roversfan99

The very definition of must win tonight. No excuses about them fighting for their life, obviously wont be easy but they are bottom for a reason. Dont win and I suspect we can write off our play off hopes with 6 games to go, Cardiff likely to go 6 or 7 points clear and it becomes almost impossible. Win and we apply some pressure, Cardiff should win but we go temporarily 7th and at worst 8th by 7pm tomorrow if we get the job done.

Regarding Nyambe, wasnt it earlier this season that you was championing the inclusion of Bennett (who has never been a competent right back) over him based on flawed stats due to Bennett playing in various positions? That being said, it is undoubted that it is this season in which he has kicked on. His passing is fine but his final ball (aside from that great cross v Swansea) is not there as you say. Certainly dont see a Premier League team going for him at this point. Dont agree with your comparison of Wharton and Brereton however. Neither of us (I presume) have seen Wharton much this season but he presumably has done a little more than put in "competent performances) at League 2 level, hes played a key role in getting promoted from that League again. I've seen some silly suggestions saying that he could replace Adarabioyo but in the main the question is can he play a role as 3rd or 4th choice, and considering that we have only the critical Lenihan and the back up option of Williams who is not particularly good, its not that much of a far fetched question really. You also championed Tom White based solely on his performances for the under 23s after coming from league, so it seems strange to be dismissive of a player of the same age who has achieved 3 promotions and played 80 games in League 2. Regarding Brereton, its a huge stretch to say that hes putting in competent performances at Championship level just yet. He has looked incompetent up until the last few games, in which he had a bright cameo v Swansea and earnt/dived for a penalty. He was then absent v Derby, and post lockdown has been fairly bright in both games but not really achieved anything. His one chance that could have built on his 1 goal in 2 years tally, he slipped on his arse!

Suspect with the number of linked teams that it is agent talk.

Even if Downing as preferred was at LB, Bennett would be behind Travis, Johnson, Davenport, Holtby, Rothwell etc in CM.

Surely you would go with the 433 tomorrow then and work on it consistently rather than go back to the 4231 you endorsed that i had recommended.

You initially strongly criticised the club for not offering the option of a refund if they did not have value from ifollow, lets have it right. Within the hour granted you had gone 180 degrees and was staunchly defending the club.

I think it is difficult to come up with a formation to suit an imbalanced squad full stop. Defensively, we have 2 good centre backs, one on loan, and one very injury prone third CB also needed at LB. We have one solitary good full back, a fairly defensive right back. We have 3 or 4 who can play in central midfield, a position of strength in the number 10 role too, absolutely no competent wide men, and one goalscoring pacy striker who can also play wide. Some good players in there but overall, how on earth do you play them!

To be fair, that assumes that all players through our academy are of the same standard, which of course isnt true. Buckley is obviously rated much higher than Thompson. Left back is a neglected area of our team, but of course it is seen as a perfect opportunity for our captain to be shoehorned in unfortunately. That being said, if Thompson isnt seen as an option at this point he must be considered a fair way away, The most obvious option does lie in the form of a member of our senior squad who has played left back more competently indeed than Bell has when he has filled in this season, Downing.

And financially are at the stage of begging the fans not to claim small refunds in terms of funding this necessary surgery!

The 4-3-3 should be ditched, 2 of our only 3 competent attackers are number 10s so why come up with a formation that doesnt include one? Gallagher cannot play that wide striker role as much as Bennett cannot play at left back.

Really, bottom of the table at effectively a neutral stadium for a team gunning for the top 6 should be one to tick off, take 3 points and move on. We will see.

Definitely. If we could ever get them on the pitch at the same time, the front 6 in an ideal world would be Evans, Travis, Downing, Holtby, Dack and Armstrong, thats a good 6. Problem being there is absolutely no balance there. Need to come up with a way of fitting together our most technical players in a balanced way, we need 2 actual wide men which I doubt would have happened even prior to the pandemic.

I dont think any of our players are Premier League level to be honest. We need to keep Dack, Holtby, Armstrong, Travis, Nyambe and Lenihan together if we can. Problem being having the first 2 in the same team effectively. Ive not seen any justification to this point that any of Brereton, Rankin Costello, Bell, Gallagher and even Rothwell are even low Championship players in terms of impacting games and Graham and Johnson seem well past it sadly.

I do think that he has signed some players in Holtby, Downing, Adarabioyo etc who can enable us to become a more technical side and I do think there is probably some logic in trying to become a side that is able to control games better, especially with Graham coming to the end and I suspect a very difficult player to replicate in terms of doing what he is good at. My issue is that the transition is done without any real clarity, consistency or conviction. The squad is built lacks any real balance. Mowbray has flirted with a couple of alternative formations but they dont suit the current squad and he would need more patience anyway. 3 at the back has a few times been trialled, not really worked and been instantly ditched. The false 9 experiment has an element of logic and even on Saturday our technical players often interchanged nicely but it offers no goal threat with Holtby and when fit Dack not suited to playing with their back to goal. We need to have a number 10 in our formation to play Dack/Holtby in their best position. We have absolutely no players who have shown any competence out wide, and playing wide forwards especially Gallagher ensure that you have no subtlety with those players. Our full backs (Nyambe lacks end product although can be a big threat) dont offer much threat overlapping either which means everything must come centrally. There are also strange exceptions in his transfer policy which suggest that there is an element of confusion in his mind. Sam Gallagher is as technically lacking as any forward you will find in the league. Bradley Johnson is a midfielder who gives you hustle and bustle and a real goal threat (when hes in shape that is) but again technical ability is not his strong suit and at least once a game gets caught on the ball near his own net. Why make 2 of your main signings in a summer in which you publically declared a desire to move to a more controlled style of football players who are not suited to playing that style?

"Im not stupid." Elliott, you are at left back today, Sam, right wing!

Is he going to attract a Premier League club at this point? Not so sure. Also, we know that Bennett would be his replacement.

If you are going on performances from yesterday we wouldnt come up any better! Rudd has actually improved this season but still a further example of the poor standard of goalkeeping at this level.

I know that finances arent his area but Mowbray mentioned last week that the additional cost of signing everyone up as a collective was worth it. He surely wouldnt say that if there wasnt a cost.

I think of course we are close to FFP, but what I have highlighted is not true evident as @JHRover to the attitude we have taken on player contracts. If we was THAT close to the limit, quite simply we couldnt be so accommodating and would HAVE to be more ruthless on Smallwood, Hart etc. The refund could be deferred and essentially held until season tickets are paid, in which case the actual sale will be guaranteed which now may not be the case with some, so the tactic they have adopted with refunds is not a fair indicator of the closeness to FFP. Apparently we had 1.4m in the kitty (according to Waggott at the last fans forum in the minutes) for January. Of course that man is full of hot air but it would be a very specific amount to quote if it wasnt true.

I am not sure it is, I dont think there is much difference but I am not sure you could accurately say their squad is poorer. Both have below average goalkeepers. Davies and Bauer v Adarabioyo and Lenihan, certainly very little in that, although theres is permanent. Much of a muchness between the full backs, between Nyambe, Bell, Fisher and Hughes I would say we have the best of the 4 and the worst of the 4. Central midfield, very close. Pearson I would say slightly ahead of Travis, Gallagher and Downing again similar. Dack and Holtby v Johnson and Browne, again possibly a matter of opinion. Wide areas they are stronger, Sinclair and Barkhuizen much better than anything we can muster there, whereas we have an extra goalscorer in Armstrong. Possibly on par with each other at a push.

Has it really been successful? Our goals mainly come from central areas. Dack, Armstrong since he moved central, Holtby, 3 from each CB, a few from central midfield. Aside from Nyambe, our strengths have all been in central positions, and our weak areas in wide areas. Mowbray has never successfully managed to get a grip on wide areas in his time here, its been an achilles heel for him aside from hot spells in League 1 for Antonsson and then Armstrong. Which of our forwards are effective out wide? Gallagher youve acknowledged hasnt been effective there, his goals v Preston, Swansea and Stoke were from a striker position and his one at Sheffield Wednesday a 5th goal v 10 men. Brereton, 1 goal in 2 years and clearly not comfortable out wide? Samuel, again clearly not comfortable out wide, his solitary effective game coming away at Charlton when he played up front? Armstrong far more effective down the middle. So which wide strikers have worked out well? If we have any resources to be able to bring in a wide man, it has to be someone who is naturally a wide man, not a striker who will have a go at impersonating one. Which other wide strikers in the Championship are you referring to considering most teams play like that now? I suspect the difference lies in the detail of what Mowbray considers to be a wide striker and what other managers do.

Raya did make quite a few mistakes last season and is an error prone goalkeeper, its easy to forget that and perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder. That said, replacing him with Walton on loan and renewing Leutwilers contract was an idiotic plan.

Rankin Costello has a hamstring injury and Buckley is suspended for another game.

Why would we sign a wide striker and persist with a tactic that doesnt work? And who is taking Mulgrew off our hands?

I expect to see Samuel, Johnson, Bennett and Gallagher somewhere. Probably for Rothwell, Brereton, Holtby and Davenport.