I havent written him off though. I dont think hes ready to be the main striker at a Championship side, he clearly is talented and has plenty of promise. Physically, his injury recently was put down by Tomasson to not being used to regular football at this level. If I said he is shit or will never make it here, then youd have more of a point. Rankin Costello was different. I think most had written him off including Tomasson hence why he was about to be let go, at least on loan. His form since was remarkable.

The worry is that it doesnt seem like any bar maybe Scott Wharton will be back soon.

I am unsure if it was me or someone else but I dont think saying he wasnt Championship standard is writing him off. He had never started a senior game before this season. Hes clearly got something about him, his movement is very clever but even after yesterdays excellent performance, im not sure still youd want him as your first choice just because hes still so young and is quite raw. Far from writing him off, just that hes at the very start of his development as a first teamer. The Telalovic situation is not very similar to Szmodics who had started a few games prior to a one game dip into the reserves. The potential to sign a forward will likely be removed by our terrible owners but if it was possible, unless Ennis or Telalovic do something that changes things between now and January, we need one. He doesnt ever want to bring on Telalovic which says alot and Ennis is never fit. We cant not sign players for fears of blocking pathways. We need options in attack, maybe we could loan Telalovic out.

Crowd funding stadium improvements would be yet another low of the Venkys reign.

Absolutely. You look at the bench, Duru, Atcheson and Gamble would never have come on and Markanday and Telalovic were very unlikely to. So that just left Sigurdsson and Leonard really, and if Dolan's injury is anything serious then thats likely another kid to be included that wont be used. Travis I think will be banned at the weekend. We will need to keep flogging the current team and opponents will be able to use 5 subs and we wont.

Theres little alternative but to keep attacking. We dont have experience nor any depth to fully utilise the subs. Some of the attacking play that Tomasson clearly has really developed on the training ground as you say is a joy to watch and can blow teams away. This is being done with his hands tied behind his back. Equally, even when winning comfortably at times, you see immaturity in the team, giving the ball away, big gaps appearing, tired legs with minimal options off the bench. Its such a shame that Tomasson is having to continue such good work under these restrictions. With adequate depth and experience, the sky would be the limit.

Why not? They would cost money. Look towards India.

Szmodics is the leagues top scorer, Hill has been really good and scored, Tronstad and Moran again good, Brittain and Hyam have been good. So not quite the disaster you imply. No fingers pointed at the owners again? We dont have enough players. The owners slashed the budget and wouldnt even authorise another loan. Do they get any blame for the pathetic lack of depth we have? Half of the players currently playing well were signed under Broughton, I have criticised him at times but your persistent refusal to criticise the owners is so baffling.

Probably a game that showed both sides to our game, both the exciting sides and the vulnerabilities. We deserved the win though having played some excellent stuff at the start of the second half after a drab first half. Some of the one touch passing and the way the attacking players link up can be a joy to watch. Our game management (as shown by the late goals we tend to concede) left us wide open at times and giving the ball away showing inexperience which made what should have been a comfortable 3 nil lead at home to a poor side a nervy finish. Szmodics again was the star with 2 lovely finishes, Wharton I thought controlled the game next to the solid Tronstad. Sigurdsson coming on gave us much more balance although he is cowardly when a strong tackle comes in. Moran again was a bright spark and Leonard had a good outing after the unfortunate Dolan injury. Tomasson is doing very well with such a threadbare and inexperienced squad. Some of the interplay is excellent and looks like the result of some clear instructions and direct from the training ground. But you look ahead to loads of games and no sign of returning faces, how can we possibly expect the same 11-13 players to keep being flogged. The bench is full of players that in no situation would they come on, we dont have the players to rotate so not only can we not really change the line up but its hard to even freshen up in game. Its such a shame that the owners have hacked away at what could have been a great chance with a manager who is really getting his ideas across but will find it so hard to sustain due to the lack of players.

Hopefully Brittain but I would suspect Travis. I would like to see us put in another attacker with more of an onus on us to break down Birmingham.

Very positive news. He isnt like Wharton in terms of being a massive financial asset, hes 28 and Premier League clubs wouldnt be interested I dont think because he isnt of an age where he will then be sold on. But hes really thriving as a Championship player for us and hes as important as anyone in our squad. Our biggest threat would be a Championship promotion chaser in January wanting the boost of his goal threat so this certainly strengthens our arm. We are so reliant on him offering that threat for us and he is a nuisance for every team we play against.

A decent Championship manager who will have you safe without being able to push you on. The post wasn't a compliment to him, more an indicator to what the owners might do based on what they usually do. Also, I can't comment on Mowbray's wage to know if he was on a comparative fortune. That assumes that with the cuts, Broughton sticks around. Will find it more difficult to find a new role compared to Tomasson so maybe he will. Mind you, his judgement is hardly perfect especially if his hands are tied with the owners cutting back.

I think if Tomasson goes owing to lack of backing (quite possible) then we would be quite lucky to see another Mowbray. More likely to get a Coyle.

There was definitely a couple of games earlier this season where they werent which I found odd.

They must have started re opening them as in the first couple of games they wasnt open and the concourses were particularly over crowded.

I notice that people have complained about vaping in the seats. Wouldnt a potential way to reduce that be to open the doors at half time for people to go outside, I dont get why that was mentioned. And then just as importantly, it helps with crowding on the concourse.

Rankin Costello missed, obviously a key absentee. None of the others have played in the league.

Wahlstedt Brittain Hill Carter Pickering Tronstad Wharton Sigurdsson Szmodics Moran Leonard I would be surprised not to see Travis start and Brittain as a winger to be honest though.

Tomasson said in his press conference last week that none of the absentees are close. Unfortunately the thin current group might need to be flogged for a fair few weeks.

With injuries, I dont think it is necessarily bad luck. We havent got a ridiculous injury crisis but 5 (Gallagher, Pears, Hedges, Ennis and Hyam, unless im missing someone) is more damaging to our small squad than it would be others. Plus we will be prone to more because a smaller squad has less scope for rotation. Plus 2 of the 5 are injury prone. Its a shame as our best side is very competitive, its just beyond that where we fall off. Looking at todays bench, the likes of Gamble and Duru made up the numbers and players like Markanday and Telalovic are not fancied.

If we had another goal threat our reliance on him would also decrease and it would cause other teams an additional headache. Definitely. He does miss big chances, he did today twice. Yet he put the third away and hes happy to keep putting himself in those positions. So not only does he have the ability to find those positions, he has the mental strength to keep trying.

Absolutely. I just cant see him stripping Travis of the captaincy though even if he remains a squad player. Its a big statement even if its because he isnt playing as much, and could cause unnecessary aggravation. Ultimately the vice captain then more often than not becomes the on field captain but youve still got the buy in of the captain.

Its been taken out of context and actually lead to my main point which was praise. I regularly used to defend Armstrong who ended with 28 goals yet seemed to face more criticism than praise due to being "greedy." He isnt the best finisher youll see even relative to this division, he is not the most clinical. He misses quite a few good chances. But the vast majority of our chances "fall" to him because his movement is really good, and his anticipation is good too. Often he is the sole threat we have because he makes things happen, very rarely does he not have at least one guilt edged chance in a game.

I dont think he will be stripped of the captaincy even in the unlikely scenario that Tomasson stays. And even if he isnt playing, although those chances of playing might increase if and when Wharton is sold. Its a bit of a statement to strip someone of the captaincy, he could still remain club captain when more often than not remaining a sub.

Absolutely, but I meant to the poster I was replying that I dont think Travis suits being the player that is the deepest of the midfielders. His natural game isnt to sit and tidy things up, to ask him to do that is somewhat stifling him. When he does play, he is usually the more advanced of the 2 because he is very useful at winning the ball back higher up, for example the goal we scored v Leicester. Earlier in the season, the midfield of Wharton and Travis didnt work. Wharton is very good on the ball in deep areas but at this stage isnt in a position to be the main man charged with protecting the defence. Wharton can still play deep next to Tronstad but its more secure with the latter in. I think Travis would suit being next to Tronstad but obviously we wouldnt want to drop Wharton for Travis.