bluebruce

JRC was injured for most of the other 72 games...

Like I posted earlier, I don't think he was ever physically 100% when Mowbray would fudge him into the side. You can't play at your best when your body isn't cooperating.

How he is at Wigan and how he has been managed is something to ask a Wigan fan, not me. Although it's worth noting their captain plays at RB, always going to be hard to knock the captain out of the team. I do have Wigan fans in the family actually, and one of them reckoned Nyambe should be playing over their captain. However, I already said factors stopped him reaching his potential, and I feel he regressed in the last year of Mowbray's rule. It was blatant to me that damage had been done to his confidence. Some players are confidence players. See BB in his first two seasons, compared to BBD in his fourth. Being repeatedly unfairly dropped, and called out in the press when other players were far worse, did a number on Nyambe's confidence and he'll probably never get to where he should have. How cheap Brittain was is irrelevant, I could equally point out Nyambe was free. Thinking JRC was better than Nyambe at RB during Mowbray's time is just laughable to me, he was a liability week in week out, but you're welcome to your opinion. My opinion is you've tied your opinion to those of the club time after time, so you found it easy to justify dropping Nyambe for worse players and calling Nyambe crap. But hey.

Fair enough, delete my response to the one you already deleted if you like.

Until Jack Vale shows a lot more than he has on the football pitch against 11 senior professionals in competitive matches, he will continue to be seen as not good enough. And that's exactly how it should be. I don't care if he's Pele in training, he's been utterly ineffective when he plays and cost us points as a result. If he comes good and starts smashing them in, everyone will be happy about it. Similar shite was said about Jason Lowe, and the fans indeed did know more than several professional managers.

Other people can rate a player that you don't, without it being some sort of fucking syndrome you know. Always rated Nyambe from day one, so hardly Stockholm syndrome. Mismanagement and injuries stopped him becoming the player he could have been. But doesn't mean I can't acknowledge the current JRC (the old one was dogshit at RB) and Brittain offer more in an attacking sense and probably more overall.

Great pass from Travis, as others have said. Needed vision for that one, not many would have tried to play it that way. Terrific assist from JRC for the third too. Beats two men when he looked in trouble, with a neat trick, straight into the box and lays it on a plate for Gally to eat up.

Fair assessment, he was expected to have Nyambe's engine but with more end product. But he doesn't have Nyambe's engine, just the more end product part. He couldn't get back quick enough, especially not being fully fit, and we got exposed a lot as a result.

Sometimes though, he thinks he has that split second, dawdles and loses it. When he's on his game, he's very good at this level. He can certainly play. Needs to find that consistency though and never rest on his laurels.

Who has said that?

It would still be 6 points and them with a game in hand. Frankly they're a better side too. Possible but I wouldn't count on it, and we have to beat them first of course.

I think there is a lot of this. Managers will sometimes admit a player has been carrying a niggle but playing anyway for a few months. I think Travis is another one...some posters have framed it as being dropped making him get his act together, and who knows maybe there's a touch of that, but personally I think it's more been a case of his body was feeling it after a decent start to the season. Trav isn't a player whose attitude I've ever questioned, he gives you what he's got.

I've had limited access to games lately, but what I've seen and heard it's the directness I like about him. Wants to make things happen when he gets the ball, instead of just looking for the safe pass. And he's capable of it too.

I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the main reason JRC was, frankly, a bit bollocks for quite a while was his physical condition. Constantly getting injuries suggests his body was never quite up to it, and that affects your whole performance, especially your pace (not that he's fast now). Mowbray was guilty of throwing him back in before he was ready, and when he was out of form, on a few occasions. Often with no need as Nyambe was fit, and often resulting in another rapid breakdown. I do worry with him that another injury could be right around the corner, but so far the team are managing his fitness well you'd have to say. Now he's starting to live up to the hype we used to hear in his academy days before his serious injuries. Long may it continue!

Tbh I'm not concerned about them. The goal has to be to stay in the top 6, so it's Watford, Norwich and Sunderland that currently present the most threat. Not Sunderland either if they're really in a Mowbray death spiral. In theory, Millwall and Luton would also be easier teams than those to beat over 2 legs in the playoffs (although we do sometimes struggle against battling teams).

Not all of them though. We've gained ground on Sunderland, Watford, and above us Boro.

Amazing improvement, pretty much a Diaz-level change but he already had a double barrelled name.

Szmodics goal

He can sit down now.

The league upheld his nonsense decision. There's nothing to be amazed by, business as usual as far as they're concerned.

Oh he won't. So, a Mowbray team in a death spiral in the second half of the season, and Ayala getting a long-term injury in the winter. It does feel like old times. Personally I wouldn't be that bothered if Ayala got a one-year deal if it was on significantly reduced terms, but he's unlikely to take something like that anyway. Even if he would, the better decision is still probably to let him go. We have some good players in that position now, most of whom still have capacity for improvement. Hyam, Wharton, Carter, Phillips...hmm, thinking about it, 4 for 2 spots is the usual mantra for a squad, but all 4 have had some injury issues, and Phillips is still very inexperienced. Plus we occasionally like to play three at the back. If we do let Ayala go I wouldn't be surprised if we move in for someone else. After all, we were interested in Porteous, so that's probably the plan. I don't know if keeping Ayala on a cheap one-year deal might not be a better option than going into the market or risking being short on capable CBs. Would give time for Phillips to bed in to senior football without having someone in his way longer term. There's also Sam Barnes though, who JDT seems to rate.

I'm fairly sure it's already been mentioned previously that he's back in training. So probably just avoiding repetition.

I don't think scoring the chance was all that easy either when you look at the replay from behind the goal. Keeper closed it down well. It was score-able but not necessarily a sitter. I'd hope for better from an attacker, but for a typical centre mid I think the effort was fairly par for the course. Not that I think he should be playing.

I can't even remember the last time you predicted defeat. I don't know whether that means I now expect victory, or if it's more like 'oh shit even Mercer thinks we're going to lose'.

But you've just demonstrated that you bring the opposite of a bit of luck. More like a bit of 'oh fuck'.