Blue blood

Thing is with Pedersen is I was young enough to believe what I read in the programme and not too aware of their ahem, overly positive slant. I thought we had signed an absolute superstar.

Well that isn't great news for us. Of course the deduction that they have still helps us but yes that does reduce our margin for error.

I don't think we will go down for several reasons but there is a distinct possibility of it. My reasons for thinking we will be safe are: 1) there is a good chance we will get better when players get back. I've said before we can't rely on this but logically of the 7+ players out at least one or two will improve us. We can't rely on all of them coming back being all guns blazing so there are question marks as to whether it will it be enough. But there should be some improvement in the team. 2) We have battered weaker teams. If we can batter enough of the weaker teams, and we are doing that convincingly, then we should have enough points to stay up. It's not looking great against any competent team but there are a number of weak ones that we have done well against so that should see us up. 3) Wednesday and Wycombe started late. The former are still not in positive points whilst Wycombe are only just got off the mark 6 or 7 games in. You have to think that the headstart over them means both are prime relegation candidates. These two clubs have a huge disadvantage which means there are less, certainly at least 1 less, relegation places at stake. That can only help. The big worry that makes me think we could get relegated is over complacency/relying on players to get back. This season has a bit of a 99 echo to it, especially with the injuries and overconfidence. Back then we shouldn't have gone down even with the injuries and poor management, and teaches us shouldn't isn't the wake as won't. There's a bit too much of a deja vu feeling for me to be completely comfortable even with the factors above suggestingnl that we should stay up.

I'm on his ignore list so please can someone repost. Having an opinion does not count as a valid reason for thinking something or make something true. An opinion needs evidence to back it up to be valid. For example if I say Messi is a rubbish footballer or the moon is made of cheese they might be my opinion, but they are not true, valid or unchallengeable. Same goes in this case too. Just stating it's your opinion doesn't make it true, valid or unchallengeable especially given the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. So what evidence is there to suggest we will get top 6?

That Stuart is the question. And given there is "no chance" of relegation despite our form and injuries, you do wonder how these conclusions are made. And if the unchallengeable opinions reason comes out I may bang my head against the wall... Edit I'm also not sure how someone can think there is no chance of being relegated, think we will make top six and be happy with the job the manager is doing and where we are languishing in the league...

Too right. And if I'm honest I don't think they bring that much to the team when battering weaker opponents. Certainly Gally, one goal aside, hasn't looked that promising or threatening at all. And Bereton though much improved, is at best useful, and without this system that favours him, his usefulness decreases significantly. At present we have Plan A for beating weaker teams, which is great, gets something out of Bereton, and is key because we have often struggled to break these teams down. But we don't have a Plan B for facing other teams, that doesn't leave us too vulnerable. Perhaps this should say we don't have a Plan A because, as you say, these are the majority of games.

Likewise have never been that convinced by him. That said I also think he is clearly the best manager we have had under Venkys (not counting Big Sam) which is a sad indictment of our recruitment process.

And this is what debate about Rovers has come to. Whether a team that beats us is crap or average... Not a dig at you Hoochie, I can see your reasoning, more wondering how we have got to this place where this is the debate under TM.

We played Cardiff and Forest who both count as bang average and got 1 point... Not sure we can infer too much from 2 games but that's not a promising start.

I thought this but surely the kit is too late for it to be him? Didn't he leave before then?

And crap for Rovers.

I really did have a misspent childhood... Number 1 going out on a limb O Brian or something like that? I'm guessing now!

Anders Anderson the blonde in the ASICS/CIS kit? Or Tore Pedersen but think it's the former. Is number 7 Per Pedersen?

Konde with the dreads? Diawara from under Souness?

Who is counting? Certainly no one at the club or in a position of power. If he managed 12 or 13 without a win a year or two back without censure, not sure 1 in 7 will bother them.

Thing is I don't think it's a given even with these players back. I mean on paper yes, there's a lot of quality. But Dack has been out a long time and could take a while to get back to what he was and Ayala had always been injury prone. Armstrong looks the real deal these days but it was only a year ago he was an inconsistent chap with potential. Not saying he will regress but there's a lot of pressure on him to keep performing and a lot of eggs in that baaket. And of course, this is assuming they get back quickly which as you say isn't a given...

You know this whole injury tale of woe reminds me a bit of 1999. "When they're back we'll be fine" Only we weren't...

There's always a mitigating factor. Great point with the players out/in the circumstances. Where's the ambition? Our current team on paper is better than many of the teams in the bottom half, and yet we still set the bar so, so low. A needed point. A surprising clean sheet. But really, we could and should be doing better.

1) Is it a coincidence that 4 are from under Hodgeson's stewardship? 2) What does it say about me that i can name some of the older ones but not the more recent ones? Am I getting less fanatical?

If Gally is on the wing, TM needs firing straight away. No possible reason for him not to be there today, Bereton & Dolan both better out wide, no Armstrong to accommodate as well. Not sure why our best midfielder Rothwell is on the bench. He's been isolating not injured. Also, isn't a good job we signed Downing?

Well that's this game done for then...

I think my main issue with Downing other than the fitness/age risk is that we have a lot of midfield options but few defenders. If anywhere was crying out for an additional squad player it was defence. I still can't get over how we only ever go with 3 centre backs in a season. It's stupid - especially since 2 are injury prone & and even without that suspensions, injuries, Covid and loss of form all happen. Would have much rather we got an actual defender in. That said given there's more quantity than quality in our midfield roster Downing isn't the worst signing we could make. He's versatile, is an actual left footer which could widen the play, is better than Evans, and gives another option at left back where many of the back up options are less than ideal. He knows the club which makes it easier too. That said I really would have preferred a defender. How we think we can get on with what we have is beyond me.

Is it all that mental though. Yes, I admit it is hugely damaging but mental - as in a shock and wildly unpredictable - I'm not so sure. We knew Dack would be out this long and have had 2 windows to attempt to replace him. We knew Ayala had a ton of injury problems when we signed him. We knew Covid would interfere with all teams' squad selections. We knew we were very reliant (over reliant?) on Travis in cm as Johnson and Evans aren't dependable. Actually Evans you can depend on to have a bad game. No shocks in there. It doesn't help that we continued to play Armstrong after his initial injury. Had just the £5 million on Gally been spent better - or half of it, say on Bauer and a half decent forward - our injury problems would seem less severe. Yes, we've had some kickers. Losing Rothwell in particular was an unfortunate blow. But it's not like we haven't contributed to the problems we have.

Also for all TMs complaints I'm not sure half the teams in the championship could afford to have spent 12 mill on what are 2 squad players, afford Elliott's wages, and also not have had to get rid of a single player they don't want to. The hard luck story has its limits given the leeway that TM has had in assembling the squad. Think tonight has draw written all over it. Boro are hard to beat, we won't want to get beat again, so a draw the likely outcome.

Good post. What gets me is we paid money for a third choice keeper that Boro didn't want. Also the last third choice keeper from Boro didn't turn out very well at all...