100%, people love talking about high pressing, playing it out from the back etc in modern day football but to be honest very little of that has been evident by us so far despite that being mentioned in the summer. For me, by far the biggest strength that I have seen from Tomasson tactically is our organisation once we go a goal up. 12 wins from 12 winning positions is absolutely outstanding. There are 2 areas of concern, our use of the ball when we are sitting on a lead, massively hindered by having subs like Vale, Hirst and Dolan who simply don't have the ability and intelligence to keep the ball and take pressure away. And of course Tomasson's inability to ever get back into a game after going a goal down. Pragmatism and moving away from supposed principles has for 2 seasons running benefitted us, last year we became a really effective counter attacking team and this season we have very rigid and organised.

The Dack to Sunderland rumour is the easiest story to write in the world, whether it is true or otherwise. If there was any truth in it, it would be Sunderland's gain and our loss while players like Hirst, Vale and even Dolan and Szmodics play ahead of him.

Great to see us get back to winning ways, the performance was underwhelming although it is sad to see that many are keen to call any one out who wasn't convinced with the performance as "negative." Expectations will naturally change based on where we are in the league. Tomasson can say what he wants but we are 2nd and therefore are considered part of the promotion push, similar to last season, and if our season fades away then like last season, fans will be frustrated. It's a terrible standard this season in the Championship so why not? We are very well drilled when we go into the lead under Tomasson and well organised. Huddersfield (who were appalling like many of the teams we have faced) never really looked like equalising. That being said, we need to be better on the ball in those situations, not aided by a lack of quality coming on. Vale is out of his depth and Dolan is not useful either as a sub in those situations as he lacks the intelligence to be able to keep the ball and run down the clock. The one man we do have on the bench who is very adept in those situations seemingly has fallen out with the manager. Performance wise, my man of the match would probably be Pickering, the 2 full backs were good as were the whole back 4 in a solid performance. Pickering is underrated but he is reliable and came up with the bit of quality in the match, compared to the likes of Douglas and Bell in particular he is such an upgrade. Brereton after a poor start again was our only real attacking threat. Travis again was very poor in possession and the price tag on Szmodics' head continues to make you wonder whether he was a wise signing rather than spending that money on a striker.

Will this not infringe on the rememberance tributes pre kick off?

Every manager does, obviously he is under no immediate threat but all managers sing from the same hymn sheet and get expectations as low as possible. What managers say in interviews is fairly meaningless because they all say the same crap.

We will make a similar amount of signings next summer I bet, and each summer following. Thats the nature of the Championship. We have 3 loanees that will go back, our top scorer will go, Dack and Ayala will probably go and that is before any further players leave and before considering gaps we have in the squad.

Had Mowbray said that, he would have been endlessly criticised and even now people revert back to Mowbray when Tomasson says the same stuff. Its all just managerial spiel I guess, mission one is self preservation.

Our squad is already packed full of youngsters, the better ones will play lots of game time regardless because they are good enough, or at least close to in your situation to still justify regular minutes. Of the players you mentioned, Edun is crap and is nowhere near the first team, Buckley is usually a first teamer but his form has been so poor that he has fallen away, Garrett is perhaps the most obvious one but we shouldn't avoid signing what I would deem to be a necessary more experienced option, we could either keep him to compete with (minus the loanee) a 25, 23 and 18 year old, or let him have a loan spell and regular football in League 1.

If there was any intention of playing how we have been, it made no sense to put such little emphasis on striking reinforcements in the summer, so I suspect that we didn't intend on playing 5-3-2. I don't agree with the idea of not signing players as to not "block" the younger lads. If they are good enough to contribute like Wharton then they will remain regardless, if not like Vale then they shouldn't, Edun will never be good enough.

Seems particularly cautious for playing bottom of the league at home. I would go for a back 4 with Dack in but even if he sticks to a 5, I would play Dack off the front 2. Don't get the Garrett inclusion, all he has shown he does is charge wildly into challenges. Surely someone more attacking would make sense?

Brittain had just been relegated to League 1 and was available for under a million, and Hyam wouldn't have been of interest to Premier League or even big Championship sides, had been part of a poor Coventry defence, isn't that young and Coventry needed money to cover their cash flow issues relating to cancelled games. Semenyo and Gyokeres are 2 international, youngish attackers who have both been linked to Premier League teams.

I'd be flabbergasted if we spent £4m in January, would love to be wrong. Although I think Gyokeres would cost more and most likely would fancy something a bit bigger, as much as he would be a good signing. Same with Semenyo, unobtainable I would guess.

He is under pressure to deliver promotion? Doubt it.

Just because Tomasson was a striker as a player doesn't really mean anything in this context, although he clearly isn't that big a fan of Hirst hence why he wasn't in the squad throughout our winning run. Hopefully he will be sent back to Leicester in January and we can get someone else. I haven't seen any of that ability to finish from Vale, nor his movement, he is bone idle.

Watched the game and Rotherham time wasted beyons belief with so many stoppages. I expected more than 10 minutes and unfortunately they showed the spirit needed, it wasnt fortunate in regards to time added.

He did fuck up in the second half of the season and im glad hes gone, but that comment was about potential loanees. So I stand by my comment.

Tomasson said that he hopes Gallagher is fit "before the World Cup" so must be a major doubt. It's not enough of a discount to really boost the crowd noticeably I wouldn't imagine. If Chorley charge that much then I suspect that they are massively overcharging.

Superb evasion of ever needing to show any empathy and care for anyone else.

What does Vale offer and what have you seen from him in terms of attributes that makes you different from basically everyone else in thinking that he is competent? Same with Hirst, you must be seeing something that you like about him that nobody else is? Surely being under "JDT's stewardship" alone isn't enough encouragement, just because he used to be a striker doesn't make him a miracle worker. Of course the first goal is important, but it is typical that you just bat off any potential worries and weaknesses, if it was as simple as that, teams would pack up and go home if they conceded. The first goal is important but it shouldn't be terminal 100% of the time, which is why on the flip side that our record when we score first is so impressive. I have commended Tomasson on the good start and the positives, including some of the signings. But he isn't perfect and the inability of the manager when we go behind is a concern, and not all of the signings under his stewardship will be successful ones. Tomasson himself left Hirst out of the 18 for the 4 games prior to last nights shit show, all of which we won, so he clearly isn't convinced himself which surely concerns you?

Not interested in gossip, rumours and words, we spent £700k.

£18.75 isn't a particularly great deal either.

As is Ayala, all 3 when fit and on form are more than adequate at this level. Was just pointing out that I felt that the stat was somewhat misleading in that it wasn't just that Wharton was missing, but that for much of those games we were very short of alternatives, hence an over reliance on a 17 year old. If the alternative was a Hyam and Ayala partnership I suspect we would have done much better.

Let's hope Venkys get their collective wallet out unlike last January when 700k was spent.

There is further justification of the line "lies, damned lies and statistics" in my opinion. The win rate with and without Wharton doesn't really tell the full story, he missed 6 games after the first 2 wins, and we lost 3 in a row prior to signing Hyam because we had to keep flogging Phillips who isn't ready for this standard yet, especially playing successive games when he isn't used to the intensity, we had a patched up defence including one game where Pickering played as a third centre back with Edun at left wing back. It's not comparative to the question of if we go for 2 of Ayala, Hyam and Wharton, all of whom are good Championship centre backs on their day. It is the same with Gallagher, he has recently performed well above his usual level and he certainly does have his uses, but part of that stat is not showing how great Gallagher is but must consider that the alternatives are Vale who can't score goals in the Conference and the inept Hirst. Don't get me wrong, on form I do really like Scott Wharton and I think he should be high up on the contract renewal agenda, but he has been out of form basically all season, both defensively and on the ball.

He repeatedly has given it away playing out from the back, yesterday he did numerous times whereas the other 2 have given it away far less.