My thoughts: The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

Summary: so much riding on transfer window, both from a playing and management perspective.

Brittain will start tonight in place of Gallagher, I think that much is clear from JDT's presser.

I'd love to see Dack in from the off, his intelligence and passing could be key in a tight game. Dolan to lose out.

Don't think this is the game to rest Ayala, that may come at the weekend

Same team, although there may be logic in playing Hirst over Dolan to stretch the game a bit

Most likely score is 0-0 but I'm feeling a 1-0 win. Ayala with the winner - how ironic after playing up top last time out at Kenilworth.

Important game. We've lost 3 in a row without scoring, so I'd take a score draw to arrest both slides. Prediction is 1-1, Blackpool are tricky but as inconsistent than ourselves. Dolan to score for us - this is exactly the type of game he looks good in coming up against a cumbersome duo.

I've always thought midweek games under new management are a good barometer of how quickly coaching ideals translate to the pitch. I've no concerns about JDT Saturday-Saturday but it's a different challenge when recovery and preparation is shortened. Very interested to see how we set up tonight...

1. Where will Rovers finish ? 6th

2. Who will be the Rovers (official) Player Of The Season ? Harry Pickering

3. Who do you think will be the breakout/breakthrough academy player this season ? Adam Wharton

4. Who will win the Championship ? Sheffield United

5. Where will Burnley finish ? 7th

I’m predicting Mowbray’s selection rather than making my own but I’m also not sure if Dolan has come up against a decent team who play with WB’s (??), which may impact his selection here...

If it were up to me, I’d have Douglas over Bell but I don’t have an issue with Gallagher for this particular game with Dolan/Elliott off the bench. Expect Dolan/Elliott to start again this weekend. 

Mowbray may have targeted this game tactically more than Forest where a new manager made planning unpredictable. Could see him going with something like below. Johnson/Evans picking up Pedro when he drops in. Front 3 to stay high as much as possible...

              Kaminski

Nyambe  Ayala  Lenihan  Bell

        Johnson  Evans

                Holtby 

 Gallagher  Arma  Brereton

A point would be great if we could follow up with 3 at the weekend!

Walton

Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Bell

Travis Johnson

Armstrong Dack Gallagher

Graham

It's difficult to pick a team today but I don't think Mowbray will start with more than 3 new faces. The aim should be to break Charlton early and wind down the game with more solid subs (Evans, Downing etc). Wouldn't surprise me to see Dack finishing the game up top and Buckley in behind. Downing's position if he features today is probably the most interesting sub-plot for me. 

I'm going 2-0 Rovers and a relatively comfortable start to the season. Armstrong and Mulgrew.

That pass last night early in the build up to the second goal! Something we haven't had in that area of the field since Cairney

My view on Raya is that he did not improve at all last season overall - some truly amazing saves, but the same frailties remained. If he was that good, then clubs other than Brentford would have been sniffing...

Whatever your views on Raya, it's not a surprise to see him leave considering he was dropped for the final 4 games of last season. Mowbray et al have surely known since that point that we'd be signing a new keeper so I'd be surprised if one isn't lined up and signed next week. In all likelihood, it could be someone who can play a bit as we progress to a new style of play.

Although improbable, it's not impossible that 2/3 of Magloire, Butterworth, Samuel, Davenport and Buckley could become regulars before long. Some of these guys were borderline good enough to get in the team that finished 15th last season, but are they good enough to get in last season's team that's potentially had a few new signings added to it?

(side note: Maybe that's the context we need to understand our lack of signings so far...I have noted Mowbray's comments about how the youngsters boosted the stats on the Austria trip and read that as him being pleasantly surprised by what they had to offer. Could a Magloire potentially be better than a Pat Bauer? Could a Davenport potentially be better than a Bradley Johnson?)

As for my expectations, I see us improving as the season progresses after an average start and tough opening fixtures. I believe we'll be in the top half at Christmas and hope we learn from last year's experience of that particular period. I'd be surprised if we finished the season lower than 12th, but would be equally surprised if we finished top 6. 

The Downing interest might be a smoke-screen for lack of progress with other targets, but I see it as an upgrade on Conway for very similar wages. Not a signing I expected or hoped for, but he's definitely an upgrade in terms of class, technical ability and flexibility on positions.

Removing experience from a dressing room is risky business, especially as Conway seemed to be Mowbray's dressing room lieutenant (often acknowledged by Mowbray). Downing fits the bill perfectly for that role - from LT:

Quote

Downing would bring a wealth of experience to the Rovers squad, something Mowbray is keen to add, with 400 appearances for Middlesbrough, as well as 35 England caps and spells with Aston Villa and Liverpool.

I'm not going to argue with Mowbray's logic here. It would be a positive first signing for me.