DavidMailsTightPerm

Three at the back would be worth a try with Mulgrew, Rodwell and Lenihan. Bell and Bennett as wing backs. Travis, Evans and Reed in midfield - with Graham and Dack up front.

Thought Bell had one of his better matches today. Centre forward and back for me.

Player breaks into first team - and clubs after him - sounds like somebody's agent after a new deal for his client ?

When you look at the match we really haven't had the rub of the green - hey ho

Amazing how they mention follow through from Lenihan- but not the challenge on Brereton after he had shot.

That wasn't a sitter

Amazing to hear this Newcastle side cost £50m

Bennett to right back - play Nyambe as proper centre half

Wow - looked a mile off side

Different type and size of catchment area to Rovers

His apparent lack of fitness is confusing considering his age.

A bit harsh on Brereton - other than chasing lost causes I struggle to remember what Graham did - oh sorry he fluffed a reasonable chance early in the match (somewhat similar to what Brereton got stick for in a previous match. We always bring him on when the team are tiring - and the quality of the service he receives is usually awful. Not saying he has played like a £7m player yet - but the give the lad a chance.

Last 10 minutes possibly - as he was dead on his feet. But over the 90 minutes he had a really good performance - retaining the ball well and breaking up play. He also played a couple of good passes - one of which should have led to a goal.

The only reason I can think is his positional play - which TM must think Smallwood is better at - especially considering that Travis is twice the player that Smallwood is. Lets hope that Travis has made it impossible for TM to drop him now.

Watched it two or three times - some matches it wouldn't even be a yellow (especially when you consider earlier Sheff Utd challenges). However Smallwood is stupid to give the referee the opportunity - which you could tell he had been waiting for by the speed he got his card out (good referees give themselves time to process what they have seen). In some ways you can't blame TM too much - his initial team selection worked (even though criticised by many on here). His substitutions cant be blamed as Smallwood and the referee changed the context of the match. Three very poor pieces of defending for their goals. Management is part luck - TM could be lucky that Smallwood will be out three matches - which will hopefully give somebody like Travis the opportunity to replace him. With so many other options - never understood why he stood by him for so long.

I am always amazed when fans have access to our fitness stats - and can rightly question Mowbray's selections.

Or Dack and Graham protected from injury due to fatigue due to number of matches ? On his recent performances - if teams are willing to pay stupid money I would let Dack go. Be interesting to see if Rothwell is played as number 10 today or not - he has the pace that Dack lacks - but possibly not his eye for a goal.

Firstly Brereton has only shown glimpses of why we spent so much money on him - not convinced at the moment. But to put a different slant on it - based on the last 5 matches - who would spend £20m+ on Dack ? Based on Dacks first few matches for Rovers - who (honestly) thought TM had messed up buying him. Also add into the equation everyone more than happy we signed Armstrong - and then moaned st his recent performances. I think (hope) TM is building a team for the future - one day I hope we will see Davenport and Rothwell changing our playing style.

I think you are right on perm deal for Reed being fantasy. Based on their last match - the Southampton coach likes a high pressing game - Reed would be perfect. As with all Rovers fans - I hope I am wrong - and we sign him on a permanent deal - just can't see it.

I liked Grabbi - he just needed a goal to kick start his career at Rovers. Could all have been different if his goal against United had been allowed. Confidence is a big thing in football - just a shame his goal was disallowed yesterday

One interesting aspect of the match - as poor as we played (especially in defense) - if Brereton's goal had stood (as TM feels it should) - we could easily have gone on to draw the match. As I said previously - I didn't feel PNE were that good - and the time wasting from the 11th minute on was embarrassing for a home side.

Disagree we have been poor - we have beaten some good sides along the way - performances have been up and down - but there have been some good performances. Lacks pace - Armstrong played wide ? Dack has been poor for large parts of the season - but goals have masked poor performances (mainly caused by heavy marking - not helped by Referees like today who offer him no protection). Today's games was decided in the first 10 minutes. Not certain Preston are as good as Radio Lancs were raving about - they just exposed us on the break as we pushed forward. TM needs to be come up with a plan B when we are chasing matches - this is the third time we have been cut apart chasing a match. Huge disappointment Brereton's goal being incorrectly disallowed - could have helped his confidence no end. Though Preston deserved to win (4-1 flattered them) - their No 45 virtually assaulted Lenihan on numerous occasions. Rarely have I seen a home team time waste for much of the match. Referee was just another example of poor officiating in this league.

Its a shame - give Williams, Bells pace and occasionally dribbling ability - and we would have a good left back. Williams is a little slow at times - and struggles further forward - however he is IMO a far better overall defender. Personally I would rotate the two depending on the opposition.

I agree with much of this - it is amazing how the MB changes during a match as the score line changes. One poster even criticised Mowbray for not using the sub-goalkeeper. Nobody should underestimate the job that Mowbray has done. We had a good budget for Div 1 - but at the end of the day we looked to be in terminal decline and some even said we would drop though Division 1 into oblivion. Contrast that with the current togetherness in the squad and (largely) those fans that attend at Ewood and on the road. Unfortunately (IMO) this has created unrealistic expectations among some fans - at the end of the day I still look at the points gap to the bottom three rather than top of the table. Having said that - given the promise in the squad I wouldn't be surprised to see us in the top 6 at the end of the season if we get a bit of luck with injuries etc.

Though I can't say I have thought - "wow what a player" - I do think he has shown in flashes why Mowbray took such an expensive risk. For a big man he travels with the ball excellently - and though not lightening fast does seem to be able to run with the ball under good control at speed. Being so big - given more experience (and some training from Danny Graham) I could easily see that he will be able to hold the ball up well. Goal scoring - other than the header he missed - struggling to remember any clear cut chances he missed (I am sure somebody will correct me). As with all strikers he does need a goal to get him going - if he had scored a couple of goals by now (but only displayed the same level of overall performance) - people wouldn't be so harsh on him (such is life). I consider myself a glass half full person (most of the time) - but I think there are too many people quick to jump on every single mistake he has made in his short cameos - but ignore similar mistakes from other players. What I would agree - it was a lot of money to spend on a prospect given our position. Whether it could have been spent better elsewhere is always difficult to say - after the Leeds match and at Swansea half time - people would probably say not (possibly more depth at Centre Half) - at the end of the Swansea match some people wanted to replace half the team ? One question (for people in the know) - has he always looked so knackered after only 5 minutes ? He is either unfit - or going to be like Damien Duff who looked knackered after his first run.