I think we’re a top quality striker away from being a top 6 side. If we had someone like Assombolomba who guarantees 15-20 goals a season then we’d be up there. 

It’s clear TM hasn’t found the right formula for his attacking positions yet. Dack and Downing are probably the only two certain starters up there right now as they both have quality you can’t leave out, but the other positions are up for grabs. Time to drop Armstrong and give Buckley an extended spell in the team (which I think he will); and forget the idea of playing Gallagher out wide (although he has worked hard out there). 

I do think we need to keep things in perspective as we were at rock bottom 3 years ago with the worst Rovers side in my lifetime. We’ve come along way since then and are slowly progressing. The likes of Buckley, JRC, Travis, Nyambe, Butterworth means I think we have a good chance of promotion over the next couple of years. 

Not bothered about a spirited second half display, conceding three goals in 45 mins after going a goal up is absolutely shocking. We deserved to lose and were outclassed at times. 

Sadly another lower mid half finish beckons from what I have seen so far, albeit in some tough fixtures. 

WBA don't have as good a team as last year but I still expect the Hawthorns to be one of the toughest away grounds to visit as the season unfolds. I would take a draw but fear we may lose this one.

I expect the same team that beat Hull a couple of weeks ago.

Can Gally go on a goalscoring run now that he's off the mark?

I don't see anything wrong with what Mowbray has said to the press about Chapman. The fans have a right to know why he's not playing Chapman and he's been honest and done that. Clearly he's spoke to Chapman directly so those quotes will come as no surprise to him.

Reading between the lines, TM does not think Chapman is showing the passion, energy or desire to be in the squad at the moment. A fully firing Chapman is probably our most talented winger, but TM has shown he will prefer players who give 100%, such as Bennett, over more talented players who do not have the same drive and motivation. You can't blame him for that as that's what our upward trajectory has been built on since TM arrived.

An excellent week for us with 7 points and three clean sheets. I’d certainly have taken that a week ago and it’s taken us from a shocking start to the season to a solid/good start. 

We seem to have found the solution to stop conceding goals which is a huge plus. We were going to do nothing if we kept up our record of conceding two goals a game. We haven’t found the right formula up top yet but we’ve got too many good attacking players for that to continue.  

It’s interesting how a win has swayed perceptions on the “F off Derrick” comment by TM, with the majority finding it amusing and endearing. If we had lost the game, I suspect the overwhelming reaction would have been “he’s lost the players”, “how can the players respect a manager who tells them to F off”, and “another example why Mowbray should be fired”. 

A win really does make such a difference. 

Second half was as good as Ive seen Rovers in possession for quite some time. Downing was a class apart from everyone on the pitch, and Johnson/Cunningham have also added some real quality to that team. Williams was superb at CB. 

Mowbray out! 

Downing masterclass in that first half. Sadly for us Grosicki has been outstanding for them.

Could go either way.

Think we’ll win tonight. Hull are no great shakes and have had a new manager bounce at the start of the season. We tend to do well away at Hull so I’m going for 2-1.

We need more pace in the side tonight than on Saturday as we need a more counter attacking game here.

Cup games are not streamed on ifollow

42 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Its not just clicked now 7 years in, he got his style implemented very quickly and has been very consistent with it, as has been the effectiveness with it.

I posted my views above in a long post on how imbalanced we are, 3 centre backs continuously leaking goals, ineffective wide forwards and 12m on strikers for whom goalscoring is alien. Dyche has a role for everyone and everyone knows what they are doing, as has been the case throughout.

Yes, but Dyche is one of the best managers in the country!

I can’t believe people are saying we should replace TM with Damien Johnson! Replace an experienced manager with someone who has never managed apart from at youth team level?! Beyond words. Once he lost a few games, they’d be saying “let’s get an experienced man in”. 

I would hazard a guess that many of the people wanting TM out are the same people who wanted TM out when we lost our first two league games in lge 1. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are also the same people who said we needed an experienced manager when we kept appointing rookies one...and now they want a rookie one in Damien Johnson. I would obviously take a Hughes or an Allardyce over TM, but we’d likely go with a cheap option to replace him, most like Johnson. I wouldn’t want that. 

Mowbray has improved us year on year and has also proved the doubters wrong and come through the sticky spells. He’s also shown he knows how to win football matches in this league and built a squad full of good young players. Time to back him over the next couple of months and then re-evaluate when the league has settled down. 

2-0 away against a team packed with premier league talent is far better than I expected. Didn’t see the game, only the highlights, but it sounds like it was a much improved display. Obviously a class first goal but it looked like a goalkeeping error for their second. 

I’m pleased to hear Tosin looks a class act as I think a lot of our season will depend on him playing a big part in tightening up our defence. It’s a gamble but maybe TM is right in having a lot of faith in someone so young. Williams is a decent CB and so is Lenihan, and with Cunningham surely to start the next game, our defence looks a lot better.

I struggle to believe that our attack won’t click into gear sooner or later as we have a lot of talent up there, but they’ve been disappointing so far. I think it’s time for Graham to return up top as we need his experience to get us going. 

I can’t remember a season where we actually started well. Last year we started ok but we never seem to muster many wins in the first five games. 

Might as well do a Mercer and stick a few quid on a Fulham win. 

Just now, neophox said:

Lenihan and Nyambe is out of the team along with Mulgrew who has gone to Wigan.

looks like we will start:

Bennett, Tosin, Williams, Cunningham

at the back.

Tbf, that’s better than last weeks defensive line up.

We get rid of one CB on loan, fail to bring one in, and our best one gets injured/ill. You couldn’t make it up. 

I think today will be the last we see of Bell for quite some time (thank god!). Cunningham has been brought in to be number one, without a doubt. He’ll probably have to wait a week though. 

If the injury to lenihan is true, then looks like a baptism of fire for Tosin. Personally I’d take a CB pairing of Tosin and Williams over Lenihan/Mulgrew. Ideally it would be Lenihan and one other though.

No chance he’s dropping Downing for Rothwell (Downing did well last week) and there’s a long way to go before he drops Bennett. I think he likes Bennett in the side because his energy sets the work rate and tempo for the other players. 

We’ll get a hammering today. Anthony Knockaert will destroy Bell on the left and Mitrovic will kill us with his aerial ability (and our severe lack of heading ability).

4-1 Fulham 

Thank you to Mulgrew. He was sensational for us in the lge 1 season and has generally been a good leader on and off the pitch. Absolutely the right decision to let him go as his legs have gone over the past year. 

I don’t think Wigan are getting the player they think they’re getting in Mulgrew. Lots of quality on the ball but can’t do the basics of defending and gets caught out with the ball over the top too many times. I don’t get the “Wigan have had a great window and can push for the top 6” line on Twitter. They lost their best player in Powell and I can’t see any real quality in the players they’ve signed. I would take our signings over theirs any day of the week. 

Overall, not a bad window for us but probably not a good enough one for us to break into the top 6. But who knows? 

Looking at other clubs’ twitter feeds, it seems that there are a lot of disappointed fans and many feel their club has had a shocking transfer window. 

I would say Fulham have had a blinder and should walk the league. Boro and Charlton potentially had the worst? Lost key players and not bought anyone of note. 

Many clubs have bought good players but also lost very good players (e.g West Brom, Brentford, Leeds, Derby).

Interesting season ahead. I would expect another lower mid table finish. 

IF Cunningham gets over the line then we have a stronger defence than we started the day (and the window) with. Still not as strong as it could and should have been, but it’s still stronger overall. Mulgrew going also improves us as his legs have gone and he’s now a liability. 

A back four of:

Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Cunningham 

Not too bad at all and an improvement on the back four at the weekend. Williams will now permanently move into the CB reckon where he’s decent. 

I do fear what that back four will look like if we get an injury or two though. However, I’d still rather not have Mulgrew (or Bell) in the back four regardless of whether there is an injury or not. They are both hopeless. Bennett is an ok right back, but will be down the pecking order to JRC and Nyambe as the season goes on imo. 

No chance Reed was in today for talks. 

I’m never convinced by Sharpe’s info, more guesswork from him I’d imagine. 

Must be a CB incoming. We wouldn’t let him go without one.

Mulgrew is finished as a defender. Hope we have someone to replace him though.