Mowbrays comments after the QPR game were that Holtby called him late Friday night with a temperature but Mowbray said it is not COVID related as he had a test when he was going too and from Germany. A - That doesn't make sense as he could have clearly been exposed since being back B - Mowbray saying that the fact he has a test at that point in time very much suggests we aren't testing regularly. Which would explain all our absentees. It may be putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 but to me it seems that any kind of symptom, which could be in relation to anything is being treated as cause to self isolate. It is no wonder we seem to be suffering significantly more than other clubs. I'm not saying for one second we should be taking risks but surely we should have a testing system in place to ensure our assets being paid tens of thousands a week can get on the pitch.

I just don't think he suits their setup. They have bigger more physical centre backs. Pace seems to be one of his assets at the expense for a little bit of height. West Brom play a deep block, where as we have a high line. Would have suited our set up far more.

Farce of a signing by them. I'm sure they won't be saying that when they are open to bids of a couple of million for him though. I don't think he will be happy regardless of what his bank balance says. The bloke is young and not playing football. Nobody can tell but I imagine he regrets his choice. Especially if as reported we were offering a similar amount in wages.

Interestingly Trybull's loan has a recall option in January. However I am sure that was more at the request of Norwich than anything else. If we are to be in for Whiteman I would imagine it would have to wait until the summer. I think we've spent our cash for this year barring any January departures.

Agree that there isn't an obvious place that Dack will slot back into. He is a very talented footballer though and could easily slot into any of one of four positions in our new formation. He can come in for Holtby (whom apart from having Buckley as a slightly unreliable understudy) is the one position where we don't have a huge amount of depth. He could definitely step in for Rothwell as the most attacking of the midfield 3. We'd lose the pace of transition but gain a more natural goalscorer. He could play in the Brereton role or easily up top in Arma's position. Even if he doesn't have one specific role nailed down once fully fit he is going to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Usually i'd be hesitant about shifting a player about all over the pitch but as we've seen with Elliot. Really good footballers can slot into multiple positions.

I quite liked that he gave it the gun show in his celebration. I think putting on a bit of muscle has been crucial to his progress this year. He still has a long way to go in his physical development but it's good to see that he is either enjoying or proud that he is starting to get a bit of a physique on him. If he continues to work on it I could see him finally transitioning into that number 9 role we bought him for by the age of say 23/24. Much like Armstrong has done.

Probably not had much in game experience of needing to be good on the ball considering the level he has played at. Encouraging that he looks a good defender though. He only needs to reach a certain level of on the ball ability to be effective at this level which will hopefully develop over time.

I remember watching him skin Bennett (not hard I know) time and time again a couple of years ago, only to see him repeatedly hammer it into the stands. Hopefully he has one of those days tomorrow but he does seem more consistent and less raw these days.

Mate is a QPR fan so I end up absorbing a lot of QPR information and am usually on the look out to make sure that Rovers finish above them as our annual £20 bet is on the line. I would describe QPR very similar to us form and style wise. Warburton likes to play the 'right' way and they seemingly go through spells of form and death spirals like we do. If you look at our form the last two years, when we have been in form so have QPR and when out of form they have too. We have literally mirrored each other but both seasons we have ended up with a few more points at the seasons end. QPR lost by far the best player in the Championship in the summer in Eze, whom I am very surprised hasn't found his feet quicker in the Premier Leauge. They still have Bright Osaye-Samuel who is fast and physical and is gradually adding an end product to his game. There were a lot of changes for QPR over the summer though with numerous players brought in with the Eze money making them a little hard to judge. Personally I would say given our current form there is no better side for us to be facing right now as like us, they can be a soft touch. I don't see them necessarily outbattling us which we are vulnerable too. Though I am basing this much on last seasons team. Hopefully we can get 3 points on the board before the international break, ready for a few players to come back from injury and we can then push on. In my opinion Mowbray is here to stay so as Souy said we've got to 'wee with the willy were given'. I still have faith in the large majority of our squad if we can get them on the itch together so we need to use this winnable game as a springboard.

Perfect opportunity for Gallagher to show what he can do centrally. He's never really been given much of a chance there. If Mowbray plays him out on the wing or has someone attempting a false 9 it will be unbelievable (yet believable at the same time)

Assuming you're talking about him throwing it out for a goal kick instead of back to the keeper. Allowing them to waste a minute of time

Ahh yes because Williams was twice caught miles up the pitch either missing challenges or giving the ball away. Williams didn't manage to deal with either situation but at the end of the day his centre back partner had gone AWOL on both occasions and he was left either 2v1 or 1v1.

I know JRC sold himself on this second goal. I just cant understand why Lenihan is on the halfway line about 15 yards from our own striker

If he keeps scoring at this rate he is going to be hitting closer to 30 than 20. Which is an incredible return. And completely pointless if we can't start defending. It'll become another story just like how people talk about Bowyer not getting us promoted with Rhodes and Gestede in the team. He'll be off, we'll need a new capable striker.

Lenihan wasnt caught out for pace tonight. Every time he made a mistake he was getting caught upfield as he has no concept of when and when not to go challenging for the ball

Let's face reality though. At the end of that game I'm fuming. As Mowbray is right. You can't defend like we did do. We gifted the 1st, 2nd and 4th goals. The 3rd we should have been closing down far quicker. We played some very good stuff. We scored twice and could have had more. The individual errors have to stop. I wouldn't put that purely down to organising a defense. The players at the back today have to take some responsibility.

I feel this topic needs digging out rather than it being lost in the match thread. Darragh Lenihan is an absolute liability for us. It is as though he is confused with our press and is trying to do so as if he is a midfielder. That he feels he has to consistently try and pinch the ball. I've never seen a centre back with so many rushes of blood to the head, caught so far out of position, contesting balls in areas of the pitch which are so high risk. He is a liability and an accident waiting to happen. It is no wonder we are moaning about our inability to defend when there are huge holes being left. Could you imagine being his defensive partner. Suddenly finding yourself 20 yards behind your fellow centre back through no fault of your own. I felt he was so, so bad in this performance that it has become impossible for his mistakes to be overlooked, which as one of our captains, I think he has a bit of immunity to scrutiny by Mowbray. Hopefully that stops after this game as if we are to get anywhere this season, he needs to either be dropped or just cool his head a little.

Defense has been appalling

I missed the first goal. But that second goal. What the actual fuck were Lenihan and Rankin Costello both doing there. It's probably the worst goal I've ever seen us conceed. You can excuse a player scuffing a pass, having a poor touch, giving the ball away. Horrendous goals to conceed. But the decision making, especially Lenihan charging into that tackle in no-mans land in the middle of the pitch is the worst peice of decision making i've ever seen from a centre back. Reportedly as he left the pitch against Watford he said to Kaminski that loss was on him. Done it again. He is the weak link and needs dropping when Ayala is back. He's never matured as a player. I think he'd have better positional sense if he was high. At least he wouldn't have these crazy rushes of blood to the head. Idiot

Personally I cannot see any reason for signing Downing barring having a very versatile player. We have JRC for this though and I'd far rather he get minutes

And we made 700 pages

Nyambe looks really decent when there is a crap player in front of him. When there is someone decent he just goes mindlessly charging into their space and doesn't give them the ball.

Did he? I thought he had very little to do. Played a few simple passes. And that's about it. Nothing to show he is the answer in Ayalas absence but harsh to say he looked out his depth.

I'm not sure you can really blame him for having his favourites sometimes. If he has a group of players always out and enjoying their time on the beers then an Elliot Bennett who looks after his body and comes into training ready to work what is Mowbray supposed to do? He is probably well aware of certain players attributes but if he were to pick them regardless of attitude it says to those players that their attitude doesn't matter and to the rest, especially younger players that they don't have to be professional. In this instance I am all for Mowbrays favourites and having role models such as Elliott Bennett in the squad is exactly what is needed, even if he isn't getting many minutes.

Exactly what I would be looking to play. No square pegs in there. Armstrong can't carry us with his goals all season long. Gallagher has to contribute. He's suffered for a long time here being played out on the wing. But also due to other players not giving him the kind of service he needs. A Warnock would get a lot out of Gallagher as at the end of the day. He's a big bloke and he can shift. Douglas could be key to Gallagher's success. Get the ball on his head in the area. Or at least have him bouncing off one or two players in the area and he will at least be a nuisance. If Holtby also likes bending them in from the other side. If Gally was central if he lingered towards the far post he would also see winnable balls played into him. It's not rocket science. He might have his limitations but if you pop it on his head in the area the ball is going to end up bobbling around somewhere. This will create chances.