Bleeding heck lads I’m supposed to be on a timeout but can’t ignore some of the saltiness. Firstly couldn’t go tonight as I’m man down with COVID - really floored me as well - so watched on TV. The issue with the 10 minutes isn’t that ref gave it - they had the trainer on half a dozen times, plus subs and goals etc, the issue is that to often refs don’t give it. We got 9 given against WBA for a lot lot less. The red was a second yellow and a stupid challenge. We shot ourselves in the foot for their goals but created more than enough to win 2 games. Finally great teams play to the end and get their rewards. This team is slowly beginning to look half decent. That said I thought Rotherham caused us problems. Short turnaround for us now - think we will struggle to get a point on Saturday. Our game should be high scoring, we will give you plenty of chances so the question becomes can you stop our forward players.

I’m going to take a few weeks off here now - I’ll make a brief appearance post Derby, as is custom, I just pray its as a victor not the vanquished/

Go with @sympatheticclaret - he’s far better at these things than I am.

Cork was a game suspension for 5 yellows. Cullen we are led to believe was a bit of a knock picked up in the Sunderland game - missed last 2 though. Ideally we’d have both in for the game against you, need our best 11 at their best.

No excuses, we need to beat you. Have you? Conceded more than us and scored less all the same. Let’s see how they cope with our pace and running from Tella, Zaraoury and Benson - not forgetting our wing backs of course. Mind you we’ve got the small matters of Rotherham and Sheff Utd first - with a short turnaround between those two making Sheffield and even bigger challenge than it already is. Not unlikely by the time we play you’ve overtaken us in the league.

My biggest fear is a weak referee who doesn’t punish your relentless fouling

Anyone, on either side, honestly expecting an easy win is an idiot.

You were saying? I’ve read it on here a few times.

What I said was no one I know - I think up the clarets is clarettony’s mob. We’ve given ourselves a shot at promotion so far, as have you. Top 2 after 18 games is a decent place to be - and as you guys are expecting an “easy 3 points” from us you should be above us come the World Cup break. This was a bit beyond the normal - he literally clamped his arms to his side by getting him in a bear hug from behind.

Also should have mentioned the stonewall penalty we didn’t get when their player simply wrapped his arms around Harwood-Bellis at a corner.

Yep - for 60 minutes neither side deserved a win to be honest. Last 37 we earned it but also got lucky with that one. It’s bollox and not a fan I know thinks this isn’t the one. I do think it’s marginally less fevered since we ended the run etc but it matters more than any other game - well to me at least. Not sure it will be easy but certainly more than possible. We were missing both Cork and Cullen yesterday. We can cope without one but struggled with both our. Scrappy wins that we ultimately deserved though. Rotherham on Wednesday then Sheff Utd and you. I’d take 5 points if they were offered now.

They did well against us and easily earned their point. They didn’t seem to tire either! Not pretty but powerful, fast and hard working. On another day they’d have beaten us.

I disagree and - I can't believe I'm saying this - it should be awarded 0-3 in your favour as that has always been the scoreline for abandoned games. It's an absolute joke of a situation and, whilst not the fault of the fans, it definitely is the fault of the club AND the football authorities who have allowed this festering situation to exist in various forms for a few years now. The schedules are always packed in this league and the world cup has exascerbated this. Those clubs impacted by Coverntry's failure to host games are put at a disadvantage.

😂😂😂 - all the fingers it would have eh.

Doesn’t matter that you said strikers, we’ve got 3 of the divisions top 15 scorers and you’ve got 1. Your point was our attack is a bit impotent despite us being the top scorers in the division so far. 100% you are only 2 points behind us because we dropped a ridiculous 12 points from winning positions - something we need to address as we still look susceptible to the sucker punch.

Such a good question. As with us all I want my team to play at the highest level. I also want to compete. Without question I enjoted our seasons at this level more than I did at the level above. For me the inevitable relegation isn't what bothers me - it's how it can lead to finacial implosion becuase though the incomes are eyewatering so are the wages players expect. So to try and answer your question, I want to go up as Champions every season but never change division 🙂 🤷‍♂️

Facebook, Twitter, not seen any fans claiming we have already won the league. I did see one of your fans on here, on the Dingles thread, tell me we were all but guaranteed to win it and if we didn't beat you guys at the Turf that would be a massive failure but the fans I know are being pretty cautious. Loving the footie, really really enjoying the season and yeah hopeful, optimistic but absolutely not expectant.

7/4? I got us at 12/1 back in July. Only 7points between us and Reading in 8th. They beat us Saturday and its down to 4 and they'd still have a game in hand. We are also only 2 points ahead of you so you must have a similar chance of winning the league as us - plus if QPR win their game in hand they go above us. Nothing is certain, especially with so many games still to play. Normally when we play you I back you in a bet, a sort of cushion to soften the blow if we lose. I bet I don't get great odds despite you trying to insist we should beat you. Most on here seem to think we are not good and that you will beat us, fairly easily in some cases.

It's funny people keep saying this yet we are currently top scorers in the division and only PNE have conceded less than us - decent stats for a team that doesn't cause a threat and has a poor defence. Narrow it all you want, the reality is Rodriguez has scored as many as Diaz & Tella and Brownhill have scored more than any other players in your team - and overall we've scored 37% more goals than you have. On our performance, were you there? I'm not sure what more we could have done, we won, had plenty of shots, dominated the ball, excellent pass accuracy. We have a tough run of games (Norwich, Reading, Rotherham, Sheff Utd, the crapico) - if we can stay in touch until the World Cup then with a bit of luck we will see Twine, Churlinov and Westwood back in the squad and see where we go. I'm feeling more confident about top 6 now though, no point me pretending otherwise but I'm not confident about our game.

Literally not one fan I know thinks that or has said that. We are though enjoying the season. We’ve already lost 2 big signings (Twine and Churlinov). Both should be back after the World Cup break. Of course we don’t know what other injuries we will pick up in the next few weeks. Is that right? I’d assumed games didn’t resume until after the final.

I think HB is 2 years younger than Van Hecke though, still not 21. I haven’t seen Van Hecke to compare but if he’s better than HB he must be a very good player and I’d imagine a lot of teams would want him on loan. The young lad we have from Gladbach is looking decent as well. Does mean our central defence pair habe an average age of 21 so definitely young and inexperienced. Mind you our full backs are only 20 and 23.

Agree on this - I rarely go away yet our system is based on points - and points are like that show from the 80’s except it’s what do pounds make, points. More you spend more you get. As a season ticket holder of years I have lots of points and often qualify for aways even though I might go to only one or 2 a season.

Rate him very highly - often forget how young he is - and how relatively inexperienced after watching Tarkowski and Mee for so long. Looks a genuine footballer to me. We’ve been blessed with some good ones over the years. This lad has the potential to go a long way - still makes mistakes of course but I think we are lucky to have him, certainly couldn’t afford him.

We've got three players in the top 15 (Rodriguez on 8, Tella on 6 and Brownhill on 5. If I read it right your next best was Gallagher on 3 in 47th on the list. As for our performance. It was overall great, we won, dominated for all but the first 8-10 minutes of the second half and the last 5 as we defended our lead. We did only have 2 shots on Target - and 7 blocked so lord knows if they were on target. If I'm being critical we really should have scored more, expecially first half. Norwich looked poor - but defended very well. They were a bit lucky to end with 11 on the pitch as well. How long since you last beat us, 7 years? Chinny reckon?

It's Derby time and a bit of barb trading is going on - & I always get far worse than I give. Not a case of masks slipping, more a case of getting overly worked up -would you expect any different? These games still matter to me - and since the run ended this one has maybe more jeopardy than usual as it could well impact who goes into the break higher up the league.