Of course he can separate the situations! He knew exactly what you were saying but chose to WUM and pretend he didn't. It's why in pretty sure he's just on the WUM, of which the blind defence of Lampard is probably part of it too. From the context to the language used it's obvious it's hypothetical. He'd have to genuinely not understand concepts around words such as "if" and "want" to answer as he did. He'd also have to have zero appreciation of context given the conversation is clearly talking about managerial ability rather than a non existent managerial hunt. It's a sneaky, weasely answer imo and very poor form.

I'll be honest, gutting as it was I'm even more convinced we will make the playoffs and get battered in them. Not because we didn't throw away the win, ably assisted by the ref, but because everyone else is bottling it and capable of a poor performance. I'm pretty certain one of the teams we are still to face will have an off day. Preston are more than capable of a poor performance and don't score many either, Millwall are having a wobble at the wrong time, and Luton will rest players. I think we will get one win from those 3 which should be enough to limp over the line. Add in that draws Vs our remaining opponents also is a help, as was last night's albeit a big missed opportunity too. Draws Vs those below us leave them with the task of still overtaking us with one less game to do so. Draws Vs those above mean they aren't getting away from us. Of those chasing, Norwich and Watford are both capable of shockers on a regular basis (Watford had one last night) and so I can't see them picking up too many more points. Even West Brom who I think are the biggest threat were bemoaning blowing a chance to get in the playoffs just a week or so ago after drawing 2 winnable games. Not a guarantee obviously and the lack of goals alarms me hugely. Our form is really poor and no denying we are doing ourselves zero favours. That said I think with so few games left that one key win (with a draw somewhere too) may well be enough to get us over the line.

That's a good point, well made. However to not bring in any replacement, not even on a free, was foolish indeed. Surely we could have avoided having nobody? Surely there was a bit of wiggle room to bring in a striker. Also that was 4 windows ago and he hasn't been replaced, so they haven't looked to do it even when things were less financially pressing.

Not the same as investing in the squad though, by a long stretch. I mean not letting contracts repeatedly run down might be a start. Owners are culpable on this from blocking sales of players (Bereton) through to having mugs in place who let contracts run down en masse (last season). There's stacks of examples where the squad hasn't been invested in. Could pulling in £10 mill and spending £250k on transfers, not replacing Armstrong, using loans to patch up a defence for years, not spending in January when we were in a good position (twice!) Hard to say the squad has been funded adequately. You could argue it's those below then but given they don't seem to care and allow them to continue, it's hard to say it's not the owners fault.

As for the game/team my thoughts (albeit second hand due to sickness) are 1) The cup loss has knocked all the stuffing out of us. Most results since then have been lower than the likely outcome from how the game has gone. Hudds should have been a clear win, Stoke a draw, yesterday it seems pre QF loss might have been a scrappy win. Certainly Hull don't seem that good. 2) We have a lot of very average players who consistently give about a 5/6. There's no superstars in the team, and we aren't getting more than the collective sum of these parts at all. The players may produce the odd 8 out of 10 performance but these are pretty rare. With no stars and a weak bunch of water carriers we are struggling. 3) Has there been a team with fewer decent attacking options? Struggle to think of one in our Championship career. Even the train wreck under Coyle had 4 striker options (less.said the better about the rest). Given how crucial goals are not strengthening there and having Gally and Bereton coast about doesn't help our cause. No plan B or viable options is killing us. 4) On the last point this goes for most of the team. Centre mid Buckley or Morton are similar (Wharton is in the cold for some reason and even so that's a lot of responsibility for the lad.) Out wide it's Dolans pace in an average player Vs Hedges presence in an average player. Up front its Gally or Vale who in ap perveresely impressive way makes Gally seem decent. Where are the options? Only thing I could potentially think to try is JRC further forward and Brittain at RB. Mind you this is what years of underfunding gets you.

Spot on. West Ham are a massive example of this. Did well the last 2 years playing on the counter. Switched to play out from the back and "playing between the lines" (?) and have massively struggled This one-way,right way to play football ideology is hurting the game.

Cracking idea by Chelsea to rehire a guy they sacked who wasn't good enough. And who had since been sacked by Everton for not being good enough. And whose sole other experience is doing no better or worse then the other Derby managers of that period. Potter on paper had a much more successful managerial career than Lampard, so you have to see it as an utter head scratchers.

Interestingly the rules have now been changed (although not retrospectively) so only 5 years of a deal count towards FFP.

Over the 90 minutes we deserved that. Brilliant result! Best I've seen Gally play in a long time. Also was impressed with Pickering who I often don't rate but thought he was excellent. Subs really didn't help us Brittain was poor when he came on for JRC. Vale offers utterly nothing. Morton is always involved but loses the ball far too much and does more harm than good imo. If we play like that more often playoffs are very much on.

Agreed. Arte and laboure in action.

Fantastic. Simply fantastic. Leicester's stupid Dutch disease helping but my word we are stepping it up.

Should have scored. Great pressing from the team but we need to take our chances.

Tell you what this is a statement win. New manager bounce is a massive thing throughout football, even with some poor managers. Blimey we've seen it in the last few weeks at championship and premiership level. Factor in missing Dack and Bereton our two strongest attackers and it's a tough away game, despite QPRs form. So a convincing win with players stepping up is very pleasing even if QPRs form has been poor. Mentally tough to regain the lead as well. How long this run will continue I'm unsure, nor am I certain of the consistency of some of our players (or being totally truthful their level.) But whilst we are on this run and in great form we can really cement our playoff place. COYB!

Indeed. Likewise I feel Morton in particular is poor but Xavi and Iniesta in their prime would struggle to get assists with our strikers

Well so it is! I totally forgot about the Swansea game. If only it was that easy to forget losses... Think the point still stands, grinding out away points Vs better teams and beating weaker ones at home is good form.

Good win. If you can't beat bottom of the league, even with injuries, then you aren't going to get playoffs. With results in our favour elsewhere too, it is good to climb back into the playoffs. Also, in a way, makes the last 2 hard fought draws more worthwhile as 5 PTS from the last 3 games is a solid haul. A lot of football still to play but am glad we are still putting up a fight for playoffs.

I think several of the issues also include fluffing it repeatedly whenever we have looked like playoffs. Last year we plummeted from 2nd and even under a very talented GB team we didn't make playoffs. Given we've never been in them once under Vs and our deadline day transfer debacle you can see why fans may be a tad unenthused, before we even consider the general state of the club or the Dominic climate.

You must be dire when Southampton beat you! All that money spent and Chelsea don't remotely look like a team.

Warnock continues to show he knows what he is doing when it comes to a relegation fight. Smart move for Hudds appointing him.

Agreed. These 3 results are the stuff of playoffs. Getting tough draws and winning at home. Blackpool will be pretty indicative of whether we can get into the playoffs. If we have had a wobble and the regular wins come back - the 2 away draws being the start of our uptick in form - we may do it. If we botch that game it's probably1 step forward, 1 step back.

The issue isn't the very credible draws Vs tough opposition, the issue is that we fluff the other games that are (on paper) more winnable. 2 draws is great in isolation vs tough opposition. The issue is that when it's surrounded by other draws and losses, it continues a winless run. Imo we are putting too much pressure on these games due to poor results Vs the likes of Rotherham and Wigan. But then this has been an issue in the past, including in our league 1 promotion season.

I think the explanation's fairly obvious.

Said it with Huddersfield - when you can't win with a man and goal advantage against relegation rivals you know the team isn't in a good place. Southampton did one worse and lost said game. Pretty sure that Jones comments about the panderijg to the players has backfired. Think the team are glad to get rid of him too.

Yep he's a bit of a desperate signing but we are in a pretty desperate signing. I'd imagine he'd be pretty cheap and on a pay as you play deal a bit of physicality and someone to get on the end of Thomas's crosses could be just what we need. It's a very bargain basement signing but that's where we are at and he's a huge upgrade on Vale and gives us another option. Agree as to who our front 3 should be but even then, the 2 bigger names are misfiring so much we're crying out for another option. Would I recommend it if there was y'know a transfer window? No. But as there isn't I think he's the best of a poor situation.

A few Championship related musings: 1) Connor Wickham is signing for Cardiff. Now I don't really rate him, however he is a free agent and has a few goals at this level and a bit of physicality when fit. All in all that's a massive upgrade on Vale. Disappointed given our glaring need for a striker, we didn't go for him. 2) Surprised Brum beat WBA tonight. Thought Albion were on a roll so a very impressive win. It works in our favour too, and shows that whilst we are determined to arse it up, that the championship will give you chance after chance to get it right. 3) Smart move for Hudds getting rid of their boss. There's still a decent championship team in there. Not winning when ahead with a man advantage Vs a poor Blackpool team showed how much he was struggling. 4) For all Swansea managers protestations of moving on and everything being fine after their own deadline day debacle I get the feeling it's not a happy camp and he'll be off soon, maybe at the end of the season.