Indeed, it's stating the bleeding obvious but I was about to say, that's only Lenihan, Rothwell, Nyambe, Brereton, Van Hecke and Khedra off in January then. Time for Waggott to earn his £300k p.a. for once.

Think you can safely wager that we'll initially be promised it's only a fortnight then at the end of the two weeks all the talk will be '"Well that hasn't worked as well as we wanted" and it will be extended for another 2-4 weeks. From a footballing perspective it's essential we carry on playing as there's no window to finish the season late next year given the winter world Cup.

And that in itself is a scandal.

Every result that falls in our favour makes it all the more imperative we don't lose anyone in Jan and indeed add a couple if at all possible. Hope we can keep it up. Vaguely remember a season under Bob Saxton when we went top at some point over the Christmas period then barely won another game.

Can you not get a Now TV day pass or something?

That's good, hope you enjoy it!

I think he is saying that if you did so voluntarily you missed a treat. Obviously doesn't apply to anyone in your position who was obligated to miss it having unfortunately tested positive.

Me too. Thought I was the only person in the Country. Not only does it ruin every boxing event I have to endure it at at Rovers as well.

Unbelievable, Jeff!

We were already 1 up weren't we?

Absolutely, 100%. A mate of mine up from London for the game who only gets chance to watch us from time to time couldn't believe how poor he was

Agreed Gav. It was a terrific fight. Parker has looked a bit insipid at times in the past but I think he's a bit under-rated. He's extremely durable and I thought he was exceptionally unlucky when he fought Joshua as the only chance he had of winning that fight was to try and get inside but the referee (Foster) broke them up every time he attempted to do so.

Not sure why not, in normal times our turnover is £11m or £12m plus a £20m annual contribution from Venky's is £31m or £32m in total. You're actually allowed to lose £13m p.a. which would give us around £25m to go at. Why couldn't we have 15 players earning around the £20k p.w. give or take two or three thousand either way?. What is needed is more quality and slightly less quantity as we've seen this season and not the vastly overblown and padded out squads we've maintained in previous seasons.

Great Post.

How much would it cost to replace them with similar quality? Even if we could find three quality players on a free I doubt they'd be playing for nothing. Then there'd be agent's fees etc etc......

JRC when fit isn't remotely in Nyambe's class imo. I'm astounded anyone thinks he is.

Is Nyambe any less crucial to the success of the side than anyone else? What's the going rate for a top Championship player these days? He surely has to be worth at least £15-18k p.w. if not a bit more. If all 3 are asking for substantially more than that, then I can see that that is where problems might arise.

Disagree strongly.

Some weird officiating today in the Spurs game. Thought the original decision of a yellow for Robertson was correct. Kane's challenge was way worse imo and merited a red. Not sure how the Dele Ali incident wasn't a penalty either. He went over easily but the defender had no chance whatsoever of getting the ball and pushed Ali full square in the back with the intention of fouling him or putting him off.

Completely agree, these sort of comments are absolutely disgraceful from Mowbray - just at a time when if it wasn't for nonsense like this you might be able to warm to him a little due to the improved performances and results. He should be saying something like: "Whilst I don't know at this stage whether I'll be here beyond the end of the season, I'll be moving heaven and earth to gain promotion and to that end we have a very talented bunch of young players with a terrific attitude. For me under no circumstances should anyone be allowed to leave in January and break this squad up but unfortunately it isn't my decision to make". That then puts the ball right back into Venky's Court and places pressure on them to add to the squad rather than break it up. I wonder if he would be a bit more enthusiastic and a little less defeatist if his contract wasn't up at the end of the season? Not saying he should get a new deal mind.

I thought Butterworth looked absolutely sensational yesterday, hope his injury isn't too serious. How good would he be with regular game time? Potentially a ready made Rothwell replacement from within the ranks and in the short term would be a cracking impact sub for the remainder of this season in that sort of form.

Thought Nyambe was absolutely exceptional yesterday, for me he'd be the most difficult of the 3 to replace within our budget with the same quality. Surely there must be some good news due soon with at least a couple of them? Yesterday's performance result and League position shows it would be absolute lunacy to consider letting anyone go in January.

What a great win. What a ball from Wharton to Nyambe for the first. Well done to everyone who refused to be beaten by the virus and risked their Christmas plans to turn out and support the team. Heroes all.

Their decision then as to whether they definitely want to miss today's game as opposed to running a risk of possibly having to scrap Christmas plans because of a virus that theoretically they are vaccinated against. I really don't know why you felt the need to comment on it but I hope that you are not too unwell as a result of testing positive. On the bright side it's not something you will have to be worried about, will I won't I catch it, once your period of self isolation ends.

You may think the slogan is stupid, but it's nonetheless true, hiding away again at any point isn't going to bring any of those people back. The only way they wouldn't have died is if the virus hadn't existed in the first place. Unfortunately the virus did come into existence and you have to deal with the reality of the situation as it is now as best you can. Not on a theoretical basis that you wish the virus had never happened and become all offended by a quite innocent turn of phrase with no offence intended.