Edun has been utter dog shit aside from that little spell in central midfield. However, Pickering had made him look like Paolo Maldini comparatively.

I’d be pissing myself seeing a team defend like this against us. Comical stuff. Pickering the chief clown.

Broughton needs to be ridiculously busy over the next week or so.

Bad that. Need another body in midfield and a lot more graft. Could also do with Dack on. 3 subs at half time again? See if it works this time?

I completely agree, but it would be Pickering’s too as a centre back.

Pickering will get absolutely destroyed at centre back. We’d be better off playing Annesley, and that’s saying something. Phillips will have to start even if he doesn’t last the 90.

I know this Chaddy, and like I said, I hope you are right and he is an upgrade. I’m waiting a while before I make a judgement though. A lot of people should be reassessing their early ravings on Pickering last season, and Van Hecke really proved me very wrong as I thought he was rubbish based off his early appearances. I think we will have more idea 10-15 games into the season and I’ll have an informed opinion then. I think it’s wise to hold off on judgements til then, just as you advocated with Szmodics the other day. I obviously think more of Nyambe’s contributions than you do too - he didn’t turn in many performances as poor as Brittain did against Reading. He was excellent for us in my opinion, so Brittain will be held to a higher standard in my eyes then yours when comparing the two.

I did think twice about posting to be honest, I wanted to make it very clear it was just a whisper I’d heard. Rumours people want to hear tend to be a really well received on here compared to those people don’t want to be true!

I’ve heard a rumour this afternoon of Van Hecke to Sunderland too, wouldn’t have posted but obviously Rev has heard it to and I doubt it’s from the same source. As with any of these whispers I prefer to believe it when I see it, but the way it was phrased to me suggested he’d opted for Sunderland over us. If so that’s as bad as Nyambe going to Wigan and points to real issues in terms of the contracts we are offering.

The only reason 7 million sounds a lot for Van Hecke is because he’s out of contract in June. It’s also a lot for us to spend. Worth every penny though.

You’ve confidently stated this since we bought him, and I really hope you are right. Any more performances like the one on Wednesday and this statement is going to look very premature though.

I thought this would be the tricky game to possibly bring our good start to an end, as I certainly wasn’t expecting what happened at Reading. Need a reaction here. If we had more players available there’d be a few who should be worried for their shirt. I’d certainly be dropping Pickering for Edun. Dack should get a start too.

But you’ve made “instant judgement views” on other players even quicker. Is it ok to make instant positive judgements, just not negative ones?

Are people really trying to blame Brereton for Pickering’s shortcomings?!? Even before he became Diaz he always put a shift in defensively. Elliott in front of Nyambe is the recent example of a fullback being given no support, Pickering gets plenty.

I see it differently. Pickering was anointed by many fans and the local press long before he kicked a ball for us. We were told he was the answer to all our problems and someone who would be worth 8 million in a couple of years and a future Premier League star, all of which was clearly massively hyperbolic. He showed some promise early on, mainly going forward as he has a pretty good left foot, that headed goal where he made a great run from deep got a lot of deserved plaudits. But the cracks have been there defensively from day one and we’re extremely evident away at Huddersfield where he was pathetic. The questions of his defensive capabilities were often countered with claims that defending isn’t as important as creating for full backs, and comparisons were made to Nyambe. I have seen nothing to suggest he is competent defensively, and I don’t agree in the slightest that defending shouldn’t be a fullbacks primary concern.

Two crushing defeats in the space of a few months by Paul Ince’s reading. I’m feeling a bit silly and like my optimism may have been misplaced, but I’m desperately hoping this is just a blip. It was always a worry that we would struggle against teams who come at us instead of buying into the ridiculous notion that modern football is all about ball retention and possession above all else. What was really frightening was that we seemed to adopt that tactic, certainly sounded like a far cry from our previous outings this season. The first goal, they happen. The other two were shocking to concede. Both fullbacks were culpable, but apparently fullbacks being competent at defending isn’t part of the modern game. Give me a throwback any day.

Radio for me today. Sounds like we are struggling against a side who aren’t just concerning themselves with pointless possession above all else, to the extent that we’ve reverted to doing it. Garner is furious at our pissing about trying to play it out from the back and has highlighted a lack of movement in midfield at least half a dozen times.

He wasn’t at his best, but he was thrown on with half an hour to go in a disjointed formation as part of a very patched up back 4 when it was backs against the wall. He was also up against their busiest player who caused Pickering problems all first half. His form in pre-season and against Swansea and Hartlepool (I know, I know) should give him a bit of grace.

A lot going on today. 12 months ago it’d have been a major cause for dispondency, but what a change in a few short months. I hope our new regime can persuade Phillips to stay for now, and I think it might do him the world of good to choose to. Brereton’s a bit of a different case, but I hope he stays too. As a decade long pessimist I’m actually reasonably confident it won’t end in the worst case scenario for once. I know it’s early days, and I don’t want to be too premature, but the Tomasson/Broughton team look to be the absolute real deal. The annoyances come from the fact that it took Venky’s over a decade to move along from shysters, plodders and idiots and actually appoint someone decent. The development of some players (Travis being the glaring example) in a couple of months has been astonishing, and if we’d have been competent enough before they arrived to secure Lenihan and Nyambe - who would likely both have benefitted from JDT’s methods, our squad would be looking pretty immense right now. We’ve got people in the club who want to “think big” again, and I absolutely love it. Hopefully they can drag a few of the other employees up to having the required levels of pride in the club. And some fans too. Keeping Phillips and Brereton would be testament to that and a real statement… it would also do our chances of promotion the world of good. We’re on the verge of something really good.

Nothing at all wrong with an obsessive interest, but repeatedly asking a journalist of limited worth a question where the answer is blatantly obvious is a bit different to fans debating the merits of signings on a forum.

Agreed, but even worse are the dozens of tweets a day replying to anything by Bayes, Nixon and Sharpe asking if there is any news on signings. As if they are going to say “Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me, it totally slipped my mind that Van Hecke is currently at Brockhall… I got a bit sidetracked asking Travis if he’s happy to be made captain”.

More useful than Phil Jones

The Phil Jones links must surely be absolute nonsense. I’m baffled at anyone advocating signing him in any way, shape or form. I can’t think of a worse possible signing. Lets not pretend he is in the slightest bit bothered about playing football. If he was he’d have sought a move at some point in the last 5 years. He is absolutely finished. I can see him signing a deal in America, playing a couple of times, getting injured and getting the contract ripped up to be back home within 6 months. Not until after his United deal expires mind.

There’s an element of that for sure, we are defending very well from the front. But QPR lacked ideas in the final third and Swansea’s attacking shortcomings have been discussed and ridiculed plenty. Wallace was a danger for them today, lot of good crosses with nothing at the end of them. Either way, defensive reinforcements are urgent now. Seems plenty of teams/managers now believe being toothless is fine. Let them crack on! Delighted Kompany doesn’t seem to think the Dingles need a goalscorer, cos we will punish teams that harbour that silly notion.

Brilliant again! Fitness levels are up, desire levels are through the roof, several players look reborn. It would be very easy to get carried away. I’m optimistic, but the one thing nagging a little is that every team we have been up against so far have been pretty toothless. We absolutely need a defender or two in this week, Sheff Utd will pose a goal threat. Love the fact we look so dangerous going forward though. Some cracking performances at either end, Brereton and Ayala were superb today.