Yes but although Mowbray shouldn’t have lasted as long as he has, he lasted longer than all those managers because he was doing a better job then they did

I don’t want to come across as sticking up for Mowbray but why did you continue to go under Kean and Coyle but not now?

Yes. I’ve only been following the team since 1992 but Harford, Kidd, Ince, Kean, Appleton, Coyle were all definitely worse. Mowbray does however need to go. Remember January/February time when he was linked with the vacant Ipswich and WBA jobs? I don’t know how serious the links were but how perfect would it have been for them to have paid us a little compensation back then and us to have been forced to get a new manager in for the last 3/4 months who couldn’t have done any worse?

Apart from Warburton

There were quite a few occasions where both Diaz and Dack were looking along the line and screaming for the ball as if they didn’t understand they were offside

That’s my whole point though. If he is such a standout performer, I don’t want him suspended for Millwall and Bristol City

I think we need to rest Travis against Fulham. One yellow card away from a two match ban and I would say he’s highly likely to pick up a booking against that Fulham midfield

Am I the only one who thinks there is something not quite right about this Markanday injury? Feel like he was never going to be ready until next season but we wanted to make a big deal out of giving him his debut and have then made up an injury. Maybe I’m still stuck in the Kean days mentally

I thought Dolan and Gallagher both weren’t great second half and was calling for Butterworth or Khedra to come on for one of them with 20mins to go.

I’d rather have Rothwell putting himself in the shop window all season to leave on a free at the end of the season than sell him on the cheap.

I don’t want to turn this into a Brereton thread but he really did in my opinion show very little potential in his first 2 years here. I would have bitten a team’s hand off if they offered £1million for him in the summer. I am flabbergasted and delighted with how well he’s playing this season despite him not being that influential today. I always had more time for Gallagher because he was a good player in a poor team under Coyle.

Any good stories from last night?

Raya also let in a header from outside the area in their defeat to Birmingham on day 1. The mistake wasn’t getting rid of Raya, it was getting rid without having a suitable replacement lined up

On the way back now. I thought the obvious weak link during an excellent first half hour was Bell so was quite excited about the future safe in the knowledge Cunningham will probably take his place. For the second week in a row though, Mowbray’s subs gave us less chance of getting anything out of the game. Why move Dack deeper when he is the one most likely to score?

Yeah, that’s part of the reason he may want a left back so that Williams only ever has to play centre back.

The way we finished was strange. Definitely seemed a 4-3-3 with Dack in the middle of a front 3, Graham on the left of it and Gallagher on the right of it.

Whenever anyone who featured for Rovers in the Noughties is on ths show they always put Tugay in their eleven, no matter how many good players they’ve played with. The presenters used to get quite shocked at some of the players omitted so that Tugay could be in the team.

Derby and Wigan are the games where we gifted the most chances to the opposition in my mind and really did defend terribly throughout. A big part of defending is obviously being switched on for the whole game and we have been punished because we haven’t been but we haven’t been conceding chances every time the opposition attack like I can remember under Kean, Coyle and at times Hodgson. I notice Lenihan for example make a lot of good defensive interventions during games before he inevitably switches off and costs us points.

I’ve been thinking more about how the team has defended this season. Mowbray is right when he says they didn’t loook like conceding until they did today. The worst I can remember our defence was under Coyle and back then we conceded so many clear cut chances throughout games. We would only win or draw games if the opposition missed loads of those chances. Despite agreeing that a new centre back and left back should be a priority, we have actually defended quite well as a team at times this season. However, mistakes are being more punished than our previous seasons in the Championship and we lack on pitch leaders to stop another mistake quickly following.

I think our main problem is that a lot of our players aren’t anything above bottom six of the Championship in terms of quality. I was very surprised at how we competed against the likes of WBA, Stoke, Villa, etc earlier on in the season with much worse players. Despite obvious failings, Mowbray has done well to make us run our hearts out and be competitive in most games. The Preston and Wigan games - especially Wigan - are the only really concerning ones in terms of effort and competitiveness. Who in our team would a top half Championship club want? Dack, Reed, maybe Mulgrew or Graham if they were as good but younger? As others have mentioned, we may lose both Dack and Reed in January and/or August and Mulgrew and Graham will deteriorate with age. Despite all getting relegated two years ago, I believe that the likes of Evans, Bennett, Smallwood, Nyambe and Raya are good enough to play regularly for a team that stays up in the Championship but not a lot more. I would have put Williams in this bracket until recent performances which don’t look Championship standard. Bell has also never looked Championship standard. Lenihan and Armstrong occasionally look Championship standard but not regularly enough. I think I have named our most regular starters above. The others probably haven’t played enough in the Championship this season to properly judge. Some of the players above may improve with experience but we probably need seven or eight of them to improve or be replaced if we are ever going to finish top 6. The current squad is good enough to stay up if not woefully managed by someone like Coyle. In January I would buy a left back because I think neither of our two will ever be at top half Championship level. I would also get a Craig Short type (don’t really know who that is) on loan as well as some competition for Graham.

In episode 2 two scouts go and watch Bell play for Fleetwood against Scunthorpe. Make a comment about him wearing gloves when it’s not cold and then agree “there’s better out there than him.”

What happened to Anna Louise Adams? Does she still go to games?

Raya looks decent but we already have too many young goalkeepers in the squad

It seemed obvious to me from Steve Mclaren's press conference that Bentley will start on the right with Lennon on the left. He appeared to name both his defence and midfield from right to left. He was also very complimentary about Bentley

From LET article: Posted by: Vinjay on 10:27am today How long until he gets injured again? Excellent decision as usual from Hughes and Williams. Up to 2 million is worth it because he's a local boy after all. Could sign me on that basis. Does Williams seriously think this is the best solution to the attendance problems? I have an idea that might improve crowds...stop selling our best players. If Dunn wasn't from the local area they wouldn't have signed him. It's obvious he's more concerned about living in the North West and that's why only North West clubs are after him. Look strange that clubs from other regions haven't shown interest dosen't it? He wouldn't go anywhere else. He cares more about his favourite nightclubs than he does about playing football. That's the factor in his decision not the club. I know it isn't fully confirmed but I would be shocked if it falls through. Hope it does but probably won't. How long until he gets injured again? Excellent decision as usual from Hughes and Williams. Up to 2 million is worth it because he's a local boy after all. Could sign me on that basis. Does Williams seriously think this is the best solution to the attendance problems? I have an idea that might improve crowds...stop selling our best players. If Dunn wasn't from the local area they wouldn't have signed him. It's obvious he's more concerned about living in the North West and that's why only North West clubs are after him. Look strange that clubs from other regions haven't shown interest dosen't it? He wouldn't go anywhere else. He cares more about his favourite nightclubs than he does about playing football. That's the factor in his decision not the club. I know it isn't fully confirmed but I would be shocked if it falls through. Hope it does but probably won't.