Dreams of 1995

Our colours should be blue and white at home, red and black away. No variation in colour just variation in design.

You have a thing for Fulham we can tell that much.

Yeah, when you play football you know how easy it is to get lost in the general atmosphere in the heat of the moment. You’re doing everything you can to get the ball back and show some fight and the line is very fine between brilliant and reckless. The man did what he could for his team, I’ll never fault him for that. Young players get red cards it’s all part and parcel of their development. Those that chastise him have probably never stepped foot on a field of play before and are Monday night football experts.

That last paragraph makes no sense. We have 9 games to go and sacking the manager all of a sudden gives us a chance of promotion? The same manager that put us in this position to begin with. We are 3 pts from 6th in March. There’s 27pts to be won between now and the end of the season. I don’t for the life of me see how our season is over. Lastly we’ve been on bad spells before and came back so the idea that there’s no inclination it will change is wrong. History tells us Mowbray goes on losing streaks and winning streaks and we finish seasons strongly. I don’t doubt the despair at the moment but it certainly isn’t reason to not go to the game - we are still in this.

Bristol, Wigan and Barnsley are teams we should win. Like I say if we don't get at an absolute minimum 7pts from them games then I will admit to you there's nothing left to look forward to this season.

Much better. Tony's selections have put us in this position though.

You are obsessed with making this into an issue. Think this is your third(?) post along similar lines. Some posters prefer to post a lot when we lose; some prefer to post when we win. I guarantee you there are at least 4 posters who's post count went up exponentially last night. Just like the reason for them is 'there's more to discuss when we lose', some posters are probably that gutted we lost they didn't want to come on here yesterday. Quit trying to make this into something it isn't. Anyway, to the game. Yesterday was a humiliating defeat. We were shite from start to finish. Team was all wrong in fairness, we were never going to get a grip with just Travis doing the dirty work and it was no surprise to see him getting booked early on. That's the problem when only one player is making the tackles. Downing doesn't have it in him to mix it about when the going gets a bit tough, never has, and that's why he didn't play centre mid in his peak. The season isn't over though. We are fortunate that literally everybody else around us is losing too. For perspective, Forest, PNE, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea and us have all won 1 in 5 whilst only Milwall have won 2 in 5. We are on the same patch of form as them. Next week is the big one we have 3 completely winnable games and 7 points is the absolute minimum we need in my opinion. After that we play Leeds, Cardiff, WBA and Milwall. Such a tough run but also a chance to gain 6pts from play off rivals. This season is very tight but to say there's nothing to play for is wrong.

You don’t have to wait, no. The fact of the matter is though it’s early March and we are 3 pts from play offs and have to play our rivals still. Despite the doom and gloom felt after yesterday’s capitulation the season is far from over. We’ve had bad spells like this before (Wigan, Blues around Christmas) and hopefully we can get back to winning ways next week vs an even poorer Bristol side. This league is changing by the match day and the last thing we need is a new manager right now. All this talk of “let someone have a look” is bollocks pal. Mowbray got us here, he said his aim was top 6 so let’s see the season out with him. If he doesn’t get it then you have to evaluate the season as a whole before deciding to get rid. I was as gutted as the next man about yesterday but somewhere in the middle of it all I think people forgot the grand scheme of things - 6th place is still open for business.

It’s an opportunity missed but it isn’t the end of the season by a long way. We have to play Bristol yet and PNE are losing points the same way as us. Gutting performance but Lenihan is back next week and we go again. This season isn’t over yet, believe it or not.

Our problem with Travis is because nobody else is doing the dirty work. This was 100% a game for Johnson. We need a miracle in the second half but I just don’t see it happening.

I actually hate Elliot Bennett. I think he’s by far our worst footballer in the squad. The only shining attribute the man has is his work rate but that should be a given for a professional footballer.

Our right side looks shite. Coco is no dickhead so I don’t doubt for a second he’s targeting it

And the injury and suspension to the remaining players. I think if Mulgrew and Williams were fit we’d see one of them in. Likewise Cunningham injury didn’t help matters did it. I agree with the poster above too. I’d have been much more happier with Johnson in the middle. Not a huge fan of this line up but let’s see how it goes. 45 mins until another cup final.

Any team that has Bennett in it at RB is concerning for me but our hands are tied. I have a horrible feeling our defence will let us down again this season. It just isn’t good enough unfortunately. Big game for BB! This is the time to show it man, he can go from zero to hero with a performance today

No I didn’t. I said our attacking side of the team is doing it’s job, which it is. Gallagher has played most of his time on the right. He’s chipped in with some goals too.

I’d say that post was the opposite to angry. More bemused at the reaction I got from my original post in truth. Nice try.

The topic wasn’t about Sam Gallagher, neither was my post. Stop getting worked up about it. In your dramatic reaction to a single sentence in my post you’ve allowed the point I’m making to go completely over your head. Never mind.

I'm not the one who has been offended with the talk of agendas, 47er. You should save that for the other lads who have spent 2 pages arguing about why it's unfair...including you. Weird. Ignoring the rest because it's boring I want to deal with the capital "FACT" you've declared. What "little period" was this when Mowbray didn't have the ability to change the side? For the Brentford, Stoke, Derby and Swansea games he played the same side; changed vs Bristol due to suspensions and won; reverted back to the side against Wigan and drew. We then had a series of games in quick succession because of Christmas which also coincided with injuries and we had a bad spell. Since Christmas Mowbray has rotated the same amount as he had done throughout the season, except used different players than he otherwise would. If you declare something as a fact then show it. I simply don't believe that Mowbray's selection was forced due to injures which coincided with the upturn in form. You may believe the two are connected but by saying you are basing that opinion on fact you should show it. The actual truth is that Mowbray's rotation has continued as normal throughout our injury crisis..in fact, I'd argue he used a more stable line up prior to Dack and co being injured having had an albeit very quick look at some starting line ups.

Yep. Nail on head. The counter is when people do admit they were wrong it’s then a case of “can’t stand folk who change their mind all the time”. No win situation and pretty stupid for grown men to be bogged down on it really. Let’s just forget about pedantics and talk rovers?

There's a massive, massive, massive difference between accusing someone of having an agenda and pointing out ridiculous arguments in order to maintain a position on a subject our of shear stubbornness. Now, the argument that he isn't the man to take us up or keep us in the Premier League is fine, but when that argument transcends into some of the quite frankly ridiculous claims that get peddled on here at times it becomes a different thing. That's when the dislike of Mowbray's management becomes an 'agenda' because one would look for the negative as opposed to the creditable because that internal bias kicks in. Claiming that someone has an agenda doesn't mean you devalue them as a fan. It does devalue the argument though and sometimes it is exactly the right word needed for the time. I hate to keep bringing it back up but the idea that Tony Mowbray and Rovers were doing well because of the injuries was one in which that internal bias was in overdrive; trying to window dress it as 'forced selection' was wrong because even within that time Mowbray had rotated in equal measures as prior. An agenda is an underlying intention and if some people think TM isn't the right man to take the club forward then their passion for the club will mean they will do or say things that undermines him, even when at times those things are half truths or misrepresentations of the facts. The same can be said for the opposite viewpoint too. However, in my opinion, the line is drawn when people are starting to be accused of Venkys stooges. That is not trying to undermine the opinion but the person and in truth does anyone really believe Venkys or the club sends someone onto this forum of approx 50+ regular users to try and change opinion? Nah.

Ok, you're going a bit dramatic. This topic is about promotion and not Sam Gallagher. You speak like a man who has never played football in his life. I've been in teams where we've had a central striker scoring all the goals and I've been in teams where the goals have been spread about - I know which one I'd prefer. That's not me saying "don't sign him, he scores too many goals", that's me saying hinging promotion / success on one player is wrong. A decent amount of goals = 4th most. Now if we had conceded the same as Fulham we'd be in Fulham's position. So, at a quick glance, where does that tell you our problems lie? If we are scoring more than them but not wining as many then it tells me our defensive side of the team isn't up to it. You dislike SG, we get it. However at the moment he is part of an attacking unit that has scored the 4th most league goals in the league. I don't think in the part where I quoted I said Gallagher was great, I just said for all your guff about how shit our players are and how fantastically amazing Fulham are we are doing better than them in that regard. This comparison with Fulham is bullshit. They can spend upwards of 15m on a player whilst we are baulking at the idea of a £5m one. I'd suggest a week or so off the SG subject if your heart rate goes up at the mere thought of someone having a different thought on the matter. I never once denied they were ahead of us - I even gave you those stats - but the goals scored vs goals conceded column tells me they are ahead of us only because they have conceded less than us. They've spent hundreds of millions more and they are 3 wins and a draw away from us because we concede way too many goals. Take a look at how many points we've thrown away this season. Our attackers are doing the job in finding the lead but our defensive side aren't doing theirs in keeping it. Honestly, this is like football 101 here. Again, I should point out, I don't care about Mitrovic, Knockeart, Cavaleiro or whatever. It is very very clear to see that this Rovers side has goals in it - as we always have under Mowbray really - but our defensive side is letting us down and has done since the days of Gary Bowyer.

That's the problem with play offs, really. It's one almighty crush. If we lost in the play offs I wouldn't consider it a success, although I would differentiate between a seasons success and it. Once, if, we get into the play offs then our season objective turns from getting into the play offs to winning them. If we don't win them, we've failed. When you take a general look back on the season though we at least put ourselves in the position and we go again next year with the idea that the only way is up. You don't have a season objective to get into the play offs and then lose and consider a success. You aim to get into the play offs because you think a) we may fail at getting into the top 2 and b) we can win promotion under them circumstances. On the back of a pay off loss would I sack the manager? Fuck no but, if we are being pedantic, I also wouldn't say he had a 'successful' season, I'd say he had a good season but needs improvement.

Your argument is they are better because of their attackers. We've scored more goals than them and spent far less than them so I'd say it isn't. You love stats and ignore big ones that go against your own opinion. I can't say I've seen Fulham week in week out to know how they play, all I am looking at is "goals scored" vs "goals conceded". Fulham: GS = 51, GC = 37, GD: 14 Rovers: GS = 52, GC = 42, GD: 10 That tells me they've conceded less than us. In fact their GD is +4 on ours, which conveniently tallies with the W, D, L stats which shows they've won - you guessed it - 4 more. Now if we've scored more than them and conceded more then where do you think them 4 extra wins from Fulham have come from? Their defence. Only 3 teams have scored more than us this season so for all your hot air about how Gallagher is shit, Samuel is 'far off' (although he hasn't played tbf) it's all bullshit. Our attackers are doing a fine job, it's our back line that is letting us down and has done for many years. I couldn't give a monkeys uncle about Mitrovic's goal record because even though he has doubled Armstrongs' we've still scored more than Fulham. I would much prefer our goals to be spread across the team frankly. Armstrong has contributed to 17 goals, Mitrovic 24 and he has all them players behind him you've mentioned. Why are you holding Fulham up as a bastion of class when the truth is they're one or two clean sheets away from us?

And yet for all their multi million pound players we’ve scored more than them. Buzzing. We aren’t a million miles off Fulham and they’ve spent hundreds of millions over the past 5 or so years. You’ve claimed to me them three players have made a difference but they’re in attack and we’re better than them at scoring goals.

With only Brentford, Leeds and WBA having scored more than us I’d say we are pretty well stocked in attack.