Team spirit isn't just about the lads getting on with each other, playing FIFA tournaments, taking videos of each other in the shower (wtf was that about anyway?) and so on... a bigger part of that is getting the best out of each other on the pitch and being able to collectively deal with adversity and high pressure situations. I have no doubt that the general mood in the camp is happy, content, satisfied, and so on... but as far as team spirit is concerned I'd say we're only half way there, otherwise you wouldn't see these kinds of collapses happening over and over again, whether it's losing a lead in the final few minutes or getting absolutely hammered by average teams. People talk about Brentford being a good team, but the fact remains they're 17th and the last time they scored 5 goals in a match was the start of the season when they beat Rotherham.

I'll keep at it then. Unfortunately I've come to realise the English subtitles are just subs for the English VAs, which means it's often totally different to what the Japanese VA is saying. I'm no expert when it comes to speaking Japanese but even an amateur like me can pick up when entire words and phrases are being missed out. Still, English voice acting in games tends to bug me so I'll probably just stick with the Japanese voices and try to fill in the blanks.

J-Lowe was an England U-20's captain and played regularly for the U21's as well, so yeah, it doesn't mean that much.

If anything I'd say the popular opinion seems to be that Bennett is rubbish these days. I hold the opposite view and think he's decent enough - could definitely be upgraded on but worth having around for his versatility and commitment. As for unpopular opinion, I still think Nyambe's a long way from being the finished article. I think he's caught out of position often and that might be why TM is leaving him out of the team at present. I wouldn't be rushing to give Rodwell a new contract. Had some good games against some poor teams but still has some way to go to convince me that we should be offering him a long term deal. I also think we've been more lucky than good this season. I can think of a few games we were lucky to get something from, but not many (any?) where we've lost/drawn but deserved to win. I imagine that's partially because Mowbray always sets us up to play as underdogs.

It is shocking, but I think it's mainly a confidence thing. I've said it many times but there are too many nice lads in this team who are great when the going is good, as it often is when we're playing at home, but have a tendency to crumble when the pressure is on - whether that be from the opposing team or the opposing fans. We need an Andy Todd or a Ryan Nelsen in there barking orders and banging heads together when things start to go awry. Instead we have a group of players who collectively glance at each other guiltily after conceding and saunter back to the centre circle, confidence and purpose suddenly eradicated through self-doubt. The ability is there - we wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't - but the team is missing a true leader to galvanise and refocus the players when things get tough.

I agree on both points, but worth noting the manager should not really be "running the club" at all, and that's been a common problem throughout Venky's tenure. Way too much responsibility put onto the manager's shoulders. I'd argue in Bowyer's defence that he could only dream of having the kind of structure in place that Mowbray does, being able to essentially hire his own boss for a start!

It's not that I'm not enjoying it, I'm just not blown away by it either. It seems to be following the typical FF formula without taking too many risks, which is fine but I've already played so many JRPG's that use the same premise that it becomes less interesting over time. I'm currently on Chapter 3 I think? I'm doing the Deadeye sidequest at the moment.

How long would you say you need to play before it starts getting a grip on you? I'm a few hours in and not majorly excited to jump back in, but I'll keep going if it eventually gets good.

Just a feeling I've got. I will say that of the games against the top three we've played this season the Blades were by far the most impressive.

Norwich and Leeds for me. I think Sheff Utd will ultimately run out of steam and have to endure the playoff lottery.

I can't help but get deja vu when I read what people write about Mowbray. It really is GB all over again, right down to the tactical naivety and strong relationship with the owners. Dack is Mowbray's Cairney and Brereton is his Rhodes ( whoops).

In comparison to the teams around us our major deficiencies (imo) are LB, RB and CF. Two of those are first team issues (none of our full backs are great, although Nyambe is getting better) whilst CF is squad depth as we have nobody decent to cover Graham. I think we're fairly well stocked in other areas, enough to support a playoff push at least.

And yet both Tony and a good portion of our fans seem happy with not spending available money in the window. Hmm. We didn't strengthen a great deal in the summer either, so when exactly do we plan to add some actual quality to this squad? Can't help but look at the Championship right now and think a couple of decent signings might have us in those playoff places rather than being constant nearly-rans due to lack of squad depth.

An utter embarrassment. Shameful. How do you go from a five game winning streak to that?

Third time we've conceded four this season, isn't it? Bristol City, Preston and now Brentford. No team with that kind of record realistically gets promoted. Usually they're at the other end of the table.

Good transfer window though lads. Obviously no need for reinforcements here.

Is this not what happens every time we get near the playoffs? Same old story.

Normal service resumed then.

That's not a bad start is it?

Now I'm worried

I would guess closer to £35k, but who knows what Shebby ended up offering him. If there were goal bonuses in his contract then overall he was probably earning a very nice annual wage for a Championship player.

According to this we at least matched the 45k p/w he was getting at United: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackburn-rovers/3019509/Blackburn-sign-Cole-for-8m.html Can't imagine Cole would have taken a pay cut to come here, anyway. £45k doesn't seem like much nowadays in footballing terms, but back then that was a lot of money!

Agreed with both, it's just interesting looking back. At the time I think most of us would have been pretty excited at reuniting the Cole/Yorke partnership, when both were still only in their early 30's. Unfortunately other than a few bright moments (like that Spurs match) it seemed to bring out the worst in both of them and by 2004 both were totally frozen out.

I think we're one of the most unpredictable teams in the division. On our day we're good enough to beat anybody, but on the flip side when we don't turn up we really seem to struggle. There's also the issue of conceding late goals which seems to have subsided a bit lately but still lurks in the back of my mind. My guess is that by the end of that set of fixtures we'll be in roughly the same position we are now, maybe a little lower, with the gap to sixth having increased slightly. Similar to the season under GB where we ended up finishing 9th.