Heretic

You've found a spare keyboard lying around, obviously...

Six to eight weeks to heal, so my Google research says. That's JT out until the New Year.

Preston reduced to playing hoofball.

Paging Remi Garde...

If we didn't have Big T, Sunderland is where we'd be right now.

Dem, I noticed it ages ago. Months. I assumed you'd asked for it to be there to poke fun at your autocorrects, seriously!

He hung them up the week after he signed the contract.

You've made many fine posts on this board and I often nod along with your views. I've posted because I'm in rare disagreement. He's got the odd show trick and flashes of quality, but the fact is they don't make a quality player. I think the guy who holds the world keepie-up record has never played top flight football. Again, tricks and flicks don't make an effective player. I think he's had a free pass at this club because he's a local lad and a youth teamer. He's showed precious little, IMHO, for a very long time. In the games I've seen, I don't think I've ever said to myself, 'we're really missing Grealish.' He scored a good goal against Rotherham after some nice footwork, but that's about as memorable as he's been. If you asked me who I'd prefer to have an injury-free season, Grealish or Keinan, I'd say Keinan. For me, Keinan already looks like a more effective player. I think some (not necessarily you) confuse skill for quality.

It's hard to keep up with everything in a long thread (I find it impossible), but this isn't true. I've read comments praising his signings - I think generally his signings have been good value yet I'm unimpressed by the football on offer when you consider the resources available to him.

6-0 to Hull! I'd shit on the City but I can't squat that low.

Mathematically, it's true in every league. But the point remains - the odds are that your fortunes are made against the better teams. Wins against Burton are the very minimum to be expected.

True. But generally speaking, because it's a pattern that repeats, a team wanting to be at the top knows its fortunes will be broken or made against the best teams in the division. Beating the lower ranked teams (e.g. Chelsea or Man City looking down the table) is considered a given at your Chelsea and Man City.

He's a great outlet that means the ball can stay in the opposition's half and away from our goal. He's not just played well, he's been consistent and looks full of desire to play. A world away from the terrible attitudes we've suffered at this club. I hate to say this, but think of how much more money Richards is on p/w than this guy. Awful.

No need to break anything to me. Mathematically, consistency against the Burtons is probably going to get you midtable. The reason the guys at the very top are there is because they can pick up points against rivals close to them. Beating the also-rans won't get you promoted, that's the low hanging fruit. It's true we don't have to beat all the top teams, but nobody would be so foolish to suggest we would or should. The reality if you want to get out of this league, you're going to have to do well against the high-flyers. The BBC red button tells me tonight that Cardiff put on a 'breathless' display against Leeds to win. Whilst you can leave people with their breath, it's wins like that at home against tough guys and grinding out draws at their place which will see you in the mix for the PL.

Good result, but the goal isn't to beat Burton, it's promotion. It's against the top teams where SB lives or dies, not the Burtons of the division.

Albert is one of the best players in this division.

I hope someone from the club is reading this. A dedicated fan like yourself is being crushed into submission by what's on offer. Surely something like this should make it clear to them how bad this situation is.

I'm sure a small cash fee would suffice...

Redknapp was saying he had to pay up contracts to get players to leave. Only 4 or 5 players were the right quality when he came in. His signings are all good, one kid destined for the PL. Then the Talksport presenter offered him a job at the end (no, really).

If he was winning football matches he should be winning, he wouldn't have to say a word.

If we get this thread to 1000 pages, maybe we can give it to Bruce as a leaving present? He hasn't done enough for a carriage clock.

It's easier to fire the first guy, you simply made a mistake as we all do. The more guys you hire and fire, the more it looks like you don't know what you're doing. This isn't about just Bruce anymore. The competency of those who recommend managers is on the line. Firing him is an admission you got this appointment disastrously wrong too and thus Bruce's fate is bound up with their professional reputations. No wonder that trigger is so slow-moving.

He's just bed-blocking the progress of a youth teamer who surely couldn't be worse.