Admiral Nelsen

I'm really not convinced. I think we're underestimating what it takes for a Championship manager without a promotion on his CV to get interest from higher up, either in the prem or for clubs who are spending to get promoted. I'm sure there will be a fair few clubs lower down casting jealous glances but, that doesn't mean we should be worried about them trying to poach him.

Think we're a long long way from that personally. You don't get many 'sideways' moves in the Championship, and he's not the type that parachute payments clubs usually go for. If he performs miracles this season without getting us up, then it could be different.

I thought this at the weekend after Beck did so well. On reflection I'd be pretty happy having him on the left hand side of a three. In a back four though I think he'd only do as emergency cover.

I think you can cut JDT's tenure into three bits. There was the bit where he was getting the team used to his style. Then there was the period after a few months where we were looking a bit more co-ordinated, before the final months of his tenure when the wheels truly came off. I think in the middle section we actually played some really exciting football. We played out from the back, but not at all like we saw Bristol City do at the weekend. It was a case of draw the opposition out and then suddenly be a bit more direct once we found space. We looked dangerous against almost every team we played and were unlucky not to finish in the top six in his first season. It never felt like we got to the point where it was an 'efficient' way of playing to pick up points though. Maybe there's an alternative reality where we kept Wharton, signed Ahmedhodzic like JDT wanted and spent just a bit more money and we would've taken some beating. But the risk/reward always seemed off, even though I think we looked very good in spells. Funnily enough our best results probably came in his first few months where the performances were often pretty ropey. A bit of luck there possibly. All that said, it never felt like the football under JDT was very Rovers-like. Every successful Rovers team I've seen have had quality in the right areas, but you'd never accuse any of them of overplaying. Eustace's team definitely seems more in that mold, I've come away from a few games already this season feeling like I've just watched a budget version of the Mark Hughes team. Attack quickly, play where appropriate but with a healthy dose of pragmatism. Never get beaten for effort or physicality. Early days so far but very promising signs.

I'd have Brittain in assuming he's fully fit. I know he has his weak points but he's already assisted two in his four games so far, and the onus will be on us to do more with the ball here against a team who aren't as obsessed by possession. That's no slight on Carter who has looked pretty decent going forward, both at right back and when he was still a centre back against Derby. I think PNE play with wing backs though, so I'd be happier with an attacking full back like Brittain trying to pin back his opposite number.

Beck's performance has taken one headache away from him. Not a cat in hell's chance that Pickering (who I rate) is getting his place back straight away. Others are very tricky though. It would be harsh in the extreme to bench Yuki after that second half, but PNE will be a very different sort of game and Gueye was playing excellently against Burnley until his mad sending off. Batth will probably be the one to lose his spot if Brittain is back, but that's harsh after a very decent performance. I'd be surprised if Baker keeps his place, but then again I was surprised to see him start, so we'll wait and see on that one. Either way, a very decent looking bench for the first time in ages, like you say.

Not so sure. If Toth really struggles (or gets injured) then Pears will be back in quicker than anyone imagined. Also whilst I'm sure Pears won't be happy, he has to balance that off with the reality of what moving on looks like. Is he going to get another club at this level who want to buy him as a starter? Almost certainly not. Will a L1 club be able to match his wages? Would he even be prepared to go down a division?

We only beat two bottom half teams at home last year. Even assuming Derby and Oxford end up in that category, it's nice that we're actually putting those teams to the sword. It's what good seasons are built on.

And that's quite a statement given the last few years!

They're difficult calls with keepers. Staying with Pears over Kaminski a couple of years ago seemed fair enough at the time - Pears was having one of his less accident-prone spells so keeping him in seemed sensible. But the leopard didn't change his spots. And by the end of the season, having Kaminski straight back in could've been the difference between us finishing in the top 6, and him commanding a higher fee when Luton come in for him later in the summer. Which isn't to say we should necessarily through Toth in straight away. If for whatever reason they think he needs some acclimatising, then fine. But I think Pears' record speaks for itself now, so I don't think we'd be changing him for the sake of it. Instead it would be taking him out before the inevitable next howler costs us points.

He also doesn't have a promotion on his CV, which probably rules him out from getting poached by a parachute payments club. There's always the possibility that he makes a sideways move if he does well and gets sufficiently fed up with the Rovers circus, but that seems very unlikely from where we are now.

We'll see where their goals come from. His other promoted teams had Mitrovic and Solanke, who were vital. Foster's goal was good yesterday, but his record isn't great generally. If can step up then I'd have them as likely to go up. Otherwise I struggle to see who else would be able to do that. It definitely seems beyond Rodriguez these days.

Disagree. Although maybe his approach to some calls are becoming more standard in the prem, which is regrettable. I honestly couldn't believe some of the yellows given yesterday, for both sides. There were plenty of physical challenges - and thank God after our last trip to your place! - but I don't remember much in the way of leniency with 50/50 calls. Quite the opposite in fact.

The one, single, only benefit of that horrible decision is that I can legitimately say that I'm not a hypocrite over VAR. Huge decision goes against us in a game against our biggest rivals and I still want it scrapped!

I didn't say at the time because it felt a bit OTT, but I thought the home games (especially the Derby game) felt similar to the Hughes era. Play decent football at times, go more direct at times, but great effort and desire and you felt like we would be more likely to score as the game goes on. Same as you I'm not really celebrating that result - that was a game that was there for the taking I think. Gueye (who was otherwise excellent) and the officials made unrealistic in the end, and the players all deserve a massive pat on the back for getting a deserved point when so much went against them. But with a fair wind we would have won that game, irrespective of how much possession they had.

He was. There's recency bias with how we remember him. He started out looking impressive, but he simply wasn't at it in last few months when we were falling away. He'll be better for the experience though, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he has a decent prem career at some point in a few years. On Baker, he didn't get much of a chance to do anything with the ball. A couple of unimpressive touches in my view, but nothing like enough to judge him one way or the other.

In part this was how we set up, but had good depth in certain positions. Josh King couldn't get a start for instance (absolutely ridiculous in retrospect). We let Alan Judge go because he couldn't get a game either. Good players like Kilgallon on the bench too. It's fair to say we didn't have too much quality in centre midfield in that squad - Cairney aside - but part of that was that Bowyer just wanted to play water carriers there.

Have to say I'm pretty happy with the window from where we're sitting. There's still so much uncertainty though, I can't quite fathom how anyone can be scoring it. It only takes the new keeper to be below par or Cantwell to stink the place out to put a totally different complexion on our business.

Norwich

That's my thinking as things stand too. I'm far from Hedges biggest fan but if we're starting Gueye, then having a left footed left winger is helpful.

I'm not an advocate of Dolan as a centre forward, but his pressing and energy make him a better option than Siggy I think. I'm all for moving him centrally though and I totally agree that his touch and finishing being his best attributes. I just can't see having him as the focal point working. Much better playing behind a striker.

Amazing

Didn't Sky Sports News end up reporting that he could run the 100 meters in under 10 seconds just because someone on here made it up?

I think there's loads of uncertainty in this fixture. I have no idea who is going to be playing for them. Neither did Scott Parker until this morning, I'd bet. Maybe he still doesn't. Despite the chaos happening at their end, their XI will still have cost far, far more than ours, and will be in a better state than they were in last week when they were beaten by Sunderland. But we're in a much better situation than we were for either of the fixtures two years ago I think.

First part is right. I'm under no illusions about how badly we need an upgrade on Pears, but it says a lot that Leo was noticeably worse in his spell in the side. Second bit is academic, it's totally plausible he could end up being decent, but he has to make mistakes on another club's time.