It’s a funny one with keepers, they always get a hard time as mistakes are highlighted and when they’re good they rarely get the spotlight. 
However, I’m racking my brain and struggling to remember when Walton has SAVED us points, had a blinder and meant we got 3 rather than 1 point. 
 

Could an academy keeper be any worse? At least he would be one of our own for the future.

Gallagher cannot start again given the other options we have. Tony is saving face for wasting money and a hell of a lot of wages.

Rothwell? Not a top half Championship player at the moment. For a flair/luxury player he doesn’t offer enough. 
 
It’s not season over yet (Swansea lost to bottom of the league today so everyone will drop points). We were underdogs today, but it’s the kind of game we need to be winning. It just means we’re going to have to come out of that 4 game horror run with more than 6 points which is very unlikely. 

In fairness with Bennett there isn’t much of a better option available currently with injuries. 
I do scratch my head at Gallagher when we have Armstrong and Graham sat on the bench though who offer something different/better.  

Bleak to think that Gallagher is our (alleged) highest earner. 

Fulham already behind and I’d expect a few games banned for Mitrovic after the elbow. 
I think they’re going to completely implode. Don’t rule out Cardiff or others catching them. 

Cardiff winning not ideal but will take that with Swansea losing. 
If Reading or Barnsley get one then we could really start to make a mark with a win today. 

21 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

The only decent plays have been when Pearson has been flattened a couple of times.

Borefest.

100%. Good for Rovers though. Along with Luton holding on. 

I’ll probably put the curse on this now...but Scott Sinclair doesn’t look like anything special in the first half here. 

Just for some perspective on this “winnable” game...the bookmakers had us more likely to beat Bristol City than today against Wigan. 

A draw would put some pressure on needing a win on Tuesday. 2 wins from those and we’re favourites for 6th (or 5th) spot. 

2 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

It is going to be very interesting , no team as form going in to this mini tournament...

One thing , I have noticed the refs are not under pressure to give penalties now...Still will be bad decisions but teams like Leeds won't get the helping hands if things start to implode ! 

Leeds went something like 53 games without a penalty a season or so ago.

The Chelsea semi-final a big one i think given how long it's been since we've been in an FA Cup final. 

Felt gutted (but proud) leaving the ground as we fully deserved something from that game.

Is Lenihan back next game?

i was also going to ask, what has Buckley done to get dropped after a great performance at Charlton and solid at Brentford. (Then gets a red card - Tony won’t play him for the rest of the season now). 

Let’s be honest today isn’t the issue. Drawing at home to Swansea and Stoke is. We should be in the top 6 already. 

2 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I actually hate Elliot Bennett. I think he’s by far our worst footballer in the squad.

The only shining attribute the man has is his work rate but that should be a given for a professional footballer. 

No reason to hate the man. Not his fault he keeps getting picked. 
He isn’t good enough but I don’t understand how fans can say stuff like that, albeit in the heat of the moment. 

3 hours ago, Pedro said:

I am colour blind and it was a nightmare - but for the shorts I couldn't tell the difference. I don't think they consider the likes of us tbh - which surprises me. Also, that pink winter ball a few years back was bad, as bad as the orange one for me.

There was a Rugby match on Sky a Sports yesterday which had possibly the worst kit clash I’ve ever seen

12 hours ago, DE. said:

Huge win for Boro today, hauling them out of the relegation zone and dumping Charlton into it. I expect Barnsley and Luton to drop, but think Hull could end up taking the final relegation place. They're in total freefall at the moment. 

Hull do look absolutely shambolic. 
Madness to think they were 250/1 for relegation the day they sold Bowen to West Ham! 

Millwall certainly have the easiest run in too. 
Nobody in the Top 6 left to play, with ourselves being their toughest remaining fixture. 

6 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

We need another 20pts to get in imo. This at 1.5pts per game. My heart says we can do it but my head says we’ll just miss out by a point or two. maybe finish on 70.

 A lot will come down to who stays fit and available for the rest of the season. I also think we need one more surprise player to step up with 5 goals or something magical over the remaining period. The ‘Jon Stead’ effect. A Gallagher, Brereton or Dom Sam. Someone completely left field...I hope we do it and I hope it’s Brereton!

Another 20 points is 2 points per game. Sounding a lot less likely like that.

Thought Brereton looked decent when he came on. Danny Graham offered nothing, found it strange that he took the penalty considering his limited playing time lately and Armstrong scoring against Brentford. 
 

Thought we missed midfield creativity, a game where Buckley could have looked decent, first half especially. 

Tony certainly does think throwing a Striker on will solve all problems. 4-2-4 2nd half! There was no linking between defence and attack at all. 
2 points from 2 home games as decent favourites is v.disappointing. We’re still in the mix, but let’s be honest, we should be in 6th place now, and 2 winnable games have past while Preston have played 2 very tough games and still sit in 6th 

58 minutes ago, JoeH said:

By "they've improved, but not by too much" I was intending to say that, yes whilst they have improved - as you have rightly pointed out, they're still not too difficult a side to beat. They have improved, but from the position they were in, that's not really a huge accomplishment. They've gone from God awful to meh, we've gone from okay to wow. 

They've gone from 'god awful' to 'meh' and we've gone from 'okay' to 'wow'. Yet over the last 15 games we only have 1 more point than them (and we're being praised as this really in form team).

12 minutes ago, JoeH said:

They're per game stats so that has less of an effect. And as for sample size, here's a few more conditions and three more Rovers players to beef it up. I've highlighted in Light Blue the stats where Bucko and Rothwell crossover very closely/exactly. More so than anyone else here, Buckley and Rothwell seem pretty similar to me.

Also, side note, this thing confirms my opinion that Stewart Downing is our best creative player... Stats CAN back up opinions, and I've never come across a group of people who seem to rubbish them so extremely. I'm glad the club have adopted a pro stat approach this season with all the improvements at Brockhall.

Per Game stats is my exact point around a small sample size. I don’t mean sample as in more players, I mean sample as in games played.
Say I’ve played 3 games and in one had 4 shots and the other two I had 1. I’m averaging 2 shots per game but the 4 could be the anomaly. 

It’s meaningless and pointless to compare at the moment. Buckley has start 5 league games for us in his career. 

Fulham’s next 5 games:

Swansea (H)

PNE (H)

Bristol City (A)

Brentford (H)

Leeds (A)

Makes me think how valuable a 0-0 would have been against them the other week at Home. I really think they’re the team that could drop like a stone. 

Hoping we don’t let this opportunity slip, and get an early lead to control the game against Stoke. These next two are ones which playoff hopefuls grind out. Win them both, and I’d imagine we go close to odds on for a Top 6 finish.  

Full time whistles now would be even better! 

Full time whistles now would be nice!!

8 hours ago, JoeH said:

It's not just an opinion either, the stats also show the two players to be very similar. Buckley a little more defensive ability than Rothwell, but I think we all knew that, and Rothwell definitely a little bit more on the dribbling side, but we all knew that too. Other than that, those marginal differences, I see two very similar, decent footballers...
 

Extremely small sample size on this just throws it out the window. How many minutes has Buckley played for us in the 1st team?

3 hours ago, Blue blood said:

Deffo a draw for Cardiff-Forest - 3 points is three hard fought Brentford results so a draw there would be great. 

Think Bristol, Brentford and Derby are unfortunately all favourites so would settle for them all drawing their games, though losses would be nice! 

Nerve wracking for us but great to see a league so open. 

Huddersfield strong favourites over Bristol City. City are rated poorly on all statistical fronts. 
(They were 9/1 vs Leeds away the other week which was the same as what Wigan and Reading were)

QPR also favourites against Derby.

Preston is the big one for me, as they have Fulham away on Saturday, a defeat tonight for them and it heaps a bit more pressure on that fixture