I dont think it is necessarily negative to be disapointed at todays result either. A home game against a potential direct rival who went down to 10 men. An opportunity to get 2 extra points. As long as its reasonable, which it is, ie nothing saying that its a disaster because its still a point and a clean sheet. I have mentioned before that I think sometimes our fans (and presumably fans of other clubs) underestimate our side or dont see it as an actual genuine top 6 contender compared to other clubs. It was like when we went 2 up against Brentford last season and then only drew yet the majority of posts were content ones. There are of course positives but especially with the circumstances regarding them going down to 10 men for me its hard to not see it as an opportunity missed.

@chaddyrovers based on ifollow or on radio commentary? I thought Rothwell was a big disapointment. Needed to really impact the game especially v 10 men. No end product as is the case most of the time.

Our record against the top teams was actually worse than that against the lower teams to be fair. The notion that its typical Rovers to beat top of the league then lose to bottom of the league is again a mythical one to an extent. We seem to excel mostly against the teams around the middle of the league. I think the lack of points won at the end of games is low since our promotion and also the record of winning games are statistical. I cant seem to find the article in which Rich Sharpe gave the examples so youll have to write that off as an opinion, as is my reasoning as to why today we didnt score, a lack of urgency, craft and tempo in our play.

Ultimately, despite the cliche/myth that is is harder to play against 10 men, it obviously isnt. Undoubtedly there are challenges that come with it and I am not saying that if it happens, a win is guaranteed, but our record is particularly poor against 10 men, and also at getting late winners, there was a stat at some point showing a series of games in which we had failed to win despite a numerical advantage. I believe that Rovers in particular are poor at capitalising, we had 25 minutes to get a winner, I knew before that we probably wouldnt and indeed, everything was slow and ponderous and we lacked the craft to look like scoring. There were 2 points there for a top 6 quality team at home v 10 men, as it was we ended up with a disappointing solitary point. How you can put that up as a "Rovers thing"? We ve different line ups ..different scenarios in a match ..? All on the day ..just like every other game you see on TV involving a ten man side. Some get done some dont. Lottery. Because over Mowbrays time, we have struggled to break down teams with no attacking intention, as I said, when teams have gone down to 10 men, we have still struggled to go on and win. We were too slow, there was a lack of urgency and a lack of craft today. Not only is it against teams with 10 men, but we have had similar problems v poor teams too. Its not a lottery, I feel like it is a weakness of ours. On the flip side, we are more dangerous than most teams in the League in terms of blitzing teams and getting goals early in the goal.

Ultimately, despite the cliche/myth that is is harder to play against 10 men, it obviously isnt. Undoubtedly there are challenges that come with it and I am not saying that if it happens, a win is guaranteed, but our record is particularly poor against 10 men, and also at getting late winners, there was a stat at some point showing a series of games in which we had failed to win despite a numerical advantage. I believe that Rovers in particular are poor at capitalising, we had 25 minutes to get a winner, I knew before that we probably wouldnt and indeed, everything was slow and ponderous and we lacked the craft to look like scoring. There were 2 points there for a top 6 quality team at home v 10 men, as it was we ended up with a disappointing solitary point.

To be fair, I dont think it is necessarily about the expectations after 2 thrashings. We often have a problem breaking down teams with one less man, or when the onus is on us.

The thing is, those 2 full backs will not create many chances and indeed that Bell cross was the exception. He was stretching which made it a bit more difficult but he should have scored. As soon as they went down to 10 men, I instantly thought to myself, we wont score now. It was grimly predictable. There was so much slow, side to side passing with the players having no idea of how to break down an organised team. Indeed, using the full backs as extra men rarely works because their crossing is invariably poor. It sounds stupid considering the goals we scored in the last 2 weeks but in both games, we blew them away early on, if and when a team gets past that period and into the second half, or more obviously if they go down to 10 men or the onus is on to break someone down, we seem to struggle. Our record v teams with 10 men is really bad.

Another point I think needs mentioning, we seem really poor from set pieces this season. Rothwell cant take them at all. The last minute short corner was very poor. Maybe missing Downing there.

Very disappointed tonight, especially after that infuriating last 20/25 minutes in which we never looked like scoring despite the 10 men of Cardiff, we were as bad as them at slowing the game down, we have a problem whereby we dont capitalise on points that are there, we often get our goals in bursts and never looked like scoring when we had the numerical advantage. We dont have enough genuine gamechangers and match winners. People may have got carried away with Rothwell, a couple of decent games but back to normal today, not grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck, any shots weak and off target, he has plenty of excuses, hes played out of position, hes not started enough, I am just not convinced that he is capable of really being a regular top performer for us. When Cardiff had 2 banks of four, it was slow, a couple of touches at a time, side to side, no urgency. Holtby, Johnson, Rothwell, Buckley, too much dithering, never any chance of breaking them down. Holtby needs to get more involved too. Dolan was totally ineffective, ultimately he is a bonus for us, if he nails down a regular start, great, brilliant news, but we cant expect it. Today was his 3rd league start, it is very early. Brereton had one of his personal good game last week, plenty of neat and tidy play, and dribbling, but no goal threat. Today he had neither, totally ineffective. Gallagher back on the wing is not what anyone wants, he was really poor and missed a sitter. Chapman was initially very bright, but then had a couple of shocking crosses/shots. Armstrong did our best couple of bits of play on his own, should have scored, but everything he did was individualistic. He has end product, so does Dack, I still think we need someone else across that front line to give us a goal threat. We are far too dependant on the attacking output of our full backs considering how bad they are at crossing. Bell set up a couple of counter attacks for Cardiff in the first half with his wayward passing, although put in the only good ball from either wing back which Gallagher should have converted. 3 clean sheets is encouraging, the balance of the 3 CB's ie when one is out we should stil have a solid 2 remaining is good to see. Ayala was never troubled and always in control. Kaminski again has little to be judged on. Made a good save early and fine enough, bit of indecision cost us half a minute near the end that Williams shouted at him for and a very strange incident first half when he dropped the ball randomly. Reason for cautious optimism though. Think we need a left back and an added goal threat and/or craft now.

Bell was excellent. Typically slow of mind going forward but more importantly, has been a key player in setting up Cardiff attacks with sloppy passes.

Not been the best spectacle. Brereton, Dolan and Rothwell have been very quiet and weve moved the ball around too slowly. Bell with his usual mishit clearances to the opposition too.

Derby looked poor, it was a poor game and Rooney just came up with one moment of brilliance. Would be a good moment for football if Norwich didnt come back up after their tactical relegation.

Great experience knowledge but also massively irritating and well beyond the line of enthusiasm and being a sky sports obsessive. Mick McCarthy is a good commentator, liked him back in the World Cup.

Theres no way that reserves football has the speed and intensity of the Championship!

Fair enough on value but do you think Martin Tyler is anything but an irritating commentator that should step aside?

Yeah, the amount of shite that Martin Tyler comes out with. Hes had his day.

Doesnt sound promising regarding player contracts. From the team last Saturday, Rankin Costello, Williams, Bell, all 3 midfielders and all 3 subs have a year left. The remaining 5 have 2 years left. Then with Armstrong and Lenihan, theres minimal power in that if they go into their last year and wed have to sell them if they didnt renew. Im not sure how many assets we actually have.

The delays are an annoying but unavoidable part of it. Common sense to avoid twitter etc during a game, but dont really get why journalists post regular updates if indeed they are likely ahead of time.

True on Soccer Saturday, that has always lived on that vibe of old players having a laugh together, indeed blatant incompetence such as Kamara missing red cards and Merson unable to pronounce names has always been part of its supposed charm. They seem keen to move away from that now but I think it has just become confused. Not sure how Merson has survived the cull either.

Again, im not too sure how, dont think hes the best myself.

Noticed that Ayala isnt on the recent training pictures and Wharton isnt playing for the under 23s today. Maybe a knock for the former?

"The response to the first phase of sales has been extremely encouraging" A blatant lie!

They are really good, they arent the most informative but just full of cracking stories from players mainly not at the very top. I enjoy Football Ramble podcasts too.

Thanks Joe. Guessing that the other players are rated as on the FUT web app. Dack top rated at 74. Armstrong up at 73, Nyambe and Kaminski at 72?

Im guessing that he would be of a low rating anyway to be fair. What rating is Ayala? I always went down the route of alternating 2 teams from 2 different leagues to avoid needing fitness cards. That is good that they are no longer needed although I did naturally build 2 on the web app anyway. But I can actually use subs now properly.