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.

Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Ayala Douglas Holtby Trybull Downing Elliott Armstrong Dolan Left back a major worry, Douglas has been crap, Bell is no better. They have numerous absentees including their main attacking threat and the likes of Allen and Clucas. Its a game we should be looking to win.

Goal scorers tend to be quite selfish, it is in their nature and part of the reason why they score so many. Im sure we have all heard stories of strikers like Van Nistelrooy after a win in which he has not scored in a mood. Of course there are times when he should pass and warrants criticism for making the wrong choices eg v Bristol City but ultimately if you took that single mindedness out of his game he wouldnt score goals at the rate that he does.

I agree that Douglas has been a massive dissapointment for us. We have hopefully put it down to rust but if you look at it, he is 31 on the back of not much football and plenty of injuries, maybe it is catching up with him. He was outstanding for Wolves but he wasnt playing as a left back for them and he was out more than in for Leeds who were also far better tactically than we are under Bielsa. So yes he has had 2 promotions, one of which was when he was in his prime and playing a totally different position and the other he was a bit part player. I just feel that Bell's incompetence has perhaps been somewhat forgotten. I have seen him have games as bad or even worse in a Rovers shirt many times. When he came on, he was beaten really easily a couple of times (hes not a good one on one defender) and technically he is far less secure than Douglas, so often the ball will come to him and he will take ages to get it under control or fail to keep the ball in play/possession. Based on both players performances in a Rovers shirt so far I dont think there is a good left back between them and it looks by far our weakest position at the moment. It is a huge worry and a position Mowbray hasnt put much stock in.

You cannot argue with his goal record in 2020, his biggest run without a goal this calendar year is 3 (according to the commentators last night) which is incredible for any team, let alone a mid table one. And he is on 27 goals in 2020. Perceptions of self involvement and greediness are just par for the course for a goalscorer and of course may lead to frustration at times but more often than not his single mindedness as a striker is what gets him his goals. His touch and pass for Elliott was also very good.

I agree that it after 4 years Mowbrays Rovers career is not driven by luck, even if a few of those signings would not be necessarily outright success. He failed to keep us up, did well to get us back and now we are stable in mid table, seemingly having long since hit a wall that Mowbray can not take us past. If he left tomorrow, the job he has done could be considered a good one but it seems unlikely that it can be further improved upon. Your last paragraph and in particular this notion that our fans think we are a Premier League club by rights is total, speculative, desperate nonsense however.

Shocking performance, absolutely dismal against a terrible team but (albeit its a massively diluted feeling watching at home with the backdrop of an empty stadium) like v Millwall im elated with the late winner. Todays performance can not be the catalyst for Mowbrays departure, we won at the end of the day. The fact that we are destined to muddle around mid table with Mowbray in charge is reason however. I have been reluctant to be overly critical of Armstrong in recent games despite poor performances just because of how prolific he has become. I think that is his 27th goal of 2020, and his biggest goal drought remains at 3. Its impossible to escape how impressive that is especially for a mid table side and again he was the saviour tonight. His pass for Elliott was also very selfless, a talent who was quiet tonight but another crucial for a player heavily contributing at such a young age, the pair deserve plenty of praise. The supporting cast is non existent, Gallagher was full of bumbling clumsiness and sloppy touches, offering nothing as is the case more often than not and we have no credible options to improve the front 3 from the bench. If Armstrong hits a genuine dry spell we really are buggered. Defensively we continue to fail to keep clean sheets even against a really limited side, I think the commentators said that is 1 clean sheet in 9. Douglas and Bell did a job share on the inept left back role, the former was all over the place before the latter came on to remind us something that maybe has been forgotten since he has been dropped, quite how bad he is as well, he was possibly worse than Douglas. Nyambe was nowhere near his usual standards and nearly cost us at the end, and the 2 centre backs had little to do but dont give off full confidence. The midfield was key to our struggle, I pin pointed the curious selection of Buckley prior to kick off and he was so far out of his depth again it was untrue. He always wants far too much time and it was again a boy in a mans game. Rothwell continues to flatter to deceive and kept coming far too deep, and Johnson was ineffective. Holtby and Trybull were slight improvements and Downing who I feel has been underused since his return was on a different level when he came on, a classy cameo amidst a shit storm.

Like watching paint dry.

Downing hasnt been given a chance this season, last season he was excellent.

I never said or even suggested that. I would have personally selected Downing because he has been far more effective in a Rovers shirt. Buckley more often than not looks a little out of place, I hope as I say that he takes his chance tonight.

Strange decision to start Buckley. Has thrived a couple of times against teams a few down and a man down, when he got his chance v Forest he was well out of his depth so he needs to perform today. Holtby cant argue about being dropped, but I would have gone for Downing in his place who must wonder why he bothered to come back.