There are some really sad people on this site. Their behaviour is pathetic and pitiable where it comes to Chaddy. Makes me wonder what their life is actually like when they spend their time obsessively arguing with him. This is a new low.

Careful Paul. You don’t want to start the “in the mix” debate again...

I don’t think anyone is saying Brereton was the finished article when we signed him, and until he gets some more goals he’ll not be the finished article in my eyes. As Ossydave said above, he’ll be worth much much more than £7m if he ends the season as well as he started. Watkins was a complete steal for Brentford but you can’t always expect to get those bargains. We lucked out with Dack and Arma, and to my mind paid a premium for BB. Thankfully it’s beginning to look like £7m invested rather than £7m squandered.

And what? He scored twice! He’s doing ok so far this season. Do you want more than a goal a game? This is so wrong that it hurts. King was in no way better than Rhodes when he was with us, and neither was Gestede as evidenced by the number of goals that each striker scored when they were with us. I don’t understand all this nonsense about Rhodes and Arma. They’re strikers, employed to score goals. Armstrong has averaged a goal every game so far this season. Rhodes got us a goal every other game over a number of seasons. How many forwards have we had who couldn’t score goals? No other striker we’ve had since the likes of Bellamy, Santa Cruz and Yakubu could touch those guys for goal scoring contributions. Honestly some people on here need to appreciate what we’ve got. Some day Armstrong will probably leave us for a bigger club. He’s English, still relatively young, he scores goals for fun and he’s lightning quick. Maybe then people will realise what we had.

It’s funny how opinions can differ so much. I thought we were great in the wins against Wycombe and Derby, very poor against forest but back to a good performance tonight, frustrating as the result was. It’s never nice to lose but we played some positive, pressing football tonight, and were only undone by individual errors. To me that shows that we are moving in the right direction, and with our new LB to come in and Dack to come back I think we’ll continue to get stronger. I’m still backing us for the top 6 this season. I think this is our best chance since we were relegated into this league, as even though our squad isn’t quite as strong (no players at the level of Rhodes, Robinson or Gestede), we have a good coach and what looks like a very good team at this level if they can click. If we don’t get there I’d expect TM to come under pressure and tbh I think I’d be ready for a change if we don’t end the season round about the top 6. Talk of sacking TM now (I know you’re not calling for that) is foolish.

I’m sure he could probably look through this thread if he’s after someone to throw under the bus. Wouldn’t take him long to find vitriolic and undeserved criticism, and if he needs to find something completely bonkers and OTT to say post-match then he’d find the comments here very helpful.

We played some good stuff towards the end of that half. Thought Brereton was excellent also and obviously delighted he got a goal. Real shame that we conceded two early goals but if we take that energy and drive into the second half I can see more goals for us. Nothing to fear here, let’s get stuck into them ?⚪️

Evans wasn’t great but I think others were far worse. At least Evans got involved, even if he was technically lacking. Johnson was truly awful, I’m beginning to think he’s very much a hot and cold type player. Chapman showed nothing. Absolutely a waste of a sub and a squad place.

That was awful. Gallagher was pretty bad and I am beginning to lose any hope of him becoming a decent signing. Forest did well to neutralise us although we didn’t help ourselves by constantly giving the ball away. Buckley did not impress and while nyambe looked very dynamic he didn’t produce enough for me. In fairness we’ve got a lot of players we’d expect in the squad out for various reasons and were unlucky to concede at the very end. It was the opposite of entertaining football and tbh I’m glad it’s over now. Hopefully we can get back to winning ways soon and I hate saying this but the less time Gallagher spends in the squad the better. Kaminski seemed good enough when called upon and Ayala was also cool and committed when he was needed. Can’t wait to see Douglas replace Bell as he was not up to standard either. I still think we’ll be about the top 6 by the end of the season and hopefully results in the next few games bear that out. Can’t wait for Dack to come back!

What an amazing transfer window. We’ve finally addressed our defence, got what looks like a great keeper in, and some exciting talent from the premier league. Time to get excited about a promising season for me, and I feel that top 6 is a realistic aim now. How good to be able to say that ? Additionally, it has been illuminating to see some try to put any negative spin possible - Elliot is on a massive wage and has a bad attitude ? we’ve now got too big a squad ? I sometimes think that people have an entrenched opinion about Mowbray and his tenure, and that they are sticking to their opinion until something goes wrong and they can say “I told you so”. It makes for amusing reading.

I genuinely don’t know what you’re on about here. He was player of the season last year, scored the best goal of the season, and has 5 goals in 3 games this season playing as a striker, the same position he is playing today. Can you see why people might be confused with what you’ve been posting?

You said he was a L1 wide player. I’m countering that nonsense with the suggestion that 5 goals in 3 games makes him a capable championship striker.

He’s scored 5 league goals already this season. Can’t ask for much more than that from a striker surely?

I estimate that 99% of transfer stories in the media and on the internet are bullshit. The only people that have lost it are those who follow the likes of Nixon.

Well that quote was from a different post? And in any case it’s not engaging in hyperbole to suggest that the early signs of an upturn in form are being shown by BB. I guess the huge fee distorts matters somewhat but young English players with potential cost £££. I hope it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that BB has displayed some excellent movement and running with the ball recently. If he can add 10 goals this season I think we’d be looking at a player worth a considerable amount of money. I think our squad will be much stronger this season. Like you say a couple of defensive additions to a young squad will be a huge boon. Our young players will all be better with another year of experience and development behind them which will make a big difference. The ball is in TM and the Venkys court now, we need those defensive reinforcements and I just hope that kaminski is an improvement on Walton. I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree here as we’re just restating our own opinions. Come the end of the season one of us will have the gloating rights at least, how about that? ?

I don’t understand where you’re getting hyperbole from the quoted section? BB scored a couple of good goals pre-season and looked very lively without scoring when I saw him in a couple of matches towards the end of last season, so I think it’s fair to say that there’s encouraging signs of a player beginning to show the form that would justify his transfer fee. Don’t forget he’s still very young, and I’d rather edge towards encouragement and optimism when it comes to our young players. I’m certainly not “overly excited” which I think is reflected in the tone of my post. I agree that we’re always looking for an extra 10-20% from TM, but isn’t that life as a supporter of a big town club? If we had Pep, Mourinho or even Bielsa (or had resources to match) I’d be looking for much more impact from our team. As it is we’ve got tinpot owners and a budget manager who does his best. We “wee with the willy we’ve got”. Every season we get better (granted our defence seems to stagnate) and at this stage that’s good enough for me. We weren’t too far away from the playoffs last season, and while I’d never suggest that we’re in the mix for automatic promotion, I feel that with some defensive additions we’ll be in the top 6 by May. I agree that we’ll be looking at transfer requests if we don’t go up this season (and possibly before) but in my opinion TM has earned the chance at another year to keep on with the excellent work he’s put in so far.

If is a big word tbf. I still think we’ve got no cause to sack TM so far but IF we don’t continue to improve (ie a higher league position and sustained playoff push) then I’d be asking questions at the end of the season. It is imperative that we get some defenders in, and IF we fail to strengthen defensively then I think we’ll struggle and look back on this season as a real wasted opportunity.

Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of playing a relegated team. We know from bitter experience that relegation can mess badly with team morale and lead to below par performances so this might be a closer game than expected. I like your team selection as well. We desperately need an accomplished LB to complete our squad, but in the absence of any signing this week I’d have bell in there. Could see TM going for JRC perhaps and playing Gallagher (please no) or Rothwell up front. This season I think Bennett’s best place in our squad is on the bench as his versatility could prove useful if we get an injury. He’s been a great servant but his first team days are behind him. I think we could just get a sneaky draw in this game but I won’t be bereft if we get a creditable defeat. In fairness it’s the perfect time for this game so?

I normally hate it when people do this but... corrected it for you ?. How can you sack a coach who has taken the basket case that we were post-Coyle and improved every single season? Yes our defence is bad now but is it even bad compared to teams at our current level? Brereton and Gallagher have a lot to do this season to justify the outlay on them, but if Brereton continues with his excellent post-lockdown and pre-season form then we might just have a very good player on our books. Young players are coming through and Dack, Armstrong and Nyambe are playing at a very high level under TM. If we can get a good LB in and some quality for CB then we’ll have a successful season I think. I’ll be judging TM if we don’t improve on last season and make a good attempt to place in the top 6. i think the future is looking good ?⚪️

So does that leave a 9% chance of a £50m war chest? ?

My bad that’s market value....

Leeds spent £55m on players this season. How is that not a huge amount?

Another way of looking at it is that signing a player is a form of capital investment for a football club. I’m sure plenty of companies that have furloughed staff will keep investing in an effort to stay competitive with their rivals. Are football clubs any different?

Thanks for the last link. Chrono trigger is a very good game, I never played it when it came out but I’ve recently discovered it through my raspberry pi. I’d forgotten how charming and fun the old JRPGs are. Just got FFVII working so I might finally be able to complete it! Are any of the other FFs from the pre-ps2 days any good?

My favourite computer game music is the “Jurassic rhythm” bit at the start of chrono trigger. Just a very cool wee jingle. Streets of rage gets a special mention also.