Probs would be 4231 with Ben up top, Dolan left, Khadra right, Dack in the hole. Not sure Id really want to drop Buckley tbh though.

Yes - waiting for Dack and Gallagher to come back who will give us more attacking options. Probs will also sign a striker in Jan too. Things looking encouraging : Midfield (Travis, Rothwell, Buckley, Davenport, Johnson) and wing (Khadra, Dolan) options good. As is central defence (Lenihan, Ayala, Wharton, Van Hecke), left back (Pickering, Edun). Only thing that worries me is right back (no backup for Nyambe) and goal keeper. One injury to Kaminski would see Pears back in and us truely fooked.

Wharton did a couple of cheeky Cruyff turns too... Had him down as a bit of a lump no nonsense defender but he's not bad with his feet either.

You look across our team and it's hard to say where the weaknesses are. We're not brilliant, but we've got good quality everywhere without any obvious issues. Top 6 seems actually plausible.

Cracking performance, but Posh are absolutely rubbish. Game of two halves though, won't be completely confident until I've seen how they come out second half.

Watched the game back. First half - surprised given the stats that we actually played pretty well for the first 25 mins. Got into the better positions in midfield, had Bristol City on the back foot and running towards their own goal. Khadra was brilliant. But once in the final third our passing and interlink let us down. From around 25 mins onwards Bristol went more direct and we couldn't cope. The goal was coming. Tactically their 343 meant they could overload our full backs, and Nyambe particularly really struggled. When the ball came in again Lenihan and Wharton were out numbered and couldn't clear the ball out. When Poveda got injured switching to a 343 to matchup with Ayala coming on made a lot of sense. Only players to come out with much credit from the first 45 were Khadra (obviously class, surely will be a big player for us in the coming weeks?) and Davenport who put in some good challenges. Second half - Ayala and the tactical change made a big difference. Suddenly we looked a lot more defensively effective. Won everything in the air, full backs didn't get out numbered. 343 Vs 343 does turn the game into a bit of a grind though, especially with Edun and Nyambe obviously not suited to a 343 as they lack the attacking delivery I was really confused why Davenport who had a good game was taken off? And Nyambe who had a nightmare stayed on? Really odd. When Nyambe did eventually go Buckley moving to right back improved the wide quality. Clarkson coming on was mental though.... Why?! Surely Dolan would have been a better shout? Clarkson offers absolutely nothing. Despite our defensive improvement we still really struggled to open up Bristol. When we did score it was a bit of a gift from terrible defending, great finish by Diaz though. On the whole I think we missed Pickering quite keenly in the 343, and Gallagher generally up top. Kaminski made a couple of great saves towards the end. Maybe we were lucky to get a point really. Only real bright spots Khadra, Diaz scoring again, and Ayala coming through 45 mins. Otherwise a game to forget. Also perhaps if you were being generous you could say it is a game we would have lost last season where we were very one dimensional, but we could change up this time round when it was obvious the system was struggling and get a point back.

Couldn't watch the game today, will catch on playback tomorrrow. Seems like from the flow of the game and comments on here it was a classic case of our 4231/433 getting out muscled by their 343 until we matched up at half time when Ayala came on. Suddenly we became more competitive. Will be interesting to see if thats the case when I watch back.

Surprised Pickering doesn't even make the bench. All the lead up suggested he was fully back?

A few games ago I was pretty unenthused by Poveda, Davenport and Wharton. Khadra I could see was a decent player but he hardly had any game time. That all of them have put in a very good performance and we also have Ayala back changes the mentality really. Should be able to put out a solid XI and have 3 decent options from the bench. If you were the Bristol city manager trying to setup it is a difficult prospect as Rothwell, Dolan, Diaz, Buckley, Poveda and Khadra all offer something different. If Gallagher's available that's different again. We're a threat on the counter and a threat from set pieces, a lot of pace and trickery, and score a lot of goals. Not many teams (except Fulham...) will fancy playing us.

I think qualifying worked a bit differently 80s and before. The tiny nations weren't in there and the groups were a lot smaller. Eg. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA) Malta are in there, but no San Marino, Andorra, Lichtenstein, Gibraltar. Pre qualification is obviously needed, and I think it's on its way. Nations League will eventually replace qualification imo.

Amazing - really shows the impact of players who are underrated like Lenihan and Gallagher. Also maybe that the likes of Dolan and Edun are overrated.

From a statto perspective I guess the way to manage appearance length is to multiply the score by % where 100% is 93 mins to allow for extra time?

I think what you're doing is great! So much more objective than all the opinions that get thrown around. Do you have average scores so far for the season? Would be interesting to see how Rothwell compares to Travis or Edun compares to Pickering, or Gallagher compares to Dolan.

Watched the game back. We were excellent going forward, really incisive and clever with the ball. Devastating on the counter attack. But also we gave away a lot of simple opportunities to the blades. We could have scored six or seven but they could have scored three or four..... If they'd put one of the many opps they had away it would have been a different picture. So a fun game, but need to sort the defence out. Formation wise it was interesting. We actually played more of a 442 which I've not really seen since we had Rhodes and Gestede. Buckley was pushed right up alongside Brereton. Think the Blades back three really struggled with it. I would like us to persist with it as it worked so well. Buckleys slight frame makes people thinks he's a push over but he competes physically very well. He must have won the ball back half a dozen times. Anyway not sure we can read much into the result, but good to see both Khadra and Poveda perform. Travis looks back to his best which is huge for us. Wharton was great in the air, but struggled when balls were played in behind on the channel. To me the new crown jewels are Buckley, Dolan and Travis who are all top players at this level. I like Edun also who looks to me like a top young player in the making. Next game we should play exactly the same XI and see if it was just Sheff Utd being poor.

I get that. But equally he has supported the likes of Travis, Rothwell, Buckley, Brereton, Dolan into quality players. You can't beat him with Davenport on one hand and not recognise who he has done a good job with on the others. When it comes down to it he's a decent Championship manager, but not a brilliant one. There's a mentality on here that whoever we get will be better and that's just not true in my view. The Championship is a hard league where the vast majority of managers fail, and that's before our know nothing owners get involved We could do a lot worse, and I am sure will in time.

His transformation is unbelievable. Never seen a player who seemed so irredeemably poor become so good. Similarly (albeit only a game) Poveda sounds like he hugely improved today after being epically rubbish which is great.

You tell yourself that, but you wait to see who Waggott and Venkys wheel out when the time comes.

Don't get that - Lenihan is our best defender. Ayala has more quality but no pace and horrendous injury record. Everyone else miles off Lenihan. Our win % without him is really poor. On the game, just listening but shows just how unpredictable Mowbrays teams are. He's got his faults but honestly think there's only a 10% chance we'll get someone better when he leaves.

Could be : Kaminski Nyambe. Lenihan. Wharton. Edun Travis. Davenport Khadra Buckley. Poveda Brereton Or : Kaminski Nyambe. Lenihan. Wharton. Edun Travis. Buckley Davenport Khadra Poveda Brereton My gut feel the 4231. If Wharton is fit defence is okay. Up front time for Khadra and Poveda to show something.

I think that's harsh - between them Pickering and Edun have made the left back position quite solid after being an huge Achilles heel for years. If everyone's fit the side has got to the point where the first XI is actually genuinely good enough for playoffs I think. Thought after Armstrong left we would really struggle up front but Gallagher, Diaz, and Dolan are all doing amazingly well. Buckley, Travis, Rothwell is a very decent midfield three, Ayala and Lenihan an excellent cb partnership, Nyambe a strong right back. Kaminski a solid keeper. All those players play and we're very competitive. Once you get out of that first XI things go downhill quickly though. Van Hecke looks good, Edun seems solid. After that is either unproven loan or youth players (Khadra, Poveda, Butterworth) or senior ones coming back from big injuries (Johnson, JRC, Dack, Wharton). It's hard not to look at the rush of games over Christmas with foreboding. There's no way we will keep everyone fit enough.

Good post but I can't see Johnson getting dropped. If Gallagher's carrying a knock can see Khadra coming in, but could be any of him, Poveda or Butterworth. Or even McBride. Don't think Tony (or the supporters) are that convinced by any of them.

From what I've seen JRC is good enough. Not brilliant but decent. Rarely has a poor game. Has a good delivery and a good engine. I'd definitely persevere with him. Butterworth hasn't really shown anything except a good 30 mins at Hull. But I have the feeling that with more games he could make quite an impact for us, but that's just a hunch. He's got a good change of pace, a good strike. He absolutely rinsed the Hull defence. Again would like to see more of him. Problem for him in Dolan, Khadra and Poveda we have three players who are quite similar. I'd pack Poveda off and give Butterworth more game time.

Jozwiak is obviously a good player. Watched him for Poland and he looked excellent Derby are a club all over the place. I'm sure in a new environment he would improve.

To be honest has there ever been a manager at Rovers (or any club, or international football) that doesn't get the "why do you sit back on a lead" criticism. I'd wager when Mowbray gets eventually potted we'll all be on here saying the same about the next guy. Id bet my house on it. I think to be honest it's the nature of football. One team gets a lead the other side starts taking risks and either they get battered or they manage to turn the game. It's just the way it is to a certain extent. I'm not really sure Mowbray is much worse than any other manager on that front.

Yes, two of the worst loans I've seen us make. We should demand our money back! Van Hecke looks quality through. Khadra is talented but we haven't really figured out what to do with him yet.