Blue blood

You have answered your question - these clubs are worried about being squeezed out despite all their advantages.

Agree it's a certainty for a few reasons 1) We couldn't survive another death spiral like that. No Rotherham or Wednesday situation to bail us out. 2) We will need to replace Armstrong and Elliott our best two attacking players. TM doesn't have a good record of signing strikers. 3) I fear a Coyle type situation where significant transfers are only sanctioned after outgoings have happened leaving us playing catch up. 4) The defence needs major work. Nayambe could be off. We lose our loan centre backs, Warton won't be fit for a while, Williams needs replacing, and Ayala who knows? That's a lot of surgery needed assuming that Pickering is any good. 5) TM won't back down from this possession football guff which has cost us time and time again. It's not working but he is obsessed with it even when it doesn't work. 6) TM didn't know his best team this season. How he will know if when we have a raft of new players I have no idea. Other than the start of last season I can't really remember a settled team since the early days. Relegation next year looks a cert with TM.

My thoughts too. No way they could do it. Everyone and their dog is against it. Surely it is a ploy to make the champions League as closed as possible. Which shows its nothing to do with success it's to do with money. Otherwise why are Arsenal included. They aren't big at all in the Prem and haven't been for years. Also given the scheme relies on plastic fans when you are the whipping boys you won't get many plastics sticking around. Turkeys voting for Christmas in Arsenal's case.

Think TM has been very, very lucky this year that we aren't staring relegation in the face. Three wins where blatant penalties weren't given to the opposition makes a massive difference to where we are. (Ok in fairness 2 games, the Millwall one was the refs fault for the kit clash). Those extra 4 to 6 points makes all the difference. Sheffield Wednesday without a points deduction would make a huge difference to the dynamics of the table. Having their manager seriously ill with Covid cannot have helped them either. An outbreak of Covid at Rotherham also helps TM as playing that many games in such a short spell of time cannot be good for their energy levels and recovery. This also may influence how many points they get. In short I think there is a ton of chance, although in Moore's case I am hesitant to call it that and acknowledge the seriousness of it, that has saved us from relegation this year. Sure there's always external factors but this year in particular our survival is more by chance then design.

He isn't going anywhere. If there were grounds for him to be gone it would have happened by now. Results - 6 straight defeats, 1 win in 15, 1 win in 11. Wasting money - Bereton and Gally Failure to get near playoffs- collapse last season, nowhere near this year Lack of long term thinking - half the squad out of contract Improving players - who? Any evaluative criteria were it happening would have triggered the boot by now.

Good news: I predicted a win and got that right. Derby are still in trouble. We are safe from relegation. Bad news: Cements TM's place here as we completely reset the clock. Sounds like we were a tad fortunate but then that has been the story in a number of wins. That's three wins I can think of now where we were fortunate not to have penalties against us. Next time our manager complains about fine margins he may want to reflect on that. As for Derby IF Rotherham scrape a win from somewhere are they most in danger of going down. A clueless manager? Losing even to dross like us? Brum seem to be on new manager bounce, Coventry and Huddersfield are clawing the odd win. It may be Derby that are the most likely to be caught by Rotherham. That would be one thing to brighten up this season for me.

Oh TM - stands for Total Mess these days - this identity stuff to justify his position is cringe worthy. I do wonder how low the guy can go. The problem is like most of his statements it misses out a key element - that being this happens above the manager and doesn't prevent the manager from leaving. One example Swansea when they were under the old ownership - they had a number of managers go but always kept within the same passing style. Same with Brentford. Even with the excuses he makes to justify his position it doesn't work. The manager is not unchallengeable or unchangeable. Also the hire and fire guff is also massively challengeable and a load of lies. We've had him as manager for over 4 years. The alternative to him going is not a hire and fire approach - it's a false dichotomy. What I hate most about TM off the pitch is his manipulation of reality to protect himself. I really hope he leaves but sadly think he is bullet proof.

Good preview @DE. A lot of that mirrors my own Wrestlemania thoughts. I think I'm not opposed to a 2 night WM. I think it worked for the NXT Takeover and if the the quality is there it allows more matches and stars on the card. For example at a Takeover you can only really have 4-6 matches whereas you may well have potential for more quality matches and stars. The idea isn't flawed - it's the execution imo. Speaking of execution I agree with most of your ratings. One of the things that irritated me most was the Fiend stuff was killing the character again - even when they have wiggle room WWE snuff it out. A few areas where I differed slightly - the lack of strong storylines lessened some of the best wrestling for me. For example the silly storyline for Zayne and Owens - the match was great but imagine if it had a bitterness stemming from their NXT days rather than a YouTube star and conspiracy? Or if either of the women's title matches had been built up better? I really enjoyed both btw - and thought both marches were great. Big E and Apolo should have got longer. I think having both Lashley and Reigns win was a mistake, especially the latter needing Uso so much to help. but if that makes him unbeatable I can stomach it, and Reigns is doing well in that role so am fine with him crushing the dreams of Bryan and Edge IF there is a good payoff later on when he finally loses it. The triple threat match itself I thought was the best match on the card. I will confess I quite liked the women's tag title match until the finish in spite of myself. It was stupidly obvious Jax wasn't legal which detracted from a match where they won me over. And that sums up to me my issues with WM and WWE in general. Every little hinders. Even with stuff that is good, they make decisions that lessen the impact of it. If the women's title matches had more story, if Zayne Owens had a less comedic edge, if the women's tag title match hadn't had a sloppy finish, if Big E and Apolo got a bit longer - we would be talking about a very good mania. Sure a few bits need to be canned (The Fiend) but overall they weren't far off and minor changes would have made a huge difference. One final thing - the use of NXT stars is horrific in too many cases. You mention Riddle and that is absolutely the case. He is a good wrestler and has succeeded in NXT both with a serious and more comedic bent. He could be used so much better. There are so many others too who haven't been used properly. My biggest frustration being Ricochet who can do amazing stuff and is pretty unique in that regard. A good wrestler who is criminally underutilized. WWE shouldn't ever struggle because there is so much fresh quality coming out of NXT that if used properly keeps the standards high and a freshness to the product that is needed. Yet they waste one of their best assets.

Interesting. Not too sure on this. By that I mean I am sure there is a lot to be gained by footage these days but off the ball is very important too. For example a goal or a miss by the opposition where a defender is well out of position might not be picked up. Or for a striker good runs they make which the passes don't get to isn't shown. I think there are certain things that can only be got when watching the full game.

I'll say this. If TM was a tad unlucky 52 points were needed for safety last time round he is VERY lucky that the bar is likely to be so low this year.

Derby in terrible form, rookie manager, weaker squad. Should be a home banker. Of course we are quite good at losing those. Mind you given we have been utterly appalling for months and there are still a ton of teams below us despite us being abject, it shows that there is a lot of dross in this league. Therefore a win even with our terrible form is very much a possibility - the league is that bad in many ways. My biggest worry about this game is for me. TM's comments are getting to the stage where a small part of me is wanting us to lose to show him for the useless immoral buffoon he is. Scary times. Only ever felt that way a bit before under Kean. That's how bad it is getting. And yet that goes against every instinct within me. As to a result. I loath our manager, owners, CEO but I loath Derby too. And somehow I still love the club so will plump for a Rovers win as the least crap option. Least crap of course being our sole achievement this season.

Agree with most of this only his mindset isn't mediocracy, it's worse. GB showed must not lose philosophy which was pretty mediocre imo but TM goes one better - or worse - and doesn't mind defeats as long as we competed. And even that is subjective! A terrible manager who with 4 years, good backing and zero pressure has us no further on then before.

Thinking about it we need one or two of the teams below us to go on a run and be virtually safe before they play us. That way at least they might be in holiday mode which would give us a chance.

Firstly this article contradicts the one the other day where he says he doesn't look at other teams or the table. Shame the journalist didn't pick him up on that. Mind you that laid of twaddle was a few days ago so why bother going back and challenging him on that. And that's the most positive thing to say about the article... As for the rest, well what about the targets TM himself set? And surely 9th and a couple of places/points off suggests we are doing better than 16th and narrowly avoiding relegation? It's almost as if he believes there should be no accountability. Another thing I'd like to know is what is this development of players for? I was under the illusion it was to y'know win matches but since he openly doesn't care about that could be clarify what the development is actually for? What development there is is questionable too. More drivel from a fake manager who has got us back to where we were when he found us despite 4 years and nearly £20 million. There's no achievement in that whatsoever.

Two things irk me with this. Firstly all the variables in the world don't mitigate for a 1 win in 15 record or playing your striker at right back. Secondly this season should have worked in our favour. TM had had three years to assemble a squad and to implement a style of play. Much longer than all other managers. Clubs with better crowds get less of a home field or financial advantage over us too. All in all the excuses are bull. My hope is his pride won't let him take a relegation so he jumps ship in the summer.

It's an issue no doubt about it. I think it says a lot about our set pieces as that's often where defenders score from. I'm more concerned that our midfield 2 in the 4-2-3-1 or 3 in the 4-3-3 formation don't get many goals either. None have more than a couple I think? I get rotation and injuries don't help but even so would expect a few more goals from our midfielders.

So thinking a bit more on this and my previous involvement in this thread got me thinking we need our Hasslebank. What I mean by that is our manager who is a great fit for us and works well with us, even if they aren't the greatest of managers. Hasslebank's record it has been pointed out isn't that great away from Burton but at Burton it really works. Am sure there are other examples and fits like that as well. We just need to find ours. Could Hughes be that person? Of course had we competent people doing the recruitment I'd feel more confident in this. But on the flip side thinking on needing the right fit Vs a good manager, makes me a little more confident that we may alight on the right candidate. If TM ever goes that is.

It's impossible in any job not to assess performance. Aside from it being proved that it is a lie and he does know how others are doing you have highlighted the absolute falacy that it is even possible not to look at results. It can't be done.

You know, I nearly posted the same and didn't. Am sure the LET in the old days would have hammered such a blatant lie.

Oh another thing proving it is a lie is how much he mentions Liverpool when they were on their poor run as well. It's Kean's dog level of comments here.

Now apart from the stupidly of that statement it's the most obvious lie in the world. How else does he know to follow the Brentford or Barnsley model? Which he is on record of saying. He is also on record of saying teams are doing well, fighting for promotion etc. It's the most stupid obvious lie which shows he has zero integrity whatsoever.

The positive news is that even if Rotherham win Vs Coventry it puts pressure on Coventry and Derby more than us. We would need Rotherham to have good form on top of us doing worse than all the other teams below us. The latter is a bit more plausible but fortunately can't see Rotherham keeping this up and one of the teams below us is likely to get jitters just as badly as us. Given our points total to date I'm still confident of avoiding relegation but the fact it is technically possible shows 4 years on the journey has gone full circle. And that shows there is no progress under TM.

On Bell I will say I though TM was unlucky with him. He was signed in league 1 and got into the league team of the season, had the physical attributes - so in theory he looked a good bet to move us forward. I can see why TM signed him. I am less forgiving of the fact that 3 years on he is still here when it's abundantly clear he isn't up to standard. Not having signed better on a permanent in three years is a bit of a mick take. That Douglas gets compared with him for who is better is criminal. Defenders are coming - yeah right.

He may go in the summer but only if he decides it. And given a lack of finances available that's a possibility. That said what other job is he going to get in football? Assuming those appointing at other clubs actually apply a bit of dilligence then the guy who somehow arsed up Celtic, bombed at Coventry and led us to a 1 win in 15 ain't going to be getting another job. That may make him stick it out.

Think he always was. The selling off the training ground scheme being dropped perhaps gave a bit of hope he was under pressure and could be out. As it is nothing has materialised, shame. If it were based on results then he likely could have gone from six losses on the bounce (none to particularly good teams either) or 1 win in 10. Whether it's a single win in 12 or 15 or even 20 doesn't make much of a difference really - they are all unacceptable. And am extra few adverse results isn't going to be seen as dramatically worse. If they were bothered by results then we would have passed the tipping point way before now.