I can remember some crap Christmas periods under various managers it never seems too kind to Rovers for some reason. I'd like to think we are having all the bad luck/poor form/against the run of play type stuff all at once but i'm not so sure about that there's a fundamental weakness in the shock physically and mentally and around the approach to things that's been evident for years still. I think maybe at the end of the day the whole thing just isn't quite good enough yet still.

We won't let a lead slip here because we won't get one, this is one i'd expect us to struggle in even if we'd won three on the bounce. We can't cope with physical sides so i'd be tempted to go and try to get a shut out, ten behind the ball start to finish.,, 0-0. Mowbray has his teams caught between being a good counter attacking side or a non attack keep ball punt it forwards and hope style but with a formation set to counter. He needs to go one way or the other imo. Blades 2 Rovers 0

As did Sir Kenneth. Something we've missed at Ewood for a long long time is good coaching staff behind the manager but all our appointments are allowed to bring their pals in. Again that's a football thing rather than being just unique to Rovers but its often baffled me as to why your number 2 at work has to be your best friend or an ex player and not someone suitably qualified for the job. Always felt Souness fell down in that dept. Having said all that the problem at Rovers is an agent would appoint the number 2 as we've seen or the owners would appoint someone who blows kisses in their ears !

He could well be in the comfort zone a bit now though after penning his new deal, i'd be expecting more shoulder shrugs in the future. He should be adding to those comments stuff like we need the continued investment of the owners over the next few windows to add quality and strength to ensure we are capable of competing over a whole season !

With 7 million plus yearly wages tied up sat on the sidelines wondering why he's here and the prospect of no funds in Jan it could be a long old slog. It was always going to be hard but at the beginning of the season you could be forgiven for thinking this is a fresh start in this league but Tonys 'we are where we are' comments should really be 'As you were' because it's almost the same team, tinkering, and style of play that we struggled with when he first arrived. He should have shaken things up like I said before he's had the backing and it would be a shame if all the good work off the pitch and goodwill built up when to pieces because of a same old same old approach.

I agree we need an identity of play but even if you have it the way some managers constantly tinker these days it falls down later in games, not that i'm saying that was the problem yesterday. Mulgrew however did mention the shape being a positive but soon as he'd scored the free kick at Leeds Rovers were all over the place every time Leeds got the ball. For brief periods in games particularly late on its resembled keystone cops because we always end up with so many out of position and not capable of doing what they are being asked to do when we don't have the ball. Too one paced and casual with the ball then all over the gaff when under pressure. Let's have a plan A and plan B otherwise this will go on all season and it will prove costly because we aren't grabbing points when we are playing well enough for a percentage to do so. What happens when we do have a real run of bad form along the lines of the PNE and Wigan embarrassments ?

So they pumped money then took it back with a little cherry on top ? Thought Burnley did it the hard way with a packet of peanuts ........? Only real difference is our lot haven't taken their loans back that we can see of yet but they did let others take money partially helping the black hole we still have which they continue to throw into because it suits their accounting process one would wager. Allegedly according to who you believe about how it is all structured if they pulled the plug the debt would be on them so Rovers whilst obviously suffering might end up going the Bolton route but certainly wouldn't go out of business overnight. Unless of course everything over here had been sold or mortgaged against beforehand.

You've got your own problems like where does all your money actually go ? Is that director that went bust then left the board then suddenly came back again when the income went back up doing ok these days ????

Probably a lot of it is done via certain channels therefore it really narrows down what they'll go for. A suspicion i'll have about Rovers as long as Vs are here.

Back to the same old arguments and excuses Rovers were propped up by outside financial support of directors even before Jack, hardly any clubs are self sufficient even the huge ones. It's all about how that backing is used and what that backing is actually for and how those doing it want it used. Leeds have always has big support and charged big prices for years but it hasn't done them a jot of good until now and look at Sunderland. It's a tired argument these days it's not the 70's or 80's. Rich men are pumping money in or through clubs left right and centre in the championship for a variety of purposes if truth be told but it's all about the right management on and off the pitch. An injection of a player actually worth a package deal of 7 million could do a world of good right now !

Positives are we are good enough to get ourselves in good positions plenty times this season, Brum, Norwich and now Leeds to mention recently, all good sides. Negatives are it's the same old soft underbelly that keeps undoing us both physically and mentally. Might be hard to make the squad better in quality terms in Jan but it was crying out to be physically stronger even last season so those adjustments need to be made otherwise the second half of the season could very well resemble the last time after TM took over. All this 'we'll be alright' was trotted out repeatedly then but the quicker you act the quicker it gets sorted !

A) Big commanding centre half to play alongside Mulgrew. Lenihen to be back up or converted to an actual physical presence in the middle. I'd actually say put Charlie at left back and get two centre defenders or go with Downing and a new guy. Mulgrew is weak at times in the middle and neither of our LBs are worth a regular place at this level. However too many changes is too risky. B ) Another bloody striker who can actually pose some kind of threat at the other end and help take pressure off the rest of the team. C) Waggot to call Mowbray in and say there's a window looming wake up to your teams glaring weaknesses don't waste an opportunity remember what you walked into after this club fooked up in Jan last time in this league.

He's never shown anything to me to suggest he'll be anything other than bang average although could shape up to be a good league 1 defender on last seasons evidence. At this level just like last time when admittedly he was raw he struggles most weeks although he's committed to be fair but my thinking is he'd be ok as a defensive mid in the Championship used the right way given time. Our defensive mids are so powder puff it's embarrassing.

Even if it is structured at a couple of million per season plus wages that money could and should have been used to strengthen the first 11 seeing as the object is to stay up. What happens in three years or so with this player counts for nothing until it actually happens and it's looking a 70/30 gamble against so far. Buying now to speculate on profit alone is moving away from the football first model we only recently adopted last season for the first time under Venkys and they should know by now it's all about the here and now in football in terms of results. If there's no today there won't be a tomorrow and in this case somewhere along the line you sense it'll be another pay off if we go down or maybe even if not. Who's laughing then ? Won't be the fans.....again.

It all comes back to the fact we just don't defend well enough, sure we need more contributing goals and we need to integrate the attacking flair we have into the team but I think we'd still ship goals if we played two banks of 5 every week. The defence of Nyambe, xyz, Mulgrew, Williams and two defensive mids struggled in this league last time and we went down. Similar to now we could score then when we put our minds to it but we couldn't turn draws into wins and losing into draws never mind wins. We don't seem to have moved on on the pitch much at all so far although good work has been done off it.

Quite like the look of that as an away formation for a refreshing change.

I'm sure Mowbray and co knew spending 7 million on this kid would raise expectation and i'm sure they knew eyebrows would get raised and debate would rage on if he didn't hit the ground running or get used much. The mans been in football management long enough he knows darn well how it all works but if there isn't any pressure on him from above to show us what the fee and fuss about this player is all about he'll continue to handle him the way he is and not worry about it. I'm also sure though that they expected to see a little bit more than what they have from him in his cameos..........

That could well explain how this came about then I think this type of thing is always relevant although it doesn't mean it's dodgy but could explain why it got done.

Samuel would've been starting wide most games I think that was nailed on, only plus side he could have gone centre when DG went off and perhaps we'd have been a bit better than the silly insistence of sticking Dack there. BB would likely still have been coming on for ten mins per game on the wing though so similar questions would be being asked.

If we had a side starting Rothwell, Rodwell and Davenport etc we'd need a new style of football and i'm note sure TM is either bold enough or comfortable enough trying to implement that.

Rovers need that whoever we play these days ?

Maybe that's something he could develop I know he isn't Josh King in the pace stakes but I've never seen a player caught in two minds with the ball at his feet like he was but he got over it quite well. Think yesterday as the other week showed we miss Bennett when he is on song somewhere on the pitch his energy levels are often what helps get the team through the later stages of games and see out a result of some kind. Desperate for a pacy right winger again imo it would be a really important part of the jigsaw especially with TMs preference of two defensive mids normally starting, something I personally can't ever see him straying away from aside from the odd game.

Might have been just more a case of after trying other avenues this lad was presented to him and asked if he fancied him because there was an agent ready to do a deal with Forest and the owners here would sanction it so he just thought 'why not'. There is though also the possibility he's been presented with this guy out of the blue and told to develop him to sell on, he might not have been keen but the prospect of a nice new contract looming he just got on with it. He has to show integrity has to his bosses as well.

Something I've felt since I first saw him there's a good player in there somewhere but I don't rate him much as a right back even though admittedly he's improved a bit. He could possibly be a quick powerhouse right sided attacker maybe.

But if he gets 15 million plus for Dack he's covered it so there's his trump card.