Sometimes you just have to do that especially when you need to protect a flimsy keeper and we did it for a bit when Pears first came in. JDT threw any form of plan B thinking out the window in pre season yet he knew he couldn't move his project forwards, bizarre approach. Why didn't we go to Southampton with a thin squad and knackered first 11 and make a few changes, try and keep shape and stay behind the ball ?

The guy in charge of the team on matchday has ultimate responsibility for what he puts out there and directs them to do, direction that starts days before on the training pitch. How long did it take the head in the sands to finally realise that a lot of the stuff in TMs later tenure was down to him ? Every manager here has to work under the same terms one way or another and this guy got us to 6th last season. This season we know the issues they were always there from summer so what does he do to try and get the best out of the even thinner squad he has ? He sends them out trying to play kamikaze total football leaving acres of space wide and at the back. All this when we've lost our number 1 but strangely console ourselves in wanting someone who can play it quicker from the back. ONE win in 6 ? The 2nd worst goals conceded in the division, games constantly thrown away. Subs that never make any impact attack or defence wise often seeming pre planned whatever. IT IS NOT WORKING ANYBODY CAN SEE THAT, the odd narrow victory or class goal doesn't justify it enough it isn't covering the flaws. Why do we have to constantly go down these rabbit holes with our fans before pennies drop ? I don't want him sacking but the man has to wise up because come Rotherham and another iffy performance likely on the back of another defeat at Hull and he's going to feel the blunt end of Ewood. That's a shame and no it isn't all his fault but he is pouring petrol on the impending explosion.

And that my friends is at the door of the coaches and recruitment dept. We have enough good enough defenders and centre mids for that not to be so bad but coaching wide open football and schoolboy set piece defending is causing it.

He's on fools errand then because he will never get sacked Waggot hasn't the authority nor interest to bother. And the club just hasn't the money to pay him off so he'll have to walk. All he is doing is making himself look clueless although it would do no harm to stand up and publically call out the ownership. However today isn't down to that there were justified calls after Watford but today is all round bad tactics effort and attitude that is down to him no getting away from it, hapless child in the nets aside.

Indeed but iv'e been asking him to wise up a bit for months now but it seems the whole club has this football blueprint now running through it. If you stuck this squad and gaffer in the middle of league one and did it i still think we'd get bullied off the park most weeks but wouldn't pay the same price for our constant mistakes. It's all wrong for a club with no pot to piss in, no ambition other than to look like we are trying to entertain and make a few players look good enough to sell. I'm 10% convinced that with a midtable budget it would work and he'd have us chasing the top 6 regularly but with this squad and budget it will deliver nothing. He is clueless to anything other than playing this way after being at a club in a weaker league, 2 or 3 teams aside, and having the biggest budget to win titles. Worst in game manager iv'e seen here since Kean or Coyle and i'll die on that hill.

There is little difference at times to what we saw under Coyle to what we see under JDT now hes bedded in his style and that balloon probably had worse to work with. Although he did have more experience it just had no legs, now we have young legs but zero brains.

Change the style of football to one that you don't lose so easily even from winning positions. Aim to bring in a few more robust players instead of weedy Moran/mortan types and look to impose a style that can grind out a few points instead of attempting to win 4.3 every week. Sadly he is the wrong man for that type of job.

That starting line up was more than strong enough to get something today lets not keep having the same excuses. What they aren't is good enough to prosper with this style of pure football attempting OR rely on a novice in the sticks.

I agree but there is also an enormous amount of either naivety or stubborness in that technical area as well.

Haven't we been saying this all season though ? If the only aim is to stay up then this is the opposite way to go about it, even when it works in spells it always ends up costing us later in games anyway.

Our lot have clearly been at home feet up on the mice pies and turkey. Looking at our boxing day record it's a common theme here to relax Christmas Day.

We've loaned some good ones to be fair with plenty experience and pedigree who've put the effort in here. Problem now is the reliance on kids from Prem teams as starters for us after promising their parent clubs that's what they'll be if they knock a few quid of the wage,

Which is just the same thing we said about Morton last season and when he finally did start putting a foot in it broke. I think it's the reliance on the age of these loaness that brings in more issues than it should, a lot aren't physically ready for it at this level despite whose books higher up they are on.

I can, he's being fucking paid not give up and he is serving up the same risk out weighing reward every week now. He isn't that naive so he's either stubborn or plain stupid and i wish some would wake up to this it isn't all about budgets.

We said at the start of the season that after all the hard work of a few years ago building up the keeper dept they'd gone and weakened it again. We are now right back at Jason Steele/Jake Keane level and not blowing my trumpet but during the clamour for Leo to replace Pears i warned exactly what to expect. On this occasion i'm right.

The replacement is making him look like England's number 2 !

I could genuinely find a better keeper in lower league English football than that lad.

He was a real lightweight kid who was in and out form wise but often stayed in the team regardless, some good games and nice ability but some stinkers costing points. Hence critics. I'd take Moran over him any day but the lad needs managing properly and withdrawing when hes struggling.

That starting 11 is more than good enough to not lose there today and in Hill, Travis, Garret and Leonard there are solid back up options to come on for tired legs and see a game out. I hope we aren't listening to the same old sob story at the end.

On the subject of crowds Preston are set to have their highest gate since 1971, nineteen seventy flippin one ! How they even have the nerve to have a pop at us is farcical. Footballing minnows.

Would Dolan, Hedges and Gallagher have made a difference if they were on the bench yesterday ? Would 1 or even all have been brought on given the way JDT does things ? Perhaps one of them might have plundered us a second goal to give breathing space but i certainly wouldn't bet on it. And non of them would have made any difference to being wide open at the back and having a flimsy keeper. Personally i think some of our frailties run a bit deeper than just numbers.

Anything can happen with this team but can't see past another late folding and loss unless we go 3 up ! Hudds 2 Rovers 1

The identity now as the opposition see it is one of acres of space to exploit on the counter and a team dead on its feet after 70 mins every game. Therefore a game v Blackburn is always winnable whoever you are if you keep plugging away to the bitter end, even if you are two or three down. But yes, it isn't boring.

Woulda coulda shoulda IF he does his job we don't concede 2 it's as simple as that.

That's where i'm at with it and whilst it's brave and entertaining we were chasing that second goal as if we were losing. A refreshing change from years of Mowbray were we only chased games we were actually losing but the writing was on the wall all second half. The amount of counters we conceded something was going to give eventually and it did. Credit to Watford for keep having a go with risky football themselves but they were carving out chance after chance. We defended well for the most part but and the other end we are toothless and powder puff. Main difference was as soon as they equalised they dropped off and took shape, started shooting and aiming for the big lad sub. However we just continued to concede counters like no tomorrow. In my view there just isn't enough smart directions from the sidelines alongside the obvious lack of game changers. However calling on Leonard and a decent player like Hill Still should be enough to see games out. Sometimes though it's calling out for tactical reshuffles later in games.