ben_the_beast

I don't know what to think of Sam Gallagher. He has some of the attributes to at least be effective. Basically he is playing garbage. But he is massive and mobile. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult to get him learning how to wrestle for space. Back into a defender. Stop trying to get his head on things. Literally just find a spot, hold his ground and let it hit him. He's got a crap first touch but you don't even need a good touch to let a ball hit you in the stomach. That's the level we are at with him now. He would be more effective as a lump to hit the ball into. But he can't even seem to do that. The bloke also has pace when he gets up to speed. I swear a different manager would be able to turn a poor player into a mildly effective one. But as it is he's being played out of position. And he is completely useless at what he's trying to do. If he could be utilised for 2 things he'd be useful. Getting in the way of long balls for players to pick up the loose ends and knocking it into space in front of him for him to gallop onto. He's also a bloody hard worker so can press well. All we do is play it into his feet. And he has about one of the worst first touches I've ever seen. And watching him trying to beat a man from a standing start is cringeworthy. I know he wasn't prolific before signing but his career has nosedived here dramatically. He needs taking out the side and needs some one on one attention and stop being shoe-horned in because of his price tag. Coach him to use the attributes he does have. Then maybe we will see some return on the pitch for our investment. As it stands Mowbrays use of him is ruining his career. Yes he's not developed on the attributes he has which he is accountable for. But I really think a little guidance for him would go a long, long way. Rant over

Didn't say I was a fan of Mowbrays tactics. Just said Stoke were and are crap. And I'm right

Stoke arent playing their way to getting promoted. They were as dire as is but just in a completely different way

Stoke were atrocious today. They absolutely didn't deserve the win. We got ourselves into plenty of good positions but we really lacked ideas when we got into the final third. It definitely looks as though we don't practise any set ways of breaking teams down in training. Just a big of a case of play it around and look for the opening. We've only got ourselves to blame for not winning and that's why we won't go up. But at the same time we did more than enough to win today. Slips, dragging shots, blocks. Stoke won't go up. We'll probably finish around the place in the league. They are shite going forwards, we are shite at the back. They may have won but the future is no brighter for them than it is for us.

It's almost like we could do with our big 6'4 centre forward being able to actually anticipate the flight of the ball and actually win a header for once in his career.

A lot of moaning. I only have one moan and that was the entire defence being fast asleep for their goal. Nyambe put no pressure on the crosser. Lenihan and Johnson just drifted across and we were overloaded. We were asleep. Apart from that I think we've been excellent. Some people moaning about possession. I think our possession has been completely different to our last few games. Its higher up the pitch and we are constantly in and around their penalty area. We've been a bit more direct in the speed of our passing and our pressing has been good to win it back high up the pitch. We don't deserve to be losing on the balance of play but we've only got ourselves to blame in the way we conceded. Side note. I think the ref has been excellent. Letting play flow. And it is amazing to see a player booked for time wasting in the first half. Something which needs to happen for more

We've dominated. Entire defence asleep conceding a stupid soft goal though.

Agreed. We are absolutely desperate. Maybe it is a good thing this is happening now as we all know the speed at which we operate in terms of transfers. Conversations need to be had immediately about bringing in backup in January. And I'm not talking about the end either. We need someone in at the start of the month.

Huge game. Last 3 games have been a misery. Lose and even though the Rotherham game was a win we will be looking down rather than up. Win and even though we've gone through a tough spell it would have us right in the mix. This game will say a lot about Mowbray. I think it is quite clear some changes are needed. Will he have the blinkers on and see Rotherham as a well ground out 3 points or see the reality that we were extremely lucky and we need fresh legs.

Kaminski Nyambe - Ayala - Wharton - ????? Dack - Travis - Rothwell Elliot - Arma - Brereton That is a hell of a team. Holtby, Johnson, Downing and Trybull to add crazy depth in midfield. Dack can be shifted to any one of the attacking positions. Unfortunately we do not have a left back equipped to play. In order of preference I would go Bell/Downing, then JRC, then Douglas. It is harsh on the bloke but I would be looking to send Douglas back to Leeds. His legs have gone and he is significantly worse than the poor or out of position options we have there.

I think it was reasonable to assume we had enough cover at centre back. As far as I am aware Wharton has never been injury prone and him being out for the season has left us up the creek. Yes we could have stocked up one more. But I am sure everyone would then be complaining that it would have blocked Whartons path into the first team. Really bad luck. What won't be bad luck though is attempting to ride it out and not bring in another centre half until the end of the season at least. That is plain stupid.

Love the fact that after Arma scores Ayala pinches the ball out the back of the net and hoofs it out the stadium. Waste our own few seconds after they had wasted half the game

Changes needed. We got away with one against Rotherham Kaminski Nyambe - Lenihan - Ayala - Bell Holtby - Trybull - Downing Elliott - Arma - Gallagher Rothwell to absolutely come on at some point. He provides us with a drive nobody else can from midfield. Think he and Johnson need a rest. Firstly they are looking jaded and secondly it's only going to be a matter of time until one of them breaks down and we'll all be criticizing Mowbray for overplaying them. Hope the 3 in the middle work together. They are probably our 3 most comfortable players holding the ball. Think they need to be more compact and work as 3. Hunt in packs, push us up the pitch. In games we've struggled to dominate the distance between our midfield 3 has been ridiculous. It's no wonder we continue to pass it back to our centre backs, there are no other options. Keep Gally in for his height when defending corners but definitely don't want to see him given the same amount of minutes as against Rotherham. We are a team of midgets without him. Douglas for me has lost his place rather than Bell winning it. He needs to sit out for a few weeks and make sure he is ready when the chance comes to win it back. Bell is poor. Douglas has been significantly worse though. Something I did not think I'd be saying.

I want to see Downing start at the weekend. He added a lot more control in midfield. Anything to get us from playing it square across the backline constantly will be a bonus. It could be down to coincidence and teams dropping off at the end of games, but if he can help us get another 30 yards up the pitch then I've much more hope for us going forward. Downing, Holtby and Trybull at the weekend. All comfortable on the ball. Give Rothwell a rest.

Big improvement from Arma last night. Couple of times he was still a bit greedy but as a striker he needs an element of that in his game. But his pass to set up Elliott was spot on and in the right place to get the winner. He was quiet a lot of the night but there is no way we would have won the game without him on the pitch. Playing the pass for an assist will actually help him out in the long run too. Becomes less one dimensional and easy to defend against.

I can't agree with Bell being worse than Douglas. I feel a bit harsh judging him so quickly but he is so far off the pace. He is truly awful. Can't tackle, can't head, no pace, no strength, can't progress us up the pitch, touch actually looks very poor. I'd genuinely be looking at other left back options on loan and look to terminate. Its rare I've seen a player so far out his depth which is even more perplexing considering his reputation. Don't get my wrong, Bell isn't great. No final delivery, gets caught positionally sometimes and when he has a stinker. It really is a stinker. But what he does have is the engine to get up and down and play Mowbrays system. Somebody else said it too. As bad as Bell has been at times. I don't think he has ever been as poor as Douglas was tonight (or some of his other appearances for us for that matter)

Downing made a huge difference. Though I think we were aided by them suddenly dropping off. Overall we were atrocious. Delighted to get the win. As I do believe with the players we have coming back if we are in touching distance in the new year we have a chance at a late push. Back to the game though. Terrible! Losing control of the midfield with lightweight (Buckley), immobile, knackered (Johnson) players. Having 3 players who can all put their foot on the ball helped turn the game in Trybull, Holtby and Downing. Especially Downing. I would like to see the 3 of them together in there for our next game and get Rothwell wide left. Don't want to see Rothwell shifted from his best position but we need more control in the middle and most importantly I can't see Gallagher on the wing any more

In the majority of our games recently we've lost the ability to control possession in midfield. Constantly playing it back to the back line for pointless possession. We just can't seem to maintain that possession higher up the pitch anymore and its costing us. Also Douglas is awful.

I wouldn't say it's completely beyond the realms of possibility to get him back for a second season on loan. I'm sure liverpool are probably pretty pleased on how we are handling him and the game time he's getting. Still don't see him being anywhere near their starting line up. Biggest threat would be a premier league team wanting to loan him next year. Assuming we aren't there.

If Newcastle are interested in having him back it might be the best of both worlds. They would effectively be buying him for less due to their sell on clause. I'd accept £20 million from Newcastle as that would be effectively £30 million from another club. If they were interested in him as a player it would make sense seeing the local boy come back. Something for their moaning fans to cheer about.

I think Holtby needs some time out the side. Earlier in the season he was everywhere, playmaker, late runs into the box, putting his foot in. He hasn't been good for some time now. I think he simply needs a proper rest. We looked good for the time Trybull and Johnson were together against Brentford. Maybe this is the game Davenport finally gets his chance. Midfield 3 of Johnson, Davenport and Rothwell.

Wrote this in the Bristol thread as well. If Arma puts in any more displays like he did yesterday I can see teams being put off him. Put his own self interest ahead of the team last night. It wasn't just a poor game. There is a difference between being single minded and greed. He showed a real poor mentality.

100% agree. It was that bad that I'm pretty sure any clubs monitoring him will have watched that with concern. There may be people sniffing around him in January. But I'm certain the mentality he showed yesterday has the potential to put a David Moyes off signing him. Simply because it was a mentality issue. Putting himself ahead of the team rather than just him having a poor performance. And to be honest. He really pissed me off.

Shows how poor Douglas has been that we are talking about Williams at left back. A real disappointment thus far. Hasn't won a header, lacking pace, positionally suspect. And weirdly the amount of times his first touch seems to pop up to about knee height. I've not been impressed at all. At least Bell has pace.

That's actually huge. I wasn't aware of this.