We shouldn't just swap Travis for Garrett or similar, we are at home to a side with no strikers, we can afford to have more than 2 attacking players. Assuming that we are sticking with the back 3, I would bring in Dack for Travis (play him behind Gallagher and Brereton) and Carter for Phillips who isn't ready. Kaminski Carter Hyam Wharton Brittain Morton Wharton Pickering Dack Gallagher Brereton

Hirst wouldnt be a useful sub in any situation.

I think his contract is up in the summer, albeit with an option.

If West Brom can get Dyche then it would be an outstanding appointment.

Equally, we had many people eulogising over Broughton for how great an appointment he is based on the signings before half had kicked a ball. I would say at this stage that the overall success of the window is mixed.

Did they not make a considerable profit in the summer? They sold Cornet, McNeil, Pope and Collins as well as shedding a number of high earners, with many of their signings being on loan.

Strange that he says that “I think we will be inconsistent all season for sure." Makes little sense to not strive for consistency as quickly as possible.

Really good win today against a Boro side that looks all over the place. First half we was excellent, again we got the ball forward quicker and it was more effective than the slow, sideways dross that we have often seen. The goal was avoidable and the second half was a struggle but we at least showed good spirit. Kaminski saved the day, brilliant reaction to an initial mis-judgement. Hyam was absolutely superb, he isn't a great ball player but he is a proper defender who can sniff out and deal with danger. Scott Wharton has been the worst form of his Rovers career in recent weeks, lots of mistakes but we know he is a good player so hopefully he will improve. Phillips is clearly not ready and needs taking out, the goal came down his side, and in general he is prone to being bullied. Brittain was very good aside from his miss, Pickering gets unfair stick having been one of our best players this season but he struggled against Jones in the second half to be honest. Morton aside from giving it away very dangerously in the first half put in a very good performance and showed such composure at times, I think he is growing into being an effective player at this level. Adam Wharton makes things look effortless and is such a talent although he dipped and it made sense to take him off. Travis was poor again and I still insist that we needed another experienced midfielder in the summer. Gallagher was really good although needs to be more clinical but you wouldn't like to defend against him on that form, Brereton looked to be struggling throughout really. Subs wise, Szmodics was effective, Dolan was poor.

Really poor time to concede after a good performance, it felt when Gallagher missed a few chances and when Brittain missed a one on one that it could cost us and Adam Wharton has been the best player, Morton has also done well bar one big mistake and Gallagher has been good but needed to be more ruthless.

Very wide so far.

And Tomasson.

Seems to be continuing to pick his players and indeed formation out of a hat, lets hope todays random selection works. Seems counter productive to off the back of a game that we didn't have a shot on target to then go to only 2 attacking players. Still no Dack, and not sure why Phillips starts.

Im sure you was supportive of a potential loan spell to Holland but ok.

Why are they?

Hirst!

Interesting alternative view point and one that falls in line with what @J*B mentioned about monitoring training.

We could do with some consistency in selection. No one knows going into each game what the team or formation will be. 4 at the back is my preference in a 4-2-3-1. Suits our squad.

Yes, I went... He can make things happen it seems from the very little we have seen of him. His chance more comes from many others offering so little.

Its totally unfair to assume that Dack must not be applying himself to explain his absence. He has shown great resilience to come back from injuries and certainly didnt display any discontent last night at being chucked in the kids team on the back of being ignored the night before for the majority of a game in which we didnt have a shot on target in. He also applied himself in second string cup selections. There could be one or indeed a number of factors that have led to a lack of starts. Tomasson's judgement is not necessarily perfect with a number of strange selections already. Maybe he is also under pressure to involve Szmodics due to his price tag. Maybe he is under pressure to try and phase Dack out due to his high wages, or maybe he wants to phase out an experienced player who is more likely to question decisions along the way, or to make a bold call to try and stamp his authority. Maybe a bit of further bad fortune with his injury in pre season knocked him down the pecking order. There are so many possible reasons, but whatever it boils down to, I dont see how he can currently justify utilising him so sparsely considering the poor performances of other attacking players.

Can Morton operate under pressure? The winner on Tuesday night came from him dawdling on the ball. I am against the idea of constantly flipping between formations, it goes against the hope of building familiarity and consistency. We didnt have a shot on goal on Tuesday so to make the team even more defensive seems counter productive. Dack has to start and Markanday has a very strong case too.

Regardless of formation, we don't have any other senior players really in midfield aside from the underperforming Travis who have a tackle in them.

The fact that Tomasson is "Denmark’s Champions’ League-winning record scorer" from his playing days has little relevance really, there isn't the strongest correlation necessarily between playing ability and managerial ability.

I found it telling how easy a ride Tomasson will get over the issue in that the local journalists asked him the other night why Dack didn't get on, and he said that he didn't want to use his 5th sub too early in case of injury. On what planet when Szmodics and Hirst start and when a central midfielder, right back, Dolan and Gallagher are the first 4 subs is Dack behind all of them, in a game where we didn't have a shot on target? Players like Dack might become less and less common in this age whereby data is everything and players who run further and play more sensible but accurate passes are the ones that everyone wants.

I don't think he stood out but it is hard to really come to a conclusion about someone playing left back in such a game. To me, it feels like a loanee that will play the odd game and go back and be forgotten about, but I am glad that at least we have back up to Pickering that is not the inept Tayo Edun.

Enjoyed todays game, the under 21's (albeit half were first teamers) certainly didn't play the same boring football that Tomasson is asking the first team to try and play. I am certainly aware of how kids football is inevitably not comparable in competitiveness and therefore any conclusions are limited. Dack however was clearly the stand out player on the pitch, some of his passing was outstanding as was the composure for the goal. It is an outrage that he isn't a regular in the first team, especially when the reason often given is his inability to press when the whole first team doesn't press anyway, but physically he looks the same as he did pre injury. Markanday is an interesting player, he can be quite sloppy at times but in the rare glimpses we have seen him, he really makes things happen and has loads of natural ability. His volley was superb and he also hit the post and won a penalty, I would think Especially Dack but both of these could potentially give us alternative goal threats which we sorely lack. I can't help but feel that neither probably show up well on the data compared to the likes of Szmodics, Gallagher, Hedges, Dolan and Hirst who probably run a bit more and try less risky things in the final third, and perhaps that is the way that football is going, but I would fancy either to score and assist more over a season, especially Dack. Elsewhere, if Kaminski goes to the World Cup and Belgium get far, we are screwed. Garrett impressed me, Buckley was poor and Vale could have played all night and not scored.