I think (and this isn't BBs fault,) £7m was far too much for a Championship side to pay for potential. Even most Premiership sides would have hesitated at that price. If he continues to improve, and possibly plays a key role in promotion we may look back and congratulate TM for his eye for a player - but will still think it was a huge gamble for a mid table Championship club.

I see the problem as being 3 matches in a week - but ultimately I am sure that TM will be led by his sports science team

I was thinking through the centre - though must admit don't know which type of forward the Reading centre halves would prefer to play against. But if they defend deep, there may not be the space behind for Armstrong to be as effective.

It is a difficult call - if Reading are a counter attacking team then Nyambe would be a good choice (with his pace) - however against a packed defence, going forward, JRC would get the vote. Given the heavy workload - I would play Nyambe - also half expecting a bit of rotation - with possibly Gallagher starting rather than BB (though would be a tough call after Saturday). Its a tough one for TM - rest one or two of the better players and get the wrath of the fans - or don't rest and they pick up injuries - and he gets the wrath of the fans - who would be a manager ?

At the moment it has been an average start - with I would argue above average performances. Over the season we will find out how good this team is - but I would argue we have been a little unlucky with injuries so far. Williams & Rothwell were both playing well when they came down with COVID - and the impact of losing Travis cannot be over estimated. Any team getting promoted needs luck at the right times - up to press I think (in matches) our luck has been fairly even - our biggest failing has been to convert numerous good chances - and that isn't luck just poor finishing

Can you somebody let me into the Brereton secret - it is almost like he has a twin brother who can actually play. Every now and then he does something that reminds you of the player we signed - but so far he has been one our best players. Given the way we play he is almost undroppable on todays performance. It is strange - I actually felt disappointed - as we are still missing a large number of very good chances. Armstrong and Holtby should have both had hat tricks. Let's hope they are saving them for Tuesday ?

Nyambe has been prone to hamstring strains etc - be interesting to see if this is rotation, tactical or TM just prefers JRC. We now have two full backs with good technical ability but possibly the odd question mark against them defensively.

Issue isn't creating chances - it is taking them

I like Dolan - but on last nights showing (and improvement since lockdown) would persist with BB.

Possibly for his height if we decide to go long.

I would say we played well in 4 out of the 6. We won 2 and lost two of those. Against Cardiff we were average and Forest poor. So don't see it as a big problem at the moment. For me there are far more positives than negatives - from style of play to recruitment of players. We have been a little unlucky with injuries/covid - but that is going to be an issue for most teams. It was a shame that two of our currently better performing players got Covid.

Putting the ball in the back of the net is where we fell down. This is why top strikers cost so much money.

I think Elliott would be.

How poor are some of the teams we have played that in 50% of league matches we haven't conceded. When you examine it - only the newly relegated teams have scored than one against this toilet defence.

The way reactions on here go from one extreme to the other - usually depending on result rather than performance has led me to one conclusion. TM needs to adopt a tag line of "Get Promotion Done" and the vast majority of fans on the forum will fall into line ?

If that was their plan - it would have rebounded on them big style if we had taken our chances. We could have been 1 up before they scored.

Amazing we ended up these stats after passing it around the defence all night. Personally I thought we played well - except when it really counted. Armstrong should have had a hat trick, Lenihan and Ayala should have both scored. Ultimately it was like the Bournemouth match - where we played well, but the extra quality in the final third (that only Premiership money can buy) undid us.

Not certain how Gallagher would make the 11 - surely Dolan or Elliott ?

Personally never seen him play - whats is he like as a player - quick, tricky, goal scorer, good decision making etc ?

This season (more than any) we can't blame the absence of players as an excuse. IMO Mowbrays excuses post match were poor - at the end of the day he should be prepared for various eventualities.

I would agree that the match had 0-0 written all over it. However, the general team performance was poor - with a number of players looking off the pace. Tactically - when we saw that Forest had bottled up the game - I would have played Gallagher centrally - with Armstrong just behind. Whichever way you look at it - we struggle against the better defensive teams. We have played three half decent teams in the league - and have one point to show for our efforts. I would agree we deserved more from those three matches - but we need to find a way of beating these teams or mid-table beckons again

Hitting in the break ? They consistently had 10 players behind the ball - don't get me wrong as an away performance was good - just didn't think they deserved to win.

Not a good performance - but unlucky to lose to an ultra defensive forest. We missed Rothwell drive from midfield and seemed to play far too many long balls. Doran - is he a flash in the pan? Poor today. I am probably alone but thought BB did ok with limited opportunities to shine. Johnson - think he was playing for Forest as he seemed to find their players more frequently than our own. Armstrong hasn't played well for a few matches now. Think we were undone tactically - timing is everything - pre Houghton we would have won.

What - you sat on your own ?

Amazing how peoples opinions change - not certain why so many think this is a drastically weakened team. Same front three, same back four - other than Williams replaced with Ayala (which many would consider an improvement). In midfield we are missing Holtby and Rothwell - replaced by an international and an up and coming midfield player. We may miss Rothwells pace - but Evans coming in should hopefully provide a bit more protection for Buckley. COYB