To be fair he is a knobhead who plays on the edge and loves winding up the opposition fans so I suspect his style will be affected more by going through the motions in front of an empty stadium than a lot of players. Throw in a lack of match fitness and a very physically demanding role that he does and it is little wonder. Nketiah is a goal threat to be fair but you cant grumble too much when you consider how well Leeds have done and the impact Bamford has had on that.

What sort of bizarre reply is that? Is that the only alternative to blowing smoke up their arses and being thankful? Also bare in mind the only time they have attended games in years and years is in cardboard form id have a bloody tough job.

The "badly advised" line is the biggest cop out and avoidance of responsibility you could wish to see. It doesnt wash, the buck falls with them. I too find the blowing of smoke up their arse simply because they havent upped sticks (as if its that simple) very difficult to stomach and certainly not recent to be thankful.

To be fair I cannot comment on yesterdays performance as I didnt see it but prior to that Bielsa has kept faith him in him even when he had Neketiah because he was the perfect front man for his high pressing team and I certainly wouldnt describe him as lazy. His main issue has been missing quite a few chances but his goal record is very respectable overall and he knows where the chances will fall in the first place hence his goal record. He is a bell end though.

To be fair his goal record is not too shabby.

Werent the rumours of Joe Hart stirred up by Alan Nixon with a fair degree of certainty on his part and soon after directly rubbished by Mowbray?

Im not too sure that composure and Dominic Samuel really go in the same sentence. Hes not a promising and raw young lad, hes coming into his prime at the age of 26 and he has 20 (ish) career goals. You seem to be burying the majority of his time here under the carpet. He scored 3 or 4 goals at the start of his Rovers career and then reverted back to type, not scoring after November, and often appearing disinterested and petulant. His injury kept him out for a year and was unfortunate but I dont recall anyone being gutted that we would be without him as it seemed widely accepted that he quite simply wasnt a Championship player. I just think that a half decent cameo yesterday, thats all it was, his involvement peaking at playing the correct pass within a counter attack, a good finish against an already beaten Hull (the fact that his last goal prior was v Bristol Rovers in November 2017 may be partially for reasons out of his control but equally it is not reason to signal the dawn of a new competent Championship striker) and a decent enough display at Charlton isnt enough to merit a new deal.

Just seems very strange to feel the need to make cut out of themselves considering that they havent bothered to find the time to actually attend in all of these years. And the Jack Walker cut out is very shabbily done as an afterthought. Very good owners is shall we say a slight stretch too!

They dont help themselves.

I think to be fair if you was to look back after each game, when those players play well they will receive the praise they deserve. The issue with Brereton and Gallagher is that because they warrant more criticism, it sparks more conversation because there are people who defend the signings so it naturally provokes debate whereas with players like Travis etc there are very few alternative opinions aside from positive ones. Also Gallagher and Brereton represent the majority of our recent budget and of course then provide a further conversation and how much further on we could have been had we spent that money elsewhere. Since that last team was broken up which was 8th/9th this is undoubtedly the best weve seen since, as shown by the league table. To be fair, that as a title does the side a little bit of disservice I would say due to the teams we have had in that period. Comparing this current team/squad to the team Bowyer had I think would show that the likes of Rhodes, Gestede, Cairney and Conway were as good as youd find in the division so were a step up from our squad now, but equally we had some players featuring regularly like Lowe, Henley, Williamson, Chris Taylor etc who were well below the standard required.

I think with Breretons slip, he did touch it round the keeper quite clumsily which then left the ball slightly behind him as he rounded the keeper which didnt help with his balance, although it may have been the only way to round him. You are right though about the pitch being over watered. McLaughlin has been offered a new contract at Sunderland, Mowbray basically said that any new signings are on hold last week. The standard of goalkeeping at this level is shocking, I would say that Walton has had an ok loan spell here but equally he has made I would suggest close to double figures in terms of mistakes leading to goals.

I dont really understand that as a reply to my point which was about Samuel and also mentioned Brereton and Gallagher who Samuel is competing against but have differing lengths of comtracts. The point about Armstrong was that he offers a goal threat that the others dont. I would say that Lenihan, Travis, Holtby, Nyambe, Downing, Armstrong etc are all universally rated by our fans so not sure how we are down on our players but again it has no relevance to my post about Samuel.

I don't understand the mentality of comparing him against other players that you dont think are up to it though. It seems illogical to use the benchmark of a player you dont rate. He was ok yesterday and did well when he played the correct ball on the counter attack, but essentially that is all he did, hardly the protagonist for discussions over a new deal. He is a 26 year old striker with around 20 career goals, 1 of which has come since November 2017. He got a few goals early on in the season in League 1 and played his part before being phased out for a much more effective striker in Graham. You mentioned his work rate and he did seem up for it yesterday and in games prior to lockdown but I have seen him quite a few times look disinterested and even petulant. The thing with him, Gallagher and Brereton is that they all have attributes, they are all athletic players but they differ from Armstrong in that even though Armstrongs final decision lacks composure, he regularly ends up in shooting positions and offers a goal threat.

Hes scored about 20 goals in his career at the age of 26. The goal v Hull was his first in something like 2 years. He was decent at Charlton but a goal and a decent performance isnt enough to give him a new contract at a supposedly Premier League chasing side. Gallagher isnt good enough either so isnt a good benchmark but is contracted unfortunately for a few more years. Samuel was ok when he came on today but hardly remarkable enough to merit a new deal.

Very good win and performance. Definitely didnt feel the same but think that goes without saying. Travis and especially Evans were the stand out 2 players. Both centre backs very good too, Adarabioyo with a great goal. Walton with a shocking mistake. Thought JRC looked like a young lad playing out of position which of course he was. Perhaps a little unlucky with the goal though. Bennett has had worse games at RB although I of course hope Nyambe is back next week. Holtby quiet, Downing tidy enough. Still not convinced 100% about this false 9 experiment. That is the best it has worked and you can understand the thinking as it would mean that we dont need Out of the strikers. Armstrong stands out because out of the 4 he seems to be the only one who ends up in goalscoring positions, even if he often makes poor decisions and lacks subtlety at times. The first one he rushed and blazed over, the second was superbly composed into the corner, the third he should have feinted because the defender was throwing himself at the ball. Brereton had a very promising game, some enterprising runs. When it mattered though he slipped and it summed him up sadly. Samuel was decent, dont think we should keep him around though and Gallagher I just dont know what hes about. So clumsy and ineffective.

I suspect that comment was not just based on his inclusion today.

Very strange team. And a total mystery how they will line up.

Mowbray has admitted that “there’s an extra cost" in signing up the out of contract players until the end of the season. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18527266.mowbray-reveals-rovers-contract-boost-ahead-re-start/ It may be nice to give Smallwood and Samuel an extra month seemingly more as a reward for the League 1 season (which was 2 years ago!) but is it a luxury we can flippantly give when we cant even afford to reimburse fans? We dont need either of them.

Youd think the first thing the owners "always happy to sign a cheque" will do is reimburse those not satisfied by a link to the BCD football for whatever reason. FFP I think was only ever an excuse and of course the pandemic will have affected our absent owners too so to expect a transfer budget of any significance still seems naive to me.

I definitely dont think that anyone could claim IMO that Raya is the best keeper in the league, far too many calamtious mistakes. Comparisons with Walton are natural, overall I felt at the point of lockdown I felt much more confident with Walton rather than the eccentric Raya, comparing the overall season of Walton back to Raya might come down to personal preference as I was Waltons biggest credit considering the quantity of mistakes he made, but lets not forget the numerous mistakes that Raya made, the nightmare he was coming for crosses. To be fair, the standard of keeping across the Championship is really poor, even at the top end.

I dont think Sky or any broadcaster does see fans quite as unimportant as background noise as you put it, theres a constant acknowledgement that it isnt the same even from commentators and pundits. I feel thats a bit of a stretch, but of course money rules the roost, and if the demand is there, it will always be something they will push and push and feel justified in doing so. I dont know whether they will push for that, the Premier League is already all over the place in terms of schedule but having at least half of the games on a Saturday at 3pm at least gives it some structure and I am unsure whether it is naivety or an excuse (or both) as to Neville justifying a La Liga style schedule by implying that the 3pm blackout would solve the potential knock on effect for lower clubs. I do agree totally with your comments about what football means and also that it would be over-saturation. if you have too much of something the importance can fade.

Raya certainly isnt the best goalkeeper in the Championship, and to be fair the Championship has very decent goalkeepers in it. Undoubtedly talented but far too eccentric and error prone at the moment. A good goalkeeper is one that breeds confidence and often one that is seldom noticed, Raya is the opposite of that. Walton is steadier, less talented but also makes less dramatic errors. Made quite a few mistakes of lesser profile but ones that led to goals in the first half of the season, but was much improved if nothing special as the season progressed. Take your point about loaning him in though for sure. I think with McLaughlin, ultimately had we not been amidst a pandemic, it would have been a very underwhelming addition. With no money around, it may at best turn into an understandable one. He was the number 1 for the most part at Sunderland aside from a spell earlier in the season when his form dipped. Was key to their side that made the play off final the year prior. Hardly a glittering CV though! I think Samba at Forest is the best keeper in the league personally.

Yeah sorry, no Premier League games allowed on TV in the normal 3-5 timeslot. I suspect that obviously to essentially make every game available on TV makes a lot of sense to the big cats financially but up until now it was un-doable. The unprecedented impact of the pandemic might actually create precedent to adopt such a Premier League schedule, with negative consequences.

"If we had a half decent recruitment team he is easily replaceable" Most comments on there seem to be about the overall situation and their issues with ownership, but that is hardly a glowing endorsement. Then again, a League 1 keeper who has spent part of this season out of this team due to poor form, with an underwhelming CV and soon to be 33, I am not sure we can expect miracles.

I thought this might make an interesting discussion, not sure if it should be merged with any current thread though. Obviously the Premier League fixtures between now and the last day of the season are only available on TV and as a result they have been staggered so that there are never 2 games on at the same time. Gary Neville pointed out that it is like that in Spain anyway and asked whether it would be worth adopting a similar schedule full time once the pandemic is over. He did suggest to have a 3 o clock black out still to protect the lower league clubs (in which he has a vested interest in one) and they even talked about the fanciful idea of fans turning up early and staying around late in club bars to watch the live football. The idea of constant football might seem brilliant but I personally would be staunchly against the idea personally. The idea of constant football isnt as good as it seems. I also think it would destroy an element of tradition regarding our culture in this country surrounding the 3 o clock games, the pub prior, the scores all coming in, Match of the Day afterwards etc and it would unavoidably have an impact moving down the leagues financially on attendances. It would also devalue the importance and interest in the football if it was literally on all the time, even more than before. 4 or 5 games a week moved for TV is possibly already a little too far but to be fair I havent complained to date but you still have at least some of the Premier League games on at 3 o clock. The prospect of promotion would become slightly less enviable if I knew that literally every game was on at different times.