Saint Pete

I agree about Manning, he has answered some critics I think who said we couldn't possibly play a back 4 with him as left back. Also, a word for James Bree. I don't think it is fluke that our improvement in defence has coincided with him returning to the fold. He is an important part of our back 4 set up now, he is not flashy but is very calm and assured and always seems to be in the right place defensively. Also, pretty good on the ball and has an eye for goal occasionally which is a bonus! Must say, I couldn't understand why he was discarded by previous managers, but credit to Tonda for recognising his qualities.

Agree with that except I would start Fellows instead of Matsuki as long as his fitness is OK after last night. He looked like he was returning to form so would be good to keep his confidence flowing. Also, Larin may start instead of Stewart purely to protect him from potential injury and with another key game coming up v Derby.

I thought Fellows had a decent game last night, does look like he's getting his confidence back in terms of his general wing play, showed up well against that opposition. Just needs to show more composure in shooting positions, but he's still worth his place on that form in my opinion.

Ah OK, thanks. Surprised Charles not starting in that case. Otherwise pretty much as strong as we could be.

No Downes?

I'd totally missed that Roy Hodgson is back as caretaker manager at Bristol City! Came out on top today against mad Nate in his first game. 😁👍 Got to admire his enthusiasm for the game at 78 years old.

Fifa have done their best to make it impossible for the big nations to not make it to the World Cup Finals so that would be some feat if Italy don't make it! 🤣

Italy struggling in playoffs v Bosnia. Down to 10 men, heading for penalties.

Yes, agree they looked good. Asian teams have done very well in World Cups previously (Japan, Korea) so not sure why people think we should roll them over easily when we are missing probably our 3 best players in Kane, Rice, Saka?

Yep, shame Watkins not available as we needed another proper striker if Kane not there, but I think Tuchel probably thought Calvert-Lewin and Solanke were not up to it at this level (rightly) so he tried something different with the false 9 thing. Didn't work out so reckon we will rely on Kane and Watkins in the final squad assuming they are both fit. It's only a friendly so not too bothered, we will be a lot better with Kane, Rice, etc back in the team.

I'm all for trying players but the ones I mentioned have been around for some time and we know enough about them to know they aren't players who will challenge to be in a World Cup winning side. In my opinion of course! Happy to see the likes of Trafford and Livramento getting a chance.

I think Tuchel's done a very decent job as manager so far, but don't really get the selection tonight. I know it's a friendly so experimental, but Spence, Solanke, Henderson, Calvert-Lewin? Surely it's obvious these guys will/should be nowhere near selection for the WC finals squad so why pick them?

Forest 1 up at half time! 😂

Wow, great to see Russell 2.0 doing so well at Chelsea! 😀 And I see Everton now 7th in the as it stands table under Moyes. Wet Spam fans must be so proud of helping hound him out of their club, they are so much better off without him. 🤣🤣

Didn't see the game today but just saw the goals. Shea Charles, wow take a bow son, that was a proper wonder goal! Le Tiss would have been proud of that strike I think iin his heyday. And good to see Fellows with the assist for the 1st, shame he couldn't have scored with the rebound chance at the end. Still feel he could be an important player in the run in if we can get him confident again.

Still easily strong enough to tear us a new one if they turn up when you look at that!!

Gone Sailing.

Comparisons with Baz are surely appropriate to discuss, aren't they? If as you say, Peretz will do in the Championship, that already puts him significantly above Baz, otherwise we wouldn't have (belatedly) got shot of him, would we?

Pretty mad results all round this weekend. Top 3 at start of play were all at home and only 1 point between them! And out of top 6, only Ipswich and Wrexham got the 3 points in spite of 4 out of 6 being at home. Just goes to show looking at remaining fixtures and who teams are facing doesn't always matter so much in such a competitive league, anything can happen! We just need to focus on ourselves and keep picking up the points. 👍

Disagree. We are 6 points off them now with a game in hand. Definitely catchable with this many games left! That result at West Brom today puts our point their in perspective, not such a bad result after all?!

It's great to see and hear Downes enjoying his football again and producing performances we know he is well capable of at this level. He should be a key player in any team in this league with his qualities and Tonda has got him back to that so fair play to him for that.

Didn't get to see the match today but sounds like a great away performance, particularly given it was without 2 key players in Scienza and Stewart. Well done Tonda and the boys! 4 points from the 2 away games this week now looking a good return keeping us well in the mix with 2 home games to come 👍

Anyone know any more about why Stewart came off at half time? The OS mentions that both Scienza and Ross will need to be assessed in the coming days, but doesn't say anything further about nature of any injury?

On reflection, I'm not too despondent about coming away with a point last night. It always had the look of the kind of game that we struggle with and I hope it will be a timely reminder to the players and manager that they need to be on it in every game in the run-in irrespective of the apparent merits of the opposition. There are literally no easy games in this league unless you earn the right. I'm pretty confident we will see a much improved display at the weekend against a team that will look to dominate us, although of course Coventry are flying so will be a difficult challenge.

Maybe "meaningless" was the wrong word, but others have used the term "nothing games". Reality is there would be an awful lot more nothing games without the lure of the play offs in the last quarter of the season. If entertainment is a factor (which I think most people would say it is when we give up several hours of our time each week to watch matches) then surely it is more entertaining when there is some prospect of a meaningful outcome? The other reality would be that you would see a lot more teams with an "on the beach already" mentality in the last 10 games, and see more teams fielding weakened line ups once it's not feasible for them to achieve a top 3 place. This then would transmit to the fans having a more "who cares" attitude to matches. And I don't think it's fair to call fans "stupid" for wanting to watch their teams achieve a higher placing and potential promotion. I take it you boycotted the last few games of 2023-24 championship season and subsequent play-off semis and final that saw us go up with a win at Wembley after finishing 4th unlike the stupid fans who went and enjoyed it? That said, I disagree with extending play-off down to 8th place, a step too far. Current system is fine, if anything could be adapted to give the higher teams more advantage.