"Ran with the ball a lot, dribbled and beat his man but in positions that weren't dangerous or nothing came of it, got a couple of shots away from outside the box, some of which were blocked." Am I describing a Rothwell bad game or a Brereton good game?

Did he do 2 Cruyff-turns in 2 seconds before laying the ball to Holtby? Thats how quick he is.

I’m still fuming about this. We were being told for weeks that Rovers were right to not put STs on sale until they knew that we would be able to go back. My view at the time was that people should have been given the choice with that fact understood. After all that pontificating they have now gone on sale anyway in the week leading up to our first home game of the season, and that fact still hasn’t changed. But what has not been offered is choice. Much of what has been put together seems to be what you would expect after last season. The ability to watch iFollow if you can’t get in with the price refunded (but only if you buy a ST next year - price unknown). The kicker is that the club is using what I would call extortion tactics in forcing supporters - especially long-standing ones who don’t want to break their ‘run’ - to pay more and get less. You will lose your ST seat if you don’t renew. Regardless of the jam-tomorrow offer (that could be withdrawn due to circumstances) every game missed will mean a per game price increase this season. If supporters get to go to NONE of the home games they will get 40% off a 2021/22 ST (providing they are able to renew). Attending this season should have been a choice which means ST seats should have been suspended. With full renewal on a pro rata match basis if or when normal circumstances resume. Or held open until next season. Vulnerable people in particular have been left out in the cold - unless they pay with no expectation of going back. If you go to a game on your own then you could look at this differently. No worse than iFollow prices as long as you renew next year and a few away games thrown in. If you buy several season tickets as I do, it is a bad deal. As always under this regime there is no incentive to draw fans in, there is no reward for long-standing loyalty, there is only blackmail, both financial and emotional. “Are you committed?” The tipping point for me though has been not being able to sit with my usual group because we already have an elderly relative in our bubble. This isn’t the clubs fault but it makes all of the above even less attractive because the most important element of going to matches is lost. This should have been compensated for not ignored (but it’s easy to blame the government for that so nothing is done). Would we even be offered iFollow if it weren’t for the EFL? And I’ve not even fully considered not even considering the code of conduct - presumably repeat offenders who over-celebrate after a goal will be asked to leave? Gutted.

As others have said it's all about opinions, but for me Brereton has looked a much better player and has contributed to the team more so far in the opening two games than JRC, yet people are arguing that Brereton needs to be dropped whilst JRC needs to be given a run of games to show what he can do. I'm guessing that's because JRC is seen as a young player, and Brereton as an established one but the reality is that the two are the same age (3 months between them). I know that Brereton cost a considerable amount of money, but the reality is that he is a young player and we need to view him as that - raw and with potential to get better. Yes, he'll have some bad games (hopefully amongst some good ones), and he is not the finished article, but I honestly believe that, as he develops, in a couple of years time we will have a very good player on our hands

Another couple of positives for me: Love in his interviews that he took the knock from Preston and channeled it to believe in himself more and spur him on! Also Mowbray so far deserves huge credit for giving him a go, it would have been an easy out for him to use him losing possession on Saturday as a sign he’s not ready but he’s kept him in there

This lad is seriously good. I imagine there will be bigger clubs than us already well aware of him after his few appearances. We need to quadruple his wages and give him a 5 year contract quick time.

The problem is we really needed another Travis to play alongside Travis -before Travis got injured!

I do wonder whether this is through his own choice, or by instruction. He certainly seemed to drop deeper following the introduction of Arma. Was this due to legginess or his natural game or Mowbray's tactics? Hard to say. Personally I think he's done more good than bad when he's played and has fallen victim of very little penetrative balls from our players in more creative positions. My criticisms of him would be, like you, winning headers, being in and around the six yard box and like some have mentioned his hold-up play is hit and miss atm. He needs a bit more strength and tenacity drilled into him, a la the DG of old. He's started bulking up though and I'm hoping once he adapts to this extra weight and builds his stamina he can become far more effective in this sense. I've mentioned this before, but I'd say bar the goal on Saturday, Arma has contributed far less to the team in recent games, and I'm a big fan of AA. I think BB is desperate for a goal and is somewhat forcing it, dropping deeper to try and get the ball and force the play, when maybe he should stick to being in the right positions, but again, whether this is his doing or on training/manager instruction, I do not know. He has shown some good touches and linked up with the widemen well, but then can be prone to the odd poor touch and hasn't found anything for himself in the box. I truly think a goal to settle the nerves would see the best of him come out. For me he offers far more than Gallagher does, despite being a good 3 years his junior. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see a player there, it just doesn't seem to be falling for him atm. Personally, I have faith. I'm sure we all hope I'm right!

4.3 million .. way beyond us .... we got Dolan for free anyways ...

I know we've disagreed over many things over the years - and still do - but I agree with you totally with regard to the season ticket issue. I find it really sad that long standing and loyal supporters like yourself are put in this position. I know the government guidelines don't help, but the club should have bent over backwards for supporters at this point in time. It should have been possible - I thought it was to be honest - to have allowed supporters to miss a season and keep their seat for the 21-22 season. Many supporters of my age may not fancy going to matches during the winter months if the virus is running wild - I know I won't go, despite buying a season ticket. However, why should anyone, particularly those in the vulnerable category be expected to pay for a season ticket they may never use, simply to protect their seat for the following season? I'm hoping we've all got that wrong and it isn't the case but if true that's beyond disgraceful. At the moment we are doing what the club said it didn't want to do - selling a product that nobody knows if, when and how it will be available. At the very least iFollow should be made available to every supporter to purchase - either through their season ticket or on a match to match basis - no matter how many vacant places their may be in the ground. Sad, sad times indeed.

You didn't watch it.

Get him on a real contract ASAP...

My worry as a potential non renewer is the impact on prices next season, knowing that a large number have people already have money invested as a down payment it frees Waggott to introduce another increase as people won’t want to lose their ‘deposit’ You’d think that there would be a pledge now not to increase next year but to me all the little incentives, pledges, club cash etc seem to have been phased out Id also be tempted to do the opposite of the offer, I’ll pay you £230 for a ifollow season pass but with the option for me to upgrade to a seat at the same price as and when we can get back in

This summer has clearly been about quality and not quantity, which has personally pleased me as I feel we have often over the last few years gone for the scatter gun approach in the hope of finding a few gems. We seem to have identified the areas that need improving, which thankfully correlates to the areas that us fans have identified as weak spots. The one major weak spot which has yet to be plugged is clearly left back, and I am intrigued to see who we bring in. A lot of people have mentioned Cunningham, but I actually don’t think he would be the right move. No doubt he is a quality player and an improvement to bell, nor would I be against him coming in, but I do have my doubts about his suitability. Due to injury and being out of the Cardiff team he hasn’t actually played much football over the last 2 years, and at his age (29?), that can have quite a negative effect on your career as it can be hard to get going again. More importantly though I actually think we need someone with more pace and athleticism for the LB role with the new system we are playing being reliant on the press and the ability to recover quickly. I do believe Cunningham would be caught out in this system as he isn’t the quickest, with his strengths coming from his ability on the ball. Personally I am really surprised we didn’t have a look at Martin Olson on a free transfer as I believe he would of been perfect. There doesn’t seem to be a plethora of quality left backs available right now so we might well end up with Cunningham, but I am curious to see if any other names get put in the ring. In terms of centre back I am one of those who would be perfectly happy with Williams and Wharton as third choice, as both have proved to be able players. I would agree that we need a back up keeper, but I would like to think that’ll be a low cost, under the radar signing as I hope they won’t actually be needed to impact our season. If we can get those two signings sorted I actually think we’ll be in good shape for the season. I’ve been really impressed with how we have performed in the last two games, despite losing both. For long periods we have dictated the game, and not let our opposition get a foothold, which was a prominent feature last night in particular. I think it actually counters our biggest weakness, our defence, as we win the ball higher up the pitch and, due to our possession play, make it difficult for opposition to build up momentum and pressure on the backline. It’s pretty much how leeds played last season. If we can find that cutting edge we will be a real force this season, and I think the fears that we don’t have it will be massively erased when dack comes back into the team. Not only does he make things happen but his finishing and positioning is exceptional. A fit Dack could quite easily get us 15 goals this season, and Arma I reckon could push for 20/25, which is a potential 40 goals between just 2 players. I also think I should give a mention to Holtby who I think has started the season as our best player, he’s been fantastic on the ball and is always looking to make something happen. Importantly though he hasn’t drifted in games, which was my major criticism of him last season, he now presses and isn’t afraid to put a foot in and seems a lot more vocal. He is absolutely crucial to this press and possession style we are going with and I think he could turn out as one of our most important players this season, if he can stay fit, which is my main worry with him. There is a lot to be worked on still, there is no doubt about that, we need to stop leaking goals and have a better defensive organisation, something which I hope Ayala is being brought into do, his reviews are very promising but it may take a couple of weeks for him and that backline to be steady and use to playing with each other. In terms of our other signing, Kaminski, I’ve been very impressed. None of the goals we have conceded have been his fault, and his play aside from that has been pretty much flawless. The fact that he is so comfortable with a high starting position and has quality on the ball means our defence can play a lot higher which is crucial to the pressing game we are going with. He hasn’t made any mistakes as of yet and I think that’s the main thing as a keeper - do the basic rights, make the odd important save and don’t give away soft goals. If he can continue to do that he will do just fine, but time will tell. The Travis injury would be a big spanner in the works though, I love him as a player and I think he’s a real leader, but it looks like we may have to cope without him for abit, which is a shame especially with Dack just about to be fit again. Hopefully a loan move until January (Garner?) can cover him well enough. Aside from that, and the two losses of course, I have been encouraged by our business and our start to the season. There’s a lot to be hopeful for. A lot will depend on how our defence fares, I personally don’t think TM can organise one properly, so I don’t have a great deal of hope in that regards but I guess time will tell. Either way, we really a win on Saturday.

Only one I can recall at Rovers was Salgado. Clearly world class in every aspect, but even for him a lack of pace due to age really held him back.

The Forest sale was a confidence trick!

I would say the first three competitive games have told us the following Positives We have an exciting talented set of young players who can pass and retain the ball superbly. Holtby's new role looks perfect for him. Almost a bit Tugay-esque. Dolan has been revalation. The pressing 433 formation looks a very good fit for us, though I do worry losing Travis could make it much less effective. Kaminsky and the defence can play the ball out of the back very well Concerns We have a real weakness down both full back positions as they push up so high in the 433. As the season wears on and other teams figure that out it could become a serious issue. If Newcastle had pinged the ball in behind the full back more we could have really struggled. Kaminski has not looked convincing in terms of his shot stopping. We dominate the ball and get into good attacking positions but struggle to create significant chances. Should anything happen to Armstrong we are in big trouble. Next steps Get a left back who has good positioning, stamina and pace to recover as he will need it(!) Figure out how we can finish more chances. Really we need to sign some better strikers. But if we can't do that then its case of working with what we have. My key point is that whoever plays center forward (Armstrong, Brereton, Gallagher, Dack when he is back) has to spend the majority of his time in the box or on the shoulder of the opposing centreback. The issue is all of those players with maybe the exception of Gallagher want to play deep and wide away from the box. And Gallagher, maybe against his will, has had a whole season playing on the wing so is hardly practiced at proper CF play. This has to be resolved. The only way forward for me is give Gallagher a run of games at CF once he is fit, and try and get the sort of form out of him that we saw when he was on loan here. Armstrong can go left, Dolan right, and Brereton can warm the bench. If we can get a good value loan get cover for Travis. However given the huge number of centre mids at the clubs really we should be able to survive if this is not possible.

I can live with an increase in price however I am not over happy with it . For me it’s been a total fuck up by the club from start to finish. There should be one price and one price only this season due to all the rules and regs in place as well as the fact is your actual seat isn’t guaranteed this season ! £399 across the board is acceptable what is not is paying an extra 50 quid knowing that your seat isn’t available at each game, you will be moved and you can’t be guaranteed to be with your mates who attend games together. We as a group will be renewing because at the end of the day we are all staunch supporters of our club.

As a long standing season ticket holder and fan I am desperate to get back to Ewood to watch games albeit in a more controlled environment which I fully accept and understand is outside the club’s control. I also understand that the club needs to try and get as many season ticket holders to renew at a price that is commercially sensible given that there will be less fans in the stadium. However, many fans such as myself are still not prepared to risk attending for health reasons and we seem to have been ignored or forgotten. At a guess I would say the number of “vulnerable” fans is 25% or more. What is the club offering those fans, many who will have been attending regularly for 50 years or more? Is this the spirit of “We are Together”? As it stands, by not renewing our ST it seems we will lose our seats which is hardly fair in the current situation. We also won’t be able to watch on iFollow those games that are played behind closed doors (unless there is a Match Pass option). I’m all for getting as many fans back to Ewood but please Rovers consider those for whom it is not yet safe enough to come back because if you don’t those fans may be lost forever.

That an Arctic Monkey tune?

Come on, i am quick to criticize but we could have not done much better than Ayala at this level. Even most Boro fans say he would walk into their defense. He has niggles, sure, but dont most of our backline? Really cannot fathom anyone being upset at this signing.

Terrible shout chaddy. Dack is a goal machine he has to play behind the striker!

A lot of interceptions there, seems to read opposition players very well. If that can transfer to senior level then he could be just what we need now Travis is out, to win the ball and start attacks. That was 2 seasons ago too, he may have been just 17 in some of those clips. Last season in PL2 div 2 he notched 8 goals in 10 games, so he seems to have added that to his game. That's from DM according to transfermarkt, which is...actually pretty unreal even at that level. Also has played against senior sides in the EFL Trophy last season and this. 3 games, 1 goal, 3 assists. Starting to really think he would be a good fit for us, especially with Trav out for a while. Has a bit of experience for Manure's senior side, sprinkled across Prem (just 8 minutes), League Cup (25 mins) and Europa (283 mins) with no goals or assists but no shame in that and they clearly rate him.

Which is kinda funny as I suspect he would be better further up. Has all the tools to be an Nzonzi type player, defensively he is solid but not convinced yet he is ever going to be truly top drawer at stopping the ball landing in the net. Has a lot to learn, but he can really slice a defence from deep if he was a DM.

Dack is not a central midfielder either. If you move him too far away from the opposition goal he will not score with regularity as he does as a 10.

Thanks Mike. I know we don’t see eye to eye often but your comments are appreciated. I worry hugely that Waggott is used to operating in different conditions, and different towns and cities, maybe he has got used to cheques just being signed (eventually) by Venkys and fans just paying whatever price he comes up with but he has potentially overestimated just how much he can keep squeezing out of Rovers fans. He is using their love of the club - the club that pays him an eye-watering sum - against them. That on itself is unforgivable. How much further he goes with this is the real worry. The air should have been blue at this week’s fans forum meeting. I look forward to reading the minutes to see just who has spoken up in defence of fans when this was (surely) announced.

Breretons price tag in my opinion goes for him as much as it goes against him. Because of it, he has perhaps got more game time than his performances have warranted to date. Also, because people are so desperate for him to do well to justify the fee, if he does a nice run or something very small, people get more excited than if it was anyone else. The thing is, to warrant a place, he has to contribute goals. I don't think he will ever become prolific but he needs to at least chip in. Even if he gets 8-10 in a 46 game season, its not remarkable but if he is also is assisting, is taking people on, and Armstrong and Dack are the main 2 goalscorers getting the ma. It is infuriating to see him well outside the box when we have the ball near the oppositions goal. He cant continue to have reviews of, "went on a couple of nice runs but missed an open net," " went on a couple of nice runs but kicked out and got sent off," "went on a couple of nice runs but fell over the ball trying to take it round the keeper when gifted with a 1 on 1" and "went on a couple of nice runs but when the ball dropped to him he took too long and got tackled." I dont think he is capable out wide but his positioning and lack of bravery last night when he was played centrally was absolutely infuriating. In the 4-3-3 I do think that if he does play centrally we will be totally devoid of any goal threat. There is no way that it was a strategical ploy to have him stood so far away from the danger zone every single time. I dont think Dack would work as a number 9, then again, Gallagher out wide never worked and he continued to play it stubbornly!

Welcome to modern football. I read the other day that there was 2.1 trillion floating around the football industry. Which, put into perspective, the UK GDP is 2.8 trillion. It makes you sick to see a football club around since 1874 has been wound up for a sum of money that a big club pays out weekly to at least half a dozen players on their books. If you ever need evidence of the money not trickling down see here. Fans of UK football should boycott the Premier League but sadly it will never happen. We are a nation of football lovers, and sadly it is easy to capitalise on that with good broadcasting and mega talent. You have to feel for clubs like Macclesfield, and wonder when it will start to envelop clubs the size of ours. Can't be long. We are well on our way to a NFL style system, big city clubs, only one huge league and plenty of money to be made everywhere.

The walk on prices are terrible too I just thought I would mention. Four category A+ games, what on earth will they be?! Cheapest match day ticket next season, £27, and that's only for 6 games, which will probably be the midweek fixtures. So possibly the cheapest ticket for a weekend game this season will be £32. I know they want people to commit for a season ticket, but those prices are really unfair for the folk who genuinely cant commit to a season ticket and just want to take in a handful of games a season. Edit - At a complete guess just looking at the fixtures, I think it will work out like this... 4 Category A+ games Sheff Wed (Boxing Day) Preston Bournemouth (Easter Monday) Birmingham (Last day) 6 Category B games Reading, Middlesbrough, Milwall, Swansea, Watford & Bristol City (All midweek) 13 Category A Games The rest that at the moment fall on weekends

When Dickov missed a pen and lunged in at Petr Cech ?

Again, it's a game of opinions. Last night, from memory, against a PL outfit: Holtby's sitter was taken off his toes (although whether he scores that is another matter - he at least was in a good position) Played a lovely pass across the 6 yard box that Armstrong / Dolan conspired to fluff (before Rothwell eventually blazed over the bar) Won the header from the late corner to set up Williams' third fluffed chance (which he also blazed over the bar) His parried shot should have been slotted home by JRC, if he was more aware (fell to Bell instead, who drew a save) Again, maybe I'm just imagining things. I admit for a £7m signing, especially at our level, you'd hope for a Championship beater out of the box. But we've not received that - he's an IKEA player - we've had to assemble him and, quite frankly, he's starting to be useful.

One thing we can do is to drop Brereton and accept Mowbray dropped an irretrievable clanger. In a few weeks time maybe we'll play Arma in the middle with Dack just behind him and Doran or Rothwell operating wide. Has any player at Rovers ever had more chances than Brereton? I feel sorry for him.So hard to attempt to live up to a fee of that size without the ability. For me, I agree with you its Gallagher every time at the moment. No, he's not great but at least he puts himself about and does something. At the moment we are starting every game with 10 men. If someone is sent off in the first minute you don't expect to win do you? Let's stop pretending that Brereton is a potential talent still finding his feet. If we dominate games but make critical mistakes at the back, yet fail to take chances up-front, there is only one place we are going. Brereton is not the only problem we have but he is the biggest----by some margin.

No players at Boro were keeping Ayala out the team he wanted to leave and you're suggesting they have better players in your initial comment, which pretty much any honest Boro fan will tell you they don't. Led to believe he also wanted to move away from the area and is now located in the Merseyside area.

It must feel pretty shite being in his position as he's desperate to make an impact but has largely been limited to cameos. His goals to games ratio looks poor but the vast majority were sub appearances, and when he's started sometimes I think he's been unlucky to be brought off. I thought he'd done more than Holtby to warrant staying on vs Bournemouth for example, but found himself sacrificed (today I thought Holtby was superb for the vast duration of the game I might add). When BB had that little link-up and good strike from distance today, he came alive after that. I think there's certainly some self-belief lacking there and he's trying too hard to make an impression on the game, when he might be better taking a leaf out of Rhodes's book and lurking around the box. Arma hasn't done much of late for the team but he often pops up when it matters, alas not today. We can't forget, we were largely up against Prem-quality opposition today, second string or not. We struggled to find chances even with our better attacking/creative players on simply due to them being hard to break down. Just one of them days for me. I'm disappointed to see us lose but, not to be Mowbray-esque here, we'll win more than we lose playing like that. And for the record, I'm usually a pessimistic bastard.

‘How the mighty have fallen’ You support feckin Middlesbrough!

Come on guys, another 500 pages and we get a left back!

So for those who implied our interest was for show and just so statements could be made saying we tried? Or that doubted we had the level of funds needed for such a player? Anyone willing to admit they were wrong? There's been a lot of criticism in these hundreds of pages so only right credit is given as well.

Well I was thinking earlier and realised barely anything i was doing in March has now returned to a true normal, so it would be incredibly optimistic to think football will for quite some time yet ? Work - still nowhere near normality, haven't been in the office since early March, now told no return expected till January. Pub - ok so this has been bearable for the most part, for now, but still miles from true normality Gym - again bearable, just lots of wiping with alcohol spray etc Even if these pilot games go ok i think the local infection rates would mean we're excluded from admitting fans for some time, I think January would be optimistic sadly now, and even then it's not gonna be the football we knew. All rather depressing when its been part of of lives for so many years.

Nowt. It wasn't a negative comment towards the club chaddy don't fret.

There's room for both.

Looks like arsenal realise like many on here that Raya is worth far less than the muted £10m plus being banded around!

I'll let you tell him that! ?

We need to make sure any midfielder that comes in has a physical presence and preferably decent in the air. Nzonzi type. We're a small team which is half the reason we struggle with set pieces.

Yeah, you need to be quick out there. Henning Berg wasn't the fastest either but he was another class act whose positional play was exceptional.

Mokoena would be our best player. Albeit, that's more of an indication of how far standards have fallen. If Garner is still on the table for a loan, I'd snap their hands off.

I don't think an £80 increase on a £319 ticket for the Riverside is acceptable personally. Maybe a blanket 10% increase across the ground might have been tolerable.

I said that to the wife as I stood before her naked and proud. She just laughed.

19 actually and you were banned for being for breaking the rules, just like everyone else that ever received a ban.

Scintillating again tonight. Beginning to relax the guard I put over my early optimism, because the boy definitely has talent and can show it against decent senior players. We will have to see how capable he proves as a 90 minute player over time, but I've not seen that kind of footwork here in a while, and he has pace and tenacity to go with it. With him only being 18 as well, I just get more amazed that Preston let him go each time I see him. Would be a nightmare to play against because he can have you chasing your tail and looking daft. Looks like a player for who the crux is going to be how much end product he can deliver - like Rothwell. But my money is on 'a lot more of it'.

I thought exactly the same... “He's a better player than Blackburns level. I'm still surprised he hasn't ended up in Brummie's unless there was a clash with Karanka.” What is that about? Birmingham who survived by 2 points and flirting with points deductions. Some hugely deluded comments in there. The good news is they highly rate him anyway.