Dack has been our chief source of goals. So to flip your point, it's a bit like saying we don't need a striker who scores regularly, we have Gallagher, Armstrong, Brereton, Graham and Samuel. Make do with them.

We have no idea or indication that he was paid peanuts. I saw it described as an 'extension' rather than a short term deal, which implies the same wage. Fairly sure I've seen his wage put on here at about 3k in the past. Even for the six months, that's about 75k, enough for the yearly salaries of several normal members of staff. Like the ones who got fired when we got relegated. There was no sympathy contracts from the club for them, and they actually contributed. If he was paid nothing, why put him under contract at all? Just tell him he is free to use the facilities and physios. It was a farce. Not like we owed him anything, he was here for two seasons already whilst contributing nothing. That was plenty of charity already.

I guess I could live with temporary, whilst actively looking for a proper replacement. Problem is we are in a transfer window, and temporary can't be trusted with those decisions. We would just end up with loans and we need to start bolstering the defence long term or the summer will be a nightmare.

Eh. I don't think we will get much better from the king of calamity Joe Hart. Just be a much more expensive, slightly better version.

We had even less chance of FA cup glory than we do of playoff glory. I want TM gone but I have no interest in DJ as the replacement. That would just be more of the unimaginative thinking that has seen us fester for years. We need a proper fucking manager. With experience of success at this or a similar level. Not another bloody overpromoted youth coach.

Fucking hell we are shit.

Shouldn't even have been starting in this fairly unimportant game. Oldest player we have, should have been rested. We will need him. Fucking hell Gally, what is going on here

As has been shown, he is still being deployed mainly as a striker this season (in fact didn't he get played a bit wide at times in the relegation season too?). The stat changes if his goal at Preston wasn't chalked off as an o.g (and for me it was more his goal than Buckley's against Sheff W was), but not 'totally'. The shots on target doesn't really change, but his goals become one in every 8.66 shots. It's still noticeably worse than the 6.45 shots. About a third worse. If you do count it, it also means 66% of his goals came in a single game. I don't mind Gallagher personally, and think he might come (reasonably) good, though I do think we overpaid immensely for what should have been a roughly 2 million pound player. Just saying what the stats show.

He has moved around during games, so that doesn't tell the whole story. But it's certainly a bit more than I expected he'd played (or started off playing) as striker. I posted this in the transfer thread, but it's suitable here too: According to this site https://www.infogol.net/en/player/sam-gallagher/6204 he has had 26 shots, with 8 on target and 2 goals. And two assists.In his previous season with us, he had 71 shots, 36 on target, and 11 goals, with 1 assist. So this season, that's one on target from every 3.25 shots, and one in every 13 shots as a goal. Last time out it was one on target every 1.972 shots, and a goal every 6.45 shots. He's essentially about twice as poor (or half as good) at shooting as he was in his loan here.

On his second spell, we failed him (and ourselves as a result) in my book, but no doubt this would be an odd one with the injury problems he went on to have.

Another way to look at it though, is that we were 4 points off the playoffs WITH our star player having been available for most of that (well, we were a point off was it, before he was injured?). If we were a little short with him contributing a huge portion of our goals, why would we be any better without him? The players who are going to replace him are NOT better players. We have also found out we have barely any budget to strengthen a threadbare defence unless we can convince people to take our deadwood. Meanwhile, other teams interested in a playoff push will strengthen. We're also in a bad run, and we've seen how long those can last under TM. It's nice to have a dream and all, and keep looking at what the gap to the playoffs is, but honestly Chaddy, I can't see us bridging it. I'm fairly certain it will get wider, not narrower.

According to this site https://www.infogol.net/en/player/sam-gallagher/6204 he has had 26 shots, with 8 on target and 2 goals. And two assists. In his previous season with us, he had 71 shots, 36 on target, and 11 goals, with 1 assist.

Butterworth injured. Fairly bad one.

Amazed there's no lemon drizzle tea.

I know we are lacking in a lot of areas, but I'm not sure we need to blame the tea as well. Although do we even have a tea lady anymore?

Absolute piss-take. This is the one game we should really mix it up (not just the usual rotation shite, but trying out some of the U23s). If JRC was fit I'd have had him in, but sadly not. Davenport should start. Probably Chapman too. Samuel if fit, we could do with seeing what he's about these days. Walton needs dropping for a kick up the arse and to assess the alternatives. Personally I'd go Hilton or Fisher, but I could accept the Canadian grudgingly. Sounds like zero of those things will happen.

And the worth a fair few bob part suggests it won't result in anything permanent.

I did note (to myself) that you'd only said you suspected he will be sold. But it very much seemed you were saying if he is, we should just trouser the money and not replace him. That absolutely can't happen, as in the summer our senior centre half list will just read (assuming we ditch Mulgrew to Wigan): Derrick Williams. Nyambe out of position at a stretch. Then a bunch of inexperienced kids. It's bad enough as it is without that, and even a loan replacement for Lenihan won't fix this. If he goes we simply have to source a decent replacement or next season will be a relegation fight. I'd agree on not using it to sign a raft of poor squaddies, but the man himself would have to be replaced.

He's on 2 goals and 4 assists for the season. In 23 games. Not breathtaking but already a fair improvement on his 2 goals and 1 assist in 38 games from his last season at Boro. He has also played a fair few games at LB. And notched one in the cup.

You want to sell Lenihan without replacing him, then rely on the kids and patching up with loans? Our defence is threadbare as it is. Our keeper is dire. Come the summer we will need a ton of players all at once, between players whose contracts are out and not worth renewing, and loans which will finish. Our young centre halves are mostly on loan and not proven at anywhere near this level. We can't sell Lenihan. If we do, we absolutely need to buy a permanent replacement. As it stands, most fans will tell you we need a keeper, a centre half, a left back, and potentially a RB. We can't get all of that from the youth team, not at an acceptable level. Come next season we need a minimum of 2 centre backs when Tosin returns. Selling our only decent permanent one without replacement is madness.

Even at u-23 level, those are ridiculous stats from the wing.

Imagine if we had a Chapman.....................................

Unlike most of the teams in the Championship (all of them actually, except Derby), our u-23s play against them. So you would think so, if he's good enough. Correction - sorry, thought they played the same level as ours but they got relegated last season.

And yet, my point is that despite all that, and Mowbray's selections being frequently awful, we are pretty close to the playoffs. All managers confuse with their decisions to some degree, but I can't envision a scenario where a decent manager who can play people in their actual positions, based on form, without rotating them for the fuck of it, wouldn't have us at least 6 points better off. Regardless of what this team looks like on paper. This league isn't that high a standard. Consistency is everything, and that's exactly what TM robs us of.

Would you not agree he is managing the squad awfully? You dont think we would be at least 6 points better off this season with a good manager instead?