ben_the_beast

I think Scott Wharton has really grasped his chance the last few games. I feel quite comfortable with him at the back. He looks like a defender who really likes defending which as silly as it sounds can be a rarity these days. He can tackle, looks positionally sound and can head a ball. He's not the best on the ball but he can manage just fine. He and Lenihan played a lot of passes today. With Kaminski such a safe outlet with his feet I think that fills in for Tosins composure. I don't have the dislike for William's like many seem too. But I'd still rather see Wharton at the back.

Nice to win a little ugly. I think a lot of that was down to how well Barnsley played. They had the centre of the park absolutely packed! In a way I feel an ugly win might be better for our momentum. Often a big win we follow it up stroking the ball about but in a very lethargic fashion. A gritty is just what was needed.

It feels as though they have about 2 extra players in there. The amount of passes Kaminski, Lenihan and Wharton have made between them as there's a yellow wall ahead of them.

Watched Brentford v QPR. First time I've seen Toney at this level. He looked superb and actually an upgrade on Watkins

Thing is I don't believe Mowbray is over cautious. He's in-balanced. I wouldn't have a problem with an over cautious approach if we were keeping clean sheets and grinding out wins. Someone else pointed out Boro under Warnock. Mowbray has full backs absolutely bombing forwards, even when they aren't offering a huge amount in terms of goals scored. Then unless he has the trio of Holtby, Johnson and Rothwell all on song in the middle the midfield gets stuck with too many players who pass sideways, but still don't offer that overall discipline that will protect the defence. So it's neither here nor there really. An attacking philosophy not adapted when we don't have the right players available. The only tactical tweaks i've seen Mowbray make at all this season is JRC in for Nyambe as he can cross a ball better. Apart from this is just been players with different skill sets slotting into the same roles. When we've got everyone available it has kinda clicked. The rest of the time we've been passing the ball around a lot. Looking a bit cautious in midfield. A long diagonal into our fullbacks and the entire defensive set up is bypassed.

My betting would be a maximum of £10 million, probably less to reinvest after Newcastles cut and running costs.

Odd that they are touting this before January. I would wager with Arma only having 18 months left on his contract there has maybe been some hesitation on his part to be resigning. January is going to be the time he is at his premium in that case. Prices are usually inflated. On the one hand we have missed the boat previously in terms of selling players when they were at their premium. But say we do put a run together between now and January. We're in the hunt for those playoff places. Selling Arma would be quite representative of where the club, Waggot and Mowbray see their priorities.

Jeez that was a heavy challenge at 3:12 What the hell was the fella playing at. A second tier friendly and throwing that around

I don't think Dunny has told anyone how they should feel. He said a lot of fans will disagree with him. So I don't think he is preaching. I would argue looking at other clubs that Venkys have done more than the bare minimum. They were roundly hated and that showed when they last visited, what 7 years ago. It would have been easy for them to completely pull out of the club but they have put their money where their mouth is. For me that is the most important thing as that is the only thing that keeps the club afloat and functioning. I believe the levels of investment they have put in to be far above the minimum. (And yes I understand it was self inflicted and I'm not saying their reception was unwarranted) Also, non of this is aimed at you K-Hod, just a quote of many i have picked out. Would an apology from Venkys regarding some of their mismanagement be enough to get some fans back onside. For me that would be meaningful. I don't know if it would be enough for other fans to begin to move on.... As I feel as though I am very much in the minority in my attitude towards Venkys.

Could be something to do with this deep clean at Ewood. Reducing the amount of people onsite, bit of a break in the players being in. Just a hypothesis though.

I like a bit of a listen to 'That Peter Crouch Podcast'. It's good to have on in the background for a few immature chuckles. Crouchy talked about Pulis quite a bit on one of the episodes. All about organisation. And weirdly very little fitness. Robert Huth used to cycle about 50 miles a day to get too and from training as he felt he wasn't staying fit enough with what was being done on the training ground. Organisationally though Pulis would have them all standing out on the pitch. And he would go and stand in different positions on the pitch to represent where the ball was. All the players would then need to go and stand where they needed to be in relation to where the ball currently was and they'd need to be spot in doing so. This used to last for hours. Also stories of Stoke playing brilliant football in the first half. The players feeling they were playing like Brazil. Only to get in at half time with Pulis yelling at them to hit it long. I don't think he's a busted flush. He could do a job at any level. But you know what you're going to get with him that's for sure.

Personally i think we shouldn't be as harsh on the venkys as we are. I know in the eyes of many thats an awful thing to say in the eyes of many. If we blame anyone we should blame the Walker trust for selling without doing due diligence. Given the fact they had what they had because of Jack, they really should have. Both Venkys and us had our pants pulled down. I genuinely think credit to them for sticking around. True they made some awful choices early on. Its cost them just as much as its cost us. It was ridiculous. We suffered. They suffered. Do I trust them to make good football decision if Mowbray wasnt here. I'd be worried. But I do think they deserve some credit for their continued support.

I think everyone is right. Buckley does look forward and play a lot of 'progressive passes' and generally speaking looks to get the team moving forwards. He's very good like that. He's also got the physicality of a field mouse. He doesn't need to be stacked but he does need to put some muscle on. Peoples bodies develop at different speeds. He's got the physique of a child. This should change at some point and he'll become more imposing. When he hits the age of about 23 I think he will be quality. It's what Fergie used to say about Jessie Lingard. (Yes I know he turned crap again) Every player develops at their own speed. Buckley has learnt to cope to an extent in mens football through technique. When the rest comes he'll be very good.

More reading into some of Mowbrays quotes around Holtby having had a test due to going Germany. Implying that the regular testing was not currently happening at Rovers. Considering the local rates of Covid surely it would make it even more of a priority.

Mowbrays comments after the QPR game were that Holtby called him late Friday night with a temperature but Mowbray said it is not COVID related as he had a test when he was going too and from Germany. A - That doesn't make sense as he could have clearly been exposed since being back B - Mowbray saying that the fact he has a test at that point in time very much suggests we aren't testing regularly. Which would explain all our absentees. It may be putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 but to me it seems that any kind of symptom, which could be in relation to anything is being treated as cause to self isolate. It is no wonder we seem to be suffering significantly more than other clubs. I'm not saying for one second we should be taking risks but surely we should have a testing system in place to ensure our assets being paid tens of thousands a week can get on the pitch.

I just don't think he suits their setup. They have bigger more physical centre backs. Pace seems to be one of his assets at the expense for a little bit of height. West Brom play a deep block, where as we have a high line. Would have suited our set up far more.

Farce of a signing by them. I'm sure they won't be saying that when they are open to bids of a couple of million for him though. I don't think he will be happy regardless of what his bank balance says. The bloke is young and not playing football. Nobody can tell but I imagine he regrets his choice. Especially if as reported we were offering a similar amount in wages.

Interestingly Trybull's loan has a recall option in January. However I am sure that was more at the request of Norwich than anything else. If we are to be in for Whiteman I would imagine it would have to wait until the summer. I think we've spent our cash for this year barring any January departures.

Agree that there isn't an obvious place that Dack will slot back into. He is a very talented footballer though and could easily slot into any of one of four positions in our new formation. He can come in for Holtby (whom apart from having Buckley as a slightly unreliable understudy) is the one position where we don't have a huge amount of depth. He could definitely step in for Rothwell as the most attacking of the midfield 3. We'd lose the pace of transition but gain a more natural goalscorer. He could play in the Brereton role or easily up top in Arma's position. Even if he doesn't have one specific role nailed down once fully fit he is going to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Usually i'd be hesitant about shifting a player about all over the pitch but as we've seen with Elliot. Really good footballers can slot into multiple positions.

I quite liked that he gave it the gun show in his celebration. I think putting on a bit of muscle has been crucial to his progress this year. He still has a long way to go in his physical development but it's good to see that he is either enjoying or proud that he is starting to get a bit of a physique on him. If he continues to work on it I could see him finally transitioning into that number 9 role we bought him for by the age of say 23/24. Much like Armstrong has done.

Probably not had much in game experience of needing to be good on the ball considering the level he has played at. Encouraging that he looks a good defender though. He only needs to reach a certain level of on the ball ability to be effective at this level which will hopefully develop over time.

I remember watching him skin Bennett (not hard I know) time and time again a couple of years ago, only to see him repeatedly hammer it into the stands. Hopefully he has one of those days tomorrow but he does seem more consistent and less raw these days.

Mate is a QPR fan so I end up absorbing a lot of QPR information and am usually on the look out to make sure that Rovers finish above them as our annual £20 bet is on the line. I would describe QPR very similar to us form and style wise. Warburton likes to play the 'right' way and they seemingly go through spells of form and death spirals like we do. If you look at our form the last two years, when we have been in form so have QPR and when out of form they have too. We have literally mirrored each other but both seasons we have ended up with a few more points at the seasons end. QPR lost by far the best player in the Championship in the summer in Eze, whom I am very surprised hasn't found his feet quicker in the Premier Leauge. They still have Bright Osaye-Samuel who is fast and physical and is gradually adding an end product to his game. There were a lot of changes for QPR over the summer though with numerous players brought in with the Eze money making them a little hard to judge. Personally I would say given our current form there is no better side for us to be facing right now as like us, they can be a soft touch. I don't see them necessarily outbattling us which we are vulnerable too. Though I am basing this much on last seasons team. Hopefully we can get 3 points on the board before the international break, ready for a few players to come back from injury and we can then push on. In my opinion Mowbray is here to stay so as Souy said we've got to 'wee with the willy were given'. I still have faith in the large majority of our squad if we can get them on the itch together so we need to use this winnable game as a springboard.

Perfect opportunity for Gallagher to show what he can do centrally. He's never really been given much of a chance there. If Mowbray plays him out on the wing or has someone attempting a false 9 it will be unbelievable (yet believable at the same time)

Assuming you're talking about him throwing it out for a goal kick instead of back to the keeper. Allowing them to waste a minute of time