He has had a really good season and bas benefitted both from the manager change and recently having an experienced head alongside him. Like many he had a poor season last season but I think a mixture of things, for example saying stuff about fans booing and that one game at Bristol City seemed to perhaps make him (online, as ever he certainly like everyone has always been backed in the ground) a bit unpopular. He was very good in his first season and he has returned to those levels.

Excellent away result even if it relied on a goal that was well offside to get it. A typical Eustace performance, not entertaining but a side that is so well drilled and disciplined. Its a limited squad but one that knows what it is being asked to do. Defensively we were brilliant and Pears only had to deal with routine shots. Hyam and Pickering are not 2 of our most popular players and often get at times unfair criticism but both again were excellent, Hyam seems to thrive next to the experienced Batth who was also brilliant and Pickering dealt with an inform winger with ease. Brittain isnt the best defender by any means but tonight he played his part with a very disciplined performance and the 2 midfielders again continue to perform consistently and compliment each other. Our issues and limitations lie in attack where our lack of pace and quality lets us down. The amount of offsides we seem to get is so frustrating. Dolan came back into the team and beside a bad miss and delaying a counter attack to the point where a goal was ruled off, he otherwise offered very little and Hedges again was anonymous, I hope both move on in the summer as theyve been here for so long and repeatedly flatter to deceive. Cantwell was uncharacteristically really sloppy but sprung to life with a brilliant assist (with the help of Beck) and Ohashi struggles to offer much beside hard work and hasnt offered a goal threat for a while. Eustace has build good foundations even if his football is not easy on the eye and its such a shame that hes working for owners keen to sap every last pound out of the club. If some of the considerable money brought in was reinvested on some pace and goal threat it could transform us, but it wont.

The fact that players like Hedges and Dolan start most games are symptomatic of the negligence sadly.

Hedges and Dolan in the same team is always exciting. Boro for all talk of their recent form are actually without their keeper, main 2 midfielders, main creative player in Azaz and also without Burgzorg and Van Den Berg.

I cant see them appointing an England level calibre of manager.

It may have been a poor choice, I dont know as Id never heard of their new manager. But point being, you strip any side of the majority of its quality players and it will not do nearly as well. Considering the quality they had last season, Philogene, Carvalho and Greaves in particular, they potentially underachieved not making the play offs. Their squad this season is nowhere near as good. Giles was there on loan too I think last season and Millar is not only a considerable downgrade on Philogene who stood out at this level, but he soon picked up a season ending injury.

Im not sure its anything but premature to suggest that hes been sussed out. He has a number of injuries in an aging squad coming to the end of a cycle. I also have seen plenty of expression from his players over the years.

Im not saying that Hull made the right decision by making the managerial change they did. But they have lost and not adequately replaced Philogene, Greaves, Delap, Carvalho, Seri, Morton, Zaroury etc. You take that sort of quality out of any team at this level and youll not fare as well and there was a lot of questions over how Rosenior couldnt get that squad into the top 6.

So there we are, black and white, it could have been avoided had the owners not decided against the necessary works on the pitch.

He was looking much more like his self aside from when he was at right back. But I think Hyam has also been much better and at a similar level without getting the credit he deserves. All things considered, injuries, age and his inconsistencies, I still am unconvinved certainly that a Prem side would be interested, maybe even top end Championship.

Id drop Hedges, proven over a period of time not to be good enough. ACD the obvious replacement. The other question is at left back but Pickering to be fair has been good since he has come in. But Beck behind Weimann (moved left) could give us a good overlap.

Hard to disagree.

Im sure it would be more than considered, but I am unsure who would bid that. For the last season and a half he has been either injured or in poor form and is no longer a prospect.

He has a column called Nicko's Whispers?

Many people seem to think that Carter is an obvious big sale but im not so sure. Hes a good player on his day but is currently recovering from a second serious injury in a year. His form when he has played has been well below Tomasson's first season and I dont think hes young enough where any Premier League teams would be interested as a future investment.

@Vinjay im sure enjoyed it.

You didnt know, you couldnt possibly have judged from that on par with the referee who will have done a full inspection, you were annoyed having travelled and just created an agenda that the referee having made the effort to get to Ewood just didnt fancy it.

Foden, Saka, Grealish, Palmer and Rice all back involved today. Nations League clearly seen as an inconvenience.

It was mentioned in the minutes fron a fans forum meeting a year or 2 ago initially that the owners had approved the cost of a total pitch overhaul which was needed after 30 years. It was confirmed soon after that they had chosen not to fund it and it just led to stitching sections of the pitch and not doing the full overhaul which included pipes and drainage. Considering the age of the pitch and how a total refurb was deemed necessary yet not funded. Surely common sense suggests that had the owners funded it, the pitch would have stood more chance of standing up to the rain. The fact that postponements have become so much more common as the pitch ages surely isnt coincedental.

How could you possibly know for sure that the pitch was playable, and more than the referee based on a couple of keepers diving around for a short while in the corner of the pitch.

Chaddy always is insistent that a game cannot be called off as he cant bear it. I remember when a game was called off an hour before a couple of years ago and he was in the ground messaging on here as he watched the goalkeeper warm up trying to prove that the game could go ahead. There is obviously the issue with the river but a few years ago the owners refused to fund a promised pitch revamp that hadnt been done for 30 years, including drainage.

Well, obviously. But I presume you expect them to get really good results considering they are a Championship side about to appoint a manager who you deem to be worthy of the England job.

Considering you touted him for the England job, do you think thats a brilliant appointment?

No need to worry. Gestede supposedly has good knowledge of the French and Belgian league as we have seen with prolific goalscorer Makhtar Gueye.

Those games were home away v Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan to be fair.