We flew out to Amsterdam this morning, then had to get a coach from the airport to Nijmegen, fit a meal in somewhere, play the game, get washed and changed afterwards, back from Nijmegen to Amsterdam and then fly home tonight. No wonder they looked knackered.

Having two water carriers in the centre of midfield is certainly limiting our attacking play

Totally agree. Has been far too much hype about the lad. From Marine and Chorley to commanding a place in a Championship team doesn't add up. Think he needs some regular football in League One and let's see how he fares there. Sadly, our wafer thin squad probably wont allow it. Most of us, given the players we've lost, thought we needed 7, 8 or even 9 new additions.

I think it's Baradji the other player VI is alluding too.

Happy with Miller .. solid player with room to improve… Hedges replacement is crucial and much needed & well overdue .. The 2 cloggers in the middle look like they already half way out of the door …. Definitely need another attacking midfielder & a striker who can run in behind … Ohashi I love but he can’t lead or run .. NEC had some lovely footballers especially Onal & the Japanese lad think he’s scored 7 in preseason….30 days to sign 4 or 5 …

Freeing up wages from Buckley and Pears will surely mean more wiggle room in the transfer market beyond 2-3 players. Pears is an awful keeper and Buckley offers nothing, so a good decision to try and move them both on. Will there be any takers though?!

I know so not sure how he could come to the conclusion he was gravy

He didn't play well at all...but then nobody really did.

Badly badly need a right winger and one to be half decent. Hedges just isn’t that guy he could come on in tight games to shore things up but shouldn’t/can’t be the starter tronstad/travis aren’t too dissimilar in how they play I think a baradji is required miller on the right is needed - Montgomery simply can’t play there (I said before he could be an option but not after that today) need another number 10 as rovers99 has pointed out tyjon shouldn’t be relied on if cantwell isn’t available. Perfectly fine integrating him in giving him minutes and the odd start but shouldn’t be the first replacement

It was for me.

Nobody played well enough in that first half to get more than a 3. We were given a football lesson. There was a slight improvement for 15 to 20 minutes after half time. Then it was just the same as the first half with nobody impressing.

Hopefully today was an eye opener Chaddy.

No I wasn’t I was alluding to the fact that he looked miles off it in the first half just like all of the team so not sure where he looked gravy came from

Mercer was correct then- he said we had a winger in the building this week and sounds like it with IVs comments.

I think we need point reductions for Sheffield Wednesday and Hull to have a chance of avoiding relegation and I don't mean 1 or 2 point reductions ! I think VI will have walked by the Feb 1st 2026 .. What other clubs have had 3 managers walk in consecutive years ?

Baradji and Miller. Still leaves us very short. Hedges at RW all season is purgatory. McLoughlin is not as good as Baath either so we need someone better. I have a feeling someone is going to bid for Travis before the window closes and he will be off like a shot. Hope there is something going on we have no idea about. The comments about having some money are somewhat encouraging, but we have been here before. QUALITY needed. Sorely lacking and the business other teams are doing is stronger. Hoping we are all surprised…….

To be honest today turned out pretty much as i thought it would i expected them to be quicker and have a bit more quality however i thought be try and be solid but hardworking to nullify that. It was anything but in the first half, better in the second but they sat off a bit and Rovers looked to step it up a bit, not bothered about the result but first half was a bit concerning. Sooner the real stuff starts the better..... i hope.

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.