Agree with you that it might be the biggest squad but my word it isn't balanced! 3 injury prone centre backs meant it didn't take much to, as you say strip us bare, and a collection of the worst left backs really doesn't help us. Not sure what I would do to be honest. Are Stoke still quite a physical side? If so me may need as physical a defence as possible, although not sure who that would include. As for longer term we need defensive reinforcements.

We might as well give up then! It's the same for all clubs. Honestly whilst the owners are our curse and burden, fans standards being so low is depressing to see, and seems as though we are condoning the malaise.

Yeah just saw they lost to Preston. How we lost to them is a mystery and a huge mistake. A win there would have made a huge difference for is in the table. It's results like that which are just as costly as not beating the better teams. (Although they are technically about us, although echo the questions as to how.)

You (or someone) mentioned AEW is like mid 90s WCW - will have to give that a try if that's the case as prior to Hogan I really loved that period. I feel the infection is a bit of a slow creep. I didn't really notice any major problems until after the pandemic began. The February Takeover for example was still excellent and I thought the 1.5 hours per week was working well. Since then it's taken some real hits in amongst showing what it was and can be in terms of quality.

Agree we haven't covered a single injury with an additional player except perhaps Trybull for Travis. Cunningham out for the season - we don't replace him. Dack out for the season - we don't get any cover. It's not like these are minor players either but key components of our side. Daft how we don't adjust for them.

That's just under 20% of games missed. Ignoring previous seasons and assuming he can keep this level of fitness what are we going to do for the 1 in 5 he misses? And that's not factoring in how many games are crammed into a shorter space of time, and the attritional effects of this. Nor is it considering our Ayala's fitness record. Let's say Lenihen is fine, what if Ayala isnoutm Nor is it considering that we might get another long term injury like Warton or Travis or Dack.

Oh I don't doubt. My recollection of it is though that a lot of comments about TMs treatment of Nayambe was in response to comments in LT articles that were linked. Again can't be bothered to travel back, however am fairly certain in this case (as I remember reading them!) that TM had commented on Nayambe's performances. I guess it depends on if it is done to all players or just some. IF it is all I would probably agree with you - nothing unfair at all. If only to some, and the worse culprits ignored, it's a different matter. Must have missed the Williams one but outside of that, that's my recollection too. Would also add in Raya, and then very belatedly Walton too. Interesting that Bennett, Smallwood and Mulgrew aren't in that list despite many dire performances. Smacks to me of double standards. Would agree with all this. Agree we don't know the whole story, and there will have been times he needed resting. However I think the poor treatment is a cumulative effect based on all the evidence. You've alluded to yourself that some players avoid criticism, we both agree he is the best right back at the club, Williams and Ayala have been thrown in when scarcely fit.l, some of the reasons given for his omission are laughable. All of which together suggests poor treatment. Any one would be a tad tenuous I agree but all 3/4 strands together and it doesn't look good at all.

You are asking me to go through three years plus of match interviews? No chance. Doesn't mean the evidence isn't there but that I have a life. The examples.have been stated as being called out in the press, assumed that's common knowledge and has been discussed regularly on here, poor reasons for being dropped (see just a couple of posts above for specifics) and lesser players playing e.g. Caddis. That's a fair bit of evidence. If you want to check Nayambe's criticisms in the press Vs Bennett say that's fine by me. If you won't accept any evidence until a link has been posted I think there wouldn't be much conversation on this board or in the pub for that matter (when w are allowed back in).

Which bit aren't you buying? I mean I appreciate its different but I cannot see anyone being happy with being called out by their boss when others aren't, nor not being given important pieces of work because of spurious reasons. Do you really think numbers too high and low on confidence are good reasons to drop a player?.I'd also be peeved in work if weaker colleagues gor opportunities I didn't. Genuinely I don't think many people would be happy in that environment.

See it's things like this make me certain that we are going nowhere under TM. If Coyle had come out with this garbage all fans would be jumping on it/him and rightly so. It's so bloody stupid. It's beyond basic. The guy who manages to see something in Bereton when everyone else (me included doesn't) gets Armstrong into a top Championship forward, makes the most stupid idiotic mistakes I wouldn't expect a Sunday League manager to make. Comments and decisions like this are gross incompetence.

Yes those two decisions alone show it clearly is poor treatment of Nayambe. And the Williams and others playing when not fully fit kiboshes any idea of it being solely fitness related. And if you go back even further what about when Caddis was preferred? You'd also have a hard time justifying the criticism of Nayambe in the press compared to other players. I get not looking for a stick to beat the manager with but I think his treatment of Nayambe is probably one of his clearer cut mistakes.

You cannot have 3 of 4 centre backs injury prone and say you are well covered there. Even before one off events like Warton's injury (shame as he may turn out to be the best of them long term) which can and do happen you are massively gambling that at least 2 of the 3 stay fit. Factor in those one off injuries, suspensions, personal circumstances and it's a receipe for disaster. I'm no mathematician but the odds of having 2 of the 3 available for most of the season is limited in the extreme. Oh then there's the fact it's a shortened season due to Covid increasing the likelihood of injuries and fatigue. That's only going to make the odds of the 3 being fit enough even less. And we haven't even started to talk about quality. Imo Williams isn't that good. He can have a cracking game at CB (and has) but he is just as capable of a stinker too. Not good enough imo. In short we really need a centre back. Then there's the left back situation. Goodness when you aren't sure if Bell or Douglas is better then you have a world of problems. At least most of our centre backs are decent when fit. Our left backs are absymal. Got to say Douglas surprised me as on paper he was a good signing. But then so was Bell when we got him too. Neither are up to it and it's a massive weakness in the team we can't afford to carry. So a left back is needed too. Then there's the minor detail of cover for Nayambe. It isn't Buckley and JRC is injured. (Anyone know how long for?) So we are short at rb if Nayambe is out too. Our defence is really held together with sticky tape. Build from the back? Out foundations are on sand. Thank goodness the keeper situation is sorted.

Not a bit of it. It's clearly a TM issue. He's been dropped.for Bennett, Caddis and JRC - two of whom have no right to be near the first 11. He's been called out for mistakes in public when defensive colleagues (Bennett and Muklgrew) have not been criticised at all. And he was even dropped at one point for - I forget the exact quote - playing a lot of games. None of which suggests TM values him whatsoever. As for the game where to start. Terrible performance by all accounts but perhaps the most vital 3 points to date as it keeps us with some hopes (still slim imo) of making playoffs. More poor performances like that though and we will get punished. It seems to me that TM deserves huge credit for finding and/or utilising match winners - Graham, Mulgrew (in league 1) Dack (both) Armstrong and Elliott. It is a big bonus having players who can win you games with their talent even when you are playing well. I am however getting rather worried that we seem to consistently rely on this. From league 1 to now we don't half seem to get bailed out by our stars rather than playing well. It seem to me that we are far too overreliant on this.

We can't do it against the good teams. Rotherham aren't a good team. Therefore Rovers will win. And if we don't there really isn't much cause for optimism whatsoever. However I am fully expecting a rampant win to get us long suffering fans hopes up again.

It's not that NXT is bad (imo) it's just not great like it was. There's still a ton of talent and some interesting storylines. Personally I like Gargano as a heel, the women's division is so stacked with any number of women who could be pushed as the main woman, and they still have a ton of good matches. NXT had been hurt by 2 circumstances which have been beyond their control. 1) The pandemic and losing a crowd which has reduced the atmosphere and reaction and generally lowered the quality of matches and angles all round. 2) Two charismatic champions, one who is very talented, have been injured taking the NXT title out of the picture. Neither are their fault and both have massively weakened the product. That said they are making basic errors which NXT was known not to have. Wrestlers turning too quickly making no sense whatsoever. Priest for example turned face a month after attacking Balor with no reason for the change. Champa has turned a couple of times very quickly in the past few months. All of which is terrible storytelling. Going along with this is wrestling amnesia. Angles, actions as heels, there's a ton of stuff which is forgotten quickly. Fans however do remember and when the past doesn't matter it's hard to care. The speed of which things happen is also far too quick. Not just turns but storylines in general. There's no slow build any more. Watching 2014-15 NXT the matches are nowhere near as good (bar main events and take overs) but the product hooked you in with good storytelling. Speaking of storytelling some of the storylines are childish. We had a wargames match for the women which whilst very good, was over a crushed miniature tank. Or take an example from a couple of Takeovers ago Balor Vs Thatcher. Balor was angry Thatcher interfered in a North American qualifying match. Decent storyline until you consider 3 other people interfered in the match devaluing Thatcher's involvement. It's basic stuff NXT avoided which made it a better product. It's not irredeemable and it's worth remembering that February's Takeover was great and such good quality. It's also worth remembering the many quality matches they still serve up. But the trajectory needs to change or it will eventually become mediocre and no different from the rest and it'll be panning for gold in the mud.

Think BDS gives some of my response. I don't think it helped that Walton was in goal, he was terrible with a lot of goals attributable to his individual errors. There was a fair number of clean sheets and positive reviews of him so I think there are some signs Lenihen can be good enough.

I appreciate the way you disagree well when we have different opinions. I can see what you are saying - end of last season was probably the best time for a clean break. I think where we differ is how much progress we see. You cite the good performances Vs top teams but we have also played pretty badly (and got results) Vs weaker teams. So on performance levels I'm not really sure that they are that much of an endorsement of TM and his ability and the chance to make up the points. We disagree with how big a gap 6 points is. I see it as large and my last post stated why, you see it as not that big. I guess there's an element of glass half full/half empty although I feel quite strongly that it's not much of an only! Perhaps it's a context thing. Under a different manager perhaps I would be confident we could make it back up whereas under TM i don't. Perhaps it's also situational as in its 3 years in, we bottle top 6 each year, we can't beat the teams above us etc. Maybe it's the fact there are so many teams above us. Rambling a bit but basically I think it's the situation around the 6 points as well as the actual points difference that makes me less optimistic.

Good question. I would say with the right people around him Lenihen is definitely a yes, Williams a no. Look at how Lenihen did with Tosin - each one clearly had their own role at centre back and the partnership worked well. Get the right partner and we have two good players. Williams is ok. A few good games, a few bad ones too, and with fitness issues to boot not really enough to be warranting a place in the squad. Would definitely looking for someone a tad more consistent on both injury and form front. It's a bit of a moot debate though as we never spend on the defence.

Think that you highlight a few of the problems in your post. Firstly whilst we play them again, we haven't actually beaten any of the top teams so it's not a huge cause for optimism. Secondly they also all play each other - which means some will drop points but equally others will definitely gain some, which leaves us still trying to catch teams. Thirdly the one week of 9 points analogy doesn't really work either. As that would mean we would need 6 of the 11 teams above us to get 3 or less points to break into the playoffs. I take your point that we may be a lot closer after this run of 3 wins, but even then it isn't in the playoffs. Which shows we are a fair way off. To have so many teams above us pick up so few points is a statistical improbability. It's highly unlikely. Not to mention there is no room for error for us! And let's say a team keeps pace with us, say 6th to 8th match our 7 or 9 point week and 9th to 11th drop behind us. That would mean we would need another week where we win all three and 6th to 8th all get three points or less. Again, the likelihood isn't great. We are already playing long odds. Btw I should stress I am not throwing in the towel. We should fight with every last breath in our bodies, play for the badge and the shirt, make sure 100% is given, every player can look the fans in the eye and say they did their best and have their all. From TM to the kit man everyone should be doing their damnedest to get us promoted. Every effort should be made. it's still pssoble. However, I fear it is far from probable.

The 6 points as an argument is highly optimistic on so many levels. First off we've not managed to catch up those points ever before. Under Bowyer or TM we've never caught up those only points ever. Doesn't matter how good or poor the team we haven't broken the glass ceiling of playoffs. Secondly it massively assumes none of the teams above us are going to get points. It assumes those in the playoffs are obliging to not pick up any points, nor the teams from 7th to 11th. Optimistic in the extreme. At present even if we do our part of the bargain (unlikely) we need at least 5 teams above us to do worse. Then there's assuming there's no other team just below us that doesn't do better than us too. Although at least with that one it's in our hands. Sure teams do make a surge but whilst I hope I'm wrong I really don't think it will be us.

Disagree on Williams, Lenihen can be excellent or poor depending on who is around him. Also getting and keeping that lot fit is a real challenge. Plenty of work to be done on the defence imo, although left back has to be priority.

Hmm would say perhaps that's the reason to get rid. If he can't get this lot close then he never will. We don't agree much but that is a fear I definitely share. The problem is our recruitment policy for a manager is pretty horrific seemingly coming from one agency. It is a heck of a risk. My counter is that a) I feel with increasing certainly TM won't get us promoted, thereby lowering the risk of a gamble. And b) like Bowyer TM seems to have run his course, can't get the best out of what he has and will therefore struggle as cutbacks are made. The more I think on it, it really seems like just before the season Bowyer was sacked with us underachieving with a talented squad. IF the new man could be brought in before the squad starts getting dismantled it might be enough to break the cycle and push us to promotion or at least playoffs. Fairly confident within a year there will be no Nayambe, Elliott and Armstrong so this season imo is our last chance to stop history repeating itself. It's a risk no doubt but it's a risk Vs the certainty of stagnation under TM.

A few good and realistic names there. Some I think no chance they would come. Also, why can we only appoint managers out of work? Surely we could seek to approach the right candidate who is in a job?

Which by then may be too late. And also I think we may know well before then too. Tbh I think it comes down to whether people think TM deserves a full season. Statistically - as in results and position - there doesn't seem much evidence for progress. On paper the squad and goals scored column suggest progress. Personally would go with the statistics and say time to go. If we are going on his previous years here for warranting the whole season I think that's very sketchy ground for keeping him due to the number of mistakes made.

Once one or two of our best players go, the rebuild will start again, as will.the give him time clock. Outside of Ewood I have never seen a manager get so much time. It's crazy. Also it's a load of bull. Reading and Boro are two teams not waiting 3+ years for a manager to launch a promotion bid. Why we and we alone need time and are a project is beyond me.