Admiral Nelsen

I was talking to my brother at H/T against Derby, if Hendrickson was to never play for us again he'd be a very good shout for our worst ever XI. Obviously I hope he turns it around but I've never seen an attacking player with a worse first touch.

Even though he's a new signing, I think McLoughlin is the obvious choice unless Pickering plays.

Yes, agree. What I meant was that those three are at an acceptable level, after which we basically have nothing beyond kids and players who are out of position. So we'll almost definitely have to get Pickering/Ribeiro to fill in, but we have to do our utmost to get those three playing for the most amount of games as possible. So if that means we take the hit by playing a weaker side vs Derby and giving Carter the international break, so be it.

All the more so when you consider that the options we do have really need us to play 3 at the back. I really like Wharton and Miller's winning me round, but playing them together in a back four would be asking for trouble.

If Wharton's out for 2-3 months, then I'd be all the more resistant to rushing Carter back for Derby (assuming that's even on the cards). A back 3 of Miller, Carter and McLoughlin is one that we can get away with until the new year, but trying to get through the next couple of months including Christmas without one or more of them is a bleak prospect. Carter picking up another injury tomorrow would be a disaster.

Very bad news. Pears has been capable of being okay for a few months at a time, so obviously I'm hoping for the same now. Most important though is that even if he does, we shouldn't make the same mistake that we did with Kaminski once he was back and let Pears keep the jersey. Toth is clearly our number one now.

Apparently they're going through a bit of an injury crisis just now - so maybe the weekend was a game too far for them. Anyway, our midweek away record has been horrific for years so I'd be fairly pleased with a draw and keep the unbeaten run going.

I'm happy enough to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by some of the early performances. First impressions can obviously be misleading (in both directions, as anyone seeing Andre Ooijer's debut would testify!). But Alebiosu has impressed me more than a lad with his pedigree had any right too. Gudjohnsen and Morishita appear to have something about them. McLoughlin looks better than you'd expect for Hull City's fourth choice centre back, and even Tavares has had his moments which suggests he could have a pretty high ceiling. But stronger than last year? I seriously doubt it, and we can only really say one way or another when we see the sorts of performances they're capable of in February after they've had some exposure to a Championship winter and regular three game weeks.

It would be a disaster, but a shoe in for relegation is a bit much. There's some absolute dross in this league. You don't need much talent to finish above the three worst teams. Having said that, I'd obviously be much happier if we had another proven midfielder coming in before the deadline.

I don't think you are. I think there's a *lot* of nervousness about letting Travis, Brittain and Batth go, in particular. I think there's some excitement over the last day or two now we're at the 'getting new players through the door' stage, but if you were to ask most of us if we could send some of our new signings back, and get back the core of the squad that finished 7th on longer contracts, I suspect most wouldn't think twice.

I don't think he does get that much ire though. He probably got more in the early 2000s in fairness, but I think most fans always recognised he was doing his best. Doesn't alter the fact that it was a catastrophe of a transfer. Huge money and a big contributing factor to getting relegated. Agree that there are lots of examples where we've had players where the shoe has been on the other foot. Danny Graham at Sunderland is one that comes to mind.

In the same season as £7.5 mil (including future international, Rovers fan James Beattie) for Kevin Davies!

When you think about the fees that were paid too. Absolute megabucks by the standards of the time.

He did indeed, forgot that he was a January signing. So Woy just takes credit for Davies, Dailly, Peacock and Perez. Ugly stuff.

It would have to go some to be as bad as the Murphy/Etuhu window! Or Hodgson's spending spree in 98/99 for that matter (at least we got Matty Jansen alongside the rest of the dross). But yes, whilst I get there's an optimistic way of looking at this summer's dealings, I'd say there's only McLoughlin that you can hang your hat on as a reliable Championship level player (and even he could end up being a downgrade on what what we had last year). I don't say that as a criticism of any of the players or of Gestede even, but we've clearly gambled and it could easily backfire.