I hate that the Transfer Thread has devolved to this - but he's done an excellent job at two basket case clubs. He'd walk into another Championship job. Cardiff are another basket case club btw. Career progression after Rovers (and Birmingham) is a club where the owners aren't actively working against you.

He went off injured.

That is LITERALLY the market we're in. We have buttons to spend so we have to snatch good young players from the lower leagues (and abroad) and hope they can step up. We evidently can't compete for with our fellow Championship teams for actual paid transfers. The team we've put out this season is absolutely pitiful in terms of investment.

Another one? We sold Szmodics for AT LEAST three times what we paid for him and he kept us up last year; Brittain and Hyam are mainstays in an excellent back 4; and Tronstad is literally our best player. The narrative on here at times is baffling. I hope he gets games and starts developing, he's been hard done to at Cambridge.

They bought a very good Championship side this summer. They were always destined to struggle in the Premier League.

It's mostly the international breaks wiping out multiple weekends - and the large size of the Championship. You have to play far too many games - it really is a grind of a season.

Not looking forward to this one. No reinforcements in January, a rash of injuries and playing our bogey team.

He looked ok up until half time (a few timely tackles and ticked the ball over with short passes) - which is what I think he was signed for, a 20 minute man off the bench to give Travis / Tronstad a rest. He couldn't keep up with the pace of the game in the second half and was a complete liability.

Snarky comment aside, nobody we currently own could do it at the PL level - and I'm someone that really likes Tronstad.

I see Ayari has just run the midfield at Old Trafford. Thought he looked a player last year - we didn't play him nearly enough.

He was one of their best players, per their fans. The HC was instructed to play (and develop) their own players over loanees.

He literally ran the long way round their FB at one point late in the second half to put a cross in (which was at the end of a long dribble too). He's not lightning, but he's not slow either.

It was always going to happen - and it'll happen with Beck shortly. We've flogged a few players this season.

We possibly had the best FBs and best CM pairing in the league - the only reason why we were competing in and around the Top 6. Both CMs are injured, the reliable loanee has gone back and we're left with... what for Coventry on Tuesday? Buckley, Forshaw, JRC and Garrett? Yikes.

That's our season over if true.

You surely wouldn't want to reference O'Brien ever again if you were trying to pull the wool over people's eyes?

Didn't even need to turn him around today. Their LB simply stood him up and dared him to try and go around the outside. The lad bottled it.

Watched that yesterday because it was on iPlayer. What a great movie.

Brittain is decently quick too - we actually have really, really good FBs for this level. Everyone else though, yeah, plodding.

Curious to read that you think ACD is quick. He didn't take their LB on once because he was simply bigger, faster and stronger than him. Sadly he's a boy playing a man's game.

Our most desperate requirement has always been a winger with pace.

They asked the question, but they didn't want to pay the compensation fee. Hence why they were shopping around in the Free Agent manager bargain bin.

Similar to them, then. One GK error the difference between the sides.

He's not a #9 to lead the line - not at 20/1. Needs half a season in L1.

Should have scored in the last few minutes - several really good chances spurned.