Fancy us to win and good to see us putting out a strong team v a Newcastle second string, Dont get why Bennett is starting at right back though, and I'm surprised that Brereton and Rothwell havent been given a start.

Thank you very much for coming on here to give your educated thoughts on Brereton. His goal record was a massive concern prior to his arrival, albeit his age could be a factor, but he has not really provided a goal threat at all in his time here. He has also dived and thrown himself to the ground quite a few times, but he has won 2 penalties with "exaggerated falls" so its worked in our favour at times. I saw him v Arsenal and I recall him being superb, although he did miss a number of chances. May I ask what attributes you feel are his strengths? I was under the impression that he was fast and a powerful runner but he has seemed quite slow and lethargic in a Rovers shirt. He also is very weak and technically is poor with a really poor first touch. But he obviously has something, to even come close to warranting such a fee, his England youth career shows promise and he has played a lot of Championship games already. Surely he must have something to his game that can be improved further. But what is it?! Rhodes was a classic case of our (and presumably every other teams) fanbases bizarre under appreciation of goalscoring within an attacking players skillset. His consistency of goalscoring here was absolutely incredible, in some really poor teams, in a team geared to suit Gestede more than him, however, he continued to score goal after goal, he was a guaranteed 20 goal a season man. Once that became taken for granted, people were more focused on his weaknesses without appreciating the whole purpose of a striker. A lot of people have downplayed Dack's impact at Championship level, and I've seen more than one poster advocating selling Dack for big money and reinvesting, with one suggestion that even Rothwell Dacks goalscoring has always been consistent for us and the most integral part of his game, not the tricks, skills, nutmegs, passes etc, its the goals that make him so in demand. Back to Brereton, your comments echoing people that Brereton has received a lack of support at games is total fiction. Social media and forums will be full of negative comments and criticism about a player who cost 7 million who is yet to showcase any attributes to justify the hefty fee or supposed raw potential that he has. They are the perfect place to air such judgements. At the games, he receives full backing like anyone else, yet for some reason some seem desperate to portray comments on social media/forums etc or even conversations between people as "not backing Brereton and not giving him a chance." Nobody would benefit from him proving to be a poor signing and a poor player, and anyone who thinks people do want him to fail are talking rubbish.

Absolutely, he has looked a class above Smallwood who has been evidently lacking in quality for much of the season. The composure and energy of Travis and also the intelligence really stood out. Was just a point about West Broms midfield.

I agree with you on your analysis on Travis v Smallwood, but West Brom's midfield isnt the best in the league, Barry and Morrison are both well, well past their best and lacking in mobility and Phillips is a winger shoehorned in there to give them mobility.

They have been riddled with injuries but still I am very surprised as to the extent of their struggles. Neither team has been particularly improved by their summer business to be honest.

To be fair, even though I agree that Smallwoods performance levels dipped during the second half of last season, it would have been a needless risk to change him at that point and his selection was justified by promotion. That being said, Smallwood this season has already received far too much loyalty when he has often come up short. I felt it was premature in the summer to give him and Williams new contracts as rewards, and they were decisions lacking ruthlessness with both very much carrying question marks over their ability at Championship level. Now is the acid test for Mowbray, if he reverts back to Smallwood (assuming Travis' performance levels dont nosedive) then he is going to face some flak. Not sure Jason Lowe was a direct competitor to Alan Judge either, I'd argue Chris Taylor woule be a better example of a poor player who seemed to be ahead of Judge.

Hes a liability at right back however you dress it up. His tendency to needlessly dive in coupled with his poor positional play leaves us massively exposed in that area, with Harvey Barnes and Enda Stevens the latest two to run amock down that side. His crossing was also particularly poor yesterday. Thats not his fault though, he simply isnt at right back. He tries his best there as he always does but we are a poorer team with him filling in at right back.

My maths may be wrong but I think so far in the league, Lambert has 6 points from 11 league games (0.55 points per game) and Hurst collected 9 points from 15 league games. (0.6 points per game) Hes actually performing worse.

The partnership of Graham and Dack has scored 18 goals between them. Where do you fit this third striker in?

I even think that "showing the signs sometimes" is doing him a disservice, it feels like hes getting better with age, he appears and claims to be fitter than ever, his charging down compared to Breretons half arsed chasing is evidence of that, hes been better this season than in his previous 2 and a half in a Rovers shirt for me.

May I ask why that is the case? We are in a league with some real rubbish in it, notably the likes of Bolton and Ipswich. We have a wage budget of between 10th and 16th place in the league according to our chief executive, so offer very competitive Championship wages. Yes we got relegated (primarily down to I have been stopped from posting this by moderators. Coyle) but since we have spent comfortably above 10 million on our squad, and are carrying the momentum from a promotion. Do you not think your expectations were far too low?

Difficult one to approach, really would love a cup run, enough scope in the league to do so and potential to knock out a Prem side who will name a weak side, but also a chance to give some players a chance. Raya Nyambe Downing Mulgrew Bell Travis Rodwell Palmer Rothwell Conway Armstrong Subs: Leutweiler, Lenihan, Williams, Reed, Dack, Brereton, Bennett Would potentially start Brereton but hes not showing enough in his cameos to warrant a start, and would like to see Armstrong as a striker.

He does that so often, when long balls are hoofed up to him, and he uses his intelligence to turn them into a free kick. He does it especially well when we need someone to run the clock down, like today, when the game is becoming frantic and we need to hold on. I dont get how holding the ball up and winning free kicks becomes an unappreciated skill. And hes not just about hold up play. He has 9 goals which is a healthy return half way through the season. He is also the best person in terms of getting the best out of Dack, the pair of them are so intelligent with each other. Graham chips in with assists too, his assists for Dack in the Forest and Sheffield Wednesday game were absolutely brilliant, leaving Dack with a tap in on both occasions. Probably our player of the season in my book.

Very impressive performance and result almost sullied by a needlessly nervous last 15 minutes. Thought Travis was absolutely outstanding, reading the game far better than Smallwood, composed in possession and tenacious in the tackle. Has to stay in the side. Mulgrew was colossal in defence and hes more of a goal threat directly from corners than our 7 million striker! Captains performance. Lenihan alongside him was excellent and played a couple of lovely drilled balls into Dack, Evans was good alongside Travis in midfield too. Armstrong looked right on his game in the first 10 minutes but I thought he became stale, laboured and predictable prior to the second goal in which he was brilliant. Dack was a bright spark as always, his goal was superbly taken with the arrogance that makes him who he is. Not sure about the sub, hes the master at game management but it worked out just about in the end. Graham was superb as per usual in terms of his all round game but should have scored. Reed was tenacious and full of energy as always. Bennett had an absolute shocker, he is blatantly not a right back. Diving in, always out of position and given a torrid time by Barnes. His crossing was terrible too. Bell is really flaky too, doesnt utilise his pace well enough and is technically poor but wasnt as bad as Bennett. Conway did a job when he came on as youd expect, Brereton showed nothing bar some half arsed pressing and a bizarre exchange with their keeper. What does he really offer at all? Palmer used to wind down the clock. Thought West Brom screamed of a team not particularly well drilled, but in Phillips, Rodriguez and mainly Barnes, some superb individuals.

There was a sole comparison to a statistic under Coyle in terms of goals conceded at this point of this season. An irrefutable fact. If you choose to take that out of context its up to you. Mowbray was showered with praise after getting us promoted. We are in really poor form, our summer signings have in the main failed to really have an impact as of yet, we are conceding goals, these are all things that will cause people to be critical on an internet messageboard. And ive seen us home and away all season. Just not being Coyle or not being Kean is not worthy of a free pass. Supporting the manager at games and hoping he does well in general, and criticising certain decisions he makes are not mutually exclusive.

Or because it was never a red card in the first place?

I agree. We play on average 14 more long balls even than Pulis' Boro. He has suffered relegation at West Brom in the past after sticking to his principles and playing passing football. Maybe he has been burnt by that and is overly cautious as a result?

I always think we look so much better in the spells when we press high. We have plenty of energy in attacking areas, sadly a high press doesnt go hand in hand with our direct and at times aimless tactics; you need to retain possession far more than we do, guilty as we are of the most long balls, because it is impossible to keep the energy up towards the end when you spend more time chasing the ball than on the ball. His choice of strikers signed is really strange. He has signed Samuel, Nuttall, Antonsson, Armstrong and Brereton, none of whom are remotely like target men, a key point in his percentage based football, yet he seems reluctant to move away from these tactics even when they dont work.

It requires less thought, less composure, less ability, to just punt it in the air. Lenihan is particularly guilty of this. We have a striker who is probably unparalleled at this level in terms of turning literally the most aimless hoof into some sort of attack, Graham is brilliant at it, but it is only our most common attack form in the absence of something more strategic and intelligent. Its why whenever he doesnt play, none of the alternatives are ever going to be effective up front. The thing is, this tactic hasnt been working for a couple of months now. Surely now is the time for change? Mowbray said this recently: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/17259862.mowbray-wants-rovers-to-evolve-their-style-of-play/ Mowbray added: “In League One we pressed every team really high, but in this league playing against players who can play through, round, or over that you have to be careful of being a team that only plays one way. “We’re trying to develop that but as you develop it you can have some teething problems." As with many of his soundbites lately, they have not been borne out by what has been seen on the pitch. I have seen no signs whatsoever of any attempt to modify our one dimensional method of play, even though it hasnt been working.

If our benchmark is I have been stopped from posting this by moderators. Coyle then we are going to have some very, very low standards going forward. Every manager and every player will be judged throughout, I don't understand why some people, like with Brereton, cannot judge as they go along. It goes against the whole point of a messageboard. Whats the alternative, to only open threads about individuals after x amount of years of being at the club? If we haven't been judging Mowbray up to date then his promotion would have also not affected our opinion of him, which again would be totally unfair.

Lenihan was rubbish when he played as a central midfielder when he broke through. He struggled to dislodge Hope Akpan and co! Nowhere near good enough on the ball.

I disagree, I was annoyed when he was sold because he was our best player at the time. When he came into the team, we were a Premier League side very much in disarray and he was very raw when he came in but during our time in the Championship he matured into a very good centre back at this level. I felt like he ironed out his clumsiness and massively reduced his proneness to errors, and was also far more intelligent than people gave him credit for, he was a master at winning a free kick when under pressure for one. Shane Duffy is an established Premier League centre back but here I felt that Hanley was better here. Both made the right decision to leave but we would love them back.

Raya Travis Downing Mulgrew Bell Evans Reed Bennett Dack Palmer Graham Subs: Leutweiler, Lenihan, Rodwell, Rothwell, Brereton, Armstrong, Williams Travis has to start, but assuming Nyambe isnt fit, it has to be at right back as Bennett is simply not competent there and Enda Stevens had a field day. I have also assumed that Conway wont be back, otherwise he would be in over Bennett. Palmer deserves a start after Saturday much more than Rothwell. Downing and Bell both in simply due to their alternatives being in shocking form, but both positions require the transfer market. Bell in particular is a big weakness in himself.

Why do our supporters have such negative opinions of him? If only we had him now. Was superb towards the end of his stay here when he really came of age, culminating in deservedly winning player of the season. His move to Newcastle didnt work out but he still got a title winners medal and his move to Norwich has been a very successful one, finishing runner up to Maddison in their player of the year award last season. No way that Norwich will loan him out so think its a moot conversation but still.

Gave the ball away so often, once or twice in silly areas. Palmer was far better.