Not our fault Mowbray has this attitude. He needs to get back to picking a settled team again and not seeing three or four changes every game. Also needs to transfer the captaincy from Bennett to Lenihan. If the only way to do that is to bench Bennett then so be it. Oh, and the small matter of a successful January.

Which is why dropping points in these two very winnable home games is poor. We now have to go and get those points from two better teams - probably away from home.

Whilst I agree with most of this, I have two issues with the bit in bold. 1) Dack doesn’t have pace in his game he drops off, shields the ball and pops up at the right place and time to nick a goal. 2) Shearer didn’t lose anything from his game after his ACL. The stats bear that out but that is straight from the horse’s mouth. His later injury to his ankle at Newcastle was what changed his game. Dack may need to adapt but not pace-wise. It will be interesting now to see if Rovers make him a new offer to extend his contract, which protects him and potentially Rovers from getting nothing. Michael Owen was a player who despite injuries let his contracts run down at Liverpool and, IIRC, Newcastle. No rush now of course. If he WAS leaving then we can lament the loss of cash but why didn’t this story surface until after he was injured?

Probably not the right thread but as he’s not our players... Has anyone heard anything about Adarabioyo’s condition, fitness?

I was thinking exactly this at the game today. Mowbray has gone back to his old ways. I just don’t understand how, after finding success play playing certain players, and playing a particular way, he has gone back to regular wholesale changes and is adjusting the style back to the previous one that he was criticised for. All of the inconsistency in selection, subs and ultimately our performances have replaced the consistency and gelling team that we had. He clearly has learned nothing and the “successful fans XI” vs “Mowbray trying to keep everyone happy” was and us fair criticism. He has certainly not learned any lessons and will not change. I certainly don’t feel that losing Dack is an excuse to change other successful elements. Downing dropped for Bell?? But at least he has his own flag.

Two awful home games in the space of a few days. Still unbeaten but it’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from. No clear game plan. No defined shape. Can’t fault they work ethic but the looking like they don’t know what the plan is and are making it up as they go. Poor passing - but not as poor as the last game. Poor touches and second to the ball. Gallagher and Armstrong were poor today and both should have been replaced. The two who went off instead can feel aggrieved. Gallagher jumped once - and actually won the ball. Can’t believe we paid £5m for him - such a waste. Only eclipsed by the waste on Brereton. Not sure what our budget will be in January but I can’t see that we will use it particularly well. Quantity up front but lacking quality. The tannoy operator summed it up well by playing Driftwood by Travis after the final whistle: ”And you really didn't think it would happenBut it really is the end of the lineSo I'm sorry that you turned to driftwoodBut you've been drifting for a long long time” Let’s see if we can stop drifting and start swimming! Still three points off sixth but not looking like we are capable of closing that gap. The four points we’ve just dropped would have seen us third so we aren’t far away despite performances.

Nyambe hobbling off ffs

The game has come to life since that first pen tbf.

Cool finish. Will take that!

Anyone worked out the formation yet? No subs but everyone seems to have moved around again.

They almost scored due to his indecision and poor pass. He possibly looks ok because everyone else looks so bad!

Dictating the game? Even if that were true (it’s not) then that’s a terrible badge of honour. This is like watching the Wigan game still.

Bad touch by their striker then it that’s 0-1.

Chance for Gallagher. Set himself up with a lob back over the defender but just lacked the sharpness with his finish.

To say we are playing fresh legs we look anything but fresh. Ref seems decent though.

We do not look up for this at all

Bennett captain instead of Lenihan. This needs properly addressing.

Lol. Talk about damning with feint damning!

It does appear that Mowbray doesn’t want Wharton here and we are contracting him only so he can bring in a transfer fee. Something very odd with that one. I do wish Mowbray would stop hammering younger players in the press.

How I see Mowbray lining up...

Looks like we are back to the rotation mentality. Hopefully it’s just because of the Christmas fixture pile up and nothing else.

Bell starting. Let’s hope it’s the new Bell and not the old one.

Merry Christmas everyone. Here’s to a belly-busting Christmas lunch, an afternoon nap in a pink paper hat, the same Christmas cracker jokes as last year - and a lie in tomorrow! Have fun - stay safe!

When a player plays consistently and we win then it’s arguable that he is part of that winning formula. I’d concede that his last couple of games haven’t been his best but when the manager makes so many changes as to upset the rhythm of the side, does he become a bad player?

Bennett is a decent alternative on the right hand side of midfield. However, we are devoid of pace without Armstrong. So he plays regardless of how bad he is.