Wait...so he IS aware that putting Gallagher up top with Armstrong is an option? But he is only aware of that when Gallagher is out injured? Fascinating.

Or just work smarter, not harder.

When I read those comments today my first thought was, how did none of those stones say underneath 'try playing the players in their actual positions'?

Don't think we will.

That's where I was a few games ago. Now I don't feel anything at all, not even fed up.

Rothwell probably been our best player.

You really don't wanna credit Nyambe huh? Happy to slag him off but the only one you left out of the goal he assisted.

Who else is going to play there right now though? Tbh I think there is some excess of harshness towards Branthwaite at times. He looked good in his first couple of outings, and at least has appreciable attributes. He probably has a decent future ahead of him, just not with us of course which makes it frustrating we are his testing ground. The worst he has looked though is when he has to pair with another teenage defender, and it's pretty predictable he won't play well like that. Hopefully we get a better performance today, although the last time he lined up with Lenihan was shocking too - partly Daragh's fault at times on that one though, they were really working at cross purposes. THB on the other hand, has shown nothing yet as far as I'm concerned.

"if someone else is going to do the job then that’s fine, it’s not an issue for me." “I’m not self-protective, if I’m a burden on the club then the owners need to do something about it" According to the man himself, he isn't. I agree with you of course, he clearly is. But even that, he's denying. People already know that the results are unacceptable, but they really don't like being lied to and taken for fools on top of that. Especially by a man who is at the same time insisting: "I hope the fans know that they have a person who doesn’t pull the wool over their eyes, doesn’t tell them lies, doesn’t try and con them on something"

We certainly all do it (maybe not those exact judgements in that exact timeframe but I get the idea). I do it, and I'm usually right, but the thing I've learnt is it's foolish to assume you were right and not be willing to change your opinion on someone. It's not an exact science. I think we probably all called Waggott right though...oozes slime. The lip-licking is probably more a response to a dry mouth, itself sometimes a sign of nervousness, itself sometimes a sign of lying out your arse. Again, not always the way though.

What's the 7/11 rule?

There's a huge difference between two questions that could be implied by this question. 1) Is this squad capable of finishing in the top 6? 2) Is this one of the best 6 squads in the league? Personally I think you'd have to be blind or stupid to think the answer to the first is anything other than YES. You don't have to be one of the best 6 sides in the league on paper, or even one of the top half of sides in the league on paper, to get out of it, let alone just finish in the top 6. The biggest ingredient to success in this league is having a good manager who can put together a drilled, organised side who give it their all. There literally isn't an argument that could be put forward that would convince me that the right man at the helm couldn't have got us out of this league this season. Until this awful, mostly Mowbray inspired run, we really weren't far off it, and TM has dropped the ball in so many ways even before now that it's ludicrous to suggest we wouldn't have been at least the 3 points better off that would have seen us in the top 6. We have seen other managers take mediocre sides in this league flying up in short order without this 'journey' shite. The answer to the second question I can accept is a lot more up for debate. Frankly I don't know or watch the other squads enough to want to tackle it in depth. But I don't think we are far off, and have a few players that would get into any or nearly any side in this league, and several that are more than capable, when properly managed and kept in form, of getting into top 6 sides. Not sure anybody has a first 11 who are all amongst the top 6 players in the league for their position (even if some of them look it by virtue of being in top 6 sides who are dominating), you don't need that to be top 6. It's still hard to tell who can do what, because most of them are being mismanaged in one way or another, so we are given a false impression of even lesser players like Gallagher.

I'm not remotely interested in Keane either.

Why would we do that? Odd suggestion for a replacement.

I've been calling him worse than a taxi.

What level is the kit man? Sounds wasted in his job.

Rothwell been our most dangerous player. Of course he has been taken off.

Please keep events in your bedroom to yourself, it's only polite.

Yep. They were massively wrong though. Branthwaite wasn't looking at it but decided to stop anyway because the lad had moved beyond the line by the time he turned around.

Harsh, but I do think he has been off for a few games now and been lucky to avoid criticism for a few mistakes recently. Partly because of his reputation, partly because they mostly weren't noticeable unless you're paying attention.

I feel really strange about that goal. In that, I didn't really feel any different to the moments before it. It's not even an empty, barely care, resigned feeling like I've had before recently, just an absolute lack of reaction. Don't think I've ever had this reaction before.

Jesus...anybody able to confirm in any way whether 'No.' was literally all he said in response to that? And that it's not someone removing the rest of the answer? If that's literally all he said then either he despises Crooke, or we are surely only one, maybe two defeats in the next couple of games from him resigning.

I gather they play from the back, but I'm saying they'll be aware of the pitch standards and I expect them to be more tactically astute than our mob and adapt. I also expect Tony will over-complicate things, it's his way.

Probably not as we are likely to try to play football on it still, judging by some past efforts. Whereas I imagine Watford will be more sensible about it and adapt.

If he does I'm turning it off.