Good to see Arma back but surprised to see Rothwell dropped, he's arguably been our best player recently. Having said that can see why TM has gone with that team, looks like he wants us to play on the counter with Arma and Palmers pace playing off Graham and Bennets energy in the middle to help break up the play.

If Dack is fit he has to start imo, especially as I feel this will be a tough game for us. Bristol city are a decent team and are coming off the back of an impressive win at Swansea and also boast one of the most inform strikers atm in Weimann. A point would be a good result for us. Would play Brereton as he will be raring to get off to a good start and will have a point to prove, he will also give us a valuable counter attacking option. 

Id go for:

Raya

Nymabe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Bell

Bennett - Evans

Palmer - Dack - Rothwell

Brereton

Subs: Leuwitter, Smallwood, Travis, Reed, Armstrong, Conway, Graham

No doubt that Bereton is a risk at 6 Million, its a lot of money for us especially when looking at our financial outlay on players over the past couple of years.  But I personally think he has the attributes to be a class signing for us and can replace DG as the first choice striker. He's 6'3 and has got pace to burn, which are attributes which are rarely both possessed by a striker. Its also worth noting that he has only just turned 19, plenty of time to develop into a top class striker and under the Guidance of TM and players such as Danny Graham I think he will do that. Along with that he is clearly a player who fits TM philosophy of working hard for the team.

The challenge for him will be if he can have an immediate impact on the team now, part of me would actually like to see him start on sunday.

Reed, would be a really good signing, box to box midfieldier whose good on the ball and got abit of everything. Would hope there's an option for a perm deal. Wonder who the 2nd player is, doesn't sound like Rodwell  is a deal that is close so most likely not him.

Will do well to get a point imo tonight with that team. Big night for Rothwell.

We should be winning this imo and if we do it would cap a great start to the season and leave us with no pressure heading into the Brentford game which will be difficult, and will probably be the best indication so far to us fans of how far we can go this season. However we've got reading to get past first, I cant help but think this is one of those classic Rovers games which we get a disappointing result in. Hope I'm wrong.

Raya

Nyambe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Bell

Travis - Evans

Palmer - Dack - Armstrong

Graham

If Dack continues to be a success in the championship there is no doubt that he is worth 20 million. We will do well to keep him for next season imo. 

Raya

Nyambe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Bell

Travis - Evans

Palmer - Dack - Rothwell

Graham

Subs: Leuwiter, Williams, Smallwood, Evans, Bennett, Armstrong, Samuel.

Would go with this against reading, I think we will have more of the ball so I reckon Graham would be a better fit than Armstrong as he wont have as much space as he did against Hull, along with that his pace could be useful off the bench. Travis and Rothwell have shown me enough to suggest they deserve a starting place and could grow to become key members of this team and I reckon this is probably a good game to throw them in from the start. 

Personally I don't really see the need to bring in a centre midfielder as I am impressed with Travis every time I see him play and imo he should be ahead of Smallwood. Would like to see him really given the opportunity to make one of those CM roles his own.

Think we are a defender and attacker short as we need cover otherwise we become a bit reliant on Mulgrew and Graham who have both had injury problems in the past. I think all of us just want us to show abit of ambition and bring a couple of quality players in with options to buy. I am cautious about spend 8 million on one player, it a risk but it could pay off big time if all goes well for the lad. However it does make me wonder what we were doing during the summer not signing players like Mccgin and Edwards on cheap deals.

Great win, fully derserved. Onwards and upwards, a couple of quality additions and we will be looking in really good shape. Bring on Wednesday!

I imagine Palmer and Arma are short of fitness and should be remembered both played on Tuesday. We've also probably brought on the 3 best players we had on the bench so haven't got too much of a problem with the subs.

We also seem to be the team creating the chances, however feel we are gonna regret not taking them.

7 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Nixon has said we are more than 50% there with signing Brearton and Gallagher. Brearton loan to buy and he thinks the same for Gallagher. 

Let's see 

Sounds like Nixon is keeping his options open. If one of them sign then he can say he was right. 

Can't imagine will sign both, we only need one imo. 

Pretty Gladwin was no where near the 1 million mark, thought I read that it was a free transfer with fees depending on performances. 

For me it has to be:

Raya

Nyambe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Bell

Rothwell/Travis - Evans/Smallwood

Palmer - Dack - Armstrong

Graham

The big call in this game for TM is who he plays in midfield, especially with Travis and Rothwell impressing last night. They both give us abit more quality and are more forward thinking in how they use the ball. Although we do need one of Evans or Smallwood as defensive protection. Personally I would go with Travis and Evans. I'd be dissapointed if TM stuck with Evans and Smallwood as Hull arn't all that are their for the taking imo, although Hull fans probably think the same for us!

The general impression from Forest fans is that they don't want to sell him at all and if they did they would want 10 mil plus for him.

Tbf Sharpe said he doesn't think Rovers will be able to commit to the fee which Forest are looking for, so doesn't really rule it out. A loan with a option to buy is ideal in this situation because if it doesn't work out then we wouldn't of lost out on the large fee, and if it does we get a promising striker who can improve our team for many years to come. 

However if there is no option to buy, if he is successful then it will only mean Forest will ask for a larger fee which we may not be able to afford.

TM played a attacking line up, he wanted a win and he wanted it convincingly. And he got that. Great result, confidence will be high for Saturday. Well done Rovers. 

Happy with the strong team, we need the win. Looking forward to see Rothwell start in a deeper role, hoping he can turn out to be the box to box midfieldier who is good technically aswell as physically, same goes for travis.

Hopefully Arma can get off the mark aswell, goals breed confidence.

I'm personally hoping for Brereton or chapman with a view to a perm deal.

Palmer will be a big player for us this season I'm sure. Always looking to make something happen, he will lose the ball but he will also be threatening with it. Much prefer that to constant sideways passes. People need to remember he isn't match fit yet and hasn't had a run of games where he regualry starts for a long time. A lot more to come from him I feel. 

Considering we are likely to end up mid table this season a run in the cup would be welcome. Also need to get that first win of the season out of the way.

Id go for:

Raya

Nyambe - Downing - Lenihan - Bell

Travis - Davenport

Palmer - Rothwell - Conway

Armstrong 

Relatively strong team and would give some of our fringe players a chance to impress and a good chance for Palmer, Rothwell and Armstrong to get there first goals of the season. If Samuel is fit then I'd play him up front and Armstrong on the wing instead of Palmer. If Travis standouts then would start him at Hull.

What TM is looking to do is sign Grahams long term replacement. He's looking for a strong powerful centre forward who is useful in the air and can hold up the ball. 

I think Breton was TM's target as he has the physical attributes and he clearly has a lot of potential. If he had got a year under grahams guidance it would of done him the world of good and would of gone a long way to helping us be ready to potentially lead the line for us next season in our attempt to challenge for the playoffs. So it's a shame we didn't get him in.  Either way we failed to make a marque signing, a player who could improve our team for the next couple of years. So, as I think TM has recognised in his recent comments, the permanent window has been more of a failure than a success. 

In regards to some of our targets such as Bauer and Chapman, I think we will wait until Jan and get them on reduced fees. 

We've only brought in 4 players, one being a loan. That is dissapointing. Along with that I'd say only 2 of them improve our starting 11, Palmer and Armstrong. The other two are unknown qualities.  We need two more permanent signings which improved our starting 11 and that hasn't happened. 

I cant see the loan saving us to much, itll mainly be youngsters. Having said that I don't think our actual squad is too bad, just think we've missed a chance to push the highier end of the league. 

There's no way this is gonna happen, we don't even know if the bids been accepted and the window is gonna close in 8 mins. Suggestions are that the bid falls short of forests valuation. Warming to the idea of the signing IF it did happen but think we are out of time with this one. 

It screams panic buy to me, but the general feeling from forest fans is that he's got massive potential and that he's worth around 10 million. Seems like he is a dynamic power big striker whose finishing needs a bit of work. Would be a huge huge gamble.