for Rovers. Best comparison I can think of is John Stones. What it means is quite profound because the whole midfield can push up knowing he will find them. Also formed a good axis with Evans dropping off. Lenihan can pass pretty well too so it gives a really fluid feel to us playing out from the back. 2) Downing at LB - Again it's the ability to not lose the ball. Always picks the right pass. Can beat a player in a tight spot. We gave a way a lot of goals through weak left back play and he cuts out the mistakes and drives us forward True test will come when the oppo stick a big striker on him and start pumping the balls in. But to be honest Bell is terrible in the air so no loss compared to him. Arguably Williams is more solid in the air but then you lose the retention of the ball and attacking threat, plus add in a few unforced errors. =3) Travis and Evans partnership - No one really was calling for it but you can see why it works - it allows Travis to push forward. Although characterised as a defensive mid he's actually a lot better playing box to box. Very similar to Savage, all about energy. That said why Evans range of passing has improved 400% I am not sure. Maybe the security of always having Tosin on for a pass taking the pressure off? If Evans was unavailable I think Johnson could come in with only a moderate impact. =3) Nyambe at right back - Offers more physicality than Bennett but I would not personally say has been a huge difference as he still can get caught out of position quite easily. Harsh maybea he has played well. I would not avocate Bennett coming back in, but that would be less of an issue than losing Downing, Lenihan or Tosin imo. =3) Graham as the focal point - has no legs but brings the attacking mid into play and can win aerial duals consistently. I do think Gallagher could do about 70% of what Graham does, and offer a lot more movement. If we lost Graham we could handle it. But you don't change a winning team. In summary - weve got a good pattern of play, but I still think on this run we've yet to find a team who will really put us under pressure with direct football like Preston and WBA did earlier in the season. Once that happens we will get a better measure of where we are. Absolutely crucial is Downing, Tosin and Lenihan stay fit and available. Lose any of those and the way we play becomes hard to maintain. Elsewhere in the squad is more flexible.

I don't buy this at all. No one wanted Evans back in the side, no one was saying Downing at left back. Yes some people wanted Rothwell, Nyambe and Graham to play. But it's hardly the XI that "the fans wanted". For another thing a lot of people have been wanting Arma dropped. He scored again today.

It's all a bit of a movable feast at the moment. Some weeks we look weak in some areas, in other weeks it changes. Only position I would say we are "strong" in is midfield. We could do with GK, LB, CB and ST in that priority order. I would have said RB a few weeks ago but I think we can survive with Nyambe and Bennett.

Dacks a very weird combo. An attacking midfielder who is actually more of a goal poacher. Not sure I've ever seen anyone like him really in the recent gane. Doesn't score from outside the box, doesn't assist that often. Probably more like a "second striker" a la Sheringham or Beardsley than an attacking mid as others have said. I always feel like he is way more effective if he is playing right up alongside the striker, not in amongst the midfielders.

I like them both to be honest. And Dack, and Holtby. We have a really good set of attacking mids.

I think our best card with Dack is scouts don't seem to fancy him as a Premier League player. Despite excellent performances he just doesn't seem to interest teams up there. Probably not viewed as athletic enough. If we are only trying to fend off clubs in this division we may be able to keep him.

It's an interesting thing football fan psychology. You definitely get saints who can do little wrong and sinners who can do little right. On this board Rothwell is a saint, while Armstrong and Bennett are sinners. The usual process is young players are viewed as saints, older players viewed as sinners, and players will be judged harsher and harsher as their career progresses and they play more games. While I do love watching Rothwell it seems odd that people consider him more effective than Armstrong who has consistently created chances and scored a few goals. I wonder if the roles were reversed, and Armstrong was newer to the club and mostly been on the bench while Rothwell played if Armstrong would be held in higher regard by this board?

He's got some quality but has 2 massive issues 1) he dithers on the ball in ludicrous areas of the pitch, 2) he slow over the ground which makes it hard to close people down.

I think Mowbray had figured out Mulgrew was a total defensive liability, but didn't want to create an "atmosphere" by side lining him unless he knew he was leaving. Then once Wigan showed an interest he rushed him out. One of the peculiarities of Mowbray is that he does seem to put a lot of stock in keeping certain players on side. But it's important not to stretch it too far - he has now dropped nearly all the old pros Smallwood, Graham, Mulgrew, Evans, Johnson. It's only really Bennett left who was interestingly dropped on Wednesday.

Id play the same team, but with the expectation of swapping Graham at half time / 60 mins. We need to integrate Gallagher into the way we play somehow.

With Gallagher I would tell him to stay more central and focus on linking up with Dack. I get the feeling he (Brereton does this too) prefers to run the channels too much, and seems almost like he doesn't want to get in the box....

I don't know, I'll reserve judgement till he's up against a quality player. Hes a fantastic offensive weapon from left back, but need to see how he copes defensively with aerial diagonal balls into space around him, and against a pacy direct winger who turns him inside out. My suspicion is, like Bennett, he will really struggle. Full back is a very very different role to midfield.

Before everyone gets too carried away I would say the lack of pressure from Brentford was a big factor in our success. It'll be a totally different kettle of fish against a physical quick moving side.

Funny game tonight. Great result. Pros Rothwell fabulous with and without the ball, and the system really suited him. Dack, Armstrong, Evans all played very well. We dominated the second ball, and our blocking and last ditch defending was great Some really good passing moves. All our players passed well. The centreback pair were fantastic in both their defending and their distribution Cons Still looked like we will concede any time anyone gets near our area Fullbacks clearly weak, we were just quite lucky they didn't target them Graham looked absolutely shattered after 40 mins I know he only got about 7 mins but Brereton still looks awful We carved out four absolutely golden chances but could only put one of them away. All in all really nice game to watch and really pleasing to win. But not really convincing it has to be said.

It's deliberately crap. Only one camera while ifollow is 4. Ifollow and Sky must have a deal on it.

Good half. Brentford have been atrocious, we've been decent. Still hardly counting my chickens. Our defence looks very shaky. For what it's worth I'd take Graham off - he looks totally spent. Lets wheel out Brereton and see if he has improved at all.

Graham is not going to last long from the look of him.

My fear is if wither of those come on then Dack will retreat into midfield. Seems to only like playing high with Graham.