Aye, I was surprised how slowly they worked the ball, and how much space they allowed us. It was almost the opposite of Barnsley, who might be shite but worked us hard and allowed us a lot less room.

I suspect he was taken out to avoid Benrahma roasting him like last season. Can't have golden boy getting torn to pieces like that again, he'd be unpickable going forward. Not that that has stopped Tony before of course, but he won't want to see pressure build on Bennett. Cracking result tonight that you wouldn't see coming...which is exactly why, as Rovers fans, we should have all seen it coming. On a great run? We'll end that. On a terrible run? We'll end that for you too.

I think it's fair to point out that firstly, the people who scapegoated Raya and the people who are now putting him on a pedestal are, at least for the huge majority, not the same sets of people. The ones who keep harping on about him now are the ones who liked him before and wanted us to keep him. Also, Raya's was the more impressive performance tonight, hands down. Walton wasn't particularly tested. He held that one well that was driven straight at him though. Raya's save from Armstrong (the second one) was the type Walton just isn't capable of.

We either did none against Preston as the game slipped away, or waited till we were losing. Either way it was ridiculous especially when considering how he has frequently and riskily made all subs by like 70 mins.

I think it was the Preston game where we made zero subs all game? Or some other recentish game.

The reality is, over a third of the way into the season, he has a third of the goals of Williams. Who, as you know, is a defender. You don't think that might have more to do with roversfan99's opinion than this odd notion you've ascribed that he just inherently dislikes him so much he'd be slating him if he scored 20?

Gally is fairly quick. Not lightning, but fairly quick. That's the attribute which suggests it's a good idea to play him wide. It isn't though, due to having none of the other attributes. Other than that, 100% agree with the rest of your post.

I really hope you're wrong about getting rid of our only reliable striker.

Was this sentence supposed to be chock full of innuendo, or is my mind just relentlessly filthy?

We were crap but 2s are almost always silly Mark's to give. To get a 2 you need to be pretty much scoring own goals. Armstrong got an assist. He was poor, caught offside 4 times in the opening 20 minutes, but had enough little flashes to warrant more like a 4. I'd give Gallagher the same. Walton, probably a 3. Bad, and nearly gave Barnsley the game, but I've seen a lot worse. Fettis was a 2 or less every week.

Another thing he said in that interview was that Gallagher has missed out on some of his footballing education as a striker, due to going back to Southampton, playing in the reserves etc. So what does he do in the next game? Starts him wide again. Another odd obsession, teaching young strikers to play striker by punting them wide.

I thought Mowbray's comments in the recent LT article were interesting (mostly infuriating). Bennett plays all the time because of his work rate etc. Similar qualities quoted in regards to Travis, except for him he couldn't help but throw a negative in there. He gives the ball away too much. Lewis Travis passing percentage, 84. Bennett's 74. Yes, stats don't tell the whole story. Sometimes Trav gives it away at frustrating times. But from personal observation, Bennett does that a lot more. Why slag off the youngster who is clearly performing better and not the seasoned pro who should know better? I can't understand his obsession with criticising the youngsters in public.

Barnselona, that tickled me!

Key stat.

No, you try reading what I put. I was saying I knew you would reference Chapman, and then I asked you directly whether you feel he is in some way responsible for DB's outburst. I didn't accuse you of it. Try not to read too much into things (I won't accuse you of being dense). You say you're not blaming Chapman, that's fine, that's logical. It does beg the question why you felt the need to reference him yet again in something he wasn't involved with, but that'll be on account of your evident obsession.

It's a good thing Dack plays for us.

Never a dive. Amazing when you consider how many players have dived against us this season and got away with it.

Our attacking play has improved since the goal. Still needs work though.

Not true. They've had a shot that could easily have gone in.

Think they've fouled Lenihan on purpose there, after seeing we have no defenders on the bench and knowing Lenihan is just back from injury.

4 times now. How is he not paying more attention to this?

Come on Armstrong, you're not Benni McCarthy, stop being offside. 3 times already.

I'm wondering if it's the players themselves who have started to realise that TM will only pick players who play a certain way, so they're adjusting their style accordingly. I expect there was quite a bit of excitement from the better u-23s this summer when TM was talking about some of them breaking through. It has since become apparent that, despite the first team being woeful, only Buckley is breaking through. This will have also dampened their spirits considerably as they realise there is far too much competition in the midfield and attack, who Tony prefers and needs to justify.

Fucking hell, when I read about Butterworth getting into trouble in the game, I just knew I was going to see you in here bringing it back to Chapman. Wish the bookies had given odds! To be clear here though, are you saying it is HC's fault that DB has decided to be petulant?

Nyambe out through illness. Leaving us unable to put even a single defender on the bench. Downing can play LB if needed, that's it. Worrying. Even with them playing yesterday, surely one of the u23s would have enough in the tank to be a bench player? And unless Ryan only got sick this morning, you'd expect us to take a precaution last night. Ah well, not like Tosin and Lenihan have a history of injuries... In general though, that's not a bad team selection for what's available. Very attacking by TM standards.