I’d still go with the same starting XI. We all want to see more of Butterworth but I’d be tempted to bring him on for a significant amount of the second half. He might have flourished against a Luton team pushing for goals on Saturday but we’ll never know. Game management needs to improve markedly…we were lucky to hold on against Swansea, we didn’t have long to hold on at Forest. Against Morecambe and Boro we went to pieces and it’s a problem that affects the whole team. Kaminski kicks it into touch…the ball comes back at us, Gallagher fails to do the basics and hold up the ball, the ball comes back at us, Travis gets bypassed in midfield, the balls coming back at us. Keep the ball, win the game. So simple, so evidently beyond us.

Battered for large spells of the game, one of the most lightweight midfield performances I can remember, can’t remember their keeper making a save, putting more than two passes together looked like a toddler attempting trigonometry, red card for Carter…..but….we escaped with a point. We desperately need some steel and height in that midfield. I’m reserving judgement on Clarkson as his first two games have come against two of the most physical teams in the division…he’s going to have to adapt to that but it wasn’t his game again today. Ayala, Gallagher and Dolan leave with credit, the rest need to put it behind them and move on to Luton

This one has disturbed me ha ha…plus, has a footballer ever had a more inappropriate name?

Brad Friedel. I’m pretty sure they’re Tranmere fans but two Rovers references???

Ha ha, there’s more than I thought! I’d love an Oumar Konde reference but I doubt I’ll find one

Only a few appearances but I think this counts

Getting a bit bored of transfer non-entities so I thought, having just discovered that Bobby Svarc’s move from Colchester to Rovers is referenced in the Half Man Half Biscuit song, ‘Feel my Wraith (I read the news today, oh boy Svarc rejects new Layer terms)… Have any other Rovers players ever featured in song lyrics???

That could have been Ismael’s team talk yesterday

I’m reading Pat Nevin’s autobiography at the moment and that approach was almost ingrained on young Scots growing up in that era. The wingers were often more jinky than physical (although John Robertson could do both). What stood out yesterday was, with the width they had, when they countered they had an abundance of options. The cross field ball was utilised well which really splices open a team of our current limitations. Power, pace and width. The gulf between us and them

The more successful managers of bottom half Prem clubs (Allardyce, Pulis, Dyche etc) have taken the POMO approach and adapted it so that the team can also play good football when required. For all the negativity surrounding Allardyce he still found space in his teams for the likes of Okocha, Dunn, Diouf, Pedersen and others who could really play…plus the evolution of bigger players like Nzonzi who are both physical and technically excellent (see Pogba for a more recent prototype). I for one enjoyed the Allardyce era as we rarely lost at home and regularly ‘roughed up’ the big boys. Watching West Brom’s first game at Bournemouth reminded me of this. When the opportunity is there to get it in the box, do so (the long throw being their weapon of choice) but aside from that, play attacking, forceful football utilising strong pacy wingers and a general air of physicality throughout. It’s ironic that a team that Allardyce couldn’t save is now more Allardyce than ever under different tutelage. They will go up automatically

It’s amazing how cheap Samba and Nzonzi both were…a product of good European scouting and the confidence to sign such relative unknowns. We must have the shortest squad in the division…the subs all warm up directly in front of me and it was like watching a bunch of Olympic skateboarders

That’s right, very few teams coped with their flying wing backs approach. The thing that struck me today was West Brom’s combination of pace and physicality. It’s a potent weapon in this division.

Proud of the lads today. Against a clearly superior outfit in all departments we clung on in there and made it a game in the second half. Yes, the Baggies should have been out of sight at one point but I don’t think we’ll face much better than that at Ewood all season. Still pleased with 7 points from 4 games.

Early days for Carter but very encouraging…when Wharton returns we’re going to have some real depth in that position (for the first time in eons). Sometimes adversity brings a togetherness and team spirit that carries you forward…either that or Ayala really is the player we thought he could be.

Not a bad half but Forest haven’t enjoyed their usual slice of jam yet.