2 new signings incoming. Miller and another. My guess is Baradji. Think we were stalling that deal until we sold someone and can now complete it due to Brittain going.

Stupid to judge anything off pre season but we looked poor today. Weak up front and sloppy and slow at the back. Need a few more through the door. Pleased with Millar but have no idea about this winger. Probably won’t be ready to play against West Brom so Hedges it is. Sigh.

Ismael, bless him, probably thinks that money is going back into the squad.

Gotta hope Miller is up to it, Alebiosu looked a million miles away from Brittain. McLoughlin is no Batth either. And I'd put Beck on the left over De Neve every day. Couldn't really judge Tavares on his game today but we are definitely looking worse off than last year.

Todays opponents looked fitter, faster and harder to knock off the ball than we were. Never mind their superior footballing ability.

What Money?

Are there enough bad sides out there? Feels like a few teams have done some business we'd be happy with.

They want hard workers who hit certain running stats and that's it that's all they can provide Ismael with on little to no budget. We can't/won't buy quality so the criteria is young, cheap, half a chance to improve and be worth more under standard club policy whilst VI insists they must hit certain stats. Nowt to do with actual style really it's more about the ability to cope with this league physically.

Judging by Ismaels comments in the latest LT article he realises we need to improve big time. “I think what this shows is having this money is not a bad thing for us,”. good he recognises how abysmal that was

Its sinking in,we're getting there slowly!😉

I haven't seen any of todays game : I just think it is a sign of the games to come , I am not sure what Rovers lowest points total is with 3 points for a win 78/79 probably . I would be surprised if we amass more than 30 points , this season . The quality is more or less extinct , players are on the staff who wouldn't have made the reserves side 20 years ago . Relegation is inevitable ! Venkys Out !

After today's game the scales have dropped from my blue snd white eyes. I think we're getting properly hurt this season. There's enough bad sides out there this year to give us a chance of avoiding relegation but we're going to be in and out of bottom 3 that's for sure. Gueye cannot kick a ball, he's big and strong and may get a few assists but he cannot make a sweet contact with the ball if his life depended on it. If he's wanted in the Gulf then he can go with my blessing. Nice guy in the wrong sport. Without some real quality signings soon we're going to have a bad time. Has this really been 'an exciting' close season, the bollox some people spout, yes you RG! At least the books are balanced, shame about the football.

How on earth did I forget that Ennis existed? 😉 Further afield, Dolan came off the bench for his Espanyol (friendly) debut) & Rothwell is also playing now for Rangers on Sky Sports He got an assist for the opening goal

Firstly, I am not going to OTT based on this performance. NEC was good technically side which was a challenge for us and good one cos they will be some teams like that in Championship. We had chances during the games and we won the ball twice high but no shot on goal. Defensive poor at times but its pre season. I once watched us lose at PNE 3 nil under Big Sam in pre season in July 2010 and we were dogshit yet we won our first game against Everton Karbgo's goal was good.

I think we should take bets how long into the season post window shutting it takes for big Val to start using lack of experience as the go to excuse when things aren't going well ?

Somebody should have told him you swap shirts at the end of the game not during it. It’s a long while since I last saw a “ tackle “ like that. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The ref, who gave us next to nothing in my opinion, had no choice there.

How else are we going to hit Gestede’s target of 3000 academy minutes this season.

It's what v young players tend to do unfortunately. Trav produced a really bad challenge to get sent off at Portsmouth v early in his career. The key thing is no to be reliant on them to fill the positions as regular starters so they can be taken out of the firing line Unfortunately our model seems to be to have them as starters!

Simply must get a player or two in who can play right wing. Hedges is first choice and Mullarkey-Matthews his only backup. Frightening really, and I’m not even the biggest Hedges critic

I just hope that, when the season starts, that there's not this insistence to push Montgomery into the side as the new poster boy for the academy when the lad is patently not good enough. It's not fair on him more than anything.

Maybe we swam across the channel ?

You post this like you’re proving or showing how strong our squad is, but to most of us it just looks weak. Saying players who “suit Ismael’s style of play” means nothing. Telalovic might have suited JDT’s style of play more than Keifer Moore, but if they aren’t very good it doesn’t matter. And if our style of play is “closing down and pressing” you need to make sure they still have ability and aren’t just headless chickens. No good getting the ball and wasting good opportunities and positions like today.

To be fair, James is a really good - and highly qualified coach. I've worked with him briefly and know some of the work he's done at clubs like Accy Stanley. Good appointment, in my opinion.