Ennis making Vince Grella look like a bastion of fitness, assuming he's once again injured or unfit.

Yep, but what we need to be successful and what he's said are two different things. His remit is developing players to increase value, mine as a supporter is for my team to be as successful as possible. Ideally the two would go hand-in-hand, but for that to be the case one imagines JDT would have been more practical by this point.

Indeed, if you look at our goals scored column it's perfectly reasonable compared to other teams in the division. The primary issue is the goals against column which is second-worst in the entire division. We need to find a way to grind out scrappy 1-0 wins when required - mainly because due to a weak mentality we can't win when we go behind, so scoring first is a must.

We know from his time here never to take anything he says to the press seriously. Good appointment for Birmingham in the circumstances, although only required because they completely unnecessarily hit the self-destruct button.

I'm guessing his age factors in somewhat. If he was a couple of years younger I'd assume he'd have a lot more attention. Clubs may see this as a one off/fluke season for him, at this level at least, based on him spending most of his career in League 1. Not how I see it, as I think he's extremely hard working with solid ability, but one imagines most clubs at this level and below will be looking for a younger prospect to drop significant cash on. But then again, maybe someone should offer to loan him. We can then get a cheap youngster in to strengthen the almighty model.

Probably the last 13 years to be honest mate. Not sure what to tell you if that doesn't make sense.

Cup run is probably the only thing we have to potentially look forward to this season, so obviously nice to progress. Just hope we can score enough to keep our heads above water in the league, as defensively we are nowhere near where we need to be.

Also may have been very different for him at Rovers. Hirst was useless here but has been solid at Ipswich. Sometimes a different club just suits better.

Lol, I wouldn't worry about that JDT. Considering they're 8th and we're 17th I can't imagine they'll take much offence to being told a player they weren't using suits our style of conceding two games a game better than their style of not doing so.

Quite strange to me that a player who purportedly asked to leave the club (twice) was kept on as captain.

It is, but that is a desperately depressing interview.

Yeah, pretty much. With a bit of backing I think he'd have us right up there, but he's been given fuck all - in fact less than fuck all compared to the bloke who came before him. With the situation as it is, he hasn't got the experience or perhaps the inclination to adjust his style of play to adapt to our current predicament. As much as I love watching JDT's football at times, the sad reality is that we need a Neil Warnock type to make this lot compact, gritty and tough-to-beat - and even then I think our ceiling would realistically be mid-table.

Based on the amount we've scored and the best I would expect us to achieve with the current squad (mid-table), I think we can afford to score less. We don't need to score more than WBA or Sunderland, we just need to defend better. A few clean sheets and 1-0 wins are what is required, not gung ho football where we concede two or three every game. At this point it's got to stop, because we are in free fall and it isn't realistic to expect us to score 3 or 4 goals per game just to win. I don't blame JDT as he was not brought in to get a poor team to play defensive football to grind out wins. That is the position we've been left in thanks to the owners, though, and I don't see where JDT fits into that reality as he isn't suited for what we now require.

I often see it said that we don't put our chances away - but we've scored 39 goals this season, which is on the higher end of teams up to 5th and we've actually scored more than WBA in 5th and Sunderland in 6th. It's not being able to defend that's the problem, as evidenced by the 48 goals we've shipped, second only to our illustrious opponents today who have conceded 50.

We need someone in who can organise a defence. The amount of goals we concede is criminal and it can't all be put down to injuries. This team just does not understand how to defend. Do we put any effort into that side of things in training at all?

You're right, old age making a fool of me. Marcus is indeed who I'm talking about there.

The only way JDT leaves is if he walks, and whilst I wouldn't blame him at this point, I don't think anything like that is imminent. We'll get on another decent run eventually, as always eventually happens. Might even get back to within a sniff of the playoffs before falling short as is customary. More than likely I think we'll just finish lower mid-table this year, which will be an achievement considering the clowns operating and owning the club leaving us with a threadbare squad and a wage budget rivalling Plymouth and Rotherham. It's not impossible for us to run into major problems this season, but I'm mostly fearful about how horrific next season is likely to be unless a miracle happens and Venky's sell up.

Yeah I'd probably go with Spurr. No world beater but you'd get a 6 or 7/10 from him consistently. Very rarely below or above that, but he was steady. Nyambe too injury prone and lacking in supporting the attack, although he wasn't bad either. Always felt like Martin was a pretty big downgrade on his brother. Can remember the year he won player of the season his highlight package was comedically anaemic. From memory he was okay, but yeah, a long time ago now. As was Spurr tbf.

Just have to hope they don't score first.

Catching up to Rotherham now as the league's worst defence. This can't go on for much longer.

Rovers season of festive misery continues, but nonetheless... Knowing that Ipswich had a difficult game at home to Leicester, Leeds would have seen a trip to Preston as a good chance to continue to gain ground on the Tractor Boys, having beaten them 4-0 last time out to reduce the gap between second and third. Leeds have a habit of failing to capitalise on these opportunities, though, and once again spurned their chance as they lost 2-1. The game was goalless at half time, but just eight minutes after the interval Leeds keeper Illan Meslier lost his head, goaded into shoving Preston's Milutin Osmajic in the face and subsequently receiving his marching orders. Things got even worse for Leeds as within four minutes of the sending off they went 1-0 down. They then clawed back to 1-1 with an 83rd minute penalty, but would lose the game to a stunning 89th minute strike from Liam Millar. Leeds' recent inconsistency causes them to slip to 4th, whilst a second win in four games for PNE lifts them to 9th position, one point from the playoffs. At the other end of the table, Millwall and QPR faced off at the Den in a relegation six pointer. Despite not winning in seven games at home, Joe Edwards' side finally found some gusto and ran out 2-0 victors. Despite looking like they were beginning to mount a revival, QPR have now lost three in a row and find themselves back to being five points from safety, having been just a point from escaping the drop only a few games ago. If they do go down, one imagines the last three games will be seen as a pivotal period in their season. It's a big result for the Lions, on the other hand, and moves them six points clear of QPR in 22nd - albeit remaining in 20th position. Plymouth haven't won a game on the road yet since returning to the Championship, and that record remained in tact as they drew 2-2 with Cardiff in Wales. Considering the club are still reeling from Steven Schumacher's departure and were 2-1 down in this one, though, they'll surely be happy to have collected their fifth away point of the season. Cardiff have been on an unstable run of form lately and manager Erol Bulut would have desperately wanted three points from this one, with owner Vincent Tan in the stands for the first time since November 2022. A point leaves Cardiff in 11th, two points from the playoffs, whilst Plymouth sit in 16th - both eight points from the playoffs and from the relegation zone. Coventry have been in good form lately, and that continued at the CBS Arena as they comfortably dispatched Sheffield Wednesday with a 2-0 win. Coventry's Liam Kitching and Wednesday's Bambo Diaby managed to get themselves sent off just after the game ended, as they got into an unnecessary scuffle post-match. The Sky Blues are now unbeaten in five games and climb to 13th whilst, much like fellow strugglers QPR, the Owls mini-revival appears to have come to an end. They've now lost three of their last four games and remain in 23rd, nine points adrift of Huddersfield in 21st. Coventry, alternatively, will be eyeing a second half of the season playoff charge as they sit just three points from the top six. Rovers' playoff hopes meanwhile continue to go up in smoke as an embarrassing display saw JDT's "men" beaten 3-0 by Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium. It was a first home win since October for the Terriers, and it's the first time this season they've scored three goals. It was the same when Sheffield Wednesday put three past us a few weeks ago. Hardly a surprise to discover that Rovers are the second-most charitable defence in the division, having conceded a terrible 43 goals in 24 matches, with bottom-placed Rotherham the only worse team with 47 goals conceded. Rovers are doing their best to take top spot though. A fourth loss in five games sees our rapid descent down the table continue, as we fall to 15th. At this point we're still only five points off the playoffs, somehow, but they seem like more of a pipe dream than ever at the moment. Huddersfield meanwhile will welcome these three points gratefully. Despite remaining in 21st, they pull five points clear of QPR in 22nd. Despite the doom and gloom around Sunderland upon the appointment of Michael Beale, the Black Cats' new manager made his case with an impressive 1-0 away win over Hull City. It was a second defeat in a row for the Tigers, and this loss meant that they swapped places with Sunderland, giving up 6th place and dropping to 7th. Sunderland end a two game losing streak, and once again find themselves sneaking into the top six. After twelve long games without a win, fortune finally smiled on Rotherham as they beat Middlesbrough at the New York Stadium with their only shot on target. Despite utterly dominating the match, with twenty shots to their opponents' three, Michael Carrick's Boro were unable to put the ball in the net and were duly punished in the 72nd minute. It's a first win for recently-appointed Leam Richardson, who will be heartened by the result if not necessarily the performance of his team. Three points brings Rotherham level with Sheffield Wednesday on points, but they remain bottom due to their GD being worse. The Millers are nine points from safety as it stands. Boro slip to 14th, with three defeats in their last five matches. Recent focus has been on Leeds potentially catching up with Ipswich, but Southampton have been quietly sneaking up on both teams and a 5-0 home victory over an overwhelmed Swansea team saw the Saints jump up to 3rd position in the table, leapfrogging Leeds and bringing them to within five points of a stuttering Ipswich Town. Russell Martin saw his former club collapse in the final twenty minutes or so of this match, conceding three in that time and turning a respectable 2-0 into a rough 5-0 defeat. Whilst Swansea's overall form hasn't been too bad lately, with seven points taken from the last fifteen available, conceding five goals without reply dents their goal difference to -5 and drops them below Plymouth as a result, into 17th place. Watford seemed to be heading in the right direction as of late, with two victories in their last two outings facilitating a rise up the table. The Hornets' optimism was cut brutally short on boxing day, however, as Liam Manning's erratic Bristol City side ran riot and ended up walking away from Vicarage Road with three points and a resounding 4-1 scoreline. Manning seems to have started getting his ideas across to his players, as this is Bristol City's third win in a row and a result that pushes them up to 8th, just a point from the playoff places. Valerien Ismael's team, meanwhile, will go back to the drawing board as they drop to 10th place - but are themselves still only two points from 6th spot. West Brom, who had only won one of the last five matches, welcomed a Norwich side to the Hawthorns who were unbeaten in five league matches. Carolos Corberan's men were aided in their endeavours by Norwich's Borja Sainz, who managed to get himself two bookings in three minutes. After a poor tackle caused him to end up in the book, he then shortly afterwards decided to wave an imaginary yellow at the referee - who promptly responded with a real one of his own, sending the Spaniard down the tunnel with just 33 minutes played. WBA ultimately took advantage of their numerical supremacy, scoring in the 50th minute and holding on for a 1-0 victory which keeps them in 5th spot - a position that they've become very comfortable in. Norwich drop to 12th, but due to the congested nature of the Championship top half remain just two points from a playoff place. The first of two late kick offs saw Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City™ take on Stoke City, under new boss Steven Schumacher, at St. Andrews. Big Club, fearless as always, repeated their trick from Saturday of allowing their opponents to put three past them. However, unlike their last game against Plymouth, they were unable to respond in kind, and just one goal in reply led to a 3-1 defeat and a hearty round of boos from the home support at both half and full-time. Nostalgic memories of South Africa 2010 for Wayne, just minus the vuvuzela's. Anyhow, Rooney has now managed a disastrous two wins from his first thirteen games in charge of Big Club, and said post-match that he would have substituted the entire first eleven at half time if he could. I'm sure that will help morale. Birmingham now fall below Stoke into 18th on goal difference, with Stoke taking Birmingham's place and climbing to 17th, having won their first match in nine games - a run that included defeats to Rovers, QPR, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday. The Potters can only hope this is the beginning of a revival. The final match of the Championship's boxing day extravaganza saw second-placed Ipswich Town host top of the table Leicester at Portman Road in a clash that promised much but didn't hugely deliver on the goalscoring front. Leicester went a goal ahead and it seemed like that was how it would end, until a dramatic 93rd minute own goal from the Foxes' Jannik Vestergaard sent the home crowd wild and ensured the points would be shared in Suffolk. Whilst Ipswich will undoubtedly be very happy to have come away with a point here, it's a third match without winning, and two points from nine has given the teams below them a chance to catch up. Leeds have largely wasted multiple opportunities to close the gap, but Southampton have been more ruthless, and three wins in a row has seen the Saints pull to within five points of Ipswich. With the likes of Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull on Southampton's fixture list in the near future, Ipswich will know that they likely cannot afford for this bad run to go on for much longer if they plan to stay in the top two. Leicester remain six points clear of Ipswich and eleven clear of Southampton, having not lost in eight matches.

Agreed. Unfortunately his injury record suggests he isn't somebody we'll be able to rely on for much more than half a season, if we're lucky, though.

He's like the majority of our squad in that he can look quite handy when we're in the ascendency or in the lead, but goes into his shell and hides when the opposite is true. We have a glaring lack of leaders in the squad who can take players like Brittain (metaphorically) by the scruff of the neck and sort them out. Szmodics is probably the only player I'd put in that category, but he can't do it alone. It's why we can't come back from going behind and collapse against otherwise poor teams.

Probably wasn't much if any better under Mowbray post-L1 tbf. It's been an issue for literally years now.

I believe JDT is sorry and feels embarrassed. Not convinced the players feel the same. How many winners in that team who are genuinely sore if we lose compared to passives who shrug their shoulders and forget about it soon afterwards?