LondonBristolian

To be fair, the players were all perfectly in synch and virtually telepathic at they all drifted to the left of the box and left oodles of space for the shot to go into the net.

Balls

Similar story to Taylor Moore. It just does not work if you are a defender who cannot concentrate for 90 minutes.

Yeah. I have a fair amount of sympathy with him. But - as someone trying to force his way back in - every mistake is going to get extra scrutiny.

I don’t think it was a penalty or that Vyner did loads wrong beyond getting himself in a position where the ref could make the wrong call but it is a little bit of a concern that a) he is not a lucky player b) we seem to have a lot of players who are not lucky players. We have loads of players who seem to be able to play well generally but their one mistake gets punished. One of the things I like about what I have seen of Janneh is he seems to be able to come away from a mediocre performance with a goal or two to his name. We have far few too players who fluke good outcomes from poor performances and far too many whose good performances get punished nonetheless.

I’d fancy our “injured or not starting XI” to beat the side we have been able to put out. Still, hoping for the best. COYR!

Of late he has not been starting matches since returning from injury (though he is today). I just wonder if he is still returning to full fitness and not yet at 100%.

I don't see that. He's been clear himself from the start about our limited transfer budget and we've just made staffing changes that he presumably wanted. If the "pack of lies" isn't around the transfer budget or the staff he could have, I can't see what it would be...

Definitely agree with that. Plus Towler is standing out (albeit in non-league) and Cundy looked good last season in League One at least so I think centre-back is the one position I'm pretty relaxed on. The midfield on the other hand - we urgently need a settled combination that works...

That was a game where we really saw what we've missed with Semenyo and Massengo. Neither had fantastic games and both were a little wasteful on occasions but they were the reasons we could burst forward and relieve the defence when under pressure (and ultimately that ability to break was obviously what got us a winner).

That's a good point. Whenever I've seen Williams, it's been without Massengo and he's been the most mobile of the midfielders but it might well be that he could sit if Massengo was in the midfield too. I certainly agree that a fit Williams plus King as an option will give us a much better chance of getting the results to stay out of trouble.

The fundamental problem - and I think it is one criticism that can be validly levelled at Pearson (although I don't know what was available)- is we have seven or eight central midfielders but none of them suit a holding midfield role. Massengo, Williams and Scott in particular could do with someone sitting so they can roam freely without the midfield losing its structure. At the moment that is James but I'm not sure that is his game. I agree we might need to find a way to move - say - Palmer and Bakinson out on loan to get someone in. Of course that might not be easy.

I think this might be our best option at the moment. Pring left back with Dasilva left midfield would give us a bit more width and movement than we've shown of late.

Dasilva has had an awful time with injuries and that has to be seen as part of the context. I think he has struggled this season but we've seen that - before his injuries - he looked very good at this level and I certainly agree it would be a mistake to write off a 23 year old. The club really need to look at how to get him back to his previous level though and, at the moment, Pring or a fit Baker have to be ahead of him.

In terms of what we need right now: Bentley Tanner Kalas Atkinson BRYAN PACK BROWNHILL Massengo ELIASSON REID Weimann Ayling and Webster might feel like obvious inclusions for obvious reasons but I don’t think they are the positions I am most anxious for us to strengthen.

Have I missed a story about something behind said in the dressing room after Forest or have I misheard your post? Re Palmer and O'Dowda, I assumed the issue was that we couldn't offload those two players so - in terms of trimming squad size and wage bill - Paterson was the one who could be moved on. Ultimately that feels like the problem in a nutshell. The players under contract aren't the players we'd ideally keep. That comes back to the OP. Yes, there might be advantages to a larger squad but we're surely be spending less wages on lower quality across a greater number of players. I am not sure that would help.

This season is going to be a struggle and going to be about picking up enough points to stay out of trouble. I do honestly think that the absence of Williams and Semenyo and the fact that Massengo is perhaps not yet ready to start again is hurting us a great deal and getting those three players back will make a difference. I also wonder if Conway is going to be another option up-front once fit. Those four players plus Baker's return will make us better than we are now. It's easy to say we should ship out x or y but I think it's a massive misunderstanding of where the market is. I don't think Vyner, Bakinson, O'Dowda, Palmer, Wells or Martin are being sold for cash fees in January and letting them go on a free means we need to replace them for free too, which may not be realistic. What I would try and do in January - if any budget exists at all- is see if we can get a holding midfielder and maybe a winger with pace, perhaps on loan or a free. It might be we don't get the best players in the world but it might give us a bit of structure and more options in the squad.

Dasilva is the one that's concerning me the most at the moment. On the whole, I can accept our team might just not be quite good enough. But Dasilva is playing so much more poorly than he has in the past. Add in the fact that Vyner and Bakinson have gone from promising to not good enough and there have to be questions asked as to whether Pearson is getting the most out of the players at his disposal. I feel Martin has a role to play but relying on him every game just means he plays poorly every time. I think he'd be better if we used him sparingly.

I don't think we'll go down - simply because I think there are some very poor teams who we have a head start on. But, as it stands, it is going to be very close. Fast improvements are needed.

I honestly think a striker would help. Whatever his merits, I think Martin is being flogged beyond a point of usefulness. Weimann too. I know I keep saying it but I think both would play better more often if they had occasional rests.

I really want to believe Kasey is too good to leave out in the cold but, as others in this thread have said, the onus is on him to demonstrate that. There's something stopping him being a fantastic player. I'm not quite sure what it is - and others have touched on the same thing - but I think he's talented and I honestly think he tries far harder than some give him credit for but he's not developed the ability to consistently deliver. Time's not run out for him to improve but he has got to do so and I don't know how many more chances he will get with us. I feel similar to how I feel with Taylor Moore and Zak Vyner in that I want him to succeed and there's a lot about his game that I like. But, based on what I've seen, I can't make a case for him getting more regular game time and I can't fault the manager for leaving him out.

First off, what Downsy has done is inappropriate. It is inappropriate for a member of staff/representative of the club to be or appear to be sexualising other employees. Absolutely no doubt on that. However I completely disagree that him doing this is identical to if a male member of staff did it to female athletes/sportswomen. There are two key differences. 1) Generally speaking, male athletes/sportsmen tend to be talked about in the media and on social media in terms of their ability and merit whereas there is a long history of female athletes in the media or social media being talked about primarily in terms of their attractiveness with their sporting ability being ignored or trivialised. Yes, Downsy is objectifying male athletes but he isn't contributing to a continual narrative of sportswomen's achievements being trivialised or ignored in the way that people are when they objectify women. 2) As we've seen in US Gymnastics, US Football and in aspects of the women's game here, there is a long and unfortunate history of female athletes being exploited or abused by male coaches or other employees. A female footballer who is leered at (in person or on social media) by a male employee has utterly reasonable grounds to fear for her own safety as that male employee may well be bigger than her and able to physically assault her if she is alone with them. The rugby players may find Downsy's comments uncomfortable or inappropriate - and should of course complain if they do so - but is unlikely any of them will physically fear Downsy, which a sportswoman might reasonably do. I absolutely agree someone should remind Downsy of the expectations for a member of staff and, if a member of the rugby team chose to complain, that should be taken seriously. But I think drawing a direct equivalence to lewd comments made about women ignores both the actual level of physical danger women may feel when drooled over by men and also the historical exploitation and oppression that plays into. Neither are right but nor are they equivalent.

Why don’t we turn our TVs black and white and go back to only one channel whilst we’re at it?

In that case, I suggest you prepare yourself for surprise and disappointment.

This is it. If a woman or person or colour gets the job then - whoever they are and however capable they are - you just know the easily offended brigade will be up in arms and bleating about it and will immediately decide they could not possibly be the best person for the job. But if the producer’s best mate gets it then - as long as they have a penis and white skin - they’ll immediately assume that person got it on merit.