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You can feel a Coventry winner coming here…

He’s not a natural goalscorer, he’s usually on his heels.

Hopefully. I thought his first touch was back to its abysmal worst, he gave away needless free-kicks, his finishing was dire, and worst of all IMO I didn’t see much effort, but I agree he was better in the second half. Last night’s behind us now, I hope he’s back at it asap.

I thought he was poor last night in almost every aspect. Whether that’s down to being rusty or his new agent blowing smoke up his arse is open to debate. But I think his value’s dropping like a stone.

Having Tanner protecting him and offering an outlet was a massive help.

A committed performance that warranted more. Tanner was superb on the right, giving us more balance and cover for Vyner. Semenyo didn’t look interested to me and I suspect someone’s been blowing smoke up his arse. Semenyo and Weimann both should’ve scored in the second half, but it’s a good point at one of the toughest places to go. There’s no way in hell they’re not playing for the manager IMO.

I expect us to lose tonight and at Coventry, but will changing the manager bring an upturn in fortunes? Not for me, no. There’s no obvious candidate out there right now, there’s no guarantee anyone could do a better job given the circumstances, individuals will continue to make mistakes, and we have no money to spend. So unless we want Euell in charge and to become certain for relegation, I think seeing out the rest of the season makes the most sense. Now isn’t the time for change, so get behind the lads, no matter how shit they can be, and look at changing it at the end of the season IMO.

This is the most balanced XI we could pick IMO, considering we’re welded to a back three.

Just realistic. We’ve struggled against physical direct sides like Millwall for long before Nige arrived, plus the ref is a joke, it’s not a happy hunting ground for us, and confidence is low. It all points to a home win IMO.

2-0 Millwall.

That’s a valid point and one I agree with. He needs to pick players in their preferred positions and if he’s welded to a back three, right now that should mean Vyner, Naismith, Atkinson, with Tanner and Pring either side. Scott and James in midfield behind Weimann, and the front two pick themselves. I’ve got no doubt Tanner could do a better job at RWB than Sykes, Scott or Weimann.

Good post. And the irony here is that SL had those challenging opinions from the likes of Laycock and Davidson when they were directors but he bought them out to create this dictatorship. 20 years on and look where that’s got us (on the pitch). As for JL, he did just as little for HL’s helpdesk during those times as he’s doing as chairman of our club. The bloke’s a privileged clown.

Craig Shakespeare’s suddenly available now, I wonder ?

Exactly.

In what way were we “fortunate that a points deduction did for others and hid our true position”? Without the 21 points Derby were deducted, they’d have finished one place above us on goal difference. We’d have finished one place lower, Reading would’ve gone down, and there would still have been 14 points between us and the bottom three with a host of clubs in between.

I get that, Davide, but as you rightly say West Brom have considerably more quality in their ranks because parachute payments enable them to do so. When we played them in October, those quality players were coasting and they we caught them cold. That’s the Championship, it happens. Did anyone moan about that win? No. Did anyone moan when we beat Rotherham TWO games ago? No. But people are moaning because they changed manager and he’s getting a better tune out of those quality players and assists me the same would happen here, failing to acknowledge that we have nowhere near the quality to achieve a similar outcome. Compare Sykes with Wallace for example, poles apart in terms of quality. Our season won’t be defined on a defeat to West Brom, it’ll rest on games against Cardiff, Huddersfield, Rotherham, Blackpool and co, plus whatever points we can pick up in between. But to give us a chance of that, Nige needs to pick players in their proper positions. What’s the realistic alternative? Euell? That’s the sort of replacement we’d get. Be careful what you wish for.

You mean compare the West Brom side that has proven quality players at this level (Furlong, Swift, Wallace to name three) who are all on big wages that we can’t afford to pay, with players who’ve been picked up from L1 and L2 (Sykes, Atkinson, Tanner to name three)? In no way is that irrelevant.

Relegation would cost more than sacking Pearson, but what’s the guarantee we stay up if he gets the boot? There is none and in all probability his sacking would make a bad situation worse, particularly when it’s likely we’d end up with someone like Euell in charge going on SL’s track record.

Keith Dawe hired Cotterill and if I remember correctly GJ wasn’t SL’s first choice either. I add to that SL’s influence in the decision to appoint Pulis over Moyes in the late ‘90s. He has a proven track record of failure when it comes to appointing managers and head coaches. That’s a fact. For me, it is a miracle that we have stayed in this division the last two seasons given the turmoil we’ve been embroiled in, and our best chance of staying up this year is to stick together now and reassess in the summer. That’s not to say I’m happy with how it’s going, though. Roll the dice before the summer and we add to our financial woes with no guarantee of staying up.

I don’t disagree with you for what’s it worth, but I have zero faith in the Lansdowns to get us out of a situation that is entirely of their own making.

What we need is Bielsa; what we’d end up with is Euell. I admired the job Valerian Ismael did at Barnsley, but not sure about him after his stint at West Brom.

For everyone saying get rid after losing to a side that will probably finish in the top six, ask yourselves — on more than 20 years of evidence — do you genuinely trust the Lansdowns to appoint someone who can improve the situation under the current restraints? I sure as hell don’t. Yes, today was shit. Yes, we will probably lose at Millwall and to Coventry. But I think we’re better than Rotherham, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Blackpool and will stay up by the skin of our teeth if we keep him. If we get rid, I think relegation is nailed on and his successor will have even less money to turn it around (barring a major sale). We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.

No surprises there, he ain’t a RWB. We’ve got a decent one in Tanner on the bench as well.

If Conway squared that, Pring would’ve had a tap-in. Chance gone

On paper, West Brom should canter to victory today, but if there’s one thing about this consistently inconsistent City side it’s to write us off at your peril. Most people did that in the reverse fixture yet we got our first win, and a comfortable one at that, at the Hawthorns in donkey’s years. All bets are off for me and it wouldn’t surprise me if we get a result today. Pick King in the middle or defence again and that opinion will change, though.