Parsonblue

The bond between Mowbray and these players is terrific to witness. He has instilled a never-say-die attitude into them and turned the club around - hopefully he will get a long contract extension when he visits India next month. He certainly deserves it. Today was a tremendous example of the fighting spirit within the club. Sounds like Raya could be out for some time and defensively we are being stretched with injuries. A real team effort today and Reed was outstanding - would love to see him and Evans partnered in midfield. I've nothing but praise for the manager and players tonight.

I think Lambert lost the dressing room here quicker than Jim Iley!!!

It's far too early to dismiss Brereton as an expense flop although I admit, having watched every appearance he has made thus far, it's clear the lad hasn't exactly hit the ground running. Rather like Kevin Davies, the size of the fee seems to be an albatross around his neck. He seems totally lacking in confidence and, more worryingly, lacking in basic fitness compared to those around him. Granted that he has not played much football - either with Forest or ourselves - this season and the physical demands of the way we play seem totally alien to him at the moment. Clearly he has ability - as his appearances for Forest and England youth would suggest - but the issue seems to be how to apply that ability within the system and style that we use. At the moment he doesn't seem to have the physical attributes to allow him to play the Graham role nor does he have the pace to play him in the middle chasing long balls over the top - hence he appears in wide positions trying to cut in and support the player in the middle. Davies eventually proved to be an exceptionally good player - although sadly long after his Ewood exit. Brereton needs time to develop his own identity at Ewood and it may well be that it will take some time before we see the best of him. The lad didn't set the fee but, unfortunately, he is having to live with it and is continually in the spotlight. Perhaps one or two games with the Under-23's might help with confidence in the short term.

They travelled down on Monday and stayed overnight as usual for away games of any distance.

Superb performance today by the Under-23's - very much like the performances we saw last season. Buckley was back to his best having been moved back to midfield from full-back and he and Mols tore their defence apart in the first half. A real team performance in which everyone contributed and completely outplayed an experienced but very ordinary Blackpool side. Hopefully, this will give the lads some much needed confidence for the League campaign.

Long day, difficult journey and disappointing result. A game of two halves which changed with the introduction of Swansea's subs at half-time. Losing Lenihan so early was a blow and then Bennett picked up a knock early on and was never really himself after that. I thought Swansea played some attractive football in the second half and exposed the weaknesses in our team at times. Sometimes, you just have to hold your hands up and say the opposition were better - which Swansea were for long periods of the second half. They upped their game and we couldn't respond but even so the second half was decided by some fine margins - the unfortunate own goal, the save from Dack and then the break straight after for the third goal. We are still two or three players short, which Mowbray has acknowledged, to be challenging for promotion but at this moment in time we look, as we have done all season, a comfortable mid-table side - which for a team just up from League One is no bad position to be in. Before the Leeds game, I had hoped for three points from the Leeds, Swansea and WBA fixtures and we have achieved that with one game to go - and I expect that WBA will be our toughest test yet.

Plenty down there watching in dreadful conditions - it was on the website in the list of fixtures as a change and also on City's website but wasn't announced as a fixture change in the news section of the website.

Another hugely disappointing night against a very good Sheffield United team. Only Butterworth and Lyons made any impression on a very wet night at Stocksbridge. Lewis Travis had a poor game by his standards and Simmonds continues to make little impression up front. In truth the majority had an off night against a Sheffield team that were quick and well organised - very similar to their first team.

Shocking decision for the second penalty. The standard of refereeing in this country has become a joke. Week after week these guys continue to make mistakes and yet nothing seems to be done to improve the standard. As for the game I thought it was absolute cracking entertainment. It's a long time since I've enjoyed watching a Rovers team as much as I enjoy watching this one. The spirit within the group is amazing. Long may it continue - Mowbray has done a brilliant job at this club.

Another disappointing performance against a decent, but far from outstanding, Tottenham side. Once again individual mistakes cost us with a number of players struggling to find any sort of form. Butterworth had his moments in attack and Lyons kept going in midfield but apart from that there was little to shout about. One or two are finding the step up to League One a real challenge at the moment but hopefully they will find their feet.

Many of us who were there completely agreed with resting the players - indeed, we were surprised one or two more weren't given the night off. Hugely enjoyable game though and a very encouraging performance by a number of fringe players. My main disappointment was the performance of Brereton who looked tired all night!

Remember going down to Stoke early 60s because Matthews was down to play in Friday night's paper. Needless to say come Saturday afternoon at the Victoria Ground he was nowhere to be seen - but had put a few extra on the gate!

Caddis, Whittingham and Samuel played their part in helping us out of League One - which was why they were brought in. Caddis and Whittingham have moved on after the prime objective was achieved. Nuttall was always brought in as a player to develop whilst Leutweiler was brought in as an experienced back-up to Raya. Personally, I'd say the manager has been pretty shrewd in his dealings thus far in terms of developing the club as a long term project. We are slowly improving but without spending a fortune which seems to me to be the ideal scenario.

A hard earned point against a team who I would expect to be challenging for the play-offs. We rode our luck a little in the first half but looked increasingly more comfortable as the second half progressed - Derby seemed to run out of ideas of how to break us down. Defensively we were too deep in the first half but in the second Mowbray got them further up the field and we looked much better. I thought Evans and Smallwood did an excellent job in front of the back four making tackles and closing the spaces that Derby would want to operate in. I can fully understand why Mowbray has these two as automatic choices as they have the experience and disciple to do the required job - I'm not sure some of the younger players, as one would expect, have the necessary disciple to do that. I think this game showed how important Danny Graham is to the team - Armstrong simply looked lost through the middle, whereas Graham knows how to unsettle defenders whilst holding onto the ball and bringing others into the game. Similarly, we also need Bennett's energy in the team and we looked so much better with these two on the pitch. I thought there were several very good performances with Raya and Nyambe being the pick. On the downside, Conway struggled to get into the game before being withdrawn, presumably for tactical reasons, and Armstrong offered very little - either in the centre or on the wing. I also find Bell to be frustrating. For an attacking full-back he rarely beats a man and defensively looks all over the place at times. I think this game showed why Mowbray talks about needing another three or four transfer windows to complete the rebuilding job. Our team spirit got us through last night but we are still short of quality in one or two areas of the field. Nonetheless, it's another point and for a newly promoted team we continue to look more than capable of securing a mid-table berth come the end of the season - which would be a really great effort.

I must admit that I would have settled for a point before the game and thought we were desperately unlucky not to clinch a win. Dubious decision for the free-kick but a wonderful strike from the lad. I thought we had a number of good performers today - Nyambe, Mulgrew, Dack, Bennett and Graham were immense and young Reed looks very good. A word for the manager who got his selection and substitutions spot on. Going to three at the back worked well and was a sensible move for me once we were in front. Another game which has shown how comfortable we look against teams that cost a huge amount of money. Mowbray is certainly building something which looks very promising for the future.

It sounds like the LFA are tightening up in terms of when games have to be played by. In the past there have been months between different rounds taking place.

If you go into the actual list of results its now 0-6

I see that most sites have now corrected the score from yesterday to a 6-0 win for Everton. I think most sites seem to take a link to a particular site which seemed to have missed Everton's opener on 4 minutes. It was a difficult game for a young Under-18 team and, as I said yesterday, 6-0 rather flattered Everton.

I know - confusing isn't it. A couple of friends who were at the game with me have asked if we missed something. I note that one site has Everton missing a penalty - it was actually Rovers who missed the penalty. It was raining pretty hard, and we were sheltering as best we could under umbrellas but I don't think we imagined Everton scoring so many!

It ended 6-0 to Everton in driving rain! Not the best way to spend a late Saturday morning. The result flattered the visitors although they were the better team - we fell to pieces at the end and conceded three late goals.

You can go down to the Academy to watch these games.

I think Liverpool had released him or were about to release him.

No

With regard to his subs he gambled to try to get something from the game. When he doesn't he's often accused of being negative. The poor guy can't win. I honestly haven't seen anything thus far that suggests that Rovers can't finish in somewhere between 9th or 15th in this League. Not challenging for promotion but not involved in a relegation scrap. We have a decent squad when everyone is fit and the new players are up to speed. Of course we'll lose games this season - the opposition is that much better - and there may be times when we might drift uncomfortably close to the wrong end but on what I've seen so far I have no doubt we will be fine come next May.

Bang on philipl. Some of the reaction on here is pitiful. In the first half we played some decent football, created chances but didn't take them. On another day we could have been three up by the break and it's a different game. In the second half they dominated and made the most of their chances. The mistakes we made in the second half we would have possibly got away with in League One but in the Championship better players are going to punish them. Bristol City are a club that have been rebuilding for a few years now - look at how the stadium has been transformed from what it was. They have been steadily rebuilding on the pitch and played some decent stuff in the second half. Why anyone should think that going to Bristol and winning would be a formality for a newly promoted club is beyond me. The second half yesterday was the first time that we have looked second best in any game thus far and to be fair the last two goals came when we were chasing the game and took risks with the number of attacking players we had on the pitch. We have looked a solid Championship side in the other games and that is where we are at the moment - a mid-table team that probably won't challenge for the play-offs but will stay away from trouble at the other end. Mowbray has talked about a long term project and that is what it is and will probably take another two or three transfer windows before we have a team ready to challenge at the top end. We have come on leaps and bounds in the past eighteen months and surely a little perspective is required at this point.