Just mainly in regards to the notion that he got his starting 11 wrong. The thing is, I agree that I like you would have played Payne over Evans, with Bennett centrally. But surely being 2 up at half time justifies the initial choice of team, especially Bennetts role on the wing that allowed him to cut in and score. Thus proving us both wrong, today in isolation? Agree on Smallwood being much more effective than Evans but today i thought the latter was slightly more effective.

My point is, I along with you wouldnt have picked Evans. But the way we set up initially led to us leading 2-0 at half time, comfortably, so how can you say that it was wrong? Especially when you mention Bennetts position, yet his role on the left wing was what enabled him to score the second goal. So surely that justifies Bennetts selection there, even if you felt he was put there more for defensive responsibilities or whatever? I thought that Bennett did really well in general out wide, and I've been one of his biggest critics there this season. Even if you feel like he stumbled upon it, the team that started the game was one that worked really well in that first half. If you think he chose a team to contain and that how we did in that first half was not necessarily down to the tactical approach, more down to individuals or whatever, then fair enough, but he got the starting 11 right even if he did it by chance. (which I think would be very harsh on him) There are aspects that are open to be criticised, im not saying Mowbray was perfect today, for example the most obvious error in hindsight was the lateness of his subs and also the players brought on didnt aid us in holding on to a 2 goal lead, and the fact that we let the lead slip in the first place brings the tactics into question,. You mention Corry Evans, I don't rate him but he was no worse than Smallwood today. You say that his substitution lead to us "halting the slide," the remaining 15 minutes hardly saw a Rovers resurgence, in fact if any team was going to go on and win, it was Wigan, and bringing on Antonsson and Nuttall at that time did nothing to make us more threatening, both were totally ineffective. You say that we are over-reliant on Dack, but he is the best player in the league, any League 1 team would be somewhat dependent on him, but all 4 attacking players played their part in that first half, we looked well balanced.

I was disappointing with the non selection of Payne but im not sure how you can claim a moral victory when we were so dominant in the first half? Especially when someone youd have chosen to play central midfield scored from the left wing. I do think Mowbray got things wrong in the second half in terms of substitutions, but im not too sure you can suggest that he got the line up wrong. Is it? He looked quite poor whenever he played in midfield, he was not good enough on the ball, his attributes are better suited to playing in defence, where he has looked far more accomplished as seen today. Don't get this urge to move our centre backs into midfield.

Doesnt upset me, just this and your nonsense about Dave Whelan suggests you are trying to get peoples backs up. Maybe im wrong.

Its obvious that you are just saying things now to try and provoke a reaction.

Agreed on Rowett, not sure about the squad but probably enough to avoid relegation. Jota was quality at Brentford, has been rubbish this, Stockdale is a good keeper, any team with Jason Lowe in it will struggle, and Jutkiewicz and Gallagher has to be the worst strike force in the league. That said, theres enough rubbish with Sunderland, Burton and Bolton to avoid relegation if they get anyone half decent. Linked with Monk who has consistently failed recently.

Not before time.

There are 2 aspects, both of which split opinion, the application of VAR and the theory of it being used. For me, the grey areas of the system, the communication, time etc can all be improved but that isnt even my bug bear with it. I dont think it can work perfectly, as you see with Tottenhams wrongly disallowed goal, someone has seen something that has baffled basically everyone else, its subjective. But its the fact that it ruins the moment when you score a goal if you have to wait to see if it is allowed. It kills the emotion. I would rather accept that mistakes will be made.

Pitch has looked as poor as I can remember it recently.

It wasnt a direct comparison, stop taking it out of context. Just was saying that any positive physical attributes will always be counteracted by a poor work ethic, i dont feel when i watch him that hes working hard enough. If he rated Samuel and had no doubts about him surely hed feature more than the occasional sub appearance. Samuel has never proved in his career that he is a capable goalscorer (unlike Graham), we paid for promise and youth that as of yet hasnt looked likely to materialise into anything more.

If he was convinced then hed be in the team. Self explanatory. Graham was out of form but managed to break back in, Armstrong has since been signed, and both are doing what Samuel has been unable to, and now barely plays. I have made the judgement myself (shared by others) that his body language and work ethic is not that of a player desperate to earn his place back, hence me questioning his attitude.

I said that he has assets(pace and power) that are useful if applied correctly, I dont think Leon Best is useful because of his brain meaning that anything he does have going for him is rendered meaningless due to a lack of work rate and work ethic. If you think I am implying that Leon Best as a player is useful then you dont understand my point. The only reason I even found that article is because im not the only one to question his work rate here, so the fact its a running theme makes it even more of a concern. The 2 players you mentioned were geniuses, they had shown their ability in the past, it was just their temperament that needed keeping in check, the ability was never in question, sadly with Samuel even that is in doubt. My point in regards to Mowbrays view, is that hes clearly not 100% convinced hence him falling down the pecking order.

I never said Best is useful, again you are taking peoples comments out of context. He has a bit of power and pace but my point was that hes never taken full advantage of these attributes because of whats between his ears. Another person weve debated is Elliott Bennett who admittedly from a different position also isnt scoring in the moment. That said, his attitude is what you want to see from a player, even if hes not scoring goals. Samuel on the other hand is like chalk and cheese. The attitude questions that have been raised ring further alarm bells when you discover that managers in the past have had the same problem. You keep saying Mowbray has taken to him, but he had the shirt to keep earlier in the season and now hes 3rd choice, behind Graham and Armstrong who he signed since he got Samuel.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/curious-case-dominic-samuel-never-13362740 Managers have come and gone since McDermott, but none really took to Samuel. Nigel Adkins was critical of the player's attitude, as was current boss Jaap Stam. Samuel never a key part in Steve Clarke's plans when he was manager. This is where I found that hes been accused of having a poor attitude in the past. I don't agree at all that hes worked hard when hes been on the pitch, hes looked at times disinterested.

Only because you either ignored my point or didnt understand, the point was they both have attributes that are useful, power and pace, enough for managers to take a chance of, and I suggested that I hope that Samuel doesnt have a similar career, ie many clubs but never really finding a home due to a poor attitude. I know, but he clearly isnt convinced, hence him being dropped. Samuel doesnt deserve to be anywhere near the team, in his chances hes looked ineffective and disinterested, the opposite of Graham, he doesnt deserve a run of games.

Mentioned in a conversation with @chaddyrovers in another thread. Albeit my loose comparison to Loon Best was taken out of context and got peoples backs up. Hes got certain attributes but he came with previous managers having given up on his poor attitude, he never threatens to do anything noteworthy, the application isnt there, hes not got the ability either, even at this level and hopefully he will move on in the summer.

Based on what? As @old darwen blue pointed out Hart has been loaned out. We have 2 senior left backs, and the young 2 are loaned out to gain experience, why that winds you up is beyond me.

I've no idea but hes a strange signing, nowhere near good enough.

No it shouldnt! His knee was offside, a part of his body that he can play the ball with, therefore the actual decision was correct. To clarify, I do agree with your repeatedly told opinion though that VAR should be scrapped. Thats even on the assumption that is made much more efficient, ie better communication, much quicker, people given the correct pictures and not the farce seen on Saturday. Another thing is its only in certain games at the moment, which is unfair, but even if that was changed and it was brought into every game. None of these are reasons to get rid of VAR because they are things that you could argue can be improved. I just feel that, even if all of that happened, there will always be the grey area of whether a mistake is clear cut enough to go to a replay in the first place. But more importantly, it takes the emotion out of the game, even Wagner said that and he got the benefit of VAR. Goals are what makes football, and if a goal has to be reviewed first, it is the equivalent of letting all of the air out of a balloon, once the decision is made the euphoria is gone. Its the debate of whether you want more correct decisions at the cost of the entertainment and spectacle of the game. Sadly though I think VAR is here to stay, albeit it will be tweaked no doubt.

But Payne is a natural number 10, not a winger, and Chapman is an out and out pacy winger, our only one.

Good team. Only potential change would be wide left. Stuck between Armstrong, Antonsson and Payne. Nows not the time for massive change so agree on no stupid new formation. Only issue is injuries to Chapman and Whittingham. Also agree that on this seasons performances Bennett certainly isnt in our best 11.

Agree to disagree on Lenihans ability to play central midfield, but surely you agree theres a big void next to Mulgrew with his name on it?

We need Lenihan at centre back, where hes impressed in the past, whereas hes never looked good enough on the ball to be a midfielder. Smallwood is fine there, admittedly Bennett needs dropping. Wonder how long before Whittingham is back fit.

Thought he was ok today, but nearly allowed them to nip in through on goal at the end, shown enough to prove he can cover but wouldnt rush to put him in the team.

Correct, especially to get promoted you need consistency, which is why throwing in a raft of kids all at once is a bad idea, as they wont give you that. 1 or 2 maybe, correct on Nuttall, hes arguably our brightest u23 player yet hes so far away from Graham in terms of effectiveness, as youd expect.