RevidgeBlue

Dear me, based on their times here Mowbray isn't fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Furphy for me, just imagine what Ken could have done with the highest wage bill in the division by a country mile and the 70's equivalent of spending £1m on Bradley Dack. I'd also say Smith's career overall indicates he was a far better manager than Mowbray. I'd say Don Mackay was also streets ahead of Mowbray on a far worse budget as well. Didn't rate Saxton at all so there's not much to choose between them there, would probably give Mowbray the slight edge based on his (heavily bankrolled) League 1 promotion.

I blame Moggasaurus and the spiv Swaggott. Venky's probably aren't even aware this is such a major issue and that the situation was so urgent. It's probably too late now. There always seems to be plenty of money to give over the hill and/or average players like Mulgrew, Evans, Bennett or Graham an un necessarily generous and lengthy contract extension. Or give a non playing player like Gladwin another deal because we were feeling sorry for him or pay Hart and Smallwood for 12 months to do nothing then give them another month when the season was extended. Or give Downing another deal to top up his pension fund. But when it comes to securing a key player, "computer says no". It's down to the manager to anticipate these potential problems well in advance, recognise who is a key player and who isn't, keep the squad size under control and dispense ruthlessly with deadwood so that we can look after our important players when the time comes.

What's the situation regarding half season tickets/passes? Are we doing them this season or simply not bothering? I just clicked on the website and it looks like anyone wanting to purchase a pass for the remainder of the season, or give one as a Christmas present would still have to pay the full season price! Come on Rovers! Surely even Swag can do better than that!

Well that's one of the "bonus" points in the bag. Another four or five wins in fairly quick fashion and we'll be in good shape and that's the mentality we need to have and the immediate target we should be setting to get in an around the top 2.

Way too much pessimism above. I've yet to see another Championship side I've been particularly impressed with this season and we need to be going into every game with the mindset that it's a winnable fixture and perform accordingly. None of this we'll settle for 3 draws or WLD malarkey.

Thought we looked far more solid defensively when Wharton was playing myself. Unfortunately I don't suppose he'll get much of a look in if Ayala and Lenihan are fit.

Didn't think we played that badly last night, thought Millwall looked a very decent side. The only thing that puzzled me was what I thought was an appalling triple substitution on 73 mins. 1-1 at home and we bring off two forwards (Gallagher and Elliott) and arguably our most creative midfielder in Holtby and bring on another 3 midfielders. I also thought Gallagher and Elliott were two of our slightly better performers on the night. (I didn't agree with withdrawing Armstrong for the last two or three minutes either as it left us without any form of out whatsoever) After the triple substitution I thought we dropped off and I held out no hope of us nicking the vital three points until Armstrong not having done a bean all night popped up unexpectedly which is a sign of a really good goalscorer. So we got away with it despite Tombola Tony giving everyone a run out to keep them happy. It just goes to show how important the result is, if we'd played brilliantly the last two games and lost everyone would be on the floor, we scrape a couple of streaky victories and everyone is over the moon. That's what we'll have to continue to do over the course of the season if we want to challenge. Still think we have the squad but not the manager but let's see!

Won't be the case by the end of the season though, general rule of thumb, you need roughly two points per game to guarantee automatic promotion. Right now we're seven points behind that mark so over the course of the season we'd be likely to need to average two points per game plus five or six "bonus" points!

I think it's quite negative to be trying to break into the top 6, we should be aiming for the top 2 then we have the playoffs as a fall back if we fail to make it. On that basis the manager should be trying to drum into the players that sooner rather than later we need a run of six consecutive wins to get up to the two points per game mark. He won't be of course. He'll be trying to eke it out and convince everyone that being in contention for a play off place by the end of next season is acceptable.

At the time I thought that that last jab must have caused some really really serous damage to his eye. He didn't just quit, because of a swollen and closed eye (although that would have been bad enough in itself for any normal mortal) and if the prognosis of a broken eye socket is correct then that confirms my thoughts at the time. That said, whilst I didn't think his attitude was particularly in question, he didn't overly impress either, and showed the hype about him is a little premature.

My apologies, you're right, quarter final not final (should have said World Cup "Finals") but I don't think that makes any difference to the point I was making, a quarter final of the World Cup is the biggest of stages and the principle is exactly the same. It's not usual but I have seen players own up to misdemeanours on occasion over the years. You may think it's a twee comparison but if a golfer was proved to be cheating to try and win, not only would he not be a hero but he'd be disgraced and would probably never play professionally again. Had one of our players done that during the 66 final I wouldn't have a particularly high opinion of the player in question and personally I wouldn't derive much if any satisfaction from the win. Others probably still would - each to their own. OnhMaradona's pure ability, can only repeat what I said above, I never said he wasn't a great player.

I never said Maradona wasn't a great player either. I did have him at number 3 in my all time list. I merely said that for me to be considered the greatest of all time the player in question should have something special about them personality wise - and got told to "give my head a wobble!" It's a matter of opinion anyhow. Most people's assessments will be slightly different.

So you're saying Maradona didn't have to be a nice person to be be considered a great player (true) but in the next breath you're saying you don't like Pele because he's "smug?" Is this a spoof post? FWIW if you read anything by Pele he always comes across as exceptionally humble imo. On Maradona, he was exceptionally talented as a player but and I never wished him any harm but neither am I personally losing any sleep over a guy who cheated to win a World Cup Final and who was a drug addict and someone with Mafia connections off it. I'm not bothered about what he did off the pitch, many people have their personal demons, my indifference to him is much more down to the fact that he cheated to win a World Cup Final. I understand it's something you could do instinctively but if he'd instantly owned up to his misdemeanour and had the goal ruled out his legend would far eclipse even what it is now. Not a particularly accurate comparison with Best either imo. Maradona was a much darker character.

Trybull's a nothing player for me, exactly like Evans offers absolutely nothing either offensively or defensively

Yes thought Bell played really well apart from going AWOL for their goal.

Poor performance great result. Kaminsky had a really good game, Bell and Nyambe played quite well, thought Wharton was outstanding before his unfortunate injury, was getting his head or foot on the end of everything. For once I thought Mowbray got the subs exactly right we were much improved after Johnson and Gallagher came on. Wouldn't normally advocate Gallagher but such was Barnsley's initial dominance we needed an outlet and he also took his goal very well. Take the points and move on.

Would have to be Elliott for me, think he's been very poor again despite his part in the goal.

Terrible half from us, can't believe we're winning. We've had no answer whatsoever to Barnsley's press, Trybull is absolutely useless for me, both he and Holtby need to work a lot harder and impose themselves more second half. Sensational play from Nyambe for the goal. Think Wharton's done ok. Don't understand the criticism of him at all. Perhaps people would prefer Tosin making a few fancy passes and us conceding three goals every week.

incidentally did anyone notice they published a condolences tweet alongside some nice words from Pele on Sky News yesterday teatime from a random bloke called Johann Cruyff obviously thinking it was from the great man himself? Quite disgraceful. Absolutely staggering that no-one responsible for producing the sports segment of a worldwide news show wouldn't have been aware one of of the greatest footballers who ever played died a few years ago. Then not a hint of an apology. They obviously realised their mistake but brushed it under the carpet hoping no-one would notice. ?

This argument is often raised against Pele in more recent times by those who haven't seen much of him or know much about his character and background. Weaker League yes, but he did score 1000 goals and back in the day he was such a National icon the Brazilian Government refused to allow him to leave the Country so I think its unfair to levy that against him. On the National stage he lifted the major prize 3 times out of 4 in 58, 62 and 70 and was kicked out of a 4th here in 66. I think to be the greatest you have to have something about you as a man as well. Maradona was a genius in pure footballing terms but showed himself to be a cheat on the pitch and drug addict and questionable character off it. I think everyone's greatest players will vary depending on when they grew up. My top 6 Pele Cruyff (Criminally underrated imo) Maradona Messi Ronaldo Best

Agreed, but having been let down so many times over the last two and a bit seasons I'll only believe it when I see it.

You're getting slightly carried away there, "routinely dispatching" easier looking opposition after seemingly building up a bit of momentum isn't really something we've managed in the Championship under Mowbray before.

Agreed, played where he is now. When you see him this season it makes it fairly baffling why the manager wasted him out of position (Harrison Reed like) out wide last season.

Very good performance tonight. Think it's only the manager that can hold us back, it's pretty clear we shouldn't be playing the likes of Evans and Bennett and you can also only play one of Johnson or Trybull at the same time, and JRC isn't even in the same league as Nyambe at RB. Holtby is absolutely key for us. Brereton was great, surprisingly Gallagher was ok. Wharton is looking incredibly impressive, does what it says on the tin, nothing fancy, just solid no frills defending. Dolan's cameo was sensational, never seen anything like the turn and dummy which sent the Preston player off into the car park for a burger and him in the other direction clear into the area. Great night, just need to be way more consistent.

Decent half. Surely even we can't blow this.