You keep saying people are thinking Preston have had a "great season" but as @Exiled in Toronto pointed out to you they finished 7th last season. They havent had a great season this year. Also, theres no way that we have similar resources. Preston broke their transfer record in January for Potts from Barnsley if im not mistaken for the first time since signing David Healy. Less than what we paid for Armstrong who they were priced out of signing. They havent had 10m to spend, plus Waggott has stated this season that our wage budget is very competitive whereas Preston are reknown for having a small budget.

Hes been very good lately and is a player id be happy at being in the team next season but talk of bigger clubs circling may be premature. Hes not had a brilliant season by any means and has had further injury problems.

I would agree that even though promotion was still a expectation, it can still also be very much considered an achievement. But minor point, I dont think Prestons season has been described as "amazing" by anyone. They had a horrendous start where they ended a good 10 points below us, theyve been ravaged by injuries and of course recently a dip in form has coincided with their manager being linked away. Theyve been much closer to the play offs in the last 2 seasons.

Varane, Pique, Godin, De Ligt or Ramos no good for you?

Id keep him too but id disagree with that second bit. Poor at centre back.

Think he started the cup game v Newcastle and the league game v Boro, both at home.

Im not writing Buckley off, nor am I unaware that it is very understandable for him to show signs of nerves. I just thought he looked like a fish out of water. I'm sure hes got a bright future but to be honest 2-0 up against a shocking, relegated Bolton is as comfortable a game as he could get and he looked off the pace. Also, I think Butterworths position meant that of course any mistakes are less likely to cause problems, but I just thought he looked miles closer to pushing for a squad place on a more regular basis.

Why 18 months?

Thought it wasnt a great performance nor a great game against a horrendous side, but a comfortable win with plenty of positives. Brereton was much, much better. Superb finish, although missed a couple of other chances including an absolute sitter, but that monkey is hopefully off his back. Also though some of his hold up in general was much better. One thing I would say is he doesnt spend enough time central, he drifts to the sides too often and it can leave us without a pivot, I get that its not his game but when someone has the ball wide he needs to get in between the posts. The three in behind him all played their part in the second goal and obviously Dacks pass for the first was excellent without any of them being at their absolute best, Rothwell I would say was the best of the 3. Thought Rodwell was very impressive, Travis didnt have his best game before getting injured but Rodwell looked so composed, looked more energetic and played one ball in particular that I felt Armstrong didnt put 100% into getting on the end of that split the whole defence. Worth a new deal solely as a midfielder. Lenihan and Williams totally fine again, look good together, Bell I thought first half in particular was very erratic again, not a fan, Nyambe not the most convincing either. Bennett isnt a central midfielder either, some terrible passes when he came on. In terms of the 2 younger lads, Butterworth added urgency, went on a lovely run and in general kept wanting the ball and looked a threat. Buckley sadly I thought looked well off the pace and well out of his depth, his shot summed up his performance really as much as I was to willing him to impress, I feel like hes quite a bit from being a squad regular at the moment.

The problem at that time was that not only could we only offer 10k but we also were unable due to the embargo to pay a fee. The likes of Conway, Marshall, Duffy, Cairney and Gestede all cost small fees, less combined than Breretons.

The reason Brereton courts far more debate than say Dack is because there is no debate to be had about Dack, every single person on this messageboard would agree that hes been superb signing. At this point in time, Brereton has not shown any signs of being a competent striker and as a result, is at this time an undeniably terrible signing.

Rothwell wouldnt be a Rovers player at all if it wasnt for Mowbray so to say hes a good one in spite of Mowbray is a little unfair. That being said, I dont think at this point in time you could judge him as a very good signing simply on account of lack of games and as a result, goals and assists. Travis has much less reason to feel aggrieved about how he has been treated, indeed I have been pleasantly surprised that he has managed to break up the Evans and Smallwood axis on practically a permanent basis since coming into the team at Sheffield United. Deservedly so.

Dack is very much a widely received and undoubted massive success story, something Mowbray has universally been credited for. Unbelievable value for the price we paid and worth over 10 times that amount now. Rothwell is in the middle, a player with undoubted ability but only just establishing himself in the team and with very few goal contributions this season as a result. So with him, theres credit for finding a seemingly talented player coupled with question marks about how he has been used. Brereton is one deal that at this moment cannot really be justified but one that you have defended ad nauseam so surely your last sentence also should apply to yourself?

Travis as good as hes been has only played for half a season, wed have been a lot worse off without Graham as we see in the time when hes not in the team.

You can vote again. Ultimately, it is very normal that results change a vote on a managers future. For me, there have been far more green shoots of hope in the last 3 games of course. The fear for me is that he will go back to the status quo. Will Mowbray permanently go with the current front 4 or go back to the defensive winger nonsense? Will he continue to leave out the likes of Smallwood and Mulgrew? Is he trustworthy with a summer transfer window after blowing a massive, massive fee on a dolloper? And also a worry that Bennett STILL has to be shoehorned in, and that he is unwilling to even try the kids (including Chapman and Davenport) from the bench.

Well of course, a manager will always be criticised if we get battered, point being he will have learnt that x and y arent ready. I do agree that there was plenty to be satisfied about, as I said to Stuart. Theres plenty of that team that we are building around going into that next season, Lenihan, Travis, Rothwell, Dack and Armstrong, with Graham too, and even if there is an element of window dressing in terms of our final league position, id still rather win every game if possible and finish as high as possible. Regarding Brereton, it would be totally senseless to stick him out wide however. If you are going to play him anywhere play him up front surely, in his actual position. All the evidence suggests that he is not going to compete with Graham even next season, but if you are going to give him a chance to start surely you do it in his actual position. Not much point in giving players 10 minutes either, if they are actually part of his plans it doesnt tell them that when they get 10 minutes of a dead rubber against a relegated team.

Raya Nyambe Lenihan Williams Bell Travis Davenport Armstrong Dack Rothwell Brereton Subs: Leutweiler, Graham, Butterwoeth Lenihan captain. I'm not totally convinced by the Brereton selection but if ever there was a chance for a goal! Bringing in the likes of Nyambe and Davenport for Bennett and Evans for me brings in youth without taking any risk or decreasing the quality of the team. Leaves an average age of less than 23. I've also gone with plenty of youthful options on the bench.

I totally appreciate and share your criticism that no younger lads were included in the 18 over the likes of Smallwood and Mulgrew, however I think you are totally dismissing aspects of the performance which are planning for next season. To say the performance "means nothing" is IMO needlessly dismissive. For example, whether he chooses to continue with this way of playing or not being another matter, but weve seen again the benefit of abandoning the need for a "defensive winger" and shown how well playing 2 attacking players (with Armstrong at his best on the right rather than left) in wide areas and how it doesnt lead to a defensive collapse. The 4 attacking players are all going to be here next year, and the 3 behind Graham are all of an age where they can have plenty of scope to improve, at 25, 24 and 22 years old. Behind that, the likes of Travis and Lenihan are again young players to build around and were both outstanding, and i'd like to think that Williams days as a potential left back are long gone. I didnt agree with giving a rubbish keeper a game, but I suspect it was more a case of punishing Raya for poor performances all season rather than aimed at Leutweiler.

He signed a new 2 year deal 2 weeks ago.

Good performance and win and we really should be taking a much more convincing win back with us. He HAS to drop this defensive winger nonsense, proved again today that 2 pacy wide men gave us excellent balance but also didnt lead to us being defensively disorganised as he has suggested, indeed Rothwell in particular did some very commendable work going the other way. Armstrong was absolutely outstanding, Ive never really understood Mowbray constantly using him on the left, whenever he plays on the right it seems to play into his strengths and make his game much more simple, when hes on the left he often makes the wrong decisions coming back in field. Put in a few superb balls in and terrorised their left back. Dack was also terrific, Rothwell a constant danger too and Graham as usual was a focal point that when he went off, we sorely lacked and its when we see how important he is. Travis was absolutely outstanding in the midfield, sometimes he appears graceful and elegant, sometimes he can be a bit more clumsy but his persistence often wins out regardless, his drive through the lines is a massive weapon to us. Evans was ok alongside, no more really. Lenihan and Williams were absolutely superb, the latter should no longer be considered a left back in any way shape or form. If ever theres a way to get at us, its at our full backs and we need upgrades as a matter of priority, dont think they had their worst ever games by any means but Bennett was lucky than Osayi-Samuel matched his constant skinning of Bennett with some hapless end product. And on to Leutweiler, well, well, well out of his depth even before the blunder. Flapping at everything and makes Raya look accurate with his kicking. Still cant understand why the likes of Mulgrew and Smallwood were on the bench and never going to come on really, with Chapman, Davenport, Butterworth and Buckley nowhere to be seen. Very much a worrying sign for those expecting Mowbray to be ruthless with his senior players going forward, especially those who arent of the required quality. (in Mulgrews case anymore) He mentioned this week that he would have some tough decisions leaving players out of the 18 to make way for the youngsters, ultimately it proved too tough to carry out. Still a valid criticism even with the win.

Since he came into the team v Sheffield United, aside from sub appearances v Stoke and Boro and being an unused sub v Preston, he has started every game. Smallwood started the Stoke and Preston games. Whilst I am skeptical of Mowbray actually being ruthless with his senior players and trusting the younger players even in essentially dead rubbers, lets not re-write history.

My reason for disliking it is based on the assumption that eventually the teething problems will be ironed out and it works as efficiently as it can, something I of course doubt in itself because of the subjectivity of what is an obvious error. It is because of the effect it has on the spontaneity and the emotion of the game, as you touch on.

Britt Assombolonga was taking shots in him.

Who would buy Mulgrew? Ultimately the mistake was to give him a new deal.

For me its a myth that Mowbray has peddled that the performance level was good even throughout our horrendous run. I havent seen the whole Forest game but the performances against Boro, Rotherham, Stoke, Preston, Bristol City and Reading were all insipid and of course add into that the humilliating collapse at Brentford. My main question mark hangs around this theory that Mowbray knows what is needed in the summer, and that he will be ruthless with the senior players. Im not sure where such an assumption comes from. The Derby game felt like a new dawn, no Mulgrew, Smallwood or Evans, Rothwell taking his chance with him and Dack both unplayable, backed up by the energy and tenacity of Reed and Travis ensuring that Derby were pinned in for much of the game. Mowbray however repeatedly mentions the importance he places in his senior players running the dressing room but that can be dangerous if and when them (or some of them at least) senior players get to a stage where they are no longer up to it on the pitch. Its very difficult and for me fanciful to expect the likes of Mulgrew, Bennett, Conway (admittedly impressive v Derby but well past his best), Smallwood and Evans to all have stepped aside and not all in strong contention for a start on the opening day next season.