roversfan99

Both true but if you are genuinely implying that Mowbray wasnt showered with praise and adulation when we got promoted then you are re writing history, whether it be on here or in person with 30k fans turning up to sing his name v Oxford, people turning up in town to see him and the team and celebrate, he got plenty of praise for it. I just think that theres a general undercurrent of people trying to imply that the fanbase is either unwilling to praise the manager when warranted or being unsupportive to the players and its untrue.

Its not really fickle, its just judging players based on their performances. Samuel overall has been a poor signing, one very underwhelming season in League 1 with no goals post November, 18 months out, common consensus is that he isnt up to it. Comes off the bench Tuesday and gets a goal and puts in a very impressive display today, some good hold up, worked hard (he hasnt always) and rather than saying no hes not up to it and trying to dismiss his impact, people have praised him. Buckley has been nowhere near up to now, justifiably surprised to see him start, puts in a very good performance and praised for it. Brereton again people are getting excited over 2 cameos when hes done very little in terms of tangible impact but people desperate to see him do well. Much of the criticism regarding Gallagher has been at the manager for playing him in a position in which he clearly cannot operate in but even as a central striker in the main he has been particularly poor. Yet the only disdain shown at Ewood was a brief chorus of "why the fucks he on the wing" followed by singing his name to show that they were not getting at him. To go off on a tangent, not aimed at you, theres also a lot of myths peddled about players not getting support and it becomes quite tiresome to read and you do question why people are so keen to criticise their own fan base. @Hasta has it bang on regarding Bell, hes going to get plenty of criticism on here because hes been not up to it so many times but its painted as if hes publically scapegoated and hes not. Brereton apparently gets all sorts of stick, and to be honest hes not been anywhere near good enough, but you see all these claims about him breaking down in tears due to the fans and constantly people berating fans "not getting behind him," people were singing his name on Tuesday for doing things if any other player did people wouldnt bat an eyelid just because they were desperate for him to do well.

He did at the time, 2 years ago. Strange time to take this approach considering hes getting plenty of praise for today and rightly so.

Gallagher being in this side plugging up and down the wing would make us worse, make no mistake. Sounds harsh but its a very valid point IMO.

Need to go to Brentford targeting a win. Wins are the main currency, such a win would be a statement plus it would put us into the top 6 at least for a couple of hours which would be a first and massive psychological.

Right up there with the best performances of the season. The 2 old heads doing exactly what we needed and leading the way, Downing and especially today Johnson were superb. Well done to the players and well done to Mowbray who got it spot on. Buckley shut me up by putting in a performance a million miles from what we have seen prior. Samuel as good as ive seen him with some very intelligent hold up, Armstrong has had better games and not quite as sharp as he can be but of course a threat. Adarabioyo so composed, Nyambe had a shaky first 10 minute them back to his usual recent self afterwards, Bell far more composed than usual, Lenihan made a few really needless rash challenges and one yellow away from a 2 game ban but a leader back there. And Walton bailed us out with a few excellent saves and was generally very dependable. Travis gave it away a few times and got sloppy but got through plenty of work. And the subs came in and just slotted in nicely.

Good half but weve been assisted with the wind in the same way that they will be second half. Have to make sure we dont mess this up now. Been on top but bailed out by a couple of superb Walton saves. I think the Samuel incident could have gone either way. Buckley lucky with the deflection but his overall performance has been by far his best in a Rovers shirt. Downing is a class above.

Which rumours am I fine with? Like I said, I have been very consistent in my opinion about Buckley being nowhere near ready and needing a loan spell in the lower leagues. I think to be honest that is a view shared by more than most. You are clutching at straws suggesting that his exlusion would lead to criticism.

The most logical thing would be to play Samuel as a right winger?

He usually plays him wide to be fair. Rightly or wrongly!

I think you are a little too focused on trying to highlight The Chapman rumours have snowballed again with perhaps slightly more foundation than the Maddison ones but still. But ultimately we lack natural width and our only natural winger I would like to get a chance within an injury crisis. Hes done little to warrant a start because hes never given a game. He certainly never looked as lightweight and ineffectual as Buckley has done. Who has given Mowbray pelters for not starting Buckley? I have been very consistent on my view that basically every time he has featured he has looked well off the standard and physically lost. Indeed most have said the same.

Bit strange to see Carter on the bench and Mulgrew playing with the kids.

No I wasnt saying that it was your only reason, but I personally think that if any decision is plagued by fear of appointing another Coyle or Kean then we might as well pack up now!

Hope its a narrow 442 with Samuel and Armstrong together. Would have personally gone for Brereton over Samuel but suppose the latter would have felt hard done by, and Buckley is still lightweight and would have gone Chapman there. Need to win today.

Sammy Ameobi is very average but would get into the weakest area of our squad.

Out of interest, you was quite strong of the belief that Venkys would do anything to get us into the Premier League and are only hindered by FFP. On the flip side, you are also terrified of what they will do post Mowbray. Could you not argue that these 2 mindsets are at odds with one another? I still dont think that fear of the alternatives is a valid reason in isolation, especially when you are suggesting your own personal opinion on what you would do. If you think Mowbray is the man to get us into the Premier League, then fine, but if not, it has no logic to accept mediocrity rather than being willing to gamble, because quite frankly, what is the point?

Maddison getting his first goal.

Maybe but its just the way I would play, @Ewood Ace hits the nail on the head regarding a lack of assists from the full backs so any notion of overlapping is moot. Downing especially will possibly play narrower than many wingers so theres less risk of being outnumbered and he can get crosses in from that side. Dont think the inverted wingers is a successful tactic, indeed Mowbrays use of wide players has not been a strength during his time here.

Found Bradley Johnsons comment yesterday that hed "rather be part of the chasing pack rather than looking over his shoulder" to be very bizarre, talk about making the best out of a situation. Youd rather have extra points and be further up the bloody table!

Walton Nyambe Lenihan Adarabioyo Bell Chapman Travis Johnson Downing Brereton Armstrong Subs: Hilton, Williams, Bennett, Buckley, Davenport, Samuel, Graham Think I would go with that. Judgement call to partner Armstrong and if we at any point in danger of being over run in midfield, move Downing inside and play Armstrong and Chapman either side of Brereton.

Pretty central and he was perhaps too far over to his left. It ended in the corner only because he got a hand to it but not a strong enough one to keep it out. Not a massive howler but one I think he should be doing better with. The standard of keeping in the Championship is really poor. You look at even the top 6, the goalkeepers are Johnstone, Casilla, Rodak, Raya, Samba and Rudd. Only Samba is any good there really. Not a chance that Brighton have Walton as number 1 next year.

I made a point of saying that I appreciate that some of these goals are not particularly eye catching errors, but including the Sheffield Wednesday one, they are goals that a competent Championship goalkeeper should be very frustrated at his part in. Just because a mistake isnt eye catching doesnt mean that it doesnt warrant criticism because ultimately they still led to goals when really they shouldnt have done.

Yes I think he should be dissapointed that he didnt, the ball went in the middle of the goal. No I have listed goals which I think he was directly responsible for, but also said that I dont think hes amongst the very worst of a fairly sorry overall standard of goalkeepers in this league, nor do I think he is particularly good or worth signing. Hes conceded the 10th or 11th least goals in the League which is average/ok but of course also dependant on the defence in front of him. And?

Agreed, its not going to be an easy game necessarily, but its one against a team right near the bottom, who have scraped together a team, if youve got genuine top 6 hopes, and thats before you consider a 6 point, 3 place deficit, you go there expecting to win and frustrated if you dont. Its an eminently winnable game for a side with top 6 aspirations.

I think our fans are quite used to not having that intense pressure and mentality whereby any dropped points are rued. We just muddle along without ever actually really being in the mix, never in the top 6. On the face of things, going to Charlton away on the back of a home win might seem like a positive one, a point on the road, a long distance away day, but ultimately, it would be a week of 2 home games out of 3 in which we have lost more points than we have gained. Charlton are near the bottom, it wont be easy, stick in all of the usual platitudes, big crowd, long journey, fighting for their lives, but its a game that if you genuinely see yourself in the top 6 at the end of the season, without factoring in the deficit, its your bread and butter. If we have genuine aspirations of the play offs, we have to realise that not only do we need to be hitting top 6 form, we need to be considerably better because we need to make up a considerable 6 point deficit on 6th place, and not only that, leap frog 7th and 8th as well as obviously factoring any potentially brilliant runs from anyone below us. 6 points may not seem a lot but it certainly is over 14 games. It is very much a long shot and as such will not be achieved without a remarkable run from here on in.