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.

So disappointed with the loss. But not to worried as we absolutely did not deserve to lose. Set something straight. We would not have lost that were it not for Arma. He needs ripping a new one in the dressing room. Not because of a poor performance but because he put himself before the team tonight. And that's not acceptable.

Think out of the two sides we are the ones capable of going up a gear. Bristol chances have been more when turning over possession whereas we look like creating ourselves. Need to up the tempo second half as it is there for the taking

It is ridiculous. Mowbray talking about negotiations and giving players what they deserve and power with agents/players if phones start ringing. These aren't transfer negotiations where you're juggling a few balls to see which one you get over the line. This is our key assets walking away for free. Even if balancing the books becomes difficult, sell one of them in the summer to pay for the rest. It isn't rocket science. It should be the clubs absolute number 1 priority right now to get these guys tied down. Asap.

It is making me extremely nervous. They are 3 key players. I think Nyambe had made a small step up again this year. Holtby is our playmaker. And Joe Rothwell is fast becoming one of our most valuable players. No longer the myth he once was and if he was tied down to a long contract I'd see him at a minimum £10million asset with the skillset and potential to increase that over the coming years.

If Wharton is out for the season. Or at the very least an extended period it might actually be a very good shout looking at a 6 month loan for Cedric Kipre. Not seen a minute of football at West Brom, only been on the bench once and Bilic has mentioned a loan might be the best solution for him. Additional temporary cover will be vital there come January

It is horrifying how the contract situation at Rovers has been allowed to develop. There is nothing to suggest any of the players are unhappy. Its complete negligence.

Is there any indication we are actually appealing Lenihans red.

Really is. He's been a huge bonus the last month. Such a shame for him and us. Think he had the shirt. It was his to lose and injury has stopped his big break.

To be fair with Wharton looking decent ordinarily 4 would be plenty. Extremely unfortunate with the absentees we have there

Thought Toney grabbed Lenihan as much as Lenihan grabbed Toney. Silly to grapple in the area but it was extremely soft. Referee couldn't wait to give it that's for sure. Ayala is really going to have to Marshall the defense now. Feel for John Buckley in a right back. Gallagher is going to have to give him a hell of a lot of defensive support.