The thing is, for all of his flair, his tricks, his nutmegs etc, the thing that boosts his price up so high is his consistent stream of goals. Hes a poacher but from a 10 position.

Almost certainly not his choice of an assistant. If Brentford appointed Heckingbottom then we could almost certainly rule them out as a contender. Problem at Villa is you could appoint anyone but hes still got to work with the very poor set of 3 or 4 defenders that they can cobble together until at least January.

I see that Dean Smith has been appointed at Villa, a sensible choice compared to the likes of Henry and Faria. That said, I'm presuming that the new sporting director was not hand picked by the manager, and John Terry is a strange assistant. Surely you let him bring his own assistant rather than forcing Terry on him. If he hadnt have played his last and an ultimately failed season there then obviously he wouldnt be near that role now.

Harry Chapman has gone off injured yet again today. We need to stay well clear.

There were plenty of games during the run in that we could have picked up that additional point to survive, the task was not impossible by any stretch. Im speaking purely matter of fact in terms of objective failed, I do appreciate the difficulty. Hes proven his worth since and then some to be fair. I also dont think we are in a stronger position than we were at our peak under Bowyer, not in terms of the team. We had 2 20 goal a season strikers, one of whom did it with enough consistency that he made people on here under appreciate the value of goals! I think there is less crap in our current squad, and also the manager now I trust more in terms of getting results.

Very good post. Agreed on the majority. Totally appreciate that he was dealt a bad hand, a poor imbalanced squad in 23rd place and all not well. It was a difficult task, a difficult task he ultimately failed. He wasnt the main person to blame for relegation, far from it, but he failed in his initial rescue, albeit just. Thats factual, even if there were mitigating circumstances.

Think thats a fair post in the main. His first season is usually overlooked and totally disregarded. Obviously Coyle was the protagonist behind our relegation but for all the talk about where we would have finished if you stretched out his results, and appreciating that the balance of the squad he inherited and the points total we had made the task very difficult, he ultimately failed in his first task, to keep us up. That said, safe to say he has very much made up for that and more since. Agree with you on the signings. Mixed but I do think overall, the feel of the squad is so much better, even if some of the individuals he has signed in his time are very questionable indeed. (Some of whom have already left) Too early to judge the 2 you mentioned properly. Talk of a 6 year deal is absurd, but a yearly one would not be agreed by him and would be too short. Also to financially reward him for potential net spend is a massive conflict of interest and is ludicrous. A 2 or 3 year deal would give us a strong element of stability whilst hopefully giving us an out down the line if all doesnt go to plan.

Definitely deserves a new contract, couldnt keep us up but since has done a very good job and theres no reason we cant keep on improving. A managers job should be based on results and he has certainly got them. Would just give him a 2 or 3 year deal as things do change in football and massive manager contracts tend to bite clubs on the arse but a new deal would be both a reward and additional security.

Think the main reason is injuries for their recent downturn in form. Hernandez, Roofe, and Bamford to name 3 have been injured recently and that would hurt anyone.

That is undoubtedly the case, success and attendances will always correlate. That said, it will never be as cut and dry as that, Mowbray and the players can only do so much. Most of the variables that lie at Waggotts door, he is failing to correctly utilise to increase average attendances at a point of high supporter engagement due to on field success. Season ticket prices, moving kick offs, (both logistically for those with tickets, and creating an unnecessary battle with sky sports for those who dont) ticket surcharges on match days, moving home fans to facilitate away fans etc. We are obviously working between limits either way, there is a hardcore following whose attendance will remain barring exceptional circumstances. There is also a ceiling, even at the best of times the ground obviously wont be full every week. That said, I think it is fair to suggest that Waggott is either not under an objective of "get fans back through the door as the priority" or he is and he is failing. Season ticket sales not meeting the target are proof to that.

The reason that Danny Graham is still our number 1 striker is because of Danny Graham to be fair. Hes been our best player this season. Lay off him? I think I miss all of this abuse he receives.

The thing is, all people have done is commented on games that they have seen, on the admittedly limited sample size of watching him play. He is being judged, just like Reed has been, like Rothwell has been, like Palmer has been, etc. I dont think people are being overly critical, people on here tend to summarise individual performances after every match, and Breretons have been poor so far. His price tag makes him our main signing so of course people will be particularly keen to see him, but he has to live with that pressure, it is not realistic to ask people to totally remove that price tag from judgements from him. But I also dont think that people are going over the top because of his price tag either, look at Smallwood, he has received criticism for poor performances this season and he was a free transfer over a year ago. Conversely, Corry Evans has been here for ages and has as many critics as anyone, yet he has received unanimous praise for his improved performances this season. Danny Graham was written off by some last season, now people have rightly acknowledged how good he has been this season. Obviously I think comparisons to Shearer are totally stupid, but thats very much an isolated poster. As is calling him a dud. If someone said, if Brereton continued his current performance levels from his fleeting cameos, he will be a dud, thats basically a fact, but obviously thats a massive if.

Hes the kind of player you dont want when you need to roll up your sleeves. He sauntered through games and often appeared like he couldnt be bothered, and ended the season out of the team. Think hes in and out at Wednesday too from what Ive seen. Henry seems the favourite. Will be interesting to see the fan reaction if and when a big name such as Henry comes in when they lose a couple.

If a player plays crap, people should be able to voice that opinion just as much as people should be able to praise a player for a good performance. For example, Brereton was really poor on Wednesday when he came on, whereas say Mulgrew was very good on Saturday, but no one has been replying to people suggesting that with "you need to stop being so positive." It goes without saying that hes not even started a league game yet, hes young etc, no one of a rational mind has "written him off" but we can only judge on what he does in a Rovers shirt really and so far, that has been nothing. People can both understand his age and the difficulties of joining a new club, but his price tag will not be forgotten about, and his performances will naturally be compared to Graham as they are the main 2 contenders for the same place in the team. Crucially, as @Mattyblue implies, what is typed on a messageboard is unknown to the players and totally seperate to what they hear in the ground. A player tends to have to do something particularly wrong, ie not put in 100% effort to get singled out at games.

Safe to discard then!

I think its naive to say that the club "cant do anything." Waggott seems to have taken that attitude and tries to fleece the fans that still go, and roll out the red carpet for away fans. But there are numerous controllables hindering the chance of a bigger crowd v Leeds, as have been touched on: - Season ticket sales being lower than targeted due to a price risen, so theres a disadvantage to begin with. - Kick off being unnecessarily moved - Surchage giving people a reason not to buy last minute.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/west-brom-return-new-bid-15250400 Surprised this hasnt been picked up on today...

Something I acknowledged.

From a good Dack delivery.

Yeah it was great by a few players, the first time touch by Rothwell, the run by Reed and the predatory instinct of Dack. A great goal amidst an otherwise turgid game. For me Palmer deserves the most praise for it. Dont think either have put it together over the course of a game so its a close call. Palmer more of a goal threat which we lack at times.

Wasnt it Downing that scored at Blackpool? Recall one at Peterborough and one I think at Oxford from corners in the way you describe. From Dack corners I think, scored by Mulgrew.

Rothwell is not a regular though, he wouldnt be my choice of corner taker anyway but we will need someone in his absence. Personally I didnt think he was particularly good yesterday, the midfield did look like one that hadnt played together before, as much as it was I would bring in Evans alongside Rodwell against Leeds as we will need more control in there. Palmer I would keep in as he showed his magic for the goal with a wonderful bit of individual brilliance that ultimately won the game. Therefore, Rothwell would revert back to his role of sub.

Agreed with that. But I dont think our corners have been good this season. In fact the only one I remember us scoring was Mulgrew, literally directly from the corner! Total fluke. I am not sure if Reed and Rothwell have taken corners at previous clubs but the way that they have been taking them for us suggests that they arent their strong suits. Why Rothwell though, dont you agree that our corners were poor again yesterday? Mulgrew needs to be in the box really but in the absence of alternatives, he may be needed to take them.

Corner taking is a specific skill. Rothwells corners yesterday were really poor, floated corners are easy to defend against and hard to attack, good corners are whipped in. Dack whips his corners so they are more dangerous. I dont feel we are anywhere near dangerous enough from corners, we do have a smallish team so floated corners like Reed and Rothwell have been doing provide zero threat. That needs to change, we had the 4th least shots on targets going into yesterdays game so we have to maximise our goalscoring opportunities through alternative means too. I get what you are saying and my mate said the same, he is a predator but its one of them for me. He wont be a threat from them anyway if the actual deliveries are as poor as the ones that Reed and Rothwell provided in recent weeks.

What do people think of our recent corners? Rothwell seemed to take a few yesterday but his were equally as ineffective as Reeds poor corners of recent times, floated ones that dont really lead to goalscoring opportunities. Mulgrews our best taker but we could do with him in the box. So surely Dack should take them? Feel like at the moment a corner isnt a goal threat for us and it does need to be.