[Marco4]

I can't pretend I wasn't saying all these things about Vaughan before he signed, but continuing to rely on him is foolish.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

He's a liability temper-wise and I fear that he will come out of any tackle worse for wear.

[Marco4]

In his defence, he started off getting decent runs of games before his layoffs. No longer.

[Citizen Jeebers]

He was playing for a contract before

[Marco4]

He’s not a bad player, Andy Delort but it was a strange old do this summer. Something had obviously happened back in France because from about June there was just no way he wasn’t leaving Tours. Every week FranceFootball was telling us that he’d been somewhere trialling, or was ‘set to sign’ for some club or other. Nobody particularly of note, but it was an interesting lesson in how agents can, eventually force through a move.

I guess this was pretty much a shit-or-bust thing; Delort isn’t old at 23, but if he wasn’t in the right shop window now, he’d never get a ‘big’ move in future. All this on the back of one good season with Tours – 24 goals in Ligue 2 is a decent haul, for sure – but he’s never been a great goalscorer before that.

It just seems to me that Wigan forked out about £3m-ish on someone with one good season at a fairly low level of football behind him, badgered into it by the fact he was being hawked round everywhere.

[Grimois]

So, my thoughts on this game:

Firstly, this fixture will now be a fond one for me as last year’s was the first game my kids attended (although as we were in FM lower and it was shitty weather we left on 70 minutes – first time I’ve ever left a game early and then we score a late winner – maybe I should do it more often?)

This time round will be very tough. Some people have managed to take positives from Saturday but, despite my usual optimism, I didn’t see many. I truly believe our only real hope is to go old school 442 with two proper wingers putting crosses in for our forwards, and a midfield tasked with trying to play the odd through ball or dinked ball over the top for Nakhi Wells.

My suggested formation/line up:

Smithies
Pelts Hudson Lynch Robinson
Lolley Butterfield Coady Ward
Wells Stead/Bunn

But we need a loanee striker. Vaughan is fast becoming a half-season wonder. His glass ankles and Scholes-like approach to tackling must render him a liability – you could excuse it if he gave us the goals we got I his loan spell, but that is beginning to fade into the memory. Stead is not the answer. His best days are behind him and , aside from his goal, not sure what he brings. Our back 4 look up, sea him there all lanky and gangly and think “he’s a target man” so pump it forwards and yet he never wins a header – he barely jumps! So frustrating.

I’d be very happy with a dull, dour 0-0 here – we need to stop shipping goals and tighten up, and surely Powell will be able to see it given his defensive position as a player?

So, 442, grind out a dull result and build from the back. All of the best and most successful managers in our game have addresses weak defensive habits and this has to be our starting point. Personally, I’d make Hudson captain. On Saturday he marshalled the back line and was more vocal then Pelts, who was given the job before he joined because he was just about the only candidate. We now have a natural leader so let’s make him skipper and be done with it. If Pelts spits his dummy, it proves he shouldn’t have been given the job in the first place.

Is anyone else finding being a Town fan wearisome at the moment?

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Been finding it wearisome for a season and a bit.

[JUSTASILLYOLDGIT]

You should try some of my "Jolly Pills".

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Oh aye, how jolly?

[Marco4]

I'm still fine, too, but have long been given an advantage by not actually watching the games.