Good half but weve been assisted with the wind in the same way that they will be second half. Have to make sure we dont mess this up now. Been on top but bailed out by a couple of superb Walton saves. I think the Samuel incident could have gone either way. Buckley lucky with the deflection but his overall performance has been by far his best in a Rovers shirt. Downing is a class above.

Which rumours am I fine with? Like I said, I have been very consistent in my opinion about Buckley being nowhere near ready and needing a loan spell in the lower leagues. I think to be honest that is a view shared by more than most. You are clutching at straws suggesting that his exlusion would lead to criticism.

The most logical thing would be to play Samuel as a right winger?

He usually plays him wide to be fair. Rightly or wrongly!

I think you are a little too focused on trying to highlight The Chapman rumours have snowballed again with perhaps slightly more foundation than the Maddison ones but still. But ultimately we lack natural width and our only natural winger I would like to get a chance within an injury crisis. Hes done little to warrant a start because hes never given a game. He certainly never looked as lightweight and ineffectual as Buckley has done. Who has given Mowbray pelters for not starting Buckley? I have been very consistent on my view that basically every time he has featured he has looked well off the standard and physically lost. Indeed most have said the same.

Bit strange to see Carter on the bench and Mulgrew playing with the kids.

No I wasnt saying that it was your only reason, but I personally think that if any decision is plagued by fear of appointing another Coyle or Kean then we might as well pack up now!

Hope its a narrow 442 with Samuel and Armstrong together. Would have personally gone for Brereton over Samuel but suppose the latter would have felt hard done by, and Buckley is still lightweight and would have gone Chapman there. Need to win today.

Sammy Ameobi is very average but would get into the weakest area of our squad.

Out of interest, you was quite strong of the belief that Venkys would do anything to get us into the Premier League and are only hindered by FFP. On the flip side, you are also terrified of what they will do post Mowbray. Could you not argue that these 2 mindsets are at odds with one another? I still dont think that fear of the alternatives is a valid reason in isolation, especially when you are suggesting your own personal opinion on what you would do. If you think Mowbray is the man to get us into the Premier League, then fine, but if not, it has no logic to accept mediocrity rather than being willing to gamble, because quite frankly, what is the point?

Maddison getting his first goal.

Maybe but its just the way I would play, @Ewood Ace hits the nail on the head regarding a lack of assists from the full backs so any notion of overlapping is moot. Downing especially will possibly play narrower than many wingers so theres less risk of being outnumbered and he can get crosses in from that side. Dont think the inverted wingers is a successful tactic, indeed Mowbrays use of wide players has not been a strength during his time here.

Found Bradley Johnsons comment yesterday that hed "rather be part of the chasing pack rather than looking over his shoulder" to be very bizarre, talk about making the best out of a situation. Youd rather have extra points and be further up the bloody table!

Walton Nyambe Lenihan Adarabioyo Bell Chapman Travis Johnson Downing Brereton Armstrong Subs: Hilton, Williams, Bennett, Buckley, Davenport, Samuel, Graham Think I would go with that. Judgement call to partner Armstrong and if we at any point in danger of being over run in midfield, move Downing inside and play Armstrong and Chapman either side of Brereton.

Pretty central and he was perhaps too far over to his left. It ended in the corner only because he got a hand to it but not a strong enough one to keep it out. Not a massive howler but one I think he should be doing better with. The standard of keeping in the Championship is really poor. You look at even the top 6, the goalkeepers are Johnstone, Casilla, Rodak, Raya, Samba and Rudd. Only Samba is any good there really. Not a chance that Brighton have Walton as number 1 next year.

I made a point of saying that I appreciate that some of these goals are not particularly eye catching errors, but including the Sheffield Wednesday one, they are goals that a competent Championship goalkeeper should be very frustrated at his part in. Just because a mistake isnt eye catching doesnt mean that it doesnt warrant criticism because ultimately they still led to goals when really they shouldnt have done.

Yes I think he should be dissapointed that he didnt, the ball went in the middle of the goal. No I have listed goals which I think he was directly responsible for, but also said that I dont think hes amongst the very worst of a fairly sorry overall standard of goalkeepers in this league, nor do I think he is particularly good or worth signing. Hes conceded the 10th or 11th least goals in the League which is average/ok but of course also dependant on the defence in front of him. And?

Agreed, its not going to be an easy game necessarily, but its one against a team right near the bottom, who have scraped together a team, if youve got genuine top 6 hopes, and thats before you consider a 6 point, 3 place deficit, you go there expecting to win and frustrated if you dont. Its an eminently winnable game for a side with top 6 aspirations.

I think our fans are quite used to not having that intense pressure and mentality whereby any dropped points are rued. We just muddle along without ever actually really being in the mix, never in the top 6. On the face of things, going to Charlton away on the back of a home win might seem like a positive one, a point on the road, a long distance away day, but ultimately, it would be a week of 2 home games out of 3 in which we have lost more points than we have gained. Charlton are near the bottom, it wont be easy, stick in all of the usual platitudes, big crowd, long journey, fighting for their lives, but its a game that if you genuinely see yourself in the top 6 at the end of the season, without factoring in the deficit, its your bread and butter. If we have genuine aspirations of the play offs, we have to realise that not only do we need to be hitting top 6 form, we need to be considerably better because we need to make up a considerable 6 point deficit on 6th place, and not only that, leap frog 7th and 8th as well as obviously factoring any potentially brilliant runs from anyone below us. 6 points may not seem a lot but it certainly is over 14 games. It is very much a long shot and as such will not be achieved without a remarkable run from here on in.

Like I said, I appreciate that some goalkeepers such as Raya tend to make more dramatic mistakes or more eye catching ones but some of the ones that Walton has made are ones that a good Championship goalkeeepr would not expect to concede. He isnt an eye catching keeper and I do appreciate that it does feel calmer when he is in the net but we have conceded quite a few goals that I have been disappointed in him for conceding, just not ones like Raya at Hull or Casilla at Brentford bad. What about the one at Stoke, that has to be an error? Or the one v Sheffield Wednesday when he misjudged the cross, was beaten to it at the near post and they tapped it in at the far post? The penalty v Forest was a misjudgement because he didnt need to run out like he did, even Mowbray describe it as "our goalkeeper making a poor decision for the second goal." Ones like the Mitrovic one are not blatant and obvious errors but they are shots that good Championship goalkeepers would surely expect to save, likewise dealing with the one at Boro better rather than tapping it into the path of Coulson. I am not saying that he is the weakest point in our team, or a terrible goalkeeper, or using hyperbole like he is worse than Steele, but he has been responsible for quite a few goals, some blatant errors like the one at Preston, some less eye catching but ones a keeper worth his salt would be dealing with.

If them same people refuse to acknowledge that Dack, Armstrong, Adarabioyo and Downing are good signings then you have a point but I doubt it.

It isnt "one or two errors" or even "3 or 4." West Brom away first goal, although Cunningham more to blame for lack of communication, so perhaps let him off there. Huddersfield at home - lets poor shot trickle in from distance Preston away - horrendous misjudgement leads to start of comeback with first goal. Sheffield Wednesday at home - misjudges another cross that leads to a tap in Barnsley at home - spills leading to a tap in Stoke away - really poor, weak indecisive goalkeeping from a corner leads to a very unavoidable goal Forest away - allows a weak cross to sail in for the first Forest away - misjudgement leads to a penalty and goal Boro away - Spills cross/shot right into the path of their player to score Fulham home - allows Mitrovic to score with weak shot central in the goal The thing is that his errors in line with his style in general may be just as costly as an error from Raya but they are often far less headline grabbing. When Raya (or quite a few keepers) makes a mistake it is usually a blatant one.

I wouldnt like to see him played out of position!

Shot was right down the middle. He had perhaps gone too far across and was slow getting down to it. Hardly a major error but a good keeper I think saves that.

Made far more than that, just not calamatious ones. Was responsible for the last 2 goals conceded.