1) The reason for sacking is not because we arent in the top 6 at all, suggesting that shows a level of ignorance IMO. It is a lack of belief that the manager is capable of turning this side into a top 6 challenged as he has mentioned. The main reasons for that are : -prolonged series of poor results far exceeding the duration of a blip in form -continued reluctance to experiment/continued overloyalty to inadequate players and sticking to a formula that isnt working -continued inability to set up a defence mirroring similar troubles at previous clubs. Conceded 3 less with 7 games to go than we did under a season with Coyle as manager for most of the season. -disastrous previous summer transfer window with considerable funds (no starters yesterday not at the club last year) displaying zero logic in trusting him with another summer window. 2) Neither side, especially Rotherham is a worthwhile barometer of success. Our wage budget as discussed by Waggott would rank higher in the league than where we are, and we spent 8 figures in terms of transfer fees in the summer. Both them 2 sides have been in and out of League 1 recently. If you want to have unrealistically low standards then thats your call. 3) What kind of logic is that? If part of Mowbrays sales pitch to stay in a job that he is not as bad as Kean and Coyle then its a pretty flimsy one.

There are 2 aspects here that confuse me a little: 1) We are in a position where no matter what wide man combination we have used, we seem to concede goals. Why is there a myth that Rothwell is so much more defensively irresponsible than everyone else? Armstrong is no better from that aspect and he didnt deserve to walk back into the team yesterday. 2) Of course he will be judged by his league finish! That said, your statement implies that experimenting will result in a lower league position. The results with the status quo in the last 10 games suggest otherwise.

Totally agree with the point you are making but not your specific examples. Dack is our best player and who we should be building around, there is no reason why we should play only one or the other, we should try and fit Dack and Rothwell in together. I also felt that Magloire looked well away in terms of being ready for the first team. The last 7 games have to be with a view to next season. No Conway, Bennett, Smallwood or Williams, whats the point, they are tired and tested. In goal, Raya may aswell carry on because Leutweiler wont be here next season. Nyambe and Bell may aswell continue at full back, although I don't rate the latter at all defensively. Lenihan has to start, I would personally play Mulgrew simply because I dont see any alternatives in terms of being anywhere near ready at the moment. In midfield, Travis is the first name in there now. I would love to see Rodwell given a run in there, I think he has more than enough quality AS A MIDFIELDER to warrant a new deal. I would also like to see Davenport get at least 2 or 3 starts. They should be the 3 at the forefront of Mowbrays mind. Wide is an area we have struggled to get any excitement or supply from. Get Rothwell on the left, Chapman on the right, them 2 with Dack in between will be far more exciting and enterprising. As an alternative, if Armstrong plays, he has to be on the right where it simplifies his game. Graham will be key next season, I dont see a rush to not play him even though he is a veteran, and I dont think either Brereton or Nuttall are near him, but obviously give them minutes as and when.

Thats blatantly untrue. Bowyer, who is not a particularly good manager I would say, had us finishing on 70 points and 67 points in 8th then 9th. He didnt take over a good situation either, the squad he inherited was poor. His recruitment was far, far better than Mowbrays, ultimately he was incapable of getting the team he assembled into the top 6 despite having a 40 goal strikeforce. One of his main flaws was blind spots towards certain players, Lowe was Bowyer's Bennett and Williamson his Smallwood. The football wasnt entertaining but far more effective and it was better on the eye than Mowbrays boring crap. We were much better off under Bowyer than Mowbray as a Championship team, however.

The issue centres around development for next season. Mowbray was given a very healthy budget in the summer and we went to Villa Park with a fully fit squad bar Evans and not one of the starters wasnt here last season. How can that be justified? The Brereton deal is done to death I admit but he has taken responsibility for it and it was incredibly negligent considering the state of our defence. So how can people argue that he knows what to do this summer when he got last summer so badly wrong? Are we after a difficult start now really growing as a team in the division? No, quite the opposite, and the stats over a considerable period are galling, 8 defeats in 10, I think 13 in 22, its horrendous over a large period of time. And also, is he building for next season? Certainly not. Travis is one of the first names on the team sheet but needs a midfield partner. We have a very good technical midfielder in Rodwell whose contract is expiring, why not give him the last run of games to see if he warrants a contract in his natural position? Because he feels the need to shoehorn Bennett in, a player who has come up short in every position he plays in this season yet Mowbray continues to pick 10 players and play him in the place that remains. Why play Conway, he should have been let go 2 or 3 years ago, hes not the future. Rothwell needs a run of games, he was our best player v Wednesday, instantly criticised in public and dropped. Chapman and Davenport have played quite a few full games and are now fit, surely they warrant a place in the squad over Conway, Smallwood, Williams and one or two others. The football is also terrible to watch, which is always secondary to results, but his reasoning behind decisions dont make any sense. How can he say that Rothwell and Chapman are not defensively capable enough to play when we are conceding so many goals as it is and he plays Armstrong wide week in week out, a player who is not defensively responsible himself. He has continued to neglect the defence as he did at previous clubs, why hasnt he learnt his lesson? To bring in Rodwell as one of three "centre backs" at the club was pure stupidity. The whole we have just been promoted crap keeps getting peddled and the season hasnt been a disaster but we were out of the league for 1 season and have spent well over 10 million in the last 2 years, we cannot be directly compared to Wigan and Rotherham. To be clear, I think our current league position is a little underwhelming but no one is saying it is disastrous. I think everyone is basing their desire to see the managerial change on the trajectory of our season, the repetition of the same mistakes, the continued over loyalty to under performing players, and the lack of tangible signs of building ahead of next season. He totally messed up last summer, and has neglected his defence in previous jobs, how can you justify expecting that this summer will be totally different?

Because of his plan which you refuse to discuss. We know.

Not at all, was right in front of me and was laughable as an isolated incident. Not scapegoating at all, he wasnt to blame for defeat.

Familiar disappointment again today coming away after watching stagnant Rovers lose yet again under a manager who the time has come to change. All the senior defenders back, and we conceded in less than 10 minutes, so no excuses. 4 points in 10 games is much more than a blip, the trajectory of our season is very worrying, feels like the end of the road. Notable that the team we started with had no players not here last season. And some think Mowbray should be trusted with another summers recruitment? Bennett was a stand out in having a shocker, he is the new Jason Lowe and people are realising this now. Mowbray picks 10 players and puts Bennett in the position that is left, it is a joke because he doesnt seem to do a competent job in any of the positions. And what are we going to learn from playing an over the hill Conway? The excuse Mowbray uses for not picking Rothwell and before him Chapman, a lack of defensive cover is a load of bollocks, Armstrong provides none either and was again poor but has an automatic place. And a nice mention for a pathetic Brereton dive in front of the touchline in front of the Rovers fans!

How can it be good enough AND he should be doing better? Has 8 goals but only 4 in the league. Graham has contributed to 12 more goals (same assists but 13 goals to 1) so its a flimsy argument!

Graham is a striker so its a bizarre comparison, Graham has 13 goals. Bennett one. Armstrong again has contributed to more goals because he has directly scored more than Bennett, but I have said that for me Armstrong has been underwhelming (in a way his performances this season sum up us as a whole) and he hasnt contributed to enough goals.

Bennetts best spell under Mowbray was that first half season and that was because at that time his work rate and desire was an attribute in itself in that it wasnt a given, there were questions at that time about effort and he stood out because he wad obviously putting it in. He also scored 3 league goals, a figure he has only just matched in nearly 2 seasons which is unacceptable. Whilst I have many misgivings about Mowbray at the moment, I dont question that there seems to be a harmony and that the effort is there. However that renders Bennetts main asset to be nothing out of the ordinary. You need to have quality as well as effort to justify a place. I dont think he was good enough last season in terms of his attacking contribution in a poorer league, especially in the first half of the season as a winger. I dont think hes been good enough this season either. His character alone shouldnt allow him to be the first name on the team sheet.

Ths post of someone who not only is totally behind Mowbray, which is fair enough, but is incapable of considering any criticism of him no matter how constructive. You say let him"get on" with his plan but many dont see a plan, dont see progression and looking at the trajectory of our season its understandable. We arent a team that seems to be getting better, we are getting worse. And we wont get near the top 6 if we are incapable of defending and thats solely down to Mowbrays recruitment and organisation. We have one centre back who can head a ball, one who Mowbray inherited 2 years ago. We have a 7m striker who has started 3 games and not scored, yet we dont have 2 defenders who can head a ball. Pathetic. Players like Smallwood, Conway, Evans and Williams were "rewarded" with new deals and Bennett is first name on the team sheet. Im sure all (bar maybe Evans if unfit) will probably be in the squad tomorrow for a game with little riding on it, with the likes of Chapman, Davenport and Butterworth left behind. The former players wont get us into the top 6, hes got a room for a little experiment, to find players who can help us going forward, not the same tired and tested crap who will bore us to death. The poll for whatever reason has not been re done with much clearer answers as was promised however I suspect that the out/in ratio may have changed since the last count. However, crucially, even many of those happy for Mowbray to remain can see that there are reasons to be worried and things that arent right.

There are a few players (Chapman especially but also the likes of Davenport, Buckley and Butterworth would be in over the likes of Smallwood, Bennett and Conway) that would make me agree with your notion that hes going with the usual suspects. But I thought Magloire especially at Wednesday looked miles short of what is required, and cant head a ball.

Mowbray unsurprisingly going for the same boring set of players and not taking the likes of Chapman and Davenport.

Disagree with Bennett being a capable central midfielder. The game that sticks out in the mind was the Shrewsbury one when he and the "incompetent" (not arguing with that assessment!) Smallwood ran around full of energy and it seemed to knock Shrewsbury off their stride. They failed to replicate such performance levels after that and a couple of months after Bennett was playing at full back and Evans had come into central midfield and was arguably our best player for the last couple of months, something Mowbray himself said. Evans has been far better than Bennett this season and is very tidy on the ball. Ultimately, he impressed the most under Mowbray initially which was at a time when he inherited a side that was perhaps lacking in passion and committment, something you cant doubt in Bennett. As time goes on and work rate becomes a given, then you need quality to accompany it to justify a place in the team. As a winger, he is nowhere near good enough going forward, even in League 1, his crossing is poor and he doesnt take players on nor does he get anywhere near enough goals. As a full back he is often caught out of position and dives in. As a wing back he looks totally uncomfortable and as a central midfielder he isnt technically good enough to control a game. You compare him to players like Travis and Reed in central midfield, two players who share his enthusiasm and energy but ultimately are far more natural centrally and are far more competent on the ball. His versatility is overestimated too because he is poor in many of the positions he supposedly can play in. The primary issue however is that he is now a (admittedly better) Jason Lowe in that he is the first name on the team sheet, and that I cannot see changing.

That article looks purely a case of putting 2 and 2 together, nothing substantial to it.

It tends to wear fans down watching shite for 2 months now, especially with the season being all but over already. We cant defend and one thing that could rectify an inevitably dull season conclusion would be to play exciting players but I suspect his favourites will remain in the team until seasons end.

Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Bell Rodwell Travis Chapman Dack Rothwell Graham Subs: Leutweiler, Armstrong, Brereton, Davenport, Evans, Reed, Butterworth/Buckley Apparently Abraham has pulled out out England under 21 duty tonight with an injury so hopefully they will be without him. Hoping to see Mowbray grow some bollocks ahead of Saturday. Villa are apparently weak at full back and I'm fed up of seeing the likes of Bennett, Conway and Reed out of position plodding up the line and creating precious little. With a little more room to maneovure due to being both safe and not within a chance of the play offs, why not experiment but in a positive way. Dont see the point of having the likes of Conway, Smallwood, Williams and to a lesser extent Bennett taking up places in the 18. Would like to see Rodwell in midfield because he could merit a new deal if played in his correct position. Raya played simply because Leutweiler wont be here next season.

Forget Bennett, specifically Smallwood and Williams who youve said you want rid of. A task made far more difficult by giving them extended deals.

Yeah last summer. Bonkers.

Would you agree that it was an incredibly short sighted mistake to give Smallwood and Williams new deals when we got promoted as "rewards." You wont progress with such a lack of ruthlessness. Same with Bennett and Conway.

Because Dacks place is a given because he has 15 goals and is our top scorer. As is Grahams when he is fit. The only functioning part of our team that doesnt need breaking up.

He definitely should have been selected before crap such as Brown, Varney and even played wide before shite like Chris Taylor.

What job do you have then, to see if it has similar physical requirements as a professional athlete? Players do have natural dips in form, to say teams have worked him out is again jumping to conclusions somewhat. He is not helped by the fact that we play predictable, long ball football. Mowbray is also really reluctant to play players like Rothwell and last season Chapman with technical ability and pace who both linked up well with him.

Seems like you are jumping to conclusions in the extreme to suggest that hes on the wane, his form has dipped as has our whole team, but hes been better in the last 2 games and has got a goal and an assist. Much of my point was aimed at thinking that Armstrong and Rothwell would be capable replacements. They would be downgrades, no doubt about it. Saying that, no reason why all 3 cant play together, Rothwell left, Armstrong right, Dack 10.