He's not - the front 4 rotate depending on where they find themselves 'in transition'. Thomas ran through the middle on the break so Dolan dropped wide right to cover.

Brereton-Diaz is even diving in defence now - he's become a liability.

You're never going to see that. He's crap playing through the middle - likes to hide out wide.

At the PL level it's poor. At this level it's fine.

As I've said, I've no idea if he's any good, but when Gallagher, Brereton-Diaz and Vale haven't scored since the World Cup break you basically have to give him a chance, right?

And yet in the same thread / board people are saying possession means nothing.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kaminski has been carrying an injury for a while and JDT has just told him to get it sorted whilst he's throwing the ball into the back of his own net. He could still play if he was in form, but this is an easier way to get him out of the firing line to get himself back together mentally.

Garrett is in Leyland.

Leonard playing for the U21s today so he's clearly miles off.

I guarantee JRC wants to play further forward.

Vale is nearly 22, he'll never be ready for the first team at this level.

That's not really an issue, is it. I look at our bench every week and think "bloody hell that's weak".

So we're just completely ignoring two games against a Championship club (playing their first XI) in the FA Cup? Sure, I guess.

That makes a lot of sense.

Maybe the Norwich fans are tired of getting spanked every other year?

Our form has been fine - won 2, drawn 3 and lost 1 in 2023. If we could score goals that'd be dramatically different, but alas...

Quite a few Leonard fluff pieces knocking about this week - is he in line for a debut?

I've no idea how good he is as I've literally never seen him play - but I did note that he was the only one that warmed up properly at half time in the Birmingham FA Cup game.

4-2-3-1 is popular the world over. It's not inferior to 4-3-3 in any way. It's not the system, it's the players. In a 4-3-3 you have nowhere to play Dack (unless you want a False 9) - that's not going to go down well.

He walked into a better squad than the shambles he left behind at Ewood. Delighted the bastard is out of the FA Cup.

I think JRC has A shirt to lose, not THE shirt. I'd slot Brittain back in at RB immediately if he's fit. You find a place for JRC elsewhere in the starting XI.

He shouldn't be. He's a decent Championship footballer, but if you're relying on him to be a difference maker then you're not a Playoff team. A very nice option to start a few games and bring on (pretty much anywhere) upfront for 20 minutes, if you have a good team.

Any chance we could have the Burnley fans quarantined in their own thread?

Do you need a legal team to spell an agent's name correctly or confirm that a player has filled out the correct boxes on his transfer documents? As a Director of Football you'd assume your colleagues would have that basic level of competence. That's the responsibility he's accepted - he won't assume again.

That's a very simplistic way of looking at the situation.