Bell is just as bad to be fair. Rankin Costello is back from injury, and although he himself isnt a convincing full back, if fit I would probably play him. Failing that, I have asked a few times why considering our under 23s win so often, why none of the team is near the first time. We know Bennett isnt capable, so as you mention, id give Pike a go there.

You are right on Ayala but Keogh certainly wasnt the answer. 7 starts for Huddersfield, only 1 win and no clean sheets.

We could lost 16-0 and I bet Mowbray wouldnt go anywhere sadly. I think Davenport has impressed lately, Rothwell has done very little in 2 and a half years, Davenport alongside Travis has the makings of a good duo.

Urgh, Bennett at right back.

Maybe the indoor facilities will fall by the wayside. Mowbray recently said they dont train in them even when it leaves our pitch in ruins, so it fits the narrative to get rid to save the Venkys some rupees.

17 and 22 starts in the Championship.

Because I dont think you appreciate the benefits of having a consistent style of play, as the current top 3 have as well as many examples of teams that have been promoted in the past. 4-2-3-1, 3-4-1-2, 4-3-3, that isnt Mowbrays phone number but an example of 3 different formations that we have played. We need consistency but Mowbray worries too much to stick to one formation. Our promotion was built on consistency. Would Nyambe get in Norwich, Swansea, Watford, Bournemouths etc teams? Not for me. Him and Kaminski are 2 of our better players and 2 guaranteed starters but not sure either is in the top 6 in their position. Rothwell has contributed very little in his Rovers career, he has ability but no signs that he can bring it together to contribute with any regularity. Holtby has never really contributed here, and the 3 with promotion experience we can see why they were available. Ayala went up 4 or 5 years ago in a defensive side, now his body has packed in. Douglas played a bit part role for Leeds, he was good for Wolves but in a position we dont play and prior to a series of injuries, and Trybull was a bit part who wasnt wanted by a team fighting for the same goal. I think the first sentence is correct but I would disagree with the second. A good manager could make it more than the sum of its parts, and the current manager is underachieving in being as close to the relegation zone, but for me it isnt top 6.

Tarkowski has proved how good a defender he is over a number of seasons, Burnley have conceded less than Everton and Man United this season. I suspect that playing for an unfashionable club and as he isnt a ball playing centre back (although he is comfortable on the ball) that he will be dismissed as you are doing. Does Maguire get in without the 80m price tag? I would say not, but as a big money signing at United, he will be deemed first pick even though I would be more wary of a mistake from him.

May I ask why you feel that Venkys warrant the benefit of the doubt?

*be a massively upgraded and streamlined 21st century revamp...

Godfrey has impressed but year on year, Tarkowski shows how good a defender he is. Burnley are less dominant than Everton but have actually conceded 3 less goals. Centre back is a position where we have lots of ok players, but none are stand out, bar Stones and even he has only come back into the picture this season.

I dont think Venkys care enough to plan with such detail. I suspect that when Mowbray does go, it will be off his own back and lead to a spell of confusion. This should be the end of Bournemouths promotion hopes, so the likes of Brooks, Lerma and Kelly amongst others will probably be off in the summer. A shame we are not competitive under Mowbray as there could be a top 6 vacancy this season.

Pope, Pickford, Johnstone Alexander Arnold, Shaw, Chilwell, Tarkowski, Stones, Maguire, Mings, James Henderson, Rice, Phillips, Foden, Grealish, Mount, Maddison Kane, Calvert Lewin, Rashford, Sterling, Sancho Pope Alexander Arnold Stones Tarkowski Shaw Henderson Rice Sancho Foden Sterling Kane Any of the centre backs next to Stones would be ok, ive assumed Gomez is out. Not Rice's biggest fan but he would give a bit more defensive solidity and allow the front 4 to attack. Grealish v Sancho is 50/50.

I find it bizarre that anyone's natural instinct based on what has happened to date is to give Venkys the benefit of the doubt.

To clarify, it is not a defence of the manager, this is a squad that Mowbray has himself assembled armed with plenty of time and money. I also do think that whilst it isnt a top 6 squad, a good manager could have us in with a shout by making it add up to more than the sum of its parts, it is still underachieving, the manager has no consistency with his tactics, his subs are often confusing and illogical, he admits that he doesnt work on set pieces which is an area of weakness at both ends, and of course we have 12m worth of shit. The incompetent cover is in the shape of the managers friends son, Aynsley Pears. I did suggest Ayala but that does not remove any semblance of blame, I am not armed with a supposed revolutionary European scouting network, I am not the one qualified to give a clearly unfit player a thorough medical, I wouldnt have given him such a long deal and he is just one symptom of the negligence around improving the defence that you have mentioned. Dack will never return to form unless he plays in a team that is not a shit show of constantly confusing formations, or if he is played either as a false 9 or deep enough to be holding hands with Kaminski. Brereton was doing ok, 3 goals in half a season, compared to really, really low standards. And Gallagher is a donkey. Neither are close to top 6 players on what we have seen.

Why does Woodgate until the end of the season make sense? As touched on, they have already sacked a rookie, entrusting the remainder of a key promotion push which could be a precursor to a fire sale should it fail to materialise to another rookie who did such a dreadful job at Boro makes no sense at all.

Dack has not shown any signs that he has not recovered physically fron the injury, he may not have regained his form (apart from glimpses) but he has mainly been on the bench, in a struggling team and often out of position, once as a false 9 and mainly far too deep.

I think considering a few games as evidence of the overall capability of the players is a little risky. They were very impressive performances but not indicative of the overall performance level of the team. In our first 10 games, we had those 3 thrashings, 2 coming against ten men, 2 competive losses v better teams, and the other 5 games in that spell we played really poorly in. Do I think that constantly changing formations, players out of position etc are hindering the players? Yeah I do but equally I dont think the squad is quite as good as we think, which again is the responsibility of Mowbray.

To be fair, Armstrong was played in the wrong position for a year and a half, and upon that change scored so many goals. Being part of an unsettled defence wont have helped as you say, plus we only have heard the positives of why Bennett has been put in, and why Nyambe has been dropped. That might be circumstantial in that the reactions cause Mowbray to feel like he needs to justify Nyambe being dropped, but had he simply said this week for example that Nyambe was taken out in fear of over excursion due to injury, it wouldnt have caused a shit storm. Raya was criticised because he did make a number of errors, and Nyambe lately has made mistakes, so in a way the criticisms are justified, but specifically in dealing with young players, it is not wise man management.

Rothwell and Premier League is a hell of a statement, this isnt a player who has ever hit those levels and is only now underachieving, this is a player whose best games are usually ones he doesnt feature in. Ayala may have done 3 or 4 years ago but now he isnt fit enough to play and when he is, we lose more often than we win. Douglas again in the past and has improved in recent weeks, and even Nyambe is a level off the right backs of the top 6. Holtby has never displayed any signs of being a top 6 player in this league either, I think with him his reputation stemming from his younger years and potential he perhaps has never fulfilled fool us a bit. Even Travis, compare to Cook, Lerma, Pearson, Wilshire, Billing, Rupp, Skipp, Da Silva, Norgaard, Hourihane, Grimes, Will Hughes, Chalobah, Cleverley, Swift etc, not sure he is as good as. 100% he is responsible for the squad he has assembled. I just feel that there is a slightly false perception of the quality of the players we have, and whether more than pure underachievement, the underperforming is down to the flaws in how the squad has been assembled in the first place. He cant moan about resources or time. I personally think that to get us into the top 6 could be perceived as slightly overachieving. Then again, there are certainly managers that armed with a prolific goalscorer would certainly put us in with a shout, albeit with a lot more tactical consistency and simplicity.

They are the exceptions though. Derby were in crisis and Wycombe got a few beatings when they came up, the latter going down to 10 men, and Coventry went down to 10 men very early. The performances were still very impressive but they did skew peoples perception of our quality in the first few months.

The comparisons are interesting to be fair, Marcus had that one season where he (perhaps quite surprisingly) got player of the season but I suppose Nyambe could argue that his Championship record is not too disimilar at a young age, with plenty of scope for progression. Martin has Premier League and international record with a decent country so Nyambe has still plenty to do to get to that, although Martin was never a good defender. The one thing we would need to concede that in the main, Nyambe has been the undisputed first choice right back in Mowbrays time here, and especially this season, he has developed noticeably on his game. I also do think that Nyambe has made mistakes lately. It is the constant lack of competent back up that has made him being dropped at any time counter productive and with the bizarre media comments, that is where the questions pile up. I do wonder where he will go from here. Assuming a new manager was appointed, a mid table Championship club with aims of promotion as a first teamer could possibly be his limit at the moment, barring a move abroad.

Just wondering what people think to the overall state of our current squad. I see regularly that it is a top 6 squad grossly underperforming, I am not convinced. To clarify, this is not a defence of Mowbray, I acknowledge that his tactical inconsistencies further hinder the current group of players, and this is very much his squad of players in the first place. Kaminski is a competent keeper with incompetent cover. Defensively, still a mess, the only 2 of any credibility are Lenihan and Nyambe, both of whom have a year left and Mowbray inherited. Beside that, we have the incompetent Bell, a loanee in Douglas who has improved recently, a couple of kids who arent ready on loan, an expensive crock on a long term deal, Williams who has never been particularly good or reliable, and then wingers covering. In midfield, we have signed so many, Johnson, Davenport, Rothwell, Holtby, Trybull, Downing etc, there may well be sone quality there but none have contributed to a point where we would really miss them if they left tomorrow. Travis is the only one and he himself is not one of the best in the league. In attack, we are solely reliant on Armstrong with the manager struggling to get the proven Dack back in regularly, and Elliott has been a very good loan. Aside from that, we have our 12m misfits and a raw kid. Not sure the squad is as good as people make out.

It will be interesting to see where Nyambe goes next, as shit as it is that it wont be continuing here under a new manager. I am not convinced that he will have Premier League suitors even as a prospect playing second fiddle to a more senior right back, and even a promotion chasing side at this level has a player like Aarons, Roberts, Dalsgaard, Femenia, Stacey, all a level above I would suggest. Maybe a move abroad may appeal to him? Such a shame that he wont be here on a long term deal.

It took a little longer than most for the penny to drop regarding the stagnation under the current manager, and seems that it has yet to drop regarding our absent owners.