We had an award winning pitch under the current groundsman during our League One season as well. Venkys have invested in the pitch multiple times now - both during the years that Steve Patrick was head groundsman and now Trevor Wilkin as well. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2014/may/pitch-perfect/ https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/may/ewood-pitch-named-one-of-the-best-in-the-efl/ https://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/sport/18331228.break-might-come-good-time-ewood-park/ https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16244470.work-underway-ewood-pitch-rovers-groundstaff-commended/

It was a clear red.

1 point isn't enough here. Has to be 3 points.

You called it!

8 points away from the playoff spots as it stands. Season well and truly over if we fail to win.

Poor pitch, players carrying knocks, crap officiating, Powell scoring a set piece goal - this just feels really miserable. There was so much hope and excitement at the start of the season, but I just feel numb watching us play now. The players look completely drained of energy.

Shocking offside decision.

Matondo looks like their danger man so far. Brainthwaite has been excellent on his debut. Looks confident and has stepped in with some key tackles and clearances. The pitch is horrendous and is really hampering our ability to play on the ground. Looks like Rothwell has already injured himself due to the pitch.

Would certainly tick all the boxes. Tall, fast and good on the ball. Sounds like Tosin Mk II.

Need a 2nd before half time. This ref will even it out for them otherwise before long. Birmingham are so bad they are making Douglas look good at RB.

Bell has started well ... feels like I've found a new appreciation for him after Douglas. Brereton has the laziest first touch I've ever seen. Miscontrolled the ball multiple times in the first 5 minutes already.

That team looks comically unbalanced! I guess it's the best we can muster right now. Good to see Trav back... I must have missed the news about him because I wasn't expecting him back and in the starting 11.

There was a moment last night where the camera panned to him and he was sitting on the bench picking his ear. Thought that summed it up perfectly.

That was the last straw for me personally. We needed to win both of these next 2 games to have a chance of staying on target. Losing this one means it’s all over for this season (IMO), even if we pick up some form later in the season. I said a few days ago that we need to be working to targets and TM has missed them now for me. I don’t think he will go this season but we need to look elsewhere for next season. It was really hard to watch today. We looked clueless.

We need to be amassing 1.5 points per game at the very minimum and looking towards a 50% win rate to really be challenging for promotion. We are not achieving that at the moment. For me, we need to win the next 2 games. Anything less is grounds for dismissal. We’re going to have another season of mediocrity otherwise. There have to be some real targets to work towards and if we’re not hitting them we need to look elsewhere. That said, I am not convinced as a lot of people are that another manager will get significantly more out of this squad. There’s every chance we go the way of Ipswich after sacking McCarthy.

I think one of our biggest problems last season was being caught out on the counter attack. I think our more cautious play is a result of trying to not over commit. Tbf, it's worked quite well. I don't think we've conceded many on the counter recently, we're just conceding stupid, sloppy goals. I don't know how much Mowbray can do other than drop players like Douglas. It's hard to mitigate individual mistakes. His quotes above are spot on. Our defence goes to sleep for a second and Stoke score. Douglas heads the ball into Ayala and suddenly they are through and produce a great goal. We have no way back imo. We were too good early in the season so teams now know to park the bus when they play us. It's exactly the type of strategy we used to employ under Allardyce. Often coming away with all 3 points. We have shown in games we can beat the parked bus but we need to find a way to do it more frequently. My main gripes with Mowbray right now is that Douglas is shite and he's not getting enough out of Gally. We also need to be at least drawing with the teams above us if we can't find a way through. The amount of points dropped to playoff rivals is inexcusable.

What happened to Trybull? Not in the squad at all?

Our net spend is in line with our current position.

The worst thing about Nyambe is undoubtedly his marking. We’ve been in trouble many times this season and previous seasons due to Nyambe being in no mans land and leaving his player unmarked.

Looked like he was playing with a smile on his face back then as well. He never looks happy now even when he scores. I just don’t understand why TM doesn’t try changing it around now and then and move him central and Arma out wide. Elliott is playing out wide but he has no problems scoring right now.

Nyambe off for Buckley lol

He's taken off our 2 best passers when we're 1-0 down against one of the best defensive teams in the league - go figure.

Gallagher needs to come off half time. It's like playing with 10 men at the moment. He's not offering anything. We need a moment of magic to unlock the defence. Either need to get Dolan on, or give Chapman/Butterworth a chance.

We're actually playing quite well against a very organised Stoke side that have kept 10 clean sheets this season. Things just aren't clicking all the way. Trybull having his best game for us so far.

Douglas hits the post lol