The issue is he never gets up to speed without playing matches, end of. In Mowbrays eyes the risk is worth it for the reward. Same with Dacky. By mid Feb, both should be fully raring to go barring any unfortunate injuries.

Almost absolutely spot on. You start keeping clean sheets folks you start getting these wins. Awful game, excellent result.

Luton away from home usually means very few goals, in fact 8 out of 13 games have had 1 goal or less, a ridiculous 2 games all season over 2 goals. 1-0 all over this, on this occasion it'll be us taking the 3 points too. Gonna be a late one, Elliott in the 86th minute. We're actually the strongest finishing team in the league believe it or not, 14 goals coming in the last 15 mins this season....

Poor little lamb. It happens.

Is it any wonder though, this last week and his latest outburst today:

Aye of course it was a penalty, but it happens to us all and it's that bit better that its upset Warnock so much. A lesson to be learnt for young Braithwaite though, he got away with it today but it wouldn't have happened in the VAR infested prem where he aspires to play. I guess when you have legs that appear 6 foot long themselves you may be tempted to use them a bit more than you should for high balls. Essentially that's why he's here though and learning from this mistake should aid his development. A good 3 points and always good to get that clean sheet but not much to get carried away over.

As it stands, Blackpool, Crewe and Morecombe games are still on if looking purely at northern teams.....

When was a game last called off for a waterlogged pitch? Last I can remember is Wimbledon in the 90's when Fashanu etc started doing Klinsmann dives on the pitch following the decision, but surely there's been some since that?

I can see a fair bit of tinkering for this game given his paddy about the pitch last game. Its classic Mowbray to do something completely random just to try and prove a point. Gallagher up front on his own and long balls pumped up aimlessly would be most likely.

If you asked Sharpe off record if he thought Mowbray should be potted I'm pretty sure I know what his answer would be. He still needs to maintain some kind of relationship with the club though so understandably has to mute his opinions a little.

Yeah I read that earlier and thought wtf is he on about here, unless of course Crewe made it up to try and raise interest from other clubs and subsequent funds (unlikely). If he's said it purely to appease Bell and Douglas and make them feel 'wanted' then its a bit ridiculous.

Yeah true. 3 of their last 4 away games have finished 0-0 and would attract criticism at least on here, must be dreadful to watch. In fairness though most successful managers sort the defence out first and build from there. He's done the first part so will be interesting to see if he completes the job.

I'll be back in the ground, regardless of price but only when there's a degree of normality. Not interested in being part of a say 2k crowd if restrictions are in place, nor am I interested in a scenario where we can't have a pint with our pals in the concourse. The social aspect heavily influences my decision though and people going purely for the football will no doubt think twice.

As an aside, would people take O'Neil over Mowbray and the style of play he brings with it?

As you say the pitch is really going to be in horrific condition even by half time, nevermind 90. Doesn't lend itself to pretty (and largely ineffective football) at all and will probably favour Stoke more than us. It'll go 1-0 either way, perhaps even needing a penalty or some set piece magic. In the interest of positivity I'll go for a 1 nil win, Branthwaite header on his debut.

I didn't even watch the game yesterday, nor am I remotely bothered about going out of the cup. Why its even going ahead this season I've no idea. The FA cup is about fans for me, mainly lower league fans getting that chance to mix it up against the big boys. The final will be ridiculous without fans too, at best I think there could be a very limited number there. Our current defensive crisis isn't able to cope with extra cup games, looking at the teams others are putting out they aren't particularly arsed either. All that said though, I did read up on the game and watch the highlights. Utterly pathetic from Mowbray. Just throwing players on with no obvious formation or gameplan or anything. No emotion, no encouragement, literally fuck all from him. Now as I've already said I'm not arsed at all to exit the cup, but I'm also not paid silly amounts to motivate a team to win matches! He's lucky no fans were present yesterday because people would have been absolutely livid and let him know. Doing himself absolutely no favours at the moment, the fanbase now must have the lowest number of pro-Mowbray supporters than it ever has. His interviews, wow, its as though he is deliberately trying to piss us off now.

We could do with Ronnie Pickering to add a bit of nastiness to the team 🤨

I've no idea how good those lads from Liverpool, City or Everton are, but we're above them all in the table so are they gonna be THAT much better than our own youngsters? I'd prefer a bit more experience personally although appreciate someone that fits that bill may not be so easy to find.

https://the72.co.uk/208452/cedric-kipres-west-brom-omission-becomes-clearer-after-bilic-departure-ex-wigan-athletic-man-wasnt-his-signing/ This might explain his lack of game time under Billic.... Someone who can play at centre half and right back would be a perfect fit given our predicament, so all things considered I'd take a punt on him.

That's the bit I don't quite understand. Their defence is shocking and has been all season yet not once have either Billic, or up to now Allardyce given him a shot. He played for their u23 team last game which as far as I can see is his only game time at all for the club. Unless Allardyce has come in and seen he's not match fit so giving him some games for the u23 team to get him up to speed now.

Crooke running a story now on Lancs Live saying we have contacted the baggies about Kipre. I would say that ones very likely to happen. The only reason it won't is if Sam looks at another defensive collapse by them last night and thinking he might be able to do a job, or of course Kipre himself gets a better offer.....

That doesn't mean it won't happen though, have you seen our track record with defenders lately? He wasn't shit at Wigan but appears to have stalled badly, West Brom have a -28 goal difference yet he can't get a game, something very odd.

Why move on? He's likely to be available to loan and we wanted him previously, its a lot more likely than plucking a name out of thin air.

He played for their reserves just before Xmas too in which they conceded 4 goals, didn't get very good reviews and one fan described him as the worst defender they've ever had......

You said he hasn't made the matchday squad all season which is wrong, he's made it the last 3 games for example 🤣