He's actually 26 in a few days. So by the time he comes back he will nearly be 27. Could be 28 when he has proved he still has it.

Don't remember seeing him create anything.

Chaddy, what is he contributing though? Samuel is, at this point in time, a better player. Keep him as a backup if we dont sign another striker, send Brereton out to develop. Graham, Gallagher, Armstrong, Samuel. That's 4 players who can fit that one position, all at a higher standard than Brereton.

I'd have gone for the 'unlock a stubborn defence' types for this one, with the battlers being at CM. Which we did, and it didn't work. I feel that owed a fair bit to Tosin being out. He's been so instrumental in starting moves with his excellent passing. Instead, our passing from the back was as bad as I can ever remember it being.

They haven't literally won fuck all. Relative to us though, they have. Your initial post sounded to me like you felt differently just because of one FA Cup a bit more recently than our last trophy, and a piddly League One title. Rather reserve the fuck all chant for clubs who haven't won anything (of note) for a good 30-40 years, agree, but I wouldn't consider it cringey to sing it to a tin pot outfit like Wigan. Was a stunning one off cup win for them though, sure. Don't mind Wigan, personally. Hate Cook though.

Same thing my Spurs fan mate said. That he looked good but had fitness issues.

I mean, we will never know. Not saying Bennett doesn't sometimes set up a goal, but by and large he isn't one to break through a stubborn defence. Agree with you he's a real battler, his standout quality. Sometimes that galvanises a team enough to score.

I expect so, yes.

...to the team who have literally only won that one major trophy ever. Would have been nice to win League One but it's also just not that big a deal. Hell it was embarrassing to even be in that league.

I'm sure Bennett would have unlocked that Wigan defence............

Yes someone has to step up and replace Dack. But they're not going to be as good as Dack, who is our standout player. I would agree with the poster that, if Dack is out for 3 months or more, that's probably the end of our playoff hopes. Unless Holtby can really shine with regular game time, but I don't think he can replace that many goals. Can Dack be replaced from the existing squad and us be ok? Yes I think so. But he was the main edge we had over other playoff contenders, and I can't see us getting over the line if he's out for an extended period. Rather we lost tonight and he not been injured. It's also a blow to the value of our biggest asset. I wouldn't normally look at it that way, but we all know it's likely he will be off by the summer at best. Williams' passing was atrocious. Tosin was much missed. Lenihan didn't look the same without him either.

Dammit. That would have been a really interesting one. Probably just have been a bench player though.

So if it's Evans for Holtby but Evans to DM...who plays on the left instead? Surely Evans for Johnson makes a lot more sense.

With that awful strike record and us having tons of young strikers on the books already, can't see that one (Mavidi, mentioned in the original tweet). They're not saying that's who we were watching anyway, just that we were linked in 2018. I'd imagine we were watching someone else (or just watching in general to see who caught the eye).

I mean, you say it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'm sure there are Mayan prophecies warning against playing Evans on the left wing...

I wish they hadn't. I suspect we might have another Premier League title under our belts if he had gone there instead. Then again maybe Liverpool would have some titles instead.

Plus they usually section off some seats for security reasons don't they?

Shit. Isn't that his second big injury? Hard to see how he will make it here now if so. Will be 21 by early into next season (September), and we know how difficult it can be to persuade TM to give young players a chance. He will have to get fit again, prove himself in form in the u23s, all while Tony has probably recruited another five mids and attackers...

I mean I know we HAVE other young centre halves...I'm only really thinking about the ones who might make it for us though. Isn't Doyle 21 now? Which means he has to be wayyyy down the pecking order. I mean, I don't wish a bad career on anyone who isn't a massive prick, but I'm also a lot more bothered about developing ones who can help us. If Magloire going on loan means Doyle doesn't, fine. Someone has to defend for the u-23s. But yeh I guess he won't be going on loan. Rather he didn't and Magloire did though.

So I haven't misunderstood but you're splitting hairs, got it. My above post answers that but if you want to ignore that and be overly technical about it, fair enough, I won't argue. I'm very comfortable with how our academy is performing. And less comfortable with the transition route to first team and our poor use of loans.

I think somebody being with us from being 17 is entirely warranted in being described as one of our youth products. Then there's the ones who have moved on, O'Connell and Mahoney. I guess you wont count Mahoney because he came to us when he was 16? You don't have to raise them from infancy. Players move between academies all the time. I'm sure there are a few knocking about elsewhere who spent some years at our academy.

Have I misunderstood this post or have you taken leave of your senses? We have a category A academy (which literally requires expenditure to do), finished what, 5th or 6th in the top flight of u-23 football last season, won the 'regional' Lancashire Senior Trophy or whatever it's called these days, and in recent years have produced Nyambe, Travis, Raya and Lenihan for the first team. We currently have a few youngsters rated as being on the verge of breaking through. If what you mean is solely the pathway, there is room for improvement there sure, but we are still getting players into the first team despite that. I feel like you must have been talking about another club and I've got the wrong end of the stick, because our academy is demonstrably, empirically, not crap, has had players breaking through in the last few years and doesn't lack investment.

Why does it mean someone else will miss an opportunity? Do you mean another centre half will miss out on going on loan? I was under the impression our only young centre halves of particular relevance at the moment were Magloire, Grayson (injured) and Wharton (already out on loan). Platt isn't going to make it, don't care if he gets an opportunity or not. Not sure Magloire should go back to Rochdale, they didn't seem like they particularly planned to play him before the injury.

Well it is a problem, as we will end up with some filler at best, sucking up a wage but may be no better than our youth defenders. What we need is genuine, genuine competition for the two we have. If we can find someone better, then even better. Why wouldn't you want us to do that? A prospective signing there should be told that at the very least we expect them to be a starter next season when Tosin leaves, and that they'll be given a real chance of breaking into the team this season. We will have fixture congestion, and they should expect to get a chance then, or during injury/suspension and be told if they take it they'll be in. GK should be getting told they're the number one. Walton hasn't shown enough.

Don't necessarily agree. With games a week apart, absolutely. 3 games in 6 days is clearly too much for him. He isn't going to perform at peak levels in that run if he plays every match. So as I said before, I'd play him in the first and last games of the run. Gally will have something to prove against Birmingham anyway.