Cairney too (I actually think the 5 million we ended up getting for Raya was broadly fine) but other than that I agree - I'd be truly shocked if there turns out to be anything in that.

I think the game where we were obviously second best was the match at Ewood, where we escaped with a 0-0. I remember the away game being a tight match which we arguably shaded (whilst getting a big slice of luck with Branthwaite, obviously!).

As with the Millwall game, whilst we struggled for long periods we didn't give away too much in the way of chances. Makes the goal that we did give away all the more frustrating, but we definitely can't complain with the result. Good point under the circumstances, but we need to improve dramatically with the ball. Bit of a baptism of fire for young Clarkson, which hopefully he'll learn from. Nice to see Buckley do well when he came on.

Would be a very interesting one that. Not one I'd be completely delighted with given the way that he hasn't kicked on, but undoubted potential. I'm not anti-loan on principle, but I'd much sooner bring in Roberts than another winger on loan. Seems as though the clubs rumoured are us, Swansea, Stoke and Bournemouth. I suppose Bournemouth could blow us out of the water wages-wise (but would he play?). The others appear to be cutting their cloth not too dissimilarly to us this summer, so I wouldn't rule us out.

I think that explains why their academy has over time tended to be good too. Like Southampton they're pretty much the only gig in town for a really sizable chunk of the country.

That's a fair point, but as with Carter, Wharton is a player that one way or another, needs to be playing somewhere. Perhaps a better approach would be to wait until January, keep Carter as a part of the side then loan Wharton to a L1 team in January to get his form and fitness up to speed?

Probably fanciful to think this way, but it'd be great to see Anderson overtake Warne in test wickets by the time he retires. 79 more to go to catch him, which is obviously still a lot, but he still looks so fit. Another couple of years and he could do it.

I think he needs to play. I wouldn't at all be against that being at Rovers, but the worst thing for him would be to find himself fourth choice in a couple of months and he barely gets on the pitch.

I think this is right, sadly. His biggest weaknesses for me are his first touch, which doesn't look like it's going to get much better, and a lack of aggression for such a physically imposing player. To be honest, for all the talk of 'Gally's not a winger', I think he could still contribute plenty more as a wide forward if these two aspects of his game were better. Plenty of teams do well with wide-attackers who rarely cross the ball. Having said all that, whilst I can't ever see him bagging a hatful (or being that adept at bringing others into play like Graham was), I still think we'd see a real improvement with him in the middle. I'd be confident of him getting into double figures in the league, which I can't say at the moment.

I'm not one of those who thinks that Chapman is the best thing since sliced bread, but I really don't get what we're trying to achieve with him to be honest. I'm willing to accept that he hasn't played as much as he would've liked due to his attitude (or at least that we can't know that one way or the other) but if that's the case it seems mad to renew his deal for 12 months whilst simultaneously 1) not playing him and 2) not being able to get any cash for our asset due to his deal running out at the end of the season. I only hope that the rumours are just that, and Chapman gets enough time on the pitch to justify a new, proper contract.

A quick google seems as though Liverpool want to sell him for £5million, so probably not unless that's wrong. I'd like to think that we would only look to get another winger in (irrespective of whether we keep Chapman or not) if it's because we're going to use Gally in the middle.

Anderson with three in the first hour, including Kohli. Shudder to think where England would be without him and Root at present.

The management deserve heaps of criticism for not being more adaptable last year, but the football since our return wasn't even the worst in the last 10 years, never mind 50.

"Not-everyone's-cup-of-tea" etc, but I've always quite liked Neil Warnock. Would've suited us down to the ground in the summer that we went for Coyle. Especially love the roasting he gave his Huddersfield team in one of those fly on the wall documentaries that used to be popular. "You're in f**king Latvia!". Lovely stuff. Anyway, very pleased that we've got Ayala fit for our visit this season. Backing us for our first clean sheet in what seems like years. 0-2 Rovers.

If anyone has said that Mowbray is a better manager than Hughton, they are very much mistaken. Almost every manager at this level has spells where it doesn't work out, Hughton is having one now, but his record speaks for itself. On Mowbray, I could be wrong, but I don't see too many damascene conversions from our fans after three good results. I suspect that there's a large group who were once very much behind Mowbray but were very disappointed in the last 12-18 months and would have been happy to see him go at some point last year. Seeing as that hasn't happened, he's not going into this season with any credit in the bank with these fans, but at the same time they are not immediately clamouring for his sacking & are willing to judge this season on its own merits. Too forgiving? Maybe, but I don't think there are many who are expecting a particularly good season, even after a good start.

Agree with all of that. I'd add too that quite a lot is made on here about the envious glances that we're casting towards Brentford and the way in which they have based their growth & success on buying low and selling high, often from the lower leagues. We will obviously have to wait and see how well Dale and Pickering cut the mustard, but this strategy of targeting the best young players from L1 appeals to me a lot more than putting all of our small budget on loans.

I'm open minded about him purely on the basis that I've never seen him play, but I remember we were talking about him January just gone (or was it the one before?) and the idea that we'd pay £3million seemed absolutely insane. Sounded a bit like a L1 MGP in terms of style of play according to one poster who lives down there. Not really exceptional in any aspect of wing play other than having an eye for goal and good final ball. We need more goals from midfield & out wide, so it could work, but if we have that sort of money it should either go on i) a striker or ii) contracts for players already here.

It did, 2-2 at their place alongside a Benni McCarthy goal if memory serves. Not sure if it was a volley though, thought it was just a shot from outside the area.

Almost certain to be a step above anything we've faced so far. I'm just glad we're going into the game with 7 points from 9, rather 1 or 2 and already with the pressure cranked up. It's not often I'd take a draw before the start of any Championship game at Ewood, but I would for this one.

I think Bell eventually got to the stage where he travelled with the ball well. The trouble was his delivery, which as others have said, was pretty much as bad as it gets. I think once most people make their mind up on a player, it takes something pretty drastic to change their opinion. Bell did improve a decent amount over the last couple of years in my view - just not enough to make him good enough to be first choice and definitely not enough to shift the poor perceptions of him amongst Rovers fans. His good start will probably mean that Luton fans will never see him as the liability most Rovers fans did, although I agree they will come to see his limitations.

Maybe, don't think there's much between us to be honest, assuming we offer two identical contracts. I'd guess that he's still Manchester based too, so that might swing it for us.

Had to google him, but you're right, just gone to Cheltenham for a second spell, it seems. 21 now, too. Apparently did well for them last year, so would've been interesting to see how he would have progressed at Rovers over the last few years.

Quite a lot online being made of being a left-sided centre back. Wonder if that means he can cover left back too? A player who could cover all the same positions as Williams, but just do it better, would be a great addition given where the squad is at the moment, and that we're obviously looking to play with three at the back more.

Hopefully the boy who went to Leicester can act as an example not to follow, in that respect. Would have surely got decent game time for Rovers by now had he stayed with us.

Won't pretend to know too much about him - but CV looks decent enough. Warnock knows a centre half when he sees one too, so would be pretty optimistic with this one. Him and the City lad on low wages, with Wharton to come in before Christmas looks pretty good to me.