It's his first DoF gig. Even if the project has changed, he can be successful under different models. I'd say there's less pressure now as we have no money to spend on players, so all the emphasis will be put on the academy.

Thank you Stoke

Could've needed Travis for this one. Instead he's sat on the bench for Ipswich again tonight. Our captain.

Where would he walk to?

Spot on. Everyone was singing the praises of Dolan, Hedges and Gallagher after the weekend, but they were noshow'ing us again last night. We have too many players that blow hot and cold unfortunately. We need more Tronstad's.

Having slept on it we started fairly well in the press, as usual. But Birmingham were solid playing out from the back and got away with that little mistakes they made. As soon as they grew into the game it was never going to be anything other than grinding out a draw or a deserved loss. What do I like about the past couple of matches? A little bit more variation in play and a lot more switch passes. Getting bodies in the box anticipating the cross. What I don't like is how stressed and anxious we look. No time on the ball and panic station all game long. Even under periods where we're getting pressed we take quick throws and get the pace up (I'm thinking that was a strategy to not let them slow it down) but it led to a lot of passes astray and no plan for attack. We're a central midfielder short with Adam out, and hopefully people see how vital he was now. Pennies we got for him. JRC not match fit and Garrett needs more time, I doubt Fleck is ready and whether he'll ever be again.

He's given away a handful of goals because he's over-committing. Can't cross for the life of him either. No footballing brain there unfortunately. Hard-working though, I'll give him that.

Birmingham were on a poor run and with 32 points before the game, they were four points behind us. There for the taking. Worst game I've seen this season I think. Getting a bit disillusioned here...

This squad needs heavy investment. Don't be fooled by the Stoke result, we nearly invited them back into that one too.

TeLOLovic

It's obviously the gameplan to keep it simple. But we look so tense and nervy it's not promising for the coming few months. And no response as usual.

We've been hoof balling it all game mate, it hasn't worked. Gallagher non-present, Dolan awol and Hedges with the first touch of a leper.

This is grinding... We can do so much better. No calmness on the ball ffs.

Shocking performance. What's the gameplan? What's plan B? Same eleven as versus Stoke, so not enough time to rest perhaps. Brum had an extra day on us. First touches from hell.

On the money. JDT was recruited from a shelf above and with a far more ambitous plan. Eustace knows what he has to work with, anything on top of that is a bonus. A lot of fans have screamed out for some tactical adjustment from JDT, but it never happened this season, while our caretakers and Eustace managed to do so from the first match. Win versus Birmingham and we can enjoy the rest of the season.

Good post. A point to add to this is this is the first time we change 'head coach', and our DoF has a succession plan so might have something to do with how quick we found a replacement. But they must've held talks before JDT was off.

McFadz can be a shit-houser. With Trav it becomes too much about his personal battles in every game, even when we face far inferior teams. Also, when we need to get going when we're chasing, his style of play means there's a lot of stop in play and that destroys any momentum we might be building up. Sorry, not a fan of that, but if he could portion it out better then sure. Absolutely love it when he's on his A-game though, for example if he can out-shithouse Colback, Sam Morsy or some of the other c words out there. But wouldn't get in my starting eleven if my aspirations are play-offs. And he doesn't want to sit on the bench.

They weren't any good.

The difference is Tronstad is hard working no-nonsense while Trav is hard working nonsense. He becomes too destructive sometimes. I rate him as a squad player but I think he has ambitions that go beyond that.

He's a squad player at Ipswich too. Sam Morsy is a better player and Trav filled his spot when he was injured. I hope we can sell him in the summer and reinvest in someone a bit more constructive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_McKenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Hodgson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Mourinho

Totally agree. It's outdated thinking...

Could be. Who do you think picked the starting eleven?

A really good game. Moment of the match was Pears' penalty save, as clutch as it gets. Poor pen from DJ though, and it looked a tad soft perhaps but also clumsy by Brittain. On 3-0 I thought we would make it a party but second half was all about protecting our two-goal lead and fortunately we managed to do so. Hedges came back into the team flying, thought he was excellent. Gallagher and Dolan great too after a really poor match a week ago. Top marks all around, JRC still getting back to his best but not directly poor either. McFadz looked solid and he will give O'Riordan (and others) some valuable mentorship. Loved that Eustace came into the mix when things were getting a bit nervy to make some adjustments. Huge relief. Top marks also to Gavin Ward for having a good game for once. Thought he was excellent for the most part.

Thought it was a ballsy starting eleven with a lot of changes. I liked that he got involved from the get-go, and came down to the bench (?) when we started to become a little nervous.