We are missing him at the moment, hes the one player we have who has that knack of anticipating the ball in the box and picking up scraps. Hopefully he can be back after the next international break.

He said that he could probably play if it was the only option but then went on to say that Williams is available so I presume that he was implying that he doesnt need to risk him.

In regards to having only 3 centre backs, obviously thats a given now, is it sustainable to have 4? Not sure, maybe a different conversation. But I disagree that Magloire is the least risky just because he has pace, pace alone is pretty worthless. Bell has pace and hes useless! Magloire didnt seem to be able to head a ball when he played those 2 games in the League, he was absolutely bullied by the very slow and limited Nihiu. Rochdale took him and didnt want him pretty quickly. Take your point on board about moving Nyambe which is very difficult as not only does he lack a lot of things to be a centre back but we have no other natural right backs. Wharton looked shaky when he came on at a difficult point of the game but at least he has successful league experience under his belt. If he starts a game my confidence would dip admittedly and I just hope that 2 from the 3 CBs are fit at all times but Wharton is correct to be 4th choice IMO.

I know he has had a bit of an injury but it is a shame that Magloire couldnt get a loan spell lower down in League 1 or 2. He was clearly well off it physically when he played for our first team and he has only played a couple of games in an unsuccessful loan spell since. Regardless of a competent performance in a kickabout against Leicester, I would not feel comfortable if Magloire was needed in the Championship for us this season, we have to hope that at any one time, at least 2 of our 3 injury prone centre backs are available throughout the season. Wharton didnt convince me the other night either, it is not a position where you can afford a player who is not 100% ready. Playing with the kids will only take him so far. I have been listening to a few podcasts lately and a couple of former players have mentioned that they believe that the old reserve leagues should have been maintained and that now, all you have is young players continuously playing against the same kids that they have throughout the age group and it doesnt fully prepare you for mens football.

Having a scan but expected to be very minor and could even probably play tomorrow if absolutely necessary.

My post was not a critical one, I was stating that we have definitely progressed under Mowbray and indeed if he left today he would deserve to be remembered fondly which he would by me and the vast majority, but I was also mulling over whether the improvement is enough based on the time Mowbray has had, plus the resources. I didnt conclude either way. I am not in the business of embracing narrow losses in which we "play well" this season. We are not at a stage in which we are looking for green shoots of promise ahead of a rebuild, or good performances, we are much further down the line. We are a self declared promotion contender. You mention the young team, but there is plenty of experience amidst our side. Mowbray firstly failed the tough task of keeping us up but then did well to get us back up first time. We have stabilised in the league, the perhaps ambitious target last season was the play offs and we fell well short and never broke into the top 6. This season, that is a much more realistic aim. Also, yes Bournemouth and Watford came down but they are not Premier League giants a class apart in this league. Both have new managers, both have squads that will be mentally recovering from the blow of relegation, and both have lost a clutch of players, Bournemouth lost Wilson, Ake, Fraser, Ramsdale and had Brooks only available as a sub and King unsettled and wanting to leave, and Watford have lost Doucoure, Dawson, Deulefou, Pereyra, Holebas, Welbeck and had Capoue only on the bench and Gray and Deeney still not back again after transfer speculation. I am not doubting that both games were tough, I am not saying that I expected/demanded to go to either and win, I know that they were tough games. But if say you are a relegation battler and you lose to either, theres more scope to think, right it was always going to be tough, at least we competed. As a side with genuine promotion aspirations, we can justifiably feel really frustrated that we didnt pick up a point in either game, or indeed in any game. It is all about results now, hence why the start to the season has been a fairly poor one.

We have undoubtedly improved since he came, that is obvious. Of course it is key to factor in the time and resources that he has had and an improvement of the squad is undoubted. The likes of Greer, Brown, Lowe, Guthrie etc had contracts about to expire so he was lucky not to be lumbered with them. The question (which im not necessarily casting an opinion on) is based on the time and resources, is the team as progressed as it should or could be? I would disagree that we have 2 decent players for every position. You look at the current squad now, the goalkeeping position is one of great uncertainty, we dont know how the new keepers will turn out. Defensively, Lenihan, Williams and Nyambe he inherited, Ayala hopefully will be a big improvement, Douglas temporarily, Bell a poor signing and player. In midfield, there are plenty of players like Johnson, Holtby and Rothwell all of whom have been very inconsistent in a Rovers shirt. Travis came through, Evans was already here, we will see on Trybull, a better set of players than he inherited? Of course. Massively convincing? Not sure. His main 2 brilliant successes are in attack in Amstrong and Dack. Aside from that, and maybe Elliott could be exciting temporarily. Not much substantial beyond that. And at this stage in Mowbrays tenure, there is nothing to be taken from narrow losses and perception about becoming an attacking team. This far in the team and managers development, its all about results.

Bell should never be under serious consideration to start even if Nyambe is unavailable if Douglas is available. He may be quite fast but its ultimately worthless if he cant defend which he cant. Very wary of making changes specifically to counter our opposition, especially one like Coventry.

Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Williams Douglas Holtby Trybull Johnson Elliott Armstrong Brereton Subs: Pears, Rankin Costello, Wharton, Evans, Buckley, Dolan/Chapman, Gallagher Really important game on Saturday, we have to be winning after a poor start to the season. Not interested in "exciting" performances leading to a loss.

He definitely looked to be mature and not just a raw talent that youd expect from a player at that age. Lets hope he can get some goals and assists for us in games to come.

I was content at letting Graham go, he clearly had dipped quite badly last season, both in terms of goal threat and all round game. I did empathise with him on the podcast I listened too when he said that he was unhappy to not be in the team at the start of last season however. That being said, I cant shake the feeling that we have very little substance and depth in attack, which was proven yesterday. The only striker that was out was Gallagher, who is not a particularly good one, or one at all in Mowbrays eyes. We had absolutely no alternatives up front with Armstrong having a shocker, or indeed as would have been more likely, any potential partners for Armstrong or even a striker to allow Armstrong to play out wide. This bizarre idea that a 20 goal striker has become worthless in the modern game is absolutely crazy by the way. His career is obviously at an all time low now but even so, he would still be right amidst the first team picture now. At the level that he was at here, he is the first name on the team sheet.

Its hardly wild to think that if there was even a slither of a chance of it, a manager who has taken a club up and then not only kept them up for 4 years running with a comparatively minimal budget, but got them into Europe as well as a second top 10 finish would be a brilliant appointment for a mid table Championship side.

I suspect that 95% minimum on here would take Dyche in an instance!

Obviously we arent going to give up but there is no getting away from the fact that weve had a poor start and indeed like those examples highlighted means that we have to accumulate even more points over the remaining 40 games. There are a lot more examples of teams who had poor starts and didnt make the play offs or get promoted. Nothing I have seen so far sadly makes me think that we will join the above examples but fingers crossed, perhaps with Mowbray making one or two compromises it will all click and we can really start to pick up wins, starting on Saturday. He is not particularly good, but he is the second of only 2 strikers so I dont see how he cant. Its not as if we are awash with forwards, the bench was very weak yesterday in terms of changing the game. I have seen very, very little from Rovers that reminds me of Liverpool. And Rhodes would easily get into this side, we have a lot of attacking players with pace who seldom actually score.

I also hate opposition fans and/or managers praising us and our style of play and wishing us well after taking 3 points off us. Give me a post match where the opposition feels aggrieved, feels robbed, even feels cheated and lays into us but one in which we take the 3 points home with us. Also agree with Mowbrays comments about Brereton in todays LT, that he wont score 25 yarders every week and needs to anticipate the tap ins better, otherwise goals will be a rare occurance. He played well last night and I was happy for him getting a goal but he was the same in terms of often being caught on his heels instead of anticipating bits and pieces around the box.

I would say that the main 3 chances aside from the goals were obviously the penalty but also the Pedro chance in the first half and the Sarr one in the second. Possession ultimately is meaningless until we can prove that we can play like this and it means that we win regularly. Lets see. Im sure we will always remember the night we went to Watford and lost 3-1 but wow, how much more possession did we have?!

Rothwell has had his best 2 games v Forest and Watford by not playing. For 2 and a bit years hes mainly flattered to deceive.

But we didnt win the one game we did play like that in!

Was repeatedly told throughout the night by them 2 tiresome commentators how good we looked, how many chances we had, how the fitness levels look better, how much the ref was to blame (never a penalty for me, Holtby dived although happy to have it) and how we looked the recently Premier League side, and I think a few on here feels similar. Possession stats, new "style of play" but with 2 wins, a draw and 3 losses, im yet to be convinced that it isnt style before substance. We need to win on Saturday. Not one to be satisfied with defeats regardless of the stats or perception about performance, ultimately on another day Watford could argue that with Pedro's Gazza style miss on the stretch and Sarr on the counter at the end, they might think they could have had more. Good to see Brereton score, still needs to anticipate things better and get into the box but some of his work outside it including a few dives after good runs earnt us a few free kicks. Elliott with some bright play and looks to be an exciting talent. Armstrong was really poor, constantly offside, rubbish penalty and ultimately its nights like tonight when you realise how light we are up front, there is no alternative or potential partner. Dolan was totally ineffective off the bench, all step overs and nothing else, should have left Brereton on. God knows what Kaminski was doing for that second goal, terrible goalkeeping and a huge mistake. Did make one good save towards the end. Bell shocking, Douglas had to play there is something wrong if Bielsa's world reknown fitness regime couldnt get him fit enough for a Mowbray team! Lenihan should have done better for the third, Ayala is better than him and made an already bad night worse by limping off. Nyambe was bright going forward. Wharton all over the place as a sub. Holtby was one of our better performers. Mowbray again made the mistake of putting Evans and Johnson the wrong way around and exposing their weakesses. Trybull looked rusty at times but also played a couple of lovely passes and one key interception.

Not much in an attacking sense to change it.

Glad to see Elliott starting, how short are we up front beneath Armstrong though? Even with Gallagher. The midfield looks rather immobile, hopefully (but doubtfully) we will see Johnson further forward than Evans. Hope Douglas and Trybull come into the side soon.

Of course, as mentioned. Johnson was sloppy and Evans totally ineffective both played in roles that highlight their weaknesses rather than their strengths. Buckley had an absolute shocker in a game in which he had a chance to put a marker down, to the extent that he was deservedly hauled off. Brereton I have suggested also needs dropping due to not doing enough in 7 successive starts. Armstrong was very quiet although as top scorer in the league he has plenty of credit in the bank. And I presume Bell is the other one? A player who has never shown competence really and an area I want to see Douglas in as soon as possible. Nyambe was not very good either but I would persist with him for now. Dolan has also been ineffective and also occasionally dangerous to our own team trying tricks in the wrong areas for a couple of games. Hes barely played any senior football, no shame in taking him out of the starting 11 for the moment.

Undr The Cosh with Jon Parkin and Chris Brown? I heard it on a podcast with former QPR player Marc Bircham although Paddy Kenny has just done one too which I will listen to at some point.

The Newcastle game wasnt an example of him proving that he doesnt have it, I was just using it as an example of his infuriating tendency to not show any urgency to get into the box, he does it regardless of whether he is up front or wide. If a player is coming into the final third or out wide, you will often see Brereton 5 yards away just asking for the ball to feet. I am not convinced that he is best as a central striker just because I dont ever think that he will become a semi regular goalscorer. His slight improvement has coincided with playing wide in a front 3, although as much as I have been desperate for him to kick on, that improvement has been from the benchmark of not looking at home on a football pitch. I personally think that he has not done enough in 7 consecutive starts to warrant persisting with in the starting 11 at this time. When Dolan did have the ball he failed to do anything, I just think maybe it is wise to take him back out, he is incredibly raw, I dont and never have expected him to be a regular this season, I think he is just a player that might bob in and out over the season.

I know its hardly Cantona and Ferguson but I also heard a story on a podcast the other day of Neil Warnock giving Adel Taarabt the captaincy at QPR to try and focus him, but he was a terrible professional who never used to turn up etc so the senior pros were not happy, Paddy Kenny, Clint Hill etc all went into his office and said what are you playing at, Warnock said trust me and go with it because he will get us promoted. He did and they all went into his office at the end of the season and said yeah you were right!