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I agree, we got caught out down the flanks and that shape is the same be it 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. I’m leaning towards BTA > Eccles for this one but if Lampard feels like he needs Eccles for control, fair enough.

Sheff Wednesday is the only dead cert. I genuinely think Norwich are in serious trouble and could get relegated, especially if they get Manning’s replacement wrong. They’ve lost all 7 of their home games and can’t afford to have a home record that bad in any league, Luton and Plymouth only lost...

They wouldn’t have finished in the Top 2 had Leeds not bottled it big time. The league isn’t bad, it’s competitive and with Southampton and Leicester being basket cases, is it to anyone’s surprise that’s it’s an open league? My prediction is that we’ll finish Top 2 with Ipswich and Leicester*...

That’s the problem with football fans, they’d be up in arms about prices raising. £30 for a ticket in the championship was normal 15-20 years ago which is around £50-55 in today’s money when adjusted for inflation. In the meantime, transfer fees and wages have gone up with inflation as well as...

At a stretch you could make the case for 4-5 players: 2 x wingers 1 x AM 1 x striker 1 x LB The Bamford story is interesting and think we wouldn’t have vetoed that move with nothing else lined up for Jan. LB is high conditional on Bidwell leaving imo. Realistically, I think we sign 1 winger...

I’m not sure if BTA comes in for Eccles or not. We were hit on the counter twice v WBA and that was with a 3 man midfield. Gut feeling is a 4-4-2 because Simms deserves a run in the team. Aside from his goal, he got an assist v Stoke and even Torp’s goal v WBA, Simms put enough pressure on...

Jan is just getting the right players in to keep us on top and then in Jan, assuming promotion, you’d need a massive ‘churn’ to get the correct players in to mount a serious survival challenge. Gut feeling, we’d be the best placed team to stay up even if we went up with Ipswich, Southampton or...

Is it? It’s shorter and easier to say Blues than Birmingham. It’s also their nickname whereas I’m not aware of any others using ‘blues’ in the EFL. I can. Tottenham Hotspur ‘Spurs’, WBA ‘Baggies’, Aston Villa ‘Villa’ as well as calling Birmingham ‘Blues’. It’s not over familiarity but when...

I’d only sign a LB if Bidwell is moved on. The old stalwarts of the Robins era; Wilson, Allen and Bidwell are now all ‘culture’ players. Good to have around the dressing room and all are happy with reduced roles. Personally, I don’t think we’ll move any of those players on in Jan, but...

I agree that the relegated teams will finish in the playoffs. The underlying data suggests they should in around automatics even at this stage. We have both Ipswich and Southampton away in December so those two results for me will give a strong indication of whether or not we’ll go up...

It isn’t, but on the flip side, if we get 4+ points v Ipswich, I think we’ll win the league. Right now, they are our main rivals, statistically and in the table they’re most likely to be next promoted. If we continue our form into December, we’re not gonna get caught up for 2nd realistically...

Would you have sold COH to Southampton/Leicester back in 23/24? My own opinion was no because the playoffs were in reach. If they’d sell him and the club wants him, I’m all for it. He’s a good championship player!

Too important for Bristol to let go. They’re 4 points off automatics so they have a good opportunity to have another stab at the playoffs. If they sold him, it’s a message that they do not believe they’ll go up. As you say, it is reminiscent of our situation with COH and perhaps had we not had...

Bristol will be a tough match but it’s a game we should winning. The only games where you’d ’take a draw’ would be the away games v Ipswich and Southampton. Ipswich will be a tough game and they may overtake us in the xG table (not that relevant) and at home, they don’t lose often. If lose both...

What are you prioritising here? On a per 90 basis, EMC is a much more potent attacking threat, it’s only xA Saka wins. Passing stats tell so much, JDS has better stronger passing stats than MVE but all other categories, MVE is the better player attacking and defensively. To my point, MVE and...

For the second top scorer though. My view is that when push comes to shove, Lampard prefers Haji to BTA. If Simms starts v Boro and continues a decent run of form, it complicates team selection further. Not necessarily a bad thing!

What does that look like for the whole season? Sakamoto has 3 more successful crosses than EMC and a better %. Fotmob gives the % and successful crosses but not the number of attempts. EMC has created more chances, better xG but less xA. In short, they serve different roles and imo, EMC is...

There’s a lot of teams in false positions. Hull, PNE, Stoke, Boro and Bristol are all a lot higher than they should be. Teams like Ipswich, Southampton, Blues, Watford and Blackburn are all massively underperforming. Of all those teams, you’d expect Ipswich, Southampton and Blues to finish in...

A win at Boro puts us 10 points ahead of 2nd even if Stoke beat Charlton. 10 points clear of 2nd at this point and it takes some doing to not be in the automatic promotion come Jan. There’s been a lot ‘take a draw’ games and had we taken it, our lead at the top would be less commanding. It’s...

Simms has been good this season and Wright’s injury is an opportunity for him to stake a claim for a starting berth. Played quality v Pompey, got an assist v Stoke and got a goal yesterday. Away to Boro, he should start.