I've questioned Mowbray's tactics a lot but yesterday I thought he got his tactics spot on. Away from home, against an inform team, first thing to do is quieten the home team and fans. If you reach the mid way point in the 2nd half and you are still at 0-0 then go for it. Yesterday Rovers did both of these. Every substitution was positive. As Ive said before Armstrong benefitted when he came on playing narrower which resulted in his goal. He is not a wide man. Nuttall showed he is a poacher but also that he has learnt from Graham. I see many on here still criticising him for technique but a lot of these people loved Jordan Rhodes whose technique was also poor. Time will tell but a squad can benefit from a poacher who is confident. Especially a team like Rovers who do not create a lot of chances. Yes his goal was lucky but how many times have we put the ball accross the middle with no one in the 6 yard box. The fact he was there was enough to create the confusion. A lot of positives to be had. Defence looked stronger with no Mulgrew in as well. Coincidence?

He caught it off Kasey Palmer

Great news. His comments are pretty standard for a loan player to say

Round 3 is alphabetical order but I think subsequent rounds are in the order they were drawn in the previous round, ie the winner of the first match drawn in round 3 is no.1 in round 4 draw.

Not agreeing with Nicko but I have a scenario for you Possibly it has been agreed and signed before Christmas when Travis was nowhere near first team action and we can't back out of it, just like Brereton.

More like until he got his permanent transfer

Yeah but besides that he is a good player.?

Would not disagree about Reed and Travis in the middle but not about Rothwell. Rothwell runs up too many blind alleys to play in the Smallwood or Evans role. Remember in this formation the forward drive from midfield is Dack and the wide players. The two central midfielders are there to secure the central pitch if the move breaks down. If another midfielder can get forward then thats the bonus and yes Reed or Travis with Evans could make a good pairing. I see Rothwell fitting in as Dack's understudy. Personally I can only see us playing to Armstrong's strengths if we were to return to playing 4-4-2 and Armstrong playing off Graham. To me playing Armstrong, Bereton, Antonsson and Samuel out wide always offers the opposition an easy outlet for the midfield to play the ball out wide as none offer defence work. This allows them to push forward easily and offers overload on our fullbacks which in turn makes them look poor in defence. Reed and Bennett do the back tracking required and offer protection. Travis can offer this as well but I would prefer him in the middle as you say. I was only saying that I can logic playing him wide to help defensively. Ideally we need two experienced wide men who can do both the attacking and defensive side of the work required for wide men and then we would not need two defensive midfielders to sit but Mowbray does not like tradittional wide men.

Disagree I'm afraid. I've not seen much of him getting the ball into the box. At times he beats his full back and cuts inside but when he is shown outside struggles to make the correct decision. This maybe because he has spent most of his footballing life down the middle. Granted he is tooo god for league one but the evidence of his time in the championship suggests that the step up is too much. He never really does the defending part of the job which is why the idea of Travis playing out wide appeals.

It is always sad to hear of someone dyeing of Cancer. Probably Venus' absence has effected performances. Managers who have trusted assistant usually suffer a dip in results when said assistant is absent. My condolences go to the Venus family

So long as it is instead of Armstrong and meaning us not losing Read then I can see logic in it. Would prefer to lose Smallwood with Travis central but I think Travis is capable of doing a job out wide as he was initially a fullback. His energy anywhere along the midfield is a bonus.

See your point but Travis played well against Sheff Utd as well. He can only play against who he is pitted against. The analysis though does not include energy, drive and pace which Travis brought to the game. How many times have we seen Smallwood struggle to keep up with a runner from midfield or after 70 mins have him sit in front of the back 4 inviting pressure because he is knackered? On Tuesday the midfield played further up the park, even when the game entered it's later stages, which was a refreshing change.

A really interesting thread you've started Stuart and is a key to any club surviving without a mega rich investor. I suspect the players on loan may have to play a certain % of games whilst here to avoid penalty clauses being activated which gives priority over our own players. The fact that they are not good enough is why they are on the bench rather than in the first eleven. Secondly for every good 30 plus player I suspect you've to be careful to avoid a Danny Murphy or Wes Brown after one more payout. Even in the days of Kenny buy young with the aim to sell for profit was the mantra. The experienced pros brought in that era where all little expenditure.

It is easy to blame our holding midefielders but how can they break up play when there is always an easy ball for the opposition? How many times do we see the one or both opposition full backs be totally unmarked as the game progresses. This allows them to press forward and usually overlap leaving our fullbacks exposed. On Saturday for 75 minutes Pedersen , their left back, looked a donkey. All of a sudden he is pressing forward as an extra midfielder. This will always be the case with Armstrong playing wide or any other forward playing wide as they have no interest in tracking back. Reid, and Bennett before him, tend to drift inside especially when our midfield drops deep and Dack tends to go looking for the ball so drops deeper and deeper which leaves our forward isolated up front. Graham up front increase the chance of holding the ball up or winning a free kick. I agree our midfielders do tend to drop deeper and I have suggested before that one reason for this they tire after 70 minutes and can't cover the ground. Several times Mowbray has made substutions either taking Smallwood or Evans off but Saturday he left both on and suffered. Our centre backs also need to take a look at themselves though as several times they just aimlessly just either headed the ball to the opposition with little attempt to find a Rovers player. The fact that both full backs where making the same mistakes week in week out is very worrying because it shows they are not getting coached very well. To blame just two players, like those blaming the substituition of Graham or Raya's mistake, are making scapegoats when it is a team issue. The issues aren't new either and still we've yet to see a solution.

Saying that Savage made a career out of it

Corry Evans has got better without Jason Lowe in the team. Coincidence?

You mean like the one we gave Wes Brown. He got injured during it and we still signed him.

Listening to Talksport it reported that Cole was 8 grand a week and Slatan was on 15 grand. Cole has an option for another year at 8 grand but LA Galaxy are not taking it but are willing to pay 5. If that is what they are talking then maybe not as daft until the end of the season.

but with recent performances of Dack, it proves that any player can anonymous in a game. Conway put in a great performance yesterday and has given Mowbray a plan B to the long ball now the ball is in mowbray's court to judge when to go long or go wide. The worry for me is that in one game we look energetic but in the Wigan game to look so laboured.

Mowbray would want two to mop up so he would have to sacrifice a wide player or Dack. Hence my original comment

Nicely counter argued. Please explain why I'm talking rubbish. Bet you can't.

I'm being picky but to me he can't play in a midfield pair, the only way he will play centrally is in Dack's position. He likes to run with the ball which is dangerous if he is playing deep.

We need energy in midfield so I'm surprised nobody has suggested Bennett in central midfield yet. Left back is a serious concern where both Bell and Williams have obvious failings but its not just those two. Armstrong never offers any protection and I'm sorry to say Mulgrew is getting caught in bad positions. Is that because he is trying to do cover for the let back. I know Conwy is finished as a left winger but he would offer protection. Goals are a problem as well. If it wasn't an issue I would drop Dack but as he is the only scoring you can't drop him at the moment. Saturday represents a defining moment in this season and I suspect our manager who likes to attack may go ultra catious so I suspect Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Reed Bennett Evans Conwy Dack Graham

Have you been watching Rovers in a mirror? Nyambe is a right back not a LB. Rothwell has tended to play LM when he has played with Armstrong switching to the right. You've no mention of RB so I presuming Bell and Williams will feature there. Personally I can't see full backs playing on the wrong side catching on.? Also Palmer when he has played has tended to feature RM although grant you his prefered position is AM. Bennett I agree CM is his best postion but mainly played RM.

I suspect we've already got Dack's replacement. Look at the summer signings....we know that Bereton can't play the Graham role so looks better suited in the No.10 role. It is also clear that Rothwell is not been bought to fill a centre midfield spot so that leaves wide or Dack's position. Similarly we've brought Palmer in who prefers to play centrally. I suspect Mowbray was suspecting more interest in Dack during the summer or is getting ready for Jan or next summer.