I think the squad is good but unbalanced. Kaminski, Nyambe, Lenihan, Travis, Davenport, Rothwell, Elliott, Arma, Dacky are all capable of pushing a side into the top 6. But the lack of depth at centre back and the lack of width with Brereton and Gallagher really unbalances the side. Coupled with Mowbrays constant insistence of his full backs playing like wingers, constant rotation, obsession with dominating the ball at all times rather than playing the ebb and flow of a game. A permanent switch back to a 4-2-3-1. A little more conservative at times, signing a bit of natural width. More quality at centre back and I think we would be flying. One other thing I have noticed is that even though Arma is a midget. He's actually far better at backing into defenders than Gallagher is. And long balls up to him can sometimes bounce off of him. Not quite like Graham used too. But personally I don't see why we couldn't see Dack in the 10 behind Arma. One natural winger who is truly capable of running at defenders. A more conservative winger the other side. A bit like Mowbrays soldiers and artists, 2 and a half attackers from league 1. And suddenly I think we would be very competitive.

I'd like to know who the hell is behind this as well. Is this driven by those at the club or India. I can't see any upside to this right now. If it is those at the club who are peddling this then they should be clearing their desks today. If it's a directive from India. Things could begin to look very, very grim if the owners are looking to claw their money back.

I think he's integral to the side but his body can't maintain the levels needed. The only real time we've looked genuinely on song this season was when Holtby was in form. That dropped off and so did we.

Firstly Chaddy we were discussing the attractiveness of our club. Someone then made reasonable comparisons. So you say just go and say. Yeah well he's not HSH so it doesn't count. It's how kids argue. And j wrote OUR LIMITATIONS hindering our search. Not you 😂 Read what was written before replying. You literally haven't replied to one thing I've written in these couple of posts.

Such a boring answer Chaddy. Its not even what we're talking about. We were talking about the merits of rovers as a club and the merits/appeal of Carrick as a manager. But as per you deflect. Face it. Your backing of Mowbray until very recently is deluded. And now you're just on this stupid theme of our limitations hindering us in any search for a new manager. Its tiresome. Tony is done. For better or for worse he needs replacing. And we are an attractive proposition. That's all there is to it.

Has Mowbray ever 'walked' before?

Who do you think we are as club? JH Rover just put together a great list of why we're an attractive proposition. All you can come back with is waffle about how managers were recommended. Face it Chaddy. There are very clear similarities between the three managers mentioned and Carrick. Question is. Would we want Carrick. Not the other way around.

Possibly. Or Nyambe has questioned why Gallagher was playing right back last game. Why wouldn't you. If he's said something strongly or weakly, Mowbray has often made scapegoats out of younger players. And he can bring a 'loyal solider' like Bennett back in. Could be contractual. Could be a very strong sign he has lost the dressing room.

Reality is his contract just like many others should have been sorted a long time ago. We are in a weak position now. Not so weak we are vulnerable to being completely done over if we act quickly but I imagine if he were to resign a release would be insisted on. We seriously need to put a contract in front of him with a hefty raise and a release clause that is fair on the club but offers him freedom should he continue to perform

Pretty sure he just said he was available at a price. Not that he has a release clause whereby we have no choice but to accept

Has there at any single point, ever been a suggestion Arma does have a release clause?

Mowbray talking absolute marbles in his false 9 justification. Mate is a QPR fan and read Mowbrays comments. This is what he had to say and from the rest of our chats was totally baffled by Mowbray but thanks him for the 3 points.

Nixon is on the wind up here. £8 million. Us wanting £10 million. I can literally see the bloke taking a sip of his coffee and chuckling away to himself when he types these things. In terms of the interest. Doesn't take a genius to work out that Arma is on a short list with a few others for West Ham. We do need to sort that contract asap though. Or the max we will be able to get is about £15 mil. Long term, decent raise and include a release clause. Suits all parties.

QPR playing with wing backs at the moment. Something we've really struggled against this season. I'd be quite up for seeing a 4231 as opposed to the 433 because of this. And also because we consistently seem to do better when switching things up and moving away from 433 towards the end of games. They do like to keep possession. Not as much as us mind. Remains to be seen whether it will be us trying to break them down or more ebb and flow. I've seen them as quite similar under Warburton as we have been under Mowbray. Like to try and play the "right" way but with a soft underbelly. Difference being is they've lost their two worldies in Eze and Osayi-Samuel. In saying that they've added steel and experience this transfer window in Austin and Johansson. Ordinarily I'd say they are a good side to face and would usually fancy us against them. But they have hit a little form and seem a little more pragmatic. Its not 'must win' but victory here could help overcome some demons of us constantly bottling things and genuinely put us right in the mix. In that sense. It is a big game. Would love a scrappy 1-0 away win!!

They've completely mismanaged the situation. I understand not wanting to get bullied and holding out for what you value a player at. However the tables turn significantly when a contract is running down. Reportedly rejected offers of £25million last Jan. I could sort of understand this if they thought he could help them retain premiership status. But then in the summer they dug their heels in. I'm pretty sure they turned down offers of around £15million only for clubs to move on. Its cost them major money. King a lot of time. And as a result we have suffered too.

Makes no sense whatsoever as we need a centre back. But living in dreamland for a moment Billy Gilmore is looking to leave Chelaea on loan today. Hope he doesn't go to a Championship club as he has the ability to really push a team on.

The longer Jason Tindell stays in the job at Bournemouth the more chance there is of a top 6 spot being available. Not sure on Reading. I think they will get top 6 but I'm not sure there will be a huge gap between them and the chasing pack. Watford are a funny one. Clearly they have the players. Imagine they will be in the playoffs. Every possibility they might sack a manager in the last month of the season then who knows what you might get when they are there. Personally I think Norwich and Swansea will get the auto promotion spots with Brentford chasing hard then to miss out again in the playoffs. Any chance for Rovers. I think there is a lot of dross in the chasing pack with the likes of Boro, Stoke, Bristol etc. I think we've more quality than those sides with a less pragmatic manager. Keep it tight and I think we really should be finishing 7th. A lot depends in our games building up to March. If we are grinding out wins then we have put ourselves in the mix. If we are hearing Mowbray talk about an unbeaten run, half of which are draws then I think not as we've left ourselves a lot to do. I'd be quite optimistic if we can put together a winning run until March then grind out some draws against some of the better sides in the league. Gut feeling says a 7th place finish and continued talk of progression which lead to groundhog day of another decisive transfer window in the summer.

I don't for one second think that there won't be another death spiral. However if the back 4 can stay settled and we are grinding out wins in an ugly fashion. I personally would feel more confident about our chances against sides towards the top than I did when we were blowing hot and cold scoring 5 one week and 0 the next.

I'd keep Benno until the summer. Agree he is a positive influence on the dressing room and should we somehow manage to make something of this season he has value as an older head. On the playing side of things. I wouldn't want to see him in the first team, but I'd far rather see him doing a job at right back than John Buckley. With JRC made of glass there is zero back up there without Bennet. Whom I agree is not adequate back up. But certainly a lot better than the next down the list.

Rather than loaning Pickering back to them why not offer Bell to them on loan. He's not been up to the task for us but he is absolutely a competent league 1 left back. He got team of the season in our promotion year albeit mainly for performances at his previous club. He is poor at championship level but he is better than done on here give him credit for. We could even offer him on a free transfer as opposed to a loan and Crewe have an immediate long term replacement as opposed to a 6 month loan. Even if Pickering isn't playing immediately it gives him a chance to bed in. Something Mowbray loves to do. If Crewe are playing hard ball and it's a case of loan him back or no deal I'd begrudgingly accept it since he seems like a sound piece of long term planning. But its not ideal.

Big game today. Win and we are 3 points off the playoffs. There are signs of a slight change in set up of late (albeit sometimes thrown out the window with confusing changes (Buckley for Johnson)). Mowbray seems to be adding a little more steel to the midfield in Davenport. Him and Travis together might not look spectacular but I do feel it gives us a lot more balance as though we play the game rather than attempting to simply dominate the ball. I think all fans would be happy to trade a bit of possession for steel. Anyway. A win, hopefully a gritty one and we could see a tweaked philosophy prevailing which gives me a little hope moving into the second half of the season.

Really disappointing for the lad. The fact it is a back injury again raises the concern about it too.

I thought Dacky was by far and away the best player on the pitch when he came on today. He oozed class and for the first time since his return I could see a bit of the player he was before his injury. It was class to see.

Thought we were terrible up until 5 minutes before we scored today. The game changed after the Kaminski save and them hitting the post. What did not make sense to me was Buckley coming on. The Tony Tombola joke is a constant one and is born out the inconsistency of our line ups. Sometimes I feel it is justified, sometimes not. But today was Tombola stuff. Johnson, good in the air, strong, bit of a shithouse is injured after 10 minutes. The only other point in the game where we were playing well. Replaced by Buckley, terrible in the air, weak, gets bypassed. One would assume Mowbray picks his players with a plan in mind. Why the complete change in plan after a forced change, 10 minutes in. A key position on the pitch. There were other more like for like replacements. To me, this made no sense whatsoever. Credit to the subs after we scored though. Sealed the game. One has to think that maybe had we not brought Buckley on for Johnson maybe we would have had more of a foothold in the rest of the game...

It makes sense for Mowbray to deny all knowledge. He will be fully aware Douglass has not lived up to his billing. He's probably enquired about Pickering with pretty limited funds. Been knocked back. It makes perfect sense for him to not completely knock the confidence of our already poor first choice left back by issuing a denial.