Blue blood

Given he was one of our biggest signings in league 1 (with Dack and Whittingham) he's looking more like falling into the latter category with every game. Misses too many good chances and doesn't do enough else to be worth a place.

Both were way better than this lot. Neither could trap a bag of cement or had an ounce of composure. But what both of them did have was physicality and they used that to bully defenses, create chances and get in the mix. It meant they got a few goals for us. If Samuel or Gally were as effective as that for us then it would be a huge step up. I would be delighted at that level of performance.

I have no idea how our captain gets to play every week regardless of how dire his performance is. Thing is Mulgrew really should go out on a high with us. The 5 subs rule mean he can be saved for the last 10-15 which he probably still just about has the legs for and would give us a huge bonus from his set pieces. The benefits aren't worth the risks over 90 but when chasing a game or trying to break down stubborn opposition bringing him on as a super sub really could work.

,Well safe to say no one predicted that! Mulgrew starting makes not playing him in particular using him as a super sub during the 5 subs ruling even more pointless. Bennett remains at left back? That's a disaster waiting to happen. Glad Gally is our, and feels a tad harsh but don't think theres much difference between him and Samuel bar 6 million. Neither really good enough. Great Armstrong starts. Best attacker and goal threat, we are a different team when he plays.

Call me cynical but the reason Gally and Ben play wide forward is because it lessens the focus on their lack of goals and it keeps them in the team when they aren't good enough to lead the line.

I'm not sure we've had 3 really good centre backs in the entity of Venkys time here. Having two has been a tall order! But I get your point. Also to highlight it speaks volumes as to the recruitment. If we wanted to play this way why not buy players who fit the system. The sooner Dack is back and forces him to go back to a formation that generally works the better.

Think you are being a bit over optimistic here. Personally other than downing I would put everyone down a level.under the current regime. A couple of them may have a role still with us under a canny manager who can utilise their strengths and limit their weaknesses being exploited but right now I think many of the players cannot be relied on. On the positive side I do think a few of our youngsters will improve to championship level quality - Buckley and JRC for ezample. One interesting thing to note from this is how few quality additions we have had. Two joined in league 1, 3 are academy products, so you do wonder what has happened the last 4 windows.

The top 4 don't have players playing out of position where they are clearly uncomfortable. We might be at a disadvantage financially but that one's got nothing to do with money yet holds us back a lot.

Agree. Mind you I think TMs handling of Nayambe has been shoddy throughout. he's been played behind the likes of Caddis and Bennett, both of whom are very poor full backs. Unlike Bennet's many gaffes Nayambe is singled out by the manager. Can't see him wanting to stay with that kind of treatment. Also any fee we do get won't be spent on defenders and will leave our defence even more threadbare. So here's hoping by some miracle we can convince Nayambe to sign a new contract.

Agree with this although Charlton have now won two on the bounce. They look like they are getting their act together despite several key players pulling a strop and not playing. I had them down after that but their response has been.excellent.

The fact Wigan fans weren't bothered about him not returning should have been a warning sign. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The last two are what does my nut in most. That said he is big and bulky so has the physical attributes to be a problem for defenders and has a few goals for us too so there is a spark of potential. a quality manager might make him into a useful squad player.

Said it before will say it again - when we are debating who is less crap rather than who is better, as in the case of our left backs, you know there are real issues. For me we need: A good solid championship keeper who is ours. A decent back up keeper better than Leus. A proper championship quality left back. A proper championship quality centre back to replace Tosin. A reserve centre back for when Lenihen is injured. Who could also perhaps provide full back cover. And by this I mean better than Williams. A proper defensive/centre mid to partner Travis. As in someone better than and less injured than Evans. A wide attacking forward/wide midfielder who adds width. A quality target man striker. You could argue we get away without either a target man or wide forward with Armstrong occupying one of these roles, but really is it good that he is the only striker likely to score? You could also say between Downing, Johnson and Evans we don't need a partner for Travis. But two are aging, one is injured and Downing covers multiple positions. You could say Williams is cover for CB and lb but it's questionable he is of the required quality at CB and definitely not at lb.you could say a youth player could cover reserve keeper but that's heck of a risk. So I think there is a case for needing 8 players to make this squad promotion worthy. Even best case scenario needs 4 or 5. For the record I don't think we will get near this in terms of numbers or recruits but this is what I think is needed. Perhaps players in the squad will step up and fulfil these roles to this level. Again though I can't see it happening

Yep proper manager plus the squad they have. They will be safe now. Both teams are struggling more than I imagined with new managers. In fairness Stoke seemed to have a lot wrong and a huge squad with issues which will take time to sort out. And Huddersfield were hopeless, winless in ages before the new manager took over so both jobs were/are big jobs. I'll be honest I think the ex premier league factor blinded me to the size of the job in both cases. As Sunderland kindly showed with their comedy drama being an ex premiership club doesn't prevent there being huge issues.

Now whilst he is a prime dolloper it has to be said that even so TM doesn't have him playing anywhere near his limited best. He has put in the odd good performance but all of these have come centrally. So put him central. TM is delivering a master class on how to make a bad situation worse. I still maintain that with the right management Gally might hit the heights of a useful player but it would take a far greater manager than TM to do that. I'd get rid of Gally in a second but I don't think we will, no one will be interested based on his performances or wages so we have to find a way to make the most of a bad situation. That way is not arsing about on the right wing.

Last week showed why TM is a decent manager. Today showed why he is not a good manager. The only consistencies at Ewood are: our inconsistent performances, players out of position and favourites played long after they need dropping (and dropping only coming when TM is in the last chance saloon.) These weaknesses seem unchangable in TM, and for all the promise at times, they totally hold us back and form a glass ceiling. Venkys with their lack of interest, delayed decision making and their lack of appropriate senior management appointed at the club are another equally impenetrable glass ceiling. The two together are a horrific mess which is only going to destroy the club by a thousand cuts. TM should be credited for bringing in the youngsters he has (although with Nayambe in particular I wonder if he hindered rather than helped.) However he should be thankful we have such a damn good academy because they've really covered his weakness in the transfer window. The fact we have 4 strikers I would happily ship out (albeit one for age reasons) speaks volumes for his poor squad planning. And it's a drum I've banged on for years but we haven't replaced either Graham or Mulgrew as they have aged to build our team around. Add in the age of Johnson and Downing, the return of the loanees - although good riddance to Walton - and you really see how much work needs doing on the squad. Heck replacing the aged may mean we don't get anywhere near to replacing our uninspired forward line. Maybe I am particularly negative after a loss and just need to rant, but take away a poor result today, and if we narrowly missed out on promotion with some good performances the problems would remain the same. Same squad issues, same players out of position. (I mean Gally at right wing, on what basis does that ever look good or has worked? How many times does Bennett need to get done before he is dropped.) These are glaring errors, huge, obvious rookie errors. That TM makes them continually suggests he is incapable of learning or improving. Not that he will leave. Safe as houses is our Tony. And they'd only replace him with worse. What a crap position to be in.

TMs fault we lost. For all his good work, his stubbornness continues to cost us. Rovers had periods where we dominated, and almost scored, and I can't help wondering that had we not carried two outfield players (Gally and Bennett) whether it would have been enough to get us over the line. Bennett is ridiculously weak at left back. With someone a bit better there, would they have been on top at times as much? I don't think so. Likewise, someone with a bit more predatory instinct then Gally, with a marginal amount of talent, and we probably would have converted at least one of our chances/made something of our possession. If this was a one off that would be fair enough but everyone on this board knew they would be the weak links, and they have repeatedly shown that that's the case. In light of this there is no reason or excuse for TM to be starting them. It's his stubborn nature and favouritism that is costing us. As for Walton, two weeks, and at fault for two goals. He simply isn't good enough. We've had a crap sandwich from him: terrible till December, good till the break, and then appalling since we have come back. Overall that suggests a poor keeper. Also the frequency of individual errors seems to be much more regular than Raya. Don't get me wrong, Raya had them in him, but Walton seems to produce them more regularly than Raya did with us. Another downgrade. Him not being on a permanent contract, may be a blessing after all. No team can carry 3 substandard players. Johnson always blows hot and cold. He's either very good or very poor. In some respects what should we expect for an aging journeyman defensive mid, but I suspect he was brought with a more central role in mind, and that his wages don't match the reality of what he actually is. Controversial after another solid showing from Bereton, who isn't the liability he has been previously, but even with his improved performances I'm not sure he is at the appropriate level required, or perhaps I should say needed, for Rovers. Ditto Samuel since his return from injury. Better, but not good enough. Overall, it's no overreaction or doom mongering to say the season is probably over. Yes, we should keep going in case the unlikely happens, but the reality is now we need a number of teams to slip up for us to get back into serious contention for the playoffs. It also requires us to do the business as well, which on this showing isn't that likely.

Well that depend on the transfer fees of the players involved doesn't it? You need to factor in the opportunity costs involved for example the fee of Gally or Bereton could have seen us strengthen in several positions instead. Disagree TMs transfers can be only considered a success if you consider 1 in 3 a good rate which I really don't think is the case. Given most players at a club will be transfers into the club suggesting two thirds of those can be duds/failing doesnt seem at all right. Rough figures for sure but if we say our squad of 18 has 6 youth players within it then that means 12 signings which by your logic 8 can be failures. I don't see how that works. It needs to be a much higher success rate then 1 in 3. TM doesn't have that high a success rate. Of the latest crop Gally and Johnson haven't worked out, they're at best ok but don't add to us, Walton has been very mixed, Tosin Holtby and Downing good. 3 out of 6 isn't great and that's his best years record. That would still result in the team carrying 6 players by my calculations. And that's before transfer fees are involved in the calculations.

Agree with all this. Here's where I disagree. The spending on Bereton and Gally can only really be justified with immediate returns. For that kind of cash they should be! Added to which I'm not sure there's much evidence they wil come good. Gally isn't that young anymore and after 2 spells of working with him TM seems no nearer to getting the best out of him. Sticking him on the wing isn't going to do him or his progress any good either. Likewise whilst Bereton is younger, 2 seasons in he doesn't look like being a 10.goals.a season striker, much less a £7 million lead the line sort of chap. Armstrong is the cites example of a player who after a few years has come good and really taken it up a level and I grant you that's the case. The difference between Armstrong and the other two is that even before his recent improvement, on his day Armstrong looked great. Sure his day wasn't that often but there were enough of them to see there was.some serious potential. I've not seen even that level of inconsistent sporadic excellence from either of the other two. I really want both to come good for Rovers but the evidence really suggests otherwise. Here's hoping we catch them whilst they are rusty.

Can I also point out that Williams isn't the required quality at left back either. He isn't an utter liability there and just poor which makes him better than some options we have played there, but only in a team where Bell, Hart and Bennett are amongst the alternatives is Williams going to look ok. I didn't rate him there in league 1 and don't rate him there now. Sure he's turned out to be an ok centre back but even that he is viewed more positively then he should be because his performances are compared favourably to his weak outings at full back. Not sure Bell is the required standard either and it's a bit frustrating. Theres a player in there, his inclusion in League 1 team of the year also indicates there's potential, and he has the physical attributes but just no football brain. Full back is imo one of the positions that requires football intelligence the most and I'm not sure this can be taught. So Bell lacking this makes me feel we will never see that potential realised. Is it worth the gamble of another season. Can't say I'm convinced. That said I would keep him over Williams If I had to keep one as both are poor but there is a chance Bell could develop into a player whereas there's none of Williams improving. In an ideal world both need jettisoning if Rovers are to progress and improve.

Hmm one of the things I love about this board is the debate on players and formations and how we get the best combinations using the players strengths to make us as good as possible. I've missed this in lockdown. Admittedly I'd prefer it if some of these conversations were able to be more of a positive nature as oppose to who is the best makeshift left back or which of our insipid array of forwards should support Armstrong, but you can't have everything I suppose.

I hope so. League position suggests otherwise albeit form dkesnt. Add in the need for a win is great for us and minimal for them and I worry about the pressure on the team.

Some good debate on team selection. Think I'm in the middle of all these opinions. For me the key issue is that this will be a battle, a real scrap and therefore we need to match them at this. With this in mind, I think the team would be influenced to the following selections Downing has to be left back as 99 suggests as Bennett really struggles there. Not sure there are too many other alternatives with injuries, but Bennett's liabilities at full back hugely increase when he is played on the wrong side. In the middle I'd bring in Johnson. He has poor fitness but is a canny battler and I think that is what will be needed. Knowing he will need to be replaced has less of a negative impact when 5 subs are allowed. Bennett could be a good like for like (ish) replacement later on. Up top we have to have our best player playing so Armstrong starts. After that it's a form Vs tactics issue really. Bereton had one of his best showings at the weekend however given it will be a scrap I wonder if tactically a more physically robust striker, either Graham or Gally would be better starting. With the games crammed into a short period I can't see many players starting them all so perhaps not a bad one for Bereton to be benched for. Also i'm not convinced he can make it 2 in a row! Much harder game imo as Wigan are in great form and we generally don't like a scrap or being favourites in a game. Hard game and probably a draw but a win is really needed to keep momentum going.

The fact that we have £12 million of strikers who have half a dozen good games between them and as many goals suggests our recruitment policy hasn't been up to scratch. Don't think either one is good enough to be a key striker next year. If Dack or Armstrong goes I think we will look very vulnerable in terms of scoring next year.

Oh Rovers. There's not that many fans to alienate. A fan can't have a £60 refund but we can help keep Hart in the manner he is accustomed to after contributing nothing. Smart move.