Massive blow, only further highlighting how poor we are run off the field. Buckley is inconsistent but Morton is poor yet still an upgrade on Garrett at this time. Adam Wharton or even Rankin Costello have to be worth a go.

Yes.

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

Heaven forbid someone criticises an "incompetent maggott" as you described him not long ago.

Lots of the usual "where are these people at (insert random game)" comments on social media. Do some prefer smaller crowds?

If Thomas got booked would he be "suspended" for a game he is cup tied for or does it carry over? And is Travis definitely on 9?

A lot is made of that performance v Blackpool because he was outstanding but it wasnt just that game. He came on the week before at half time against Stoke and was our best player. He played well at Hull and set up the winner. He played well at Boro and then followed it up by scoring the winner against Birmingham.

Morton is going back and even with him we wanted O'Brien and left ourselves short by fucking that up so surely scope for 2. It has been a problem position this season so I hope its not just left to the kids who havent been trusted yet to play week in week out there to pick up the additional slack.

Mowbray definitely benefited in terms of expectations inheriting us at such a low ebb and also from the shielding of abuse that empty stadiums caused. Facebook pages are usually full of extremes from the side of thinking he was great, on here its over the top in abuse. The people in the ground around me I never got the impression liked Mowbray so guess it depends where you are in the ground. Tomasson inherited a much healthier situation on the pitch so there will be more expectation, throw in a fan base not over the frustration of last year and it may have led to less patience.

4 years in which you backed up basically everything be said! Managers say that crap regardless of timings although inheriting a side set for relegation and one off the back of an 8th place Championship finish obviously make them difficult to compare. Not looking at the table, only bothered with performances, not expected to get promoted, all part of the managerial spiel textbook. Best not to get too mad at it. When managers say it during poor runs, people get enraged, when they say it through good runs they get praised.

They are not far off what Tomasson keeps saying. Meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Mowbray certainly has people at one extreme or the other for the most part which is strange. He was a decent manager for us, yet people either can't let him go or seemingly despise him.

That deeper role being the right one for Buckley hasn't played out in the performances this season. I dont think he will go back to playing further forward and I am not saying he would start there We need to bring in a couple of midfielders in the summer. Loan Garrett out, have Wharton in our first team and bring in more experience there.

If those rumours are anything other than fictional then that is a big shame as Wharton is a real talent and far more promising than Garrett. He has played numerous under 21 games so time to get him in the side.

So it is just one idiot then? As expected. If we got to a play off final, I refuse to believe that it wouldn't create so much additional faith in the manager across the fan base.

Brereton definitely has to come in, that is a given. Not many other options that you would be confident coming in. Buckley will surely be out, the obvious choice is Adam Wharton but Tomasson doesn't seem to like him and will no doubt sadly go for Morton. I would just about prefer Morton to Garrett though who isn't good enough.@JoeH you say he changed the game, what did he do? He is poor on the ball, can't fault his tenacity but it actually sapped time up on a couple of occasions by charging in for tackles and the ball firing out of play. There is also the full back dilemma, Brittain did well and set up a goal but he won't be doing that on his wrong side. That being said, Rankin Costello wouldn't be a player you would want to drop. Maybe he could move into midfield? Scott Wharton could come into contention regardless of formation with Carter all over the shop the other day. Also, @J*B you'd play Dolan up front? I don't think he is very effective there, miles better wide left. Horrendous the other night but prior he has had his best form there. Pears Rankin Costello Carter Hyam Brittain Travis A Wharton Thomas Szmodics Dolan Brereton Subs: Hilton, S Wharton, Morton, Gallagher, Hedges, Pickering, Leonard Our wins have been in that formation although a back 3 might be more sensible on Sunday with Thomas out and S Wharton in.

Seems like we played an Icelandic side today. Morton, Brereton, Hedges, Garrett and both Whartons seemingly played.

I totally get why people think this way. It is not that I necessarily don't get why expectations and standards are as low as they are, more that I find it sad and the proof of what Venkys have done to us rather than me thinking that it is an unrealistically low expectation. That being said, I do think (not that you have said otherwise) that we should now expect a top 6 finish. The only teams with a really strong parachute advantage tend to be split between well run and not and many of our top 6 rivals have similar or even less than us, especially with our academy. The League 1 season did lower expectations, but for me the main thing was the covid season. It was the one of regression and interest was lessened plus nobody could have given him grief in the stadium anyway. I know this site isn't a good gauge but he was particularly criticised and a return to stadiums coinceded with an excellent first half to the season.

Because he has for the most part played at a much lower standard there this season. He struggles with taking the ball in dangerous areas nearer to his own goal without dawdling. He also is good at winning the ball high up, which playing deeper means he rarely now does. He is better further forward but we are already well stocked there and very short deeper. We needed a competent midfielder in the summer and then in the winter and Broughton and co messed up by firstly considering Buckley as a deeper midfielder, then signing Morton who isnt very good, then fucking up the O'Brien deal.

Of course, I wouldn't be calling for his head or anything silly, but I just wish we could have a semblence of ambition and expectation as was the case pre Venkys. Players and budget wise, there is no reason why we shouldnt be aiming to finish higher than Luton and Millwall this season. And it would hard to be too optimistic as part of the project going into the next season that we wouldnt again fail to get over the line regardless of the first 3/4 of the season, that is certainly not specific to JDT. Would disagree that it is particularly enjoyable to watch just because of the poor standard. I watched Sheff United v Luton earlier, terrible watching. Have these people specifically said they wouldnt accept him even if he delivered tangible success ie a play off final? If so, they are surely a minority of very odd fans who arent judging on results.

I would definitely say that Buckley has had a poor season. I think he is hindered playing deeper as much as he obviously has ability and has put in the occasional good display.

Death spinal sounds very painful. IMO, it is hypothetical bollocks that even if we made the play off final, some fans "wouldnt accept JDT." He is downplaying things for the exact same reason, and I am sure managers at other clubs do it too.

It really grates how low people think of us as a club but I totally get it because Venkys have caused us to lower expectations to such a degree that we think so low of ourselves. I totally get why Tomasson does it and why Mowbray did it, textbook manager spiel aimed at lowering expectations. But we now do it to ourselves. We are not run well and likely never will be under Venkys, any good work done on the ground floor is in spite of them and their interfering. And to be quite honest the change of structure has done nothing to alleviate those concerns, with the shambles of a January window displaying that. Tomasson hopefully will improve on last season with praise aimed specifically at him if we do. But come on, its a poor quality league. The parachute money can cause a disparity but not all of the clubs that come down are run efficiently enough to use them as a big advantage, they just end up being used to prop up inflated wage bills. You get some teams like Fulham last year and Burnley this that are a class apart but you also get teams like Watford/Norwich that may have individuals above our station but who are a bit all over the place. We are also competing with teams like Luton and Millwall who we shouldn't have inferiority complexes about. We also have the advantage of an excellent academy that granted we end up over reliant on but one that Venkys dont deserve praise merely for not destructing. Lets have a bit of expectation about us. We are in the top 6, 10 games to go, drop out and it will be a huge disappointment, not an understandable first step of a project.

I have never said that everything would fall at the managers door.

I just feel the situation is not even specific to managers. If we had 2 seasons in which we blew top 6 places and being a Championship side away from Wembley, there wouldnt be any faith in us ever getting anywhere. We could start next season well and still we would expect the worst and it would cause so much frustration. I think for everyones sake we need at least something from this season, either a trip to Wembley or a play off place. At the end of the day, we've spent the vast majority of the first 36 games in the top 6. It wouldn't be entitled to be incredibly annoyed if we don't make it. We aren't a minnow and you look at someone like Luton who are above us again, we shouldn't just contently accept finishing outside. I get why the manager like the last one bangs on about not expecting things because he wants to try and lower expectations but its quite sad how so many seem to be pre-emptively accepting not being competitive as if we are the odd team out at the top. Venkys have stripped us of any ambition and any expectation and its so sad.