DE.

Yeah, wtf. I checked the score and it was showing them 4-2 up on 94 mins, assumed that was that. Then I checked my phone 10 minutes later and had a text from an Ipswich fan absolutely devastated. Wow. Well done to Rovers, a solid away win and a clean sheet. Four wins on the spin. Good times.

Birmingham already two up against QPR. Not surprised, they looked like a decent side at Ewood on Saturday. We did well to take three points off them, and I think they'll climb the league pretty quickly if their performance levels stay at a similar level for the rest of the season.

Reminds me a bit of when people used to argue about Samuel / Nuttall. The simple truth was that neither were good enough, and so it is here. We'll have to make do until January at least, but long-term we need better.

Pretty much. We got in behind them a few times in the second half but couldn't capitalise. If BBD had been on form I think we may have nabbed a third, but it just wasn't his day today.

Easy to forget that with his hefty rump Dack is actually very good at holding up and shielding the ball. Exactly what we needed today as we repeatedly returned the ball to Birmingham in the final ten minutes with nobody on the pitch even remotely capable of holding it up and relieving the pressure a little. I trust JDT's judgement on this but imo there was a place for Dack or a player similar to Dack today, and bringing on the likes of Dolan and Vale didn't really help.

It's funny seeing the exact same Mowbrayisms coming up on their forum. Throwing on subs with no obvious plan. Complete lack of tactical nous. Standing/sitting looking bewildered or bored. Sounding like a defeated man in interviews. Bigging up the opposition, regardless of stature. Saying he'll make no excuses than proceeding to reel off at least a dozen immediately. Inability to utilise or defend set pieces. They think when their strikers return things will change, but likely it'll just get more baffling.

Just glad he and Evans aren't our problem anymore.

He's definitely playing with confidence at the moment. Showing for the ball, trying to take on players (and sometimes actually succeeding) and getting into decent positions. Very much needed with Diaz struggling today. Interesting how BBD seems to play across the entire frontline now, mind. He was often playing as an AMC with a free role, flitting between both flanks and the centre. Not much came off for him today but he wasn't hiding. Just one of those games.

Last five minutes were pure torture. Kaminski an absolute hero, made 4/5 top class saves to keep Birmingham out. Defence was cut apart many times, and we put ourselves in serious danger on three separate occasions by passing it around our own backline. Lucky today not to be punished. Gallagher worth a mention, better than BBD today and only just behind Kaminski for MoM. Diaz looked leggy, was trying but never really got into the game. Ref was shockingly poor. I don't usually comment on refs, but my word. He was infuriating both sets of fans and got a loud, deserved chant of "you're not fit to referee". A word on Brum, much much improved compared to last season. We took a good scalp today. A Rovers win makes the 10+ hour journey to Ewood and back much sweeter 👌

Am at game and can confirm ref is a joke. A Birmingham player could chin one of ours and he'd wave play on. Farcical.

Probably would have missed if he'd hit it cleanly. Lad was a nightmare when it came to one-on-ones with time to think. Especially ironic considering the infamous (BBC, I think?) one-on-one training video he did whilst playing for us. Roberts was a decent instinctive striker of the ball, though.

Strange one. You'd think they would have learned their lesson when they sacked McCarthy and let Terry Connor relegate them. Different owners now, mind, but this kind of decision rarely ends well. A dangerous gamble to take.

I'm sure some will consider it petty, but I went off Dack after his reaction to our 7-0 drubbing at home to Fulham. It wasn't the behaviour of someone who really has any pride in being a part of the club. We've had a lot of talented players come and go over the years, but mentality has always been our Achilles' heel during the Venky era and partially why we've had to endure repeated death spirals and a total inability to recover when we concede the first goal. If JDT is addressing that mentality issue by letting certain players move on and bringing in others who will take the club as seriously as the fans do then that's OK with me. If this isn't the primary reason then if we do let Dack go I hope we have some ideas as to who to bring in, because with the likelihood of Brereton leaving in January as well that's a ton of goals and assists heading out the door.

BBD has been class tonight.

Tony, what's the score? 😎

Ipswich had a pack Portman road initiative going on and are flying in L1 at the moment, so not a surprise to see the attendance high for yesterday's match. By the sounds of it they were extremely unlucky. Something like 33 shots to Lincoln's 3 and lost 1-0. A proper FM scoreline.

I think that goal on the stroke of half time changed the entire complexion of the match. Go in at 2-0 and we probably have a much more comfortable second half. Scoring that goal against the run of play meant Boro came out with their tails up and we fell back and let them come at us. Ultimately three points is three points and you can't argue with our league position. We must be close to setting some kind of record for a consecutive WLWLWL pattern?

Ouch! Not sure I'd go as far as to say these players are deeply flawed, but yes, if they were scoring every decent chance they'd be playing at a much higher level.

BBC has it as a Lenihan OG 🤭

I don't think there are many people seriously calling for JDT to be removed, just flagging up some genuine concerns from the opening couple of months. Of course we have to give him time to adapt to the job, the league and the team he has available to him. The only time to consider sacking him this season would be if we went into a major downward spiral and were genuinely in danger of being relegated, not that Venky's would make that decision in time anyway. They left it too late with Coyle and they'd leave it too late again if it happened this time around. Not that I think this will happen. I envision a frustrating season where we ultimately finish mid-table. The question at the end of the season, assuming this is how it goes, will be whether JDT is growing as a manager and learning from his mistakes. It's too early to tell at this point, but by the end of the season we should have an idea of whether he's got the flexibility to cope when things aren't going as expected. Good managers are able to work with what they've got until they are able to mould the side into something closer approaching the vision they have. Allardyce is actually a good example of this, particularly during his time at Bolton. He always retained his core ethos but was able to develop the team's style of play as time went on and he was able to bring in better players. Hughes whilst he was with us similarly adapted the way we played and set up depending on the calibre of players he had available - from the likes of Amoruso, Douglas, Matteo, Flitcroft, Dickov and Stead to later on with Nelsen, Samba, Bentley, Benni McCarthy, Bellamy and Santa Cruz. Generally speaking a decent manager will build from the back and add the flair and panache over time as they become more comfortable with the players they have and their abilities. JDT deserves time to build a squad capable of playing the football he wants to play, but also has to be able to utilise what he has in the meantime.

We've had a lot more convincing defeats than victories, which is a valid concern.

Can't help but think Dack's absence has more to it than just stats. Think there may be a clash of personalities there.

Dack should have started, let alone been brought on as a sub. Watching Sammie flail around helplessly was painful.

Only one constant throughout that time... a fish rots from the head.

Says it all. Embarrassing. Chasing the game and I don't think we had a single shot in the last 10 minutes? Travelling fans deserve a refund from the club for that.