Why Garrett hasnt come on is mystifying.... Were playing four forwards...!

That would be some serious stoppage time!

Think we need Garrett on for Moran.

He isn't a midfielder... Hes a striker, played as one all season. Hes our furthest forward player every game.

Thinking about Garrett I guess something we could do is move away from 4231 and go back to the 433. That would give Garrett a natural role on the left side of midfield.... Leo Travis. Hill. Carter. Pickering Tronstad. Wharton. Garrett Brittain. Szmodics. Moran But downsides are Szmodics ends up playing on his own up front, and I dont think the right channel role really suits Tronstad who is more of a sitter. And Wharton struggled when he was playing as a single pivot... On reflection I am quite intrigued about playing Garrett at number 10... His goal involvement stats when he has played are really high I think. Dolan needs a rest. Leonard and Telelovic have struggled to physically impose themselves which is not an issue Garrett has... Ennis is injured. Leo Travis. Hill. Carter. Pickering Tronstad. Wharton Brittain. Garrett. Moran Szmodics You wouldn't really want to be a Birmingham defender on the ball with Szmodics and Garrett charging in.... Its a weird Xi with five players out of position but I can see it happening

Financial reward, and also I suspect designed to keep him settled at Rovers for the long term. If we under pay that often leads to players leaving early or refusing to sign a new contract when we do eventually offer it. I think part of this contract offer will be lessons learned from BBD, Lenihan, Rothwell etc.

I watched the game back today. A good all-round performance. Stoke were very poor - it was strange they didn't go direct given the power and height they have and how we have struggled against the direct game, and that they had no incision to their passing or movement whatsoever - but we also looked so dangerous whenever we came forward despite not playing that well. We should really have scored two or three more. One thing to bring up... JDT has always been criticised (including myself here) for not "having a plan B". But I thought yesterday was very clever defensively - 1) we were happy and effective to play it long and not "tip tap it around", 2) we shifted to a back three with Pickering playing as an extra CB from very early on to counter the extra player stoke were putting forward and suit Travis coming on, 3) we man marked Hoever out of the game with Brittain. Tactically it was quite different to how we have played recently. So hats off for that. I think defensively we are looking quite smart these days, able to change between a back 4 and a back 5 mid game, push the LB or RB to play in midfield, play with one or two pivots in front of defence, drop the wide forwards in to make a back six. I know some are of the view that all the tactics talk is all nerdy nonsense that over complicates, but for me it's a key part of the game to be able to shift how you play, and JDT and his team look to me like they are becoming be very good at it. I would say we are a bit one dimensional up front so would be good to see some innovation there, but still we are creating a lot of chances so can't complain too much.

Garrett came on and played inside right very well. I think JDT has come to a similar conclusion with him to Travis - not good enough technically on the ball to be a pivot, but if you let him press, cover ground and get into tackles he can be pretty useful. Not sure where Garrett would play in our starting 4231. I think the only place he'd get a go is probably - as bizarre as it sounds - number 10. Or I could see us using him at left back if Pickering got injured in the same way we use Travis at right back. I cant see anyone displacing Tronstad or Wharton from the deeper midfield roles, and if one of them was injured I think Moran would be drafted in from further forward to keep that technical quality on the half turn.

Same here - I think Brittain will play midfield. I would be suprised if we made any unforced changes to the team tbh.

No- I created a new account as requested, Cleared the cache on the app. Even uninstalled and reinstalled. So think things are struggling. Will give them a shout! Thanks for the email address 🙂

Ive done this and the web browser access seems to work okay now including watching replays but now the app wont let you log in... "Tenant not found" Is this something actually run by rovers? Or is it all farmed out to iFollow? I work in IT so get that this sort of stuff can be difficult, but this has been really painful!

Someone posted on the Ennis thread how few full 90 mins Ennis has completed in the last five seasons... Thats a really damning stat. That sort of long term lack of fitness and vulnerability to injury is very hard to turn around. After seeing that I would say should view him in the same sort of bracket as Dack or Dunn post injury. Not really a reliable squad member, and shouldn't be counted in the core 22 of the team. If hes available and effective its a bonus. Same with Telelovic but with him its more that he just hasnt got any sort of pedigree rather than injuries. With no further outgoings we need arguably two more strikers. Or at least one who is fit and has a good scoring record (1 in 4 at an absolute minimum) at League One or above.

Yeah, he's show enough he's decent. He's getting into goal scoring positions, should have had a couple recently. While he's not playing well, he's no worse than BBD was for many of our games last season. My main concern with him is he doesn't have the same pressing fitness and discipline as the rest of our midfield and forwards. Seems a bit lazy to me (similar to BBD in that way also).... Hoping JDT will improve that side of the game with him as he has done with so many of our players. I think once it clicks for him he could start scoring a lot. You can see he really likes getting into the box and has good movement and anticipation.

I wouldn't say Garrett is hard exactly, he looks like he's still got a paper round. But he doesn't half tackle like it's 1973 not 2023. Haven't seen a player fly into a slide tackle like him for decades. If he got a run of starts it would be interesting to see how many reds he gets. In today's climate I wouldn't be surprised if he got sent off every third game. And that's the crux really - the panto dame approach of Travis and Savage has its place in modern football as they disrupt and get stuck in, but are not so aggressive they get sent off. I think Jake's got to tone it down a bit and learn from Travis when to switch it on and off as otherwise he is a red card waiting to happen.

I tend to agree but if Ennis didnt get on in the last 30 mins against PNE he isnt going to start against Stoke.

Defence looks a lot more solid with Pickering and Carter back. Hill looks as good as Hyam and more mobile so feel pretty confident. Similarly our midfield also looks very good. Really like Tronstad, Wharton, Moran. After a great start where he looked like Diaz, Sigurdsson has then started playing like Brereton so a bit confused by him. Szmodics and Dolan both playing well. Think the team picks itself, probably only spot up for debate is right wing. Either 1) play Sigurdsson, 2) play Brittain and put Travis at right back, 3) play Dolan and start Leonard through the middle. Id probably go for option 3. Leo Brittain. Hill. Carter. Pickering Tronstad. Wharton Dolan. Szmodics Moran Leonard

I have long stopped watching England play any team that is not competitive. Just so dull. Probs only 10-15 teams in Europe it is worth watching England play, and with qualifying groups we will only get two of those teams in our group. One of the reasons I quite like the Nations League is at least the structure of it keeps it competitive for all concerned by matching nations at a similar level. I think in a few years they will bin current qualifying structure and just play Nations League. In fact think we will end up with an expanded Nations League where each country plays around 8 games a year against teams at a similar competitive standard, and qualifying for minnows to the Euros / World Cup will be handled through winners of the lower reaches of the Nations League. A tier 1 nation like France, Germany, England etc playing a tier 6 nation like San Marino or Malta or whatever will become very rare. Think that will be much better for all concerned.

Southern Macedonia is a province within Greece. Northern Macedonia is an independent country. Greece objected to the independent country calling itself just Macedonia (itself only created when Yugoslavia fell apart) as by the name there is a perceived inference that it lays a claim to all of historical Macedonia including the bit in Greece. So settlement reached where independent Macedonia renamed itself as Northern Macedonia. Everyone happy (probably not).

Still not working.... this is crazy!

I am (for some strange glutton for punishment reason) trying to watch back the PNE game but still the login issue persists. Anyone got the videos to work yet? Do I need to clear my cache or something? Or just the website is still buggered?

Yes agreed... We only get to keep him I think if we have an average season

I think bringing Buckley back makes sense. But also probably midfield is our best covered position - Travis and Garrett ready to come in - so it doesn't necessarily solve the biggest problem. The big issue will more be right/left back as JRC could cover right back and allow Brittain to move to left back as needed if Pickering was not available. With him now gone we are basically down to Brittain and Pickering staying fit and available through to January. I guess Buckley has played right back, but he lacks the athleticism and positional discipline needed to make a proper go at it imo. And for whatever reason Batty does not seem favoured, not even getting anywhere near the bench.

Yeah me as well! A pleasant surprise.

Yeah pretty sure that will be the team given the injuries. Wonder if Szmodics and Moran will be other way round as Szmodics prefers the left channel. And actually probably Moran will play more in midfield. The way we play atm it's more likely to be Leo Brittain Hill Wharton Pickering Travis Tronstad Wharton Moran Dolan Szmodics Only other setup I think could happen is Leonard comes in up top, dolan plays right, Szmodics left and Moran goes into midfield instead of Travis. Given JDT's liking for ultra attacking setups think that could happen. Leo Brittain Hill Wharton Pickering Moran Tronstad Wharton Dolan Leonard Szmodics

Yeah... we really have been effectively playing with a front two for a while now. Szmodics is great as a striker it too. Much much more mobile than Dack was, runs the channels, press relentlessly, has decent pace, and as evidenced by his stats sniffs out and converts chances. I think he will continue to improve over the season. Dolan's doing very well also so nothing will change short term, but I would like to see Szmodics have a go at partnering Ennis at some point as I think in terms of contrasting styles they would be well suited as a two.