I think he's gone off the boil. A spell out of the side won't do him any harm.

Striker, yes. Battler, no. We need someone who can pass in midfield - you're not going to find a better battler at this level than Travis (or Garrett by the looks of him!).

Make him Manager I say. In fact, just floating it out there, but how about Dackburn Rovers? He's that damn good, easily the best player we've ever had.

I always thought he was brought in to be a LB / LWB. In both the 4-2-3-1 and the 3-5-2 you need FBs / WBs that can play football.

Part of the problem is that City are fitter, more athletic and have more depth than we have. We're trying to play a pressing game twice a week with a tiny squad (look how much we've struggled without Gallagher, a player most of us would have sold in the summer!) - which is partly why we drop into a counter-attacking stance after about half an hour in each half, he's trying to preserve legs. I'd personally go for 4-2-3-1 on Saturday - we always look more dangerous going forward in that formation. Obviously we're more open at the back too, but I'm fine reverting to a 3-5-2 to preserve leads in the second half to shut up shop.

It's going to take years to get the fans back I'm afraid. A stay in the Premier League would help - that'd bump them up by 5-6k I think, but the stay-a-ways need more convincing.

I hope you're prepared for them beating us next week.

Yep. JDT wants to use the CMs as pivots, they need to be comfortable picking the ball up and moving it in tight spaces - Travis can't do that to the level required really. It's partly not his fault, Mowbray spent 5 years hammering the creative side out of his game. I personally don't think Morton is that great, but he can play that style. A. Wharton absolutely can, but he can't play 90 minutes, especially not twice a week. It's also why I'm surprised Buckley is out of the team as he too can play with the ball.

The ref should get 3 games for that shocker.

Love the optimism. I personally don't think the squad is deep enough to maintain an automatic promotion challenge - they'd have to go out and get a quality striker in January, which they won't be able to afford. At this point though I'd be disappointed if we don't finish in the Playoffs, although it's going to be a tight run thing - nobody is pulling away from the pack.

Well if our owners threw £25m+ at the manager in a single transfer window maybe we could get promotion too. As it is we've stumbled onto a cracking manager (thank you Broughton!) and we're building something long term. The word 'project' seems to trigger people because the inept Mowbray took us on a 'journey'. You only have to look at the game time A. Wharton, Garrett and Phillips are getting this season (and hopefully Batty sooner rather than later) to see that he's a completely different manager.

Maybe give him some time to bring in his own strikers? As for Brereton 'glued to the wing', that's where he does all his damage from. He's half the player when asked to lead the line - he gets bullied.

I'm disappointed that Mola hasn't pushed his way into contention, but he has to give Pickering a rest at some point. Edun obviously isn't a Championship player, so we're drastically short of options until he bloods Batty. I only saw the first 20 minutes before I had to go out and play football, but Vale looked like he was on another planet. He's so slow of thought - there were 2 or 3 opportunities that he completely fluffed because he simply didn't see them. It's no surprise he was taken off at half time.

Just seen the highlights - what's the red card for?

Oh would you look at that. Comfortable win at the weekend and the thread is quiet. A poor performance and the thread is jumping. Ewood Park, it's not a crowd it's a jury.

Unfortunately he was left a weak, unbalanced squad by Mowbray. He's done brilliantly to pick up the results he has so far.

We get paid for each SKY appearance, so really we should be glad that we're being recognised.

£15m with time to spend it, yes. £15m on deadline day in the middle of a promotion push, no.

Wharton looked pissed to get taken off at the weekend - I'm sure he's got more than an hour in the tank, but he's being protected like Phillips. You can say that they're 17/18 and should be able to run all day, but they're playing against physically fit men. Their workload needs to be managed accordingly.

JDT has managed his workload - I don't think Mowbray ever took him off. JDT has done it the last few games, which has made us significantly weaker (whether it was for Vale or Dolan). Unfortunately for Ben he's one of our two indispensable players (Kaminski being the other one) so he simply has to start when fit.

Would be a step down from JDT if we're honest.

"Being Hertfordshire born and bred..." Why the fuck are you supporting Burnley then?!

I'll chime in here - on talent, yes he should be in the 18. On commitment - only JDT and Dack can answer that one. I think JDT has proven himself to be firm, but fair with his players... so I can only think Dack's omission from the matchday squad has been down to his lack of commitment in training (and his performances in the U21s).

I don't see it as a strong squad at all - they're being managed very well at the moment, but the injuries are showing that we simply don't have much strength in depth. Assuming we don't go up I think this squad will look markedly different in August next year.

I also can't see us spending £10m on a replacement if he is sold.