I can spot Tim Parkin, Paul Round and Brian Morley and possibly Brian Moran. Is Ramsbottom the keeper?

I believe he was right to give the players from last season a chance and clearly some of them aren't up to it but almost as big a problem to me is that pretty much every summer signing has done little to prove themselves good enough. Armstrong, Brereton, Palmer and Rothwell haven't been good enough although one or two aren't really getting a chance. I didn't agree with the contract extensions handed out to some of the players who were still under contract as a reward for promotion. They will have received handsome bonuses for promotion. If the likes of Smallwood and Williams proved themselves good enough over a longer period then reward them. It's not like we are protecting ourselves for a potential sales value.

I think the truth is if Mercer said black you would say white as you seem to have a dislike of him. Add him to to your ignore list and solve the problem.

Generally poor. Him and Mulgrew just couldn't handle the physicality of Vaughan and the running in behind of Windass. In the second half he looked really uncomfortable in an three as did Mulgrew and Williams.

At one down we weren't actually chasing the game. I think he changed it to try and stop the big diagonals into our box where Vaughan was absolutely bullying our defence. But quite simply it didn't work.

In addition to the money he has spent a significant number of players have been given new deals at some extra cost. A few of these shouldn't have been given in my opinion and just aren't representing any value to the club.

Last night we went to a 3-5-2 in the second half. The gaps between the back three were alarming.

Tonight was almost like the players want Mowbray sacked the way they performed. Inept doesn't do the lot of them justice. I saw players pulling out of challenges, not chasing back, no third man running, giving the ball away so cheaply it was criminal and a general lack of passion. Where has this togetherness, this fighting spirit gone that the manager and his players prided themselves on? It would be difficult to mention specific examples of shocking play because every player showed them, some players over and over again. If this malaise carries on it will be Mowbray who cops the flak and the decent work he has done will soon be forgotten. It's back to basics for me on Saturday and a team that shows they care. If we lose that then the rumblings will gather momentum and with such a difficult December we could easily be in the bottom six at the turn of the year.

Was this match not part of the transfer deal which saw David Hargreaves come to Ewood? I say that because the changing rooms remind me of the ones at Stanley around that time and it appears that Hargreaves in the captain.

If he knows working class people he should know we are generally an honest bunch who tell it like it is and won't be taken for fools. I don't know if this statement is related to Saturday's debacle but the timing is too much of a coincidence for me. The players tried on Saturday but too many were poor and playing out of position. I wonder what his dad would have said if Middlesbrough played without a number nine and a mind boggling system which contributed to them getting gubbed in a derby match.

This has been mentioned by one or two of the more reasoned posters for some time now Gav. Something very odd about the whole deal starting with the bid an hour before the transfer deadline ended.

Mowbray doesn't see Brereton as a centre forward, that much is clear to us. He has said many times that he sees him as a wide player so why doesn't he even get a start in a wide role? Something just doesn't add up here.

And not a false nine in sight ?.

He also missed a few games injured, coincidentally just before his court appearance.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/17254440.derby-day-passes-off-relatively-peacefully/ I hope Stuart Caley reads this. Lancashire Police are happy with how it went and only two arrests.

We commented on that incident too Nick. His lack of pace and awareness was apparent all afternoon. He is nowhere near the Premier League yet and many more performances like yesterday will see him back in League One.

Pretty much how he has looked in each game as a winger (sorry wide striker) - like a fish out of water. It really is surprising when Mowbray will change our system and play players out of position when there is no Graham but he has Brereton sat on the bench. Bizarre.

"He came on and made an impact, but I don’t sit here regretting the decisions I made with the team selection". Mowbray pretty much exonerating himself for his wacky team selection. In the same article he says Graham didn't start as he hasn't really trained for two weeks. He also says Mulgrew had hardly trained too but he started him. There isn't a lot between them in terms of age. Some perverse logic there.

I would like to see Rodwell starting in midfield.

I think both Smallwood and Bennett are suspended for this game after getting their fifth yellow cards of the season but Evans should be back. Meddler Mowbray will have to make at least two changes then. On current form Dack should be benched. I sincerely hope we play a tried and tested system that at the very least suits the players we have. My heart says draw but my head says defeat.

Tinker Tony, Meddler Mowbray. He just over complicates things by trying to be too smart. I defy anyone to say with certainty what formation we played and where Dack and Palmer were supposed to be playing. Mowbray is right about being defensively poor but I thought we were weak all over the pitch in the first half and made Preston look a lot better than they actually are. This false nine bollocks is nonsense particularly when we have a really good nine on the bench and a £7m striker who can't get a start. Once again we started slow. There has to be something wrong somewhere as it happens too often. Preston didn't have to work particularly hard for their goals, it was our poor play that contributed to them. Over the last few weeks Dack has been poor and today he gave arguably his worst performance in a Rovers shirt. Almost in the same category were Palmer, Armstrong, Williams, Smallwood and Lenihan. I honestly fear another drubbing on Wednesday if Mowbray tinkers and plays a clever formation which just doesn't suit some of our players. Despite several poor performances today though the buck stops with Mowbray. I still want to get to 50 points as our priority. If there are any more performances like today I fear it could be a long time coming.

Love the law firms name - Slaughter & May ?. For some reason Ridsdale is held in high esteem by his cohorts despite having blood on his hands from previous jobs in football.

I had never seen that excuse before Jim. If that is the case then there is potential for every visiting club to Ewood to have a risk element irrespective of how many they bring or kick off time. Before every FL match I did we had a security brief 75 minutes before kick off. On high profile games I was often briefed that 'prominents' from the away team had been rounded up at the local station and marched en masse to the ground. If what you are saying is true then, by pandering to a few wannabe hooligans they are totally abdicating their responsibility to the public.

If it is deemed such a high risk then surely the 'bubble' should be in operation.

We had Reading and Leeds at home on the red button. From memory Derby, Swansea and Bristol City away were all on the red button too.