Like I said, Mowbray took over a problematic job but his results showed an obvious and stark improvement on the failing manager who was sacked prior, in that case Coyle. Lambert was unable to improve upon the failing Hughes and Hurst, showing win/point records that were as bad if not worse than the managers he left behind. It was obviously not an easy job at Ipswich or at Stoke but the fact that he came in, there was no new manager bounce, his record was as bad if not worse than the managers he replaced (2 wins at each club) and you start to realise that a bad manager rather than bad situations are the main factor. His only skill is cleverly absolving himself of any blame but after so many failed jobs it starts to show. The only reason you seem to have taken such a shine to him is that youve met him a couple of times and he seemed a nice bloke. Which he may well be but a shite manager at the same time. As a side note. I see that your return has coincided with using the laughter button as a way of attempting to deride posts you dont agree with without any actual debate.

I'd have to disagree. He was constantly injured and has been throughout his career. He was at best average with some shockers in there, notably v Barnsley at home.

You mention the difficulty of the jobs at Stoke and Ipswich, but their previous managers were doing particularly poorly, amidst allegations of dressing room unrest. Lambert came into both jobs and has had absolutely no impact at all, hes won 2 in 15 and 2 in 16 which is embarrassing, matching or perhaps even worse than those sacked for incompetence prior. You compare that to Mowbray, he inherited a shit situation and he failed in his first task of survival, as Lambert did at Stoke and will do at Ipswich. Differemce being there was a notable difference between the results of Mowbray and the previous failing manager, his win and point accumulation was markedly improved. His one skill is to manage to deflect any blame elsewhere.

That formation would be so heavily reliant on the fitness of 3 injury prone centre backs with no back up. Armstrong has been superb from a wide position lately as he was last season, Chapman is a wide man and Rothwell is capable there.

He is obviously doing a good job. But that team is not a true representation of what Mowbray inherited to be fair. Mulgrew, Lenihan, Conway, Evans and Graham were all injured that day, and of all the crap that came in, Hoban, Mahoney, Feeney, Lowe, Gallagher and Akpan all were only at the club to the summer.

Due to poor defences. All being said Id rather bring Gallagher on than Brereton or Nuttall.

So it was the wrong sub? And therefore he opens himself to criticism. Conway is a busted flush now. Bringing him on is not an attacking change. It was more about the "if he did x and we lost he would be criticised" argument I see quite regularly. Im not sure why that is an issue!

That team is particularly weak that day due to injuries. No Mulgrew, Lenihan, Conway, Graham and Marshall sold. For much of the season under Coyle he had the privelidge of a strike partner in Graham (or Emnes) and Marshall and Conway providing crosses from outwide. He had Jota and Maghoma doing likewise last season and scored 6. We didnt struggle for goals under Coyle, his tactics left our defence exposed.

- Bennett should never be considered at right back and shouldnt be guaranteed a place full stop. - Rothwell for all his talent gets better each time he doesnt come on and Palmer is a better player. - Dack is underrated in that our fans take his goal/assist return for granted, as they did with Rhodes. - Mulgrew is our best centre back defensively but thats overshadowed by his set piece ability. - Brereton has not had a hard time from our fans and they are behind him.

Im not quite sure what your point is here. Yes, he will be criticised if he makes subs whose impact on the game is in the opponents favour. Thats being a manager. Conversely, if he brought someone on (Conway is no longer an attacking sub) who impacted on the game positively he would have been praised.

Rothwell is a strange one. Hes definitely got something, hes always positive, hes direct and hes quick. He could argue that he hasnt been given enough game, but then again I dont recall any goals or assists from him. Hes come close with a few good shots, he hit the bar v Reading, the post v Ipswich and had a good shot tipped over Millwall, but I cant remember much else. He does get people off the edge of their seat. Any repreive in terms of Palmer going back potentially opening a passage to the first team may be temporary until Chapman is fit.

The whole argument is based around something we dont know or wont ever find out about. @Biz is right to suggest that compared to players who cost similar fees, Bamford, Waghorn and Grabban will be on considerably higher wages. I do think however that he has over-exaggerated his assumpton on how low his wage is likely to be. This is a player who cost a considerable sum and whose deal was reported to be orchestrates by an agent. Im sure he is on a wage very much within our wage structure but not at League 1/League 2 levels. The crux of the matter is he did cost a considerable amount and even if we only had 4 or 5 million combined with more competitive wages, its fair to say that this season, it would have been not difficult (albeit not a 100% sure thing) to find a player or 2 to have a far more signifcant impact on a season we are in touching distance from the play offs. Conversely, Brereton is meant as a long term project and as of yet ive yet to see the raw potential to suggest he will some day justify the fee. If Dack and Graham are missing next week, I would suggest that the stage may be set for 2 Mowbray signings (Brereton and Rothwell) to contribute to our season and show us what they can do. If they dont or arent even trusted to start then questions shall increase further.

To be fair, quite a few posters have claimed a lack of support behind Brereton witbout backing them up with quotes or examples, only stating they are not to be repeated on a forum. Your reasoning in bold is totally unsubstantiated however. I am not on my own in having expectations as I have repeated of him not to instantly come into the team and score x goals and take everything by storm right away. But to push Graham, impact games off the bench when Graham tires, come in when Graham is unavailable, and show raw potential of what he is all about. Accepting inconsistencies and frustration along the way. Quite modest expectations of an expensive signing with over 50 Championship games under his belt, as well as plenty of appearances for England youth teams. He hasnt even come close to doing that, hes not scored, I am still unclear as to what his attributes are, even Mowbray doesnt trust him over Nuttall it seems, who was destined to go out on loan. Quite interestingly, quite a few on here including myself have suggested that he was better than usual yesterday. Seemed a bit more desperate to impress, a couple of nice touches and turns, mind you absolutely no goal threat. If that was Dack he would have been criticised for being "anonymous."

A select few have suggested (without stating that he should be sacked) that they have doubts or do not think he can take us further, which I personally think is harsh. But that is exclusive from appreciating a promotion and the job hes done before, indeed even saying hes taken us as far as he can implies a level of progression to get to this point. There is always going to be a lot of anger when we surrender a 2 nil lead and lost 5-2, it takes a better man than me not to be incredibly pissed off at that. There are some blatant weaknesses that will need to be rectified that seem to be recurring ones under Mowbray this season before we can push for promotion in the next couple of years. The defensive side of our team is really vulnerable as you implied yourself, and he has used the vast majority Kalinic was a player I saw talent in, was technically very good but I cannot say in retrospect that he was anything other than a poor signing, albeit admittedly one who has since had success in Ukraine and then a brilliant season in Serie A, albeit his recent career at Milan and Atletico has not been particularly successful and his refusal to come on as sub in the world cup suggests maybe he has an attitude to go with his talent. Point was that its not just Mowbrays expensive striker signings that are scrutinised.

You say that as if people are not aware of that. Everyone obviously appreciates and is thankful that we have come a long way from the disastrous spells that we have had, notably under Kean and Coyle. Going forward, that obviously can not be the benchmark. At times in the past, effort and willingness were a god send when the club was mismanaged, now as an ambitious club moving forward they need to become assumed and only an asset if coupled with ability on top. Gone are the days when a player deserves a spot merely for giving his all. Under good managers in the past, again effort was assumed and their transfers, tactics and individual results were open to criticism. When Big Sam signed Niko Kalinic, he was as much of a talking point as Brereton is. Under Souness, a manager who won us a cup as well as promotion, his tactics were ridiculed when he started playing Dominic Matteo in midfield.

I just gave Mowbray credit for being the architect of a very dangerous attacking trio, signing 2 of them and getting the best out of the third. I have also been consistent in stating that whilst I feel like his transfer dealings have been at best mixed, he has pulled a few rabbits out of the hat but for me his best work has been with the players he inherited. I agree that Evans has been a different player this season and at the back end of last season. Graham is the obvious one, hes been a good player throughout his time but he seems as fit as hes ever been. I also have seen signs of development in both Raya and Nyambe. I have continuously stated that to get promoted was a good achievement and that we are meeting expectations this, but that isnt the end of my judgement. Even when you are meeting expectations, theres no need to cap ambition there, especially considering we are in the top half, not that far from the play offs. Your desperation to tag anyone who criticises any aspect of Mowbrays tenure as a doom merchant must be clouding your judgement.

The problem is you seem to be unable to accept negative aspects of his reign or criticize him at all under the umbrella that we has done a good job and are meeting, or in your opinion exceeding expecations. He has done a good job and ive never questioned it. Take in attacking positions, hes signed many players who to varying degrees, have had limited to no positive impact on our team so far; Antonsson, Samuel, Palmer, Nuttall, Rothwell, Brereton and Gladwin. We are reliant on the trio of Graham, Dack and Armstrong, which is an area Mowbray has done very well to get firing as it is, with Graham as fit and as effective as hes ever been here and Armstrong and in particular Dack 2 assets that have been signed for cheap with bundles of potential to improve and who are already incredibly effective. I do also feel that he has somewhat neglected the defence, and it shows in our terrible defensive record. I particularly worry as to our inability to see out wins. Because the points tally we have amassed is pretty impressive but just because of that, lets not gloss over such a primary reason that we arent doing better than we are at the moment. Mowbray has done an unquestionably good job but lets not escape the areas that need to be improved.

Out of interest @Biz away from debate on individual players. Do you have any worries or are you particularly critical of the fact that we have surrendered over 20 points from winning positions (I think it was 18 prior to yesterday), that we have conceded so many goals including more than 2 of the bottom 3, and that often when we get beat, the heads seem to go down and we get battered? (yesterday, Bristol City, Preston, Sheffield United etc) This doesnt fall into or concern whether you think we are meeting expectations overall, or going in the right direction.

He was 19th man last weekend according to Mowbray and he must have been in the same position yesterday, hence his shirt being up in the dressing room posted pre-match. Mowbray mentioned in his article yesterday about Bennetts long term position that he doesnt see him as a right back but he didnt/couldnt change the positions ahead with Armstrong and Reed doing well. It would have been interesting to see the team he would have picked next week, was it not for the injuries that I presume may force his hand somewhat. Nyambe has to be the first back in. If Evans and Travis are both injured, that would potentially mean Reed central and Bennett wide.

At the players and the manager for being 2 nil up before conceding 5. Just as he would have been pleased at the same players and manager winning 3-0 last week. Just because you think you are moving forward doesnt mean you cant be pissed off at a continious trend of collapsing from favourable positions. Mental weakness will prevent us from moving forwards as fast as we would like if it isnt sorted out.

He was ok today and far better than Nuttall but he offered no real threat. The desire was there and he did a couple of bits of neat and tidy play and one or two nice turns though. Hes simply going to have to step up if Dack and Graham are both injured next week.

Theres obviously a mental fragility and a weakness which is causing us to throw away over 20 points from winning positions, and cause us to surrender as soon as we sense danger, weve been hammered quite a few times with no resistance for a team harbouring play off ambitions. You look last year, once we got set we became incredibly ruthless and clinical, whats changed? Today was a 2 nil lead on the back of 4 wins so theres no reason for the collapse. Was it just that we had enough quality in League 1 terms that our mental strength wasnt tested too often? When things are going well the team spirit is unquestionable but thats when its easy to stick together.

Watched the game and simply an absolute disgrace. Mowbray bleats on about team spirit and having a good group which im sure it is to some degree but you wouldnt have them in the trenches with you. Mentally weak, collapse at the very hint of danger and I think thats over 20 points surrendered from winning positions which is quite frankly embarassing. Rayas is always a couple of games from a game changing error. Not a reliable promotion chasing keeper. Bennett is never a right back, I get not to change a winning team but Nyambe HAS to start next time. The other 3 defenders also very poor. Travis had a shocker and Evans was poor alongside him. Reed was ok first half and Armstrong a solitary bright spark really. Our reliance on Dack and Graham and the defence by those suggesting we were right to keep our powder dry in January may be made to look foolish if the pair are injured. Brereton was actually not that bad but he never looked threatening and Nuttall is not up to it, he seemed like a bit of a loose cannon too and his body language was poor. Conway another bizarre sub.

It wasnt specifically aimed at you, I just dont understand how Mowbray and Waggott seem to be paired together, when one has made a blatant difference in turning us around and the other I am still in the dark about.

We were on the up and already had started signing younger players (Dack, Samuel, Nuttall etc) before he came. Im not convinced he has made much tangible difference to that or if he is, I would like specifics.