Thought we were generally solid defensively, and it was only a ridiculous individual error that caused us to concede tonight. We may not be playing pretty football so much now, but we're robust defensively and winning matches, and that'll do me.

This thread on TM's latest presser certainly brings back memories, half of the comments could have been copied and pasted from here a couple of years ago: https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/tony-mowbray-press-conference.1618302/ A couple of defeats and suddenly TM is out of favour. Although he apparently blamed storm babet for getting beaten by Stoke at the weekend, and not starting with any strikers, which obviously didn't go down particularly well. https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/dack.1618237/ Dack not the most popular person in that part of the world either.

Ask Sky, I don't know. Personally not interested in the PL these days, so I'll just keep chugging away with the Championship. I could do with someone doing a similar PL review to be honest, as it's the only way I'd consider keeping up with the general goings on.

Agreed, that is strange as it has all the makings of a typical Sky match - two teams with 'name value' based on recent PL tenure, and the return of a former boss in Farke adding some extra flavour. Must have been something to do with just not being able to get the schedule to work with that match, for whatever reason.

Cheers TS. It helps me keep up with what's going on in the division, and hopefully it's useful for other people in the same way.

Friday's game between Rotherham and Ipswich was called off only a couple of hours beforehand, despite Rotherham insisting they were confident the game would go ahead in the early afternoon. The river near Rotherham's ground burst its banks soon after, however, which left officials with little option but to cancel the game. Preston had a good chance to end their recent poor form of four games without a win, facing managerless Millwall at home. For whatever reason Millwall had felt it appropriate to sack their manager just as the international break was coming to an end, suddenly leaving them somewhat rudderless a few days before an upcoming fixture. Nonetheless, fortunately for Millwall it was indeed only Preston, who did not capitalise on their opponent's lack of stability. An even game ended 1-1, stretching Preston's winless steak to five games. They still remain fourth, but are now within three points of falling out of the playoff spots entirely. For Milwall it's a third draw in five matches, and they remain stuck in the middle of the table, 14th. Rovers came out on top in a game with little quality at Ewood Park, edging a 1-0 win against Cardiff. Neither side played well, but it was Rovers who snuck the all important first goal, and this was enough to earn us all three points. It's Rovers' second win in succession, and lifts us to 15th in the table. Also welcome was a second clean sheet in a row, as we slowly go about repairing our damaged goal difference. Cardiff meanwhile register a second defeat in three matches, and one point in nine has seen them fall to 11th in the table. Coventry's four game unbeaten streak came to an end at Ashton Gate, as Bristol City handed the Sky Blues a narrow 1-0 defeat. The result sees Coventry fall to 16th, largely due to their inability to win games. Just three victories in twelve makes for disappointing reading if you are a Coventry fan. Only three defeats on the other hand makes for good reading, so it's not all bad news. Six draws, however, ultimately don't do much to help the cause. Bristol City continue their erratic form, having won two and lost three of their last five games. They move up to 8th, just a point outside the playoff places. QPR failed to respond to the 4-0 hammering inflicted on them by Rovers last time out, and instead fell to their fourth defeat in a row, this time away to Huddersfield. Darren Moore will be pleased to pick up his first three points as Huddersfield boss, ending an overall five game winless streak with three vital points. Huddersfield move up to 18th - aided by the fact that they had drawn three of their previous four games. QPR remain in 22nd, four points behind Plymouth in 21st. They now share the worst defensive record in the league (-22) with Rotherham (23rd), Norwich (10th) and Southampton (5th). What a strange division. Speaking of Southampton, as noted, they're now up to 5th with a 2-1 away victory against a Hull side whose good form has rapidly deteriorated with a series of bad results. They will be especially disappointed to have thrown the match away in the 95th minute. Just two points from the last twelve available has seen the Tigers plunge from the playoff spots into 12th position. Southampton, on the other hand, have gained ten points from the last twelve available, and despite sharing the worst defensive record in the division with three other clubs, find themselves in 5th because... it's the Championship. What else needs to be said. Crazy league. Boro are certainly one of those teams who encapsulate the bizarreness of the Championship. They're currently recreating a carbon copy of last season's antics, just without the change of manager. Despite a horrific start to the season, a 1-0 home win today against Birmingham City marks their fifth win in a row, and three matches without conceding. They surge up to 13th, having only just lifted themselves from the foot of the table one month ago. Wayne Rooney made his debut as Birmingham manager today, but the excitement from himself and the boardroom evidently did not filter down to the players, who put in a lacklustre performance with little intent. Post-match Rooney proceeded to criticise the team's efforts and said that defensive players - some of whom are in their mid-30s - need to learn to play out from the back. Good luck with that one. Playing with no fear sounds like playing with no brain, either, but let's see how it all plays out. Not a good start regardless and Birmingham fall back out of the playoffs into 7th. As noted previously, Norwich have the joint-weakest defensive record in the division, and they continued to leak goals in earnest - beaten 3-2 at Carrow Road by former boss Daniel Farke's Leeds in an entertaining match. Norwich were two goals ahead at the break, but their inability to keep the ball out of their own net meant that by the time the final whistle was blown they were leaving the pitch with nothing. Shane Duffy with another own goal to add to the collection. Norwich sit in 10th, their horrible goals conceded column balanced out by a still excellent goals scored tally, with 23 still the highest amount outside of the top two teams. A fourth win in five games for Leeds leapfrogs them above Preston into 3rd place, six points behind Ipswich - although Ipswich have a game in hand due to Friday's postponement. Stoke ended a run of three home defeats with a 2-1 victory over stuttering Sunderland at the Bet365. Having lost three of the four prior games, three points was much needed for a Stoke team who had started nervously glancing over their shoulders at the relegation zone. The result lifts them to 20th, with a five point buffer between themselves and QPR in 22nd. It was a second defeat in a row for Sunderland, and a third in five matches, but as the other two results were wins they cling onto 6th spot for the time being. Swansea's unbeaten run of five matches - with four wins on the spin - came to an end against a Leicester side who, on current evidence, are far too good for this division. Leicester's 3-1 win at the Swansea.com stadium makes them the first side in the history of the second tier to win their first six away games of the season. They've also won eleven of their first twelve matches. Swansea did take the lead in this one, but were ultimately overpowered by Leicester's quality. Leicester remain top of the division, already 11 points ahead of Leeds in 3rd. They move five points ahead of Ipswich in second - as previously noted, Ipswich's match against Rotherham was postponed. Watford knew they were in huge trouble if they couldn't get something from a match against the league's whipping boys, Sheffield Wednesday. They did manage to scrape a 1-0 victory, but would probably have wanted it to be a bit more convincing. Nonetheless, three points is three points and ends a five game winless run which had seen Watford pick up just two points from fifteen. They are now 19th, with a five point cushion between themselves and QPR. Sheffield Wednesday meanwhile are a bit like the anti-Leicester, on recent evidence far too poor to belong in this division. They have still only managed five goals in their first twelve games, having not scored at all in their last five matches. I suppose as a minor positive they don't have the worst defence in the division at this point in time, but they are also the only team in the division who are yet to win a match, so... yeah, most likely we can chalk off one relegation place, even at this early stage. You have to think it would take something very special to turn around the situation at Wednesday, particularly with the owner currently refusing to put any more money into the club. West Brom seemed to be starting to get themselves going, but two wins has been followed by an away loss to Birmingham and a home draw to today's opponent's, lowly Plymouth. The result doesn't do much for the Baggies, keeping them in 9th, but they are still only a couple of points outside of sixth spot. Plymouth's two points from their last twelve has seem them freefall from the relative safety of mid-table to 21st. They won't be panicking just yet though, as they remain four points clear of woeful QPR, and even if Rotherham win their game in hand Plymouth would still be two points ahead of them. Still, they face Sheffield Wednesday at home on Wednesday and will be fully expecting to be able to pick up three points from that fixture.

Grinding out wins with clean sheets was exactly what I've been asking for, so well done to JDT and the team for adapting to the situation and getting things back under control, especially with significant injury problems limiting selection choices (although from a GK perspective this has probably been to our benefit).

From what I recall the fans had turned on him, which at most normal clubs is usually the beginning of the end. They've had a fairly inconsistent start to the season but by no means a disaster, especially at this early stage. I suppose time will tell if it works out for them. Wouldn't surprise me if Eustace ends up there. He hasn't got much experience but his short stint at Birmingham, with similarly limited resources, was pretty impressive.

It may have been a combination of both, but I don't recall Henderson getting booed before his switch to SA and his recent endorsement of their WC 2034 bid. I would assume those are bigger factors than his on-field performance. I don't really remember an England crowd often booing a player for a poor performance when substituted in recent times (the last decade or so, anyway), although truthfully I don't follow the national side closely enough to know for sure. Goes without saying I'm exempting Maguire from the above, although maybe it's just that sentiment spreading to other players. Who knows.

Sometimes it's better to say nothing. The obvious argument to his saying there's no logic to booing Henderson is to say there's no logic to prioritising a football game over expressing an opinion over human rights atrocities and those who support it. That's not to get into a deeper argument as to our country's own complicity in that and many other human rights abuses, but nonetheless, it suggests a warped view when a football match is given precedent over what the booing represented.

My thoughts are with you mate. Really sad news. Take care of yourself.

Didn't we postpone most, if not all, of our L1 games during international breaks because we had a fair few players off on international duty?

Based on the summer transfer thread I wouldn't believe much 'ITK' stuff posted on here tbh. If Unleaded said it then fair enough, otherwise I'm inclined to assume it was guesswork or mischief making. Brereton's confidence was down because he wasn't playing well at the time. He wasn't the only one. The Chile call up and adventure gave him a big boost in confidence and motivation, which gave us the purple patches we saw from him. I doubt the reaction of a handful of fans at the ground had any significant impact on him. In the absence of Brereton (or anybody credible) coming out and saying otherwise, I don't think there's much more to it than that. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any real evidence to support the narrative that Rovers' fans made him cry and wrecked his confidence.

I think captains/leaders make themselves known on the pitch whether they have the armband or not. Sammie certainly isn't shy about letting his team mates know what he's thinking!

I think it's all based on that one match where his substitution was greeted with ironic cheers, after he'd had a particularly poor game. There was then a report that came out claiming he was seen crying on the bench - which was a total fabrication. Unfortunately when it comes to misinformation being spread people tend to remember the first thing they read, as opposed to the future fact-checking proving it to be nonsense.

Paul Cook another one who struggled without his long-time assistant. Now managing in the National League.

Just have to hope he comes through the international break unscathed, and his inclusion in the national team spurs him on to continue his excellent form for us thus far.

Venky's valuation was purely based on Brereton's goal return across the two previous seasons. I imagine other clubs were a bit more detailed in their approach and saw the significant flaws in his game alongside the goals being scored, hence never submitting a bid close to Venky's valuation. There doesn't even seem to have been much of a bidding war for him as a free agent, I only really remember Villareal being seriously linked. I have to admit I thought there'd be more interest. Maybe there was and it just wasn't reported. But Villareal seemed to be a done deal from the later months of last year.

Seems from the statement put out that the Americans want more 'entertaining' football for their new 'brand'. Good luck with that. Easy to say they want "no fear" football from a position of 6th having only lost three matches so far this season and with the joint second best defensive record in the league. They might not be feeling so fearless if they end up plunging down the table, entertainingly losing on a regular basis. I suppose we'll see. It's a big gamble.

The time to sell him was the summer before his contract expired. If he wasn't going to sign a new one then move him on for a reasonable fee (even if it's a slight loss in the end) and use that money to strengthen the team as a whole, ensuring that the goals are more evenly spread out across the team, as opposed to the single focal point for goals that we'd had in Arma and BBD. The only way I'd accept him not being sold in this instance would be if he was steadfast against moving to any of the teams who put in an offer, as at this point we'd have our hands tied, but from what we know it was just that Venky's wouldn't budge from whatever the asking price was - reportedly £15m - £20m. As far as I'm aware he never got the chance to say whether he'd enter talks with another team or not, as no bid was deemed acceptable. I think part of playing the transfer game well is both ensuring sales are done at an opportune time, and also understanding whether a player is just hitting purple patches or genuinely very good. If it's the former then you need to sell at the peak, or close enough to, if it's the latter then you might wait longer. Not saying this is easy at all, but it's what separates clubs that do this well and clubs that don't. You also obviously need to have a proper structure in place in terms of budget, reinvestment and a scouting and recruitment team ready to deliver the moment an important player is sold. Goes without saying we didn't have any of that either.

That works on the assumption that if he wasn't on the pitch nobody else would have scored instead, which is impossible to know. Granted it's unlikely given the paucity of genuinely potent attacking options we've had over the past couple of seasons, but still, the fact remains that a three goal return from November 5th to May 1st is very poor. Even if we assume that his absence means nobody else scores and so we lose every one of the points his goals gained us, we still don't get relegated, albeit we finish much lower in the division. Just a couple of goals from January onwards, however, would have seen us sneak a playoff place (again working on the assumption that the games otherwise remain exactly the same). I think any attacking player with such a meagre return over a sustained period of time would hold their hands up and say it isn't good enough, regardless of what had happened beforehand. Losing a player who scores upwards of 10 goals per season is obviously a blow, but we shouldn't have needed to spend £7m for that. Some time back I looked through the list of scorers higher than BBD and I think every one of them either cost significantly less or was bought when the team in question were in the PL, so not directly comparable. If we'd been given anything close to a decent transfer budget by Venky's I think his goals could have been replaced, albeit with a bit more spread out across the team - which isn't a bad thing - but losing him for nothing and then having the budget slashed to basically nothing was always going to make things difficult. I don't discount the contribution BBD made for us in terms of his goals, but neither am I surprised he's struggling at a higher level. I didn't buy the idea of him downing tools in the second half of last season, I just think he's a confidence player who really struggles when it's not happening for him.

It was a stupid deal from the beginning. Overpriced and unnecessary for a club in our position. I'd go as far as to say complete madness from all involved at Rovers end. We obviously should have taken whatever we could get for him at the end, even if it ended up being a small loss, but our owners decided otherwise. The money probably would have ended up in a black hole anyway, so as far as the club is concerned it's probably irrelevent in the end. As far as bursts of goals, he only scored five after November 5th, with two of those coming in the final game of the season when we had all but thrown our playoff chances away. No assists after Jan 1 either, so wasn't even contributing in that way. There was a suggestion he had downed tools, knowing he was leaving, but I just don't think he was good enough to be consistent for an entire season. That's why he was plying his trade with us rather than at a higher level, as Villareal are seemingly finding out now.

I wonder if the recent wave of bad publicity has caused the VAR teams to be more cautious in terms of stepping in. It obviously shouldn't, as the point of VAR is to consistently apply the laws of the game in whatever manner has been decreed as necessary.

Not sure £8m would have been a profit when factoring in signing on fee, agent fee, bonuses and such... likely closer to break even or a loss. At best a very small profit. Realistically we needed his value to be at least a few million higher than we paid for him, but oh well. We got two decent 4 month spells out of him, not that it got us anywhere in the end, and he disappeared completely when it mattered at the end of last season.

Yes, would much rather see opposition fans and managers crying about how "awful" we are after smashing them, than getting empty platitudes after valiantly losing.