He shouldnt HAVE to start but I dont think hes any better in midfield. In the centre he should be right down the pecking order, hes not good enough on the ball, and even during a sustained run in League 1 he proved that he cannot offer anything like the attacking threat required to play out wide and justify a place there.

I dont particularly think that either are that good to be honest, Adarabioyo up until on Saturday to me has appeared rather flimsy, Rodwell was good on the ball but its no good if you cant defend. Thankfully he was far better at actually defending on Saturday, especially aerially. I think we have only kept one clean sheet with him starting and he came off after an hour on that day. Lenihan is somewhat overrated because hes actually willing to put his head on the line which has made him unique, but we did keep a few clean sheets consecutively with him at the heart of it, and thus I would have to say him. He has always been very rash and theres always a mistake in there though, and although secondary he is crap on the ball bringing it out, although his assist v Millwall was superb. I definitely think that with Cunningham injured, when Lenihan back our back 4 should be Nyambe, Lenihan, Adarabioyo and Williams, which is still pretty poor, but the best we have until January.

Thats a little simplistic though, your comments imply that Hudson Odoi and McEachran are of the same (or were) ability, as if McEachran would have had exactly the same impact had they got the same chance. Agree that a lot of it is down to luck and chances, but you look at your comments below, that experience that Graham has, knowledge of the game is exactly why IMO it is impossible to justify playing any of the younger but far inferior strikers in his place. Not all players develop that game intelligence at the same pace, or even at all. I think as a full back to be fair, you wouldnt be overly scared of either, neither are particularly good. That said, Feeney has apparently been on fire in League 1 this year, with plenty of assists. I wouldnt say Mahoney is twice the player that Feeney is at all, and Feeney as we all know is pretty poor.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/quicktest/18019452.rovers-weigh-options-mowbray-explains-travis-absence/ “I’ve left him out for a few games, because he’s been poor with his distribution and was getting caught on the ball.” I dont necessarily think that as a standalone comment, that there is anything wrong with that, he may have a point. But he replaced him in central midfield with Elliott Bennett! Who cant pass wind. (Although if chaddy is to believe did a man marking job on Paul Gallagher that had Kante taking notes!)

I do think we have some good players, but with some of our weaknesses and imbalances, most obviously our defence and goalkeeper mean that even a manager like Alex Neil would struggle to get us into the top 6 IMO.

It was the quote that "the only difference between Jack Vale and a first teamer like Joe Rothwell is experience" which seemed a bit of a stretch. I dont doubt that Mowbray is perhaps over cautious with our youngsters, but the one thing I do think we need to look at is our use of the loan system. Buckley is the perfect candidate, when he features he looks lost IMO, he needs a loan spell in League 1 or 2, get kicked out a bit, learn through mistakes when to pass the ball and when to hold on to it. Our recent history of loans spells has been pretty poor, Wharton is a good example, you look at Fisher who I dont think has played a League game, I get that it can be very difficult to loan a player to a club in terms of guaranteeing game time, and there being a balance between getting them game time at as high a level as possible and getting them regular games, but we need to get better loans for our youngsters. Callum Hudson-Odoi is as good a youngster as you will find, and a special talent, whether he underwhelmed in one game or not.

Its a little presumptious to suggest that all a young player lacks is experience over a senior player, you look at Travis who took to first team football like a duck to water, Buckley in comparison has looked a little boy lost. Magloire last season was likewise. I think Hudson Odoi was regularly impressing at that level, one game isnt a fair gauge really. I think there is potential for Mowbray to try a few more, Chapman and Rankin Costello for example, I do agree, but there is a huge gap between kids and mens football.

Alex Neil is undoubtedly a top Championship manager and a vast improvement on Mowbray but as you say I think people overstate our squad. Goalkeeper is as bad as youll find in the league, defence is bottom half quality, including Tosin who before Saturday hadnt convinced at all regarding his ability to do the bread and butter. Travis is good but not a patch on, if you are doing a direct comparison, Ben Pearson, Johnson has been a liability, Downing is tidy but hardly the threat he was a few years ago, we are struggling for a goalscorer too, we have a few good players but its imbalanced and particularly weak in certain areas.

Not a chance wed get a fee that high for him IMO.

Do we really? Dack, the injured Cunningham and maybe Holtby aside, I am not sure weve got any top 6 quality players or anywhere near.

Rhodes' most prolific season here was his first when he usually played as a lone striker, maybe with a number 10. Was particularly good with Dunn I felt.

Again I think this is a myth. I cant really remember him coming on and having a massive impact very often, whereas when he was starting games consecutively last season he very much was having a massive impact. Totally agree on Buckley. As much as I was happy for him as a young Academy lad scoring on Saturday, I have only seen evidence to suggest that he is quite a way off our first team.

He did get a run last season and he was outstanding so im not sure that is a fair comment at all. He in that last 10/12 games regularly was a key player for us. He this season was undeservedly dropped at the start of the season despite this, with Mowbrays favourite Armstrong preferred. He has started 3 games, all in isolation, all away from home in difficult games.

No, you drop Bennett who contrary to what you keep saying did not do a Makelele like job on Gallagher, and play our best central midfielder Travis with another, Downing, Johnson or at a push Evans. The fact that you havent taken that as the joke it clearly was is funnier than the actual joke.

Would bring in Rothwell for Armstrong and Graham for Gallagher. And make sure Dack is back in his natural position.

Travis can match Bennetts energy and accompany it with ability but he was dropped as a result. Net effect of a weird blind spot and overriding loyalty was another penalty conceded. In regards to Mowbray as a manager, I dont doubt the general issues that people have regarding his management as I have the same. I just dont think its fair and indeed tarnishes any other opinions when people refuse to credit him for a decision he actually did get right in favour of focusing solely on a decision he may or was going to (but didnt) make in a different scenario.

To be fair, Mowbrays substitutions or selections have often warranted the criticism they have got. Only last week, his strange decision to start Bennett in central midfield who obviously conceded another penalty was one thing, but his inactivity in terms of not utilising the experience we had on the bench that the team was crying out for was stupidity. This week however, I think its totally unfair to focus solely on the subs he would have made in a different situation (if they didnt score) and as a result totally dismissing the fact that as the game did unravel, he did make the sub that won us the game, as you personally do give credit for. We can do that without changing your overall opinion of whether we are best placed to progress under his management, which again I dont think we are. As a side note, he is bleating on again about the performances against the likes of Luton in the Lancashire Telegraph today as if they warranted more points than what we got. Just opening old wounds with that because we didnt deserve anything, we were shite.

Why sadly regarding Stoke? The more clubs in disarray, the better for us surely.

Stoke can do miles better than hasbeen no marks like Pardew or O'Neill whose day was with Celtic close to 2 decades ago.

Was you not quite scathing of Leeds decision to sack Heckingbottom despite piss poor results at Leeds before appointing Bielsa?

To be fair, I dont think anyone has "repositioned" themselves, indeed people including chaddy have said that they are still of the opinion that we need a change of manager.

Do you give any credit to Mowbray for, regardless of what subs he would have made had the score stayed goalless, bringing on the man who got the winner?

The thing is, youve gone out of your way to discredit the manager on the rare recent example when he actually deserves a bit of praise. Even @Paul Mani who you are responded too has said in the post you are quoting that he doesnt think that Mowbray is the man to take us forward. I even managed to get out of @chaddyrovers that his opinion of wanting the manager replaced from last week hasnt changed on the back of one win. I have been very critical of Mowbray myself. What sub Mowbray was initially planning on making is totally irrelevant. No one is saying that bringing on Buckley proves that he has learnt or that he is the man to take us forward, or that he is going to be "let off the hook again." When I saw the sub being made, Buckley who has always looked a little out of place playing Championship football for Downing, I was a bit underwhelmed by it. But ultimately, the sub he did make yesterday did work and did help to get us the win. Do I think that this sub is the bringing of a new dawn? No I certainly do not. Has it changed by mindset on Mowbrays ability to take us where we want to go? No. But is it fair to discredit successful decisions based on decisions he perhaps would have made had a different situation arisen, ie had goals happened or not happened? Definitely not.

Whilst I agree with the notion that Mowbray is overly conservative at times, that he has favourites who play undeservedly and those who dont get the chances they deserve etc, again some of these individual cases are myths. Travis got into the team, and we all thought that as soon as Smallwoods suspension had ended, he would return to the bench. Since, Travis has been a regular and Smallwood cannot get into the squad. Holtby took longer than I'd like to be given his first start, but since hes had it, he has since been injured and as soon as he has got back to fitness, he started again. And Adarabioyo was very good yesterday, but up until then he has looked quite flimsy IMO, would like to see him next to Lenihan with Williams and Nyambe at full back. No way will Bennett ever be squeezed out under Mowbray, he cannot bear to leave him out for one single game regardless of performance and regardless of what position he has to squeeze him into, he is and will forever be first name on the team sheet.

He was run ragged. He is quite simply not good enough yet is clearly undroppable.