I wouldn’t worry so much about the size of some players if it wasn’t allied to a lack of pace as well. Solomon, Gnonto , Ramazani and Aaronson are all small and there might only be Ramazani with any real pace out of the four of them. We haven’t seen enough of Ramazani to judge just yet, but I don’t think even he has the speed of Dan James. The likes of Raheem Sterling and our own Aaron Lennon are tiny, but if you have genuine pace and are running into space behind defenders it doesn’t matter how small you are. I think the lack of height is a problem for us at centre forward when Piroe plays….or is it that he just never jumps for a ball ? The upshot is that any balls up to him are never won, if ever seriously contended, and we don’t have an aerial presence in the box. Rodon and Struijk are maybe smaller than your average centre back but both seem to compete pretty well in the air. Overall I’m not overly concerned about a lack of height.

I see Firpo out for at least a month.. not good with Xmas period coming up.. Bogle late fitness test today. Thankfully Byram is fit. Schmidt will have to get some mins now no doubt. fingers crossed he's ready for it.

Hope Bogle makes it, he’s been decent whenever I’ve seen him and carries us forward well. There’s rumours Dan James is to be rested, big mistake if they do.

Yeah we need pace and work rate against these tonight, i do wonder if Ramazanni might play but he;s not had many mins of late. I'd go James and Ramazanni personally if not, go James and Gnonto

I think if Boggle has a slight strain then don`t risk him.
Hopefully Byram can step in and like Trebor says time to give Schmidt some minutes which if it wasn`t for his recent injury he should have had by now.
He might end up a very good signing.

that should answer the piroe or joseph question. piroe miles better.
meslier supurb too which should answer some critics.
Rothwell, again, my m.o.m. supurb driving force

What a night. Best atmosphere I’ve heard down there for quite a while and we got a display to match. Some big performances in there last night, thank god they didn’t rest Dan James ! We’ve nobody like him in the team, scored one, involved in the other two, and how he got back from right wing to left back to make that tackle is anyone’s guess. The crowd even managed to sing his name last night which made a change. Big effort and a lot of bravery last night from the lads, and that’s the kind of result that will make the difference between play offs and automatic. It might seem churlish to even mention a couple of negatives, but Struijk gives me the willies at times and doesn’t always seem comfortable in the role he’s being asked to play. The other is Joseph. It might seem harsh to expect more from a player that has had such little game time, but he doesn’t seem to be the same player that looked ready to burst onto the scene. At this point it’s looking grim for him tbh. Would another start give him at least a chance to get up to speed? I’m not sure it would. Do we now look for a stop gap CF in January or hope to make the final push with what we’ve got ? One things for sure, we don’t have a centre forward at the club that is anywhere near Premier League standard if we do go up. That’s an issue for another time, just gonna enjoy that performance from last night.

Yeah, he's not doing enough is he Joseph,sometimes he looks a cracking prospect then other times he looks so raw, he didn't effect the game well enough last night, i do wonder if he needs a loan for 12 months playing every week. He's deffo got something but it's needing time.

Cracking game though and great result. Boro had a good go which is fair play. We got away with one on the no pen, but we've had plenty go against us.

James MOM for me, absolutely superb and i don't think there's a better attacking player in the Champ than him. So dangerous. Messlier yes was very good, full credit to him. Byram excellent too. That tackle which led to the second goal was world class. Aaronson also to his credit excellent, worked hard and kept the ball better. Midfield due excellent again. Good results for us also last night with Sunderland and Burnley drawing.. fingers crossed we can extend that gap now, Saturday will be tough away from home and another early kick off.

proper game at last and I agree that joseph needs a loan. get playing every week.
great atmosphere, best in a long while.
going to preston on saturday and that's huge. get 3 points, beat Oxford and we're flying.

It was a more comfortable game than I was expecting, especially with both full backs out. Farke's tactics were spot on to allow them not have more possession and press them a little deeper than we normally do.

I didn't think Joseph was great, he lookedlikehe was lacking sharpness, but it's clear his profile is more like what we need. He occupies defenders and is much better at creating space for others than Piroe. Aaronson, in particular looks much better when Joseph is upfront than he does with Piroe.
For all the criticism Farke gets for allegedly being a rubbish coach, he's worked wonders with Dan James and turned him into such a decisive player in the final third.

Very good performance and I was a bit worried for 20 minutes that second half but we dug in and got a well deserved 3 points.
Picking up on the comments above.
I agree about Struijk and have said it for a while now that he looks rushed and lacks composure at times. A Kyle Bartley type at the back would do my nerves a lot better.
Meslier yes did have a much better game but it was pointed out by Michael Bridges on LUTV that he allowed the Boro attacker to isolate him for their goal that personally I didn`t think he could stop it but Bridges did.
Wober whilst decent isn`t a LB as much as Ampadu isn`t a RB.
Aaronson despite falling over a few times after getting brushed off the ball had I think his best game.
Joseph should have scored 2 easily and I'm not sure what he brings at the moment other than he`s good at trying to close players down.
For me the top 4 last night were James, Tanaka, Rothwell and Byram in that order.

I love bridges but a david seaman at his peak wouldn't have saved that one

Yep, agree totally about Farke. Deserves huge credit.

It was noticeable at the game last night that a section of our supporters were happy to jump on Aaronson’s back when he made a mistake. This maybe a hangover from him going elsewhere last season. This behaviour from certain supporters is both strange and hypocritical considering they idolise and chant a players name that actually refused to play for the team while trying to orchestrate a move away from the club. It’s almost like Gnonto’s treacherous behaviour never occurred. Aaronson, alongside Piroe, is a luxury player in this team. He will lose the ball, make bad decisions, and at times look lightweight, but he’s regularly included because he’s better for the balance of the team than other reputedly better players. His work rate is phenomenal, and unlike others that always want the ball into feet he is prepared to run in behind defences and stretch the game. I trust Farke’s judgement on the team shape and dynamic, and if that judgement is based on the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, Aaronson’s inclusion is fine by me.

I totally agree Tad.
That ball off Wobers head came at some pace and I`m not sure if he had stayed on his line which Bridges is saying, he still wouldn`t have kept it out.
Hats off to both Meslier and Aaronson who as you know I`m not their biggest fans.
Both had their best game by far.
I`ve always preferred Piroe to Joseph but was hoping Joseph like Joffy would be our answer.
Also surprised he`s not played Bamford yet, another hero of mine!!

I think it's obvious bamford is done at leeds.
piroe offers so much quality on the ball but we need a pressing CF as well.
a conundrum for farke.
been to every home game bar burnley, and more than a few away, and boro were the best we've played imo. and we overcame them really well.
but we need to kick on. a run of 5 or 6 really winnable games before it's the big guns again.

Seems discussions are taking place with the Israeli CF which shows the club has concerns.
If we can offload Joffy or Bamford I think we will get him or someone in to play upfront.

another team playing there cup final. absolutely appalling referee too. poor final ball all game. thoroughly deserved point and a great day out. good away day preston

Think only Rodon, James and maybe Tanaka with any credit out of that one.
Bogle was awful and we looked more composed with Byram RB Wober LB against Boro.
How on earth did Bamford miss from a yard out?
And I know you think me and one or two others have an agenda against Meslier and I bet you are going to tell me there was no way he could have saved that.


Ref 100% should have given Whiteman a second yellow and let one or two blatant fouls go unpunished.
Main thing is we kept going and deserved the draw.

my lad said he should have saved it but I was at the other end. not a view of either goal. strjuik diving in caused it at the start.
and bogle was awful

I thought we were much better in the 2nd half, and despite not being a great performance, we still created enough to win it. Aaronson, Tanaka, and Bamford all should have probably scored prior to the equaliser.

Solomon and Ramazani showed more in their cameos than Gnonto did all game, both deserve to start over him at the moment. Piroe, again offers so little in games like this. Joseph is still very raw, but at least he gives you decent movement, and some mobility up front.

watched highlights on the way home and meslier should have kept it out.
strjuik equally culpable

It was a bad goal all round. Rothwell runs up a culdesac, gives it away, Struijk doesn't fully commit to closing down the Preston striker, Rodon doesn't attempt to cut out the cross, and Meslier should save it after getting both hands to it.

People say we need a 10 and a striker, but if we had a goalkeeper who could be relied upon, we'd be clear at the top.

there's no doubt he has cost us points but if you are being fair then you can also point the finger at plenty of others too for various failures.
after losing 3 key players for months we are second. and farkes teams always kick on after Christmas.
we need a 9 in January more than anything imo. I'm confident we'll be top 2 in may

Agree Tad. Piroe doesn’t do enough in games like that, he’s not got the legs. Joseph too raw. Bamford flakey. It will be interesting to see what they do. Jan is a very very difficult window. Mind you Ipswich did well last year in Jan. K Moore signing was huge.

The Preston goal was poor all round from front to back. I thought we’d get beat yesterday I nearly put a bet on it. Farke needs to sort these away performances out, particularly early kickoffs we’ve only won one of them