Whatever your position on the wisdom or lack of it in perservering with Mowbray, yesterday was as big a catatonic managerial fail as any Rovers has served up. A saving grace compared with Kean and a very substantial one at that is I know how dangerously corrupt one was and Mowbray is honest and decent which makes this all the more painful to write. 1) Dack was bang out of order yesterday irrespective of his squeeze leaving but when something like this happens you have to look at the management and ask if the player could have been better managed. Compared with the wild boys of the past, Dack comes over as lovable naughty boy. He is a pratt but then so are probably half of all professional footballers and they don't all drive out of the ground to God knows where 30 minutes before kick-off. 2) Bennett in the slot when we have two players crying out to be played in their natural position- Rothwell and Armstrong. MORON 3) When Mulgrew went off there was the opportunity to reunite our most successful central partnership but we got Williams instead of Rodwell. 4) We had a 17,000+ crowd on including the club's future support base so we got the stultifying Evans and Smallwood which would kill any and every attack. I am not bemoaning transfer policy or asking for millions we haven't got. I am not saying Dack should have played. But had we started with travis, Reed and Conway and pushed Rothwell into the slot behind Graham then brought Rodwell and Chapman on as subs ww would at least have been properly entertained and not driven to distraction by mindless football going nowhere. We might even have won because Stoke were there for taking apart especially with the gift of their injuries. Just use the squad we have in the right way- they were plenty good enough to get to 60 points this season. Until Mowbray utterly screwed up yesterday. 60 points or else...

Putting in a strong word for Rothwell. 1) Mowbray 100% wrong and without attenuating circumstances not to play Joe in the hole behind Graham yesterday 2) Slotting Armstrong in as a second striker might have excused him but putting Bennett into Dack' s slot was inexcusable. Even ifollow commentators assumed Rothwell was in the Dack position and had to correct themselves incredulously- yes Mowbray's decision was that bad. 3) Rothwell is being criticised for not getting forward but why go forwards when Bennett will reliably lose possession and neither Smallwood nor Evans are looking up while a ball played from the back will be spotted going over head at the height of a 747. 4) Rothwell's boss is like a perpetually stuck record wittering about Rothwell's defensive duties being ignored. FFS why go forward when you know the ball won't come and the boss will slag you off for it? Joe is in a no win bind and we are all losers for it.

Boro have lost 5 on the bounce now.

Mowbray served up his worst of the season specially for them.

Problem with Smallwood is he is like a full stop in the middle of the park. Pretty effective at stopping anything going past him in any direction including, crucially, any attacking by us.

Mowbray has set his own target. Get us to 60 points and he can stay. Another misjudgement like team and tactics v Stoke and that is it for me.

Brilliant from Raya- credit where credit is due; he produced two of the saves of the season. A defeat created by Mowbray's selection and confirmed by Mowbray's tactics.

What is Mowbray doing?

We have half a squad already at the club who are better than the eleven out there.

Put Reed and travis on for Bennett and Smallwood at half time and we will win this. And FFS a hobbling Mulgrew is better than Williams.

Fabulous save by Raya. Centre of park for Rovers abysmal. No way ever on earth should Bennett be attempting to play where he is. Horrific judgement to put him there. On the quiet three times the ball has reached Bennett on the edge of the area at volleyable heights and no blockers in front of him and not once has the ball even gone forward. Smallwood and Evans together is a recipe for the game to stop at halfway for Rovers. Stoke nothing special but Mowbray's selection has made them special.

Dack is a mystery. If Stoke roll back the years, they have more than enough talent to really hurt us and have a ridiculously strong looking bench.

Stoke will equal a league record with a fifth consecutive 0-0. We decided to give them a helping hand...

Looking forward to this game and three points and a return to sanity.

Crunch for Accy. Next 3 games are Wimbledon, Rochdale and Walsall- avoid defeats and they should be OK despite facing Luton, Doncaster, Plymouth and Portsmouth in the last four. Ideally they need a couple of wins before season end. Congestion at the bottom should save them if they get to 50 points.

Bassini should never be anywhere any football club- ever. Bolton would be better off in administration.

Not entirely...

Looking forwards- Rovers to play an open attacking game.

Brilliant!

Having watched the Villa's edited highlights, Villa were the more incisive but we were far more in the match than it felt like at the time. I guess it is a case of seeing what you expect when you are on a run as bad as our's is now.

BW need W5 D1 L1 and Rovers W0 D0 L7 RU need W4 D0 L3 (games are v chasing promo sides) and Rovers W0 D0 L7

For me it is the next 7 games. Looking for at least 12 points to move me from getting worried to back into the backing Mowbray camp.

He has been loyal to players in the treatment room as well.

I am a great believer in how a club finishes a season is a pointer to the next barring massive personnel changes. We have 4 games coming up we really should be winning and 3 games for measuring whether we have players who can match the division's best. If we don't now kick on from the second half at Villa, Rovers will be a club in crisis in close season but relegation is all but an impossibility. Even if we simply extrapolate current rotten form, we will pick up two or three points before season end and no way are either Rotherham or Bolton getting above 48 points. QPR down to Millwall all looking long shots for getting anything much above 50 points

Amazed Bassini is anywhere near football for his own peace of mind.