I feel like a stuck record but its the same issue again and again at the moment. The cohesion between defence, midfield and attack is non-existent, its like 3 mini teams playing instead of 1. For the first time this season, Morton on Saturday dropped in and ran the show linking the defence and midfield. The attack was still very much separate but thankfully broke away and scored 3 goals. Last night Morton didnt manage to replicate it and as a result the whole thing broke down like in most matches this season. In fact he ended up giving them a goal so you could argue cancels out his performance on Saturday! Under JDT we are tactically atrocious, forget being up near the top end of the league for the most part this season we have been utter shite. I thought the days of wingers at right back and strikers on the wing were over when Mowbray left. The manager says he needs the world cup break to instill his style of play into the team so I am willing to give him that. But if this same performance is rolled out after that then you have to start questioning his ability surely.

This is dreadful

This is exactly how I see it too Jim, for this to work we need more in midfield and they need to drop deeper to receive the ball off the defence. There was a prime example the other night were Ayala attemped to play a ground pass from the six yard box to the halfway line where Travis/Buckly were standing that was intercepted and nearly caused us to concede. JDT says they are picking the wrong options but I would argue that they arent provided with any options!

give this man a job on the coaching staff, agree with every word!

I dont like the passing out of the back either but it is an issue for midfield as much as the defence. In most games this season the gaps between defence, midfield and attack are far to large allowing the opposition to fill the gap with numbers and force possession to be turned over. Its blatent, and after 10 games should be being addressed rather than constant repetition in matches in the hope our centre backs will suddenly become Kevin de Bruyne esque at passing. It feels like the team is almost 3 mini teams of defence, midfield and attack with no cohesion between them

Of the permanent signings I think the defensive signings of Hyam and Brittain are looking good buys. Less so on Szmodic who just looks totally lost in most the performances I have witnessed so far. I wouldnt at this stage be offering any money for Hirst either who looks way short of match fitness. Morton has been ok but would rather see Wharton or Buckley developing in there who seem to be on a par with him talent wise.

I think a big decision he needs to make is whether to play 2 or 3 at the back. personally I think we look at our most comfortable with 3 centre backs but he seems to keep swapping it about which I dont think helps any of the players getting familiar with a system. Too much tinkering so far, just play your best team and if players get tired after an hour sub them off rather than bringing them on as he does at the moment.

Well I didn't see that coming, best performance of the season and dominated from start to finish. For the first time this season at home I saw a team with a game plan and the intensity to match it. It is hard to single anyone out but I think Dolan gave their backline a really tough night constantly harassing and turning over possession which I think is exactly what JDT wants from the forwards. The back 5 as well were immense and made it look easy, we looked a million times more solid than we have in recent weeks. I was really worried so far this season but if that is the standard going forwards I will be very happy.

Think it’s been said by plenty others but yet again the tactics and game-plan cost us in this one. That’s three in a row. You can argue we don’t have quality players but its no excuse for the lack of passing and movement in the first half. Once again the distance between the defence, midfield and attack was massive meaning all they did was go backwards into trouble. It’s also no excuse for the lack of effort and aggression shown by the players in the first half. Stoke just wanted it more whilst most our team went into hiding. The first half was basically Stoke vs. Daniel Ayala. Really worried about the start to the season we look clueless.

Big week on the training ground to stop the rot setting in I feel. Two woeful performances that are on a par if not worse then Mowbray’s worst. There seems to have been a fundamental breakdown in the tactics last 2 games. The high intensity pressing has gone and the overall positioning of players when we have the ball too. All that leads to is a quick turnover of possession back to the opposition as the gaps between defence, midfield and attack are so big you could drive a cruise ship through them. Ayala and Pickering aren’t going to launch accurate 60 yard passes every time they need a couple of short options and players making themselves available. I hate to say it but the last two games a lot of players have gone into hiding and need to take a long hard look at themselves. Particularly the front 3 and Buckley.

It’s one thing to be be lacking quality in certain areas but tactically it’s abysmal. There is acres of space between players when we get the ball leaving a player to turn back or just hit and hope. The players need to get much closer to each other for some short simple passes. Ball retention is the worst I’ve seen since Kean days

It’s like reading game just carried on after the 90 mins. Should be down by a few goals and literally incapable of keeping possession or passing to a team mate. What has happened in last few days?!?

If we lose Ash Phillips on top of the big assets lost already due to a lack of admin on contracts then its time for Venky's to sack Waggot. It's absolutely criminal that a club that relies on academy development to fund the club and drive the 1st team has lost so much in such a short space of time. You can only blame Waggot for a complete failure to negotiate in the longer term interests of the club. Yes that might mean paying a few grand more in the short term but you have to weigh it up against getting £5m fee plus % future sales on players. It is like the administrative part of the club from contracts to ticketing to marketing is overseen by a complete clown.

I had a stadium tour on fathers day and the pitch was looking good, the guide also showed us the new weave and light units so can confirm 🙂

A nice F you from Waggot in the telegraph today, his view and that of the fans absolutely poles apart reading his comments.

Nyambe was a solid RB with massive limitations in an attacking sense, cannot pass or cross a ball. If we move to a 4-4-2 as others have said it would have reduced the impact of his weak areas. I would have liked him to stay and competed with whoever is coming in to challenge for that spot. Its criminal however that him, Lenihan and Rothwell have all been let go for free. As I was calling for last summer the lot of them should have been sold for whatever small fees we could get, it wouldn't have made a difference to us going up or down. I reckon between the three of them it is at least £10million down the drain compared with if we sold them last summer. Money rovers cannot afford to waste.

I reluctantly bought mine late on Saturday to beat the deadline. It's not that I don't want to go but at the time seemed a vote of confidence in the shambolic running of the club in terms of pricing, no manager and players leaving. Now that we have a manager in I feel a bit better about the decision and would have really missed not going. I dipped out once before for a few years during the Steve Kean shambles and to be honest nearly didn't come back. The club should do so much more to retain their existing support base but unfortunately don't seem to care. We were told the £100 increase in the Riverside pricing was to allow us to move around the ground during covid. I notice it never went back down so that was a load of bollox. £299 should be price like other clubs around us.

Hope they have the email ready to extend the season ticket deadline as wont be buying blindly, will just pick and choose games instead and maybe go for a half season ticket later down the line.

Does anyone have any inside infromation on who is actually in the running for the job? It seems both Farke and Carvahal have gone so is it just Gareth Ainsworth left in the race?

Thanks for all your hard work Tony, some fantastic memories in our promotion season and you leave the club in a much better position than when you joined. I won’t miss your bizarre selections, stubborn tactics or depressing interviews. But it’s clear the players and staff relished working under you and nobody doubts your commitment working away from home the last 5 years. It feels like the right time for rovers and Tony to move on. I really fear for what comes next though and who and how long it takes to get someone in. We start next season in 8 weeks and need so much in place before then…

Let’s hope the outgoing recruitment department have made up a list of players. Looks like we will be scouting the lower leagues for permanents then maybe loans from premier league to fill gaps. need at least two right backs, two centre backs, two centre mids, left winger and a striker in my eyes. maybe promote Carter as one of the centre backs or that Phillips youngster we keep hearing about?

Not a particularly inspiring list of candidates but I would really like someone with some passion to come in. Misery guts Mowbray barely looks like he can motivate himself to get out of bed in a morning let alone get the team to make amazing comebacks or passionate performances. Some of his post match interviews and constant down playing of the side over the years has been a big negative in his tenure. On that basis it would be a Ainsworth or Keane for me. Someone who actually wants to the here and doesn’t stand for anything less than 100%. Whoever it is needs to bring an identity with them and recruit players to suit it fast. This would be the hard bit for any decent managers as don’t believe they will get any funding.

Just a point on Pickering, the lad pretty much plays that entire left side of the pitch on his own. No player in front to pass or play off and no support when defending. Felt sorry for him the last few home games as he continually has 2-3 players running at or behind him when the opposition attacks. It all comes down to crap tactics and players out of position. Sign a left winger to play in front of him next season and he will look miles better.

Really disappointing performance after the optimism from Monday night. You can see Bournemouth had quality all over the park but we didn't really ask any questions or manage the game tactically. The big difference for me was how Bournemouth attacked in numbers, when they broke they had 5-6 lads pouring into the box or out wide. In total contrast when Rovers break we have 2-3 breaking and the rest stood on the halfway line hands on hips. Roll on a new manager with some fresh ideas and tactics as I am royally bored with what is served up at Ewood these days.

Brilliant, did not see that coming last night and got that buzz back today. It just shows the team from pre Xmas was still in there but for whatever reason didnt turn up prior last night. The main thing for me was the pressing intensity had returned which just forced them out of shape and into a lot of errors. The whole setup pre-xmas was based around this so why they stopped doing it is beyond me! A little bit of hope for the playoffs has returned but realistically we have left it 1-2 games too late to turn up.