Bad day at the office.

[champs95]

I think I get a bit miffed, because I am by nature a positive person.
But also, when I am critical, that's also forgotten?

I complained all summer about the squad. It isn't good enough.
Travis, Tomlinson simply aren't better than Smallwood or Evans. And wont displace them anytime soon.
You mentioned Bennett not being quite at the races. He is not a young lad anymore Auks. He puts so much into a game, by Sept he already looks shot. Smallwood is having the same problems every match. The game at this level passes him by. I spotted it last season. But we got away with it in Div1.
The signings of Rothwell and Davenport where not enough. Not with what we have. Whittingham, (as I told you) was always going, same with Hart. You name all these guys like Tomlinson, Travis etc, but 90% of them wont feature much. As none are better than Evans and Smallwood.
Christ, there was even a comment when we signed Reed, asking 'where will he play?'
All summer I mentioned we would get injuries. We will get them every week.
And each time I got told 'we are ok, we have Tomlinson etc'
Then in the next breath 'we are going to lose every other week'
And 'we will finish 14th' which suggest we are in for a real struggle.

Hang on? ...........
If we didn't need to strengthen? Why are we going to lose every other match, and struggle all season?

We are struggling big time with injuries, and once we get to the bare bones, we look quite weak.
Bennett is fantastic, but already in Sept its caught up. Luckily we did keep signing players, like Reed, when the perception was we are ok.
Then as soon as we lose a game its 'ah we looked bad in spells last season'

At times, I feel none of this makes much sense? And I admit to getting frustrated.

[robinrover]

It's what's to come that's concerning
Villa,stoke and derby
We were put to the sword by a far more clinical team and with those 3 to come if we don't improve we could quite easily be dragged down there.
You say we are about 4/5 years away from Bristol city
Do we have that long?
I know venkys are backing us now but the fact remains we need to be back in the top flight for financial reasons
I guarantee Tony Mowbray and venkys are looking at 3 season's any longer I doubt either will be in for that long a haul.

[champs95]

It's what's to come that's concerning
Villa,stoke and derby
We were put to the sword by a far more clinical team and with those 3 to come if we don't improve we could quite easily be dragged down there.
You say we are about 4/5 years away from Bristol city
Do we have that long?
I know venkys are backing us now but the fact remains we need to be back in the top flight for financial reasons
I guarantee Tony Mowbray and venkys are looking at 3 season's any longer I doubt either will be in for that long a haul.

This is after one defeat right?

Tony should probably go to a decent club where he gets time to build a side. If we act like this after one game,of say he's best off leaving. We are going for promotion in 2-3 seasons. Venkys have said that, as has Tony. It requires patience. And for sight. This is based on losing one game. He may aswell leave

[champs95]

It's what's to come that's concerning
Villa,stoke and derby
We were put to the sword by a far more clinical team and with those 3 to come if we don't improve we could quite easily be dragged down there.
You say we are about 4/5 years away from Bristol city
Do we have that long?
I know venkys are backing us now but the fact remains we need to be back in the top flight for financial reasons
I guarantee Tony Mowbray and venkys are looking at 3 season's any longer I doubt either will be in for that long a haul.

Weird how this has suddenly become an issue after losing one game? Weird how mine of this was mentioned when we win games?

I didn't say it will take 4/5 years. We ate building for a serious go at promotion in 1-2 seasons. As TM has said. As Venkys have said. As Waggott has said.
We only got up in the summer, and yes BC are about 4/5 years ahead in building a solid Champ squad. Expect us to be fully caught up in 12 months. As we are signing young quality now, to flourish then.
If we went for it this season, we would have to have thrown £50/60m all at once. To compete with Stoke, West Brom etc. If we failed to win promotion, we would most likely fold as a club. As it would put us in serious jeapody. And we aren't stupid. Forest have spent a fortune. And are probably miles off being good enough for even the playoffs.

TM should probably leave. Go to a proper club, where he gets support. Every good manager needs support, and time. All this after one defeat?

Coyle is out of work. Let's get him back. Give him £70m I'm sure he will jump at that. And we would probably be out of business in 12 months. We could try that? It would risk our future, but aren't we all living in the here and now? Nobody has foresight, or patience.

[Saxo1man41]

My view is the lads dust themselves off and go again. With the window now shut till Jan there's nothing else that can be done. Just back the lads I say.

[robinrover]

A little bit over the top champs
I am not saying get rid of Mowbray or it's the end of us but Bristol city are a good championship team and they clinically put us away
Coming up we have 3 teams of a similar standard in my opinion
If we don't improve we could taste 3 defeats,where would that leave us?
Of course I am overreacting a little but I saw nothing in that performance that made me believe that we will come good against 3 promotion chasing teams.
I have complete faith in our team and Tony Mowbray but we cannot repeat that performance too many times this season or it could be a long one.

[AucklandRover]

Champs, nobody on here is making the sweeping criticisms you mention. To be honest, there are only a few, even on the Telegraph site.!
In all fairness, I have said all along that I am not looking for immediate success.
Where you and I disagreed was on the notion that ANY signing Mowbray makes must - inevitably - improve the team. We have no idea if Reed is better than Travis, for example. If that turns out to be the case, brilliant! (Although I don't know what evidence you have for stating definitively that Travis is not good enough to be considered). I have no axe to grind. I am similarly reserving judgement on the other signings
My take on the Championship is that there are going to be lots of very well-matched teams. Already, there have been several "surprises", and a team like Bolton has so far contradicted the predictions of doom for them. Results are going to be determined not just by the managers, but also by unpredictable factors. If Palmer's shot had gone in, the whole game might have been different. Against that, Millwall threatened to blow us away for 20 minutes, but didn't score.
On the player-front, individuals have bad games. I don't think we can turn that into a generalisation that Bennett is "shot" for the season. One guy on the Telegraph is saying Lenihan and Mulgrew should be replaced because they looked shaky in this game. Ludicrous! They have been two of our most consistent performers (as has Bennett).
Supporters of a particular club always tend to ask the question, "What did we do wrong that caused us to lose?" That is oddly one-eyed, and generally tends to be accompanied by the conclusion that it was all the manager's fault.
This is competitive sport, for heaven's sake! Teams in the same league tend to be - by definition - of quite similar standard. You are going to lose quite a few matches - including some you didn't deserve to lose...but it works the other way as well.
As fans, though, it is perfectly natural for us to have opinions and to offer comments on specific games and specific players. The danger comes from trying to read TOO much into one game or one individual performance.
I didn't get carried away by our unbeaten start, and I am not going to despair because of a poor hour. (TM's claim that we were the better team for 70 minutes confirms how impossible it is for managers to be objective!)
Our best combination is going to take a while to find. Mowbray's strategy of using two holding midfielders worked superbly well last season, and freed up people like Dack to do what he does best. It might be that the same tactic will not be as effective at this level. I am sure TM will react accordingly. All the same, I am not going to write Smallwood off yet. At this time last year, people were rubbishing Graham, Williams and Evans, while praising Samuel, Antonsson and Nuttall! Players do go through poor spells. Don't get me wrong - this might be a step too far for Smallwood, but I now hesitate to jump to conclusions because I had to wipe egg off my face too many times when I was younger!

[AucklandRover]

Champs, I forgot to say that when I referred to failing to maintain periods of dominance, I was talking about a pattern that goes right back to Bowyer's days. I thought GB suffered particularly badly from that factor. As I suggested earlier, I think it's unrealistic to believe that a team will be on top for 90 minutes, but there WERE quite a lot of games, even last season, where we ran hot-and-cold.
I won't push this too far because I tend to focus very closely on Rovers, and it might well be that supporters of other teams feel the same. One example, though: what was going on in the first 20 minutes against Millwall?

[AucklandRover]

A little bit over the top champs
I am not saying get rid of Mowbray or it's the end of us but Bristol city are a good championship team and they clinically put us away
Coming up we have 3 teams of a similar standard in my opinion
If we don't improve we could taste 3 defeats,where would that leave us?
Of course I am overreacting a little but I saw nothing in that performance that made me believe that we will come good against 3 promotion chasing teams.
I have complete faith in our team and Tony Mowbray but we cannot repeat that performance too many times this season or it could be a long one.

One comfort, Robin, is that Stoke and Villa have been inconsistent so far. I have to say, though, I do fear Derby. They were my forecast for promotion, because they have quite a formidable squad, with a lot of experience in it. Now they've settled, I would expect them to be one of the strongest teams. Lampard himself is NOT experienced in this role - which is one factor against them - but he is one of those people who has a bit of an aura of success. His off-duty life has been typical of "London celebrity", which I detest, but he was a proper professional on the pitch.

[robinrover]

It would of been nice to have a easier team sandwiched inbetween but it is what it is
Many will look at our past 6 and say we played mainly teams that are deemed easier.
The true test is to come
Would I take 4 points now from the next 3 absolutely yes I would.