Whats funny is Mowbray has taken a lot of stick (rightly IMO) for not playing Rothwell over the last few months, but if he had actually started him earlier he would be getting a lot of credit for the signing. He cost us less than 500k, had a poor injury record yet has been fit all season, goes past players with ease. What a bargain. Also Mowbray really pursued him too, tried in January couldn't get him signed Payne on loan then went back in for him in the summer when some of us would have preferred Payne back. I for one was really underwhelmed by the singing initially. Just makes his exclusions even more confusing.

Amen ? stop trying to turn him into something he’ll never be. As someone posted earlier Friedel wasn’t amazing coming for crosses so generally stayed on his line.

Maybe he's got a short memory. He's picked picked Richard Dunne but he played with Terry and Carvalho at Chelsea for two seasons. He's played with Cech, Given and Friedel so Schwarzer seems a bit of an odd choice. Surprised no Tugay

Think Reece James might be a little pie in the sky But Jake Bidwell ticks a lot of boxes: -He's originally from Southport so might fancy a move back up North. - He's out of contract in the summer - He's over 24 (or whatever the limit for compensation is) -He shares an agent with a couple of our recent signings (Brereton and Chapman)

I agree on Conway, I still wouldn't give him another year but a proper winger would complement that midfield very nicely. Williams is better at CB largely because he's less likely to be stood up one vs one in a wide area!

It feels nice to be vindicated about the selections of Travis, Reed and Rothwell but there's a couple of statements i appear to have got wrong on here. Before last nights game I would have been very happy to never see Derrick Williams wearing a Rovers shirt again. But fair to play to him, I thought he played well last night, a particular highlight in the second half was where he nicked in front of a defender to keep us on the attack. As i've mentioned in another thread not having Mulgrew in there allowed us to play 5-10 yards higher up the pitch which allows the midfield to press higher up. The other one is Conway who bar the Sheff Wednesday at home match has looked really below what he used to be and Championship level. But he had a good game last night, he put in some fantastic crosses (like he used to!) and got up and down well. He's a natural wide player too which helps, he knows when to tuck to in and when to pull wide which meant he was always an option for the pass.

It's not just the tempo. The absence of Mulgrew allowed us to defend about 10 yards higher up the pitch which allows the more mobile midfield players to push up.

Wish we played the way we did last night on Saturday. A few of the youngsters might actually want to come back now!

Remember the second game of the season, home to Doncaster. The team he played that day: Raya Nyambe Ward Mulgrew Caddis Smallwood Evans Williams Whittingham Bennett Graham

Well that's a depressing thought

Thought his decision to bring Williams on for Mulgrew was strange also. Lets not forget that his last appearance was Sheff Wed where he was at fault for their first, so why have Rodwell on the bench if your not going to bring him on when a CB goes down injured? Could've used that space for someone that might change the game like Chapman.

Agree on Lenihan, his ability on the ball means he's no way a centre mid. Interestingly I was told that they had to work quite hard to convince Lenihan that his future was as a centre back, he really wanted to be a Roy Keane type midfielder. Mulgrew's gone at this level which is a real shame. That 2 and half year contract extension isn't look great right now. On Rothwell, I thought he started brightly and faded as the game went on. I actually don't think 10 is his best position, think i've read him say he likes to play left of a three in midfield so he can drive at people. Even so when you've been criticising someone for not contributing defensively then that was a perfect opportunity to play him as a 10. It was also a good chance to play Armstrong up front in his actual position who had yet another ineffectual game, he's another i feel sorry for, he;s clearly not suited to getting the ball from deep and trying to open people up. Playing Bennett as a 10 was simply baffling, he offered nothing at all to open them up and was nearly as bad at right back where he put is some really poor crosses. I've lost all faith in Mowbray. It's a shame as I genuinely wanted him to do well and now I can;t see him turning this around.

I’ve been quite critical of Mowbray this last month, but I’ve always wanted him to turn things around. Yesterday was the final straw for me. He just doesn’t get it, yesterday had a bit of everything from him Bennett as a 10? Needlessly negative with only 1 attacking option on the bench? Smallwood and Evans starting centre mid with Travis and Reed on the bench? Even when Mulgrew got injured (there’s another that deserves to be dropped now) he opted for Williams instead on of Rodwell, what’s the point in having a centre half on the bench if your not going to bring him on when one goes off injured? Could’ve used chapman or Butterworth off the bench to breath some life into the team. He didn’t make a tactical change until gone 70 mins. He didn’t make an attacking change until brereton came on with about 15 mins to go, it was quite pathetic. just drab turgid stuff as usual. Mowbray says that there’s not been a visible drop of in our performances. Remember Hull at home Tony what absolute nonsense. the way we’re going we’ll get relegated next season

I'd go: Raya Nyambe Lenihan Rodwell Bell Travis Reed Chapman Dack Rothwell Graham i,d have Brereton, Butterworth, Davenport and Buckley on the bench too.

The problem is that with each passing game he misses the opportunity to put it right. He’s played an 11 of players from last season at the weekend. He’s shoehorned Bennett into a new position and dropped rothwell who was our best player from the previous game. He’s wasting opportunity’s to turn it around. It’s not fully about our dreadful form, if Tony plays the young players or flair players and drops the untouchables until the end of the season and tried to evolve the team then I’d be happy whatever the results.

Having watched the goals back. Mulgrew doesn’t cover himself in glory for either

Doesn’t matter anyway because Mowbray played him wide right for all the second half of last season.

Thats the worry, He walked away at Coventry but he had a set goal there and didn't think he could achieve it. I bet he stills thinks he could turn this around so doubt he would do so here. I've no idea whether the Venkys would sack him before the start of next season. My guess is not.

DOF usually have a large role in transfers, which hasn't exactly been Mowbrays strength to date. If he's gotta go then get him gone there should be no half way house on this one.

I think a big injury at the wrong time. If he'd been fit at the start of last season you'd think he would've got a few games earlier on in the season when the defence wasn't set in stone and before Downing had come in for Ward.

Given the amount of bodies we need out and in this summer I wouldn't be getting rid of Bennett. He might not be good enough to deserve his current undropable tag but his versatility is useful.

Dack, Rothwell. Potentially Chapman

Kept more cleans sheets because 95% of his appearances were at league 1 level. I think he's better than Williams but not better than Lenihan, Mulgrew or Rodwell.

Downing is rubbish. Absence makes the heart grows fonder. We should never have let him go and he's clearly a better option than Williams but he isn't a championship player.

Probably for the best