Another frustrating, gutting defeat for a team I am constantly told is progressing in the right direction, but am unsure, we've lost 8 in 15 in a period where Mowbray has got manager of the month, an incredible stat, and we have I think conceded the most away goals in the league. Last season, we seemed to have gained a resolute nature to our team and an ability to grind out results most weeks even with poor performances at times, seemingly that was just down to poor opposition. We have now returned to being flimsy, easy to beat, mentally weak, defensively woeful and disorganised. Firstly, lets pull no punches, Mowbray got his team selection wrong. Like at Sheffield United, we have ended up losing on the back of "resting" half of our team only to need to bring on our 2 best players anyway due to being behind. He has to stop these random team selections, if Allardyce had have picked a team like that he would have been accused of throwing a game. We will not push forward and ever challenge for promotion under Mowbray whilst he continues to neglect and based on his quotes this week not worry about our defensive solidity and organisation. Our defensive record is embarrassing, especially conceding late and conceding when sitting on leads, we have such a weak underbelly which has not been addressed. The perfect symbol of our defence is one of Mowbrays only signings in defence; Amarii Bell. He is an absolute coward of a defender, he is so easy to beat and get a cross in for a winger, and I know he scored (aided by woeful keeping) but usually going forward he is terrible too. He is a perfect example of our defence, and has all the symptoms of it in abundance, he is weak, he is quite the opposite of brave, he is unintelligent in terms of his positioning, he cant tackle and any competent wide man will have a field day against him. Our full back area in general has been horribly neglected, Bennett is never a full back in a million years either, yet Mowbray doesnt even seem interested in fixing those key areas. Raya is a liability too, they should have scored a header when he went walkabouts and his kicking is a joke. Our central defenders dont have any help to the sides or behind them but for all their composure, they dont inspire you with confidence either. The frustrating part was that some of our ball retention and some of our pressing was good, but ultimately it is all undone by our weak underbelly. We can say we are about where we should be and perhaps thats right but until the manager looks to fix this major problem, and give us firm foundations, we will continue to be inconsistent and continue to concede goals by the bucket load. Brereton I actually thought had his best game in a Rovers shirt, and that included a decent spell in the first half where he was hopeless and gave the ball away numerous times. I felt that Mowbray playing him wide left him out to dry, his good work came when he drove inside which ultimately exposes the full back behind him. But his ability to carry the ball and run with it between the lines meant he showed far more in 60 or 70 minutes than he has prior overall. Ultimately though, the main thing he did was miss an absolute sitter and by a considerable distance, and as a striker his terrible finishing will continue to undermine him, although at least it didnt go out for a throw in, his usual destination. There was no reason to include Conway and there was no reason to include Smallwood. Neither are of any significance to us if we want to progress and the former in particular is a busted flush, his legs have totally gone. Evans was arguably our best player, Travis was better than on Saturday but his initial few performances seem a long time ago now, and Armstrong missed a couple of big chances and didnt really impress having changed positions. As for the subs, Graham and Dack are not impact subs, they should have started. Rothwell showed plenty of energy and did well for the goal, he beats players with ease but he tends to run in whatever direction hes facing, often going on mazy dribbles towards his own goal. Needs to be more intelligent.

Do we? Last one I remember was at Sheff United. Got battered.

That comment sums up what we are all thinking!

Id love to be wrong but thats a shite, negative line up. 3 defensive midfielders, Conway, Brereton and our best 2 players dropped. Rubbish.

Stability and patience are only worthwhile and only work if the manager is any good to begin with. Based on the example being discussed, Lambert may have suggested that x, y and z was wrong when he was appointed (he does that at every club he turns up to) and that may be seen as a man who knows the problems and is saying exactly what the fans are thinking. But ultimately, results show that he is incapable of doing anything to halt the slide. And you look at the way at hes going about his job to maybe find glimmers that hes thinking longer term, that hes doing things that may not prove instantly fruitful but give them hope for the future. Signing 7 players on short term deals and playing them is quite the opposite. When Mowbray came in, results improved. The main thing that has caused us to progress as we have under Mowbray is Mowbray himself, not the fact that we kept a manager for x amount of time. If we had offered Coyle the courtesy of a full season, being patient, do we think results would have improved? No because hes a poor manager. Kean did get plenty of time, did things ever improve? No. Ironically, they had the very definition of stability under Mick McCarthy, didnt appreciate it, drove him out and are seemingly craving it again as the answer to their problems. Stability is a good thing for a while, up until the point it becomes stagnant. You mentioned Arsenal and things stagnated terribly for a number of years. At Chelsea, the manager is still crucial even with the money he has, former managers like Mourinho and Conte have been incredibly successful but their managerial style has caused a quick burn out of player manager relations and requires a more short term approach. But stability is only useful if the manager is good and shows sign of improvement. Lambert hasnt and doesnt meet that requirement.

The fact that Hurst had fallen out with and alienated the players and staff and presumably Lambert has not done that yet his results are ever so slightly worse surely is all the judgement that is needed! Lambert is a politician as you say rather than a football manager. Totally agree on McCarthy playing how he did due to restricted resouces and quality, the only way he could play and the most effective way

They do need a clearout and a rebuild but they need a competent man to do it. I am judging a manager on results, I know the squad is poor but there was no point changing from Hurst to Lambert as his results with the same set of players (plus hes been able to add 7 more) has been no better. (in fact moderately worse) Lambert has done nothing to earn that trust. The best example is when we had Coyle, surely by your above logic we should have stayed patient and kept with Coyle rather than appoint Mowbray. No, because Coyle hadnt earnt any trust. Mowbray then managed to get a significant IMPROVEMENT IN RESULTS WITH THE SAME PLAYERS even though the squad was crap because he is a better manager than Coyle. As a direct comparison. Lambert has not got any improvement in results with the same players. Simple as that. What the fans think, what sort of bloke he is, its irrelevant, judge a manager on results.

Ive not seen one person suggest that Venkys were anything other than villains. Lambert may have been promised finances the owners didnt keep, thats one thing we will never know. His actual spell here was the definition of underwhelming, bringing in plenty of loans, the football was pretty dull, and his results were average, which is admittedly far better than horrendous which his record has been in his last 2 jobs. His cleverest move was his timing of departure and the way he went about it; Venkys were undoubtedly the primary villains and activating a very curiously placed release clause in his contract when the club was lingering in the bottom half and perhaps justifiably criticising the owners in the media was a PR masterstroke, with fans chanting his name not because he was Paul Lambert, or a competent manager, but because he went publically against the villains of the piece, Venkys. The way he left aside, his brief spell here was neither successful or a failure, it was instantly forgettable. The job he has done in his last 2 roles is subject to most debate. To be unable to coax any improvement at all from managers who had either started to go stale and stagnate (Hughes at Stoke) or managers who were out of their depth from the start and rumoured to have fallen out with key players already (Hurst at Ipswich) is really poor. Look at Mowbray, he took over a limited squad running at a rate of less than a point per game following a woeful manager. With the same squad he caused a considerable improvement.

I dont know if you are being purposely obtuse or just ignorant. I know Ipswichs squad isnt very good, but Lambert has done even worse than Hurst with it, just as he did worse thn Hughes at Stoke. The "general play" is objectively not better because its churning out slightly worse results. The fact that rumours of squad morale issues and player-manager fall outs or whatever under Hurst only add additional context to how bad Lambert is doing, you would think a fresh face with no bad blood with his players would lead to better results, not worse! If Ipswich fans are happy with him, fooled by his gimmicks, his interviews, his personality or whatever, then good for them, but im just glad that he is not our manager anymore because he isnt a very good one. The difference is, my argument is based on results and facts, yours is based on personal bias, supporter opinion, baseless predictions, and a total ignorance of results.

Hes obviously not inherited good situations in particular in his last 2 jobs, my point is based around how he has not caused even a minor improvement at either club, in fact he has overseen a very slight reduction in points per game. Last season at Stoke, Mark Hughes was understandably sacked after a shocking run of 20 points from 22 games, 0.91 points per game. With such a low benchmark, even with not the best squad in the world, you'd expect a new manager to oversee even a slight improvement, fresh ideas, new manager bounce etc. Following a game with Lambert in the stands and a caretaker on the touchline, Lambert oversaw 13 points from 15 games (3 of which came in a dead rubber on the last day) accumulating 0.87 points per game. Same at Ipswich. Hurst undoubtedly did a woeful job, picking up 9 points from 15 games, 0.6 points per game. Lambert has picked up the same squad, added to it, and picked up 9 points from 16 games, 0.56 points per game. Piss poor.

I hate to speak like Rafa Benitez but I am dealing with facts here. Hurst got sacked after 9 points from 15 points, an embarrassingly low number of points, and was deservedly sacked. Lambert has since taken the same squad that Hurst had, presumably expecting at least some sort of improvement on Hursts sorry points total. He has since gone on and accumulated 9 points from 16 games. Why does he deserve any longer in the job? On top of the squad that Hurst had, which he has got even less from than Hurst got, he has been able to bring in 7 players (two thirds of a team essentially) on short term deals. Losses in their last 4 games suggests that his work in the transfer market has not improved them at all. Further to this, the work he is doing is very short term. Judge seemed a good signing before he stuck him out wide every week. Will Keane is dog shit, Callum Elder is dog shit, Dawkins is dog shit, and any minutes they play are done neither to the benefit of the short term or the long term, which they wont be around for, Neither will Collins, Quaner or Bree next season. I have no care for Ipswich fans opinions, their opinions have proved to be meaningless with how they see McCarthy. I only care about results. Lambert might talk a good game, he did here, banging on about what hes learnt in Germany etc, slagging off the job that previous managers or owners have done to curry favour, paying for coach travel as a gimmick to take the spotlight slightly away from the fact that his team is losing every week by showing what a lovely man he is. I am giving you why I think Paul Lambert is very lucky to still be in a job, in cold, hard, black and white facts. Talking to biased supporters would not make a difference to my opinion. My opinion is solely based on point accumulation, and it is pretty water tight based on what I have said above. The fact of the matter is, you are refusing to acknowledge that Lamberts record with the same players Hurst add with some of his own players on top is even worse than his predecessor. For me, if Hursts record warranted dismissal, and it did, so equally does Lamberts. End of.

Nyambe, Travis and Armstrong (21) and Raya (23) are all regulars, as are Lenihan and Bell (24) so lets not make out that we dont give any of the kids a chance. As much as a play off push and equally a relegation scrap seem miles off at the moment, there are far too many games to go to just solely focus on the future. I do suspect that your expectations are unrealistic, and constantly namedropping world class players like Mbappe and Rashford does nothing to help your cause, yes they are young but they have obvious masses of ability. For example, suggesting that Butterworth should be in the 18 would be a fairly reasonable suggestion. Suggesting that he should be chucked in ahead of our best player is a laughable suggestion. I would be open to potentially giving a couple of the academy players a go in the squad if with 3 or 4 games to go the play offs are mathematically out of reach and we are safe but im not for making wholesale changes yet. The 2 youngsters not currently with the first team squad that I suspect are first in line are Chapman and Davenport, 2 prospects as of yet not able to play due to fitness issues.

Undoubted but all keepers make reflex saves, thats standard, they need to be able to eliminate mistakes and be competent at coming for crosses. Looking in the last couple of months, he made that big error v Birmingham, a horrible mistake for Joselus goal and then was poor for the 4th, a bad mistake v Brentford and poor for the goal on Saturday. Thats far too many mistakes. Im not doubting that he has improved, that he is a good shot stopper or suggesting that Leutweiler should play instead. But he needs to stop being do error prone.

Dack has been, but whilst I would stop short at dropping him due to the alternative, Raya has made far too many mistakes to be deemed anything close to outstanding.

The thing that you are unwilling to accept is that with the same group of players, barring signings Lambert has made, his results have been even WORSE than Hursts. Theres no dressing that up. Whatever his "views are" whatever that means. You say he knows what he needs in terms of recruitment but what is that even based on. Hes brought in a lorry load of loans and players on short term contracts. They have not made a positive impact on results and ultimately are not a symptom of a manager with a plan in terms of next season, as playing them (Will Keane and Callum Elder are total crap and not an improvement) is at the cost of players who are contracted there long term, quite a few of which are proven in League 1. Seems that as long as the manager tells them what they want to hear, as @JHRover points out, that comes before getting good results to Ipswich fans. Not to get lost in my post, my main 2 points are that: - His record is factually worse than Hurst - He is not building for next season with all of these short term signings Seemingly it is impossible for you to put your personal bias towards him to one side and judge him on the job hes doing. He might be a nice bloke but hes a woeful football manager.

From what I've seen, the fans are incredibly fairly behind a man with a worse record than the horrendously poor record that Hurst was fired for. They have fallen for his soundbites and gimmicks. Paying for a coach to come up here to see another limp display and defeat, and losing his discipline today in a fit of "passion" both got full marks.

Hopefully not. Whatever Mowbrays reasons were for that change, they puzzled me at the time and didnt work. So whatever his reasons were are irrelevant as they were ineffective.

"don't agree with dropping Dack unless Mowbray decide to go up front with 2 strikers like Brereton and Armstrong or Graham and Armstrong or Brereton and Graham." I was responding to this. Dack is our best player. He has to play. Picking Brereton over him (as 2 of your suggestions do) would be illogical.

If Dack goes I suspect we will miss him and his constant goal threar far more than some appreciate. Brereton did fine and did one or two nice touches but in doing fine, offered absolutely no goal threat and created no chances for others. Doing fine doesnt get you goals. Do you genuinely think at a point in a game when we needed a goal, taking off someone with 29 Rovers goals, bringing on a wide man with 0 Rovers goals and 6 career goals and moving into Dacks vacated role someone with 2 goals in the time Dack has been at the club was a move geared to giving us a bigger goal threat?

Such an attitude is all well and good but is not remotely condusive to increasing attendances. No one has to show anything. Floating fans arent just going to suddenly turn into hardcore with no incentive, same as for any team.

Hes not on top form but hes still our best player and he scored last week and assisted the week before. He also says Brereton and Gladwin are tearing it up in training. Im sure Butterworth is a talent and may be worth a place on the bench but thrown straight in to replace our best player who even amidst moderately poor form is still our talisman? No chance. I dont think its a case of fitness either, things dont seem to be coming off for him as much as they usually do. And @chaddyrovers a front 2 including Brereton at the expense of Dack is equally crazy. Hes done nothing to warrant inclusion over Dack either.

With selections like Butterworth in for Dack, safe to say I am glad you are not Rovers manager.

Speed isnt everything. Theres no way we can justify dropping our best 2 players, one with 11 goals and 5 assists, the other with 10 goals and 3 assists. That suggests that them 2 are getting into the box.

You are obsessed about making it seem like Graham is physically incapable and cannot play 90 minutes, or 2 games in a row, despite proving he can numerous times. If we had subbed both, aside from Armstrong, who is going to score the goals, Brereton, Rothwell or Nuttall? If a chance fell to anyone, youd pick Dack or Graham.

In the game time he has had, Brereton has not done anything to remotely suggest that at any point of any game, assuming Dack and Graham are fit, that Brereton would be more likely to contribute to a goal over them 2. My comment yesterday about needing a goal and having a 7m striker on the bench was not necessarily suggesting that I would have brought him on if I was Mowbray. It was more highlighting the overall farcical situation regarding his big money signing. Theres more scope to allow Rothwell into the team in that you could feasibly bring him on easily as well as Dack, Graham and Armstrong (as I felt he should have yesterday) but again whilst to an extent he is unlucky that his opportunities have been limited, for all the energy that hes provided in his cameos, hes never scored or assisted, so I'm not sure how unlucky he can consider himself. Dacks form has dipped but he still scored last week and he looked our most likely to create something yesterday, even within a poor performance. Its impossible to justify even considering dropping or subbing him or Graham, even if their form momentarily dips, because the quality of the replacements is so far away from their own quality.