If Gally is on the wing, TM needs firing straight away. No possible reason for him not to be there today, Bereton & Dolan both better out wide, no Armstrong to accommodate as well. Not sure why our best midfielder Rothwell is on the bench. He's been isolating not injured. Also, isn't a good job we signed Downing?

Well that's this game done for then...

I think my main issue with Downing other than the fitness/age risk is that we have a lot of midfield options but few defenders. If anywhere was crying out for an additional squad player it was defence. I still can't get over how we only ever go with 3 centre backs in a season. It's stupid - especially since 2 are injury prone & and even without that suspensions, injuries, Covid and loss of form all happen. Would have much rather we got an actual defender in. That said given there's more quantity than quality in our midfield roster Downing isn't the worst signing we could make. He's versatile, is an actual left footer which could widen the play, is better than Evans, and gives another option at left back where many of the back up options are less than ideal. He knows the club which makes it easier too. That said I really would have preferred a defender. How we think we can get on with what we have is beyond me.

Is it all that mental though. Yes, I admit it is hugely damaging but mental - as in a shock and wildly unpredictable - I'm not so sure. We knew Dack would be out this long and have had 2 windows to attempt to replace him. We knew Ayala had a ton of injury problems when we signed him. We knew Covid would interfere with all teams' squad selections. We knew we were very reliant (over reliant?) on Travis in cm as Johnson and Evans aren't dependable. Actually Evans you can depend on to have a bad game. No shocks in there. It doesn't help that we continued to play Armstrong after his initial injury. Had just the £5 million on Gally been spent better - or half of it, say on Bauer and a half decent forward - our injury problems would seem less severe. Yes, we've had some kickers. Losing Rothwell in particular was an unfortunate blow. But it's not like we haven't contributed to the problems we have.

Also for all TMs complaints I'm not sure half the teams in the championship could afford to have spent 12 mill on what are 2 squad players, afford Elliott's wages, and also not have had to get rid of a single player they don't want to. The hard luck story has its limits given the leeway that TM has had in assembling the squad. Think tonight has draw written all over it. Boro are hard to beat, we won't want to get beat again, so a draw the likely outcome.

Good post. What gets me is we paid money for a third choice keeper that Boro didn't want. Also the last third choice keeper from Boro didn't turn out very well at all...

Just run this one past me again. How does this work? For starters no fans are in the ground so I struggle to see how they influence things. Are you saying the players are trawling internet sites and it's knocking their confidence? Also given that Rovers Facebook and official site are quite positive, is BRFCS providing a speed bump that is shattering their confidence? And how many of the squad are on here having their confidence shattered? Or is it just when we are in the ground? Strange, as Rovers fans imo aren't a very critical lot - certainly compared with say Villa or Barcodes. TM hasn't really had much pressure from fans so I am at a bit of a loss for where this idea comes from. Also how long has this negativity been going on? As in has it only just started affecting the team? Been there for years? Funny because the can't defend for toffee or break into the playoffs has been around for quite a while, so not sure there's much of a change in our defending there. Not bothered about the past? says the guy who mentions our constant negativity and compares our defence to previously - both past events! I mean when isn't that a criteria for a football? You reference it in the same post comparing the present with the past defence. Whether he has won tropheys in the past with us or blown our budget and missed playoffs in the past, a manager's record matters. Heck any employees does. Sure don't dwell in the past but it has a baring on the future. Let's say one of my team has a chronic lateness problem, but after a quiet couple of months turns up late a couple of times again this week - surely their past performance has relevance? It's only happened twice, the past doesn't count, doesn't really cut it. Also given its taken 3 years to improve the defence, does that not seem a tad belated to you? And even then it seems the improvements might include a sicknote and a substandard reserve keeper. I agree the defence is improved although the extent to which I am not sure. Certainly it doesn't seem to be showing on the pitch - with or without these players present. Even if we are going on this season alone - the result has hardly been overwhelming. In fact our form has been pretty poor. Leaking goals, more losses then wins and draws combined. Yes, injuries have played a part but the rest of the squad is still TMs and all managers are facing injury and covid problems. Yes it is a lot, but even then I would say we have a better team then some of the division yet aren't picking up many results. Also on the injuries bare in mind we knew there was no Dack for ages. We knew Travis was out for a fair whack. We knew Evans was crap. That Johnson and Williams can be a miss as well as a hit. We knew we needed a new reserve keeper for yonks. It's not like many of our transfer needs were a surprise. However I am slipping back into the past, which is difficult not to do because funnily enough the past cannot be ignored and massively influences the present. Neither of which have been too inspiring under TM.

Agree. Which is why it needs to change. Then TM might actually be put under the spotlight for a change.

A few thoughts. 1) how many goals have been cost by poor keepers during TMs reign? Leuts, Walton and now Pearson - we have picked some.corkers in goal. Our problems start here and whether first or second choice we have had issues. 2) Lenihen is having a mare of a season. But this is the same guy who looked so solid last year. What's the difference? Why the change? Tbh I think a different partner and formation are not helping Lenihen at all. 3) in a somilar vein whilst it suits our attacking personal more, the overall effect of the new formation is the costs outweigh the benefits. We are hemoraging goals. For all the exciting football the costs seem to outweigh the benefits. 4) Why is Evans still here? Gally too for that matter. 5) Assuming this squad is the strongest we have had, and arguably it is, then what does it say that we have the same problems and same inconsistent form? Speaks volumes about the manager Somethingng else needs to change - namely the manager and upper management too.

Not sure with injuries and covid we or any other team will get near their best 11 this season. False excuse saying we haven't been able to field it. No idea of the result but expect with our attack and defence it will have plenty of goals in it.

,Hmm wonder how my boss would react if next time they asked for a piece of work I told them it was on a journey? Seriously 3 years in and we are still on a journey. in scoreline, position and form Reading showed the journey to be a mockery. Even without them showing us up does anyone really think it's acceptable to not be challenging 3 years on? Our progress on the pitch of glacial. More exciting granted but I would prefer effective. We haven't beaten a single top half team. That's poor. Dress it up whatever way you like but if you can't do that you aren't going to get promoted. I still think we have a decent team but TM is holding us back. Not playing Nayambe - the villain of his reign - still playing Evans and sticking Gally on the wings are basic oft repeated mistakes that continue to cost us. The keeper situation is depressing too. Getting a keeper who can't play our system? Seems an even more suspect deal then before. Resigned to another season of what if through thumping weak teams and we're only X off playoffs.

Think I agree with a lot of this. A centre back, who possibly can play full back as well would be my shout for strengthening. That said IF that could be done and we could get cover for midfield, or the deal was good for Rovers (e.g. a mostly pay as you play) Downing would be a no-brainer given an excellent season last year. Definitely just cover now, but can't think of much better cover out there for a cheap price. And I assume at this stage he would/should be cheap.

An excellent test of our promotion chasing credentials. Reading are a decent side, doing very well so it will be a challenge. However as others have said they seem to be performing above their ability and it isn't a team to massively fear. So not an easy game but one which is winnable, and will say s lot about how serious we are for a promotion push. Personally predicting a draw, as we are a decent side and just as good on paper, but not good enough I think to beat the divisions in form team.

A few thoughts: Huge win. We were on a losing streak and we know these can be there to stay at Rovers under TM so breaking that was massive. It also means the positivity and some momentum from the early games, along with the self belief will have got a healthy boost. A win means we can put a few disappointing results behind us and imo mentally changes the perception of things. The scoreline reinforces this. A ,1-0 win would have still been good against 10 men but not sure whether that would really boost confidence or help the team focus upwards rather than downwards. The new formation suits a lot of players including our midfielders and attackers. It has imo made Bereton into an asset rather than a liability, enables our young attacking talent to shine and suits our current crop of midfielders. On that I much prefer the new lad from Norwich to Evans. Early days but seems to have more about him. Speaking of Rovers villains what has happened to Williams?!?! Much stronger performances. Another high scoring win shows we have the potential for playoffs. This is why the losses are so frustrating. There's still some.strong hints of why we imo won't make playoffs but could. We're a tad wasteful up front and make stupid decisions like Gally on the wing. Sure he scored but overall it looks flawed. Things like this hold us back. Reading will be a better test of how good we are. I think the squad could break top 6, the talent is there, but unsure whether the manager can get us there. Now that sounds familiar.

A good player can look rubbish in the wrong system, whereas any player can perform/do a job and thrive if they have the right formation and role. I suspect that is what is happening with Bereton now. I'll be honest I think there's a large element of the formation suiting Ben- which neither of the previous formations did - in his upturn in form alongside individual improvement. But that's a good thing given the formation seems to favour the squad we currently have, and many other players benefit from it as well as Ben so long may it continue. I worry that the new formation might not suit Dack which leaves an almighty conundrum and a difficult choice. But at least the current set up means we are getting something from our 12 million presently which given we won't be getting a return from Gally on the wing is even more positive.

Thing is Dreams I would LOVE for you to be proved right, I really would. Honestly I think it's hard to justify his time elsewhere - or the last two years here - as reasons why he will get us promoted. It all hinges on this year's better squad. Well perhaps not all, but a lot. How will this squad do. Very early days admittedly but the first signs are pretty average. Agree it will take a few games to see this. Some of the credit you give him on the squad I feel is overkind given he made some of those problems. The left back situation and keeper situation were both of his own making! Especially the keeper one. (And in doing so cost us horribly last season.) The squad is miles better than the one that he inherited, albeit Coyle had no money to spend. Whilst raking back over past mistakes be they errors in signing (our strikers) or omission (the defence) it does suggest that whilst we seem to have had a good window, i perhaps don't rate TM as highly as you do when it comes to transfers. Certainly for me past evidence makes me more cautious when considering this window, which I think looks a good one, given the patchiness of his previous recruitment. On the scouting network the keepers are a good start but I was disappointed they didn't bring in any outfield players. As it is we seem to have done ok without it but I wouldn't say it's a rousing success. Perhaps there's an element of it being half full or half empty depending on your view. But to me in part that's the point. It's clearly half not mostly full. TM is decent no doubt about it but I have real reservations that he's actually good.

Fair question, my answer is as follows. Firstly, referring to his past history, yes he has had previous promotions, but only two of them. One of them with us, he had quite favourable circumstances for doing so (our budget and player quality were markedly higher then most other teams). That's not to say he doesn't deserve credit for it - he certainly does - but it does give a bit more perspective. Certainly it's not a similar situation getting promoted from this division with our squad, which as you say has been mid table, compared when we were strong favourites. Certainly don't want to do him a disservice and say it isn't to his credit, but it's not overwhelming evidence that he will do it again. In fact he only has 1 promotion from this division. In fact his record isn't amazing. He bombed at Celtic - which is hard to do - and Coventry. He didn't get Boro promoted or that near to it either. Looking at his history elsewhere I don't think one long-ago promotion paints a compelling picture that he will do it again. Heck, even Coyle has a promotion and 2 good years with Burnley, and Ince had a League 1 promotion, so his record I don't think indicates a likelihood of success. In fact quite the reverse, of staying mid table, not over achieving at all. Then there's his time at Rovers. The only thing consistent in his time here has been inconsistency. We put on great runs but we also put on bad runs That is a fact and suggests he doesn't have the consistency to get us promoted. That record seems to extend into this season - won two, drawn one, lost three. That's absolutely average. For the last two years his runs have shown he will have mixed form. Then there's the bottling it repeatedly. Last season for example, post lockdown we were poised to make playoffs. We then didn't capitalise on it, after a promising win vs Bristol (?) and we thought the chance was gone. The teams above us then fluffed it for a few games, and we again didn't capitalise on it. Same with pre-Christmas coming up to the Wigan game. Same with this season. We were in the playoffs (albeit after 3 games!) after a really encouraging start and then bottle it by getting 1 point from Cardiff and Forrest. Bare in mind Forest for all their new manager hadn't got a point, and the Cardiff game finished with them having 10 men. The games were there for the taking. There is very little mental strength in this team to take advantage of these situations. Also if you've spent the vast majority of the last 2 seasons outside the playoffs, it's pretty suggestive that it needs a hell of an improvement to hold down a play off place. There's other things as well. He's loyal to players for too long, which has been a repeated theme. As has the baffling players out of position. We continue to have Gally on the wing that just doesn't work. Again basics like this suggest that we will never get promoted because we are handicapping ourselves. We also struggle to break down weaker teams. That's been a challenge in all 3 full seasons of TM, even in our league 1 campaign. I had hoped we had broken this issue with our Wycombe and Derby wins, but 10 man Cardiff suggests this issue still hasn't gone away. I don't want to have an anti-TM rant. He's done a lot of good too. The squad is better and we are now a solid mid-table side, as oppose to the relegation certs he took over. I'm also grateful he got us promoted too. However, to me, the evidence from both during his time at Ewood and his previous career suggests he is not the man to get us promoted.

Think this game will favour our attacking team. Please no Evans Johnson combo. In fact no Evans full stop. Where's Rothwell as he looked very comfortable in cm? Assuming he is injured. Need more dynamism and consistency in cm. Not a fan of Bereton but feel after a goal it's hard to drop him. That said I think it's the kind of game Dolan would do well in as well as Elliott. Good problem to have I suppose. Defence still looks thin. Williams and Bell don't strike me as ideal choices so hopefully Douglas fit and ready. Also with Lenihen not in great form we really are struggling for options in defence which could be our undoing. That said I think we will outscore them and win 3-2 or 2-1.

After checking the Rovers score twice on Tuesday evening completely forgot about the game on Wednesday. In light of my Rovers related amnesia, I won't comment too much, other than to say scoring can only do Ben the world of good, and the result seems to confirm my suspicions we are a mid-table side. Promotion winning teams get something from that game. Think my Watford for promotion prediction (which I nabbed off someone else) also looks strong given we are a good attacking outfit and they saw us off by a comfortable scoreline.

TM is clearly the best manager we have had under Venkys. The evidence strongly supports this. TM also is clearly not good enough to get us promoted. The evidence strongly supports this too. That both statements are true generates much of the debate on here. As does the fact that leaving our inept owners and their pet agency to choose a new manager is riskier than skydiving without a parachute. Were Williams and co here TM would have been long gone for not being good enough. As it is we are stuck with the cluckers so TM is here until the cows come home (whatever that means, I think it means a long time which is apt.) So we will continue to drift along midtable, with moments of optimism and fear intermingled with a solid middle of the pack finish.

It's almost like if you get the defence right the rest follows. Build from the back might be a cliché but it's also very true.

Armstrong reminds me a bit of Benni MacCarthy in that sometimes be doesn't do much but pops up with a goal from the one chance he has. Nothing wrong with that sort of player but it does mean the others really have to be on their game. Evans strikes me as a fair weather player. I've never seen him have a decent game unless we are well on top. Even then I don't think he is really good at anything, just not terrible at anything either. Didn't Johnson have a good start last season before fading? Think he is an inconsistent player equally capable of pulling a 9/10 performance or a 3/10 performance. Makes it a hard dilemma as to.whether to pick him or leave him out. Just a few thoughts.

Hmm. Same old Rovers and why we aren't going anywhere under TM. Gally still wasted on the wing. We still struggle to break teams down. We still get a nosebleed when we get in/near playoffs. We are still gloriously inconsistent. Played 5 won 2, lost 2 drawn 1, is utterly typical Rovers form. The good news is it is better than any other chancer we ha e had since Venkys rocked up, the bad news is it will never get us promoted. We'll go on a few runs that will get our hopes up, and a few that get us nervous, but I don't think we will trouble either end of the table too much.

So, so much wrong with this. Look I'm happy with this window but Saint Venkys it is not. There are so many factual inaccuracies in this. We were always going down? With Big Sam as manager? With a 10th place finish? With the squad we had? No money with the new TV deal that came in? Blimey all your evidence leads to the opposite of what you say! Also even if we were to go down - which we really, really weren't - that is NOT the same as the chaos that followed and years in the wilderness. Relegation is not akin to 5 years of chaos and Kean and Coyle as manager. Just don't get why you would want to deny the blatant truth that Venkys destroyed a comfortably premiership team... Since TM it's been great you say. Well even if we somehow ignore the first 7 years (which in principle we don't do, think how someone would respond to my later charity work after murdering a relative of theirs, I am not sure they would be too enamoured), it's not been all great. Promotion contending team? The last 2 seasons we have hardly been in the playoffs. It's a stretch. Not done anything wrong? Other than losing streaks ignored, the manager appointing a mate as his boss, very late budgets, having to go to India to talk to them, the state of Ewood park. A lot better than it has been but still not good. What makes it even worse is we know what a great owner looks like in Jack Walker. And yet people are happy with these chancers. Madness.

Yep. Noticed him going on loan and think JacknOry sums it up. Utter show pony. One of the most unimpressive of the TM era. May have some technique but my word he really hasn't the brains or nous or application for the game.