Main positives are that we have plenty of spirit which we knew we had and its great to see. Also we have attacking players that can hurt teams. Brereton is not a winger and I hope isnt played there, him and Armstrong should have been in opposite positions, we didnt need a 6m striker to play wide. Did well to get a penalty following a poor touch but his reaction afterwards between the foul and the award of the penalty was embarassing. Raya seemed to make some good saves, one in particular was excellent. Lenihan again giving away a penalty, and Williams with a moment of pure idiocy. Game management is a massive, massive concern. All these late goals are not a good sign.

Agreed on Palmer. A number 10 on one wing and a 6m striker on the other whilst a player who excelled wide plays in the middle. Makes no sense. When Dack played wide early last season he also struggled.

Why play a 6m striker who was poor by all accounts out wide at his last club and Armstrong who was so effective wide last season for us in opposing positions. Rodwell in front of the back 4 makes sense.

Dont talk rubbish. I really rate Lenihan, hes never a midfielder but he doesnt play there so its irrelevant. Hes a good centre back although hes not very good on the ball. I also think that Bennett had a poor first half of last season out wide shown by a lack of goal contributions but was much better in the centre and at right back. And hes done much better wide this season with assists v Hull, Brentford and Stoke.

That would make far more sense as it at least has one central midfielder. Find it bizarre especially with Travis, Reed and Tomlinson on the bench.

Hope its not 3 at the back. Rodwell surely in midfield as theres no other central midfielders in what is a very strange team. Hope Brereton, Palmer, Armstrong, Rodwell and Rothwell take their chances. Glad to see them all start. Big risk playing Lenihan when on a booking.

To be fair he was very poor in midfield.

Mulgrew always plays it out and is far more comfortable on the ball than Williams. Lenihan isnt the best on the ball to be honest.

I presume it is with a view to rotating tonight. Hes had plenty of money to be fair

Whilst I get the desire to play our academy players, we cant have that attitude towards Palmer or it would render loaning him pointless. He will play a key role in the next 7 or 8 months for us, and as @Hasta suggests he needs game time to be ready in the league. He has already contributed 3 goals. There is no need to fasttrack Butterworth into the starting 11, we have plenty of young players ahead of him in attacking positions so his best bet maybe to do well consistently for the under 23s and be loaned out either in Jan or at the end of the season.

They were. Presumably because Afobe was going off.

Agreed. Mowbray only commented on the 77 minutes prior, I do hope and assume that was just a smokescreen and he is dealing with it behind closed doors as we need to sort it out fast.

Because I dont support them or have a strong interest in them but as I said there is less of a gap between rich and poor in the fourth tier. Burton and Burnley are examples which belittled your own point, little money in comparison to their Leagues so play football that isnt easy on the eye because they know that if they went toe to toe and tried to play expansive football they would struggle. 4-5m is far more than McCarthy ever had and comes from players signed for fairly cheap in McCarthys spell sold on for a profit. Your totally missing the main 2 points anyway. Firstly Hurst is not a manager that plays attractive football, look at Shrewsbury. So if your main bug bear with McCarthy is style then why appoint Hurst? Also, he let them 3 go you mention (you have definitely turned your nose up at at least 1 or 2 of them coming here over the summer by the way, apologies if mistaken) one of whom was forever injured and the other 2 who he only had for a season. He has spent lots yet why is a place 9 places lower than last season suddenly a good season? Basicaly you hold a personal grudge against McCarthy and you are covering the fact that you was wrong to deride him so much. The reason he went was simple. He was a victim of his own success. Supporters had delusions of grandeur that a squad full of frees could play exhillirating football whilst maintaining the excellent consistent results he kept achieving.

Its more the struggle to empathise with an attitude whereby you would prefer Rovers to lose. Surely when Tuesday comes around and if you read that we won your instinctive reaction would be one of happiness and not dissapointment that weve got another game to fit in down the line? Its like when Kean was manager and people bunged up with "ITK" information kept proclaiming that Kean was a game away from the sack. I still couldnt bring myself to cheer our opposition. Even if you saw the cup so much of a low priority that you used it as a vehicle to give mainly fringe and younger players a chance to push for a starting role in the League, surely winning cup ties is useful for that? Had we lost in the last round, which presumably you also wanted, we wouldnt have such a good opportunity to give Brereton, Rodwell, Rothwell, Palmer, Armstrong etc a chance to keep themselves competitively ticking over and push to start League games, or a chance for the likes of Travis, Nuttall and in the last round Grayson and Butterworth vital first team minutes to make them want a taste of more. Im not saying it should be anything other than second in the list of priorities. But the prize of winning is one more game, at max we will play is it 6 or 7 which baring in mind we will be using the whole squad will not derail our season, and thats on the basis that we went all the way. I also remember playing the big teams regularly but that doesnt mean that playing one, and most likely a weakened team would be an inconvenience. Beating them would still be very enjoyable. Also, winning games is a habit not to be sniffed at.

Your point was to play attractive football and how it is possible?! Not teams getting results/promotion on lower budgets. I cant profess to know how Accrington Stanley play, even if it is open, attractive football there will always be exceptions to the rule, but in the fourth tier there is naturally less of a financial chasm between top and bottom anyway. Burnley in particular and Burton both rely on organisation and substance over style, because they have low budgets. So them examples back my argument up if anything! Your argument/points change from post to post. My point was, why with the majority of a squad who finishes 12th last season, is 21st now acceptable only a season on? Yes they sold 3 very good McCarthy signings on for a profit but Hurst been able to spend lots of that money (probably more than McCarthy was allowed in his whole tenure) and has done partially on players you rate. So why after that is a drop of 9 league places acceptable? Also, as has been mentioned, Shrewsbury werent a team that played attractive football so the managerial change made no sense anyway if that was the reason. No one mentioned anything about him coming here. That comment shows you seemingly just dislike him as a person IMO.

But the side you named has made 6 changes and still looks fairly strong so it cant be that light. Thats without Travis, Downing and Davenport. We could get a glamour tie in the next round. Or we could with a favourable draw get to the latter stages, which is hardly a massive burden on our squad to play 2 or 3 more games, if anything, it can be a chance to rotate and keep everyone ticking over. So if its one one, last minute and you hear that weve scored would you genuinely feel dissapointed? Its something I cant empathise with. Priortising the league, yes, rotating the squad, yes, totally get that and would do the same. But I still want Rovers to win, to be in the hat for the next round, and also for the fringe players to really give Mowbray a problem.

Sarcasm or genuine hope for a loss?

Firstly biz, I know that he did play in his youth career but, for the vast majority, he has played professional, senior football as a midfielder. He was playing as a midfielder to do everything that Mowbray has eulogised over, played for England, earned a massive transfer to Man City etc. Thats where hes earnt his reputation. I am not being ignorant to it, but to stick someone there at this stage of his career is a massive, massive risk in my opinion. I totally get how that, in case of injuries etc, his versatility to have at least some understanding of that position could come in handy, but I am not a fan of signing midfielders to play as defenders. I also am unconvinced that he will do himself justice in that position. And although that Mowbray has suggested that there is a chance of him playing there, I personally hope that he is played where he has impressed in the past.

Hes being pedantic over wording and spelling to cover the fact that his argument is full of holes.

Chose wingers that side to allow Rothwell to cut in more. Armstrong was effective on either side last year. Dont get the clamour to play a player who has played midfield all of his senior career at centre back.

As per the last round, hope we win but we have to use the squad a bit more and leave 2 or 3 at home. That said, would love to progress, dont understand why some "dont care" at all about the cup and also we can hope that some players give the manager some decisions to make regarding League selection. Raya Travis Downing Williams Bell Rodwell Smallwood Armstrong Palmer Rothwell Brereton Subs: Leutwiler, Lenihan, Nuttall, Conway, Reed, Bennett, Nyambe

My point was more that in games that we continue with the "2.5 attackers" that Mowbray likes, that Reed could be a better option as the alternative "defensive winger" to Bennett rather than Conway who up to now has been the main alternative but isnt up to it nowadays. Like you said it will be difficult to drop any of them for the next League game, I meant more in general.

Firstly, you seem to be being particularly pedantic regarding spelling, thats twice in a few days youve corrected me which considering your own spelling is quite rich. But im not interested in Ipswich fans' opinions, I was asking for yours. Not sure why you have mentioned them 2 lower league teams, if you cant see that there is a fairly strong correlation between the budget you have to spend on players and the style of football those players will be able to play then lets leave it there. I am not saying that they should sack him now. My question was specific to the fact that you said that 21st AT THE END OF THE SEASON would be "job done." That is with the majority of a squad that has consistently been a top half squad under a manager you clearly dont overly rate in Mick McCarthy. And with a few new players that you have specifically stated that you rate enough to have at your own club, who you expect to be finishing well above 21st.

Very good point. Majority of their wins were 1-0. Practically got in someone who had a very good season, and theres nothing wrong with his style, but hes essentially a similar manager without the proven track record.

Reed impressed in the role he played wide yesterday, but like Bennett he is very much a conservative choice out wide considering he is usually a central midfielder, who can fill in at right back. Yes he scored and it was a cool finish but based on his post match interview, its maybe not a common trait for him! I do wonder if we have stumbled upon someone who can be a better alternative to Bennett, should he be either unavailable, needed elsewhere or lacking form, rather than needing to resort to Conway again? As much as it worked very well yesterday, it is very rare that we need all 4 of Smallwood, Evans, Reed and Bennett across the midfield, and Mowbray likes to play Dack, a striker and one other attacking player.