DE.

Insipid game between Ipswich and Norwich so far. They both look really poor. For all the wailing about us not signing Edwards I'm not sure he has the intelligence to be effective at this level. He's got talent but always runs with his head down, usually into blind alleys.

The transfer window was okay in the end but we're still weak for cover in some positions. We'll have to trust Mowbray to manage that. Don't really get the obsession with Chapman. He had a few good games for us in League 1 but his legs are made of glass and he's never played regularly at this level. Mowbray obviously isn't that keen either or a deal would have been done. It would have been an interesting signing but I'm not heartbroken over missing out on him either. Doesn't seem like anybody else was in for him which maybe says something too. The squad we've got should tide us over until January at least. What we lack in quality we make up for in spirit and hard work which should keep things going nicely.

Good luck to Brereton. I hadn't heard of him before our interest became public so I can't really say I'm excited, but I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops here. The fact Forest were willing to sell him suggests there are some things about him they aren't keen on, but if Mowbray can get a tune out of him then he could turn out to be a great signing. Regardless, it's the first time Venky's and/or the BOI have splashed out this kind of cash on Rovers in many years so they must really trust Mowbray to deliver. Even Bowyer didn't get that kind of backing.

I didn't think Nyambe would progress as far as he has. Thus far he's definitely exceeded my expectations.

Is this Venkys second most expensive signing behind Rhodes?

Ipswich lose again. Mick back in by Xmas?

Excellent result with a severely weakened team.

Tbf Brentford were no better than us in the first half.

It's quite sad watching it to be honest. Mowbray shouldn't be putting him in this position as it's going to do his confidence no good.

We look tidy enough and are working hard, but there's just no quality whatsoever on the attack. We need Graham on asap, Nuttall is playing at least one if not two levels above his current ability. Bell is fast and direct but his thinking is unfortunately too slow for it to matter.

Raya's decision making is still suspect, but ultimately he's a young keeper learning on the job. That's the risk you take playing younger players in general. I'm more annoyed by our consistent 45-minute no-shows than Raya's individual performances. Mowbray really needs to get a grip on this because we aren't going to get away with it as often in this league as we did in the one below.

Awful signing. Total desperation after we fucked the transfer window up.

Rodwell would be an atrocious signing and proof of how badly we screwed up the transfer window. I'd genuinely rather we'd have brought back Jason Lowe than Jack Rodwell. Hopefully there's nothing in it.

To be fair whilst we had a very good opening 10-15 mins, once Reading scored their first we completely collapsed and their second became inevitable. Whatever Mowbray said at the break obviously worked and we looked back up for it again in the second half, but we still would never have scored from open play which is a concern. Without Dack we didn't look like we knew what to do in the final third. Luckily McShane gave us the answers but we can't expect every team to have a player that generous.

Smallwood was okay at League 1 level, sometimes very good, but it's pretty obvious he's not Championship quality. Evans looked much better last night when Smallwood was taken off the pitch, as did many others who were having to try and cover his mistakes. Time for a rethink from Mowbray. I appreciate his loyalty to players but when that comes at the expense of results and the performance of other team mates something has to be done.

Considering how terrible we were in the first half and the glaring lack of quality going forward we have to be happy with a draw. It's come at a big cost injury wise though. If Armstrong is out on Saturday then God help us!

You're not wrong there. Ridiculous that we gifted them two goals. We're all over them at the moment. Nyambe has been fantastic down the flank this half.

Unbelievable. Can't believe we've somehow got back into this.

Who's stepping up to get us back into the game though?

Injuries were always going to be a factor and the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost tonight on a shocking transfer window. Barring a sudden influx of amazing loan deals it's going to be tough to get very far with the current squad.

We need much more than that unfortunately. That's why Mowbray said he wanted 4-5 players in. Instead we're four games in and the squad is still paper thin with a bench that would have been suspect in L1 let alone the Championship.

Evans isn't the problem, he's just not the answer either. You can't pair him with a player as limited as Smallwood in midfield regardless.

When you're expecting Corry Evans to carry the load in midfield you know you're in trouble.

Might as well turn this off. If we're going to get crushed by Reading at home then we have big problems. Hopefully this is a wake up call to the manager, the executives and everybody else involved in transfers that we need strengthening desperately.

We can definitely get back into this. Just need to keep calm and not concede again.