NorthernOwl

Hilarious that people are saying Mikel isn't good enough for us. He is a completely different level to anyone else in our squad. Anyone who has watched him play for Boro this season will have seen he is still way too good for championship football. We have absolutely zero chance of singing him anyway as he will be off to play for a premier league team.

I'm a huge fan of Lee and delighted he is back. However he has just turned 30 and has been out for nearly 2 years. Even if he can stay fit (far from certain) there is still a huge question mark about whether he will return to his previous level. Players often don't after serious injuries. Do people not understand our financial situation. We simply cannot afford to take risks by offering contracts to the likes of Lee and Hooper. We have to use the meagre resources at our disposal to bring in players who can be relied on to play week in week out.

Apparently he's lightweight and doesn't get stuck in enough. Some of our fans can't see past this.

Funny how our fans often seem to underestimate our best players. It's the same with Bannan who people always seem to think we should move on. Both players who every manager in the league would want in their squad.

Exactly this. Reach plays week in week out and gets through a huge amount of work every game. His assist and goals ratio is very impressive and even when he has an off day he still contributes by putting in a real shift. He's also incredibly versatile and deals with moving positions on a regular basis. These are the types of player that promotions are built on. Not the best player in our squad but certainly the most valuable - in both senses of the word.

Yep indeed and really its not surprising. If we go toe to toe with Villa they will beat us. We may all want to go gung ho but the reality is a more cautious approach probably gives us the best chance of victory.

Not bad that is it. Where could we have finished this season if we could have played that 11 week in week out.....

Our tactic of employing good players who can only play half of the games in a season has failed. We need to ditch sentiment and focus on bringing in players who can play week in week out. I'd prefer a player with slightly less ability who is always available than a talented crock. Success in this league is so much about having a well drilled, well organised team. And this is best achieved through consistently of selection. Not constant chopping and changing to accommodate endless injuries.

Wow, just wow.

This really is incredible since I'm pretty sure we were in the bottom 3 for goals conceded under Jos. What a complete and utter farce he was.

Think he will stay. He's worth next to nothing these days given his age and recent injury record. And I just can't see chansiri letting him go on the cheap. I also suspect Bruce will be keen to see whether he can get him back somewhere close to his best.

This 100%. We would have gone up under Carlos if our best players hadn't spent half the time injured. Let's hope the powers that be aren't tempted to offer new contracts to players who can't stay fit.

Personally I'm not getting too excited. He usually takes 7 or 8 games to get up to speed and start contributing when he has been out injured. And he will be off in the summer anyway. Of course it's good to have options but don't expect him to hit the ground running.

Can't emphasize this enough.The reason we didn't go up under Carlos was because our best players kept getting injured. Thankfully a few of our crocks will be gone this summer. Hopefully we don't end up relying on the likes of Hutch and FF next year or we will inevitably fall short again.

The standard is poor if you are comparing it to the premier league. It's getting harder and harder for teams to go up and stay up. I'd say whoever goes up this year will be straight back down. Well Villa might stay up if they win playoffs I suppose. I know what you are saying about the teams coming down. But I think that is more a mentality thing than a quality thing. It's so hard going from losing every week in the prem to suddenly being in a position where you are expected to win week in week out.