Probably best to get the refund unfortunately, I can't see prices dropping for a while yet.

In fairness if there's one thing we can't accuse Mowbray of it's underestimating anybody. He'll have made sure we're well prepared no matter who the opposition are.

His tenacity and strength is something that sets him apart from other attacking midfielders for sure. I'm not sure how it would translate to the PL but it's absolutely perfect for the Championship.

The reason you don't see bickering is because we hide a lot of it fairly quickly if one of us is around. The title topic is changed now, and there was a lot of good discussion on the feeling towards Mowbray at the start of the season. Some fans were on the extreme end of the scale wanting him removed, most were somewhere in the middle unsure as to whether he'd gotten it right over the summer, and there were also a fair few who felt the idea of criticising Mowbray so early on was ridiculous. Anybody who takes the time to read the thread will see that. Diverse views are absolutely fine - personal attacks and generalisations are not. As long as the ball is being played as opposed to the man then there is no problem with anybody expressing their opinion no matter how out of sync it is with the general feeling.

Trust me, it's a lot less fun for the mods I don't think we should have to be moderating more when we win than when we lose.

In fairness in most of the games we've won by a goal we have gifted the opposition a chance right at the death so I don't think we're quite there yet. I remember Hull missing a golden chance at the end when we beat them 1-0, and yesterday Reading had a good chance right at the end from a free kick conceded in a dangerous position. We're definitely improved on last season so far, but I still want us to stop giving away silly chances at the end.

Cut out the bickering please guys. We're on a good run of form with some excellent recent results so let's focus on that rather than sniping at each other.

I would agree that if we play our best personnel in all positions then there's nothing wrong with the 4231, if we persist with playing strikers on the wings then not so much. Today I believe we had Armstrong/Downing on the wings, which is OK. Armstrong technically a striker but I think it's fair to say he has much more impact playing LW. Keep Gallagher/Graham up front, Dack behind them and a combination of Downing/Armstrong/Rothwell/Chapman in the wider areas and that's a formation we can work with. Holtby can probably play anywhere across that attacking midfield three as well.

I think it's just a bit disconcerting for people as it's a bit unusual. With that said you're right, if we're in good form it doesn't matter whether one player or the entire team is changed from week to week.

I think it's fair to give Mowbray significant credit for recent results. It's not how a lot of us would go about it but if we're winning then you can only hold your hands up and say fair enough.

In fairness to Phil he's one of the more positive posters in recent times so a bit harsh to pull him up like that. Also I believe that was stated when it looked like Armstrong was starting up top, when instead I believe he started on the left?

Yeah fair enough, topic has been renamed.

It's just a thread to discuss TM in general at this point. Should probably be renamed something like "Tony Mowbray discussion", but it's already been renamed once...

That's one of the better ways to start a half.

Steady now, this is Rovers we're talking about here. Winning comfortably isn't one of our strong suits.

Funny how Bolton sign a few frees and now they're suddenly competitive in L1. Try that in the PL or Championship and you're bombing out without a prayer. The quality drop from L1 downwards is genuinely massive now.

There weren't many (any?) posts in AA's defence pre-match so fair to assume everybody was a little down on him based on his recent performances as of late. Scoring and contributing in general will quickly silence the criticisms so let's hope there's more where that came from.

Assuming AA is on the left as Sharpe is saying? If so then good, keep him there where he's actually a threat and leave the forward position to Gallagher/Graham.

Makes a bit more sense at least.

If we were playing a formation with Gallagher/Arma playing off each other up top I'd understand it, but playing Armstrong up top by himself and Gallagher out wide in a 4-2-3-1 seems detrimental. If we win then okay I suppose, but it still confuses me.

Can people who go to the games tell me what Armstrong is doing up top that guarantees selection every week? I don't really understand it.

Having different tactics to employ in certain situations (eg. away to a top team) is fine, but changing tactics regularly for most opposition is not. We should absolutely have a settled, standard formation and team which we use for most games. A tweak here and there is OK, a total change across the pitch not so much. I don't think the 4-2-3-1 really works to our strengths anymore so am in favour of trying other systems, but I kind of wish we'd been doing that in pre-season rather than when the campaign has already started.

I vaguely remember last season conceding two stupid goals early on. Then one of their players gifted us two penalties which rescued a point. Expecting a better performance this time around.

Bauer was a L1 player though. Holtby clearly has significantly more pedigree so I'm just curious if there are injury or attitude problems putting other teams off. If not then okay, great.

Sorry to ask the obvious question - but why do we appear to be the only team in the running if he's as good as everyone is saying? Is there some kind of risk factor involved? I know next to nothing about him.