Lighthouse

I don't think it's a case of being rested so much as not risked. Imagine he fractured his forearm or pulled a hamstring in what is essentially a meaningless game and missed the playoffs. I don't fancy seeing Long vs. Millwall at Wembley.

I’d offer Stewart another year and sign two new strikers, given choice. Two years ago we signed a bunch of ‘squad options’ and look where it got us. I have no desire to repeat that, I only want to sign players who are better than we’ve got now.

We can argue about Wood all day but TBH it's besides the point. As good as Larin is at the moment, this has all the hallmarks of a purple patch in a lower league, when you compare it to the rest of his career. Two years ago Ryan Fraser was tearing Championship defences to shreds, Adam Armstrong was banging them in and Jan Bednarek was a rock at CB. We all know how they looked playing in the PL.

Some people scoffed at him, mainly because of his age. His record prior to Forest is still far better than anything Larin has managed. Double figures in four consecutive PL seasons for Burnley and nearly 30 goals in his last Championship season. The two players aren’t comparable; Wood’s previous record is similar to Lambert, whereas Larin’s is similar to Saganowski.

He's been brilliant, an absolute gem of a find, no doubt about that. His touch, movement and change of pace all far better than I was expecting when he signed and he's produced some excellent goals. But... He's still the 31 year old who's spent his career out on loan here, there and everywhere, only achieving double figures once in a season and that was five years ago in a league where Paul Onuachu makes hay. If we do get promoted and we don't want a repeat of last season, we're going to have to be ruthless. If we're going out to sign a striker from scratch to play in the PL, we're probably going to have to be more ambitious than making Larin permanent.

The paradox there is that if you don't like the PL and don't want to get promoted, then the supposedly better Championship just becomes meaningless. You'd basically just be playing 46 friendlies next season because there're no consequences at the end of it. Everyone may get a crack at the playoffs but in the PL you get a go at Europe if you have a good season. The Champions League might be a closed shop but Brighton, Everton, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brentford all have a really good chance at Europe next season. Even below that, I don't think fans of Palace, Sunderland and Leeds are any less happy than those of Preston and Bristol City, being midtable in their respective leagues.

All you’re saying there is that football is more fun when you have a much better squad than 90% of the league can afford. This league is no more fun than the PL, winning is.

Tonight’s match has just reaffirmed what I’ve thought all along; second was never really on and we’re better off not having to deal with Ipswich in the playoffs. They will do the business in front of their own fans at the weekend and that will be that. It’s going to be us against Boro, I guess we’re now playing for home advantage second.

So, a draw neither side will really give two sh*ts about really.

What a save! Such a shame it’s not going to mean anything.

We’re out for the count here.

Having won the ball back, there was no sense in punting the ball back forward like we did. We had time to regroup and keep possession.

How was this man so crap for Feyenoord and Mallorca?!

Fellows doing a great Sofiane Boufal impression there. How many challenges can I run into?

It’s spelled ‘booze’ but yeah go on, if you’re buying.