On Monday I'd be firing out emails to all and sundry, tweeting left right and centre and getting a festive promo out there. Either 3 for £60 Brum/Barnsley/Hudds or 2 for £40 on Barnsley/Huddersfield right across the ground for adult, get the place full and rocking. All 3 should bring a respectable away following too. I doubt many have already bought tickets for Barnsley and Brum so far in advance but it would surely be easy enough sort if a few have.

Absolutely buzzing after that 💪 Must admit that I was again worried that Kaminski wasn't named in the lineup, turned out it didn't really matter as the troops in front of Pears limited Preston to barely a sniff all game. The pitch had a huge influence in the game but to be honest all it probably did was stop us scoring more. Defence were all superb again. I had initial doubt over Pickering but he gets better and better, same with Van Hecke. Wharton has seemingly picked up where he left off before the unfortunate injury too. Perhaps a bit of a weird thing to say after a win but one of the most pleasing things to see was Mowbray throwing an absolute wobbler after Gavin Ward dropped another bollock. PASSION! Seeing it from the manager and players cranks it up in the stands too. Where the hell was that passion the last few seasons when he just slumped in the dugout? Icing on the cake is them gimps down the road losing their relegation battle making them joint bottom 🥳

Preston fans I speak to say they've been terrible all season and the managers tactics are dull as anything. Granted they've got a few impressive points though along the way. Apparently their keeper has saved then from a few good hidings though. A lot hinges on Kaminski really, seems a bit strange that there's not been much of an update? Believe they're also awaiting news on Barkhuizen who'll be key for them. IF Tommy K plays I think we'll batter them 4 or 5 nil. If not I can see a high scoring game, but not all in our favour....

Most of this board used to say Brereton was shit apart from me, just saying..... Common theme with both players showing drastic improvement - being in the starting line up week in week out, not playing 10 mins one week, 15 the next. Of course that's not the only factor but it's a key one.

How the hell did Sawyers get MOTM for them? Didn't sound like the Stoke fans agreed!

It wasn't easy on the eye but can't fault a single player in yellow today, and I must say I thought Mowbray got this spot on too including his usage of Dolan. I feared the worst when Kaminski came off but credit where its due, Pears did just fine including a cracking save. Still, hope Kaminski isn't out for long, not sure how he got injured there? Another biggie next week now, Preston with a good result today too and will put up a fight. Whens the last time we were as high as 4th? 😳

He isn't 100% but fit enough for a spot on the bench....

Carter isn't fit?

With QPR playing Monday and Coventry up against Bournemouth we could be in our best position for some time come 5pm tomorrow.... I've got a bad feeling about it though (sorry). They've only lost once at home this season, we've only won twice. Combined with us famously shitting ourselves when threatening the top 6 😕 I'd be more confident with Ayala playing BUT if Wharton and Darragh continue to play well there's always a chance. Head says 2-1 Stoke but I'd be delighted to be completely wrong 🤞

Fully agree. He's effectively been out now for almost 2 years. Obviously he did make a bit of a comeback in-between but not really an extended run of games, he was way off the pace first few anyway. The team has changed a lot during that time.

Whilst JRC has appeared to have something about him, his injury record is atrocious and as such definitely can't be looked upon as reliable cover. He only played a couple of games for the U23's and did yet another hamstring! If Nyambe picked a knock up between now and Saturday we'd see Buckley forced to right back/wb again which is far from ideal.

Easiest game of football we'll play all season, unless we get them claret wankers in the Cup. Hopefully Ayala isn't badly injured as we're walking a tightrope again now at centre half. Despite the losing to a poor Bristol side tonight, Stoke will be tough. They were on a decent little run so hopefully the loss tonight knocks the wind out their sails a bit rather than us facing a backlash. Should be a decent following as well especially after tonight's result. Wharton really impressive again, he looks like captain material to me, love his vocal presence and cool, calm style - it seems to rub off on the players around him.

Would be nice to do a Fulham on them and give them a good hammering. In reality I think it'll remain goalless till the last 15-20 mins and we'll end up with 2-0 win, which I'll take.

Putting his ability to one side for a minute, I doubt Nyambe will move onto much better things due to his injury issues. Anyone who does their homework on him prior to a potential move will have alarm bells going off and that's before he goes under a medical. He has all the attributes to be brilliant but he always sees to fall short, you can count on 1 hand the number of top performances he pulls out the bag in a season. My only issue with him leaving is who replaces him. We probably need a similar scenario to the Pickering/Edun transfers but at right back. JRC would have been put down if he was a horse, if Mowbray has plans for him filling the void then its stupidity as I don't think he's ever going to be reliable from a fitness perspective.

Expensive day out when you factor in travel costs too. Shame really as its a good day out and one of the best away ends in the country, great booze and food options at the back of the stand. Sounds like the injury situation has eased, but I'm not sure that's good news as it gives Mowbray tinker temptation 🙃 Usually get some random results after international breaks so I wouldn't like to call it, Bristol aren't exactly in great form. Going for a slightly ambitious 1-2 scoreline.

It's fine margins to be honest. I think £20 every game is slightly too cheap, although making it that price for midweek games is a sensible idea. I'm not a Waggott fan at all but I do sympathise slightly at the moment, although ultimately its him that screwed up the season ticket prices. There's little factors most of us don't even consider, for example trying to get temporary/agency staff at the moment is ridiculous and I'm assuming a lot of the catering and stewards fall into that bracket. These people are asking for much higher wages and being more picky about jobs right now - it all adds up and higher costs must be absorbed.

Yes I think when prices breach £30 it makes people think twice, if they weren't already. I don't really see the point of having different price brackets these days for different stands, although I know most other clubs do it too. Riverside die hards I know like my dad would continue to sit there regardless rather than switch to the JW if it became cheaper.

Well in fairness the people I've spoken to that took advantage of the Sheff Utd offer WERE actually entertained on the pitch and the atmosphere was good by all accounts (I didn't go), so that made for an enjoyable experience. Do they think its like that every week though? Probably not unfortunately. Waggott can only hope it inspired a few to get season tickets following the game, I do know 2 people who did sign up after the game...its pretty obvious though that he completely messed up the season tickets at the start of the season and the bulletproof manager being at the helm is the other key factor.

Is £30 that expensive? What do people consider a fair price? Away tickets have ranged from £25 to £33 for us this season. Appreciate I'm in a minority but I think it's about the going rate I'm afraid.

Well I didn't expect that at all I must admit. Initial thoughts upon seeing the team news were Poveda is shite, lazy and not arsed. Wharton looks risky, is he even fit? (Big fan of his when he is fit though) When the early goal went in I actually laughed and thought here we go again. Poveda then went onto play easily his best game for us, where the hell has that player been hiding? Diaz I thought was outstanding, absolutely led the line and put in a shift that suggested Wednesday night really hurt and he wanted to make amends, their defence shit themselves every time he marauded forward with the ball at his feet. Wharton offered further encouragement, one thing I also notice with him is how vocal he is. When the blades threatened a few times he was barking orders on how to stop it happening again. At risk of sounding like a miserable pessimist I still can't get carried away though. I think Sheff utd were very poor, as they have been for most of the season, I like Gibbs-White but after that wouldn't give many players praise. I also think it's highly unlikely that same team will play the next game, the international break won't help matters there but at least its the last one for a while. The unpredictability of this league is bonkers, hence the league table. Fulham and Bournemouth are basically up but even West Brom look a bit wobbly at times. I expect West Brom and Forest to be 2 of the play off teams then 2 wildcards. Boro will be expecting an instant impact from Wilder, I personally think he's working with scraps with that squad though. If the league is this close after Xmas it will make for a brilliant final half of the season. Until further notice we're not fully resigned to mid table mediocrity, although in the back of our minds most of us expect it.....

Facebook is awash with plants making comments like that, I say plants because I'm refusing to believe they're real people now such is the delusion. Someone tried passing off last nights result as acceptable because we once got stuffed off Man Utd 7-1 when we were in the prem (I kid you not).

Nothing to really add about that shambles last night. The game was already lost before the red card so the tosser blaming that won't wash with anyone. It was blatantly obvious he didn't even have a plan to try and stay in the game or even one of damage limitation though, the players had no frigging idea what he wanted them to do as he just stood there bemused on the touchline! Anyone with an ounce of pride would walk after that, of course we know he won't though. Well Waggott, when you see the (very good imo) offer on Saturday fall flat on its face all thanks to the twat in charge, will you still think he's the man for the job? He's making YOUR job literally impossible. Aside from season ticket holders I doubt a single person in the ground last night will bother again this season now. I was struggling to make it on Saturday as the missus is working, I probably COULD have blagged a babysitter but theres absolutely no chance now, I'll go somewhere enjoyable with the kids, not sit watching the club I love die further in front of me. Then post match I noticed he went onto blame the players and say they'll have this result on THEIR CV, it was all down to THEM. Well in my role at work I see many CV's and carry out many interviews. One thing I'll always ask is why the candidate wants to leave their current role. It's kinda like asking Rothwell, Nyambe etc why they don't want to sign a new contract, is it any wonder??? I honestly never thought I'd dislike a manager as much as Kean, we're getting very VERY close to that now though.......

It'll be a tough game alright but we can't give them too much respect. They've won 2 of the last 5 games away from home which includes a loss to Blackpool, a pounding off Coventry and a draw with Bristol City who have a pretty dire home record, finally scraping a win yesterday. If we lose its not the end of the world so hoping we go at them from the off. Let's not forget our home record is also decent, last defeat was back in August against the baggies, I think we're a better team now than then tbh too. Could do with Ayala being fit really to do a job on mitro but not sure how far off he is? Gonna go for a 2-1 win and another nervy last 15 mins.

His goals today were a joke tbh, a penalty that shouldn't have been and a through ball from the WBA player Snodgrass. He's still a top player in this league like, just hope we aren't quite as generous as the baggies were.

Derby unbeaten at home this season, our away form of late is garbage. It's difficult to see a win here I'm afraid. I think a draw is the best we can hope for and even that's dependent on the team we can field given the apparent defensive injuries again. Hopefully Wharton gets up to speed fairly quickly with a few more games for the u23s, I think we'll be needing him.