joey_big_nose

Rochina's had a bit of a resurgence and playing well for Levante in La Liga. Player I always think could have been really good is Paul Gallagher. Such a smart footballer, had real quality. But seemed to not really make the most of it. In terms of wasted talent biggest I've seen at Rovers is probably Junior Hoilett. Unplayable on his day but totally sabotaged himself.

Lenihan and Travis could both play at a higher level I think. Not as stand outs, but solid lower mid table players. Both are excellent at their core roles and have a little more to offer as well. Actually think both of them have a brighter future than Dack as they have all the physical attributes whereas Dack looks like he will be a little short of what is required in the Prem.

We're going to need so many players in June. As it stands today we need a gk, centreback, winger and striker. Then we need to replace Walton, Tosin, Cunningham returning on loan. And then on top Graham and Benno are now definitely too old. So thats nine players. A really good window would be signing four or five decent players so I think we are going to be really struggling. Also need to hold onto Dack, Travis and Lenihan all of whom I am sure will get significant interest. Even Nyambe maybe.

Agree with this with two minor quibbles 1) I don't think realistically Dunn and Tugay could play together in the middle. They were exact contempories at Rovers and virtually never did as there's not a tackle between them. So I would argue you would have to pick an enforcer alongside Tugay - probably I would go for Savage. 2) Hard to drop Nelsen who was absolutely superb. But then both Samba and Hendry were great. It's interesting that most people pick more players from the 2000s rather than the 90s. But I agree that the Hughes team was largely better than the Dalgliesh team, Shearer apart who was absolutely phenomenal.

My gut instinct is they will play through the summer as the financial consequences of not doing so are so dire. Euros will be move to 2021 to accommodate. The fly in the ointment as someone else said - if this does turn into a three month epidemic there isn't really enough time to play straight through the summer.

Rothwell's a funny one. Has a lot of good attributes. Pace, good technique, can pass the ball pretty well, direct, good dribbler. But for some reason it doesn't really come together. It's a decision making thing I think, which seems like it should be possible to coach. He needs to focus on picking when to run with and when to pass the ball. I do think the lack of balance in the squad doesn't help him. We have so many players trying to play narrow and no real width, so everyone's getting in each others way. And that's with 2 narrow players out long term (Dack and Holtby - !!)

Mulgrew was a total and utter liability so I can see why he was moved on and frozen out. I think Mowbray's trying to force him to make a move to save on the contract. But equally Mowbray offered him the contract. So the in the situation all roads lead back to the manager making an error.

Walton would be a decent signing for me. Not brillant but best keeper we've had in a while. Where we've messed up is £12m for Brereton and Gallagher and no defenders or wide players. Reckon it isn't going to change though. Tony seems absolutely wedded to the idea of playing strikers on the wing despite it clearly not working. It's as if to move away from it is to admit personal defeat. I fully expect us to sign two more strikers with no scoring record and no defenders in the summer.

Only real positive is Lenihan coming back should instantly hugely improve us.

It actually has looked like this at times.

I'm all for a bit of creative formations and swapping players around. But today is mad. Right back at centre back, right mid at right back, left mid at centre mid, striker at right wing, striker at left wing. I mean thats crackers isn't it? And shows fundamental mis management.

It's embarrassing how poor he is in the air.

I think it's 433 similar to how we ended against Hull.

Oh dear. Can see things being tricky.

We should have easily won that on balance of play. Got into a lot of good positions, but our crossing was poor and we couldn't find any space through the middle. We get the majority of goals from Armstrong finding space, but he had none today. And the rest of the attacking players offer very very little goal threat. A full back with a good cross could have made a big difference today. I suppose we could have dropped Downing in there. We do seem to end up drawing a lot of games where on balance we should win

A great chairman is at least as important as a great manager.

I've been thinking about this more, and in reality why don't we do it? Take out the entire Riverside for a bank of boxes. We really don't need the seats.... I think it could be pretty cool.

Love this!

Agreed, forgot about Walton. He's looking really really good now.

I would say the only signings significantly questioned by some fans this year were Downing and Gallagher. Downing has been sensational but it's equally fair to say Gaagher has been poor. On top of that I would say both Holtby and Johnson have made less of an impact than hoped. The majority of criticism directed at Mowbray in the summer and January was aimed at the non signing of central defenders. However we've been really lucky with injuries/suspensions in that area so far so seem to have got away with it. Plus Tosin has been a great signing when not much was really expected of him.

Good post this. Only quibble Ive got is isn't Armstrong the definition of a player who can create something from nothing? Does it virtually every game.

He's been good last six games. As for what to do if Lenihan is out Williams seems the best choice. But I think it would see us majorly weakened. Same questions on why we haven't strengthened the defence will be asked. Williams has had a few good games for us but is positionally and aerially suspect. I think Bell would get exposed and we will start conceding regularly again down the left. Mulgrew is even worse. Anyone from the academy we can throw in?Or maybe back three?

The big difference between this run and previous good runs is the quality of our defending. Even when outplayed and deservedly beaten by Fulham we were very tight defensively and limited Fulham to a few chances. I would say our chances of making playoffs rest on the back five staying fit above all else. Swap Leut, Williams or Bennett in there and it falls apart. Also Travis, Downing and Armstrong's availability crucial. For all eight of those players to stay fit and play 13 games (plus the playoffs if we make it) is a major ask. But it has happened.

Only contribution of note was one cracking defensive tackle. Apart from that totally anonymous. Hard to see what future he has with us.

To back this up I just watched back the highlights from yesterday (I was at the game) and Charlton's two best chances came from Tosin totally losing his man. Also highlights didn't show at least a couple of bizarre flicks he did which just served the ball to the opposition. He's got all the attributes, but he won't be playing prem football until he cuts that out.