trousers

Indeed. Surely Stephens was the obvious choice given he had a decent enough game there the other day?

Exactly what I predicted last night

I'm sure the bookmaker in question is delighted...

Drew (otherwise, highly amusing... Keep it up )

Result!!

With Downes back, Smallbone won't be playing the same role as he did on Wednesday...

How many games have we lost in which Downes has partnered with Smallbone in midfield? (Genuine question as I've no idea and you appear to be more knowledgeable than me in this area)

Nah, stick with Downes I reckon....

Half right

Just looked back... Nope... So he's available for today then... I'll stick with my hunch in that case

I've got a hunch he might go with Stephens at right back and Bree left back Edit: ah, hang on a minute, is Bednarek suspended? Scratch that thought if so

I guess it's human nature to take form and 'momentum' into account when expressing a gut feel opinion. Around a month ago, when we were still on the crest of a wave and before the 3 'unexpected' defeats, I countenanced the possibility that we might catch Leicester, whilst still feeling it was more unlikely than likely. I don't think it was unreasonable or bizarre to have kept that possibility on the table at that point in time. To me, it wasn't unreasonable a month ago to believe that we could/should beat Bristol City, Hull and Millwall. Had we done so then we'd now be sitting in second place 2 points behind Leicester and 4 points ahead of Leeds and Ipswich. (Yes, I know.... "If this"..."if that"... blah blah blah... but taking those 3 games in isolation, I'd like to think we could agree that expecting to win them wasn't such a bonkers notion a month ago...?)

That was 4 defeats and 12 lost points #mathsinnit (I don't recall anyone thinking we could still go on to win the league after the woeful September games)

3 defeats (and 9 lost points) ago, to be precise.

One would hope that RM will pick him on merit rather than just to stick two fingers up at the keyboard warriors

It's ok to offend others when you're defending the offended though... #goingaroundincircles

173 #whataboutnathanjonescounter

Surprised that we haven't "kept the opposition guessing" for another 12 hours.... And the club announcing this on social media at bang on 10:30pm makes a bit of a mockery of the 'printed press' embargo...

Nor was he suggesting that there are people who are against playing out from the back in any circumstance, which is your interpretation of what he was saying....

Name someone who is against playing out from the back as an optional tactic?

Is this one of those @hypochondriac type posts where you've got some inside info but put it across as a question or suggestion in order to avoid making an overt 'ITK' post...?

Agree that he's never going to be overtly critical of individual players, but I'd expect him to at least acknowledge the issues we clearly have in the depth and quality of our strikeforce overall, which was clearly exposed in Wednesday's game, rather than just saying that everything is rosey. That said, I acknowledge that he's got to focus on the positives, of which there are many, to galvanise the players for the run-in, so, yep, it's a difficult balance to strike as a manager I accept.

Why not "keep them guessing" until 1 hour before the game rather than 10:30pm the night before in that case....? #logic (Sorry to bang on about this but I'm just highlighting an inconsistency in the questioning at today's press conference. Just chewing the cud on an internet football forum. That's all....)

Indeed... and that's exactly my point, why not ask the obvious question given there's no reason not to...? It's not me generating conspiracy theories, I'm simply highlighting that it doesn't make sense not to ask about the latest fitness news on one of our key players. Adam has asked at all previous press conferences, why not this one? No conspiracy, just an observation about which I'm a bit curious.

I don't get this embargo. What's the point of it when all media outlets are pumping out stories online 24/7 these days? Where's the logic in fans having to wait an arbitrary 12 hours to find out whether one of theirs team's key players is able to play in tomorrow's game or not? I get there might be an argument for keeping the opposition 'in the dark' as long as possible but, surely, if that was the case then why not keep it quiet until 1 hour before the game, not at some meaningless/archaic deadline later the same day...? Usually when players are back in contention it gets sung from the roof tops in the live press conferences... The fact that Adam Blackmore didn't ask the obvious question about Downes this morning smacks of him being told what he can and can't ask about... (Yeah, conspiracy territory I know... But why wouldn't Adam ask this obvious question otherwise..?)