If you think we've suddenly become invincible be prepared to be disappointed!

Quite a few I think. We're not Liverpool. They won't need exceptional players. Just competence.

I agree other teams will be looking at us and thinking what can they do to hurt us. For me it's pretty simple - stick a man marker on Holtby, play a classic front two with a big guy who can win the ball in the air consistently and a nippy striker who can get in behind, and every time you get it you play it long to the target man or in behind the full backs. It bypassees the gegenpresse and exploits the fact that we have so many players pushed up at any given time, and we are weak in the air at the back. Reckon once teams figure that out it will get a lot more tricky. But that's always the way with tactic and formations, they get accommodated for.

Realistically as the season progresses we are going to need to rotate. But that actually works for us as most of our players fit into the 433 really well (Buckley, Evans, Chapman etc can all slot straight in) with two notable exceptions - Dack and Gallagher. When they get fit it will be interesting to see if they can adapt. If they can't they could find themselves warming the bench.

Mowbray has been messing around with the 433 for a while, So he's obviously fancied it. He had Downing playing the role of Holtby and Gallagher on the right wing in the last few games of last season, but the basic ingredients were there. Obviously they have doubled down and committed to the "gegenpresse" over the break as that is improved. Of course there's a bit of fortune in there as well - Dolan has been a complete surprise and Gallagher being injured so he got starts was also useful. But it does to me seem like something we have been working towards since April / May. Credit where it's due. Mowbray decided we've got a very fit set of young players who can press and also keep the ball and he's built the team around that. Playing 433 is a very bold move. Good on him.

I mean we did win 5-0 so naming the same team isn't that outrageous a thing to do.

In the position that Rothwell and Travis have been playing it requires incredible workrate to get up and down. Just not sure Dack has that, plus the issue that he is a long way from the goal. Just can't see the sense in it. Dack spearheading a 433 has to be worth a go imo. Armstrong has hardly been playing that role like a target man - he's been facing goal and moving around finding space. I think it could work. Dolan, Armstrong and Dack is a fearsome front line if we can get it operable.

I think Tony will try Dack initially in a 433 as a false nine with Armstrong on the left and Dolan on the right. He'll be keen to keep the improved performances 433 seems to have brought out of Johnson, Rothwell, Holtby and the team generally. If 433 doesn't work for Dack I am sure we will then iterate a bit to find something that does work. I can't see Dack playing wide personally - he's far more a goal scorer than a winger. Probably a move to 4231 or 4411 could be on the cards. But we could end up in a position where what we gain from Dack we lose from others. It is interesting, that someone else posted, losing Dack did not really impact our results much last year. There could be an argument for dropping Dack if we are playing better without him. It's certainly true that in terms of players important to Rovers Dack is probably on number 4 (1. Armstrong, 2. Lenihan, 3. Kaminski).

Yes - I think probably a lot of clubs have cancelled their transfer plans. It's a classic "stop everything and we will rebudget scenario".

What I mean is the realisation there will be no gate revenue until at least March.

The feeling I'm getting is Venkys have been spooked by the Covid second wave and halted all spending.

Yeah I thought that. Weird way to make an argument!

I think we could just about survive with no further signings except a left back. Left back is critical. Besides the fact that Bell is not consistent enough, if he gets injured we don't have anyone. JRC, William, Bennett, Mulgrew etc can fill in but they are all very weak there in different ways. Need someone.

Yes. Travis, Buckley, Dolan, Nyambe all look like they could one day play at the top level. I'm interested to see more of Butterworth, Vale, Davenport and Wharton also. When they have played none of those 4 have looked out of place but they have very few minutes.

The only youth players I can think of as having as good a start to their Rovers career are Phil Jones and Damien Duff. So he's in pretty good company.

I don't really think its fair when any mistakes are blamed on Tony but when we play well it is "almost by accident". Tony has quite deliberately tested out and implemented the 433 and picked the players. It's success is as attributable to him as it's failures.

In the middle 3 against Wycombe we played 1DM (Johnson) and 2AM (Rothwell, Holtby). I could see him flipping it round, and putting JRC in there for more legs and pushing Rothwell further up. Kaminski Nyambe. Lenihan Williams. Bell JRC. Holtby. Johnson. Dolan. Armstrong. Rothwell. Subs : Fisher, Wharton, Ayala, Davenport, Buckley, Chapman, Brereton, No idea how the game will turn out but I think it will be a cracker.

Not sure why you think this when he has played a very aggressive 433 against Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Starts to a season like this are a double edged sword. Im sure those in Pune will be looking at us and say "why do you want X million, you just battered Wycombe 5-0".

I think like Dack we've got a good chance of keeping him and tying him down long term. Neither player look standout Premier League quality, maybe worth a gamble at £5-£8m to a Prem team but not the £15-£20m we would want to let them go. Armstrong could try and run down his contract, but we will probably offer him +50% what he is on and it would take a strong man to turn that down. If he tried to ride it out he is running the risk of getting a significant injury or falling out of form. He's in contract to August 2022, I think we could extend that to 2024. Flip side is do Rovers want to do that just now or wait till early 2021 to see how things develop. I personally would just get it done now.

Phenomenal result. I guess the question is does it really tell us much about future games? For mid table and promotion games probably not. Wycombe have a dearth of quality which those teams will not. But then again we have really struggled against relegation battle teams in the last few years. They've tended to be physical, play direct and we have crumbled. So if it is a very positive sign that the players and the 433 not only stood up to the aerial bombardment - it actually thrived. The midfield and front three all seem to enjoy the formation more than a 4231 or a 4411. Dolan, Rothwell, Armstrong, Johnson, Holtby were all excellent and we were relentless and ruthless. Although we have only won 2 from 4 competitive games I think we are shaping up well for the season. If we can replicate last terms mid table and leading pack results but add significant improvements to games against the bottom six-eight team we should make the playoffs. That said Derby and Cardiff - 2 teams with similar ambitions to us and good quality - will tell us a lot more about where stand. If we win both those I will start getting excited.

Rothwell has been exceptional. Dolan is going to be a top player.

Depends how many are in for him. I reckon we will spend money on a LB and a GK and get loans for CM, CB and that will be it. How many loans can we get? If we can get a third maybe a loan striker. Although that would be a stunning indictment of Brereton and Gallagher.

From what Mowbray said it sounded like next weekend probably.

Yes - in the whole squad you've only got two real goal scorers (Armstrong, Dack) who are guaranteed to get over 10 a season should they be fit, and only maybe four who have "chip in" status (Johnson, Lenihan, Gallagher, Rothwell). And by chip in I mean will score 3-7 goals. We've got to get one more player in to the +10 bracket (only candidate for me is Gallagher). And get most of Ayala, Dolan, JRC, Holtby, Buckley into the 3-7 bracket. If we cant do that we need to bring in another 10+ striker pronto.