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Reply | Should we recall Celar, Field, or Lloyd?
at 11:14 27 Feb 2026
You could definitely recall Celar, Clive.
There was an article from Germany saying they asked us if they could send him back (no goals and the new manager doesn’t fancy him at all - 25 mins in 2026 or something). We said “no” because we’re hoping a few goals out there will increase his value (presumably from zero to something). I imagine the other reason is we don’t want to pay his full salary.
Fortuna would gladly let us recall him though. |
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Reply | Madsen hamstring
at 11:05 27 Feb 2026
Fair enough, Nix. It was just that question at the end which I think is a little dangerous as it puts people into that mindset of “well if they had our injuries they’d be struggling too”, or “without injuries, we could be up there”. But that is like saying “if we had better players” or “if we’d won more matches” we’d be up there. Of course. We didn’t.
I saw something from Wilkins on this MB saying how his son was worried this team could be a “What if” team. Again though, I worry that mindset is putting our position down to bad luck rather than appreciating the hard work and importance of getting the player fitness/conditioning side of the game right OR signing more robust players. You can’t on the one hand be happy we’re signing all three short ballers, and on the other think it’s bad luck we seem to get steamrollered in the first 15 mins of every second half after the oppo have been given a boll*cking and come out aggressive.
I personally think it’s mainly the Performance dept employing a flawed approach rather than using a load of crocks. Yes, Poku was probably an unreliable signing, but like Nix says, Burrell, Madsen, Varane, Chair (until the last 2 seasons), and others, don’t have a long history of injuries. It’s something we’re doing at the club and have been for a couple of seasons. Players going to get second opinions and treatment outside the club, on their own dime, is a sign they think the same. The club needs to deal with it to make the play offs a possibility and the player trading model a success. |
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Reply | Madsen hamstring
at 19:02 26 Feb 2026
All valid points, Nix, apart from the last question. Not having a long list of injuries and lots of first team players unavailable is a good reflection on Gallen. It’s part of the job. The DOF is accountable for it all. Sign robust players. Set up/maintain a strong medical/physio department. It’s all part of the job. It contributes to what happens on the pitch and where you finish in the league table. You can’t say they’d be doing worse with a lot more injuries. It’s irrelevant. Why do we give ourselves this excuse?
I agree with you that, assuming Stephan is following medical advice, then he can’t be really held accountable for all the injuries. He’s playing the hand he’s been dealt.
But we can’t push this line of “well how would these better teams be doing if they had all the injuries we have?” They don’t. That’s the point. Their conditioning, fitness levels, and lack of injuries is part of the reason they are doing well, because they’ve done a great job in these areas.
Saying injuries are just luck is self defeating. It gets you nowhere. Better to focus on what you control and whether there is anything you could be doing to improve the situation. Much better to do this than try to persuade everyone there is no issue (as has been the club’s strategy for over a year now).
And if you have been hampered by injuries two years running, it’s unlikely to be “luck” and requires some leadership to resolve it. Millwall, Coventry, Boro, are possibly signing more robust players, or doing a better job of keeping the on the pitch. It’s not luck. It’s one aspect of what makes you a well run club.
And I fully appreciate individual, contact injuries, in isolation, can well be down to luck, but I’m speaking overall about the bigger picture, over a couple of seasons. That isn’t luck. It’s a reflection of decisions made and approaches taken. |
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Reply | Stephan
at 13:04 26 Feb 2026
But, I don’t agree with you. You think there weren’t injuries last season and that the seasons are incomparable. I disagree with you. I think you are wrong. There were severe injuries last season season. Our Chairman references it in the account. Therefore I think the seasons are comparable. The only real variance for comparison’s sake is that this squad is better and has had more money spent on it so we should finish higher.
Please could you stop putting inaccurate words in my mouth.
I don’t have a problem with people holding different opinions, but I think it’s deliberately disingenuous to say we didn’t have injury issues last season. |
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Reply | Stephan
at 07:51 26 Feb 2026
Straw man alert!!
I never said injuries were worse last season. Never said anything of the like. You began this by saying you can’t compare to last season because we have loads of injuries this season and would have been relegated with this amount of injuries last season. I was merely pointing out that we had loads of injuries last season too, as commented on by the Chairman in the accounts. So, I think you point is null and void. It is perfectly reasonable to compare. The bit that makes a comparison harder, is the squad last season didn’t have Kone and Burrell up top. It didn’t have all the signings made this season. And the players who left at the end of last season weren’t a big loss. [Post edited 26 Feb 9:22]
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Reply | Madsen hamstring
at 14:58 25 Feb 2026
Nah, I think De Souza, as Head of Methodology, also reports up to Nourry, not into Williams.
I’m sure he does have more influence than he should. Was just explaining how it’s meant to work. |
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Reply | Madsen hamstring
at 14:06 25 Feb 2026
It’s quite clear how it is meant to work.
Williams reports to Nourry. Stephan reports to Nourry. Williams’ team should be informing Stephan and his team about players’ conditioning, fitness, injuries, and recommended availability. Stephan decides what to do with that.
If Williams’ team isn’t informing Stephan regularly, promptly, and correctly (ie. “He’s fine”, and then he breaks down injuries), Nourry should be holding Williams accountable.
If Williams’ team is informing properly, but Stephan is ignoring him, and players he was warned about breakdown after being played by him against advice, Nourry should be holding Stephan accountable.
Neither scenario can persist in a player trading model. It would be a disaster to the club and the person failing in whichever scenario is true, probably shouldn’t continue to work here.
I do not know which scenario is true.
I suspect the first one, because it would be pretty stupid (although Beale did it) to ignore the advice of your medical/physio team and risk serious injury to your key players. It would be shooting yourself in the foot.
Is Nourry willing and able to enforce accountability? At present he seems more interested in telling the fans that there isn’t an injury issue. That is a concern. |
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Reply | Ben Williams and his team
at 13:59 25 Feb 2026
On point 1, I agree. Probably wasn’t very clear, but that is why I wrote “but for advising who is fit and who is not”). He and his team should input into the conversation on availability and fitness level for Stephan to make the decision.
And yes, as I said, he reports directly into Nourry, like Stephan does, and De Souza. |
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Reply | Ben Williams and his team
at 13:57 25 Feb 2026
Yes. And I’ve been told one of our current players out injured has travelled back to his home country to have a 2nd opinion and some treatment there for his injury because he thinks the club have handled it badly. That is 3rd/4th hand, I must say, so take with a pinch of salt, but it happened at the start of the season with a player I believe.
The incident in the canteen with one of our highest prized young assets is well known and was witnessed by many. |
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Reply | Stephan
at 13:45 25 Feb 2026
Our own Chairman began his summary of the 24/25 accounts saying we were “hampered by injuries” last season. Cifuentes had loads of injuries to contend with as well. Your memory is either going or you’re deliberately distorting the reality of what happened last season. |
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Reply | Ben Williams and his team
at 12:50 25 Feb 2026
They are not.
He’s in change of everything “back office” related to performance and the logistical operation around performance. So, that obviously includes the medical/physio teams, but it also includes the training ground, the pitch at LR, diet, hotel bookings, coaches, kit, etc. All of that reports up into him.
He does not (well, he is not meant to) have a say in first team selection/tactics (but for who is fit and who is not), nor transfer activity and targets
That’s where it differs to Les and a true DOF role. The title was a way of giving him a promotion, and, I presume, a salary bump (to keep him given he lost the Brooklyn Nets gig last summer). He reports in Nourry like Stephan, Belk, De Souza, and some others, I think. But the vibe is he is Nourry’s number 2. They are very close. |
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Reply | Stephan
at 12:38 25 Feb 2026
Yeah, I don’t think Stephan is the problem. And I don’t think there was much else he could say in that presser which would have resulted in anything good.
I don’t agree with him on everything (Field, Varane, inverted wingers) but I like that he took the bull by the horns after Coventry early in the season, changing shape and tactics, and I think his calm demeanour after games is good for trying to keep this young squad on an even keel. He makes mistakes, no doubt, and reacts too slowly in games now, but so do a lot of managers. Speak to other many fans of other clubs and they’ll say the same.
Yesterday he had a heavily depleted squad to pick from. And his first choice central midfielder pulled up after half an hour. His bench was inexperienced. We were playing a parachute club who’s 3rd or 4th choice centre half we just spent £4.5m on.
The problem isn’t really Stephan; it’s the bloke doing the squad building, and the bloke charged with conditioning them and keeping them fit. The latter in particular needs addressing, urgently. |
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Reply | Stephan
at 07:31 25 Feb 2026
It’s only a better season than last year if we finish higher up in the league, surely? At a push you could argue it’s a better season if we’re in the same position but we have developed one of our youth players into a starter, or we sell someone for big bucks to fund further investment and protect our PSR position.
At present there is a risk none of those will have happened. And this squad has had a lot more spent on it than last season’s so we really should be better than last season. |
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Reply | Field...
at 23:19 24 Feb 2026
He wanted to play football. He wasn’t getting many minutes here, and even less in his man position. The club has effectively frozen him out. No wonder he wanted to go on loan to play.
As Simon or someone, be very wary binning off club stalwarts with 100s of games under their belt at this level, who are always fit, and available, and can handle the physical side of this league. You need them. New signings from abroad and the lower leagues can not just come in and “ball” from the moment they get here. They need that experience, nous, and physicality around them to give them the right environment to succeed.
With Cook leaving in the summer, Field (along with Dunne) would be one of the last people I’d consider letting go this summer. Sell Varane. Don’t extend Hayden (assuming he’s only on a one year deal), and sign someone to back up Madsen instead. |
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Reply | Madsen hamstring
at 23:12 24 Feb 2026
Thing is, it’s been so bloody obvious (as it was with Burrell) that it was going to happen that some of us have been calling for him to be rested (as we were with Burrell) for weeks now.
I don’t know what Williams’ team are up to? I cannot believe after he’s played every game this season practically and the full 90 in most that the data was showing them he was still good to go. Why weren’t they urging he be rested? If they were, Why weren’t they ignored? I dare say Kone is next given how we’re flogging him at the minute. I think he’s carrying a knock anyway.
And why have SO many of our squad had hamstring tears this season? I know the numbers in the league are up, but we’ve still had a lot. As did Brooklyn Nets last season. It has to be a Williams’ method that simply doesn’t translate from cycling to football.
There needs to be some accountability in the Performance function. The club’s leadership seems fine holding others accountable in the club, why not Williams? The Performance department needs an overhaul. A playing trading model cannot work if all your assets are injured. No one’s value increases when they aren’t playing. Bring in someone qualified with a proven record in football. |
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Reply | Bennie’s bat out of Hull, breaking out of his body, and flying away – Report
at 09:34 23 Feb 2026
It was a performance and result which gave me renewed confidence that this team can and should finish top half, and that the play offs remain a possibility. Who knows what might have been possible without so many injuries.
One minor criticism: Varane came on and, I think, he played every single pass backwards. It didn’t matter, given the goals and how open Hull were as they pushed for an equaliser. However, I’d really like him to embrace the “F*ck it. Why not?” mentality when it comes to playing a few progressive passes.
I also thought Vale made a big difference. I still don’t think he’s a winger - he’s not quick enough - and he’s certainly not a right winger. But he is a good footballer. He has a bit of quality. If Madsen was to leave or become injured, I’d try him in that role. |
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Reply | Mr Kone
at 00:26 22 Feb 2026
I think he is a proper centre forward. Really like him. Love his attitude.
I just don’t think he’s fully fit. That’s not just him carrying a knock, if he is. I think he’s carrying some conditioning, in horse racing terms.
Would love to see him next season a little leaner and fitter. Will add 5-7 goals to his game. |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 00:21 22 Feb 2026
Also, who the f*ck is Eric Ramsey?! He was playing Futsal a decade ago after leaving uni. How did Man Utd let him become so integral to their set up a few years later with that background. Absolutely lost their way. Then he went to Ted Lasso land and now he is a Championship manager. Hmmm…. |
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Reply | A Hulluva Hard Game Match Thread
at 00:10 22 Feb 2026
Great point.
I would be in favour of resting him. He’s either carrying a knock or is absolutely shagged. And you need him for the run in and for next year with a full pre season under his belt. If we’re going to give it a go, one game is worth it. Don’t repeat the Burrell mistake. |
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