SpaceBarSlam

Instead, we're on the verge of having lost both of them. We're left with two injury-prone options and our 'experienced' Championship buy of the summer has just been sent off for a terrible call on his part.

Cantwell has been good since Val took over. Okay, not always *today* good, but sometimes it takes the right player-manager combo for the magic to happen and I think we're seeing that with these two.

Goddard on the bench. Toth injury incoming in...

I'm a bit gutted that it's ended like this with Trav tbh. Remember when he broke through under Mowbray, the midfield partnership with Reed we got for all of two games and the sheer grit on his part not to let the opportunity to break into the first team pass him by. He's not the most skillful, but he's been a part of this club for a long time and always seemed genuinely proud to play for us. A captain and a character. And now he's being bundled out the back door to stop the bank balance straying too far into the red. He deserved better and the fans who've watched him grow as a player do too.

And yet... We've never come close to replacing his set pieces. It's been a massive gap in every iteration of the team since he departed.

Bleak times when you open the forum, see this thread and realise "Christ, less than a week to go till the next installment of misery".

Derby have offered 1.5 million for Travis. How exactly has letting this spill out into a what has clearly become quite a bitter stand off benefited the club at all? We clearly want to move him on, he wants out and clubs will have been following the fallout and know that it's hardly going to be a case of apologies on both sides and Trav reintegrated as captain if his valuation isn't met. Astonishing mishandling.

Let's not pretend that today's loss was purely down to a single set piece. Val gambled on sticking all our big lads on the pitch to try and see out a 1-0 win. You set up defensively, you invite pressure. We've seen it time and time again.

Cantwell was one of the few players last season who I actually felt played well under VI. Quite telling that there's a gradual standoff occurring between the club/management and players that were on the senior players leadership team though.

Was he still wearing his cap?

We might have to wait a few years for players to retire and be doing the podcast rounds (as has happened in recent years with regard's to Coyle's time), but very, very intrigued to see what stories come out about this period at the club. The whole setup is completely rotten with not even a glimmer of optimism right now.

What worries me about this managed decimation of our team is that we are going to be losing a hell of a lot of experience, for all of the shortcomings of the various players involved. Struggling to see anything but relegation as it stands.

Burnley getting drawn against Derby in the second round. I laughed out loud.

It won't be pretty but points on the board is what matters!

Really interesting insights from Andy and Kevin here about the impact losing Travis would have on and off the pitch, also touching on the wider issue of us not getting new deals done for experienced players. They sound worried about the season. Justifiably so.

A big difference during our stronger spells this season has been having depth on the bench. When you compare the start of this season to the end of the 23/24 season when our bench was basically Markanday + academy players, it was night and day. Sanderson is the sort of player I'd like to see signed as he's a good option to have from the bench/as cover.

Gutting. We just lacked that little bit of quality to make the difference. Already one eye on what I anticipate will be another sh*tshow summer. Dread to think who we've seen play for us for the last time today.

Our "significant investment" actively hampering our attacks at this point.

Well that was an almighty let off.

We could do with a tactical Toth injury here to regroup.

I'd accepted it wasn't mean to be...I don't know if my nerves can handle this. 😂

His form has dropped off since Eustace left, but I reckon a bit of Gueye-os might be beneficial in such a tight, edgy match.

Set pieces these days are an exercise in "oh well, at least we have possession" rather than an actual goal-scoring opportunity.

As an aside, I'll be interested to see where Kaminski ends up next season.

Preston score!