Controversial maybe, but (and without being a medical expert) we should leave Travis out today regardless. If he has aggravated his ligaments, it just isn't worth it to risk him for a game we are extremely likely to lose anyway, in a playoff chase that is probably still doomed even if we did win. I'd hate for him to get a serious ligament injury ruling him out of a chunk of next season. We looked absolutely insipid in central midfield with neither him nor Evans.

The rest of his post suggests it was all just a joke. Just an odd one because the first part doesn't come across like a joke.

And quite a few before. He was very unlucky to have been here at the same time as we were blessed with those two.

Yeh we heard you the first time, then we took the piss.

I just really hope you meant aversion. Or that's a very niche fetish. To each their own though.

Had a look at his 'CV' on Wiki...something wrong with the modern game when this lad has been at Everton until aged 27, and has made 5 appearances for them, including 0 in the last 5 seasons, just being farmed out on loan instead.

I don't think I've seen a quote from Mowbray that sums up his managerial weakness better than the one used for the headline of the LT article today: 'We have to keep believing that what we're doing is right' No Tony, you have to start accepting that certain things you are doing are wrong.

Thanks, I was starting to wonder why he has been released, but if they've all been released there's no real shame in it. Sparks, in light of the fact Preston have released all their scholars with expired contracts, I'm wondering what your take on this is. Because I'm sure you've waxed lyrical about Preston's youth setup a few times. I'm just wondering if they're that good why aren't they bothering to sign any of them onto professional terms? They may not have a u-23 squad but if the lads are talented they could break into the main squad or go out on loan surely. Genuinely curious btw, not goading.

Completely agree with all of that Chaddy, except I'd go one further and say Bennett shouldn't have been on the pitch in the first place and certainly not as LB.

Nothing from the last several years backs that assertion up. And since we are beggars as you say, we don't have money to take the gamble on his form from longer ago returning. There are better keepers somewhere out there for a lot less money. The focus needs to be on finding those.

He was crap on Saturday. He's done well so far today. Abysmal from Samuel there.

William's has had Samuel in his pocket. Left back who was in our academy...would have him starting for us today.

Holtby playing well. Just crossed my mind, will our Walton even prove to be the best goalkeeper on the pitch whose name is Walton today?

We look crap without Lenihan and Travis, and Bennett at LB. Holes appearing everywhere.

Travis' missus gone into labour. Never understood this one personally in high level football, but then again I have no kids. I know it's a momentous moment but if we did miss out on the playoffs by a point we lost today from Mulgrew dropping a bollock, if I were Lenihan I'd then be questioning if I had really done the right thing for my family. But maybe I'm odd.

Why are there four strikers on the bench? Why is Bennett at left back again? Oh dear, Mulgrew is playing. Not optimistic if I'm honest. If Bennett must play, swap him and Downing around.

3 promotions from League Two trumps being a regular, and even regular goalscorer, in the Championship? What are you smoking today Sparks? You normally talk a lot more sense than that. Let's go see who has a bunch of promotions from Conference North and sign them up eh? Come on you can do better than that. Pretty sure Wharton would give his right arm to be in the position that Armstrong, Travis and Nyambe are in. Not to mention they all had a promotion from League One. And to be clear, I wouldn't mind giving Wharton a shot as a 3rd or 4th choice CB next season if he's deemed up to it. CBs do mature later as has been said. I'm actually amazed he hasn't ended up loaned to a League One side yet.

Others seem to have interpreted this as 'not tall enough'. But this isn't the case, and it isn't new information either. TM has repeatedly talked about him not being broad enough in the chest etc, in public. He wants him to get stronger, basically. The problem for me with Wharton is he hasn't really been tested at the level below ours. This is why I was annoyed to see him go on loan to League Two again. We are asking him to jump two tiers to be in our squad. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it makes it that much of a harder decision to make.

You're listing things we need, and I agree we need them. In general. Those are the areas we are weak. But what I'm saying is we are only 4 points off the playoffs. Assuming a similar next season, all we would really need to improve to bridge the gap is the positions I mentioned. If we improved well in all the areas you mentioned before, with up to 10 players of the standard we would all want, we'd be more like challenging for auto promotion or even the title. The margins in this league aren't that big.

If we had a good, consistent goalie this season, we would currently be sitting in a playoff spot. So I don't buy that. We need a good goalie as above, a centre half at least as good as Tosin, solid backup for them, and a good left back. If we got that and didn't lose key players then logically we should be able to mount an effective playoff push. Injuries permitting. We could certainly use a few more players for comfort and in case of injuries and suspensions, but it isn't as drastic as you say. If it was as drastic as you say, we would probably be in a relegation fight now. A manager who can pick the right players in the right positions would be a huge boost too...

Dack would be the one, not Nyambe. I really don't want to lose Dack but we don't know how well he will recover, can get the most for him (though possibly not until he has shown he still has it) and have shown we can cope without him. He's also a fair bit older. We will get our trousers pulled down for Nyambe just like we did for Raya, O'Connell and Cairney. What I see as his real value is a lot less than the deal we will get, unless we are lucky enough for Prem sides to bid, and maybe even then. What we need to do is get him on a proper deal, like we were too stupid to do last time. His current deal may have a 1 year extension in our favour though, we are big on those these days.

Yes it was a dire decision, and I'm not saying it just with hindsight. I made posts on here to that effect at the time.

No, that's a shit fee, and yet probably the type we would end up with.

So he had it longer ago than Bennett, and yet Bennett has subsequently put in two full 90 minute appearances whilst Arma has only come off the bench twice?

Guess they haven't realised how much of a soft touch TM is. If he deals with reporters the way he deals with players, you could totally embarrass him and be first pick for asking questions next week.