I remember that v Wigan and also at Sheffield Wednesday in the following game where he looked miles out of his depth sadly. That Leicester game will go down in folklore for him but the key word is friendly and it was hardly hustle and bustle.

With Nyambe, I think there is an acceptance that he probably will go for peanuts via a tribunal fee sadly. Will be a big and totally unnecessary loss. Rothwell far less so, we do have an automatic clause to extend his deal anyway but he flatters to deceive far too much to make him a big loss, I doubt teams are queuing around the block for him.

Even things like this where they are seemingly trying to be inventive just seem well off the mark. Surely such a prize could be a reward for those who have bought season tickets in uncertain times, who is seriously going to spend £100 in January amidst a pandemic on overpriced tat in the club shop?

Its minimal in the grand scheme of things, 9 games at Carlisle is barely "doing the hard graft" and only 4 games for Everton. Like anyone at that age, it is a massive risk to put so much onus on an untested kid with the expectations of merely being "better than Bradley Johnson at centre back." Even Charlie Mulgrew would just about be better than Johnson there and hes nowhere near good enough! Sadly, it seems to be the only market we can afford to go into.

Im not convinced that we can wait too long. There are 4 league games this month of which Ayala will miss them all and we cannot afford to play them all with our current lack of options. We need someone in before the Stoke game a week on Saturday.

For fans abroad who can presumably watch games now much more easily, how much of the experience as fans reliant on watching on TV does the games being behind closed doors lose? Obviously part of my reduction in enthusiasm comes from knowing that I cannot personally attend but the game I have possibly enjoyed most this season was Brentford, in that there were at least a couple of thousands fans in the ground, it felt like it had more meaning.

Can totally understand people being wary towards us signing a raw kid to try and solve our problems in defence. There is of course examples of young defenders on loan, Guehi at Swansea for example is really good, but its a risky market (presumably the only one we can afford to deal in) and ball playing ability cant be the priority, from all the names mentioned, it seems a non starter but Kipre was the best in that he has proven himself at this level. Closer to home, Adarabioyo was a good loan addition although perhaps proof that a solitary kid wont fix the defence and with the problems elsewhere notably at left back I suspect that the goals might still be going in, but defensive reinforcements are a must.

Its too simplistic to be reluctant to sign loans in case the season doesnt result in a top 6 finish. I appreciate the logic but if we were unwilling to sign a loanee to fix a blatant area of weakness on that basis then that would essentially be throwing in the towel half way through the season.

I find some of the backlash towards Kipre totally bizarre. He did what every single person would have in the same position but because it was our club that missed out, some seem personally offended. Its not the decision made of a mercenary even if money was a major factor, no one in their right mind would have no temptation towards having their salary doubled. There was no reason for Kipre to automatically assume that he would struggle for game time and anyone would choose the challenge of the Premier League. Rich Sharpe has denied that we are interested anyway for what its worth but I would much prefer a player lile him who has proven his quality at this level rather than an untested kid.

Kipre did what everyone would have done in his position, he went to a higher division for more money. In regards to potentially signing, he is a player who excelled at this level last season which would perhaps put him ahead of very young centre backs with little experience that may be available elsewhere, therefore it would be cutting our nose off to spite our face to dismiss the possibility out of pettiness that he didnt join in the first place.

Its not a wonderful thing when hes failed to fix the defence time after time. How people perceived them at the time is irrelevant.

Are the 2 mutually exclusive? Cant we keep the top scorer in the league and bring through the kids as and when deemed the correct time?

Not when at least 2 are made of glass and one was a kid Mowbray didnt trust at that time. Poor recruitment again compounded by Douglas not being up to it.

We seemingly didnt allow Williams to join Swansea due to an inability to match our fee, but Williams has always been below the quality required to go where we supposedly want to go, and he has always had repeated injury problems and an aura of a player who you would not want beside you on the trenches. To replace a departing centre back who pretty much was available every week last season with one solitary replacement with serious injury problems was negligent whichever way you look at it. We have Lenihan, Ayala and Williams all with serious injury histories, if we was to go down the route of signing Ayala and not selling Williams, which was risky, surely you'd sign one more rather than signing TWO central midfielders, one who has had minimal impact in Trybull and one in Downing who Mowbray doesnt seem to consider for starts. There is no defence (ironically) for such negligence and no excuses. Either way, a third summer in a row passed with a failure to assemble a defence capable of having the quality and depth to last the season and keep the goals out. Mowbray didnt even know if he was going to keep Wharton around at the start of the season!

If a sub comes on, scores and does nothing else, he has had a massive impact.

Sorry I meant central defence. Douglas has merely added a player not of a competent level to compete with Bell for a place based on who is the least bad!

In regards to any talk of the referee, has anyone seen back the incident in the first half where they looked to have a strong penalty appeal for a trip by Bell prior to us scoring on the break?

Ayala is out for 4 more weeks with a hamstring strain. Hes becoming a bit of a disaster of a signing in that he was the sole addition to a defence that lost Adarabioyo and hes made of glass. If we are left with Johnson at CB for any period of time it will cost us.

Shoddy and disjointed performance against an absolutely pitiful opponents (far from the only one in a Championship to which its quality is sometimes overstated) but happy with the win, not that it will mean much in the grand scheme of things in mid table, and absolutely made up for Dack at the end. Talk about the referee hating us/being biased against us (he is just generally poor) and wanting defeat to get rid of Mowbray (never sits right and would never happen anyway) is unnecessary IMO. Performance wise, Armstrong does what he does and gets a goal. His numbers in the last year and now hopefully moving into 2021 are absolutely outstanding, as much as he provokes criticism. He is selfish at times, all strikers are, occasionally (one game in particular) counterproductive to the team and he isnt an all round perfect striker but if he keeps scoring so many goals (is that him back as joint top scorer in the division) then he remains absolutely invaluable to us. The only other player we have who regularly contributes came off the bench in Dack and he showed a few brilliant touches, a backheel and a great touch and pass to Gallagher but more importantly he is the type of player who guarantees goals and his finish was excellent. Build around them 2, that is the key. Brereton was really poor today, Elliott wasnt much better and this Gallagher wide nonsense has to stop, he got worse and worse as the game went on. Sub wise, Rothwell was a total liability until he lofted one over to Dolan who had a much better cameo than many of his prior sub appearances in a Rovers shirt and looked a real livewire. Moving back, Travis looked rusty but still was a level above the usual players who have played in central midfield. Davenport was an interesting one, started off very sloppy and at times seems to be a little over enthusiastic and lacking control but he did plenty well too and certainly did his case for further starts little harm. Trybull was ok when he came on too. Johnson was an absolute liability, constantly caught out of position and lucky to be playing against such an impotent attack, he is not a capable deputy in that position. I didnt think Lenihan was too bad, defensively fine if poor on the ball. Bell is frustratingly loose and lackadaisical, regular sloppy touches, mishit passes and a lack of urgency when he is caught out of position. Douglas had a really good first half out of position but them question marks around his defending cropped up in the second. Kaminski had little to do, he was lucky after spilling a speculative shot to see the flag go up but he saved us at the end with goalkeeping similar to Brad Friedel at the end of the Worthington Cup Final against Les Ferdinand!

Armstrong back on the goalscoring trail after a mini drought and as ever our primary threat in attack. When he goes he will be nigh on impossible to replace. Brereton very poor so far, Gallagher not a winger, Elliott involved but a bit loose, Travis rusty, Davenport mixed. Bell all over the shop (was that a penalty before we countered and scored?) whereas Douglas has been very good. Johnson an absolute bomb scare in defence against a dreadful Birmingham side.

100%. If Ainsworth was ever appointed as manager here, the fact that he is a Rovers fan shouldnt come into it.

I think its difficult to argue that the window was a success. Kaminski has been an obvious success story and Elliott possibly the definition of ideal usage of the loan market based on the impact he has had. Conversely, the defence needed fixing again and hasnt been. We needed 2 centre backs and got only one unsuitable to an idealistic style Mowbray wants to play and who is physically incapable of playing regular football, compounded by a failure to sell Williams when given the chance. The left back position remains a huge weakness with Douglas unable to rectify that problem and Bell totally illogically given an extension. Trybull seems no improvement in midfield and Pears doesnt seen to be convincing as a deputy. Most windows under Mowbray have been like that, mixed with obvious success stories littered with failures, quite a lot in the middle and ultimately an inability to ever fix a recurring weakness.

I absolutely despite Venkys, deplore when anyone defends them and have absolutely no faith or trust in them so I totally get your fears. I just know from a personal perspective that if I ever get to the point whereby I embrace a manager whom I believe is stagnating and unable to meet the expectations for a second season running, with the same flaws proving problematic, and still endorsing him to stay on out of pure fear of the resulting manager overseeing a reign of terror, then I probably will question my own enthusiasm at that point. Its not something I can get behind. I feel like he has taken us as far as we can go, we are now regressing, I wont defend him just because someone else could be worse.

I feel like the refusal to say that failure (again) to meet expectations does not necessarily lead to any responsibility or accountability. If he hits targets, he stays because he has done well. If he fails, he stays in fear of appointing someone disastrously worse. The agency thing is a bit of guesswork, I am advising as to what I would like to do, surely you accept that the fear of "appointing another Coyle" is not a very flattering reason to keep a manager and if that is genuinely your worry, surely its only delaying the inevitable! Happy New Year and lets hope Mowbray pulls off an unlikely 2021 miracle and gets us up!

Regarding Mowbray, do you: 1. Still think there is a chance of a top 6 finish? 2. Would you automatically 100% want Mowbray sacked should we fail to achieve a top 6 place this season?