DavidMailsTightPerm

Though over the season I agree with you - in this match I thought we started ok. For me a lot hinged on the Bennett injury - not only did they score while he was off the field - but it seemed to disrupt the team pattern for much of the 1st half (despite previously playing there - Travis looked poor at right back - and we missed him in midfield)

He has given youth more of a chance than any manager in our recent history. Yes - sometimes it has been forced on him - but he is promoting young talent all the time. He gets a lot of criticism - but you can see in spells why some of these players have been held back ;- Travis - adds drive to midfield, but still gets caught on the ball, and has been lucky on more than one occasion this season not to give away goals while trying to retain possession. Rothwell - looks like a Rolls Royce when running with the ball, but still too often makes the wrong ball and not good at sniffing danger defensively Davenport - injured a lot of the season Reid - I may be alone, but when he played centrally thought his positional play was poor. So can see the decision to play him wider. I do wonder whether TM bottled it this season, or injuries and form forced his hand. But IMO players like Davenport, Rothwell and Brereton were brought in to change our playing style - lets hope we see them best of them next season. A decent experienced, tall centre half to partner Lenihan would go a long way to cure some of our issues.

Can't disagree with the sentiment - but truth is our players had little to play for in comparison to Norwich.

GK - Fielding CB - Guy from Charlton LB - ? Winger - Chapman Midfield - Davenport Striker - Brereton You could argue about Brereton - but I think the last couple of matches show it as much about style of play - and ideally would like to see a strong, pacy centre forward as well Davenport was supposed to be very good last time in the Championship - and would fit in the new supposed style of play.

I think we all need to remember that Norwich were going for the title in front of a sell out crowd - whereas our motivation was ? To our credit - I thought that Norwich played some brilliant football in the first 20 minutes - finding players with unbelievable accuracy - with each player giving 100% - and yet they only scored from two long range efforts. One that the keeper really should have saved - the other an unbelievable strike (irrespective of us backing off him). I think most teams would have been blown away - and possibly conceded more than 2 in that period. We continue to see a subtle change in style - with far more passing out from the back. Against Norwich we got caught out a number of times - but you could see the intent. It was also interesting how much better we looked with Brereton up front in the second half - not saying he was brilliant, but his mobility was in stark contrast to what had gone before. I am actually finishing the season far more optimistic than I thought I would - with Rothwell and Brereton finally coming to the party. Some way to go - but a decent centre half and left back would go a long way.

At the time I thought we got lucky - but the more I thought about it - I think the referee made the right decision. Though I wouldn't put much money on a foot race between Williams and Pukki - having to control the ball tends to slow down the player with the ball - so I think there was a fair chance that Williams would have had a reasonable chance of a sliding challenge or putting him off enough so he didn't score - either way not a clear goal scoring opportunity.

That's my big fear for the close season. They allegedly were prepared to pay £5m at the start of the season - they could easily go to £10 to 15m if they get in Premiership.

I would add to that a player he reminds me of. Remember a previous £7m player - came with a reputation for dribbling and scoring spectacular goals - never made it at Rovers but Big Sam reinvented him as one of the most awkward centre forwards to play against. Brereton is taller and quicker than Kevin Davies - we just need Danny to continue teaching him the art of centre forward play.

I would like to see Davenport for Evans - let's see what the lad from City can do.

Is he getting support - or being left one on one ?

I would have started him more - but people need to remember the start of the season when TM got stick for getting Rothwell and not Jack Payne.

Why do people always assume before they know all the facts ?

I know I will get stick for this comment - but I understand where Mowbray is coming from with Reid. Very often he goes chasing the ball when he should hold his position. Having said that - you don't really need two holding midfield players - and neither Evans or Smallwood have covered themselves in glory this season.

Chapman is an interesting one. In his first stint here - he played off the bench for a number of matches - and then picked up a hamstring injury when he was played for full matches. We know that the medical team are working on strengthening his dodgy hamstrings. Though I hope we see him before the end of the season (even if only on the bench) - can't say I disagree with the wrapping him in cotton wool approach. He was always a high risk purchase - given his injury record - but if we can manage that we will have a brilliant plaer on our hands.

Though not certain would make much difference - everyone seems to forget we have our three first choice centre backs out injured - against a team that is renowned for its power in the air.

by who ?

I cant believe how poor he has been this season. Not so long ago he was our player of the season - not much competition that season - but was steady and rarely made mistakes - comparing to this year, it is like night and day

So he wasn't beaten in the air most times ? I never said anything about mistakes - but he did make a few (but conditions were difficult) As I said he did some things well - but I think we should be careful not to build him up too much.

It's funny - I thought he did ok. Did some things really well - but constantly beaten in the air and bullied a bit at times.

All depends on whether youngsters come good - would argue that one of Travis, Davenport or Rothwell could meet midfield requirement. Wide player - Chapman - centre forward Brereton (seems unlikely at moment). For me the big issue is defence and possibly another decent forward.

Wigan will be interesting

They managed the referee perfectly - not certain about the game

At this moment in time - more pi**ed with the abysmal referee than I am TM. Preston must be the biggest cheats I have seen at Rovers for years. Deliberate obstruction, feigning injury, time wasting - they had everything.

Everyone knows you are only coming to watch the ex-Premiership Champions.

A bit worrying looking at the table - that 11 point gap looks small considering our results over the last month or so.