My main point has been how Dack has not been utilised at least as a sub, including on occasions when Hirst and/or Vale have been given game time ahead of him. So yes, there CAN be a comparison made between Dack and Hirst/Vale, irrespective of their best position. Dack IMO could and should have been used far more within those 8 losses whereby Tomasson has not managed to overcome a goal deficit. I do rate him higher than Szmodics too and I would have him starting but at least Szmodics has shown some use when he has played unlike Hirst and Vale. Him being ahead of Hirst, Vale and even Dolan as a sub is very clear cut, he is miles better.

Rumours upon rumours now, with 2 different layers of reality TV shows included.

Corrected.

I suspect that the rumours are as laughable and as fictional as they seem until I see anything of substance otherwise.

What does "accept his decisions" even mean? I don't agree with them so I will say as much, not try to understand it. I don't understand why inferior players are brought on ahead of him. Dack is more likely to score or assist than Vale or Hirst. Some of the crap I have read (him not wanting to train extra due to reality TV is a new highlight) is just fabricated nonsense done with the intention of justifying the situation. On the meeting, you said absolutely nothing after courting attention in advance of the meeting, so hypocrisy is a fair criticism. Throw in the irony of you saying that people need to get over Dack when you are as vocal on the topic as anyone, and you can see why you get the flak at times.

Pickering and Brittain have to play as our only full/wing backs rather than trying to squeeze Hedges in there in a game where we are unlikely to dominate the ball.

"Jumped up celebrity diffy" and "freakshow circus" I would suggest isn't warranted to a player who prior to his injuries provided us with plenty of entertainment. Couple that with fabricated theories about Dack not wanting to train extra because he wants to be filming reality TV, plenty of peculiar posts on here recently about him.

Been reported widespread across the media all morning, Luton gave him permission to talk to Southampton. Secondary to the odious cretin being out of football entirely, I guess him being out of the Championship is at least something. Big blow to Luton, but unconvinced that he is the right fit for a Premier League club.

They really do, unhappy with extra training due to the impact that has on his girlfriends reality TV show? I thankfully have never seen it but does it run continuously anyway? Where are these rumours from originally?

Its assumptions that have spread like wild fire to create this narrative that Dack has been a constant source of trouble. I am well aware that Tomasson doesnt see him as an important player, although I don't necessarily mirror every opinion I have around his. Just on the off the ball stuff, we dont press with any intensity anyway but Vale in particular is quite lazy from that side of things too, but he doesnt have much ability on the ball either.

Nobody, I suggested that and various other theories as equally unsubstantiated potential reasons for his lack of inclusion, with players not up to the standard preferred. Where are these various sources? Do you have quotes to hand? Pushing aside the gossip for one second and purely on ability. Would you bring on Dack before Vale and/or Hirst, or not?

Youve missed my point.

Lots of elaborate theories, assumptions and bits of supposed gossip about Dack. What we can look at is what happens on the pitch, and I think it is fair to suggest that Vale and Hirst are not up to it, and that Dack (even if we write off his chances of a start which we shouldnt) could potentially be a better option. We have never come back in 8 games from conceding the first goal so although Tomasson in general has done very well thus far, that is a huge area of potential improvement based on the fact that what he has done in those situations has been objectively unproductive.

I must have missed that summary.

Its a non starter anyway as he wouldnt come back and we couldnt afford him, but obviously that is the case, you could say that about anyone. Armstrong is better than Gallagher.

He would have had to have a serious downgrade to be any less useful than Hirst or Vale when we need a goal. When he has played he has seemed physically fine, was really good at Blackpool and won us the game with his pass.

If he came back and scored 28 goals in a season again, that would probably be beneficial to the team.

Blackburn End yes, and I think a fiver.

As I have said on another thread, I feel like he is far superior to a number of our attacking options who considerably weaken us, and even if he doesn't start games, he is far more likely to impact games than those aforementioned options, but he has been under utilised in those situations, and we have won 0 points from those as a result.

It's just as credible a theory as the one that he isn't grafting, I am just speculating but with more and more of a focus to reduce our wage budget, then surely the removal of one of our high earners has an element of sense to it. Football is judged on results so every time we win then Tomasson can justify it. But did we win yesterday BECAUSE Vale (and Dolan) were brought on and Dack wasn't? No, both really struggled and couldn't get us up the pitch. Every time we have gone a goal up, we have won, but we have never come back after conceding, which thankfully has only happened once in the last 6 games. But Tomasson CAN be questioned on his ability to get back into games, and I feel like Dack has either been brought on either too late or not at all, in favour of inferior players who have not gone on to change those games, so criticism in that regard is fair. We are better off going forward with Dack being regularly used than not, especially when some of our attacking options are so shoddy.

Dolan is definitely far more useful than the 2 players mentioned, but yes, Dack is equally far more useful than him.

I probably wouldn't start Szmodics at Burnley. Vale and Hirst's absence is self explanatory, like Edun and Rankin Costello. Lack of quality,

Eric Dier showed his defensive inability with a terrible header leading to Liverpool's second.

Went for a pint with 5 or 10 minutes left in the first half yesterday and didn't get one until a couple of minutes into the second half, at which point the Amstel had run out, leaving only piss poor Fosters which I obviously had to down to get back to the game. The bottle bar bits were unused and still no sign of pre-pouring drinks to ease the queues, plus there was also supposed to be a deal on 3 for 2, no sign of that so I am guessing that it was poorly advertised and was just a pre game thing? At other away grounds I have yet to witness similar levels of sluggishness. Simply unacceptable really, could it be mentioned at the next fans forum please?

Rumours is the key word. We don't know if he isn't putting the effort in, they might have had an argument, he might be under pressure to jettison a high earner, we simply don't know. What I do know is that Vale and Hirst are not good enough and them being on the pitch over Dack is not to the benefit of Rovers.