roversfan99

Aye I know but theyve lost Snodgrass, Terry and Grabban and their summer was a mess what with them seemingly only being able to bring anyone in at the end. Very much on a different level in terms of wages though, thats for sure. We are in the middle id say in that we have certainly spent more than a lot of teams in the League but arent on the same level as Stoke, Villa, Forest and a few others.

Wages perhaps but didnt they spend less than us, only buying Nyland and McGinn, or am I missing someone? Obviously I know they have spent loads on wages for Abraham, Bolasie etc.

Sadly I think you are right. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/october/tonys-injury-update/ "Playing three at the back is another option for us, of course, we can do that. I think it will be a pretty tactical game tomorrow, let's wait and see." Expect the same team as the one you picked bar Williams for Rodwell. Also suspect Reed will be playing off Graham, him and Dack. Stick to 4 please Tony.

Agree with that team but have to have Palmer on the bench over Conway or Travis.

We dont have the resources at centre back to move Lenihan, hopefully the return of Mulgrew will somewhat settle him. If Lenihan wasnt to play at centre back for whatever reason then I dont feel that he would be anywhere near the reckoning to play anywhere else. Far better options both at right back and in midfield. Also it wouldnt do his confidence much good possibly exposing him out of position I certainly wouldnt go to 3 at the back but it was something that crossed my mind the other day that Mowbray may consider to match Sheffield United. Hope not though.

I think any clamour to drop Lenihan goes with the lack of a centre back signing in the summer. The alternatives are an average League 1 centre back, a left back and a central midfielder. Makes no sense to drop him unless his form really does dip beyond belief. Lenihan is very much a blood and thunder centre back that does compliment Mulgrew who he relies on to help him through somewhat. Mulgrew is a better defender who doesnt have the rawness that Lenihan has, but obviously he has time to improve and certainly enough to warrant us looking to do just that. The thing is he obviously needs to use his brain more often as being brave and throwing yourself in isnt enough. Any calls for him to be moved into midfield to avoid him giving away penalties are absurd. All of his positive attributes that obviously can be built on are the ones of a centre back, including his athleticism as you said. In midfield his main weakness (on the ball) would be exposed in an instant.

Yeah it is definitely something that can become a trend and is very difficult to eridicate once that is the case so we need to look at closing games out as we did last year. Nothing worse than conceding at the end.

Not necessarily counter attack, more holding the ball up perhaps? Against Ipswich when Nuttall came on for Graham and against Stoke Brereton did. Neither were half as effective at holding the ball up and thus pressure kept coming. Although Rothwell wasted a perfect counter attacking chance v Stoke too. Definitely has to be a mixture of things though, not just bad luck. Rash fouls, ie Reed v Villa and Lenihan v Stoke (although we didnt throw any points away the panic and almost collapse was a big worry) leading to set pieces. Natural instinct/lack of fitness(?) leading to defending deeper? The mental aspect of knowing it has happened before?

Excellent post. And has Waggott shown any signs of being able to do anything at all about any of the points you mention? Nope.

Id like to think those comments are just him publically protecting the team rather than anything else. I hope he does see it as something to rectify. He mentions teams throwing men forward as if its inevitable that a goal will result. Also specifically mentions Villa and Ipswich believing we deserved to win. Even if we did, the whole point of the criticism is that we arent getting the points over the line, for whatever reason.

Neither did Dack or Bennett. Theres definitely a balance so I do understand to an extent but I dont think we should be too over cautious either, dropping our best player at the moment would cause a big problem. Hes obviously got the chance to rest up next week so lets get what we can out of him in these next 2 games. Palmer has gone to being dropped from your squad to having 2 places on the bench? ?

Graham is apparently the fittest hes ever been under Mowbray. Hes proving people wrong and in fact Dack looked tired at the end of the Forest game whilst Graham seemed fine. Has to start.

Hope Mulgrew is fit, suspect he might sit out until the international break but fingers crossed as we need him alongside a shaky Lenihan. Going to be a tough game. Raya Bennett Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Evans Smallwood Reed Dack Armstrong Graham Subs: Leutwiler, Bell, Rodwell, Palmer, Rothwell, Brereton, Travis

You are not going to Bolton away partially due to the high ticket price. If it was £27 would you have the same complaint? And if it makes no difference, spin it round, why charge it in the first place?

Strange comment, the same could be said for anything on this messageboard, me and a couple of other posters were having a debate about the issue, surely the forum is for such discussions? Splitting hairs again there, call them what you like, the players I listed are the types which I'm referring to, you know what I mean. How do you know? Lets hope Mowbray has a more proactive approach than, yes we could look at ways to win more games but the referees are the problem so lets just sit back and blame them! Yesterday he did I agree. But we should and am sure are looking at ways to turn draws into wins and hold on to leads more often. We can always improve. Look at Man City, 100 point champions yet they went out and signed Mahrez because even they can improve. Hope he can play as hes been a key player this season.

The ranking within the team is slightly deceiving due to the turnover of wide men that we had. In the first half of the season obviously Chapman was here for a bit, and Antonsson was regularly played wide before his injury on the cusp of the year. After January, Armstrong took over on one side, and Payne also played a big part. I personally didnt think 2 goals and 5 assists in 41 games was enough for an experienced Championship player. That said, I am happy with his performances and specifically, his attacking play this season

Bennett I was quite strong in my opinion that he didnt do anywhere near enough going forward when played as a winger last season, an opinion that seemed to go against the grain in regards to someone who is a very popular figure. I dont think you can justify a place for a wide man solely on defensive merits, he needs to offer something going forward. That said, conversely and without needing to see anyone spraying passes on any highlight reel, I think he has improved in his attacking output from that position, with key roles in goals against Hull, Brentford, winning a penalty v Reading and 2 goals v Stoke. I still maintain that he needs to score more (any) goals but I think he has been much improved going forward. Reed has done very well too but over the course of the season, having a midfield containing Smallwood, Evans, Reed and Bennett is a little too conservative I would suggest. Mowbray has mentioned the 2.5 attacker system that he likes, meaning that in most games, I would suggest that the best way to go would be an Armstrong/Palmer/Rothwell down one side and Bennett or Reed down the other. Of course, that doesnt mean only one of them 2 can play at any time, as Reed is a natural central midfielder, Bennett can also play there and both can play right back very capably, with Bennett potentially playing there on Wednesday. The reason that we need at least the option of a winger is it means that we can stretch teams, ideally with pace yes, but have someone that could go on the outside. All of our attacking players want to hurt teams down the middle, which is not always possible, so it gives you a totally different dimension. I felt that both Bell and Nyambe had shaky games yesterday and Forests wide men, especially Lolley had the beating of them.You mention a winger not offering defensive cover but I dont see why a winger would offer any less defensively than Armstrong, Rothwell, Palmer or Brereton should they play there, in fact they would be less prone in theory of leaving gaps when they come inside looking for the ball. Armstrong I feel is out of our options the best fit due to his pace and ability to exploit the space in behind coming from wide as he did last season. Palmer and Rothwell have also both shown to be a threat from wide but of course always want to come inside, and Brereton is as much of a wide man as Raya is. I just think having someone who considers them self to be a winger would be a great alternative option, as we saw with Chapman last year. My desire for a winger does not specifically mean Chapman, in fact I would argue that there are probably better wingers out there in terms of the here and now.

Agreed but I wouldnt really suggest that both him and Bennett on either side will provide us with enough going forward over an extended period of time. It does however gives us another option as a better alternative to Conway as a defensive winger, especially with both often potentially being needed centrally or at right back throughout the season. Its a good little bonus. Sounds bad, but I think Nyambe's injury may ease a potential dilemma for Mowbray on Wednesday. Moving one of the 2, presumably Bennett to right back will then free up a space on one of the sides for either Armstrong, Palmer or Rothwell, presumably the former, giving us more individuality.

I think that is doing him a slight disservice in that in the second half of last season he had no quality competition yet was superb. Hes been our best player for me this season, just over Evans and obviously, Dack.

Theres no point having an argument of why even say it because we know what Mowbray thinks and thats final. May as well shut down the messageboard with that kind of attitude. Wingers still exist, some of whom play on their natural side and stretch the play, ie Jozefzoon and Lolley, some of whom come inside like Ince. There are plenty of wingers about no matter how many times that you compare them to the good old days ans imply that they arent. I never said a winger like we had in 95 that get crosses in to big strikers. Just a wide man who goes on the outside and stretches the play. Mowbrays failed pursuit of Chapman gives me hope that the door isnt closed on that sort of signing in the future. I know the referees are poor but theres no quick fix and its beyond Rovers control and we should look to fix the things we can control first. Agreed with your team bar Evans for Rothwell.

Seen him v Bristol City, Villa and Stoke. Very difficult to judge based on the circumstances in each of his cameos so very much as in the dark as when we signed him. But loves throwing himself over. Never a winger in a million years. And seemed slower than expected but hope and presume thats a lack of match fitness. Cant see him starting soon with Grahams form.

I think we could fit a natural winger into Mowbrays current theory of having 2.5 forwards. He could be on one side and we could still have Reed or Bennett on the other. We have played 1.5 (as Mowbray would say) forwards in the last 2 games albeit I think yesterday Reed and Bennett had earnt a start from the Stoke game. Would a winger leave us more exposed than having Armstrong, Palmer, Rothwell or Brereton wide? Not for me. Even if its just to have the winger as an option. We made 7 signings in the summer, I just feel that to have that extra bit of balance, we could have sacrificied one of the 3 central midfielders for a centre back, and a proper winger instead of Palmer or Rothwell, although I do rate both as individuals.

Obviously its his prerogative but it doesnt mean that we cant have our own opinions.

But like I said, a winger doesnt have to solely whip high crosses into a big striker. Just someone who can stretch the play whilst running at his full back. @Bigdoggsteel post confused me in saying no point signing players for the sake of it, but a natural winger would be a very useful tool.

Dont really understand this post. Are you saying direct wingers are harder to find than other positions? How would a winger be signing players for the sake of it?