Most people are on the fence with Mowbray. Want to support him, but need wins and performances. Key Mowbray supporters on this board were very negative when the team sheet came out on Saturday, but they've got behind him since the win on Saturday. He's got to get at least 8-9 points in the next 5 games (2 wins and three draws, or 3 wins and 2 losses etc) and he will be back in a solid position again. Loses 3 the pressure increases. Loses 4 or 5 he will get sacked. Critical time for him.

We did go through a period of sacking managers frequently (Berg, Appleton etc.) but that did not improve performances. It's only worth sacking a manager if you are sure you can get better. I'm on the fence on that score atm.

I do think with Mulgrew out, Cunningham at left back, and a solid midfield of Johnson and Travis we will see an absolutely huge improvement in the defence. Williams to me looks a very good centre half (which begs the question of why we haven't used him in the past more there, prior to coming to Rovers he was virtually entirely used as a CB), and I am a big fan of Lenihan. Though I am beginning to wonder if Williams is actually better than Lenihan. My expectation from what I have seen is that we will be top half defensive record this season unless injuries derail us (which given that we have a paper thin defensive squad is highly likely).

Central midfield been such a problem for us. Evans and Smallwood have their limitations, but remember when we had Akpan in there, or Danny Murphy. Bloody hell. Main thing for me is if Johnson can keep sharp given his age. I was at the Fulham game and he looked well off the pace, but pleased he recovered and played well yesterday. We do need to have a plan of who will succeed Johnson as he's only got a season or so in him in my estimation.

He won virtually everything in the middle at Fulham when he played as the sole striker.

I would say it is only fair that those who gave TM a bollocking at the start of this thread for playing Gallagher right also admit he got it correct in this instance at least. Me included.

Could be I think. Dropping Armstrong opens this up : -------------------------Walton Bennett-----Lenihan----Wiilliams----Cunninghan -------------------------Johnson --------------Travis---------------Downing ---------------------------Dack --------------Gallagher-------Graham or actually we could line up 3412 : --------------------------Walton ------Lenihan-----Williams----Cunninghan Bennett----Travis------Johnson----Downing ----------------------------Dack --------------Gallagher-------Graham. I think given the players we have we will be shifting to two up top at some point.

He's not as big a problem as Mulgrew was, but he's still a big problem imo. Can't head the ball, gets caught out of position frequently. He's played a big part in our leaky defence.

Nyambe had a shocker on Tuesday so Bennett will understandably defo start. Both poor options though. I guess the question is when will JRC get a run out? Surely only a matter of time. I haven't really seen him play but it is worrying that he is also another converted midfielder. We really need solid defenders at full back. We have zero actual right backs which is a really bad situation to be in. Come to think of it when was the last time we actually had a decent right back?

It's likely we needed his wages off the books to bring in Cunningham.

Really really weird that Mowbray and Bennett are saying Mulgrew is "just away" as if he's had some small hiatus before his career continues with Rovers. In actuality he's been forced out of the club because he's a big reason we have such a poor defence and is surely likely to never play for us again. Super odd. Somethings going on. If Mowbray had decided Mulgrew needed replacing (as surely he must have over the summer) the arm band should have moved then. Rankbad management.

Paid £7m for Brereton and hardly ever played him from the start.

Cunningham will definitely play left back. Rithwell and Downing could play instead of Armstrong and Gallagher - very hard to call there. Apart from that looks like the team.

Reckon Bennett will 1000% start at right back. Swap Chapman for Downing and potentially Armstrong in for Rothwell to and that could be the team. Really hard to say though as Mowbray will be under pressure to play Gallagher and Brereton.

What formation are we playing now with all the subs?

I think we have to play the starting defence to bed them in and 2 strikers. Assuming Nyambe, Lenihan, Davenport and Chapman are still out I would go. ----------------------Walton JRC--------Tosin------Williams----Cunningham -------------------------Evans -------------Buckley--------Downing -------------------Butterworth -----------Brereton-------Graham

So two games into the season and I have formed the opinion we need to find an option to play two strikers and Dack, simply because we have a lot of strikers and we need to find a way to actually use them centrally without doing totally daft things like playing Brereton on the wing. Given the above brief all roads lead to a diamond. Can't say I am totally original, others have suggested it. ------------------------Walton JRC---------Tosin--------Williams----Cunnigham ----------------------Johnson ----------Travis---------------Rothwell ------------------------Dack --------Gallagher--------Armstrong In the above Gallagher and Armstrong will need to run the channels to provide width but they do like doing that anyway. JRC and Cunningham on overlap, Dack pulling the strings, Rothwell and Travis getting up and down while Johnson sits. Worth a try I think. We need an alternative when 4231 is not working.

I think I might be in a minority here but I thought Gallagher was very good in the air... He won virtually everything against the Fulham centrebacks pushing the ball onto a rovers player.

Watched the extended highlights back. Confirmed a couple of things... 1) Armstrong's got a lot of criticism on here but basically he created absolutely everything for us yesterday. Loads more that Dack or Rothwell. He did his work very well, just the rest of the team couldn't finish off 2) Johnson at fault for their first goal, he should have been out to Cairney 3) Tosin looks very good, Walton looks shakey 4) we did get one shot on target! Dack snap shot close to the end of the game off a Travis header.

Hughes would get a top half Championship job. I can't see him working for Venkys or going back to somewhere he has already managed.

Don't think that's really a problem. Del looks like a pretty good CB to me.

So... Just in the pub after the game. Main thoughts - The good- defence does look hugely better. Tosin looks very good, Williams had a very solid assured game. Bell who is about to lose his first team spot to Cunningham I thought had a good game. Also Gallagher missed a couple of decent headed chances, but won virtually everything in the air, and ran the channels well. I know he didn't produce anything truly impactful but his performance suggests he will provide opportunities over time as the centrebacks just couldn't cope with him at all. We need to figure out how to use him. The bad - Bennett played pretty well for most of the game, including one great triple block, but basically got done for the second goal. He just hasnt got the consistency of concentration and positional sense for full back. We absolutely must drop him. Johnson had an absolute shocker. A yard off the page and very poor passing. Thought we got a good one but on that showing quite worried. Dack, Rothwell and Armstrong all played okay without producing anything incisive. Of all three Armstrong got the most quality in. The ugly Around 70 mins we had all 4 (5 if you include Dack) of our strikers on the pitch in a bizarre 424 setup which just seemed desperate and we lost all shape. Brereton on the left wing was utterly nonsensical. Armstrong lost all capability on the right as there was no structure behind him. Someone mentioned a few days ago that he thought Mowbray had a points target that he needs to meet or he gets sacked. His subs point towards that being true. Overall - think we do look slightly better than last year to be honest.

Was keen to see Johnson after his rave reviews but seems the weakest performer to me so far. Been caught out for pace a few times and made some very poor passes.

At the game 1-0 down but we look really decent. I have been impressed with both Gallagher and Tosin. Both dominant players. Gallagher wins 90% in the air and covers a huge amount of ground. Good touch too. Bell and Williams have also has played well. Really on balance of play we should be ahead but somehow 1-0 behind. Standard. Edit - also have to admit I am a huge member of Rothwell fan club but he's done very little today. Armstrong has produced way more on the right side. I can see Downing and Graham making an appearance, maybe go 442 and bring Dack and Rothwell off. Dacks been okay but quiet.

Several key players we brought in I just don't know much about - Tosin, Cunningham, Walton - so need to form an opinion on those before judging the window as a whole. On those I do know - Johnson looks quality, Downing is definitely a step up from Conway. Gallagher on the other hand strikes me as very similar to Brereton. I'm confused about how the both of them are going to get substantial game time. Also not signing a second centreback was plain daft, and I am dreading when both Lenihan and Williams are out injured which is guaranteed to happen. I sincerely hope Tosin is not injury prone.