I can't claim to have the physio knowledge to know what exactly can be done on an ankle ligament injury in the first couple of weeks when the foot is in a protective boot. That being said, for a player who has had minimal breaks in the last couple of years and was showing signs of weariness even before the injury, aswell as presumably being gutted personally, an overdue week off to rest both physically and mentally seems fairly reasonable to me and not some sort of pointer towards managerial weakness.

Mowbray was saying even before the injury that he needed a rest, he had football during the summer, a short turnover before the season, he has had a few mid season trips to South America, and added to all this, he is probably low after picking up a bad injury. A week off for his mental and physical health whilst his foot is in a protective boot and he cant do anything seems very sensible to me, yet people have to manipulate it into some sort of weak management. Crazy.

Must win really, not confident at all. Kaminski Lenihan Van Hecke Wharton Nyambe Travis Rothwell Pickering Hedges Dolan Khadra

Similar to the obsession about specific runs of form, that point is disproportionate to the fact that the difference between the teams is 2 points. You say the "sign of a good manager" but would that not also mean that presumably, we have earnt 8 more points than QPR within the first 85 minutes which reflects well on Mowbray?

We level out at 5th as it stands, thats where we ae which would be a good season, an overachievement for sure with the resources. The pattern of results is irrelevant. People fixate over bad runs of form which suit an agenda, for example last season when I saw far more mentions of 2 wins in 17 than finishing in 15th place. The latter was all that mattered and was more than enough to criticise the manager last season, that was my reason for wanting him gone, but the reason that people focused on 2 in 17 was to make it sound worse than it actually was. At the end of the day, we assume that this bad form will continue and our season will tail off and we wll fall well out of the picture. If that does happen, it might not but if it does, then that specific run does not need focusing on, those poor results will go towards the final position which is all that matters. If that sees us say in 9th, then you look at 15th, 11th, 15th, 9th, and you say right lets have a change. Well, normal owners might. It wouldnt require the additional "we only won x games in x months from here to here" to justify it further. I cant fathom why people would sack him now, but in the main those people are the same ones that refused to credit him when we did win, making out that it was in spite of him. At the moment, we are 5th with 13 games to go. A place we would have all taken last summer. If we sacked him, there would be disruption, there would be a gap, and it would be very unlikely to create an improvement at this point.

The fact that 5th is overachieving for us is rather dissatisfying and a perfect sign of the real problem in that it is a peak under these dickhead owners. Like I said, for me a top 6 finish solely in my opinion is less than 50% likely. A change of manager at this stage would not increase that for me. If he doesnt make it, by all means id not renew his contract. Plus Brereton, Kaminski, Van Hecke, Rothwell and Khadra. Lets be fair and not exclude the half of a team that doesnt suit the narrative. He hasnt been gifted that team either, those players have matured and developed under his coaching.

No money from the Armstrong sale was given to reinvest. Surely much of the blame goes above them for not allowing even a reasonable fraction to reinvest? The question being debated is whether now in 5th place we should sack him. I think we have a limited squad full of graduates and loanees. Mowbray has done well to get it this high, lets hope we can squeeze into the top 6. Exactly. To sack him now would be stupid. If he doesnt make the top 6 come May, then let him go at the end of his contract. Although I suppose Venkys dont judge managers on results as they have proven throughout the last 11 horrible years.

We have a chance, I dont think we will make the play offs personally but I think our chances would decrease further with the disruption of removing the manager who has done brillliantly to get us to 5th at this insane point in the season.

No, but I dont think that replacing him and then a new manager would. I think Mowbray has us overachieving where we are. Top 6 is not par for this team with these resources, it would be a brilliant achievement. If he doesnt manage it then change in the summer.

How we didnt win I do not know, criminal. One sub far too late was not good enough. Buckley needs dropping, absolutely shocking. Anyone calling for Mowbray to be sacked tonight needs to have a word with themselves. We are overachieving with an underfunded squad packed full of academy kids to be where we are. If we (as probably expected) do stumble out of the play offs, replace in the summer.

Its strange, I have always been against the mindset of being a promotion challenger and going to away games content with a point before a ball has been kicked. We shouldn't be going anywhere (especially any team below us) when genuinely chasing promotion and hoping desperately for anything other than defeat. That being said, it is hard not to feel that Sheffield United are a very strong proposition. I always was wary of them when they were 10th or 11th with games in hand because they have a very strong squad, and I do fear that we don't really have goals in us.

Stats such as those on the previous page do not "prove" anything, they can of course be part of someone's opinion, but there are so many factors to them, how they are defined, how their teams play, the role they play specifically etc, they cannot objectively prove whether one player is better defensively or from an attacking sense as a midfielder compared to another one. For what its worth, I have seen him a fair few times for Preston, he has always looked decent. Nothing outstanding and I'd prefer Travis and Rothwell but a solid Championship midfielder all the same.

1 goal in 10 at Halifax Town perhaps suggests further that the under 23 league is not the best barometer either way.

Under 23s is not comparable to competitive football where not only the other team but his team mates are all kids but I would be amazed if Mowbray moved away from his plan of getting Dack at least 2 full 90s of under 23 football. I get the desperation to see him back in the squad and indeed I feel like his importance has multiplied in the absence of a genuine goal threat but it makes sense to let him play 90 minutes for the under 23s at the weekend, and maybe even one more after that. Then perhaps get him involved in the 3 consecutive home games. At that point, if he had 3 lots of 90 minutes (as well as 75, 60 and 45) under his belt, it might suit to have a midweek game that week too because he will only be doing cameos im sure.

He utilised the position to great effect throughout our excellent run. Lets not pretend it is manager meddling or indeed an experiment that has been a complete failure fron start to finish. He has always really played from higher positions whether that is from a number 10 role or now the false 9. He is very good at pinching the ball high up and also at playing players through, both of which were key to aforementioned run. His main weakness is obviously his shooting which has let us down recently but its not this bizarre experiment that people are painting out.

It hasnt reappeared. Buckley was the false 9 throughout our winning run, his lack of form at the moment cant be put down to Mowbray meddling with a successful formula, his position hasnt changed.

Jason Roberts at 6 a side is a terrifying thought.

It seems like he wont even be fit by then.

Mowbray mentioned today that it "looks like he could miss his game against Brazil in the Maracana" which is in the next international break, at least 7 games away, 8 if Millwall is rearranged before then. So it could be well beyond that. He also said "let’s hope he can impact the end of our season" so it doesnt look promising.

Brereton's injury could be terminal to our promotion hopes, I don't see where the goals will come from. Also affects our summer too. With essentially a year left, other teams perhaps will be reluctant to pay as much due to his injury, but if he doesn't want to sign a new deal, we are stuck in limbo and might have to accept less.

I suspect that such is in the inflexibility of your opinion, that even an incredible promotion wouldn't even slightly change your opinion. I don't get why anyone would corner themselves with their opinion and not allow themselves to at least give some credit and change that opinion even slightly. I wanted him out too last summer 100% but as it stands I don't get how anyone can commit to this opinion with us 3rd in the table.

If the attitude is validating the decisions of "the people that mattered" then that would imply that any decision is above us being able to discuss and debate it and would invalidate the whole point of the messageboard. Same with transfers, tactics, the manager, the owners, if all that matters is what decisions the actual experts make, we may aswell not have any opinions or indeed this site. I would like to think that more consideration went into keeping him as opposed perhaps to say last season whereby every point wasn't as critical at this point in the season. No doubt that on a personal level, him playing regularly is better for him and he seems to be getting plaudits at Portsmouth as he did at Burton. Hopefully it turns out that he would never have been needed here and we keep at least 3 of our 4 centre backs available at all times. If we don't and say we fail to win with Johnson at centre back, then there is certain validity in people questioning the risk taken to loan Carter out, even if he would very much have been 5th choice for 3 places.

I would disagree that either player is anything but a superior goal threat at Championship level, but equally you could point to numerous players near the top of the goalscoring charts that cost far less, Piroe at Swansea, Riis Jakobsen at Preston, Adebayo at Luton, Gyokeres at Coventry, these players are out there if a detailed recruitment team looks. But either way, focusing on the players we have left, expecting most of these to start scoring with any regularity seems more out of hope than expectation, that's always been my concern. We are hoping for things to happen that haven't happened before which need too imminently to keep us in the fight for promotion, which is why I and many are worried. Dolan has 3 goals in each of his 2 senior seasons, Khadra has 3 in his 1 senior season, hopefully they can score more, but I could not predict that with confidence. Gallagher has never been prolific and he does not fall into the category of a young player who is about to become consistent, he has always been a fairly infrequent scorer, yet we now rely on him more than anyone. Hedges as a winger has not got a prolific goal record. Rothwell's goals are occasional if spectacular, and Buckley in front of goal is not a good mix. Dack is the exception but he won't be starting anytime soon and it seems won't be involved for the next 2 or 3. I am not saying that these players wont score goals, maybe one or two will go on a streak of scoring, but its hard to be incredibly confident that they will based on history. Always a gamble letting Carter go, and one to which the success of will be determined by what injures and suspensions we suffer between now and the end of May. You mention playing Johnson at centre back, if that ever needs to happen, even considering the raw elements of Carter's game as a player who certainly has yet to fully establish himself as Championship quality, that would be a noticeable downgrade and could cost us crucial points. Bradley Johnson is not a competent Championship centre back. Maybe Nyambe's performance v West Brom will help to establish him above Johnson as a third centre back but then again, he still is by far the best choice at wing back with Zeefuik yet to convince in his few starts and Rankin Costello looking an million miles off. Lets hope that Ayala returns soon and of course the main 3 avoid injury and suspension going forward.

Maja isn't injured, he has covid. The Forss one with the guarantee aspect was more of a rumour but Mowbray mentioned Connolly which itself shows that he did want a forward. Was always difficult on a low budget, always risk v reward (risk is perhaps not the right word as it is a small risk, worst case scenario they dont play) but its a shame we couldnt get one who could offer more of a goal threat than what we have, minus Brereton.

The reason that it is irrelevant as to Moore is that you have brought up a player totally randomly, someone that as far as I have seen that nobody has suggested that we should have been in for, someone who is blatantly not suited to how we play, someone who blatantly is beyond our financial means, same with Dike on all but the style points, so introducing them to a conversation about what we could actually have done in the market is as I say irrelevant. The one thing that Moore does have though is a recent record of scoring goals, something Dolan, Khadra and Hedges dont really offer being natural wide men. Gallagher is far from prolific either and certainly doesnt have a recent 20 goal season under his belt. Moore seems to be a late developer who also really impresses me whenever he plays for Wales especially at the Euros. His recent track record has led to his price tag for a reason. We seemingly agree that it would have been a difficult task to bring in a forward befitting our style of play that could have really impacted us and offered us a goal threat on a low budget. I have accepted that and have suggested that it would involve a bit of risk and return perhaps in the loan market, perhaps based off minimal first team experience so I get that. I dont think that I have implicitly said that Forss would have been a good signing. Most of his appearances were off the bench to be honest with Toney the first choice, but he showed an eye for a goal in those cameos. Maja is another one whereby its limited info, factor in his previous injury, but I stand by the fact that we could have done with another forward, that we may rue not getting one and that the likes of Dike and Moore have far more recent proof that they can score goals compared to our current fit forwards, but were both unobtainable hence why no one suggested we sign them therefore are irrelevant in conversations. Plus have unfortunately for them both picked up bad injuries themselves since. If there is logic in saying that Vale could come in and score at this level, this season presumably, obviously it is not impossible but if thats the logic then anyone could do anything. Nothing suggests he will come in and do that or indeed is even likely to make an appearance at the moment, hence his inability to make the squad since his return regardless of how stretched we become.