After our shameful deliveries into the box on Saturday I really don't mind Conway having a bash.

Could have been worse Looks same formation as usual with Travis and Reed CM thank god

Has TM written off 3 at the back? The more defenders tonight the better for me! Raya Nyambe Lenihan Rodwell Conway Travis Reed Bell Dack Armstrong Graham (Obviously I know that it will be Williams > Rodwell, Bennett > Conway - but at least Conway can cross!)

Should be 18-25. If in this country you're (crazily) not entitled to the proper minimum wage until you are 25 then concessions up to that age shouldn't be unusual. Also considering students, those in full-time training or apprenticeships and entry level positions that are now forever positions - we need to do everything to build future habitual attendees and I imagine that is where a lot of people drop off. Christ, just seen we don't offer a student rate at all! Not unusual to go to uni from 19 or 20!

I watch every iFollow interview and normally find TM's longer interviews informative and interesting, and it stops some of the misunderstanding that can come from LET reporting... But in today's pre-match preview he spent 5 out of 12 minutes talking about VAR. ? Seems he's feeling the pressure.

Probably only Graham in with a shout... Further down the pecking order Lenihan and Dack... Lewis Travis?

Bloody brilliant contribution @JHRover. Shebby Singh come on down.. ?

Commence massive boring rant: Is 10m really that much in the Champ anymore? Above us, there’s probably only Preston that have spent less this season. Consider too the last few years where we have been effectively asset stripped. The budget is (crazily, I know) relatively poor or at least relatively modest to rebuild a decent championship squad in this day and age. Therefore I don’t think that the raw numbers are something to hang TM by... Correct me if I’m wrong there. BUT it seems that what he’s had he’s spent on players that he doesn’t trust to play yet, neglecting the weaker areas with pricey young prospects that can only really be judged as sound investments in the next two or three years. The idea and intention is commendable, but it’s obvious that we have bigger, more immediate personnel issues that need sorting out just to keep us competitive. BUT at the start of this season, we had a team still playing well, used to winning. I don’t think I was alone in thinking that we just needed a few tweaks and a bit more quality. Like TM, I didn’t think it wise to overly disrupt the squad. I’ve got a bad case of 50/50 hindsight in the last couple of months. I was naive. Our (very) purple patch couldn’t have come at a worse time too. After the Hull game in January I still didn’t think we needed anyone at all - we were looking a good candidate for the best of the rest at least - punching above our weight with the odd blip. A match for anyone on our day. Rodwell was looking like he’d make sure Downing would never see the home dressing room again and that Mulgrew wouldn’t even see the pitch. Armstrong looking the steal of the season. I also didn’t think it was prudent to throw money or top wages around when we were going steady enough and still in a transitional, project building stage. Although obviously the rumours were exciting but ultimately, a bit of a let down (cheers @Madon you dick ?) I still don’t know when I’ll ever consider big contracts or spending on anyone over 25 a sensible idea anymore. Our financial record and literal survival as a club is still resting on a Venky whim. It’s just all gone massively tits up on the pitch though and I don’t know how it’s going to be solved. I thought Stoke was the game to turn it around again. They’re not all that. We could out fight them, earn our luck like we did earlier in the season. We beat a few teams by wanting it more. But that fight and belief has disappeared. The desire that made our players play above themselves just got up and left spectacularly sometime during the Brentford game. I’ve been in denial about that and I don’t know how we get it back. And without it, our players and squad are exposed for what they actually are. Pretty fucking shit. 100% this. This needs to be our focus. So many of our best players of the last few years are the ones we’ve produced ourselves. Mowbray has signed young players, talks about using the academy lads... gives a lot of debuts... but also considers 24 year olds like Rothwell relative footballing babies. 5 years before Buckley is starting anyone? Frustrating. Mowbray needs to be brave on the pitch again. I remember on Tugay Day when the WBA fans were wearing their Mogga masks. Comfortably relegated but singing his name regardless because he still wanted to play a spectacularly over-confident brand of exciting, attacking football and instil that philosophy into the club. What happened to that man? Did that relegation scar him? Is he under achieving here? Or is it the fact that 90% of our players are absolutely fucking shite and we are still a shell of the club that we once were. Jury’s still out. I’m being careful what I wish for. I think it would take a miracle worker to turn the bones of this squad into a contender within a season or so, this league is so tough and we are so crap. I feel that amount of surgery, investment, risk and trust that we’d have to have in the owners means that we could easily go backwards yet again. I suppose... to sum up... Let’s just see how we do in the next six games. Make or break.

Completely agree that something should be done without exception. Even a few words in the programme or a condolence message on the big screen during the game would be a nice gesture. But to play devil’s advocate, and with all due respect - a lot of the people in the commercial/match day department won’t have any recollection at all of these players from forty years ago, but more importantly, they won’t have heard anything of their passing. There has been no mention in the LET either. For me, it is the first time I’ve read these names and I was only aware of their passing via Twitter after the game. We have had hundreds if not thousands of players play in the blue and white and I’m sure we would like to pay tribute to them all, in time. But if one wants to honour these previous generations then I think it best to make sure that the club is at least gently reminded or informed of these events. It will surely lead to the right outcome in the end. I cannot even bring myself to believe that the club were aware and wouldn’t even pass comment or bother to display a message. RIP to both. You both seem fond of them - what were they like? What was it that made them your heroes?

Was it after half time? Sensational?? You’re talking about THE Corry Evans?

Bennett was atrocious yesterday. But he was my player of the season last year.

I must’ve still been in the queue on the concourse.

You sit in the Riverside? Because 90 mins seems late.

Goals left in this I reckon. Whoever wins has the whole country behind them at least. What a cracking goal by Jimenez btw. Edit 2 Good lord Deloufeou’s was even better.

I can dream.

I think you’re missing my main point. If you want to sell a player - You don’t start rumours of him being a disruptive influence. On Twitter. Somehow.

Atmosphere today at Wembley between Wolves and Watford sums up why I can’t wait for the likes of Man City to fuck off into a Euro Super League.

FTFY

I almost expected him to put some really hard yards in during the close season in preparation for the step up. He didn’t, and pot/kettle notwithstanding, we can all see he’s always been pretty out of shape. If he had CR7 fitness though, he certainly wouldn’t be playing for us. And in a way, his lifestyle/attitude makes him a bit of a cult hero for me. These things contribute massively to the fact that I don’t expect we will ever realise any serious coin for him, and we won’t sell until we have to. Thank god. Most teams in this league would end up relying on him. Putting up with all the bullshit will serve us well I think. But a sale under 10-15m will be a proper canary in the coal mine. Plus Attwood is fit as fuck. Don’t deny it. I’d be gutted too!

You two got stocks in a tin foil company or something? Hilarious. So in order to sell our best player and create a willing buyer the owners (?? Or someone??) have decided to make him out to be a high maintenance disruptive influence. Using the medium of Twitter rumours. Come on. Apply a bit of critical thinking. Is it the fracking up there affecting the water? If it helps, perhaps remind yourselves that they genuinely do not give a shit what the fans think - and work backwards from there.

Look at us. Look at the owners. Look at the squad. Get a grip of who we are now. You're talking about the legendary England and Liverpool captain who’s at Glasgow bleeding Rangers. They’re still an absolutely huge behemoth of a club. I’m sure he’d far prefer trying his hand at the Europa League again, don’t you? If you think he’s coming to anyone like a Blackburn Rovers next, then of course I’m glad that you’re enjoying your Sunday session, but let me remind you that it’s very rude to be on your phone in the pub.

To say I’m not confident against these lot would be an understatement. They gave us an absolute lesson at their gaff and that’s when we were ok. Derby to win the match by 3 or more goals is currently 10/1 on Bet365...

Let’s hope the reboot is more Batman and less Ghostbusters, eh @roverseas? Mowbray to be more of a Chris Nolan; and less of a fake, studio dictated sham with a glossy veneer. It could go either way tbh.

Less than Bennett. An uneventful game from Richie is worth more than a thousand crosses to the first man a la Benno. I think Richie gets a bad rap. Evans was at least as bad.

First bold - that partnership has been with Dack. And has contributed to most of our decent attacking play for a couple of years. We were so lost without Bradley in the final third today, so much possession with zero spark, movement, or creativity. That leads me to... Second bold - I think we need to change it up. We need a complete revamp of formation. Big man knock down is a dying tactic, and we’ve seen teams (as today) completely nullify us by keeping Graham quiet. Take him off or he isn’t winning his battles, or we don’t have a Ona ride class player playing off him and we can’t defend either because we’ve no way through the lines. These are the biggest issues for me that need addressing - How do we play if we don’t have Dack, and if we can’t replace Graham? I find it hard to identify any player I’ve seen recently that can play that role as well as DG. He’ll be almost impossible to replace. Thats why I was so disappointed today in how we just did the same stuff but worse than ever. The definition of huff and puff without D & G both on song.