Admiral Nelsen

It's certainly harmed the top teams, making it hard for Wigan and a couple of others to be as dominant as they were. I'm not so sure about whether it has harmed the overall state of the game. It begs an interesting question though about how much the standard of player really matters for fans. One of the arguments that you always get against a salary cap - or other interventions to ensure competitiveness - is that we can't do it because we'll suddenly see an exodus of talent to other countries. Speaking personally, I'd be perfectly happy for the Prem to be knocked down a peg or two and lose some of its stars if the league was made more competitive on a week to week basis.

On last season's evidence, that's a lot of sharpening up.

That and the fact that their goals themselves were a bit freakish. Two worldie finishes from players who score one in ten. Another direct from a corner. We were poor - no question - but it was also one of those days where everything went right for one team. It's impossible to be too confident for any away game in the Championship, but I'm feeling good about this one. They're down on troops already and even with our attacking injuries, we should have comfortably the better team on paper, with a better XI and better options off the bench. 0-2 Rovers.

I don't think WBA will be doing much more than midtable this year, but it's a good time to be playing the Rovers with our already pretty unimpressive attack being down on troops. Going for an uninspiring 1-1

Completely agree. If we're in a relegation scrap, that will come from either an injury crisis or an unexpected implosion of form for me. Neither are impossible, but all things being equal there'll be at least a handful of sides which we should comfortably be better than, even without extra reinforcements.

Expectations for the season rest almost entirely on whether the new forwards are up to scratch or not. I suppose you'd throw in whether we keep/replace Kaminski too. If the new recruits can turn us into a more threatening side, then top six should definitely be our target. If there's not much improvement on last year, then mid table. The way I see it is that having gone through a tough transition, our squad is now pretty well drilled in how JDT wants us to play, and that we are a match for most teams in most areas of the pitch. Ironically our results tailed off the most last year when we actually started looking like a better team. We didn't pick up enough points in the last few months, but unlike the death spiral of the previous year, our performances were probably better than they had been all year and it was only our blunt attack that stopped good performances being good results. I'd only put the Norwich home game as one I remember from about February as one that we deserved to lose on the balance of play. What this means is that our 'floor' is pretty high. I can't see us being dragged into anything too concerning towards the bottom of the league, lower mid-table at worst. But realistically the top 6 as an expectation can only come with Ennis, Siggy and whoever else being a decent upgrade on Hedges and Gally.

I was disappointed when he was sacked because Kean and some of our more toxic signings were still a recent memory, and he was a good bloke as you say. Looking back in hindsight though, the underachievement seemed worse and worse as every season went by.

Agree with your first point. He wasn't the total disaster that some point out, but you only need to look at the the likes of JDT (who himself isn't perfect) to see that the game has passed him by in some respects. It might just be me, but I never was all that bothered about the odd thing that he said in the media. Football fans dish it out in spades, so we shouldn't be too thin skinned about the odd perceived slight that comes our way in the heat of the moment when someone shoves a microphone in front of a manager's face. Especially when it's pretty tame as Mowbray's comments were in my view, although I remember from the time that plenty disagreed!

As much as he should get credit for some good things that he did for the club, Bowyer was far worse for me. It's not just the goals we got from the front two. We had two centre backs that have gone on to be prem players in Duffy and Hanley, King starred in the top flight. Cairney was Fulham's best player when they secured automatic promotion. You can even look to players like Alan Judge as an example of a player who was excellent but completely misused. Dunny too in that last season. Playing 442 was a great way to get bags of goals out of Rhodes and Gestede but completely the wrong way to get the most out of a squad that should've walked the top 6.

Boring tie, but that's probably a good outcome at this stage. We avoid another Championship team, and a good option to give Phillips and other players on the periphery a game in the first week of the season.

Yeah - probably the sort of manager who looks the business when he has more resources than everyone else, but struggles to get the most out of a middling team. I think recent history shows that trying to predict how relegated teams will go is a mugs game. Even badly assembled prem teams who get relegated with a whimper will have players who on paper should be a step above this level. You just never know whether the upheaval and bad feeling around a place might mean that they're not up for the challenge of the Championship, but you only really get a sense of that well into the season.

Tugay and Brad rightly getting the mentions they deserve. I've been wracking my brains for some less obvious ones, and a few have come to mind. Bellamy at home vs Middlesbrough in a 3-2 win was something else, and summed up the difference he made to us that season. Scored two brilliant goals, the second of which came after Sav got himself sent off following a dodgy handball decision. For all of his inconsistencies, Josh King had some absolute blinders for us too. The FA cup games obviously, but there was a match at St Andrews when we were 4-0 up in no time at all, and at least three came from King having their full back on toast. You take the standard of opposition into account, but he caused absolute havoc that day. But the main one which comes to mind wasn't even in a Rovers shirt. I remember seeing New Zealand somehow manage a 1-1 draw with reigning champions Italy at the 2010 World Cup. The Sky Sports website used to give player ratings at that time, along with a short caption describing the performance. I only ever remember them giving out a 10/10 once, which was Ryan Nelsen in that game just with the word "heroic" next to him.

Exactly how I see it. I agree too that Pirlo & Tugay were very similar, especially later on. I just got thinking about Pirlo because he was a number 10 until his early 20s before someone had the brainwave to move him deeper. I can see the temptation to get Wharton closer to the opposition goal, but I think you're right that he is likely to be more influential further back.

I remember Souness talking a few years ago about how one of the problems with Dunny was that he always wanted to be Gazza, whereas Graeme was of the view that the very best midfielders have the most impact by sitting a bit deeper and dictating play. I'm not sure that works for everyone, but I think for Wharton I'd be looking more at Andrea Pirlo's career rather than Tugay. Both have the ability to play further up the pitch and offer a real goal threat, but they're still at their most influential when orchestrating play from deep.

They have, but equally they've not really beaten anyone decent in their recent spell. Which isn't to say that they won't go on to beat a few good teams and finish above Rovers, but I'm not sure they're quite making the charge on the top 6 that their results suggest. And they have a load of injuries now. Having said that, if they get a result at Millwall today then I'll sit up and take notice.

Before the Birmingham game I thought we'd do it. Now, I think it's a toss of a coin. One thing going for us is that we're not the only team which is faltering. Norwich were good at Ewood, but generally have struggled to pick up wins. Millwall too. PNE have obviously been churning out the wins, but they have almost exclusively come by beating teams right at the bottom. We have tough games, but equally only Burnley stands out as one where you think we're really up against it. Luton could easily have nothing to play for by the time we play them. Coventry are a decent side, but nothing to fear there in a home midweek game. Hull is a very winnable game. The feeling I have is that we'll just about sneak into the top 6, but then not get to Wembley.

Equally, not long ago he would probably be thinking that his only options for next season would be at L1 level, probably on no more than what he has been on since signing his first proper contract with us. I'm sure we'll arrive at a sensible outcome, but I don't blame him for not signing the first thing which is put to him when he has suddenly started proving that he can play well at this level.

I think now is the time to bring Kaminski in if we have designs on doing it this season rather than next. A little harsh on Pears who hasn't exactly been gaffe prone, but you can't say that he has been perfect over recent games either, and Huddersfield's first goal was a mistake that Kaminski probably wouldn't have made, as Joe says. Doing so would send a signal to Pears that he is still being judged as a no. 2 keeper though, and so I wouldn't blame him for taking that as a cue for looking for another club in the summer. Ideally I'd like to keep him as good quality back up, but I can't see him being happy to accept that now that he's shown that he can play regularly at this level. On the game itself, I'd back us to pick up the three points. Their win against Millwall was a bit smash and grab judging by reports, and they don't have any fit strikers. Going for our luck to turn in a 3-0 win.

Still pretty relaxed about this. Six months ago it was questionable whether JRC would be able to stay fit enough to have a career as a professional footballer. His turnaround has been brilliant to see - but potential suiters will not have forgotten about his injury record. Pretty sure that he is young enough for us to receive a compensation fee if he was to leave too, so it isn't as though there's no risk for the next club that comes along.

Expanding the number of qualifiers for the Euros really does take all the jeopardy and excitement out of these games. Being put in the same group as Italy would've previously meant that there was a lot of pressure being put on the game in Naples, and now Italy would've been seriously worried about their chances of going through. Easy to say from an English perspective though I suppose. I probably wouldn't be saying the same if I was Welsh or Irish.

Completely agree. Dramatic changes in attendances will only come about through dramatic changes in what's on offer. Either through top flight football or a heavily reduced ST price. Sadly the latter only really becomes an option once we get the tv money from being in the prem.

Not in and of itself. But making STs available earlier and during a spell when fans are still optimistic about the team and its future - and for a cheaper price - should have an impact. It's obviously only progress from the very low bar that we've set ourselves, but it's still progress.

More than possible is a bit strong for me. As good as he was defensively, there's a lot that needed ironing out if he wanted to contribute the way that Pickering and JRC have this season - or Brittain earlier on. I think it's more likely than he would've been given an handful of opportunities, but probably would've been frozen out like Edun has been.

Positive direction of travel. I can't quite bring myself to say that £380 is a good deal for second division football when the country is skint, but it's better than expected. Probably the most pleasing thing is that they're announced at a proper time this year. Hopefully the team can carry on creating some more optimism for the club to capitalise on.

Several things can be true at the same time. For instance it can be true that i) Southgate has been brilliant in sorting out the off the field problems that have typically followed England, ii) managed to get to the latter stages of tournaments and iii) but has still been a hinderance when it comes to winning the big games towards the back end. 2018 - Despite getting to the semis we actually failed to win more games than we won after 90 mins. Lost to Belgium, twice. Lost to Croatia despite them having been twice previously taken to extra time. We were a hairs breadth from being knocked out by Colombia on pens. We struggled against every decent team, bar Sweden, and had an unbelievably kind run to the last four. 2021 - We obviously managed to reach the final, which is no mean feat, but he had some real advantages here too. The squad of players at his disposal was stronger on paper than any of the teams we were coming up against - including Italy - and it was for all intents and purposes a home tournament. Huge credit for a deserved win vs Germany, but the final is a massive missed opportunity. 2022 - Happy to admit that we were a bit unlucky in the France game. It still remains true though that we were knocked out as soon as we played anyone good. There are plenty of good things you can say about him too, but his record doesn't absolve him from criticism. Quite the opposite, actually.