I suppose there is only 3 games, potentially 2 (league) if we win on Sunday, but would like him back ASAP, agreed. Lets hope he stays fit then too.

There is definitely scope for arguing how good Gallagher is, but not IMO that he is below Championship standard. Hirst and Vale haven't scored a league goal for us between them, so that is different, neither is IMO near the level. He scores a reasonable amount every year, never prolific, but he definitely provides enough to justifiably be considered a reasonable Championship player to some degree. I do like the look of Markanday from glimpses we have seen mainly in cups and would like to see more but they aren't comparable at this stage.

I would if fit for sure. Assumed he would miss out. Buckley is banned. We won't win the league either, a win could help momentum, we have a free week either side, potentially a couple of games surely won't derail the season otherwise and it could add some excitement with a decent draw.

I would be amazed if we brought 4 or 5 in personally. The question with full backs is how many do we get, especially as they are likely to be loans and will teams send them out to be subs? At right back, we have Brittain who is injured, unsure for how long still? Rankin Costello has been excellent lately but is he good or reliable enough for an extended period, and how bad is his injury? Carter is also back and is decent cover for right back. At left back, we are totally reliant on Pickering as the other 2 are shocking.

I guess its a difficult one with this structure in regards to judging on transfers and who takes responsibility. Tomasson has insisted before that he does have final say and when signings were made they were always "our" targets implying a level of agreement. Of course they would say that regardless but essentially you could view it as Tomasson is actually getting help/manpower in helping him to get the players he wants, just as much as him not actively choosing. Regarding this window, I struggle to envisage anything other than a juggling of loans like last January. Our budgets are further limited by the inability to trade caused by the repeated allowances by the owners of contracts to expire. I dont recall many if any January splurges by them either. A bit of squad padding wont do the trick though.

He is a good appointment, agreed. To go from appointing a big name former player (I know he won the league at Rangers but his overall record there was ok, only one trophy) to a proven winner at European level is a big change but a good one. Yeah I think top 4 is a struggle, their squad isn't good enough. The front 3 is but beyond that, their keeper is dodgy, they have one good centre back in Romero and a lot of other poor ones, their wing backs are below par aside from Perisic who is not technically a wing back and is getting on, and their midfield is ok, nothing more.

That would mean dropping Dack.

Undoubtedly being third is more than satisfactory to all but a tiny minority of our fan base, which is why I am a little uneasy about the growing narrative to the contrary. We technically did challenge for the play offs last season as big as the second half dip was last year, as we were in with a mathematical chance going into the final 2 games. But anyway, I think we often look threatening when we try and turn teams, but ultimately it doesn't have to be one extreme or another. There are times when we have played the ball even in our own half effectively, perhaps when winning as opposed to lumping it back for our opponents to instantly come back at us. That can create anxiety but that comes in the spells where we do it constantly and invariably lose the ball in dangerous areas. The standard of this division is poor though and we have some quite powerful runners, especially Brereton and Gallagher and it can be quite common to see unforced errors like from Kipre when he totally miskicked early on. When we get the ball forward quickly especially on the counter, and often into the channels initially, we look a threat. We aren't good at unlocking defences that are well organised. One thing I would wonder is what the reaction is if our second half of the season was far worse than our first, seeing us drop from 3rd to below the play offs. Tomasson could say "project" until he is blue in the face but I don't think it would go down too well as we saw last year.

Interesting to receive the text regarding the survey which I have filled out listing my complaints. Waggott already knows about them as seen commonly in the fans forum minutes, and never previously has done anything, so we will see. At least removes the "email the club" nonsensical counter argument. Why are the club making silly videos about a red card that cost us points in the last few days? Obviously intended to be funny but seems a little strange.

I still can't fathom the attitude of "skipping" the cup, I can get on board with some rotation as long as it isn't the whole team but especially considering how people always say this to prioritise the league and then our seasons fizzle out anyway, can lots of harm come from a couple of extra cup games and a bit of extra excitement? I would like a mixed team in that some players will need resting more than others and some will need a game that will be needed going forward but equally I want to go through, I want to keep some momentum and there is a week either side so a total lack of game time might prove counter productive. I want to avoid giving the likes of Edun, Vale, Mola and Hirst game time when they are all so poor, none of them should be here (temporarily perhaps in Vale's case) come 1st Feb. Something like: Kaminski Carter Phillips Wharton Pickering Travis A Wharton Markanday Szmodics Hedges Gallagher Equally happy with Hyam next to Wharton and also Brereton in should Szmodics not be fit.

The transfer window has brought back lots of ITK stuff regarding the inner workings of the dressing room and the exact wage of players which is always really reliable!... I definitely think an experienced midfielder is a must, I mentioned Ben Pearson but under Venkys, even unwanted Bournemouth players may be beyond us. We have an experience void in there though 100%, and often our young central midfielders get caught ahead of the ball. 5 or 6 free kicks in half a season is a ridiculous ask, we would need Juninho back from his Lyon days. But we do also have poor set piece takers to be fair, Morton isn't much use and Brereton taking free kicks reminds me of when Kane did for England just as the best striker. Probably a rumour to be dismissed based on the source, no doubt he has linked him to half of the football league to cover all bases. I did watch him a few times at Derby and he is a talent and he would give us pace that we don't really have, but it is hard to get excited about a loanee with less than 20 league appearances. I would also prefer a right footer that plays on the left to allow Brereton to potentially play down the middle at times. Suppose with any scope for raising and reinvesting funds being blocked by the owners, the remit for this window will be to beg, steal and borrow to get players in. I haven't bothered with the youtube videos either, surely a lesson has been learnt after the Hirst fiasco!

Wigan were struggling under Richardson so that part made sense. But the fact that they went for Yaya and then Kolo Toure was very peculiar. In the battle to be the least poor, I think Huddersfield and Wigan will go. Blackpool might be saved by Rotherhams incompetence and their appointment hasnt worked either.

Some dross down there. Wigan and Kolo Toure might take one place. Blackpool shouldnt see 4th bottom as a big success.

Definitely his best game for us, I thought his performance v Sunderland was massively overhyped, today was much better than that. Stupid yellow card picked up early one and his rashness really worries me but managed very well on a booking and his tackle in the first half was superb. On the ball, still think he is limited but he was better today in that respect. It was a scrappy game on a boggy pitch so it perhaps suited him that it wasnt that sort of game. I still feel that we need an experienced head in there and I would still prefer him to go out on loan to League 1.

Appleton will enjoy working with flair players that fit with the exciting football that he likes to play... Assuming we stay down, I would rather keep Blackpool as an away day so lets hope either he finds 3 teams that are even worse in this poor league or is sacked for someone competent.

The question then is, are folk not tolerant of being 3rd in the league?

I would take Rothwell back because put chinese whispers of his conduct or unswallowed pride aside, he would clearly improve our team. That being said, there is no chance of that happening. Silly season is upon us, knowing modern day Rovers I would be surprised if business was done soon. Hopefully Mola and Hirst can be back at their parents club with immediate effect for some room to manouevre. Ideally we can get a signing or 2 in this week to give them a run out in the Cup (doubtful) but at least for the Rotherham game plus one or two back from injury.

I suppose even if he got sacked, he would get a massive pay off and would still be attractive to lower Prem teams.

Why not do both? It may need signings, but Appleton is a shit manager doing a shit job.

Well we must play slowly most of the time, because (backed up by chances created etc) we have struggled to create chances throughout the season. Revamping the training ground pitches is a sensible suggestion, presumably Venkys wouldn't fund it like the pitch at Ewood. I think we also do need attacking reinforcements as well as an experienced midfielder.

I would vote to keep him obviously, I just feel that there is a growing narrative that loads want him out which I suspect might not be accurate.

They would be better off hiring a competent manager to use those players.

Chelsea were very unimpressive today, Potter seems to have had an underwhelming start there.

Would it be worth having a poll on its own thread on whether people would sack or keep Tomasson?

Can see Blackpool sacking Appleton soon, 9 winless games and fans not seemingly too happy.