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He's clearly not up to much if he can't even get off the bench in the MLS - but yeah we need an athletic body to spell Alebiosu at RWB. I don't know who else we could turn to besides Duru.

To be fair you denounce the opposition as being dirty (and the refs not noticing) every week - maybe that’s just the game and we need to get with it.

I don't see how anyone can look at a team that has lost ~60% of their games in all competitions and think they could flirt with the play-offs and aren't in danger of the drop, especially when that squad is now ravaged by injuries and suspensions. Those three wins are a godsend, but it will take a miracle to stay clear during the Christmas period.

This is a big worry for me. If the glorious day ever comes when Venky's sell the club, they could keep the training ground and dust off those planning permission applications.

There's a line though, isn't there? Derby went well beyond it yesterday - a decent ref would have stamped it out immediately. Granted a decent ref would have given us a penalty at the end too, so there you go.

To be fair, whilst happy with the results I was consistent in thinking that we didn't play particularly well in any of those wins. I think the quality of the squad is significantly worse - you say Eustace struggled with 4/5 players missing but we've been struggling even when those players have been available! Defence - significantly worse than last season. Alebiosu is clearly the best of the summer signings but I don't think he's necessarily better than Brittain, but anyone with a brain could see relying on Carter/Wharton was suicidal - especially when Miller isn't a CB (is barely a footballer) and McLoughlin is Jekyll and Hyde. De Neve has shown flashes in attack but I'm not convinced with him at the back. Carter and Wharton should be the starters but they're made of Weetabix unfortunately. Midfield - I actually agree that Gardner-Hickman has been steady, though I think Travis has more about him but that is experience more than anything. The midfield last season wasn't great, but look at who we've brought in - Henriksson, Tavares, Morishita, Kargbo (I know in Jan but he basically didn't play) and the mysterious Baradji - they would struggle to get into most Championship team's reserves. Forwards - I love Yuki's work rate, and he proved he can score when supported but what have we got otherwise? Gudjohnsen scored a few tap-ins but other than that hasn't impacted any of the games I've seen positively, arguable at fault for the first yesterday and the Swansea winner at least. And the less said about Gueye the better. Honestly whilst depth is a big issue, I think that our first 11 being absolute bobbins is a bigger issue. Throw in a terrible manager and we're in for a rough December.

Considering Norwich and Sheffield United are in the bottom 3 , relegation is more than a possibility !

It’s pretty easy to answer. He is coaching another team and thinks the players we are willing to sell or let their contracts run down would help the team he’s now coaching. They’d have gone somewhere else if not Derby. If we’d paid players the going rate then they’d probably still be here!

You know what, I wish Rovers were more like that than they are. They're too 'nice' and they're too soft. As a group of players there is no nasty streak in them to rile up opponents and get the fans on side. As Roy Keane once said, "sometimes I might just smash into someone just to make me feel better".

No chance of relegation? 🤔 We already have a rash of injuries and almost every club gets them as well as suspensions throughout the season, the clubs with the weakest, thinnest squads don't deal with it. I would take 21st place if it's offered now. We may end up finishing a bit higher, maybe 17th or 18th but I would still take 21st now. We are average at best, squad much weaker than last season, much thinner, the manager is out of his depth, Rudy Gestede is out of his depth and I don't trust them to bring in reinforcements in January (based on the last few Januarys). This team is nowhere near 'flirting with the playoffs', I think we'll finish about 20 points behind the playoffs if we manage to stay up.

He was injured, then appeared in some friendly tour in Mexico, but hasn't even made the bench since that point. Unless there is an obligation for them to buy him, I fully expect him to come back in January and be declared to be "like a new signing". Personally I would be happy if that does happen, looks a good potential cover for Alebiosu

One of my gripes about playing Hedges at centre half was that we lost his experience playing out wide and De Neve defensively isn't diligent enough to play that role. He didn't let us down as you say but Ismael weakened us by playing him there.

I reckon Batth is still better than Miller, and Weimann is better than Henriksson. So yes.

I didn't forget him, I just don't know what to make of him yet. He's a willing runner and a very quick player, but his final ball is a liquorice allsorts - which I think is down to his lack of skill. Quite similar to Dolan in a way, although that was down to his lack of a brain. LWB suits him, especially when rotating with Hedges, and I think he's growing into the league, but he's clearly pretty limited. At the moment I see him as a useful player that lets us play our best formation - we'll see if he pushes on from there.

‘No chance’ with this set of players? We certainly do have a chance as it is a finely balanced league, it comes down to small margins. What makes the difference? How about, say, poor managers or small squads that have an increased number of inexperienced Championship players.

Would you be happy with Batth and Weimann here this season? You saw yesterday (and last year) that Weimann's legs have gone. I suspect Batth's have too if he's on the bench at Derby behind the cloggers we saw yesterday.

Let's wait until the end of the season until we start writing our obituary, eh?

Our best formation is clearly 3 at the back with 3 in midfield and 2 upfront. For all of the criticism Ismael has received for playing Hedges at CB yesterday, he didn't let us down - and you just have to look at my post history to know that I'm one of the biggest Hedges haters on the planet. We don't have any good wingers, nor do we have a striker good enough to play in a lone role - so 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 just simply doesn't work for this squad.

You’ve forgotten to mention DeNeve , understandable I suppose. I agree with you regarding Alebioso, he’s a better all round player than Brittain.

No chance of relegation - barring another rash of injuries. This is a lower mid-table side on paper - and one that could flirt around the playoffs if things start to click. If our spine is out long-term however - Toth / Carter / Wharton / Tronstad / Cantwell - then like pretty much every team in this division we'll struggle.

Occasionally you might get a 'surprise' relegation - if Sheff Utd, Norwich or Southampton stay down there they would be huge surprises based on their squads, investment and expectations. In reality - and it seems Southampton have already turned a corner now that Still has gone - all three are likely to get themselves out of trouble because they shouldn't be going down. I am still struggling to work out who the minimum two other clubs are going to be that we need to finish above to survive this season. On paper you'd think Oxford and Portsmouth maybe, but both seem to have the ability to pick up results, particularly at home, when they need to. Swansea were my pre-season prediction to struggle and it looks like some rot has set in there, but I don't think they'll just sit back and leave it to chance - they'll sack their inexperienced manager and replace before too long. I suppose maybe QPR another but they seem to be competitive. It is going to be a close run thing in my view. You can't lose 5/7 at home and win 1 and expect anything other than a struggle. One thing is for sure - we aren't going to be anywhere near 7th this season so perhaps the chuckle brothers running the show could explain why we've clearly regressed by 10+ places in the table under their management.

The jury is still out for me. I need to see more of them - realistically they should all be slowly being introduced into the side, rather than thrown in at the deep end. I've seen flashes from Henriksson, Gudjohnsen and Morishita, but we've also seen three players overwhelmed with the pace and physicality of the league. I think Alebiosu is better than Brittain - mostly because he's just a much better athlete and he's asked to patrol an entire flank on his own. Brittain couldn't get up and down like that and was often caught out for pace. I don't see much difference between Gardner-Hickman and Travis - both limited, but dogged footballers. Selling Hyam I'm ok with - I don't think McLoughlin is a worse player (and I think Miller is a better player) - but selling him and then shifting to 3 at the back is suicide long term. Not unless you recall O'Riordan or you really fancy Pratt / one of the U21 CBs (which they clearly don't). Tavares seems to be the only 'dud', but he also might just need time. Who knows what Schrodinger's Baradji will bring to the party, if he even ever plays for us.

Derby were dirty as hell yesterday. Pushing, pulling and obstructing (their no.6 twice made a beeline for Ohashi on a break and blocked him like they were playing American Football) their way through the game. Their #32 pussied out of a 50/50 with Miller then disgustingly swiped at Miller's feet once he'd got the ball under control - he got a yellow, but there was zero intent to play the ball and it was an incredibly cowardly act designed purely to hurt our player.

No, we didn’t, that’s right. I’d say all the replacements are inferior. Whilst I like Alebiosu, he’s not as good as the Callum Brittain that left. Rank bad management to lose Hyam so late without a replacement and rely on Carter and Wharton to remain fit, when they’ve demonstrated an inability to do so for as long as they’ve been in the picture.

As always with this board - quick to pounce on any negatives. Three wins on the bounce brushed away in an instant. It's clearly somewhere in-between. There was too much turnover in the summer (due to cost cutting / selling assets / a new 'project' - however you / they want to define it), but at the end of the day the quality of the squad hasn't changed much. Much like last year, we still lack depth. If four (or five - depending on what you think of Carter / Wharton) starting players were missing last year under Eustace we'd have struggled to get results too. We didn't lose any world beaters in the summer and we evidently didn't replace them with any either.