Just now, Miller11 said:

Can’t believe anyone is willing to credit Mowbray with salvaging that game to be honest. Only by completely binning off all his match preparation, favoured shape, and bonkers ideas did we do anything.

The first half was utterly disgraceful. As bad a 45 minutes as you will see. Not one player could’ve complained at being subbed off at half time. Few players deserve a mention for varying reasons…

JRC - very bad. Praying Nyambe is back on Saturday 

Lenihan - uncharacteristically poor first half, but a leaders performance in the second. Playing him at full back is definitely not a long term option.

Pickering - Woeful. Fortunate in the extreme to last the 90. Has to be dropped for Giles.

Johnson - Mowbray’s latest and stupidest in a long line of idiotic decisions. Knackered after 8 minutes, not his fault.

Gallagher - well played lad. Grafted, looked like a good centre forward rather than a massive donkey stood near the corner flag doing nothing. 

Dolan - excellent performance, eventually. Could have had a hat trick on another day. Always positive and looking to make things happen.

Khadra - greedy and ineffective. A poor man’s Harvey Elliott. Looked like a spare part and completely out of place when the other forwards were doing the business in the second half.

Dack - way off match fitness, but the one player who could play that ball for the second. Lifted those around him.

The players came out like men possessed second half, all credit too them. But there has to be serious lessons learned from that first 45. I hope Gallagher’s header gave Mowbray some sort of epiphany.

Keep the back 5, ditch the false 9, play the strikers centrally… we might still do it!

I don't think it'll go down as a managerial masterclass, but changing tack during the game and making match winning substitutions is exactly where managers earn their corn. Obviously the first half was a disaster & that's on Mowbray, but his changes were instrumental in us getting the three points. 

God knows he's got his flaws, but there's nothing to be gained by giving him pelters when things go wrong but not giving him any credit when things go our way. 

1 minute ago, Mellor Rover said:

Mowbray suggesting he and a couple of others (Travis and Lenihan) had some harsh words at half time.

Good. If you end up winning after a row then it all gets forgotten about anyway. If it played a part in picking up three points then that's all that matters.

We've had that many teams full of choirboys since we were first relegated, it makes a change to know we've got a few players capable of knocking a few heads together. I bet something like this happened every other week under Sparky. 

5 minutes ago, J*B said:

Very dangerous mindset, I hope the players aren’t thinking like that. As far as I’m concerned there’s 8 teams above Rovers with their own destinies in their own hands. Us finishing in the top six relies on others failing. 

Or them all playing one another, which fortunately is pretty much the case!

Agree that we can't really be counting our chickens on 73 points being enough though. It probably will, but there are so many teams in the chasing pack that it will take until at least a week or two after international break to get a proper sense of what we'll need, maybe even after Easter.

Hopefully by that time we'll have picked up most of what we'll need already.

30 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Death of the three at the back after that second half. Surely? Fair play to Sam Gallagher, evidence he has something there. 

Tonight needs to be the catalyst.

Personally, I hope not. No doubt this system has been partly responsible for our shocking run in front of goal, but typically we've been creating more chances than we've been giving away. The issue is that the personnel haven't been able to take the chances that we should have, but Brereton coming back could make all the difference and take some of the pressure off Khadra, who isn't up to being the main man for me. 

Very nice to know we have a genuine plan B if we go behind though. 

Less said about that disgusting first half the better. As bad as I've seen us in a long, long time. 

I didn't think we had a response like the one we showed in us, so credit to the players is due for that. 

Special praise to Wharton, who was as bad as I've seen him in the first half. He was class in the second though, & it's no exaggeration to say that his goal may have saved our season. 

13 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Can’t think of any championship manager that I wouldn’t take over mowbray. 
Hyperbole is a bit strong is it not, surely just an opinion. So dramatic 

That's fair enough, but that's a list that includes Paul Ince. 

I know he's got his problems, but there's no way of squaring 'he's the worst manager in the league' with our results this year. Or the last four years for that matter. 

18 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

You have lost me with your drivel, best manager for 2 months chat. Ehhhh!!!!!???

im not the one assuming anything, you have him promoting us whereas history tells us that won’t happen.

I said about 4 years, you have taken that to the literal point of 4 years, that’s pathetic but even though you have I still would have got rid the first season back in the champ. 

mowbray is a hands behind our back manager, we are going into every battle behind because we have lost the dugout battle before a ball is kicked 

Bit hyperbolic there, no? There are obviously better managers out there, but the Championship is littered with others that're no better, in some cases obviously worse.

If you go onto other teams' messageboards, you can often see Mowbray seen as a wily old fox, outthinking their own unpopular coach. Obviously we all know that this is a bit of a stretch & that Mowbray has his faults too, but there are maybe a handful of other teams' managers that I'd swap him for. 

1 hour ago, oldjamfan1 said:

I guess its all about timing but I think the Rovers job is still one of the top jobs in the game, particularly with seemingly the ability to run the club how you see fit without too much interference. I know we moan and groan on here a lot but we are still seen as a big club.

He won't come if we don't ask him, that's for sure.

Assuming i) we don't go up and TM leaves, and ii) Lampard is still Everton manager in the summer, then the timing could work out in such a way that Rooney could be realistic.

He'll have seen the Derby job through until the end of the season, so will probably feel as though he's done his bit by not leaving them in the lurch. They will probably be in L1 though - and unlikely to be in a strong position to be favourites to bounce back. Would he expect a prem job under such circumstances? Everton aside, I doubt it. Which Championship jobs would be more attractive than Rovers? There might be a relegated club who sack their manager and would fancy him, but if that doesn't happen then Rovers would have a good a chance as anyone. 

Back to something like his best this year. Looking forward to seeing him develop more in his game in an attacking sense, where I think he has the potential to do a lot more, but mainly delighted to see him commit. Brilliant news. 

30 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Surely we are at a point where the law of averages works in our favour ..... and we score a goal in open play.

Surely Buckley and Gallagher, to name just two, cannot always miss clear cut chances.

By the same law we are probably due another goal against.

A 2-1 win to Rovers it is then.

Anyway it's what I came up with after reading Mowbray's drivel justifying playing Giles wide right, and it makes more sense, I think. Or did we sign Mahrez?

Regression to the mean. We will probably carry on being more wasteful than we will be comfortable with, but a repeat of the chances we created against (for instance) QPR and we should score, even with our misfiring attackers. 

9 minutes ago, Geoff66 said:

None are a goal threat, what about Q.P.R khadras free kick. I would definitely play Khadra at some stage. Let's hope it's a happy return for Bradley Dack if he comes off the bench. It would raise the roof at ewood if Dack got on the score sheet. 

Whilst we can't be relying on him to consistently be the difference this season, something like that would instantly change the mood around the place. 

6 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

Although Rovers could drop out of the playoff spots if each of the 3 below win their game in hand I find it remarkable that after scoring 3 goals in 12 games Rovers aren't mid table.  

I can't see goals coming any time soon either though, but teams can't score against Rovers either. More draws on the way.

That Sheffield Utd loss is looking worse by the week. 

I agree that our lack of goalscoring is a massive worry, but some positives to consider before the international break.

i) Bristol City & Reading have absolutely woeful defensive records - with the exception of Peterbrough they've let in around 10 goals more than the next worst defence in the league. Derby admittedly are much more solid, but even they haven't kept an away clean sheet since November.

ii) Whilst it's unlikely that we'll start being as clinical as we should be at least until BBD is back, law of averages suggest that we won't carry on being as profligate as we have been either. If we had an exact replica of the QPR chances for instance, even a team which is being wasteful would expect to have bagged at least one or two more. 

Any team will score if you create enough chances, so even though I worry about our options until Ben comes back, I think we're well capable of scoring the goals we need to win the next three before the international break. After then, we'll be relying on Brereton and maybe Dack to take the chances that others have been missing. 

Arguably none, but promoted teams often surprise you.

Depends on how you play too. Wes Morgan won the league at Leicester, but he wouldn't have got a game at clubs who played a higher line. A fair few Burnley players would've been exposed too if they weren't playing in Dyche's system in my opinion. 

If we finish outside of the top 6 from the position that we were in (which I don't think we will) then I've got no issue at all with not extending Mowbray's contract. I'd be highly sceptical that we'd bring in a better option, but that's a separate argument.

I can't agree with those saying he should be kept on if we win the play offs but sacked if not, we can't be making decisions as big as that based on the randomness that could happen in 90 minutes of football. 

1 minute ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Indeed. How many more times can we keep saying "a point is okay"?! We need to start winning football matches, particularly against the teams just below us in the table. Must win tonight.

Agree - the whole point of playing down the importance of some of the games we've just had, rightly or wrongly, was assuming that we can make up for it by picking up a load of points after Fulham.

They'll probably be a tough nut to crack, but crack them we must. 

18 minutes ago, JHRover said:

An opportunity to make up valuable points on teams around us. We need to win to keep Millwall at arms length after their good run. We also see Luton have a tough game at Coventry and Sheff Utd play Middlesbrough so points to be dropped there for the teams around us.

Also on Friday Huddersfield have a tricky game at West Brom.

One positive about the rest of the season is that pretty much every weekend is going to throw up one of our play off rivals playing another. Luckily the closest we'll get to that (Bournemouth fixture aside) is tonight. Makes me much more relaxed about us finishing in the top 6. 

An obvious point, but now we've got that horrendous stretch of games behind us, it's absolutely vital that we cash in with this run before the international break. We'll need to go at around 2 points a game from now until the end of the season to even set Bournemouth a target, so you'd say a return of 9/10 points as a minimum is needed to keep us in the promotion conversation going into April.

Even if top 2 is completely unrealistic, that sort of return should really break the back of what we'll end up needing to finish in the top 6. 

Sounds like JRC will come in at right-back. Mowbray saying Zeefuik's injury was a strain rather than a tear. Should be back well before the end of the season at least. 

Khadra touch and go apparently too. With another game at the weekend & given that Millwall wouldn't be the sort of game that you would expect to suit him anyway, I'd leave him on the bench. 

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

The other week Bournemouth against Forest was off because (suspiciously) there was structural damage. This will now be played on May 3rd when the promotion and playoff picture will be clearer. If we had done that then there is a really good chance Brereton would be fit and players free of potential suspensions. I'm convinced it was rearranged so quickly so Rovers could get the 'London Double Decker' out of the way in successive games as was the original offer. Can you imagine Waggotts view on refunding money given his stance on refunds for the BCD games?

Not really a comment on our handling of the Millwall game, but I think that was literally the next midweek slot available for Bournemouth. God knows what they would've done if they hadn't been dumped out of the cup by that non-league side. 

I might end up looking stupid for saying this given their excellent recent form, but this could well be a deceptively decent time to play Millwall. They're doing it tough with their injury list at the moment, think they only had 14 or so fit first teamers against Reading. Obviously they still won, but then again Reading are also terrible and have the misfortune to be coached by probably the worst manager in the league. A midweek trip up North a couple of days later to play the team with give-or-take the best home record in the league is a very different prospect. If it was at their place I'd be dreading it but I still fancy us to beat them at Ewood. 

1 hour ago, Mellor Rover said:

Closer to tomorrow it gets, the more I fancy us... 2-1 Rovers after a blistering start and a horrible 70 mins after it.

Love it. Although if we are to win, I'd fancy it to be a horrible first 70 before stealing a late winner.

29 minutes ago, Geoff66 said:

With Bradey Dack back soon and BBD  hopefully, I think this team is good enough for at least a play off spot. I can't remember when I have cheered so much at ewood this season, usually moans and groans.

 

 

Agree completely about the play offs. Even before the QPR game I was very relaxed that we'd end up in there with the games we have left. Our home form is outstanding like you say and we've still got plenty of the low hanging fruit to play at Ewood. 

I think if BBD comes back from the international break fresh and scoring, then it's not impossible that we could post a total of a tad over 80 points, so then it comes down to how realistic it is for Bournemouth to fall apart before then if we're talking about the top 2. I can definitely see them struggling in the last month or so, but before then they've got Posh, Derby, Reading and Bristol City, all at home. We're probably banking on them dropping a decent number of points in their easier-looking games if we want to finish above them. It could happen, but pretty unlikely from where we're sitting now. 

10 hours ago, Geoff66 said:

Don't agree that the 2nd automatic spot is beyond us yet. We have a much easier run in than Bournemouth from now until the end of the season, Never say die get's you places.

I'd say that it's out of our hands, rather than beyond us. They are a couple of last minute wins away from being on extremely ordinary form for a promotion contender, and that's been going on for much longer than our recent spell, so I'd say there's potential for the wheels to come off when they play so many of the stronger sides, back to back.

We'll be relying on them taking a nosedive though, as well as us putting some form together which is similar to our spell before Christmas. The absolute bare minimum that we'll need will be 80 points, which is a bit of a stretch even with the kind fixture list.

Ryan will be back sooner than expected

10 minutes ago, 47er said:

I accept that it is possible that Nyambe could leave whatever was offered. I don't know how much he earns or how much he wants. But its strange that 3 players whose contracts run out at the end of the season all seem likely to leave.

That suggests to me that they feel undervalued but that's merely my opinion. Whatever the truth of it, there clubs don't seem to have this problem at this scale do they? Or have I got that wrong too?

A good question, I think there's a pretty good chance that this is going on a lot more than we appreciate. I know PNE had a similar situation a year or two ago when four of their best players (Davies, Pearson and maybe Fisher and another?) were all leaving at once. Not sure if all of them left in the end, but most did and it was certainly hanging over them for a while, like our situation has  this season. 

3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Huddersfield won there, are they any better than we are ? I think mentally they’ll be rembering the 7-0 and expecting things to be easy. It’s human nature.

I expect the pattern to be something quite similar to the game at Brammall Lane. They'll almost certainly be asking most of the questions to begin with, but the longer we can keep them out, the more I'd expect us to frustrate them and then start causing them problems.

Wouldn't go as far as to say I'm confident that we'll get something - they're obviously the better team - but it wouldn't shock me. They give you a chance on the break, which should suit us, especially if Rothwell is back. 

2 hours ago, Mellor Rover said:

If we did end up in the playoffs, I’d be very happy if the table ended like this, nobody to fear in that other 3.

Could you imagine if at the start of the year you were offered the chance to go up from beating QPR over two legs, then beat the winner of Luton vs Huddersfield? 

To be fair, the fans of those clubs would be talking about us in exactly the same way, but I'd absolutely snap your hand off for that now. 

I'd be looking at QPR as strong candidates to drop out come the end of the season. Even assuming they put on a better show than they did at Ewood, they still have Luton, Huddersfield, Sheffield United and Forest all away from home, and Fulham and Sheff U again at Loftus road. Very tough set of fixtures compared to ours, so you'd assume that they would need to beat a decent number of teams in and around them to stay where they are.