The most important thing is the result which was never in doubt. They scored early and changed the game, always had us at arms length, they had no need to provoke an expansive game. If that was us and we won like that, you would be correctly saying its the result that matters. We didnt create a good chance all game. They are also missing their main 2 keepers so need to protect their young keeper recalled from a League 1 loan, are missing their 3 main CM's in Mikel, Allen and Clucas so cant control the midfield as they may have preferred and are missing Tyrese Campbell, their main threat going forward, so maybe became more pragmatic. We are missing players and blame it to the hilt but they were equally depleted. Snobbiness towards other styles is totally unconstructive and bizarre, they won, we lost, end of.

I dont get how Stoke didnt deserve the win. The game did become played solely in their half but obviously that was as a result of their early lead. They managed the game brilliantly and at no point did we ever appear to be about to score. They allowed us to pass it around in front of them and we never had the guile, the craft or the invention to break them down and even create decent chances, never mind score.

Theres a lot of talk about "the squad" that Mowbay has built. I am not convinced it is as good as we think it is aside from a few (4?) undoubtedly impressive individuals that Mowbray has signed, mainly along the front. Dack when back, Armstrong, Elliott, cant argue with those 3. Kaminski in goal, a big improvement. Defence, basically the same aside from Ayala who cannot be relied upon. Midfield, lots of players who flatter to deceive to varying degrees, Holtby, Rothwell, Johnson, Davenport, Trybull. Gallagher a waste of time. Brereton better but nowhere near 7m. Dolan, Chapman, meh. Sick of the injuries line too, all teams have suffered. Bristol City had 7 or 8 starters out the other week, Stoke had their 2 keepers, 3 main CM's and main attacking player all out amongst others, Norwich had quite a few out, its just how it is this season.

I suspect that goals will be conceded with either to be fair, the answer has to come externally.

Not good enough yet again. Our record v the top half cannot be defended, and we can not defend in general, you do not get anywhere conceding goals in basically every game. Plenty of looking down on how Stoke played, which is baseless snobbiness. Never ever did we look like scoring, Stoke played the game perfectly to ensure that their win was never in doubt, which is why they are in the play off picture and under Mowbray, we wont be. Performance wise, Nyambe was the pick of the bunch. Douglas I thought was better than usual, unlucky not to score and tidy enough, but hes not going to improve our goals against column. Johnson looked out of place for the first few minutes and they scored during that time, after that, him Lenihan and Kaminski could have gone home. Trybull was a bit tidier, Holtby and Rothwell again flattered to deceive, they simply do not do enough to guarantee selection and are lucky that there isnt much pressure, and indeed that Mowbray doesnt think Downing fits with "how we want to play." When Dack is back I would suggest a change in formation with an acceptance that the current style hasnt improved us. Elliott obviously on a different level, Gallagher shocking and Armstrong quiet. The substitutions were bizarre and seemed like they were done for the sake of it. Butterworth and Dolan didnt impact the game, the latter rarely does, he is still very raw. Taking off Nyambe was just absolutely bizarre. If Mowbray is to be believed, we are going on a journey, but it isnt anywhere productive.

Plenty of huffing and puffing, side to side passes, nothing substantial, no shots on target and yet another game without a clean sheet. A lot of totally unsubstantiated snobbery from the commentators towards Stokes style too.

If we cant bring anyone in to strengthen defence in January I suspect we will struggle to have much hope of the top 6 due to how thin on the ground we are. But if we have no money, would it be better to recall Mulgrew? I know that he isnt up to it but he would surely be less of an issue playing him in defence compared to the current alternatives of Johnson and Buckley!

Stoke missing a few players, Adam Davies, Angus Gunn, John Obi Mikel, Joe Allen, Sam Clucas, Tyrese Campbell and Lee Gregory all out.

Bell has been consistently poor throughout his entire Rovers career to be fair, as bad and worse as Douglas has been including midweek when he came on and was as bad if not worse than Douglas. Neither can defend and Douglas is another attempt at patching up our left back problem rather than solve it. But I suppose at least Douglas does have previous history of success at this level even if it seems unlikely that he can get to a similar level. Douglas at least is not technically incapable whereas Bell often shanks the ball back into danger or into touch, and he does offer us something albeit going forward which is not the priority for a left back. Bell has benefitted hugely from being out the team, with people forgetting how bad he is!

Its unsurprising that the defence is the area in which we are exposed. The supposed initial intention was to get 2 centre backs in the summer, instead we got one with a constant injury history. Out of the options remaining, Johnson at CB may prove to be the least worrying, Buckley at RB or Carter at CB both arent up to it. One thing is for sure, regardless of current plans, we HAVE to sign a defender in January otherwise it WILL cost us.

If he wasnt enjoying it and he is happier playing at a low level with his mates, seemingly on the back of shrewdness investing in properties as touched upon, fair play to him.

"Fill in" more than excel at right back and possibly will require Nyambe's threat to also be diluted out of position at centre back. He is also out for a couple of months. Think its self explanatory that having 3 competent defenders across a long period of time will almost certainly pose problems.

If the kitty is dry then I suppose there is nothing we can do, this idea that Venkys take a keen interest and could get excited for a promotion push is fanciful. But across 3 positions, if we have to rely on 3 injury prone defenders in Nyambe, Ayala and Lenihan for a couple of months, you would expect there to be games in which at least one will miss out and there isnt anything close to a competent alternative, the only 2 options are Carter and Buckley! Thats before you consider the issues at left back.

Why would it say more about him and his agent if he chose to move abroad? Im not sure you could hold that against him if he did to further his career.

To be fair, he seemed to thrive more when he lived that lifestyle, he was a good player for us in the main and you cant argue with his reasons for leaving. Its a shame to hear about his mental health issues too. The undr the cosh podcasts are brilliant in general.

Rothwell couldnt sum us up more aptly really. Full of promise and useful attributes but never mainfests into any sort of consistency.

Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Ayala Douglas Travis Johnson Elliott Dack Brereton Armstrong Although in this season, no team will be able to name their best side I dont think.

Scapegoats? Players who put in regular poor performances get more criticism, I don't get how the scapegoat can change from week to week.

Goals are the most important thing to a striker, Firmino has received plenty of criticism and questioning over whether he should still play due to his shortage of goals. Our striker is one of if not the only player that we can be sure is top 6 quality, you cant argue with his goalscoring rate. It has happened to Rhodes and Dack in the past, consistent goalscoring becomes under appreciated after a while.

Deeney's all round game is text book, his hold up play is brilliant. Comparitively his question mark is goals which is the most important thing for a striker. Pukki is a very intelligent player whose football brain is above Armstrongs but obviously he lacks the pace. He has had injuries this season otherwise he might be troubling the top scorers and is for me the best striker in the league probably. The fact that Armstrong is in the conversation shows how lucky we are to have him though.

Obvious physicality questions aside, he doesnt seem to have the speed of thought required, far too ponderous.

The main reason why people seem to question the managers future is because for all of the aspirations of top 6, we never break into it. Last night we played dreadfully but at the end of the day we did indeed win, yet there is still 4 points and 5 teams between us and 6th. Until we get into that top 6, which is ultimately the next step, then those question marks are valid. Nonsensical theories about correlations between wanting a managerial change and being those who only went v Oxford are just wind up material, whereas more constructive stats about current form etc are ultimately rendered irrelevant until the form gets us into the 6, which is the only way to counteract that primary reason for a change.

The main stats that matter are that he has 15 goals at a rate of 0.88 a game. According to BBC, he has had 61 shots so has a conversion rate of 25%. A very high rate (69%) hit the target too. If he needs to take a few more shots to get such a goal tally, so be it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/top-scorers

He isnt perfect, his decision making isnt always right, I do question whether he could do it at a higher level and he had hit a dry spell (of 3 games which is as bad as it gets in the last 12 months for him!) but I suspect we might only realise once he leaves how valuable a prolific striker is.

Buckley is obviously physically well off but it isnt just that, he doesnt appreciate the urgency of a game and often spends far too long on the ball. Fair summary of the performance but Armstrong doesnt "flatter to deceive," he has scored 27 goals this year! The best RB in the league is Max Aarons but we certainly do need Nyambe to stay.