BlackburnEnd75

I really like Zohore would be a good direct replacement for Graham. Holds the ball up very well

Evans is okay. I think Reed is better. On current form so is Travis but he needs to prove it over an extended run of games. For my Reed does well out wide because he's one of those players who can play anywhere, his work rate and stamina is incredible and he's tidy technically. But he's not really a wide players he doesn't offer anything attacking wise you'd want from a winger. I'd also argue we don't play a 4-2-3-1. we play a more 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 with Dack as a second striker

Reed isn't a winger. Would need to see Travis and Reed as a partnership before declaring it the best but they are the best two players at least on current form.

Gallagher would suit a 3-4-1-2. They’d be a greater emphasis on pressing and unlike Brereton when he was here he worked very hard and harried everything despite the rest not following suit.

Anyone notice that Preston moved very quickly to bring in two players. We seem to be behind the curve a little bit. Seem a little bit reactive must mean we are looking at players from Leagues above us rather than from below us like North End

Lenihan Right back because Bennett isn't very good at RB. Also Nyambe is injured. Lenihan played there a couple of times last season and did okay. Bennett or Rothwell the wide men, doens't matter which way round. Graham and Mulgrew shouldn't be risked at all. We've had 4 games in 10 days (I think). 4 games in 10 days is a lot give them a rest not worth the risk. Downing and Rodwell - I dont particularly rate either. If the Rodwell experiment is going to work then he needs to play games as a cb. Don't want Williams anywhere near the starting 11 at the moment so by process of elimination thats Downing left. Up top, I've said i'd rest Graham. Brereton meh, Armstrong is an option up front but a bit lightweight. Nuttall is in form and deserves like Travis another chance. He's out of contract in the summer. Why not see if he's up to it. Save us having to go buy someone else. Also its the cup, if you're not going to try something a bit different then whats the point

Raya Lenihan Downing Rodwell Bell Rothwell Travis Reed Bennett Dack Nuttall Subs: Leutwiler, Williams, Evans, Conway, Palmer, Brereton, Armstrong

We need to try someone else there in the short term if Nyambe isn't fit. What about Lenihan to right back? Wouldn't want to waste Travis or Reed there but might not be an alternative?

He'll be dropped after one indifferent performance like all the others. Great opportunity to give the lad a run of games.

That’s strange, no article anywhere saying he’s made that move. Just going off what I’ve been told!

Heard from a reliable source that Adam Phillips from Norwich is going to be signing for us in January. All but confirmed apparently. Lad was highly rated coming through at Liverpool but hasn’t really got going at Norwich. Another attacking midfielder

Raya Nyambe. Lenihan. Mulgrew. Bell Bennett. Reed. Travis. Rothwell Dack Graham leutwiler, Rodwell, Williams, Evans, Palmer, Armstrong, Nuttall. If Nyambe isn’t fit then Travis to right back and Rodwell to centre mid.

Raya Nyambe. Lenihan. Mulgrew Bell Bennett. Travis. Reed Rothwell Dack Graham

If people want wholesale changes then think again. Who’ve we got to bring in? Palmer I’d play in Dacks role if he wasn’t fit but other than that wouldn’t bother Downing isn’t better than Lenihan and makes more mistakes we haven’t got another right back to replace Nyambe. Reed would be wasted there, Bennett isn’t good enough there. Travis maybe In cm, Davenport isn’t for clearly, Travis maybe? Reed should be starting there every game. Rothwell isn’t disciplined enough to play there. Out wide get Bennett back in when he’s fit and then got ROTHWELL in there instead of Armstrong who isn’t a winger. Rothwell showed more In one run to win the free kick for the second goal then Armstrong did all game. He’s got pace and technical ability for the love of god Tony give him a run of games.

Nothing I’ve seen from Tomlinson suggests he’s going ever going to be good enough to start games in the championship.

Can’t get my head round the idea that Mowbray played for 0-0. He chucked away the point and stretched us too much. Brereton, Palmer weren’t getting back and it left us exposed especially as Smallwood and Reed has run themselves into the ground. Certainly wasn’t negative in that second half. A bit naive if you ask me.

Mowbray gets some stick on here for being too cautious but today he was far too cavalier with his substitutions. We went toe to toe with team top of the league for 70 mins. We ended up with 4 players up the top end of the pitch and Nyambe bombing on down the right. We were sooo stretched it was inevitable that we would lose. Palmer shouldn’t have come on for Evans, should’ve been Rodwell or Rothwell. Same for Armstrong sub. Williams, Graham, reed played well

A lot of Grahams 13 that season were penalties if i'm remembering penalties correctly?

Good source?

Used to quite rate him at Everton, he played in a preseason game at Ewood and looked good. He's had a few injuries now though and must be on a decent wage still

If Tony wants to go to 3 at the back then we would have to go after 2 wing backs. I don't think Nyambe is good enough going forward to do that role although he is athletic enough, Bennett has got the energy and can whip crosses in but might be quick enough. Williams is obviously a no out there and Bell isn't up to standard. It could help us transition to being more of a passing team but without the right players I don't think it would work Quite like what you've suggested in midfield. If we were to pivot towards that formation could go with something like Raya Lenihan Mulgrew One Of* *Rodwell, Nyambe, Williams Bennett Evans Reed New Left Wing Back Dack Graham Armstrong We'd have to try push teams higher up the pitch and keep that pressing game.

I think you make a very good point here about us chucking away leads or holding on narrowly for the wins we get. Like you say its very easy to blame Raya for the draw on Saturday as their 1st goal was solely an individual error on his part, but, we just didn't react to the goal and the second goal we conceded looked really poor to me. Smallwood, Bell and Nyambe all made mistakes in the build up to it. It's part of wider trend is it that we tire too much in the second half? Is it we don't create enough on the break and get the extra goal? Do we panic and drop off? Needs addressing if we're going to do anything next season

If Mowbray is now saying that we might be looking at the loan market in January then i'm seriously confused. The Brereton signing isn't that bad if like we all assumed there was more money to come. It also seems that Mowbray is looking for another Striker which again is confusing seen as the 2 strikers he bought last window usually get shunted out wide or don't play. Did Mowbray miss out on Gallagher and sign Brereton because the money was their for him? (my current working theory on Brereton is that they rated him and think he's one for the future but maybe he's going through a late growth spurt and they are trying to manage his playing time and fitness work.) If we only had that money to spend then it clearly would've been better spent elsewhere. Did Mowbray envisage switching to a 3-4-1-2 ? I'm having serious doubts that there is a master plan behind all this. But it's by no means over we've still got 2 windows left to sort this out Rothwell needs a run of games, i'll keep saying this until it happens. He has showed some promise with very little actual playing time, give him a run on the left wing until the end of January see how he gets on. If he doesn't nail the slot down then so be it. We are never going to get promoted with Evans and Smallwood as a cm partnership. Reed needs to be playing in there with either of them for the time being. Davenport needs game time after xmas to see if he's up to the standard. We could do with experience cover for Raya, he's been quite as good since his facial injury but I wouldn't go splurging the budget on a 2nd choice keeper. Nyambe needs to step up another level could he do with a natural right back to challenge him? Play Travis or loan him out. Same with Nuttall. Both have shown signs of potential but have both stagnated by not playing. Armstrong isn't a winger and never will be despite his goal at the weekend. Neither Williams or Bell are good enough, get a new left back and keep one as back up (i'm not bothered which). Palmer will probably go back and release money in wages for us to sign a proper winger. If that person is Chapman then don't expect to make any impact this season. I think we are crying out for a proper wide player and would be a priority for me. Another centre back is the other priority. Downing isn't up to standard, so far the Rodwell at centre back experiment has failed. If we are going to play 4 at the back then we need to increase the quality of the back line. I think we should be looking at 3 signings in January, a winger, a centre back and a left back. Sort those out first then readdress the other problems in the summer window.

I'd slightly change that: 1. Right Winger 2. New 1st choice Left Back 3. Big Centre Half 4. Striker cover. 5. Challenger for Nyambe Also Reed on a permanent Trumps all these if that deal is remotely possible.

I don't, like some have said, think that Jones moved too soon, He played 41 times for united in his first season there and generally played well. His problem was that he was he was shunted around a lot and didn't get time playing in a specific position. He never really fitted one position enough and maybe he looked so good at that age simply because he developed physically earlier than other lads his age, so when everyone else caught up he wasn't as special a talent or more likely that the constant string of injuries he suffered reduced his athletic prowess. Hoilett wasn't trusted too soon, he kept us up 10/11. The problem he had was that he was trying to manage a few hamstring issues which he maybe should'v been given more time to rest up. He also picked a bad club after leaving us. Lowe - was 20 when he came in at right back and was physically ready for that level of football, again what stunted Lowe was injuries but tbh he never had the potential to be a premier league player. Hanley - Maybe he wasn't ready 2010/2011 when he played a few game but I don't think that premier league experience did him any harm