DE.

No, just perhaps not worded 100% correctly being a late night post just before bed. By "none of the posts in the match thread" I meant none of the silly/dramatic posts made during the match, rather than all posts. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Not exactly uncommon for silly takes - positive and negative - to be posted in match threads, often in the heat of the moment with heightened emotions. Unless the poster continues to repeat it for days afterwards none of the comments made during matches should really be taken seriously. Hardly unique to this mb either. You'll see the same kind of comments on any other football message board during and after matches, as well as down the pub and in the stands.

Is it me or was O'Brien playing on left wing? I thought he was a CM. Shocking defending from Boro for our second, it's incredible how they stood there and let Sammy tee his shot up before belting it in. Little wonder they're on -9 GD. Dolan's miss looks even worse watching it a second time. It's a shocking lack of composure. Head it anywhere other than upwards and it's going in.

We would have won that easily if we had any strikers at the club, and the officials weren't amateurs. Nonetheless, I'll happily take the three points and thank goodness for Sammy.

Watching this I really don't think Boro are in a false position. Sammy one of our few goal threats, wrap this lad in cotton wool.

If JDT has seen Pears and Wahlstedt in training and genuinely thinks Pears is the better option, then that's concerning. Not in the sense Pears is bad, but more that Wahlstedt isn't showing himself to be better in JDT's eyes than a guy who should really only be our backup goalie. Really hope it's just a case of needing time to settle in for both him and Tronstad. Not confident with that attacking line, but sneaking a single goal from somewhere might be enough.

There was a lot made of the three signings being made in June, but the reality of Ennis not being in contention until at least October, Siggy still not being fit in the middle of September (and it'll take longer for him to get to proper match fitness), and Tronstad seemingly being below Travis and Garrett in the pecking order so far is pretty concerning. We needed reinforcements and the main three brought in all seem to be some way off. As far as strikers go, we're essentially hoping Gallagher at 27 finally learns how to be somewhat prolific in front of goal, Leonard rapidly adapts to being a first-team regular, or Telelovic hits the ground running having spent most of his career playing at a level far below this one. Fair to say I'm feeling pessimistic and concerned at the moment. A handy 4-0 win tomorrow with a couple of goals from any of the aforementioned strikers and a couple from elsewhere in the team would ease that somewhat, though. Boro are bottom, conceding a lot of goals and in terrible form, so if we struggle to score against them then I think we'll be looking at a very tough season ahead.

Hull and Coventry share the points with a 1-1 draw at the KCOM. It keeps Hull's momentum going, albeit they probably would have been eyeing a win here. Considering they were a goal down until the 87th minute, though, they'll probably gratefully take a point. Coventry really could have done with a win, having now drawn their last four games in a row and are still without a win since the opening day of the season. Still 11th as things stand, but they'll drop a few spots after tomorrow. Hull are in 5th for now, and Southampton's defeat tonight means they'll likely remain in the playoff spots irrespective of how results tomorrow play out. Another incredibly damaging defeat for Southampton, torn apart defensively by a Leicester side who, much like Sunderland, haven't been banging in the goals so far this season. Their defeat last time out against Hull aside, though, Leicester have been winning matches and are, for now at least, top of the table. It remains to be seen whether tonight will be the catalyst for Leicester to really start hammering teams, or whether it's just a case of Southampton's defence being mislabelled as such. After being embarrassed 5-0 by Sunderland, a 4-1 drubbing at home is exactly what Southampton didn't need. They continue to leak goals like ending in negative GD is the target - and if it is then they're well on their way to achieving that. Their -5 GD and 16 goals conceded is by far the worst in the division. Somehow they remain 7th for now, but will inevitably drop a few places after tomorrow, and two big defeats on the spin must already be putting some immense pressure on Russell Martin. Losing games is one thing, but getting repeatedly humiliated is far more problematic. Next up for Southampton is a home match against Ipswich, who are currently up there as one of the top scoring teams in the division, so that could be fun... for Ipswich.

Russell Martin will be out by the end of September at this rate. They've shipped four or more goals in three out of six games so far. They've now conceded nine in their last two games. Absolutely shocking and should not be happening to any club at this level, let alone a team who have only just come down from the PL.

If we only get a fiver from Raya's sale then either Brentford have had a mare or Waggott's comment about it being the highest ever sell-on fee he's negotiated won't much much of a brag!

Good read, Nelsen comes across as a top bloke, and I'm sure he is. Can still vividly remember his interview on SSN after Allardyce was sacked - you could tell he was absolutely gutted. Interestingly he seems very guarded in what he says about Kean and Venky's, despite being quite forthright on standards dropping under Ince. The way he was let go is absolutely disgraceful, but expected under this lot. No respect for any of the values the club embodied before they took us hostage, and they've continued in that vein throughout.

It's sad to think there are younger fans nowadays who only know of a Rovers owned by Venky's. At least those of us of a certain age at the very least have great memories of the 90s and most of the 2000s to keep us going. Some will have fantastic memories far before that. I can't imagine what it must be like to support the club without those memories, only knowing them as stories, pictures and videos - which must seem like a totally different club compared to the one they support now.

No experience with the treatment, but hope it goes well mate. Good luck.

We bought the lad in June and he hasn't been properly fit since then. We're nearly midway through September. I don't think the fella is telling lies. He said Ennis was a good player, just unreliable. Exactly what we don't need when we otherwise have Gallagher as first choice. Unfortunately, as far as the striker position is concerned, it seems like another poor decision to compound the Hirst loan from last year.

Probably because they've hollowed out the club we support for the last decade plus.

That's, quite a lot, arguably an excessive amount, of commas.

A bit weird that - based on the BBC article - he claims his beliefs remain valid despite not directly addressing any of the reasonable criticism levelled at him, and instead trying to turn it back around on those criticising him by saying his feelings are hurt. I'm not sure if the article is missing the part where he explains why he doesn't think he's a hypocrite, or if the message from his PR team is genuinely "I am a hypocrite but stop saying mean things about me".

I would say the issue here is more quality than quantity, even if you take into account players who can play in multiple positions. If Wahlstedt is decent then we're okay in the GK department, as Pears is a capable backup. RB we're also okay, although both JRC and Brittain have worrying injury records and as soon as one of them has time off we are very short. CB we have a huge dropoff in quality as soon as Hyam or Carter are unavailable. Concerning. LB is obviously extremely short in numbers, and question marks over how good Pickering really is. if he's injured we're relying on Brittain switching flanks or Batty coming in. CM we are fine, although we should have kept Buckley. RW is very poor quality-wise. AM if we include Siggy as an option here is alright. LW I like Dolan but he's a pretty huge downgrade on BBD. Not so much on BB. ST we are well stocked but I'm not sure there's any quality there. Gallagher is Gallagher. Telalovic is a total unknown and a development project. Ennis is still not fit, and we don't yet know if he'll be able to make the step up. Leonard looked good in the opening game but poor afterwards. Young lad though and has something about him. So yeah, overall this is a pretty concerning squad from my perspective, and my optimistic view on it is that we'd do very well to finish top half. If JDT left I would be hugely worried, as I think he is helping us punch above our weight right now.

3. JDT seems very enamoured with the team bus, you must be delighted that he keeps bringing it up in his interviews?

Certainly doesn't seem like a smart appointment. A relegated club should be looking for a manager who can get results, by whatever means necessary, to get them out of the division at the first attempt. It gets more difficult every year afterwards. Martin didn't pull up any trees at Swansea, and if I was in charge of finding a manager, "playing football the right way" would not be a top priority. With that said, the likes of Scott Parker have achieved promotion, so with enough budget most competent managers should be able to at the very least have a recently relegated club in the top six. It remains to be seen if Martin can get it together at Southampton, but defensively they are atrocious.

How have Man Utd got to the point where they're ending a game with Maguire and Evans at CB? 😂

Can't help but note, another game where we fall behind and fail to win. How long is this going to go on for? I know we technically came back last season in the dead rubber against Millwall, but in terms of matches where it actually matters and there's a degree of actual pressure. We must be one of the worst teams, if not the worst team, in the entire EFL when it comes to gaining points from losing positions.

... and Punk has officially been fired. About time. Apparently he lunged at Tony Khan after going for Jungle Boy, lmao. What a lunatic.

I love how JDT finds ways to bring up the bus in every interview 😂

Tbf that's part of the problem, in terms of our early signings two are unfit/injured and the other seems to be below Garrett in the pecking order. Wahlstedt meanwhile is behind Pears but surely has to get a chance to show what he can do after today. Hill is a 3rd/4th choice CB so not going to give us a major boost, Telalovic is a total unknown who hasn't played at this kind of level in his career to date, and it's also Moran's first shot at this level, having spent his career thus far mostly playing for Brighton u21's. I think it's fair to have some concern at this point. We are hoping Siggy hits the ground running and stays fit, that the likes of Telalovic, Moran and Wahlstedt take to the division like ducks to water. Otherwise we're relying on less talented players taking on the roles vacated by the likes of Kaminski, Diaz and Dack. I look at the squad and just don't think we have what we need to progress from last season. After the stunt Venky's pulled this summer in withdrawing funding at a critical stage, I can't imagine JDT being too happy with the current state of play.