Wharton's composure in a game like this, at his age, is so impressive.

Barnes doing what he does best. Ref needs to get him booked and stop this from getting out of control.

We've weathered the early storm and are starting to get a grip on the game now. Just need a bit more quality in the final third.

Good pressing to force their keeper into a mistake. Need to do a lot more of that, don't let them be so comfortable in their own half.

Jesus lads. This passing around at the back bollocks nearly costing us again.

For a £200k-ish purchase of a player in their mid-20s from Aberdeen he's done better than I expected. A versatile squad player who can do a job. Every team needs a player or two like that. If we had actually signed a decent striker at some point in the last year maybe we wouldn't be relying on Hedges to score us a second goal in the dying minutes of a match.

Can't really think of any highlights of his time here, barring the face-clutching that helped cost us the quarter final, which obviously isn't a positive. 2 assists and no goals, isn't it? I appreciate we don't have the best options in attack, but even Travis, Ayala and Pickering managed at least one goal. Wharton has 2 assists with much less time on the pitch. His time here has been unimpressive, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Doesn't mean Morton is a bad player, and good luck to him in future. I wouldn't have him back though. Would much rather develop Adam Wharton and John Buckley than have Morton blocking their paths, particularly with loan agreements that may stipulate % of playing time.

Redknapp last managed six years ago, leaving Birmingham second bottom of the Championship, being sacked after five defeats on the spin. Not comparable to Roy in the slightest. Would love them to appoint him though, just for the laughs.

We definitely wouldn't have gotten relegated in 16/17. With that said, the squad and the club as a whole was in a very sad state at the time, so it may have just contributed to us treading water for another few years at best. Warnock may never have been given the backing Mowbray had, instead having to contend with what Bowyer/Lambert/Coyle were given around that time period. In some ways the relegation seemed like a bit of a wake up call for the owners, as at the very least we haven't spiralled back into the same dire situation we were in between 2015 - 2017. The squad hasn't regressed to that point at any time since then, and we haven't had to suddenly rely on emergency loans (cash, not players) to get by, as I seem to remember we were in 2015.

Problem is if we kept Gallagher and only signed one striker, we'd have to use Gallagher if that striker got injured and as our main sub option. Vale is nowhere near ready and JDT doesn't seem to think Leonard is anywhere close to stepping up either. If he did then Leonard would surely have been on the bench yesterday. I don't think a team with Sam Gallagher as second choice striker has enough depth, so for me we need at least two good strikers whether Gallagher stays or not. It would be great if we were able to sell Gallagher, but I doubt he'd get much interest.

Thomas gives us something different, albeit his contributions can be inconsistent. It doesn't help that he has zero quality in terms of strikers to feed, as he came in after BBD reverted back to BB. I'd be happy signing him if it was a sensible deal and we were committed to bringing in a couple of proper strikers next season.

Szmodics is one of the players who can hold his head high regardless of what happens - absolutely tireless and one of the bright spots of the season for sure.

With Rovers, Mowbray proved he could lead a club to solid mid-to-upper table finishes in the Championship with a relatively small budget (albeit not having to sell players regularly) and even have the club flirting with playoff positions. He could never get us beyond that point though. It'll be interesting to see if he's given time at Sunderland to show he can go beyond that.

It was on the BBC live update at the time, wouldn't be the first time they got something wrong mind.

I certainly agree he wasn't the man for the job permanently. It was just Venky's going cheap and untested as they had done repeatedly up to that point.

Debate is fine, but saying I'm being revisionist seemed unnecessary. I don't think I've said anything factually incorrect or unfair. I don't rate Bowyer particularly, but do think he had his own problems to contend with (including being a novice manager himself), which made the job difficult for him as well - albeit in a very different context.

Absolutely brutal. Fastest 5-0 scoreline in PL history.

I'm a bit surprised you'd label my post as revisionism when I'm just trying to debate my view, but if that's how you feel I'll leave it there.

Our big budget had mostly been squandered by the time Bowyer arrived though. The fees paid during his time are comparable to what we've paid for the likes of Szmodics and Hyam, and BBD isn't too far away from what Rhodes cost. In terms of wages he would have had a higher budget, but again, a lot wasted on poor players which he didn't have a huge amount of control over as many were there before he took the position and not easily shifted. Some of his wage budget would have been eaten by players who had their contracts terminated early like Etuhu and Murphy, too, not to mention all of the Portuguese players. The situation Bowyer walked into was also a lot more toxic with angrier fans (most of whom have moved on nowadays), Shaw, Agnew, Shebby, and so on. In terms of structure I'd say he was working in a more chaotic environment than JDT, regardless of our recruitment failure in January. He had his own problems which JDT hasn't had to deal with.

Tough to say if Bowyer's players could have adapted to JDT's methods any better than the current squad. We obviously had better strikers in terms of Rhodes (who was often criticised despite his goals) and Gestede, but the midfield was a disaster with the likes of Lowe, Williamson, Feeney, etc. Goalkeeper was also a weak position for us during that time. It would have been really interesting to see how the likes of Cairney, Dunn, Marshall, Dann and Hanley would have played under JDT. I could see Cairney, King and even Dunn potentially excelling... but would the likes of Todd Kane, Dann, Hanley and Henley been comfortable with the passing around the back style? Would Robbo, Eastwood or Jake Kean been able to handle things better than Kaminski or Pears? It's a very interesting what-if scenario.

To suggest somebody is not allowed to say "the jury is still out" is to shut down discussion and refuse to accept any criticism of JDT. I don't find that acceptable. Everyone has a right to a reasonable opinion. Obviously to suggest he should be sacked is going too far, but equally to say he's the best thing that's happened to the club since Venky's joined is also taking it too far after a single season where JDT is unlikely to have achieved any more than Bowyer or Mowbray (cup run aside as far as Mowbray is concerned). It just seems like recency bias or an overly romantic view. Whilst it's obvious the squad has limitations, we clearly aren't alone in that. I'd argue the vast majority of teams in the league could say the same thing. The difference comes down to management, coaching and recruitment. There are plenty of aforementioned reasons to defend JDT - a wonky structure above him, to say the least, inexcusable striker recruitment, basic errors made by the recruitment team in the January window, the fact he's a rookie manager getting his feet under the table in a league he's unfamiliar with. I don't think anyone would argue he's had struggles outside of his control to contend with - but then, so will most managers in this league. After-match reactions are always going to be a little over the top, especially after a bad result. I'd hope discussion in general, though, will be more balanced and be able to focus on the good and not-so-good elements of JDT's management in his first season.

From memory @arbitro mentioned somebody he knew had a meeting with Broughton, and that when JDT walked past the two didn't acknowledge each other, and it seemed strange that Broughton didn't acknowledge JDT or introduce him. Pretty sure it was along those lines, but Arbitro can correct me if I'm wrong on the details.

I think we'd both agree that ultimate culpability always falls on the owners. Even if we're talking recruitment, Venky's are the ones responsible for the calibre of employee at the club - whether that be CEO, Head of Recruitment, and everyone below.

Just have to hope he'll give it another go next season. Your comments regarding what you were told about he and Broughton's relationship are a big concern.

I tend to agree that our January recruitment is what has ultimately torpedo'd our season. I still don't think we would have been promoted even if O'Brien and a striker had arrived, but I think we would have made the playoffs. JDT is a young, fairly inexperienced manager learning his trade in a new league. He's going to make mistakes. He needs time to adapt and evolve. He deserves time to prove he can do that. The players are adapting too. Some have shown they can adapt and potentially evolve alongside JDT. Others haven't. Some will need to go, and others brought in to do a better job. It all circles back to recruitment.