I'd laugh if they went down and that millstone dragged them down through the leagues.

Think that's just scousers in general.

We'll need another CB in the summer when Ayala (and his big contract) leaves - this is just succession planning. There's no saying that Watford / Udinese are going to blow him out of the water with a contract offer either.

Unfair to lump Szmodics in with the other two. He has 3 goals and an assist in an injury plagued season.

If they're good enough, yes. Phillips, Garrett and Wharton are good enough for the odd game.

As I keep saying, there's clearly a player in Vale somewhere - he's tidy with the ball at his feet, his movement is decent and he's taken to nice goals in the FA cup. However he's weak in possession and lethargic out of it. If he just fought to retain the ball, rather than being easily brushed off it, and sprinted to pressure / run into space he'd be much more likely to succeed as a pro footballer.

We created the 4 best chances of the game and missed them all.

I'm trying to think what that style of play is given his lack of technique and instincts. I assume playing balls into the channels and watching him lash 9/10 of them into the stands? He certainly can't play with his back to goal, nor does he win many attacking headers in their box.

You can't take what a manager says in press conferences seriously - it's all positive. The fact he's dropped players for poor performances this season tells me he's ruthless behind the scenes. Buckley was dropped for months, Dack had to earn his way into the side, Markanday is having to learn to track back right now - he's not soft on them. It's never been a lack of fight this season, it's a lack of ability to put the ball in the back of the net (with maybe one semi-decent attacking player on the bench to bring on to change things).

It's been said multiple times that BBD is still here cos the owners have a valuation for him (which is baffling because they know nothing about football!) and won't sell him unless it's met. I'm sure Broughton and JDT would love to have that money for a bloke that hasn't scored for nearly 10 games. My only real complaints about JDT so far is that he's slow to make subs (but he clearly doesn't trust the bench) and he's never dropped Morton for his poor play (but that might be part of the loan deal.

He's the best manager I've ever seen, which is why I used him as the example.

He walked away from a much more pressured job because he wanted a bigger challenge, so I'm not sure where the idea that he's here for an easy ride comes from.

There's a difference between writing the season off and begging for relegation. They're slowly bringing their players into the club and slowly bringing along our top Academy prospects - all the while installing the style of play they want to play. I keep mentioning it, but you don't put 3 at the back and employ the low block for 20 mins against relegation threatened Cardiff at home if you're not being pragmatic - we've ground out quite a few games that way this year. We find ourselves in a very surprising position, but they're not going to go hell for leather chasing a playoff spot... hence being linked to two permanent long-term options in supposed positions of strength and pragmatically trying to bring in a goal scorer on loan.

You wouldn't think Butterworth and Vale had come through the Academy (i.e. had some passion for the club) and were playing for their professional futures. The bare minimum you expect from a footballer is 100% effort. If they're not talented enough then you still respect that they've tried. Neither Butterworth or Vale look like they want to be there - and both will find themselves out of football and / or in the lower leagues very shortly.

I definitely watch a different game to most on here. Rathbone put his foot through a half chance (that Morton / Kaminski [take your pick] gifted to him) - he doesn't score that goal again in 100 attempts - and beyond that all he did was go around kicking lumps out of our players. That game, like this Bristol City one and the Boro game were decided by our strikers not being able to finish incredibly presentable chances. That's currently on Mowbray (including saddling us with Gallagher on a new contract!), but after next summer it will be on Broughton and JDT if they can't improve the situation.

He wants a PL job - I assume preferably not one that's deep in a relegation battle.

They're never over the line until they're holding up the shirt. Just ask Roy Keane.

Yeah it was Morton - he doesn't go in for 50:50s. Soft.

Brereton-Diaz hasn't scored since the start of November... so basically the same contribution as Gallagher. Neither is sustainable if you want to be a playoff team.

I hope to god Brereton-Diaz isn't here at the end of January.

Even Brereton-Diaz in his current atrocious form would give JRC nightmares - he's a very, very poor athlete for this level. I'm sure Semeyno will get his move shortly, but as someone else on here very succinctly put it - he fits a 'type' of player that PL teams look for. He's been given the green tick by scouts / data analysts despite not actually producing a great deal (he has 16 Championship goals at 23 years old).

I'd like to think most Championship managers could get their club up with £30m in transfers. Burnley's problem will be next year when 90% of those players aren't good enough for the PL.

Only one of those three is on big wages though - thanks Tony.

That Brereton-Diaz miss gets worse every time you see it: https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/12792089/bristol-city-1-1-blackburn-championship-highlights

Expect two red cards a match then if players are getting booked for that. It wasn't even a foul.