Agree with that! As an aside, that big unit who played up top for them is exactly the type of player we lack. He could make the ball stick and was a nuisance all game. Looked £5mil well spent. Bloody foreign market.

Travis had to go off. After that tackle, the ref would have sent him off as soon as one of their players fell over within 10 feet of him. Should never have been booked first half mind.

There's always an excuse..we were shite. Plain and simple.

Well that was a yawn fest. One clear chance for Bristol. Big lad should have scored that header. Midfield not at the races today. Travis off for me, Nyambe RB and Bennett in middle. This has been Reeds worst game as well.

What kind of message does keeping Bennett in send out. I bet Nyambe us fuming - I would be. Bennett needs a big game today. No issue with Smallwood as Evans deputy. Williams though? Gone for the most experienced back 4 we have. No excuses about 'learning' if we ship a few today Tony.

Said before that the reason I'm not convinced by Rodwell is that he doesn't attack the ball. He cost us a goal at Wigan by letting it bounce.

Time to write off this season. Blood some of our more promising youngsters and see if they are good enough. Pointless putting Conway on ahead of those younger ones coming through.

Exactly. Manager gets the plaudits when things come off, (although Bennett has struggled in that position in the last few games). So has to be accountable when he doesn't adapt/change the situation if it's going wrong. His favouritism towards certain players (Bennett, Williams, Smallwood, Conway) has done us no favours at times this season. Still, at least this is the most spectacular capitulation yet. I suppose that's a positive...

Yup If you have a natural, pacy full back who has done pretty well this season, you play him. Not shoe horn one of your favourites in there, weakening the side.

How many times does it have to happen in a season for you to think, "hmmm this is a bit regular?"

Sometimes managers get rightly slated. Today is one of those days.

Vintage. Play-offs my arse.

Agree Rev. When our natural players for a position are fit, Bennett should be on the bench. Great cover but not good enough to start in first 11 unless injuries.

Bennett seems to be getting a pasting according to Sharp. Funny that...at least we have a proper full back on the bench.... ..oh wait. This is going to be 4-4 or something daft.

No way Williams should be on the bench ahead of Nyambe. Not sure Bennett should be at RB ahead of him either.

Prefer Petrol. What do you use to fan the flames?

Agree. I don't believe for one minute that leading up to deadline day, managers aren't aware of the wages their targets are on. How hard is it? "Oy Starman" "Yes Mr Mowbray" "You've been at Boro for 10 years, how much is Britt on? "About £50k per week. A lot of the lads were quite peed off about it." "Hmmmm... Ok, Let's enquire about Austin. He used to be a dingle, probably happy to play for packet of pork scratchings." Harrison Reed : "Yeah about that boss..." FFS.

Pretty much somes it up for me. Although it's tempered by the fact that a one off, 7 figure loan deal for a striker is peanuts - if their goals get us in the play offs. So we could site a lack of ambition.

Think the playoffs are seen as a bonus this year.

Not the end of the world if we don't. Our weakest part of the squad was out wide and we've bought a winger. Two or three good signings in Summer and we'll have a good shout next year regardless of who comes down.

Cat amongst the pigeons time. If we are looking at ex dingle forwards, then how about a current one? Vokes on loan would be just the type of player to replace Graham...

Interesting -Waggott points out that players like Assambalonga come at very high price. Yet then says they could be pursued if Tony wants them. Clearly there is money to spend. Ties in with what TM said a few days ago about paying over the odds for players from rival teams or looking at loan to buys/loans instead...we know he likes to get value. Think we will end up with someone, possibly leftfield again if It's true Gallagher is staying at Saints. Happy we"ve added Chapman though so anything else a bonus.

You may need to check the floor for your rattle, it appears to have fallen out of your pram.

I think Brereton is a hopeless case. That said, if I close my eyes and pretend we paid £7mil for Armstrong and £1.8mil for Brereton, I feel much better about things. Swings and roundabouts. We only need one of the 2 to 'come good' to have a £10 mil plus striker on the books. If Armstrong were to double his goal tally between now and the end of season, then a 21 year old English striker with 13-14 champ goals wouldn't be far off that bracket. Mad world. In other news, Dingle bricky on loan till summer will do nicely for me. Will give us presence and goals. Then look at the situation again in summer. Shows ambition but no big fee commitment (yes high wages but only a proportion of).

Just can't buy into this Assambalonga link. He can't play the lone role according to Boro fans. Plays better with a partner. Doesn't fit with our recruitment model to date, would definitely break our wage structure and surely hold up the progress of Armstrong who is starting to find his feet at this level. Unless he plays out wide, which may not suit him, I just can't see it. I'm all for signing players better than we've got and smashing our transfer record for someone to push us to the next level but our current set up is so reliant on Graham, that this seems like a stab in the dark (Like Brereton) rather than a perfect fit signing. Gallagher, ticks the boxes and seems the logical choice following our recruitment policy so far. Only striker I've seen that can play that physical front role, is young and scores a hatfull is Tammy Abraham. Now that would be a statement ?. Have a word Madon