ben_the_beast

Nope. I think he made the bench once and that's it. Would have been very frustrating but I feel with Wharton looking decent we have 4 decent centre backs.

I think Scott Wharton has really grasped his chance the last few games. I feel quite comfortable with him at the back. He looks like a defender who really likes defending which as silly as it sounds can be a rarity these days. He can tackle, looks positionally sound and can head a ball. He's not the best on the ball but he can manage just fine. He and Lenihan played a lot of passes today. With Kaminski such a safe outlet with his feet I think that fills in for Tosins composure. I don't have the dislike for William's like many seem too. But I'd still rather see Wharton at the back.

Nice to win a little ugly. I think a lot of that was down to how well Barnsley played. They had the centre of the park absolutely packed! In a way I feel an ugly win might be better for our momentum. Often a big win we follow it up stroking the ball about but in a very lethargic fashion. A gritty is just what was needed.

It feels as though they have about 2 extra players in there. The amount of passes Kaminski, Lenihan and Wharton have made between them as there's a yellow wall ahead of them.

Watched Brentford v QPR. First time I've seen Toney at this level. He looked superb and actually an upgrade on Watkins

Thing is I don't believe Mowbray is over cautious. He's in-balanced. I wouldn't have a problem with an over cautious approach if we were keeping clean sheets and grinding out wins. Someone else pointed out Boro under Warnock. Mowbray has full backs absolutely bombing forwards, even when they aren't offering a huge amount in terms of goals scored. Then unless he has the trio of Holtby, Johnson and Rothwell all on song in the middle the midfield gets stuck with too many players who pass sideways, but still don't offer that overall discipline that will protect the defence. So it's neither here nor there really. An attacking philosophy not adapted when we don't have the right players available. The only tactical tweaks i've seen Mowbray make at all this season is JRC in for Nyambe as he can cross a ball better. Apart from this is just been players with different skill sets slotting into the same roles. When we've got everyone available it has kinda clicked. The rest of the time we've been passing the ball around a lot. Looking a bit cautious in midfield. A long diagonal into our fullbacks and the entire defensive set up is bypassed.

My betting would be a maximum of £10 million, probably less to reinvest after Newcastles cut and running costs.

Odd that they are touting this before January. I would wager with Arma only having 18 months left on his contract there has maybe been some hesitation on his part to be resigning. January is going to be the time he is at his premium in that case. Prices are usually inflated. On the one hand we have missed the boat previously in terms of selling players when they were at their premium. But say we do put a run together between now and January. We're in the hunt for those playoff places. Selling Arma would be quite representative of where the club, Waggot and Mowbray see their priorities.

Jeez that was a heavy challenge at 3:12 What the hell was the fella playing at. A second tier friendly and throwing that around

I don't think Dunny has told anyone how they should feel. He said a lot of fans will disagree with him. So I don't think he is preaching. I would argue looking at other clubs that Venkys have done more than the bare minimum. They were roundly hated and that showed when they last visited, what 7 years ago. It would have been easy for them to completely pull out of the club but they have put their money where their mouth is. For me that is the most important thing as that is the only thing that keeps the club afloat and functioning. I believe the levels of investment they have put in to be far above the minimum. (And yes I understand it was self inflicted and I'm not saying their reception was unwarranted) Also, non of this is aimed at you K-Hod, just a quote of many i have picked out. Would an apology from Venkys regarding some of their mismanagement be enough to get some fans back onside. For me that would be meaningful. I don't know if it would be enough for other fans to begin to move on.... As I feel as though I am very much in the minority in my attitude towards Venkys.

Could be something to do with this deep clean at Ewood. Reducing the amount of people onsite, bit of a break in the players being in. Just a hypothesis though.

I like a bit of a listen to 'That Peter Crouch Podcast'. It's good to have on in the background for a few immature chuckles. Crouchy talked about Pulis quite a bit on one of the episodes. All about organisation. And weirdly very little fitness. Robert Huth used to cycle about 50 miles a day to get too and from training as he felt he wasn't staying fit enough with what was being done on the training ground. Organisationally though Pulis would have them all standing out on the pitch. And he would go and stand in different positions on the pitch to represent where the ball was. All the players would then need to go and stand where they needed to be in relation to where the ball currently was and they'd need to be spot in doing so. This used to last for hours. Also stories of Stoke playing brilliant football in the first half. The players feeling they were playing like Brazil. Only to get in at half time with Pulis yelling at them to hit it long. I don't think he's a busted flush. He could do a job at any level. But you know what you're going to get with him that's for sure.

Personally i think we shouldn't be as harsh on the venkys as we are. I know in the eyes of many thats an awful thing to say in the eyes of many. If we blame anyone we should blame the Walker trust for selling without doing due diligence. Given the fact they had what they had because of Jack, they really should have. Both Venkys and us had our pants pulled down. I genuinely think credit to them for sticking around. True they made some awful choices early on. Its cost them just as much as its cost us. It was ridiculous. We suffered. They suffered. Do I trust them to make good football decision if Mowbray wasnt here. I'd be worried. But I do think they deserve some credit for their continued support.

I think everyone is right. Buckley does look forward and play a lot of 'progressive passes' and generally speaking looks to get the team moving forwards. He's very good like that. He's also got the physicality of a field mouse. He doesn't need to be stacked but he does need to put some muscle on. Peoples bodies develop at different speeds. He's got the physique of a child. This should change at some point and he'll become more imposing. When he hits the age of about 23 I think he will be quality. It's what Fergie used to say about Jessie Lingard. (Yes I know he turned crap again) Every player develops at their own speed. Buckley has learnt to cope to an extent in mens football through technique. When the rest comes he'll be very good.

It's no wonder Leicester are top. They've been awarded 8 penalties this season. That's averages at 1 per game. Vardy gets a lot of plaudits. The thing he is best at though is getting the wrong side of the defender, slowing down and an automatic penalty is given. That and the farcical handballs. I do like to see the traditional big 6 have other teams break their monopoly. But it is sooooo boring seeing games won this way.