I'd say of the 3 people who have to take blame for the current situation JDT is still at the bottom of the list. We are on a bad run and he's not done much to address it. But the hand venkys have given him is exceptionally poor and ultimately some of the players he's been given by broughton aren't up to the standard. There's no quality in that front 3 at all, there's no quality on the bench to mix it up at that end of the pitch either. Too many kids and those finding their way who aren't there yet. A squad with holes and no depth. No striker with a nose for a goal. A keeper who makes regular mistakes. A severe lack of athleticism in the side, no pace, no power and no strength. I'd say JDT deserves stick but I look at that today and you have to hold your hands up and say a different lineup would be just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, ultimately it wouldn't make too much difference. Where we go from here I don't know. We need bodies in, and that'll have to be injuries returning because there doesn't appear to be a pot to piss in. Pears, Hedges, Dolan, JRC and Gally make us a marginally better side so I hope that's enough to arrest the worrying slide.

Anyone think it's possible that Hill might be recalled by Bournemouth in January?

Has markanday ever played for us as a no.10? I don't think you can say it's his best position if he never plays there.

What are we saying would be a good crowd tomorrow? 17,500? Or is that over ambitious. Its hard to gauge

I think what has not been mentioned is how much the game has changed in the last 4 or 5 years. And I'm not talking about Pep. I'm talking about the rule change which allows your own teams players into the penalty area on a goal kick. Its massively changed the game second only in my lifetime to the introduction of the pass back rule. Teams are much more incentivised to pass out from the back because of this and the stats back it up. The trend is much more to do with this specific rule change and not as much to do with trendy following pep as people are making out. Clear advantage for the team that can do it properly hence why the best teams do it. Whether weaker teams should be passing out like they do I'm not sure and think may revert back over the next few years as the goals given away will outweigh the benefits. Tbf even now you see a lot of more direct sides sometimes take advantage by looking for the short pass in the area on goal kicks and then going long after one pass. Essentially football and the evolution of the game and tactics is all about space... where is it and how can we exploit it. Goalkeepers becoming better on the ball is a natural evolution of the two rule changes mentioned. I'd be interested to see if the average size of a keeper comes down ever so slightly over the next few years. A poster above wondered how Friedel would cope in the modern game and im unsure what level he would end up as even he said in an interview relatively recently he'd struggle with it. The higher starting point, being encouraged to come further off your line in general play and the ball/passing skills to play out. Friedel for example was never a very strong kicker like Paul Robinson was but he was very consistent and his bad kicks or his kicks off his left foot were always aimed towards the touchline to minimise damage. I'd agree keepers appear weaker on crosses. For me this is likely to be them facing more technical teams / less physical styles coming through academies, simply they are less exposed. Perhaps the modern balls which deviate so much more through the air are a contributing factor to more parrying on shots and this has rolled over to crosses also? I'd also like to know also if the types of shots keepers are facing has changed much in the last 10-20 years because in my head I'm not sure it has.

Who is that?

Interesting talking to North end fans who were very confused with the result. They said they should've been a 3 or 4 nil up at half time and let they back into the game which they then ran away with. Good job we're very clinical then isn't it

9I can't really think of many positives from that, a day where nothing went right for us. Truth be told we never laid a glove on southampton with 11 men. We allowed them good possession and field position without an effective out ball and countering threat. We were never going to out play them at their place but I still felt the game plan didn't really help. I suppose that is on JDT who I remain a big fan of. Some really tired performances, mentally and physically. All that exacerbated by a moment of pure petulance from Brittain who has let himself and his team down with that stupidity. He got booked on Tuesday for doing pretty much the same thing so I do wonder if there's something going on with him personally or if he's just bloody thick. If I was JDT I'd ask him to find his own way home. We've got some winnable games coming up and hopefully a few players to come back so I'm clinging to that right now.

I don't understand how that isn't a yellow card and say the brittain one in the 1st half is. Makes no sense. Zero consistency

Pleased for Leo tonight. Had possibly his best game in a rovers shirt. He got a bit of love from the blackburn end at the end which should help build his confidence. His timing is good as Pears is getting close to a return, I'd stick with Leo. Thought Tronstad was brilliant for 70 mins. But like others he tired. Adam Wharton is pure class and we missed when he came off as we struggled to keeper hold of the ball. Other notes: Brittain better at right back Siggurdsons ability to find the net means a longer run in the side is probably due. Ennis showed some promising sides but needed to show for the ball more. Moran was dreadful and did well to stay on the pitch as long as he did.

Your half right in my view. Wharton is better taking the ball on the halfnturn than morton can. Difference is morton could do it better than the other midfielders and was better defensively than Wharton. He was also physically more developed than Wharton was last season. It was still a mistake to play Wharton more at the start of 2023 when he came back from his injury.

I must say I'm not convinced by the Wharton higher up the pitch argument (presumably as a 10?). I think the balance of him and tronstad works well atm for us as its not as open as early in the season and tronstads defensive ability compliments whartons passing range. Ultimately the best role for Adam Wharton is the one where he touches the ball as much as possible. And that's cm.

I'm not sure about the ennis bit. We do probably need to play him to get him to the right level but he's not shown anything recently to suggest he's ready to start or even has the fitness. He looked good off the bench vs Rotherham but that's it really. Leonard was poor on Saturday and looked a little out of his depth but I think he offers the side more as a whole and is worth starting in the absense of a better striker. I also would try to leave szmodics in the 10 slot for as long as possible as that's where I think he is most dangerous.

Wahlsted Brittain. Carter. Hill. Pickering Tronstad Wharton Moran. Szmodics. Siggy Leonard

I didn't see anything from ennis to suggest he deserves a start on Tuesday.

I think your probably right in dropping brittain (probably pushing him back to full back). He's a good player but he's not a left winger and does a job at best wide right. If that's markanday or siggurdson I'm not sure. Siggurdson looked exactly what we needed in his first 3 or 4 games and seems to have got worse. Markanday I'm not sure is up to the level but is a pure attacking threat.

On the hour I'd say. Don't think ennis has more than 30 mins in him.

Let him run his contract down so him and his agent can sniff out any interest. If there is it could be worth triggered the extension to get a few hundred grand for him. If they dont think anyone will pay money for him then don't bother with the renewal as he can't justify the wage he's getting. Only issue is we likely won't have the money to replace him. In theory we have 3 strikers at the club next season and some would argue thats enough: Leonard (who I think will become a good striker), Ennis (injury prone seems an understatement), Telalovic (unproven at this level also an understatement). I think he needs to be replaced. Either way he shouldn't be here next season.

No Dolan I think will be a blow. I would've started him wide left here ahead of siggy. I felt Leonard in the 2nd half showed we needed a more conventional striker. I'd go with the team that finished the game last night: Wahlsted Brittain. Hill Carter Pickering Tronstad. Wharton Moran. Szmodics. Siggy Leonard Alternatively if Wharton is fit I'd be tempted to put brittain right wing, moran left wing and move Hill to right back.

I really don't rate Gallagher especially in the system JDT wants to play. He's go no anticipation in the box and his movement off the ball is rubbish, he's not a clinical finisher, he can't hold the ball up and he can't pass it. If we played two upfront and played more direct he'd be useful as a battering ram. At the moment he's best used as a sub late on to use his pace in behind. I think Leonards got a real chance here. He's only 20 (a young 20, if you think about the year lost in his development) and He's improved a lot from the end of last season when he made his debut. He's got a decent touch, can hold the ball up, bring others in to play and He's starting to adapt physically the level. You can see him becoming more and more comfortable with the pace of the game. He works hard and can press well. But it's his movement that stands out to me, he finds space well and makes clever runs in and out the box. His problem in his last few appearances has been taking chances but you'd like to think that'll improve given his age that'll come. Ultimately he's got it between the ears, and that can be a very hard thing to teach (Gallagher the perfect example of how both JDt and Mowbray failed to mould him into a proper no.9). I really think that if he continues his progression then he will become the ideal striker for this system.

No striker is a mark on GBs record for sure but not sure he's got enough credit for the Szmodics signing, he's signed the top scorer in the league (from no.10) for about £1.5 mil and got him to sign a new contract.

Agree with a lot of this but I think your assessment of brittain is very harsh. He's obviously more of an attacking full back in general I don't think he's a a bad 1v1 defender.

I would maintain that there is a higher ceiling to Wahlsted than Pears. I think he's a better shot stopper and has settled into playing out from the back pretty quickly. He's likely got another 5 or 6 games before pears is fully fit. He's got to keep putting in performances like yesterday to ensure he keeps his spot.

Great to win so comfortably. Especially against an inform side like Stoke. It's a strange one as we have played much better than this and lost this season. Very sloppy in possesion and no real outlet meant that we ceded a lot of possesion, fortunately stoke weren't particularly good and we defended very well. I felt the front 3 of brittain, dolan and moran didn't offer enough going forward (maybe being harsh on moran who got a goal and an assist), but worked hard off the ball. Wasn't a day for the dolan false 9, felt we needed a big man to get us up the pitch. Hill and Carter were very solid. Wahlsted had one proper save to make and saved it well, doesn't convince on crosses but played well. Szmodics missed a couple of good chances first half but his movement was good and he got his reward late on. Hopefully the head injury to Wharton isn't too bad. Couple of winnable games coming up now. Onwards and upwards

I wouldve gone with a striker (leonard) but you can't complain too much. Interesting to see Duru on the bench ahead of Batty on the bench.