Yeah, Holtby was central too.

Central, pretty much like for like replacing Johnson.

Frustrating result to take that. Felt like one of those games where a win would really start to give us hope. Whereas this defeat has had the complete opposite affect, and we all feel that we have no chance of top 6 now. Samuel looked poor when he came on, but in fairness he's been out for a long time. I just don't think Tony really knows what he is doing up top, Armstrong and Samuel as 'wingers' at the end. It's simple for me. if he wants to play this 4-2-3-1 (not sure why we stick with it with 0 wingers) then it has to be Graham up front and Dack in the whole. Then we need to player 2 WIDE players and not a striker who cannot cross or a central midfielder. Lets hope we bounce back against Forest mid-week, though they look in good form.

Danny Graham is far superior to any striker we have. Player of the season last year......yet cannot buy a start! It's baffling.

Neither Armstrong nor Gallagher should be starting in a top half Championship side, should they?

Looks like Johnson in the background of this video, albeit not the best quality. He still lives down there but not sure why he’d be going on the piss at their ‘team building’ night, even if they are all old friends. If it is him, Mowbray won’t be impressed. Holtby and Travis together tomorrow?

I’ve been a vocal critic, but more than happy to be proved wrong if he can start banging them in.

Lots of good ideas in this post, as well as the thread as a whole (the discount on loyalty I particularly liked - 5% in year 2 etc.) Just goes to show the boys in the job really don’t have a clue. Just pick up their handsome salary with no affiliation to the club at all and in the grand scheme are doing absolutely nothing to engage fans (it’s their bloody job!)

Lost all validation after “2. Matchday tickets are dirt cheap if you buy in advance”

Strange that someone who can barely kick a football takes the penalty. From what I remember penalties don’t involve running fast.

Any away win in this league is cause for celebration. Thoroughly enjoyed the match, thought we dominated the 2nd half in particular. back to back clean sheets the icing on the cake. Downing was immense, He’s a clever footballer and almost always makes the right decision. Williams and Cunningham also stand out performers at the back. Walton was solid, cant think of any real mistakes, and a penalty save to boot. Travis and Johnson, yes they may give the ball away occasionally but I thought they were superb, what an upgraded pair that is on the last few years. Great drive going forward, picking positive passes. We played some great football at times and these two were the hub of that. The spine of the team looks good, we’ve just got to fill the gaps now (Bennett was roasted today), what’s the answer on the right wing?

So frustrating that he persists with this 4-2-3-1 when we have never had 2 actual wingers! Cunningham is defo an upgrade and is keeping Bowen quiet. Everything coming down our right hand side an Bennett is getting shredded, so often out of position. Armstrong should have took it round the keeper for a penalty, showing the lack of football brain he really has. The game is screaming for DG. We’re getting space with the ball and our midfielders feed off him so well. Bring him on and a Dack goal will follow. The game is there for the taking.

Norwich and Southampton did back to back too within the last 10 years or so. The year in league 1 shouldn’t have any relevance to what we can achieve/aim for.

Agree with all of this. There is no initiative being taken by the club to move with the times. Food and Drink - Same crap every year, the amount of good quality street food available on the high street now why are we still serving the same rubbish. I know Beavertown is a north london brewery but more clubs should be going down the route like Spurs to mix up the beer on offer rather than just Fosters, Smiths etc. Don't Brighton ship in the local ale for away fans, if they can do this surely we can sell some decent stuff to our home fans. Cashless bars to speed up the current shocking service

a lot of fans did turn up to the Oxford match 2 seasons ago though, that base is there and could be exploited with continuous cheap tickets (£1 for a kid or £10 a match) rather than just the occasional one off (which we don't even do anymore). If we have 3k walk ons a week and charge on average £15 a match instead of £25 for example it'll cost <£700k for the season, and that's before even looking at the guaranteed uptick in sales on continuous cheaper tickets. If you could get an extra 1k walk ons each week through the cheaper tickets (some weeks less some more e.g Preston) then this cost would drop to <£350k a season (or £15k per home game). It's barely a sacrifice when you consider long term uplift (future season tickets and atmosphere). The obvious concern would be that walk ons become cheaper than season tickets and season ticket sales then drop. But realistically the same thing should be happening with season tickets! Drop them to £250 instead of £350 and aim to sell an extra 2000 instead. Let's be honest it's a drop in the ocean considering we've spent £12m or so on strikers in the last year! Then again we never get this stuff right since the days of Williams. Singing section now gone, atmosphere is on it's arse, areas of the ground closing. It's a shame as the we used to be the most popular town club in the outskirt villages and a lot of these will be the punters who could be swayed with a better price/atmosphere.

Kept hold of Dack Upgrade at LB Upgrade at CM Depth upfront It was a poor day for us, but over the whole window it isn’t as doom and gloom as many are making out. I think one established CB to go alongside Tosin would have made the window a decent success, so it is a shame we couldn’t get anyone in for whatever reason that may be.

Anyone think it’s a bit strange that we announce the 3rd kit bang on the minute the window closes? Strikes me that nobody is coming in and they’re trying to break some “good news”

At a minimum we need a LB and dominating CB. Nyambe has to start the next game. We have to find a way to play Dack and Rothwell together, ideally without converting Rothwell to a winger. The best I’ve seen us perform for a long time was 70 mins Stoke Away where we played Dack upfront with Graham, perhaps we could go back to that with a Rothwell in the hole and stop this “chuck any non-winger onto the wing where they can’t cross or play wide” I’ll give Tony the benefit of the doubt for a few more games to sort it out. Mainly because I’d be afraid of what came next with Venkys in charge.

It’s a good point and very frustrating. It’s been the same for a few years now.

We simply don’t have a championship level full back in the squad (Nyambe the best but doesn’t get a sniff). Bell and Williams are L1 level and that’s been clear since we were in that division. Armstrong seems to do no wrong, always starts but the guy is simply not a good footballer, just has speed which is fine in preseason against part timers but he’s also not championship level. I’d say the only area of strength we maybe have is through the centre; Johnson/Travis/Dack/Rothwell. We need a RB, LB and CB before the window closes. We cannot start Armstrong and Downing as we’re weak on both wings then.

Opening day fixture record is an absolutely meaningless stat without context and righty isn’t taken into account when odds compiling.

For what it’s worth, Rovers are the shortest priced favourite in the Championship today. Anything less than a win will be disappointing.

I live and work in Leeds and i've not met a single Leeds fan that rates him. Looks like a poor mans Jordan Rhodes: slow and weak, but doesn't even score as regularly as Rhodes did. Would be terrible business given the likely cost + wages.

Rothwell gets a start......but unfortunately with a midfield of Armstrong, Evans, Smallwood and Bennett around him! Our team seems to look weaker and weaker each week.

Crazy to think after losing to Reading and Rotherham in the latest calamitous run. Could have been much closer, albeit we’re nowhere near good enough to be up there.