Cant say much about his football recruiting pedigree, but anyone else think he looks like a budget Morrissey?

Think it could work if you slightly re-arraged it. Szmodics will roam down the left wing anyway combining with Pikering and Wharton so don't really lose anything there by dropping BBD. Travis will go wide to combine with JRC on the right but I do think not having a right winger would be a bit of an issue though, as JRC likes to come inside also so could end up with no outlet down the right. Dacks not going to run the channels. Not totally against it though. Having Dack in would hopefully add more of a goal threat through the middle. Pears JRC. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Morton. Wharton Dack. Szmodics Leonard

Mercer why do you do this to us!!!!!! Youve been slagging the team off all week. Thought we were nailed on for a mercer defeat prediction, so could look forward to a nice comfortable win. But youve just gone and condemned us 🙁🙁🙁

In the games hes played this season (West Ham, Bradford, Hartlepool, Forest, Rotherham) I watched I saw him beat a few players on the inside and outside. He is quick and has good feet. Maybe my memory is failing me, but that is what I recall - I think a few on here will remember the same. Do I think it was a loss when we loaned him out - not at all. But I can see a kernel of a player who could be useful next year.

From what I've seen of Markanday he does have quite a lot of raw ability on the ball, and pace (something we really need). He can beat players when he gets one on one which is rare and valuable. But if he was going to make it you'd think he would have made an impression by now at U21 or on loan. I suppose we can always hope for a Brereton / JRC like sudden transformation from no hoper into a Championship player. But it would be a brave man to bet on that. He's got 2.5 years on his contract with Rovers so it's important for him and Rovers that he knuckles down and either forces his way into JDTs thoughts, or attracts decent loan interest. If he doesn't kick on drifting down to non league like so many young highly thought of players beckons. Given our philosphy of blooding youngsters and our lack of options up front I hope he realises he's not going to find many better clubs to try and make it at. So he should give it everything when he comes back in the summer.

If Szmodics plays in midfield it definitely ends up more a 4231 than a 433. I would play a proper central mid in there so Morton needs to come into the three with Garrett on the bench to come on to shore things up later. Gallagher I think would be better to save for later on in the game also when they tire and we need someone to keep the high line. Pears JRC. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Morton. Wharton Hedges. Leonard. Szmodics. Subs : Kaminski, Brittain, S Wharton, Garrett, Dack or Dolan, Thomas, Gallagher

Yeah, our squad is good enough for the playoffs in every department imo except striker. If we can get two decent strikers in the summer we should all go into next season expecting, not hoping, for top six. Maybe even a long shot run at automatic promotion. Annoying that bringing in a decent striker would have seen us safe and hosed for the playoffs by now, but it is good to have confidence in the rest of the side.

Yeah but given our extreme challenges to score and our vulnerability at the back when it goes direct its really optimistic to think we can make it now. Next season though i have high expectations

Overall thought it was a pretty good performance where we were overall much the better team till the last 20 mins... But if we can't see game out we are not going anywhere. Needed to get the second when we had the chances, and needed some old heads to bring on to manage out the game last 20 mins.

Think its a reference to "having bottle"

We all hate Gallagher when we're trying to finish chances (although today he scored an absolute cracker)- but where we really missed him was those last 20 mins. He's a rubbish centre forward if you want someone to finish, but if your backs are against the wall and you need someone to defend corners and chase down the ball he's the guy... As soon as he went off we totally folded. If he hadn't got injured we would have seen out that game. Also not having Garrett on the bench to bring on was a major oversight imo. We needed him to come on, not Morton.

Yeah we needed Garrett but not even on the bench.

I just really disagree with this. If that was the case we wouldnt be controlling the centre of the pitch as we consistently have. Our biggest issue is finishing and anticipation in the final third by a country mile, while the lack of pace at the back to handle counter attacks is a significant concern. But winning and controlling the ball in the middle third just hasn't been an issue.

My feeling is we should go back to the 433 and drop the players who are not performing. So its pretty straightforward. Pears JRC. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Morton. Wharton Thomas. Leonard Szmodics. it might not work but the definition is to do the same thing and exoect different results. Leaving our two biggest scorers in Gallagher and BBD out is a big call but neither has looked a goal threat for months lets spin the wheel.

Yeah, such is the way of the Championship and in particular Rovers you cant really say any of the upcoming final games are any more or less likely to yield wins than the last six. Apart from Burnley running away with it each game seems as winnable or losable as the last.

Gregg and JDT brought in quality imo so far. Really like Hyam, Brittain and Szmodics. Thomas also a good singing let down by nothing to aim at it in the middle. And got a lot out of strugglers like JRC and Pears. I'm intrigued to see what kind of proper forward we can turn up. Haven't had a good one since Graham. Could be one of our best seasons next year imo. Feels like - despite the extreme frustrations of recent weeks - we are building to a point where we have a lot of quality all over the pitch, and just need the spearhead to make it all work.

Well I've given up on the playoffs so that's something. And in terms of budget I think O'Brien would have cost us around half a million on his own (20k a week for six months/26 weeks) so there's probably a bit of cash knocking about. And that's before we move BBD off the wage bill. Reckon we will spend similar to this season in the summer (2-3 million on Szmodics, Brittain and Hyam).

Agree with this because, unless Leonard turn out to be a revelation, we didnt have anyone who can finish. Weve got no problem getting into good positions and getting in behind. What we cant do is finish. I hope Gregg has got some top strikers identified and budget secured.

Thought we actually played pretty decent forward passing football all the way through and got in behind them quite a lot. But just no real striking instinct to make the most of the opportunities.

It's amazing how well we can play without looking like we are going to score any goals. As I have said if we can get a couple of decent strikers to replace BBD and Gallagher, hold everyone else together, then I think we will do very well next season. It's a shame we didn't sign a decent striker in Jan as we would be nailed on for playoffs now.

I reckon we wont make the playoffs now personally so have emotionally given up on it and will just enjoy watching the team develop and improve (and with JRC, Wharton, Dolan, Carter etc there is quite a lot of mileage in that). If we do make it it will be a nice surprise. Id play Morton, Wharton and Travis as the midfield three. And give Leonard a start to see how he does and send a message to Gallagher and BBD. Kaminski JRC. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Morton. Wharton. Thomas. Leonard. Szmodics.

Looking at the remaining fixtures I think we'll probably stick with this kamikaze style for all the games except maybe Burnley. Weve used it against Sheffield Utd twice already - one win one loss. So cant see us changing it for the likes of PNE or Millwall. Extra body in midfield I do like, so hopefully we will keep that. But reckon JRC will continue as the most rogue "right back" in footballing history.

Hes a bloody strange right back if so. Even Cafu used to focus on at least being on the right side.

Travis cant do that as hes on the right wing! Never seen us so attacking.

To be fair JRC was partly so effective as he had a completely free role, and Carter was asked to cover the entire right side on his own. If we put Brittain in at RB and move JRC into the middle I doubt he could really play the same way. JRC would be expected more to offer a deeper option in midfield. For what it's worth I'd stick with the same team against Hull but drop BBD for Thomas and start Leonard. Also I imagine Kaminski will come back in. Kaminski JRC Carter Hyam Pickering Travis Morton Wharton Thomas Leonard Szmodics Its a big call though to leave both BBD and Gallagher out. Still think we are going to concede every game at the moment the way we play. Though it is refreshing to see an real attack first philosophy.