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Slim chance of a WC place too potentially? Couple of injuries to England's wingers and Dolan flying in La Liga you just never know! (I know, only 4 games in!)

I think Tavares will improve once he gets used to the physical demands of this league and his new coach Ismael. He certainly has potential, but been very sloppy last couple of games and thankfully Tronstad has been cleaning up after him with his excellent awareness. A bit early to judge the team but there are signs that we have more players offensively that can spot a pass and are willing to run into the box and chase goals, something we have been lacking with Szmodics gone and Cantwell a bit AWOL at times last season. Gudjohnsen seems like a very intelligent player with his movement and touches, but his goalscoring record isn't the best, but hopefully there will be some bees buzzing around his lay-offs that can slot the ball home. Quite certain he's an improvement on Gueye. Impressed with Toth too, good to have a goalkeeper that we can trust.

Not sure, but apparently you can get a free ticket online, so might be worth you doing that just in case https://rochdaleafc.co.uk/tickets/ https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Tickets/SelectType?fixtureId=14291&isFromDashboard=True

I think Cantwell can drop deeper from time to time but you don't want to move him unless you absolutely have to. As said on the other thread Gardner-Hickman would be getting a run for me instead of Sid.

Just don't get walloped at OT! 😅

I am sure the squad is overall weaker. However some of the signings on early performances look good enough to perform as well as those that have left like Abeyiosu, Morishita, McGloughlin. The problem is a few injuries to them or the OG's and we are replacing with those that I think aren't up to the standard for the championship. Its at this point we suffer and risk our championship status.

I said to my stepson yesterday that he probably still had his boxes in the boot of the car just waiting on the phonecall to go back again.

If the weather picks up I’ll go, it’s only a 20 minutes walk to the ground for me. I take it you can pay on the gate.

I think Bruce was first out of the blocks with this one a few weeks ago

Probably have Gueye in for Montgomery as with TGH and Miller he’s not first choice back up for either position he may come on

I’d not move Cantwell as he’s been brilliant on the whole this season, potentially nullifying that is a risk

Here's some statistics on Ipswich. Birmingham 1 Ipswich 1 ; Ipswich 1 Southampton 1 ; Preston 1 Ipswich 0 ; Ipswich 2 Derby 2 ; Ipswich 5 Sheff utd 0. It was there first win of the season against Sheff Utd, and a hat trick from Philogene. I think we can win this one if we can keep Philogene quite, and give it 100%.

Also seems like the women's championship will be on the next installment of the Football Manager games, another bit of exposure the woman's team would've had. This is such a terrible blunder for the whole brand of the club, taken us back more steps than we will ever realise. Nothing 21st century about us at the moment

Too early to tell imo. There are certainly promising signs from some of the new recruits, but the loss of championship experience is colossal. FWIW, given the parlous state of the club at board level upwards I think there's a good chance that the recruitment team have turned up some good finds. It can't be easy sourcing good quality players with the right attitudes when we're offering wages at the bottom end of championship level. Looking at the Watford game & training BTS footage it does suggest that there's a good camaraderie amongst the playing staff despite the churn of players & loss of some familiar faces. I have no doubt that this summer was all about cost cutting, & that the Vs & Pasha don't really care about our on-pitch fortunes. I am getting the sense though that VI, Adam Owen, Rudy & others of a footballing persuasion at the club have actually tried to make the best of that & unearth some gems to take us forwards & / or profit from, whilst still keeping us competitive in the division. It's not what I want for us, as promotion is more likely a distant dream than a realistic ambition in this environment. But I'm a bit more positive about this season now than I was two weeks ago when the transfer window closed. Time will tell.

Imagine being Dolan. Five years ago, let go by Preston. Next week he’ll line up at the Bernabeu. How can anyone begrudge him living the dream like that? Go on, lad.

It won't happen because they want Taveres to develop and be the main man in the midfield for the next couple of years, but for me I would be starting him over Sid at the minute.

Just thinking if he's going to be more involved in centre of the pitch more likely to be injured and then we can't utilise him where he would normally be then we've a player out of both positions

Mentioned before but we were over there in the summer and went to see the ground, my lad was wearing his Rovers shirt so it naturally sparked some chat with a couple of club officials. They said that he has stated many times that he wants to go back to Haugesund one day as like you say his wife wants to settle down there, they knew all about his contract situation but don't expect it next summer as it's very likely they will be playing in the Norwegian second tier. (They had lost 14 and drawn twice in 16 games at the time of visit). So a move to somewhere else in Scandinavia as a stop gap until the later years in his career seems likely.

Post this after a win, and we're stronger. Post it after a home defeat to Ipswich, and we're weaker. A lot are very reactionary from one game to the other. For me, we're weaker than we were last season at the minute. If we finish 7th or higher come the end of the season, I'll be happy to change my mind.

Not sure if this found its way onto the site last month. National League Cup highlights of the U21s 2-0 defeat to Brackley (also posted the lineup from the game below in case anyone needs to put names to numbers) The game with Rochdale this evening is being streamed live for free, 7pm kick off, stream from 6:45pm apparently

Saturday's bench looked stronger than most benches named last season. I have always been impressed by what little I have seen of Garner Hickman whom I think too many are writing off.

If anyone cannot make it, it looks like this (and all other games in this competition) is streamed free on the National Leagues youtube channel

Dolan fouled for the winning penalty.

I think this summer showed any wiff of a couple of million would have seen a player off, in their last year. I just don't think a bid came, teams were happy to wait for a free and we were worryingly happy to offer below the going rate for a championship contract.

He plays there for Australia But for me, (the team that Yak has given), that midfield would be too lightweight/lackin in numbers, especially against one of the top teams in the division and I wouldn't want to see Ohashi or Wharton as a wider forwards/centre backs respectively, where their lack of pace would be painfully exposed. both are good centrally however, As others have said, it may also nullify Cantwell who has been excellent this season) the back 3/5 is a useful tool for seeing out games, and that for me is what it should be used for, not as a starting tactic when everyone is fit Ohashi looked wonderful at the start of last season coming off the bench for the last 20/30 minutes against tired legs. The arrival of Gudjohnsen hopefully allows that to happen again