Definitely he is to blame and should be replaced, well should have a while ago.

I dont doubt that some players are hindered by his management, especially ones who he plays out of position, even more subtle ones like when Evans is played slightly advanced which makes no sense. Issues around motivation are purely speculative. I do think that a lot of our players do not have much if any evidence either here at Rovers or prior to joining to suggest that they are massively underperforming personally. Travis has only had Mowbray as a senior manager but I dont have any real grievance towards the manager for any perceived underachievement specifically to him. The rotation I think is not conducive to consistency, but there are a lot of average to poor players that Mowbray has signed that dont establish themselves and thus Mowbray cant decide between. Put it this way, Mowbray has had time and money to build a squad, perhaps it could finish a couple of places higher, but I dont think that a new manager would look at it and rub his hands together.

How do people part with £50-75 for training wear?!

I must say that my worry is with everything I've heard about Pickering is how good he is going forward, I hope he can defend too.

Yeah I would agree that Reed is a perfect example of mismanagement by Mowbray, totally wasted based on laughable logic in an unfamiliar position during his time here. I certainly want Mowbray out but I think we may be in a situation whereby because he needs to be removed, that he can be blamed for things that are maybe unfair. With Travis, he has been a first team regular ever since he broke in at Sheffield United, and hes always been played in central midfield. I do think his form has dipped this season but that seems to be down to his injury. He is what he is, hes far from perfect, hes technically average I would say, I dont think hes ever looked like a player who will score regularly, but hes a battler, full of energy and whilst hes not a top 6 midfielder, hes the stand out one for us in the middle and is still young. Maybe a new manager could get more from him, I do wonder if he is better sitting (and if he has the discipline to do that) or better slightly in front with the freedom to get forward, but I dont think he was once this box to box midfielder and now because of Mowbray he has become subdued.

I would definitely disagree, when Bell plays, wingers have had a free pass at getting in behind him and getting crosses in down his side throughout his Rovers career. The one thing I suspect we will agree on, if either is at the club next season, then it is a travesty.

I think thats a misconception simply based on his natural style. Some players just naturally appear more languid than others but I dont doubt that Bell tries his best, its not as if there have been a few games whereby his style has noticeably changed to suggest more effort. Douglas has been a massive dissapointment, I think especially with a couple of injury ravaged seasons recently and his age have caught up with him, plus when he was at Wolves he didnt play as a full back. But hes still better than Bell. Technically he is much tighter as Bell needs more time and touches to get the ball under control, Douglas has better delivery and he is better defensively. He made a couple of glaring mistakes (one v Reading when it unfortunately bounced off his heel and Pears had gone walkabouts) but Bells continious defensive incompetence is perhaps more subtle. When he plays, the chances tend to mainly stem from his side, Huddersfields first goal and at the weekend when they got in and Nyambe prevented them getting a tap in were perhaps not mistakes that would stand out but just 2 recent examples of how passive and weak he is at stopping crosses.

People are happy to accept incompetence I tend to find under the line that "hes fine as a squad player." Even if hes cheap, its no good if he cant do a job when needed, and over numerous years, we know that Bell isnt close to being up to it. On top of this, we dont even know if Pickering will come in and be a competent performer himself.

I must say that I dont get this narrative of Mowbray in any way hindering Travis and making him a worse player. When he broke into the team, we all presumed that Smallwood would come back in, yet ever since, Travis has been a regular. He has not been himself since his injury but was much better at the weekend, he has his limitations but I think its an easy assumption to put those down to Mowbray putting the reigns on him.

If Bell is given a new deal then that would be the perfect summary of Mowbray's Rovers, accepting incompetence and a total lack of ruthlessness. Many seem to swallow the "he's ok as back up" rhetoric but for me, good back up is not someone blatantly not up to the job when needed. We've consistently seen it, the likes of Smallwood, Williams, Mulgrew and Evans all "rewarded" with new deals for helping us up from League 1, Gladwin offered a pity contract, Leutwiler given a new deal, Conway offered one, and for Bell this must be his third unnecessary deal if it comes to fruition.

Its very unlikely that any random website would have the accurate wages of our or indeed any players. For example, Williams has gone and Dolan and Buckley have new deals since. I dont doubt that there are disparities but I wouldnt use that as evidence personally.

Not sure we want half of the team 14th in League 1.

With Brereton, the commentators said that he has had a "good season" on 6 goals which I felt was more a representation on what they are comparing it against. He has never got a hard time from the fans although if he can not hack playing in front of them then he has no role for us at all going forward. I do think that he seems to have bulked up a bit and matured but in front of goal he is terrible, totally lacking in any sort of composure and striking instinct. He is one of a number who just isnt good enough with his end product as you say.

Definitely the right decision to let Holtby go, he lives off promise from 10 years ago but he has been a huge disappointment. I just hope that the likes of Johnson, Evans and Bell arent in line for new deals based on their recent involvement. Downing has been invisible this year, seldom playing after signing so late into the season was never a recipe for success but he was excellent last year.

Another game in which we were simply not good enough in attacking positions, whilst defensively, in the main we were fine but we often look ok yet seldom keep clean sheets, we always tend to concede one. Again the focus is on Armstrong who was foiled twice by their keeper with one on ones that he shouldnt have given the keeper a chance with, following an excellent goal all of his own making. I dont think his biggest problem is necessarily greed/selfishness, I think that theory really bubbled up after that solitary game v Bristol City, I think his pace and anticipation make him probably better than any striker in the division at being in positions to get good chances, none of todays are ones that he should have passed, his issue which may prevent him from being a Premier League player is that he is not ruthless enough by any means, give him 3 one on ones and he will likely put one away, give Pukki or Toney the same amount and they may put 2 away. The problem I have is whilst in isolation, the criticism of Armstrongs misses are very valid, you have to take a step back and say that a 25 goal striker in reality should walk our player of the season award, 100%. He could have had many more, but then again, is it reasonable to expect him to be getting 30, 35, 40 goals just to get us competitive? The supporting cast simply do nowhere near enough and I fear once we are more reliant on them next season, it will lead to serious trouble at the bottom. You also take Elliott away, who in a brief cameo played a superb pass after some lovely footwork, a player who sets up goals, and it doesnt leave much with Dack a long way from fitness. Rothwell again caught the eye trying to run at defenders, but again, there is nothing at the end of it. Near the start, he beat one and two easily, then just ran into someone. His first shot sliced horribly wide, his second blazed over, his third dragged wide, not even giving the goalkeeper anything to do. Brereton at times looked bright, but again, his first shot sliced horribly wide, and a really good chance in the second half, just no composure at all to even get it anywhere near, thats why he cant play as a 9. Gallagher meanwhile was invisible. Travis was the biggest positive for me, back to his best. Johnson was average, Bell was as good as I can ever remember, he still allowed his winger in behind too often but he just seemed far less laid back, he had more purpose both ways, this shouldnt trick us into giving him another year but credit where its due, much better. Nyambe started off shaky but improved and helped to stop a goal after they had gotten in behind Bell, and Kaminski spilled it in his own box. Kaminski also had big question marks over the goal, not his best day at the office. Lenihan occasionally rash but fine, Harwood Bellis has been really good and I think I would like him back although I suppose even with him we still concede goals.

Armstrong with yet another goal, brilliant pressing and a lovely finish, take his 25 goals out of our team and we are in for a struggle Rothwell so frustrating, him, Brereton and Gallagher do not have that level of end product. The quality of game has been poor but we are dangerous when we go forward quickly because we have a lot of pace and energy at the top end of the pitch.

I would personally have Shaw miles ahead of Chilwell, hes been superb all season. Walker does seem to be nailing down a place on the other side though. I hope that having 3 extra allowed squad members will reduce the chances of a Sancho or Grealish being left behind, although both have had injuries or are currently injured. I also hope that Rashford doesnt start the tournament in the team but I think he will, maybe Foden will be a sub which would be really poor.

To be fair, so many poor players get into the England under age groups (wasnt Jason Lowe captain?) and Brereton couldnt make the bench at Forest when they pulled our pants down for us to bring him here. The issue with him isnt development as he went from embarrassing for 2 years to below average this season, the problem is signing him at all for a scandalous fee. With Travis, he was a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Smallwood who was very static but the injury does seem to have stunted his development. I dont buy this narrative that Mowbray has turned him into a crab. I do think however that Mowbray has signed a lot of underwhelming midfielders to go alongside him. I appreciate that our tactics arent set up to whip crosses in but to be fair, Nyambe has never shown any proficiency at crossing, he has always had a tendency to turn back and one area that in fact this season he has shown development in is how to use his strengths and weaknesses; poor crossing but obvious brute power and pace so he has started to chalk up assists by finding ways to use his strengths to get to the byline and rather than need to whip in a brilliant cross, hes done most of the work so just needs a pull back, I think it was the Barnsley home game that was a perfect example. My issues with Mowbray around Nyambe revolve around selecting far inferior players and moreso the fact that he will be allowed to leave for peanuts due to the contractual situation which has not been managed well. I do think that Nyambe is overrated at times but he is of a good if not perfect Championship full back at the start of his career and he will not be replaced with someone of equal quality.

Just because we should ideally be playing players that will be here next season. If Ayala was fit to start, playing him and Lenihan together would surely be ideal to hopefully start to build some sort of understanding. Of course, the fact that he hasnt played all year and will need an under 23 match just to be able to manage half an hour renders that pointless. Annesley is clearly nowhere near the first team, you didnt even know his name! Its not as if we are short of young centre backs, but due to injury and being out on loan, we cant play the main 2/3 that we would want to give game time to. The name of the game now should really be planning for next season which would not lead to being totally uncompetitive. It seems that Annesley wont be near the team next season, we are lumbered with Ayala on a deal for 2 more years so he very much will be around the team.

If Ayala is available then he is likely to play next season (on the rare occasions hes not led on a treatment table) then it if anything makes more sense to play him over Annesley, who seemingly is nowhere near the first team, and even has 2 or 3 young centre backs ahead of him, so an appearance now would be a token gesture. The problem is, Ayala clearly is nowhere near match fit, it seems an unnecessary risk to try and play him at Birmingham off the bench. If he was ok to start, different prospect.

The overall situation has been a huge disappointment, a 3 year deal for someone so fragile, and even when Ayala played, I dont think he necessarily pulled up any trees, but "quite frankly embarrassing?" He wasnt that bad. I think the key would be to do it constructively, thinking forward whilst not noticeably weakening the team. For example, Davenport in my opinion should have played the last few games as the holding midfielder, because for me a decision should have already been made to let Johnson, Holtby, Evans and Trybull go, we will need at least one new defensive midfielder which is doable with those 3 off the wage bill, but give Davenport (although he is another Ayala) a chance to prove that he can play a considerable part as an option there next season. Evans (out of position) and Holtby have played in recent games, surely Buckley could have played with Rothwell and Davenport. I am not sure that there is much need for send offs either, mainly because there are no fans. Johnson has had 2 years of mediocrity and Downing one good year and has been invisible this year. The other 2 are longer term servants but im not sure many will care if they are not here next year. I dont necessarily think we should mass include loads of under 23s, only if any are standing out, if Pike is for example, he should have played over Bennett. There a couple of positions where we need to play players that wont be here next season, if either left back is here next season then its a joke, and Harwood Bellis is here too.

I believe that it isnt possible to recall players out of the transfer window.

Assuming that we activate the year on Nyambes contract, both him and Lenihan still only have one year left. Plus all 3 are decent Championship players, certainly not Premier League ones and theres not much money to be buying players at this level, plus I dont think that any are really top end Championship players.

Who are "they?" And which projects have been curtailed? Im not sure that it is ripe for selling to be fair. Bar Armstrong who will benefit Newcastle almost as much as us, who else could we sell?

Totally disagree on Trybull, I think hes dreadful. Slow and ponderous, arguably the perfect example of what it has been like watching us play this season. Would be very annoyed if he came back.