https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19094376.rovers-boss-message-man-city-everton-loan-defenders/ Seems that Mowbray has been asked about the situation at right back. I do agree that Nyambe has been poor lately, I think its hard to suggest otherwise. The problem now is that he has to keep playing because we have never had competent competition for him, and hes not been asked on the bizarre decision to put Gallagher there. Harwood Bellis doesnt look comfortable there, Gallagher and Buckley are laughable options there, id rather have Caddis. He also brushes off the potential inconsistencies of having an 18 year old loanee at centre back, which is perhaps more troublesome.

I recall when Grayson played for the first team v Oldham and he had a shocker then. I noticed that Vale hasnt made the Rochdale squad tonight, Magloire tends to be a sub for Motherwell too. Chapman seems the exception and even he was nowhere near our first team. It is a worry for me in regards to the chasm that seems to be between an impressively successful under 23 side and a mediocre first team or even at lower levels elsewhere. That might be down to the system, does sanitised kid football prepare players for senior football? Unsure. Even the graduates, Rankin Costello has never nailed down a spot, Buckley looks well off, I hope a couple really cement themselves.

To be fair, I dont think it matters. Each to their own, some successful managers take a back seat on a match day, whereas some shit managers jump around ranting and raving. I think it is understandable but just clutching at straws when people complain at things like that because the tactics/selections/subs etc much of which will be decided and worked on beforehand. People are fed up of the bizarre decisions in general and stuff like this is just used to try and further strengthen an already convincing point.

Firstly, we dont know if those managers are realistic or unaffordable, neither are at the peak of their managerial reputation, we can only speculate. We was repeatedly told that Hughton was never going to settle for a Championship club before joining Forest. But of course, as Barnsley, (working the other way, should they be on par with use considering their resources?) as Reading, as Brentford and as Swansea all prove, a bit of imagination when recruiting a manager can pay off, none of us have an excessive knowledge of managers across the world, hence the repeats of the same old names, but lets not pretend that no one is out there. The constant inferiority complex does frustrate me because it is never an accurate picture. Swansea have had to use half a team of loans, they sold their main defender to Spurs, had to sell Celina, couldnt afford a new deal for Van Der Hoorn. Mowbray had had time, hes had money, no pressure to sell anyone, why cant we be competitive? Reading again you touch on, a new manager has turned them around. Brentford constantly sell their best players and work on a profit. Even Watford, is their wage bill much higher than ours? Of course it is, but its not a simple advantage, much of the budget is used up on unshiftable wasters like Gray and Deeney who dont contribute, a common occurrence as we know when we came down, we had a massive wage bill, much of it being sponged up by high earning rubbish. Ultimately, if we can not compete with all of these supposed giants, why has our public aim for the last 2 seasons, one that we have not been competitive in reaching as of yet is to get into the top 6? Have you genuinely seen in the last 3 or 4 months, a manager who is building and progressing a team with clarity, with tactical consistency and with the knowhow to ever break into a serious conversation of being promotion contenders?

My point that you seem to be unable to grasp is that neither in recent weeks or in general have the supporting cast performed to a level whereby Dack is a downgrade on any of them, even accepting his rustiness, so just agree to disagree.

Stop being so patronising, I watched the game once which was once too many. None of our attacking players covered themselves in glory, Armstrong who again I regularly defend solely because he gets so many goals was not a spark, good penalty and that one chance saved by Iversen aside, he wasnt really in the game. Dack's main contribution was a turn and through ball that none of our other players could have provided I have never once said that I expect Dack now to be the exact same player. My main point is that he will NEVER return to his pre injury form without regular starts, physically he appears to be fine, and it is NOT carrying him to play him considering how ineffective most of the alternatives are, Brereton, Gallagher, Rothwell, Dolan, even an out of form Elliott. If we had a series of attacking players who regularly offered something, then I would be more inclined to agree. As it is, we are solely reliant on an increasingly isolated Armstrong to score a goal for us. We are trying to win games yes, but we havent won nearly enough to get into play off contention, so how about persisting with our best player.

Dack warrants more patience in that he was/is our best player, physically he looks totally fine since he returned, he just is yet to fully recapture his form which is impossible without a run of games. Brereton went from hopeless to ok, but hes not of the same standard as Dack anyway. How did we carry him v Preston? He actually provided a spark at least once, whereas players like Rothwell and Gallagher were hopeless. Armstrong himself is not on top form. To suggest that the team carried Dack is nonsense. Elliott is handicapped again by our managers illogical and inconsistent tactics, but yes I did expect a dip. Strangely, you seem to show much more courtesy to every player aside from Dack, our best player prior, in regards to dips in form. That is said as if he is underperforming compared to others. It is not as if any of Brereton, Gallagher, Rothwell, Dolan or even Elliott are performing to an extent whereby they warrant a start above Dack. Dack has a proven track record above all of those players therefore warrants more patience, although he is yet to start 2 games in a row since returning from injury anyway, where he has showed flashes of his old self including on Friday, looks physically fine and just needs games to get back into form. All bar Elliott maybe of the above have never displayed such consistency.

Dolan I am more excited about than Buckley, I also feel that there is value in having him around the squad mainly as an impact sub at this moment in time. I would say though that the 2 deals done in the last 2 days are the ones who almost certainly wont have attracted any interest elsewhere at this stage, nonsense about 10m for Buckley aside. The Nyambe one is the elephant in the room. With Armstrong, I suspect it will be nigh on impossible to convince a striker who we are so reliant on for goals to commit to a side stagnating in mid table when with his contract having only a year to run, he could get a move to the Premier League. Whether he will succeed there is beside the point. He could even attract a genuine promotion contender. Nyambe is slightly overrated I feel but still as good as we would probably attract, with plenty of room for growth, and Rankin Costello who also needs a contract is not a full back and thus a huge downgrade there. Its really poor for us to have got into this position and I do hope something unexpected occurs. Regarding the rest, I think I am the only one not particularly arsed about Rothwell, we have an extension and hes not consistently performed during any of his Rovers career. Makes prudent sense to perhaps extend him by a year or 2 further. The batch of senior players beyond that, Johnson, Holtby, Evans, Downing, Bennett, Bell etc, my prediction is that most will be offered a new deal, when at most we should offer one of the first two a deal dependant on fitness and form for the rest of the season, if that. We do need experience in the team so we will need to bring one or two in but players that can contribute regularly on the pitch.

Its not like we are carrying him in the mean time solely to use the games to get him fit, I thought he was from a very poor performance the most likely to do something on Friday night, the spin and pass for Armstrong first half was excellent, he scored v Birmingham, he was really good v Boro, its flashes at the moment but he will get there. Crucially, Dack has that proven track record whereby we know he is our best player, he scores and assists, much more than the alternatives, I dont suggest playing him out of pity. The alternatives you have selected are not performing on a level above Dack. Brereton has reverted back to the clown like performances from last year, why does he play when "we need to be winning games now" but Dack is deemed unworthy? Dolan, its all raw flashes at the moment, I would potentially have him wide left, but same argument as Brereton. Even Elliott has really dipped lately, not aided by Mowbray's poor use of him although that is the case for quite a few including Dack. As it is, youve cornered yourself repeatedly suggesting the sale of and dampening any optimism regarding the return of Dack for the last year. Also, we need to win games to get the top 6? No chance sadly, not this season under this manager.

Douglas v Bell isnt a debate, Douglas has been our best player along with Lenihan over the last 6 weeks or so and much improved. Bell is continiously shite. Regarding Lenihans partner, Mowbray signed 2 centre backs in January and with one looking error prone, surely its time for Harwood Bellis. Also, Dack still has to start, we need him at full sharpness and fully firing as soon as possible. Elliott is better from the right @chaddyrovers

Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Harwood Bellis Douglas Travis Davenport Elliott Dack Brereton Armstrong Branthwaite should be dropped, would be equally happy with Downing next to Travis. Brereton or Dolan a tight call too. Rothwell doesnt deserve to play either. Dont think the game overly matters, play offs arent happening so I suppose its all about finishing as high as possible in the mini league that is forming away from the top 6, ranging from 7th to 15th. Top half of that and he can spin it as progress, bottom half less so. Well, who am I kidding, as if Venkys care enough to be so invested.

I still think that its a major oversimplification to suggest that Buckley merely needs to toughen up. He is particularly slight but many slightly built players thrive and impact games. I am still to be convinced that he has the brain, the intelligence, the ability etc to impact on games with any regularity. Going out to League 1 would be a very good chance for him. You look at the benchmark that a player often ignored in favour of Buckley in Chapman who has instantly been a hit at that level and even then, there would be doubts as to whether he would be worth being in our squad next year. If he goes down to League 1 and sets the world alight at that level, then he can push to get into our team upon his return.

Hardly ready for the scrap heap at that age! Hes not capable at this level at this moment in time so playing him regularly for a season would be counter productive. Best bet is to get him in League 1, and see if he can regularly impact games.

Not seen anything from him to get excited about, hopefully he can go out on loan for a full season next year to try and make a name for himself as he is well away from our best 11.

I hardly think that he would have been under severe stick with people getting out the bed sheets to scrawl Mowbray Out on them, but there would have been some moans, groans and boos. My point was that he is in a bubble at the moment (as is any under performing manager) whereby the poor results and performances are not causing any audible criticism to him. Venkys dont care enough to notice what is going on at games, anyway, hence their inability to turn up for years and years and their ignorance during the Kean era. Also, the debt is owed by Rovers to Venkys London Limited.

For Mowbray, the fact that there are no fans considering the stagnation is probably a lucky reprieve.

Was Mowbray questioned on the Gallagher at RB fiasco post match? Not seen him directly address the issue, he comes across as particularly spikey and grumpy after defeats and ive seen Rich Sharpe defend himself a few times saying that he regularly asks about the wide strikers, false 9s etc in the past and its been explained, so I do wonder if journalists thought better rather than even asking him.

Cant argue with your analysis of the various choices made through the game. I would never make the decision based solely on one game but ultimately many of the issues raised were further examples of the nonsensical choices that Mowbray often makes. I do think looking back that we were all perhaps (to varying degrees) misled by the scorelines against Wycombe, Derby, Coventry and Preston, 3 of which we played against 10 men for much of that time. Even during that period, we never got good enough results to break into the top 6 after the third game in, so it was always based on an assumption that if we persisted with that consistent system for long enough, we might challenge the top 6 which obviously has never materialised. The one time prior (admittedly in League 1) that we could be confident about getting results regularly was based on consistent selections, square pegs in square holes and familiarity. His new attempts seem based on a flawed perception of possession, over thinking and at times total confusion. I think even when we was performing slighty better, we still had that unhealthy reliance on the goals of Armstrong. Its during the leaner spells that all strikers go through whereby you really notice how flaky the contributions of the supporting cast are. We marvelled over the likes of Holtby, Rothwell, Dolan (he is a kid who burst onto the scene then soon faded so no blame towards him) and based on the lowest of benchmarks, Brereton and their performances when we ran riot v 10 men but ultimately their contributions this season are again minimal, even when much of the time the side has been built to suit them.

Unsure why anyone feels the need to tweet sources unlikely to know anything different from what is common knowledge. It is a manager that our negligent and disinterested owners seem comfortable with, our CEO is a friend from a previous club and apparently publically laughed off questions over his future at the last public meeting, and his close friend and assistant is also the director of football (or something similar, not 100%) based on interviews in the past. He is in the perfect situation, throw in no fans to question him at games and a lorry load of excuses to hand should he ever need them and he will be as safe as houses. Interesting to see the doubts you have about the managers future, is this a general reaction to the Preston game or the final straw? As you seem to have gone from insistence that he stays even midway through last week to questioning, what was it about the Preston game in particular? Was it the particularly bizarre tactical choices and subs? Talk about Neil coming in are seemingly solely posted for provocative purposes and are from a source with a very poor track record.

Wont be holding my breath on that rumour.

To be fair sometimes it is good to have an assistant who does not just blindly agree with your every word. Alex Ferguson used to go through assistants quite regularly.

Its impossible to say that a league position is misleading because points tallies vary year on year and league positions are all that matters. But our goal difference helps perception especially for those keen for Mowbray to stay who are keen to point to our league placing as proof of progression. We are 9th, so 2 places higher than last season, but we are 7 points away from 6th place, so a 3 game turn. We are level on points with 4 teams underneath us, and a 3 game swing the other way could allow 20th place to catch up to us. We arent on the cusp of our top 6 target.

He keeps randomly mentioning the injuries as if they are preventing him from naming a settled and consistent team, yet he has said that he doesnt know or have a best team because he likes to use different players in different games, so its a stupid excuse. The only time we have shown consistency was in League 1, when we played essentially the same team every week, 4231, Dack off Graham, Mulgrew and Lenihan at CB, Nyambe RB, Williams LB, Smallwood and Evans in CM, a defensive winger such as Bennett and a more attacking one such as Armstrong, and the players knew exactly what was expected of them. Even if we had to make a change to that team, a Conway, an Antonsson, a Downing, a Payne (so hardly a cast of stars) could come in and again know exactly what they were slotting in. Injuries across the board are common this season, the pitfalls of the calendar and the added risk of Covid. You look into who is missing at the moment, Ayala, Wharton and Williams, none of whom ever nailed down a spot but importantly now have been replaced by loanees, he wouldnt normally have 6 centre backs which we do have contracted until the end of the season. Also injured are Rankin Costello who has never performed to a level whereby he has forced himself regularly into the starting line up, and a player who is a marked downgrade on Nyambe. And then 3 midfielders, Johnson, Trybull and Holtby, the latter 2 who are Mowbray signings who repeatedly suffer from injuries and have always been in and out at best, and all 3 in an area where he has been allowed to accumulate many bodies, none of his signings who have ever repeatedly impressed, but he still has Travis, Davenport, Downing, Buckley, Rothwell and Evans.

"Boring football" though, apparently.