Why lie? “Bradley walked off training on Thursday feeling his hamstring," Mowbray added. "Experience tells me that he can’t say his hamstring is 100% only two days later. “We wanted to give him some treatment and time to make sure that the first time he sprints in a game he pulls up and misses the rest of the season. “We shouldn’t risk him and that was what we went for." https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/april/boss-offers-mulgrew-and-dack-injury-update/

Managers have life spans at certain levels. Johnson is at the start of his, Mowbray is coming to the end, despite him being younger than he looks! I’d be inclined to give longer to Damian Johnson in a similar situation than Mowbray, having see what type of football both of them try to play. D Johnson has more of a defined style than Mowbray does that’s for sure.

Don’t you read my posts?

I think he will have to walk rather than pushed. The thing is, while fans stay off his back I don’t think he will. The crowd is going to turn, you could feel it today. But it’s more likely that they will turn against the players rather than the manager.

If we go down from here we will deserve to.

Johnson was a 35yo manager learning his trade. Mowbray is hugely experienced. A very different situation. If Mowbray is still here in 2 years we will be a struggling League One side.

*cough* 1 win and 1 draw from 11

I think Mowbray’s position has become untenable but I think we will be safe with 47 points - just. My bigger issue - although we are not yet mathematically safe - is that I don’t trust Mowbray to address our weaknesses. Starting with Smallwood and Evans today sums him up. He has talked about loyalty to his team and picking certain players as an excuse for why we are where we are. Then he carries on doing it...

We are about to enter the Kean phase. This is the point past where at any normal functioning club the manager would be asked to leave and a new manager brought in to assess the squad before the end of the season. Waggott is just as culpable as Venkys and I don’t expect him to do anything apart from plot the next way to increase ST prices and make it seem like he is doing us all a favour. As it is, Mowbray will be allowed to carry on regardless and our only hope is that he will do the honourable thing (as he supposedly did at Coventry) and admit he is able to take us no further, and walk. Johnson would be no worse with this group until the end of the season. He will not identify the right areas to strengthen because he can’t see what they are. But for Dack having a personal crisis, his team today would have been a nostalgic waltz down promotion lane. His failure to add quality to the squad this season in the right areas has been his undoing and he has been found out. This was summed up today when the MoM was announced as Lenihan instead of Rothwell (head and shoulders above everyone again) or Raya (on the strength of his two great saves). And Rothwell was tracking back and closing players down today too. By the end of the game today our play was desperate. Lots of endeavour (panic really) with no end product and absolutely no idea what formation players were supposed to be playing in. It was chaos but there was certainly effort from the players - with no real shape or plan. I can see why Mowbray doesn’t play Rothwell though. It’s because he is one of the only players whose immediate thought on the ball is to launch it up to Graham.

Mowbray brings on Travis for Smallwood and puts Rothwell, the best player on the pitch who has been pulling the strings, out on the left wing. Clueless.

First half, Bennett was indeed the replacement for Dack.

Like I said. From our angle. If it was then that’s a huge let off. Noted Raya shaking the net like a maniac before it was taken but he got down really well. Awful half though. The extra 3 minutes brought a groan but it was the most exciting bit.

That was like a goal!! Didn’t look a pen from here. Bit of justice maybe.

First shot

?# Evans and Smallwood after all # If Dack’s personal life hadn’t intervened (like we knew it eventually would) it would have been 100% last season’s team - which means the last two windows have been a complete waste of time and money.

Travis dropped for Evans and Smallwood. Will Rothwell be allowed to replace Dack or will he be played out wide?

That’s just bonkers. 4 points from 30 now to be followed by 13 points from 21 is a huge turnaround in form. The ‘aiming high’ ship sailed when the transfer window shut and there is no financial incentive between finishing 24th or finishing 7th. At this stage, it sets an unrealistic and unnecessary target, as a veiled excuse to not give the youngsters a chance as we head to the season’s end. I don’t see how he is going to do anything different over the Summer. Sadly, this is looking like being a messy end to Mowbray’s tenure at Rovers.

A new (reserve) keeper has to come in.

It’s surely a no brainier that it will be Conway that makes way. He looks like an understanding chap.

Good. I could just imagine the scenes as a load of newbies turned up trying to get hold of their reserved tickets.

TM quotes in today’s telewag: ”I like to think that one of my traits is loyalty. As I’ve tried to show this year with the team that got us out of League One, I’ve been loyal to all of all players. But there comes a time, and if it’s the case where one of the senior players has to be left out, then so be it and they’ll understand it’s not done through malice, but to get the right balance of the bench.” What is he on about? Granted he wants to show some faith in people and give them a chance (which personally I’d prefer him to pick the best team to win games rather than for sentimental reasons) but: “They’ll understand”? “No malice”? It’s all just too nicely-nicey. Players should be fighting to be picked and disappointed to miss out. Followed by the even more insightful: ”You need enough defenders, enough midfield players and enough attackers. Sometimes that balance will change, but we’ll pick the team and the subs and try to get the job done”. In other news, apparently Dack has also fallen out with his gf again so watch out for his reaction today.

As a regular, I completely agree. For a 10 year old, on Monday morning in the playground - “that were rubbish - not going there again”.

We are on a bad run because we have stuck with the same tired L1 players too long!

Are they just being told to turn up and collect? That could be chaos outside the BBE!