Johan Vogel in shot there! Bet he hadn't played in too many matches like this one in his illustrious career.

Believe Derbyshire got two that day. His career never really developed in the way I hoped it might've, but a 21 year old Derbyshire coming through now wouldn't half be a good addition to our squad imo.

I think/hope that come the end of the season we'll be looking at those two opening fixtures and see them as playing them at the wrong time. Charlton flying after being promoted at Wembley and relegated teams can often have good starts before tailing off. The only game which concerns me at the moment is West Brom because of how we let in so many so quickly, but so long as that doesn't become the habit that it did last year, I think we're in a good spot.

Some very poor views of Joao from their fans. Maybe justified, but surprising. Very impressed (albeit sometimes exasperated) when he was at Ewood.

They've got a home tie with Leicester tomorrow night, which I imagine will be their first team. Gives us another couple of days preparation. Looks like they're a side who play on the deck, regardless of opposition. Should suit some of our squad quite nicely. Walton Bennett Lenihan Williams Cunningham Travis Johnson Dowining Dack Armstrong Graham

I'd say it's premature, but both are getting dangerously close to giving themselves a mountain to climb and the schools have only just gone back! Both have got squads to compete, so if they get out of a nosedive in the coming weeks they can both still stay above water. They play each other in a couple of weeks, if either of them still haven't won going into October then it's panic stations.

I'm not sure I'd go quite as far as that, there are still plenty of teams that have a very consistent formation/style of play/personel which are only tweaked, which is different to Mowbray's approach. I think there are strengths and wekanesses to both approaches, and which is best probably depends more on the resources to build a squad more than anything else. One thing I'd definitely say in Mowbray's favour is that our changes look to be based on him doing thorough homework on the opposition. I don't think we've seen much evidence of that from any of our post-Big Sam managers, so from that point of view I don't mind him taking his 'reactive' approach, because at least he's doing it properly.

I'd look at Luton & Hudds as the games that I'd probably 'expect' (dangerous in this league) to win. Forest & QPR are picking us results, and Brum have only lost once at home so far, albeit with some kind-ish fixtures. Four points from those three plus two wins from the winnable home games would mean 10 from 15, which is automatic promotion form, so I'd be very happy with that.

Certainly hasn't really worked so far, but the more ball players we have the more likely it is to work as planned. Travis and Johnson both play forward and quicker than Evans and Smallwood do, so the issue of the ball dying in midfield goes. Having 2 from Dack/Holtby/Rothwell/Downing in front gives them more than one dangerous creative option, so it's not just a case of stopping Dack = stopping Rovers. Could still fall flat, but I think we're better equipped to play that system than we have been. Lack of goals from Gally could be a problem, to be sure. Totally agree with the bench point. We're not there yet, but it's definitely a sign of progress that we have perfectly adequate Championship players who can't make the 18 when everyone's fit.

Trouble with a lot of three at the back systems is that they look good on paper without being as impressive on Saturdays, but I have to say I really like that. Rothwell, Graham and Armstrong to come in should we make changes to how we play. A side that can cause anyone in this league problems.

Could well be right. Only thing I'd say at this point is that our away fixtures have been especially unkind, both who we've played and when we've played them. Not convinced that Fulham are going to be the real deal over 46 games, but playing a side with that attacking talent for their first home game was always going to be tricky. Next four away are Reading, QPR, Brum & PNE. If we're being cut open in these games, then we should be worrying.

Have really high hopes for this one. I get (and share, to to a degree) the view that we already have a tonne of players in his position(s) and it's hard to know who should be left out. Having said that, how many times have we brought in players in similar circumstances and they've turned out to improve us no end. Friedel, Tugay and Samba jump out straight away. If only we took a similar approach to Zidane then we might've been a very different club these days. Spoke very well in his interview too, hope he's as impressive on the pitch.

Really wary about this one. At the start of the season I'd have had them down as in the group most likely to get relegated, but they've clearly got potential to cause damage when you look at the Cardiff result. Not an easy game to predict, an away draw might not be the worst result.

So taking that route it'll Rovers, Leeds, Huddersfield, or any of the other NW clubs. Watch it be PNE now!

Think that's right. Could probably put Rovers a few years ago in that category too, the likes of Appleton may well have done better if he wasn't trying to keep a half-sank ship afloat.

I wonder if Downing's age might be a slight factor too. As much as I've been pleasantly surprised by him so far, you can only really go 12 months at a time for a player in his mid 30s. Next season he might be gone/much less of a fixture.

Broadly on track for me. 10 points from 7 = 1.43 points per game, over the course of the season that puts us on just under 66 points. That won't get us where we want to be, but it would get us within a couple of results and if the early fixtures have been a bit unkind to us then I think we can say that this is a decent start.

His final ball was pretty dodgy, but the thing which surprises me is the way that he's gone backwards in the area he was so strong at, beating players. In the K**n years, he seemed to be torturing full backs every time he got the ball. He seems as though he's still doing it in flashes, but like you I expected him to get somewhere near the top by his mid 20s.

To be fair, it's more his mobility which I think will lead us to go with another option. Agree that he's technically underrated, and he's a very, very clever player. I think we'll probably opt for a quicker player to get in behind, but I wouldn't want to make Graham out just to be a battering ram, I agree he's far better than that.

Spoke to some Cardiff fans on the train when I was on way to Ewood on the opening day, think they were playing Wigan. Asked them about Hoillett, and whilst they were happy enough with him as a squad player at this level, they definitely weren't going overboard. I still can't quite get my head around how he hasn't kicked on after leaving Rovers. The form he showed in the spell you mentioned he looked as though he had the world at his feet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49429764 Cardiff missing Marlon Pack, big loss for them.

I suspect that we might try and play on the floor a bit more and leave DG on the bench. Obviously Graham's easily our best option for a target man, but given that we're playing a Warnock side I think playing direct balls for their centre backs to gobble up might be playing into their hands.

I thought his one-on-one defending was getting better. He was forever letting his man get past him/getting a cross in at the start of his time with us which didn't happen has frequently as the season went on. Grabbed a couple of goals and travels well with the ball too, albeit with his final ball still being pretty awful. Not denying for a second that Cunningham doesn't look like a massive upgrade, but I think Bell's steady improvement would've been commented on a bit more had it not coincided with our bad run. In any case, my main point is that Williams should definitely remain at centre back. If Hart gets a run out against Cardiff then I've got no issue with that.

Couldn't agree more. Bell has his weaknesses but did improve last year, and should be hungry to try and get his shirt back. Even if we play Hart (would Downing be a possibility?) Williams absolutely deserves to keep his spot there.

If we do, that'd be a really strong return. Especially when considering that involves having played two relegated sides and WBA away already. I think we'll win on Saturday too, but I'm not sure we'll get anything from West Brom. Obviously hope I'm wrong.