ben_the_beast

We don't know too much about the Greek keeper. But he seemed to have enough pedigree to be a second level backup. The money spent on Pears is just another example of idiotic priorities. He's made a couple of mistakes. Had a good game against Boro. I don't think he looks great at the moment but he may be able to carve out a decent future in the game. But spending significant money on him considering our budget was a ridiculous decision. His fee and wages, Downings wages. It adds up. And that's not even taking into account the 2/3 month contract extensions to deadwood in the summer. It all adds up. We would be entering this window with a bit in reserve. It's basically like me draining my bank account dry on nights out only to not have a penny when my car breaks down.

What he does in those videos he does very well. Takes up quite a peculiar position when attacking. In that he is far more narrow rather than hugging the touchline. Regardless. I highly doubt we will be bringing him in. We've got no money. We probably scouted him a bit in the summer. Went for the experience of Douglas. Now we are being linked with him by the odd bloke on Twitter. If he were still there in the summer then maybe. And after seeing the Douglas masterclass of terrible defending I'd be very much interested to see how that aspect of his game is before getting excited.

Can the poll thread not be merged with the discussion thread. Just had a look at it from 57 votes 100% are saying he has to go. I like Mowbray for all he has done. But he is lost. It's time to go. There is part of me that wants him to move upstairs into a DOF role. However in could see him sticking his oar in too much with the new manager. Either way. He needs to go. He's lost his way. Tactically this is the about as bad as it gets.

Personally I think in terms of numbers we were fine on centre backs. The mistake was signing Ayala. Lenihan, Wharton, William's and one more competent centre back without a history of injuries would have been fine. We didn't need 5, we just needed 4 with an element of reliability.

Of ones who feel mildly realistic given who we tend to aim for. Pearson would be my top choice. I wouldnt say no to cook. I don't like the bloke. But I think he is a Savage type character who when he's on your team, he could be great. People saying about Hughes. Big no from me. Followed his time at QPR closely. Anyone remember Kia Joorabchian? Of Tevez, Mascherano then Man City fame. Hughes agent and they only signed his players. Big no from me. Others if we aimed higher. Howe... Wilder if sacked... I guess there are possibilities. But I don't see us approaching those types. I don't think we are unattractive. One of few clubs where a manager can be given space and time which is rare. And we do have a good squad. Big fear is who makes the decision. Are we suspect to ill advice still. All hypothetical though. As I'm sure Venkys are aware it's a scarey world out there. And more than anything want Mowbray to turn it around as him doing well makes their lives easier.

Good post. Completely agree. Good managers play the game. Try and get their teams to be competitive in the mini battles all over the pitch. Go with the ebb and flows. We on the other hand under Mowbray focus on what we want to do. And it totally neglects parts of the team. Primarily the defence. Our midfield is also easy to just saunter through when we lose possession. We need to win battles and earn the right to play. That means balance on the pitch. Just because our possession stats are generally high, it doesnt mean that we are dominating. Teams are happy to let us have it. They know there is a neglect in other areas. And inevitably they will get chances in the rare times they get possession. Zero balance to our team. And zero structure to our attack. Mowbray is out of ideas. The team has no plan and is so lacking in structure there is zero resilience. I like Mowbray as a person. I think he has done wonders for the club. I wont give it a f*** off Mowbray because I'm grateful of the good. But unfortunately he has taken us as far as his ability can and it is time for a change. As fans we would just have to hope Waggot firstly has the authority to act, secondly will put the future of the club above his mate and thirdly earns his wage by recruiting a proper replacement. It's a scarey thought. Agents would be out like vultures. However we know the alternative of sticking with Mowbray is not going to take is where we want and where the budget requires.

If you were to say Buckley would be getting played in a defensive position prior to Brentford you would have laughed. Frankly its ridiculous

I think it is going to take a large slice of luck for us to progress in terms of results under Mowbray. Mowbray pros - 1. Overall he has done well in the transfer market. In my mind the only major black mark is Gallagher. And it think that is in part down to Mowbrays use of him. We now have a squad which I think is outstanding in comparison to where we were a few years ago. 2. Some don't think he don't think he does it enough but I think he has done a great job bringing through youth players. This has led to the squad being as strong as it is. 3. Trust. The club is a club I can support again. Previously it was difficult watching people there for a payday and not caring about the club. I can support Rovers passionately again and there is understandably a huge fear in the hole which would be left in our infrastructure if Mowbray were to leave. Chaos is a ladder. If Mowbray left you can guarantee there would agents etc looking to make a quick buck coming out the woodwork. He is the stability. Who would make the decisions on the next manage. Nobody knows. Mowbray cons - 1. Tactically he has not shown himself to be astute. The possession football isn't working because there is a lack of substance behind it. If merely keeping possession isn't working, saying things such as up the tempo, play less touches, get it into so and so's feet is not enough because it is intangible. At those moments the players are struggling for creativity and all those words are doing are placing more responsibility on them. We need something tangible such as working it to a player centrally, then wide, a cross played to a specific area where the striker already knows to be running. Something which is easy and takes the emphasis away from a player needing to do something special. That is the managers job. I don't think it happens because I see no pattern to our play. 2. Defence. I think it is clear Mowbray does not know how to set it up. It's never improved. And i don't think this is purely down to personnel. We lack balance. We either sit right back and dig in (rare but we can do it), or we are trying to control to many aspects of the game by taking it to the opposition and getting caught out. There is no balance. We need a slice of luck one of two ways. If he was to go that proper football people are left to appoint the best manager available and it to be done efficiently. Or Mowbray sees that what we are doing isn't working, switches things up and stumbles across a formation that does. If we had the players available I wouldn't mind 3 at the back. As there is nothing to lose as the current set up isn't working. As it is I think we are going to continue treading water. We'll go on a run when players come back to fitness. But it won't be enough. Groundhog day strikes again.

My hope is that this at least shows negotiations are under way when previous signs were not encouraging going off of Mowbrays comments. It could also coincide with contact from the owners. Reports stating they have been contacted regarding the desperate need for a new centre back so maybe we've been given the green light... Others, Nyambe most of all seriously need to follow. Possibly a chance though that Dack was an easier deal to secure given his injury as he may not have been receiving a pay rise. Either way. Great he's signed. Fingers crossed we've got the go-ahead and more are to come.

They've scored 4 goals in the last 7 games. They were scoring early in the season but conceding. Now they are not conceding but not scoring. They are currently zero threat going forwards. I'm sure the same would have applied for the remaining 83 minutes of the game with or without the early goal. We just gifted them an early one and it shot us in the foot. They are well organized. Full of stoppers. Exactly like Northern Ireland were. They aren't a great team. Yes i and every other fan would love to see a bit of resilience and a few shut outs. But stoke were and are crap. We'll finish in similar positions, with dramatically different styles of play.

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.