Blue blood

When Hart is on the bench you know your squad is on the thin side! (that is the ex Liverpool lb we brought and loaned out last season right? Otherwise my insightful comment becomes a lot less so...)

personally if the deal - transfer fee and wages took into account Chapman's injury record then I think he'd be a good signing. Obviously a risk but if the finances were adjusted to account for this then I think the potential rewards given his talent, plus us needing a winger type player makes it a very attractive deal.

Agree - if we can't beat the likes of Reading at home we're in for a long hard season. Fortunately there's been lots of positive signs that indicate we have an excellent chance of doing so. I'd agree a lot of teams look weak which I find quite freeing - Ipswich, Rotherham, QPR, Reading and Hull to name a few, with a few more only an injury or two away from struggling. But as we learned the season before last this isn't something that can be relied upon.

Reading were poor last season as well as starting this one badly. It's not just a weak start Imo but a season or so of decline. With this in mind I'm expecting to see a Rovers win in a fairly comfortable manner - although it is Rovers! Love August games as have more flexibility to go see them and looking forward to another positive night at Ewood. The team looks fairly settled and performing well, Reading aren't as in your face as Millwall, so all the signs look good for a Rovers win. Dack being out would make it harder but we have a few other players who can cause teams problems. Even without Dack I'd be expecting a win. 2-0 Rovers

Great result and stunningly important. First league win gets the no league win monkey off our back and puts a bit of breathing space between us and the bottom going into a tougher September (our first priority being to stay up). It won't do any harm to confidence and keeping the unbeaten run going and having a plan B with Armstrong up front is very encouraging too. A little concerning to hear that we're still a bit profligate in front of goal - in this league that could make a huge difference to our end position, positively or negatively. It's far from the worst position to have and something a good key addition up front could go a long way to rectifying.

Whilst I think we've more than enough to be fine too, to say you can't understand why anyone would think that we would be in a scrap is a little naïve or obtuse Imo. Perhaps it's because we've failed to win vs 2 of the weaker teams in the division. Perhaps it's because we've played well for periods of both games, indeed very arguably edged them, yet still haven't got a win. Perhaps it's the paper thin squad where injuries to any of our key players leaves huge holes in the team (as it is we're still missing a left midfielder). Perhaps it's because Millwall should have killed off the game before we even got started and we were lucky that they didn't. There's been plenty of positives but let's not pretend there aren't any negatives or concerns either. And no way was the game 50-50 bar the first 10 minutes - we offered 1 decent attack prior to the 44th minute.

Bit torn as to what I thought of the game. I swing between feeling we've a good team who should be comfortable and that we're really going to struggle. I think we'll do well as even with not turning up for 40+ minutes we really should have comfortably won and dominated the second half. Even in an appalling first half we hit the bar, forced a great save and could have nicked it. I think we'll do badly as there's a few clear holes in the squad, Millwall should have had a few goals in an appalling first half performance and even though we were the better team in a game again we still couldn't convert it into a win. My conclusion is it could totally go either way. TM has a team that could comfortably avoid relegation but if we aren't on top of our game we could have a lot of problems. The quality is there but then so is the very real risk of relegation. A few squad observations. Bennett is wasted on the left as he always has to cut inside and looks very uncomfortable on the left. A left footed proper winger/wide player is needed for balance. Palmer great talent, terrible show boat and decision maker. Oozes talent but isn't quite as good as he thinks he is. If he can keep it more simple and improve his decision making he will have a fantastic season and be a great asset. If he doesn't, despite his ability, he'll be a waste of space. Bell was an improvement on Williams Imo. Rothwell looked lively when he came on. Overall I'm sure I'll continue to flip between this being an ok point and 2 dropped. We have the team to do be confortable but if we don't get more ruthless it will be a long hard season.

Referee appalling and bias. Rovers almost as poor at defending agricultural Millwall football (fouls and hoofs.) Yet somehow still 0-0 and ended half on the sole positive note of the half.

I'm pretty sure they would do more than Evans has been doing! He offers no protection, like Lowe he just runs around a lot ineffectually. He doesn't get into many goal scoring positions, much less gets goals. He isn't creative at all and keep things ticking over in the midfield. I'm not sure what he actually does, whatsoever. Granted he's got decent technique, but League 1 is his level imo. Mind you, compared with Gladwin and Whittingham, at least Evans had some impact last year, and with no proper wingers/wide players, it looks like Bennett won't be moving inside anytime soon. Shame as I think Bennett/Smallwood combination would make us rather resilient at this level. Also aren't Evans's wages huge for us? Am sure he was on £10K+ and one of the top earners in league 1. With our limited resources that could definitely be spent elsewhere more effectively.

Blimey I'd not even thought about the rest of the squad. Mind you I'm not too keen on some of those players - Gladwin, Caddis, Hart and Whittingham playing this seasey'on for us! League 1 seemed a bit of a stretch for them so not sure how they'll fare in the Championship. This highlights how much we needed to strengthen the squad. Thanks, helpful to know. Point still stands that we're recruiting from better teams so hopefully/theoretically they will be of a higher calibre of player.

This in and of itself is quite positive. Antonsson was really poor and just from where we got Palmer and Davenport from - not that that's a great indicator admittedly - they could potentially be better loans. Also we've not lost any good players. Remember losing our 2 key centre backs by September last time in the championship? That made a huge difference to our already weakened team. This perhaps wouldn't be a big deal at many other clubs but at our club it's probably much more of a big deal given our history/owners. The problem for us is 3 fold this window. 1 we've not improved the first 11 at all. That's key, especially in areas that look a bit thin. 2 we've added little championship experience. Again this can be huge in this division. 3 we've not built for the future and have missed a massive opportunity to. What makes the latter so bad in my view is Graham and Mulgrew are getting on and will need replacing sooner rather than later. We'll probably only get another season out of both as top level players. That means the following summer we'd need 2 top signings to stay at the same level before we even start thinking of improving or replacing others who can't quite cut it at this level. A couple of quality improvements elsewhere would ease our summer shopping list next year, protect the strength of the team and of course give us more chance of doing well this season. 4/10 for me.

Got to get a quality wide man imo. (Unless either of the new lads are? Have to admit I know little about Davenport and Rothwell.) Bennett and Smallwood would be a tough 2 in a 4-2-3-1 offering a lot of protection. For that to work though Bennett needs to not be needed at right mid. And whilst I feel Armstrong could do a job out wide, am not too convinced that's a position for Samuel.

Perhaps it's a little premature but as I said hindsight is a wonderful thing, and perhaps you or I will look back on it differently late on in the season. (Let's say we miss out on playoffs or go down by 2 points, this'd definitely be a what if missed chance - or the reverse.) However, whilst these things can't be told with certainty at this stage, that's still the feeling I have about the game based on squad and managerial quality and past performances. The Championship is crazy so it is hard to call, however I suspect Ipswich struggling is one of the more likely outcomes. McCarthy did it year in, year out, Hurst main success came last season - and even then they bottled it twice to win something. Agree about Dack and Graham, as well as having options - both are positives to look forward to.

I think on reflection that a draw vs. Ipswich would have been the lower end of my expectations, as in the least we should have achieved. Imo Ipswich's mid table performances were much to do with McCarthy doing very well with dross rather than any quality there. Perhaps there's a bit more I'll take the draw because t's the first game of the season, and you don't want to start in a bad/disappointing manner, which perhaps makes it a bit of a better result. But yeah, overall I'd say a point would've been the least we were expecting. As you say there were lots of positives, and there are more players and adjustments to be made for these guys which will help so it's far from doom and gloom or a terrible result. That said, with the confidence from promotion last season, and a team that was familiar with each other and the manager's methods - I do feel the win was there for the taking. In fact, I agree, had we got that third goal we'd have come out comfortable winners and deserved winners too, which suggests it wasn't too unrealistic to expect a win. Of course hindsight will be a wonderful thing. If Ipswich go on to be top 6 it looks a very good point, if they totally implode it looks like a good opportunity missed. But yeah, I think I'll stand by my opinion (I'm always happy to review and admit mistakes when I'm often wrong on here!) on this one. Should've been 3 points but by no means a disaster.

Lots of positives on this one, but still a bit of a gamble. He's not cut it at this level, (I believe he struggled for Bolton in the Championship before coming to us on loan.) Looked great in League 1, which indicates he should have the potential to make the step up. He also gives us much needed pace, knows the club, and should hit the ground running. A calculated gamble imo.

Overall am more disappointed than encouraged after Saturday's game. Firstly regardless of whether it's Manure or Macclesfield if you're leading past the 90th minute, it's always going to be disappointing not to hold on. Secondly I'm of the opinion that Ipswich are one of the weaker teams in the division, and McCarthy has been getting the random assortment of players to punch above their weight in mid-table. Without him, I feel they're one of the weaker teams, and it should have been one of the games that we're looking to get 3 points from, regardless of how ambitious we are. I'm also a bit frustrated that Bell hasn't been chosen in front of Williams, who I thought was no great shakes last season, yet retains the roll of first choice lb, even over a guy who got in the team of the season last year in that position. All a bit odd imo. Mind you, there are a number of positives - we didn't look outclassed, a number of players looked like they can make the step up (or back up) to the Championship, and we didn't lose. Think those saying the Millwall game will be a better indicator of how we'll do are correct. But Millwall are also an encouragement of what we could do this season with the right tactics, effort and a couple more shrewd signings. Overall a less than impressive start, but equally not one that gets the alarm bells ringing - which is a first in a few seasons!

From a footballing side of things I was never convinced Dunny had the makings of a coach/manager, and the fact that we're not replacing him is pretty telling. Don't think it'll be a huge loss or have a big impact on the club. From the interview it sounds like Dunny has had enough of coaching too...

Another thing to mention is that Sunderland have spent HUGE amounts under Short. It's not a lack of investment, it's a complete and utter squandering of vast amounts of money from the Di Canio reign onwards which has made the situation a train wreck. Read an article upon it and the sums they gave out to players was staggering - can only remember Rodwell on £70K a week with no relegation clause for starters, although in fairness I hadn't heard of the other players. Coupled with some big contracts for bad characters who enjoy the party and gambling lifestyle (allegedly according to a Sunderland fan I know) it makes for a very toxic mess. As for Wolves, they're already getting some publicity. A couple of international students I know, whop have less interest in football then I have in knitting, both posted Fosun/Wolves celebration posts on Facebook, so it does seem as if an increased awareness is working.

From 5 points in 5 games to 5 wins on the bounce we've seen a heck of a transformation! From playoffs looking a bit shaky automatic places look eminently do-able - long may it continue. We've a few players who're a cut above in this league and it is beginning to show as is our strength in depth - 3 or 4 first teamers out and we still put out a good team. Having said that I am getting a tad worried numbers wise. BBC said both Whittingham & Evans went off injured and with Harper also suspended we're beginning to look a bit thin in the middle. Likewise an injury/suspension to one of our centre backs could also pose a fair few problems. However that's the solitary caution for a team that is in an excellent vein of form and who picked up an excellent 3 points. Winning away vs the strong teams in this division is a sign of - dare I say it - a promotion winning team.

Totally agree about the decision. It was beyond incompetent. Not sure how it could've been a mistake. Totally disagree with Mrs Evans. You can't say that sort of stuff; it's racist, derogatory, and has sod all to do with football and the decision. It's beyond staggering that as well as bringing ethnicity into it, she throws in about refugees which is a pretty sensitive and serious situation. (Again what has that got to do with football???) Like footballers it seems that WAGs should be off social media as they speak/tweet before they think.

Steele watch. New caretakers managers in, Steele out. Dropped by Sunderland by the caretaker managers. Shows what a poor player he is. Sunderland still lost - huge problems at the club that Imo have been festering for some time.

Bit of selective facts going on there. Firstly Warton hasn't been anywhere near third choice cb. On what evidence do you say that? He's not played as 3rd choice, he's not been talked up as 3rd choice in interviews. In fact in a recent interview bemoaning interviews TM didn't mention him at all. Secondly Downing. Downing has got above Ward in the pecking order but that's more to Ward being dire than the initial intention. Several things suggest this to me - from firstly Ward playing initially when Downing first came, through to Downing being a deadline day signing and it not seeming like a priority position to fill based on interviews and the volume of players signed in other positions. As for not that bad I'd agree it's not that bad, but given our resources, wages, transfer spend, players we retained, it's not that good either. Our context suggests top 2. And either via performances or recruitment it seems like TM has mucked that up.

I'd be more likely to believe this if he had an ounce of ability or footballing sense. As he possesses neither the chance of showing us what we're missing is slim. Sneaky suspicion he'll be at Blackpool as Bowyer loves him and shoehorned him into every side.

Because it shows that Venkys are happy to sell people and not invest money. How much did their replacements cost? Pesky thing this evidence lark.

Or he could keep the 3 at the back or go 4-4-2 which works in this division. Even 4-4-1-1 can be attacking with the right guy in the hole. My opinion is that the personnel will determine how attacking we are just as much as the formation. Also to play ANY formation well we need in a lot more players...