People who actually went yesterday are pointing out that the Evans and Smallwood centre midfield pairing wasn't too impressive. I've come to the conclusion that at this level you need more from midfield than they've got to offer. The two of them aren't going to contribute much going forward and if Dack has an off day we're struggling to create much. I know it's early days yet but we seem to have plenty of water carriers in midfield but no game changers. If this Scots lad is a game changer we should be looking at him. With a bit of luck we can loan some of our surplus water carriers out. Having said that there doesn't appear to be a queue forming to take them off our hands.

I'm not a fan either and I hope we can do better but if he does come in he's an improvement on Nuttall and probably on Samuel. I know I'm not saying much there.

You've got to draw the line somewhere. I think these days when you regularly get 5 minutes time added on that 85 minutes is about right.

Well you can never have too many hard lads. Ask Mark Hughes.

Several nails hit well and truly on the head.

Yeah, he'd a good spring for a short guy, as did Matt Jansen. He gave opposing centre halves plenty of grief in more ways than one. A Robbie Savage with skill.

I know that and we didn't play the two together.. We had Newall and Speedie. Heading ability seems not to have the significance it used to have. Modern football I suppose.

Or somebody with some pace who carries a goal threat . If I had a £1 for every time I've seen a team try to hang on for a win and then get pipped in injury time I'd be a very rich man.

I'm compiling a list of goals scored and conceded in the period 85 mins plus . So I make that we are minus 1 goal and 2 points.

One or two people will like the bulls eye logo. Something to aim at when their particular scapegoat is playing. It's still " putting lipstick on a pig " though.

That's just your opinion. It isn't a fact.

Last time we played at this level we conceded in the last 10 minutes of games regularly. In fact I think I remember seeing a league table were all the games had finished at 80 minutes that season, we were mid table ! Like it or not teams with a poor mentality concede at the end , teams with a good mentality score at the end. I call it the Venky's curse. It's been happening much too often since they took over. The idea of bringing Conway on to give Williams an helping hand is looking at the game through the wrong end of the telescope. You play the game out in your opponents half as much as you can. You bring a winger on who's going to give their full back problems not give him the freedom of the flank to back up his own winger. One thing you must have in that situation is somebody who can hold the ball up. Yeah, I know, it's obvious. You need a smart player who can buy the cheap free kicks that take you down the pitch and run down the clock. The sort of player who can take the sting out of your opponents. Taking both of our ball holding players off isn't the smartest thing to do. Samuel is not an hold up player, Nuttall is not an hold up player, Armstrong is not an hold up player, Gallagher is not an hold up player. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread. I'll see how many goals we concede at the death and how many we score. Last time we played in this division I'd say for ever goal we scored near the end we conceded six or seven. Anyway the clock is running, we are minus 1 goal and 2 points after today's game.

They've got a good manager though.

I'm not a Gallagher fan. He's just a bigger version of Armstrong for me. I don't get why people want to sign both of them. We need another Graham pronto.

I don't think we can afford to play both of Evans and Smallwood at this level in the same team. I thought Conway was retained for this very situation. Coming on late to help us see out games. Whoever thought that was going to work needs to give their head a wobble.

If I'd a £1 for every goal we've conceded and points thrown away at the death in the last few years I'd be a rich man. I'd have taken a draw at 3.00 but that feels like a loss now. We've got to learn how to play games out and that doesn't mean packing the goalmouth and hoping for the best.

What can you do if you're out in Spain in a massive heatwave. . Pull down the shutters and turn on the iPad.

Yeah, such a shame he was involved with that incident were he broke an opponents leg. I don't think he did much after that. It just wasn't his style. It probably affected him badly.

The lad was a winner, full stop. A nightmare to play against. Their were no lost causes whilst he was on the pitch.

If they do they've got to be exceptionally talented. I wouldn't put Armstrong in that bracket.

Yeah, that was a good side with great balance. They had a bit of everything. They took Alan Hunter off us about that time. Nobody mentions him now but what a good centre half he was. A hard lad who could play football.

They've had some good players over the years down there. The teams Bobby Robson had with the like of Beattie, Mills, Thyssen and Muhren , Mariner, etc were top class.

Will Palmer be considered for selection today ?

I suspect he was played out wide at Big Club because he wasn't doing enough when he was given a chance to lead the attack.

Speedie and Dickov weren't particularly big either but they had a presence. They could play up front on their own at times because they were physical players who put themselves about. If you marked them for 90 minutes you'd know you'd been in a game. Armstrong hasn't got that level of physicality and I don't think he ever will have. If it's your nature not to be that way out you can't really be taught it. He relies on stealth and good service. He doesn't wear the centre backs down. I played in every position on the pitch as a player at one time or other and without a doubt the hardest position to play is up front on your own with your back to goal.