Really hope this isn't a permanent change, but there's little doubt that this should benefit a side with our depth for this season. We're at our best too when we're playing and pressing at a high tempo, so hopefully this will help us maintain that with having just a few days between games.

Number 9 on his back - almost certainly reading too much into it, but a clue to his eventual position?

Probably right, but looking at the playing squad it doesn't look like a great fit. Rhodes/Marriot/Windass aren't the sort of battering rams that Pulis would want, and the likes of Bannan and Brown will get a shock to the system!

Good post - I agree with most of it but I'm not as concerned about him joining an exodus of players. If we can use his wages to top up offers to a couple of our OOC players, it'll be money well spent. On his form, I think he's very rarely been asked to play in a system that suits his game - a ball winner & recycler who leaves getting over the halfway line to more talented players. He never had the legs to play in a 442, and yet that's mainly where he played until Mowbray came along. Our win % when he played with Travis was very good indeed, so there's a player in there when fit and in the right system. Unfortunately for him, our new style is not that system, as his pretty poor performances this season demonstrate. That, along with his age and dreadful injury record means that we should be looking to phase him out and ultimately, let him go, but in doing so we should see him as unlucky rather than someone looking to dodge games in my opinion.

I think this is spot on. You mention Lingard, but as a player his style (although obviously not his level of ability) reminds me so much of Paul Scholes, who everyone forgets only developed into the player he became well into his 20s. Gary Neville was on the Quickly Kevin podcast for 90s football, and he basically was saying that a young Paul Scholes couldn't even get in the youth team for plenty of games because he was about 3 stone wet through and had asthma. Compared to the likes of Nicky Butt who at 18 could play a bit but was an absolute monster. Even when Scholes was in his early 20s he was only being drip fed into the first team, often as a number 10, and we're talking about one of the most gifted English players in the last 30 years, maybe ever! Obviously John Buckley won't be Paul Scholes and Blackburn Rovers in 2020 isn't the same as Man United in 1996, but he is absolutely a player worth being patient with.

I don't think there's any need to get overly precious about his comments. It would be weird if he didn't see qualifying for a major international tournament as a very big deal, and the prospect of playing in it a carrot for him getting back to form and fitness. As for his injury record - Occam's Razor suggests that the boy is simply injury prone, and misses games for both club and country. He's outlived his usefulness, and should be on his way after this season (or in January if there is any interest) but I don't think his interview is out of order at all, personally.

Given that we'll be looking to take the game to them, and that Nyambe will have had about fifteen flights and two (?) games over the international break, I'd definitely look to this as a JRC game. If Ryan comes back unscathed and covid free, bring him in for PNE. Other than that, I agree the centre back question is the trickiest one. I think Lenihan has come in for some justified stick for being a bit erratic this season, but after being easily our most important defender for a couple of years now I'd be inclined to be a bit more patient with him and play him alongside Williams to begin with.

True enough, but equally you could argue that it's only injuries and/or a bad attitude which prevented those two from being global stars. Certainly Wilshere had all the ability. I think it's fair to say that he is showing the sort of ability you would associate with a top future international aged 17. Probably even beyond that.

4-2-4 with extremely attacking full backs! Certainly if Douglas plays. Don't think we'll be short of more high scoring games before the season's out! I can definitely see Dack working well as the most attacking of three midfielders. He has the ability to create, especially now he has much more to work with our front three. Obviously we don't want him to lose his knack of getting in the area and scoring, but Lampard made a career of doing that from a deeper position. In a strange sort of way it might even be a bit easier for him to find space given that defenders will be more closely occupied with Armstrong and Brereton.

At the very least he shouldn't be near any of the more attacking positions in the midfield. I still think he has has the skillset to do quite well in the deeper role, but his weaknesses are dreadfully exposed when he's asked to go further forwards, especially when he plays on the left of the three. Having said that, seeing as he's already a reserve I'd be looking to have Davenport in front of him in the pecking order anyway. Maybe slightly harsh on Evans as it's not really his fault that the system has changed to not suit his strengths, but he isn't the future whereas Davenport could be with more game time.

Without ever having seen him play, I hold my hands up to being an Elliot-sceptic when we signed him. Not any slight on his talent, but it's so rare that a 17 year old boy can come into man's football straight away and do the business consistently. Remains to be seen how he'll deal with the rigours of a long season, but so far I'm eating my words. Tremendous talent who without question will go far.

It really did, I turned it off after Wigan scored their second, turned it back on after I saw they were a man down. There was a good 20 minute spell at the start of the second half when they absolutely dominated.

Delighted for Chorley, just a shame that probably the biggest result in their history was behind closed doors. Would love for them to sneak through the next round and draw another one of their more prestigious Lancashire neighbours. Or failing that, PNE.

Wave upon wave of Chorley attacks at present. Wigan hanging on at 2-2

I think that's a fair point, although as you say you could level the same at a few others. Dolan (who I'm delighted we've signed) is probably the best example of that, but you'd let him off with it at such a young age. Not quite speaking to the same point that you're making, but it was encouraging to see him take his chance when the sides were level and the pressure was growing. It's been commented that his goals before season were in dead rubbers, and the Watford goal was when we were already two goals down. One of the next stages in is development will be to make more match winning contributions, so yesterday was a good start.

V. true, and I think you can say that about quite a few of our attacking players. Rothwell is certainly a player who comes to life when he has other creative players around him. Looking back to last season, even someone with the experience and quality of Downing was a completely different player when he wasn't our sole creative midfielder. One of the reasons I'm not against re-signing him is that this season he'll be playing alongside Elliot and Rothwell/Hotlby instead of the likes of Samuel

Getting all of the attacking players in the side is undoubtedly going to be a huge challenge. Says a lot about Brereton's form that at present he would be near impossible to drop.

Great post. Inelegant but effective sums him up perfectly this season. I was thinking along similar lines after the Wycombe/Derby/Cov games, and which other players could be put in the same category. The name which came to mind immediately was Kevin Davies. They're not too similar in their style of play, but they're both players who don't look like they'll ever be prolific and yet are well worth their place in the side by being a nightmare for defenders. I think we can see his value in Armstrong's form. Obviously Armstrong is a top goal-scorer anyway, but having scored double any other player in the league this year bar Toney, and having enough chances to have scored a good four or five more, I think we have to see Brereton's form as a major reason why he is getting so many chances.

Couldn't agree more. Other players rightly got the plaudits today but Buckley was a crucial cog in our midfield. He obviously has talent in abundance, and showed it this afternoon. Has to work on his consistency and decision making, but on today's showing we have a real player on our hands if we're patient with him.

Very creditable and deserved three points given where we're at in the season. Wharton was good, Ben Brereton superb. Returning players made an enormous difference.

Can't say that I'm delighted that he's playing, but agree that some of the criticism is OTT. Playing slightly further forward in a three really doesn't suit him though, especially on the left.

Reading are up there with QPR as clubs that you want to play on a horrible midweek fixture in poor weather. Would be a perfect game for Travis this one, but I'm still confident that we'll win without him.

His pass to Brereton was wonderful, and if I was being hyper-critical, slightly overdue. Since moving back to the right this season he has been decent enough, but until that pass had seemed to get into promising attacking positions before putting in a disappointing final ball. I'm not saying this to have a go, only to highlight that he's had a solid introduction to the first team with rare flashes of real quality, and that we might need to be a bit patient before we see him realise his potential.

Basically agree, but I'd have Nyambe in front of Rankin-Costello. Not an easy call, but both Joao and Meite (assuming they both play) can be a handful and I'd much rather have a rested Nyambe helping to deal with any counter attacks than JRC coming back from a hamstring injury.

Counterpoint: our squad that season was always likely to stay up comfortably but was much more than a 7 million pound striker away from being top 6 contenders. Obviously we were all hoping for more from him before now, but seems to me that our need is much greater now we have a squad who on paper can challenge rather than when we were a nailed on mid-table side.