Atko's Engine

Leeds is only just up the road from Huddersfield, they know where they'll be playing next season, and they'll be able to afford him.

If I remember correctly Wagner made 10 changes to his side that day from the previous match, which they'd won to guarantee their place in the playoffs. That changed team then lost 2-0 to a relegation-threatened Brum team that had a man sent off after 20 odd mins when it was 0-0. In the playoffs, Wagner then returned to a line up similar to that he'd selected in the previous match, and of course won the playoffs. (Yes, it still hurts.) That's very different to us using only players who will be here next season. I suspect Walton will play, then it'll be Nyambe or Bennett, Lenihan, JRC, Carter, Travis, Johnson or Davenport, Rothwell, Armstrong, BB or Gallagher or Graham, and Holtby. That's hardly the same as what Wagner did with his wholesale changes. I have absolutely no doubt that Mowbray will respect the integrity of the competition, whilst also doing his job for this club by looking to next season. Whilst the latter was definitely true in respect of Wagner, the former definitely wasn't.

Well that was entertaining, though in some respects I wish it wasn't as we almost made a pig's ear of it! A great start when we were looking lethal, some of the interplay amongst the forwards was very fine indeed. Their free kick; it couldn't have been more in the corner, it kept low and was judged to perfection. I can see why Walton is being criticised as it had to travel a long way, but sometimes you have to credit the scorer rather than diss the keeper. Had Walton saved it, it would've been a top drawer save. Thereafter we still looked the better side & should have got another 2 or 3 before Rothwell's effort after a sustainedspell of pressure on their goal (well deserved on today's showing from Rothwell). Then we just capitulated, inexplicably. We conceded to two good headers, the first was bad enough, but for the second, what was Travis thinking? He'd just got away with overplaying in his own box a couple of minutes earlier, then did so again calamitously. He needs to cut that out. For a time we were on the ropes, but then got our composure back & finally got the 4th goal & 3 points that we deserved overall; a fine cross & finish it was too. I thought Carter look excellent, albeit he was not pushed too hard. He wasn't in any way to blame for the goals, and he looks a unit. Best compliment I could pay him is that it didn't really feel like Tosin wasn't playing. JRC looked competent but is obviously really itching to play further forwards. Travis was good bar his kamikaze tendencies, Johnson Ok, but Rothwell, Holtby, Arma & BB were excellent. Just a little bit more clinical please. At first I thought the subs struggled. Davenport especially (who I'd hoped would start) looked off the pace. But we got the composure back, started playing neatly again (Buckley looked v tidy), then Chapman - who played like the Chapman we remember in his little cameo - put in a superb cross inviting Gallagher to put his head where it hurts with a great diving header (see Herbie's photo earlier). Would've been great to see Vale hit that shot 6 inches lower to round things off. There's real promise in that young squad that was on show today. Defensively there's work to do to be more solid & cut out stupid, naive mistakes (I guess that comes with youth) and offensively we need to be more clinical. But i saw some exciting signs today, albeit in a game in which there was nothing huge at stake.

Disappointing. Was a good free kick though tbf

Arma!!

BB!!!!

At least all those starters will be here next season, bar Walton. But can see the logic of keeping Walton in if giving Carter a start though would prefer Hilton or Fisher on the bench over Leutwiler. Would've preferred Davenport over Johnson too. But genuinely pleased that Mowbray is using this game with an eye to next season, as I hoped he would.

Oops

At least all those starters will be here next season, bar Walton. But can see the logic of keeping Walton in if giving Carter a start though would prefer Hilton or Fisher on the bench over Leutwiler. Would've preferred Davenport over Johnson too. But genuinely pleased that Mowbray is using this game with an eye to next season, as I hoped he would.

Thing is JH, Mowbray can't win either way. He either bigs up our chances and then gets criticised for not achieving them due in large part to factors beyond his control (i.e. not knowing his budget) or he talks like he is doing and gets slated for lacking ambition. It's a classic rock and a hard place situation. And for those saying sack him, in terms of possible replacements of any stature that we might consider more likely to succeed, who do you think would be keen on the job when Venkys won't say what funds might be available to strengthen? Of course there would be interest in the job, but not from people of the calibre being talked up on here IMO. I love this club, i know we all do otherwise why spend time posting on here? (Sympathetic Claret & Longsider aside!) I want success too. But we're a basketcase club to which Mowbray has brought some real stability. Most people outside of this club within the game think Mowbray has done a very good job in spite of that; I doubt there's many with a good reputation who will be willing to risk that and back themselves to do significantly better in these circumstances (I.e under our current owners). I should stress that a lack of confidence in a good replacement being selected is not my only reason for believing Mowbray should stay, but it is certainly a relevant factor.

In parts I've been happy with it yes, but of course it's not been thrill a minute and it's ultimately not brought about the playoffs. But was that actually realistically what we expected in August? No it isn't. In fact many on here expected us to be in a relegation dogfight, but after a slow start we were never anywhere near that. So arguably Mowbray has over-achieved in that context, hasn't he? I will pay for next season, but I expect improvement on this season. I expect a proper playoff push (which we might've got this season had we had Cunningham, Dack et al fit all season); I want us to be more dynamic and pleasing on the eye going forwards, and more robust defensively. I want us to lose a lot less points from winning positions. But I'll also be realistic to recognise that things will happen during the course of the season that will be beyond Mowbray's control and which might derail us. Oh and by the way, you'll not hear me lauding Venkys on here or anywhere else . One can support Mowbray without supporting Venkys. We need them, sadly, due to the mess they've made since they arrived, and whilst they may have been less destructive in the last 2 or 3 seasons, whatever success we may or may not achieve next season, it'll be in spite of them not because of them.

As I've been clear on here before, I'm in the Mowbray to stay camp, but I've also accepted there's plenty of room for further improvement. I genuinely do think that this season would have been a more successful one had we had a bit more luck with injuries. Yes that's not the only reason and there's other criticisms that can be fairly levelled, but hear me out. Obviously there's Dack; our best player for 3 years, top scorer in his time here. Any team would miss a player like that, the focal point of our offensive game. When he got injured we were pushing 6th, albeit in that game itself we weren't pulling up trees. Of course it's too simplistic to say we'd have got 6th had he stayed fit, but for sure we'd have had a better chance. Moving on, some above queried why didn't we go out & buy a replacement? Well, we already had one in Holtby; not an identikit replacement but a good, competent number 10. Why would he buy another one, which would leave him open to suggestions of not being confident in Holtby, especially with Buckley on the fringes too? Holtby in fact slotted in quite well and it looked like we could then continue to improve without Dack. But then he got injured too which is hugely unfortunate given that the team was built on playing with a number 10. With Buckley proving to be not quite ready for that kind of crucial role week in week out, we were left short in that respect but most teams would on losing 2 players in the same position. Then there's Evans. Ok, I know he has his detractors; I've been amongst them. But he was looking like a main player for us again this season & put in some really strong performances alongside Travis, linking play effectively from front to back, especiallyaround the turn of the year when top 6 was achievable. But then he too, shortly afterwards, suffered a horrific, hugely unfortunate injury. Cue more disruption in a central area resulting in an over-reliance on certain individuals (especially Travis). Even after lockdown, Evans comes back fit, starts, puts in a top performance v Bristol but then breaks his big toe; even for someone with his injury record, this is quite some achievement! Then look at Cunningham. We were all crying out for a new, top half Championship standard left back who could perform consistently well both defensively& offensively. He came and was looking exactly that, just what we needed. Yet come October he too gets injured & is out for the season. Bell deputises, with mixed results (being generous), but then he too also gets injured. Williams, 3rd choice LB, then also gets injured, with neither of them being available for the crucial 9 match run-in. So then we see Bennett & JRC playing there, which would never have happened but for 3 players suffering medium to long term injuries. You can be pretty sure that Bennett's game time would've been far less had LB not been such a problem position through mid & long term injuries. Other short term injuries from time to time, such as those seen with Lenihan & Nyambe, are what you expect in a season, perhaps with 1 longer term one thrown in. To suffer what we have, to players in such key positions can only be considered very bad luck. To have so many players injured in 2-3 positions which are key to the overall effectiveness of the team could not have been predicted or planned for. I can hear people now saying this is just excuses, injuries are part of football etc., which I accept is true. But these are nevertheless facts / events beyond TM's control; not the only ones admittedly, there's more to it than that and there have been disappointments elsewhere, but they're true nonetheless. As a consequence I think that's good reason to cut TM some slack for this season and allow him the chance to further develop the squad, get Dack back, another LB, hopefully for BB and / or Gallagher to step up and push for a top 6 berth more aggressively.

I like him a lot, his use of the ball - last night aside - gets us on the front foot and defensively he's been pretty reliable too. But the next 2 games are about planning for next season, which is probably only what, 8 weeks away? Unfortunately, Adarabioyo is unlikely to be part of that, so let's see what other CB partnership might show positive signs.

On a more serious note, I think there were a lot of good points made in that article by Sharpe, anxious many of the posts above. There's no doubt Mowbray has his flaws. Yesterday highlighted several of them,though I think some of the players' performances served to highlight them even more so, as too many were below par. I think we have progressed under Mowbray. Not as much as I would've liked, but I also think there are some reasons for that which are beyond his control (restrictive club structure & injuries to key personnel being chief amongst them). That's not making excuses it's fact, and could have happened to any other hot seat incumbent. It's a risk keeping Mowbray as he's certainly not guaranteed to succeed. But I believe he does have passion for this club, he's not just here for his pension, he does want it to succeed and he does have a plan for developing the squad further this summer. Whether he is allowed to do so in the current climate is uncertain, but if he is forced to look for cheap / free incomings then his record in that dept is not too bad, and certainly better than his big-ticket shopping has been recently. In that context, maybe he's ideally placed to make the most of a sow's ear. I don't know, keeping him could be a massive mistake, replacing him could be too. There's a lot to be said for stability over risk; fans of the likes of Ipswich & Sunderland will tell you that,but there's also surprise success stories from the past too. We may never know unless we have a particularly good or bad season. Assuming he stays though, as seems likely, he definitely needs a good summer and a strong first half dozen games next season to maintain the goodwill of those supporting him & recover some credibility amongst the rest. Ramble over, sorry!

You're giving Iain Dowie a run for his money there fella!

I think whilst there was a mathematical chance of top 6 it was the right call generally to stick with senior players, although theres room for debate about which players in which positions. Yes we lost to Wigan (like nearly everyone has done since February, bizarrely!) and Barnsley, but won at Cardiff & drew to W Brom. Had those 4 results been swapped, would TM be getting the same grief? (Don't all shout "yes" at once!) That said, I would have played Davenport earlier over Johnson, whose only standout performance was 2and half v Cardiff. And none of this changes the fact that it was a poor performance tonight.

True, but I think we all agree that we're a better side with him in it than we are without him in it.

IIRC, had we won that Wigan game he got injured in we would've gone top 6; had we done, and kept Dack fit, who knows how we might have gone from there? Like I said, fine margins. Tonight though was just disappointing, pure and simple, too many players off their game.

I've not read previous comments, I don't need to as I'm confident what most will say. But as someone who has supported TM staunchly on here, there's no denying that was a disappointing way for our season to end, pretty toothless when we needed to be in their faces. There was no bite to us; obviously the yellows for JRC & Travis didn't help, the latter not showing anything like his normal self. Subs were ineffective this time, and we were too slow to get the ball into the front 3. I still think we can improve from here with TM at the helm as he's had rotten luck with key injuries this season. It's fine lines between success & mediocrity but no doubt there are a tough few weeks ahead. We need to start Davenport on Saturday next to Travis, Gally or BB up front with Arma, Buckley, JRC in an attacking role, and look to blood the likes of Carter, Lewis Thompson & Fisher or Hilton. They're the future, next season & beyond, give them a go now when there's nothing to lose. There's no need for Downing, Adarabioyo (both of whom I like a lot), Bennett, Johnson or Samuel to be selected. TM's got a big job on his hands this summer, not least to get many of you back on board. It's performances like tonight's that give his doubters cause to question his suitability to progress, which is a disappointing way for tonight to have gone for all concerned.

That said, can't grumble if Trav or Arma scoop it.

I went for Downing, he's been a revelation really considering everything, his consistency & fitness are quite something. I'm pretty confident the players would vote him as their POTY for his overall impact on the team's more progressive possession-based game and leading by example.

There was shot of Mowbray leaning over the tunnel wall in frustration after that chance. It hurt him, just as it hurt us. To be fair to Davenport, whilst it wasn't the best of finishes it was also good goalkeeping.

I don't share your obvious confidence I'm afraid, I rather think that with the pressure on him to succeed - and there will be, for all the reasons you mention - he will be an accident waiting to happen. He'll be a target for every opposing manager, telling their players to get at him, get under his skin, put high balls on, force an error. He'll be baited at every ground we visit & by every away fan that comes to Ewood (as & when that's allowed again). I really don't think we need to be inviting that sort of pressure on the rest of the team. IMO we're better off with a solid, consistent, under-the-radar type keeper who can just get on with his job.

That's what we have had with Walton though, and before that Raya, and it's hardly been to universal acclaim in either case. Both have been pilloried on here (sometime overly so IMO) after those changers. Hart would be totally crucified if he did the same. I'm sure there are better, more consistent & less showboaty keepers out there than Hart, whether from lower leagues, Prem reserves or Europe.

Could Gallagher be a cheap improvement on Benteke at Palace? Quite possibly! I'm pretty sure it's not gonna happen though. I think, whether fans like it or not, it's pretty clear that Mowbray is staying. So his priorities for me are: Keep at all costs Lenihan, Travis, Dack, Arma, JRC, Davenport, & Nyambe (preferably on a new contract). Keep - Downing, Tosin (unlikely I know), Graham, Rothwell, Holtby, Bell, Davenport, Wharton, Release - Samuel (a little regrettably), Chapman, Smallwood Listen to offers for (a little optimistically perhaps) - BB, Gally, Williams, Johnson & / or Evans, Bennett Loan out - Buckley, Butterworth, Hilton / Fisher 2 new keepers - a solid permanent (Darlow, Rudd?) & a loan understudy, with the other of Hilton or Fisher being brought through. I'd not be averse to having Walton back as perm, if price is right, but seems unlikely so wouldn't shed a tear. 1 perm LB - Cunningham looked v competent in all aspects of the position. If he can prove hit fitness, he'd be great to have back. CB - 1 perm & 1 loan. Would love Tosin back but unlikely; he'll move permanently to a promoted or lower Prem club, possibly with a buyback clause in City's favour as he could be THAT good. We also need to fully integrate an U23 into the 1st team squad. I'd hazard Wharton as most likely to compete with a loanee given his experience. In CM and attack, we're well stocked and I don't see there's major surgery needed there that could be done within budget, without a big sale. I would focus instead on improving output from those already here - esp Brereton, Gallagher, Rothwell & Buckley, plus improve Nyambe's final ball & play JRC further forward. I'd only have incomings in these areas to replace any big departures. There appear to be another half dozen returning loanees or U23s who might be considered promising & on the fringes of the 1st team squad in all positions, besides those mentioned above (e.g. Carter, Magloire, Thompson, Grayson, Lyons, Vale). I don't know any well enough as I only see highlights, but I'd be surprised if a couple of them weren't more fixtures in the squad in 12 months time. There's work to do to improve without losing top players. GK, CB and LB are my priorities. It's doable in my opinion, especially with improvement on the training ground based on achieving consistency, breaking down stubborn defences & not throwing away leads so often through silly individual errors.