Thoughts with you and your family Paul. 

Wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

Thank goodness I didn't waste two hours of my life watching that on the 'red button'.

Had a text from a friend who is a Derby fan and at the match today.  Just couldn't believe how bad we were. 

There can be absolutely no excuses today.

We had extra preparation time and extra rest.  Derby also missing Rooney and Lawrence.

Think we bottled it.

IMO, the bottom line is that Mowbray can take us no further.  I honestly do not know what, if any, managerial strengths he has.  You are two nil down and he takes off his two biggest signings at some £25million including wages - IMO, what an absolutely terrible indictment of Mowbray's ability when it comes to  player trading.

35 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Awful performance by the players. They haven't been good enough. 

Started well 1st half but our heads drop as soon as we conceded 1st goal. 

No one has perform well enough. 

Extremely disappointed today. ?

9 games to go. Still a chance of playoffs. If we don't let rebuild in the summer under Mowbray and go for top 6 next season. 

I can only assume you are p1ssed!

I wouldn't trust Mowbray to even run a sweet shop - think they'd all be in the wrong jars!

1 hour ago, Pedro said:

Certainly worse than Kalanic and down there with Davies.

Davies and Kalanic were ten times the player Brereton will ever be.

3 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Yet ...all the other teams who ve slipped up are thinking exactly the same ..yet all still in it . 

All to play for .

Absolutely.

We are the form team from fifth to tenth.

It's now a 10 game season.

It's now down to bottle - who really wants it.

It's ours to lose.

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

As previously highlighted, Derby have a good home record, but let’s get it right, if we want to get in the play offs- we need to be winning. 
There can be no excuses.

Totally agree.

Will be eight days since our last game whilst Derby played and lost last night - we should be fresh and raring to go.

Nine points from our last six games whilst Derby have just five points - we are the form team. 

Can only see a Rovers' win.

IMO, simply a game we have to win and we should do if Mowbray is positive and makes the right calls.

Let's get it straight, Swansea are no great shakes.  They come to Ewood in poor form (5 points from last 6 games) and other than their match at Hull, struggle to score goals away from home.

We need to be positive, aggressive and in their faces from from the start.  Attack is the best form of defence and given our options at the back, we need to!

I'd throw the proverbial kitchen sink at them and go:

Walton / Nyambe, Adarabiyo, Mulgrew, Bell / Rankin-Costello, Travis, Downing / Buckley /  Armstrong, Samuel

Rovers to win by 2 or 3 goals to 1.

39 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The team was set up for the away counter attacking game for which it is suited at Charlton and Brentford. I don't blame him for changing it against a team that was likely to park the bus and come for the draw but it's down to him how it played .... the slow, passing, backwards and sideways style was never likely to work.

Even without the "creative players", Rovers should surely be able to beat these teams by raising the tempo and forcing errors but Mowbray's teams rarely do.

Please don't keep forecasting "easy wins". It's tiresome and Rovers just don't do it that way.  

My gripe was Mowbray, IMO, inexplicably preferring Gallagher to Samuel and leaving out Buckley who, especially at home where we will enjoy a lot of possession, is one of the few players we have who has a key to move the feckin bus!!!

IMO, Mowbray's team does lack imagination, verve and purpose, mirroring the manager.

As for "easy wins", it's only what I feel we should do and what my gut instinct is - by the way, you disregard the number of times I forecast Rovers to win by the odd goal, or draw or even lose!  

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

But yet you back us to win tho before the game tho? But you say out manager and staff aren't up to it. So why back us to win? 

 

Any football manger whether good, bad or indifferent will win some football matches.

You didn't rate Owen Coyle yet he manged to win promotion to the Premier League with Burnley! 

Even Kean won some football matches even in the PL and at places like Old Trafford!

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Agreed.

So why did you do your usual trolling post before kickoff saying we'd win easily? 

Very simple Jim.

We could and should have won.

If Mowbray had started with the eleven who started at Brentford then, IMO, the points would have been in the bag.

I thought the penny had dropped with Mowbray after the recent run (Nov/Dec) where we won 5 out of 6 consecutive games (drawing the other) with very limited changes.  Seemingly, our manager doesn't learn.  IMO, Mowbray has managerial shortcomings and it's not easy to legislate for what I think are glaring inconsistencies and incompetences. 

17 minutes ago, neophox said:

Martin Oneill says we are one of the best teams in this division.....

Age old managerial tactic - excuses a defeat or makes your result look good!

53 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya, so O'Neill obviously worked religiously on their shape and defending before playing us. Unfortunate. A goal would have opened things up and they might have actually pushed put. 

Conversely, it would seem Mowbray did insufficient work on the training ground and got his tactics and team selection wrong.  He must have known what was coming but couldn't counter it.

We need enlightened thinking and sadly, IMO, it will never come from Mowbray, Venus, Lowe and Benson who, I think are either tactical dinosars or just plain incompetent.

16 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

No, Mowbray will bring Del and Ell in and settle for a 8th or 9th place finish now. Another year on the pension pot.....Go now Mowbray. No ambition to get up

Sadly, I think Mowbray and his team of coaches are as dull and as flat as the proverbial witch's t1t.  

I don't see any passion or fizz in the home technical area.

With managers like Klopp, you see and sense the passion, the personality, the charisma and the way they effect the game from the touchline.  The players see and feel it and so do the fans.  Watching our technical area during a game, IMO, you could be forgiven for thinking the stooges sat there were sat in a church awaiting the arrival of the hearse.

Woeful, woeful and woeful.

I think tombola man struck again - no excuses, the buck rests with Mowbray tonight.

I would have started either Graham or Samuel before Gallagher.  I think the signing of Gallagher almost rivals the signing of Brereton for incompetence and the sheer waste of money.

To me, Buckley should have started and would have had a much better opportunity to thrive tonight in comparison to what happened at Brentford - compare the possession stats for the two games.

This is a game we had to win and I am convinced we would have won if Mowbray had got his starting eleven right.

I think it's very obvious Mowbray is not the man to take us to the next level.  IMO, dull, unimaginative and tactically, nous free. 

Definitely.

Been through the remaining fixtures and can see at least 23 points to take us to about 75 points.  There are a lot of winnable games in there including Stoke and Swansea this week.

I think there are far better footballing teams than Rovers, however, confidence and momentum go a long, long way in this league and we are riding our luck.

Eisenhower picked upon Napoleon's thoughts some hundred years or more later stating "I'd rather have a lucky general than a smart general" - think that's what Mowbray is!

Just now, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Yes but we need to beat teams above us.  Bristol, leeds, wba all to come at home. 

Great games.

In our hands.  Positivity and bottle needed.

No one else to blame if we don't make it.

12 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Sorry Mercer. The officials in the England game are poor and pathetic. No wonder we didn't have single ref at the world cup. Wake up and smell the coffee Mercer. 

Their pen wasnt a pen. Ours was in my opinion. Raya's hands in Buckley face. Pen. Brentford's pen wasnt. Clearly dive. 

Let's just beg to differ.

I do try to be objective in my views.

11 minutes ago, booth said:

The curse of Mercer.

It's b0ll0cks.

My mother was not a witch and neither is my wife!

14 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

One far luckier than the other. Raya was all over Buckley. Their guy just blatantly dived. 

Nonsense.

Raya had pushed the ball clear when he collided with Buckley in a natural coming together.

Just now, neophox said:

Stoke and Swansea home games coming up. 

Fully expect six points.

We are not playing Liverpool and Barca..

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Would have took a point before the game but we did really well today. 

Armstrong should have hat trick today. 

But we were robbed by a ref and linesman being weak again. When will the EFL start getting better refs. It's a joke. 

 

Sorry, we weren't robbed.  Great decision by linesman at end - Armstrong was offside.

You take the rough with the smooth and things tend to have evened themselves out over the course of the season.

A good battling point.

Disappointing having led by 2 goals but would have settled for point before match.

Two 'lucky' penalties cancelled each other out so neither manager can complain.

Great goal.

Can the match finish now!

6 minutes ago, mick said:

I must say that Brentford look very shaky defending. 

Agree.

We need to be more positive and confident.  A second goal kills it.

Buckley too light weight - needs replacing.

To those whose nerves are shredding - open a bottle and enjoy the second half!!!

This one is in the bag.

Brentford getting so frustrated.  Not too pretty from us but effective.

You just sense It's going to be our day.