DavidMailsTightPerm

You blame defence - but where was our midfield ?

And there was me thinking Pears was doing ok

TBH - given our need for defenders, I am not certain why he is even being discussed. Even if he is as good as some think, from a PNE perspective they will (at best) be standing still considering the players they are potentially losing.

He should be left back - I will leave it to others to fill in the rest 🤣

I am mixed - let's hope he doesn't pick up another injury because not 100% match fit.

I am a huge Travis fan - but he can't possibly be 100% match fit. TM comments also won't have helped - soft under belly, missing Travis etc. will just encourage daft challenges which won't be helped by his lack of match sharpness. Nice to see Davenport given a start - he has shown a bit of bite in his odd cameos. Rothwell dropped to bench ? hopefully just keeping him fit. Defence is a huge worry - unfortunately picks itself due to injuries.

Gotta say fair play to Huddersfield- they fouled when they had to etc. Ultimately they should have been the sort of team that we should beat. But we didnt - perhaps if we had taken our chances - but ultimately TMs total blind side with central defence killed us again. We need to change now to give the new manager chance to get some decent injury free defenders in.

TM Out !

Lack of spectators probably increase chances of match going ahead - whats the forecast for the rest of the day ?

Disagree regarding BB - he has been one of our most effective players since lockdown - for me he would be in the team. IMO 4-2-3-1 is the way forward when Travis and Dack are both fully fit. Travis and Rothwell have the legs to play the two in midfield - with both capable of breaking from deep. It would leave the full backs exposed at times.

Tis the season to be jolly - so the positives - Rothwell goal was absolute class, Dack looked sharp, Brereton adds a different dimension to Gallagher (could have been a penalty for shove in back). Armstrong looked sharp and unlucky not to score. Overall we deserved to win - but (ignoring Ayala giving him so much space) they did score a very good goal.

Interesting to see so many views on where Dack should play. IMO - getting this right is key to us getting promoted (may even be his best position is on the bench) It is likely that Dack will have lost an edge of pace, which may be an issue. I would try the false 9 again - and move Armstrong to wide forward. With the interchanging we often see - can't see this being an issue. My biggest issue is where do we play BB if Dack plays up front - as since lockdown he has been one of our most effective forwards - and prior to injury was starting to score again (didn't think I would ever write that sentence 😁). As good as it is that Dack is getting to fitness - more excited about Travis returning.

Gallagher isn't a wide forward - the manager has to take a lot of responsibility for not getting the best out of him. We are very predictable - why can't we switch at times to 442 and play Gallagher alongside Armstrong?

His decision making is poor at times. But to be fair to him this was a split second decision - but for the goal keepers head he would have scored.

A bit worrying - but I think Downing is probably our best bet for left back. He is no slower than Douglas - and has even better delivery.

Elliott scored a great goal - but thought overall it was an average performance from him.

And his wages were ? I am sure he would have blown a huge hole in our wage budget

Lacklustre

In a normal season would possibly agree with you - but with two injury prone centre halves and three games a week it would seem sensible to rotate

Yes - Hurst was really good. Imagine an England team with injury free Hurst and Shearer up front with Warhurst running the midfield (what could have been, but for injuries)

I often wonder how good he would have been without that first injury - he was genuinely quick prior to injury, but lost an edge of pace - obviously still a great player

With all the teams above us to play again - and with them all playing each other - 6 point recovery is easily achievable IF we can reverse our current fortunes playing teams above us in the table. At the moment my glass is half full - we are playing some excellent attacking football at times - and even when getting beaten we have played on the whole well (just let down by individual mistakes, either defensively or not taking chances). I am more confident of the impact Travis will make on his return than I am Dack. But even if Dack takes a while to become fully effective - there is no better player to have on the bench when you need to score against a packed defence.

To be honest - if he continues to improve (and let's be honest for all the hype he has had more than one average game) - there is no way he will be with us next season unless we are promoted (even then only on loan). While he is with us, we just have to enjoy the skills of a player that (at the moment) looks destined to be a top player. He is looking like the best loan we have had since Archibald.

There's a young lad in East Lancashire called Travis who might fit the bill 🤔 Regarding Lenihan - defensively he does ok - but for an ex-midfield player, his distribution can be woeful at times - mainly because he tries to be over ambitious (TM should be taking him to one side, at the end of the day he is no Tosin when it comes to distribution). It is often this that leads to goals or rash challenges as he tries to atone for his mistake. Interesting that Williams gets stick for the first goal - but nobody mentions Kaminski for being beaten at his near post. IMO you just have to recognise the forwards skill. I seem to remember Garner scoring a few goals like that (though my memory is hazy) was his goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup not similar?

Is the squad capable ? At the moment Lenihan is making mistakes which seem to being punished, Douglas has yet to show up, Johnson is up and down and Holtby has had a dip in form. Add to this one of our better players since lock down (Brereton) being injured, alongside Dack and Travis. This isn't to get TM off the hook - but do we overstate the strength of our squad - especially compared to the Norwichs of this world ?