RiseAgainst

My personal take is that Assombalonga is quite lazy and indifferent much of the time, and acts as if he doesn't want to be here. I don't think he's nearly as good as other strikers we've let go in recent years, and I'd sell him in January for the first decent offer we receive. That said, I think Britt would be much more prolific with a Ramirez figure behind him, or playing in a front two with someone who has different strengths. Fletcher doesn't seem to work well in a two, and Gestede doesn't seem to work at all, so Britt has to effectively work alone. And I don't think that plays to his strengths.

Bausor gets the train?? I assumed he'd fly in a helicopter, or at least be chauffeured around in a Rolls like Alan Sugar, with a glass of cognac in one hand and the latest League One scouting report in the other.

Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but... ...could it be Britt's upping his work rate and effort as the transfer window approaches? Not suggesting he's been deliberately missing in previous matches, but I strongly suspect he wants to leave in January. He might be making more of an effort to be a handful and put himself in good positions to score, knowing that goalscorers won't be in demand if they're not demonstrably putting in the effort or hitting the onion bag periodically.

I really like Rob Nichols, and I owe him a personal debt of gratitude from when I first became a Boro fan. But him taking over OB is the only way he's ever going to be in charge of a slick, modern Boro forum!

Are the people agitating for Pulis's return remembering that his atrocious signings are a large part of the reason Woodgate inherited a hopelessly unbalanced squad with no width, no confidence and no attacking prowess? Even a talented and experienced manager couldn't undo the damage Pulis did to our squad and their playing style within four months, and Woody is neither of those things. It's possible to believe Pulis AND Woodgate were both terrible managerial appointments, in different ways. It's not a binary choice between them. Nor should we start viewing Monk's disastrous reign with rose-tinted glasses - I'll be an old man before I forget the sight of a two-man defence with Adam Clayton dropping back as a part-time CB. The last Boro manager who could make the most of the resources at his disposal was Karanka, even though his football was often criticised for being overly negative and one-dimensional, too. He's one former manager I'd have back in a heartbeat, though I doubt he'd even consider working with Gibson again.

It's the hope that kills you.

We don't need David Walliams - we could write it ourselves. It could be called "The very silly manager": "Once upon a time, a very silly boy called Woody was trying to be a grown-up. He got everyone he knew together, sat them all down, and told them he was going to decide what they all did from now on. But people weren't sure if they believed him, because Woody's best friend, Robbie the Robin, kept popping up and telling them what to do as well. If Woody said run forwards, Robbie said run backwards. Woody would tell them the best way to count to ten was 4,3,3, but Robbie would say it was actually 5,4,1. It was very confusing. "One day, Woody and Robbie had a big row about Randolph the reindeer. Randolph wanted to go and play with another group of friends, and Robbie said that was fine, but Woody said it wasn't. Woody and Robbie called each other lots of bad things in front of everyone, and then Robbie flew off to learn how to be better at being a grown-up than Woody, and Randolph went off to be with his other friends, who he secretly preferred being with anyway. And that left Woody all alone, as he prepared to tell his Uncle Stevie why he wasn't very good at being a grown-up." Anyone know a good illustrator?

I preferred it when we were at the other end of the table, though! Worrying that the Boro coaching staff appear to be having public rows in front of the players. Regardless of who said what, and why, it's going to filter down to matchday performances. When the players look over at the bench mid-match, they'll remember what happened and wonder if it's worth listening to the instructions they're receiving. it also speaks volumes for Woodgate's judgement that the man he wanted as his number two is (a) hardly ever there and (b) arguing with him, while the players he identified in this supposedly outstanding pitch to be head coach have all failed to add anything to the team. Wonder what Gibson will say to them next week? Can't imagine there'll be much positive to discuss, unless we manage to beat QPR, which seems unlikely.

Isn't Saville suspended?

Back when it was exciting to be a Boro fan. Thanks, @Erimus74!

Careful now! You'll start an argument about whether Middlesbrough is in Yorkshire or not. I've seen it happen before (admittedly on less cerebral forums than this one.)

I know this is largely based on conjecture at present, but... If Gibson actually is trying to keep the wolves from the door for six months at a time, he must have an exit strategy in mind. No company chairman operates like that in the long term. Especially since we clearly have a squad better than League One standard (and yes, I know other clubs relegated to L1 probably also felt they had squads strong enough to avoid that fate).

I fear an easy win for QPR, and I suspect Hugill will relish scoring against us. He's scored half as many goals this season as our entire team, probably because there are other QPR players in the same postcode as him. As for Brexit vs biscuits, I'd love to forget the last three years ever happened (in politics and also in sport). I'll take a pack of milk chocolate Hobnobs, if anyone's offering.

The last relegation has proved to be pretty disastrous, and I can't see why a second one would somehow steady the ship. If it ultimately comes to that, Gibson really has lowered his ambitions.

We seem to have an aversion to shopping in foreign leagues for players these days, which to a degree is understandable after the PL experiment and the behaviour of mercenaries like Guzan and Ramirez. However, the domestic market isn't exactly working for us, if the best we can do is Browne and Bola. I'd love us to get rid of Gestede and replace him with a DoF and a Europhile scout, but (a) no bugger will take Gestede off our hands, and (b) Gibson generally has a better-buy-British attitude to player recruitment these days. Someone asked on here recently whether we'd swap our best player for a new DoF, and the consensus was overwhelmingly in favour. But based on recent history, I agree with NB4 that we won't actually do that - or anything remotely sensible.