If you are purposely picking a manager to appease the fans in their initial reaction rather than the best person for tbe job based on his managerial competence then you are doing it all wrong.

No you dont! Why would a forward automatically have no interest in doing this defensive duties? A striker playing in a 2 with Brereton with the number 10 behind them. Obviously one with pace who will work hard and one who perhaps can drift wide like Brereton on the other side. I think you are being typically pedantic and implying that by saying "main striker" that there will be one in particular in the middle. Obviously I dont mean a big lump or someone only interested in poaching goals from close range.

They seem to have a particularly deluded and snobbish fan base who over a number of barren years have forgotten the purpose of football. The job he has done at Burnley over a number of years has been superb on a small budget.

I dont understand firstly why you keep suggesting to move away from a successful formation. Obviously stick with 352. I also dont get why there is any doubt over where a new striker would play. As one of the 2 forwards! Probably the right sided one, so in place of Khadra/Gallagher.

They would like it if they won football games.

Everton would be much better off going for Dyche rather than a sentimental appointment. I think he would suit Everton too, he likes 4-4-2 and he likes wingers. If he could get Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison fit, with the likes of Gray and Townsend whipping in crosses, they would have a threat plus he could tighten their leaky defence.

Nyambe straight back in, 100% with Zeefuik on the bench. Travis also has to start, if he isn't well enough then Davenport should start. I would like to see Markanday start, but I fear for our attacking threat and who will score goals. Khadra is better than Gallagher but Khadra and Markanday would not convince me in terms of their styles.

He may well not be, but especially with the word "vertical" it is just an attempt to seem more clued in. Just say forward.

I don't see why signing a striker has to be one of those 2. On Healey, like yourself I have never seen him play so I couldn't possibly comment on whether he would fit in. Maja I have seen a few times and perhaps he could yes with his pace a useful asset but it was reported in the LT last week that Bordeaux are only entertaining a permanent offer well beyond our budget so it is irrelevant. Without Brereton, we only have Gallagher who is crap and then lots of small, winger types such as Khadra, Dolan and Markanday. One player that I mentioned who obviously is unobtainable but in terms of style that I think would suit us would be Solanke, works hard, quick, can run the channels, would provide physicality either with or in the absence of Brereton but crucially unlike all bar Brereton would offer a regular goal threat.

Apparently Scott Wharton is a "ball-progressor" known for his "vertical" passing.

He got his team selection wrong yesterday, he was without a key player and our depth is very weak, Davenport has never totally convinced and Johnson is past it so I understand to an extent why he avoided their selection but it was to the detriment of the teams balance. He is performing brilliantly this season though so lets hope that we get back on track on Monday night. I have never understood this idea of putting Mowbray as director of football, once he is deemed not suitable for the managerial job, then he should leave the club entirely. Similar to the constant calls for ex players to join as coaches, pure sentimental nonsense most of the time.

I think you are taking the word "striker" too literally. There is absolutely no reason why a striker couldn't fit into the current formation which we would be crazy to ditch. As long as he is the right type of striker, ie someone with pace who could offer us a goal threat that only Brereton does from the current crop, then we could fit another striker without a formation revamp.

Poor refereeing first and foremost, 2 terrible decisions. If we had VAR both would have been corrected, but people don't seem to be keen on that idea. But I always think that there is little to be gained from focusing too much on the referee, I am much more worried with certain cracks that are appearing. Mowbray has managed to get the team playing more than the sum of its parts in the last couple of months, consistent selections amidst tactics and a formation that has worked perfectly, but there have been signs of weakness in recent games and as soon as you get beyond that first 11, the team becomes massively weakened. Gallagher is an absolute donkey, why he got a new deal is beyond me and his inclusion also upset the balance, Khadra was poor and didn't suit that role and we have seen how reliant we are on Brereton's goals, it is similar to last year with Armstrong, the supporting cast don't get enough. We have lots of attackers that I would consider to be ill suited to being paired with a similar partner from the same group; Dolan, Butterworth, Khadra and Markanday, with Gallagher being a donkey leaving only Brereton as a slightly more physical, regular goalscorer. We badly need another striker before the window that fits into the way we play and can play either with or without Brereton, perhaps as the right sided striker, that can offer a serious goal threat. Rankin Costello was beyond poor, understandably rusty but I don't think that he is particularly good to begin with, he seems to have a reputation as an attacking full/wing back from nowhere really. It isn't a major worry in that Nyambe can come back in on Monday and we also have Zeefuik ahead of Rankin Costello. Edun is also nowhere near the standard of Pickering and it just shows that there is a drop off past that first 11. There has been talk of Buckley developing to be a deeper midfielder, it did not suit him at all yesterday. The subs were weird choices, I can only presume it was to add physicality but it seemed a strange choice. A really important game on Monday. Nyambe has to come back in for Rankin Costello, Travis has to come in (or Davenport if he doesn't recover in time) to replace Gallagher. The big worry is up front, without Brereton, who will score? I would start Markanday, possibly with Khadra but that doesn't seem like it is well balanced.

Moving away from a back 3 would be stupidity. Its just a rumour though and even if the player did join, there is no way that a random journalist knows how we will set up.

I watched the Boro game. Great goal by him, not much hold up though.

I am not sure that I would have trusted him at all when he first signed in a midfield 2. He certainly has matured as a Rovers player, from impact sub, to wide man, to central midfielder in a 3 that controls games, to a much deeper role in a 2 amidst a formation that protects his weaknesses.

He is an attacking winger, don't think he could replace a central midfielder.

As others have mentioned, is another of that type what we need with a limited budget? I think we need a more natural striker with an eye for goal to reduce the burden on Brereton who is the only one we have who plays in the main 2 attacking positions that scores goals regularly. Plus he is a winger rather than a forward which Markanday seems to be. Would he suit the right sided forward role?

Definitely. We need an out and out striker who can help to take the goalscoring burden off Brereton, especially ahead of next week ideally. Gallagher is not the best, and the likes of Khadra and Dolan are players that can compliment Brereton well and chip in, but we need another constant source of goals. Markanday is obviously an unknown quantity at this stage who can hopefully have a big impact but again, no track record of goalscoring and he is only slight.

Where does he fit into our team though?

Wouldnt make sense, not least in that our current formation wouldnt fit them all in.

Is it not crazy to have unnecessary games on the pitch at the moment considering the poor state emanating from a couple of downpours on matchdays and the budget cuts from the owners last summer?

You'd chose Gallagher to hold the ball up? When has he ever shown anything but incompetence at doing that?

Just because that Sky have moved it to Monday.

Massive blow with the news that Brereton definitely will miss 2 games. He is so critical to our goalscoring chances and leaves a huge void. This Chile story becomes more and more of a hindrance to Rovers.