Well there's not much that can be said about that, that won't already have been said or will be said in the coming hours and days. Would've taken a point before kick-off, but this feels like a defeat, as did the Coventry game. Oh well...onto the next one I guess 😬

Can't see anything but a Cov win unfortunately, and a match that plays out similarly to Norwich with Rovers utterly toothless in attack at the moment. 1 - 3 Coventry.

Reverting to Gallagher out wide last night was almost on a par with playing Bradley Johnson as a False 9. Gally has been shocking since we resumed after the international break, as has BBD, who for me quite simply doesn't deserve to be in the team at the moment. Granted Huddersfield where poor but I thought we looked a far more solid side with the 3 in the middle, so not sure why we switched back to 2. Wharton didn't deserve to be dropped at all. I think having that third man really helps our transitional play, because you can see that we struggle to play out from the back due to a lack of movement / space in midfield, which is why the back 4 give the ball away so much. Hyam in particular has been really guilty of some poor passes, some down to complacency and others I think are simply down to a lack of option. The substitutions seemed to help us play more direct, but it all happened too late. Make those change at half time and it could've been a very different story. It might be in our hands on paper but our run-in says that it is anything but. I struggle to see us picking up another win this season based on last night.

Good comeback, JDT got his subs right this time. JRC operating more in the middle for the 2nd half was a great move as he caused absolute chaos for Huddersfield. I'd like to see him in that position against Hull with Brittain coming in at right back. Shocking to go 2 nil down against a poor Huddersfield team after dominating the game. The team generally played fine except for the two soft goals they conceded. Hopefully it will be a confidence boost to the group that they can in fact come back to get something out of a game. Although he went off, I do think we're a much better team with Dolan and Szmodics together as it makes our forward play much more mobile and flexible. Leonard looks a decent prospect as well, seemed to adjust to the pace of the game quite quickly and showed good instincts on a couple of occasions. Hopefully he gets more chances between now and the end of the season. With all that being said, it is definitely 2 points dropped when you look at the game as a whole. We totally dominated and Huddersfield never really had a spell in the game despite somehow ending up with 2 goals. Warnock has worked wonders to get them out of the bottom 3.

Woeful from start to finish. Morton and Travis as a midfield combo is just terrible. None of the starting XI come out of that with any credit. BBD is already in Spain by the looks of it too. Less said about Gallagher, the better.

Doing Danny DeVito a disservice there!

This is a shocking performance so far. Lack of quality from Wigan but they at least look like they want to score. Rovers looking sluggish and clueless once they get into the opposition half.

Has Vale touched the ball yet??

When do we start the countdown to Rich Sharpe tweeting "I'm told Rovers' business is done for the day" 😂

We go through this every year. Deadline day comes and there's talk of one or two players that would be genuinely great additions...followed by absolutely nothing transpiring and then the club comes out saying 'we tried to do this, that, the other, etc.' There might be some different faces but the same shambolic incompetence behind the scenes. Hope they prove me wrong!

JDT ain't it for me. Nice guy but essentially the Danish Gary Bowyer. Won't be long before he's coining the phrase 'we gave it a right good go'. Summed it up for me that at 2 nil down yesterday the Sky cameras show him grinning like we're coasting to an easy win. The lack of fight in this team when we go behind is completely unacceptable. There is no backbone there, no fighting character to drag themselves over the line, which is what any successful team does when they're not at their best. That starts with the manager having, and JDT hasn't got it for this level. Hope I'm one day proven wrong but I think it's unlikely.

The 'young team' line has worn thin. The team yesterday was a reasonable mix of experience and youth so to use that as an excuse is total BS. The reality is, we have a reasonably decent group of players that are not equipped to play the style of football JDT wants. There are very few teams (possibly only 1 in Burnley) in the Championship that can play this way consistently with success. Rovers were a far better side last season playing on the counter and generally having less of the ball, and we even saw it at the start of this season against the likes of Swansea and WBA that when we play on the counter we can be clinical. The only arguable positive was Dolan and Markanday look like they have good chemistry. If JDT insists on playing possession based football then maybe start with these two who are technically skilled on the ball and can interchange really well, instead of Gallagher who has a horrific first touch and totally out of his depth with this style of football. If anything, Gallagher is the one you bring on when chasing a game and you have to resort to a more direct approach when the possession style isn't working.

It was as clear as day watching yesterday that this team needs an experienced central midfielder that can help drive the transition from back to front if we insist on playing it around at the back. Our current crop of midfielders don't have that in their locker between them and it shows when Hyam and Ayala look to pick them out, it usually ends up back with them or Kaminski, or we give the ball away and play ourselves into trouble, which is where we have lost plenty of games this season. Secondly, a focal point striker. Why on earth do the club think they need another 'flexible' attacker when we already have Brereton Diaz, Hedges, Dolan, Markanday, and Szmodics who can all arguably do that job. What we need is a Danny Graham type figurehead, who ironically we haven't replaced since he left the club. You could argue that Hirst was intended to be that player but what worked with Danny Graham is the chemistry with Dack and more importantly - the experience he had at Championship level. I'm sick to death of our new recruitment being so focussed on bringing in youth that we seem to be forgetting about the here and now. No doubt we'll bring in a couple of half baked loans from premier league teams when we're crying out for experience and we'll slip down the table. The club have zero ambition, it's all about being a feeder club to premier league teams and buying young to sell on for profit. If we ever get promoted to the top flight again it'll be due to an absolute fluke of a season ala Coyle at Burnley.

Very naïve and poor 2nd half to not expect Luton to come out and take the game to Rovers. I think we were all pretty happy to see the same starting eleven but I hindsight I'd have sacrificed someone like Dolan for an extra midfielder at half time to try and stifle the Luton midfield. Having Dack come on to sit deeper than usual and trying to pick out balls to Hedges and BBD on the counter would've been something that could've given us a bit of creative spark. For one reason or another I think we all feel that JDT doesn't fancy Dack in this team, which quite frankly is bizarre because he's the only one that can turn a game on its head with a defence splitting pass - see Blackpool away from a couple of weeks ago for evidence of that. We could have so easily been in front at the break and it seems that this team walks a very thin line based on whether they score first or not. If they concede first then they seem to fall apart, particularly the midfield, who can't handle the more physical and aggressive midfields of other teams. The games will come extra thick and fast up until the World Cup break now. Let's hope that they do some good work on the training ground during the international break and we hit the ground running for what will be a critical part of the season.

Same team as Watford please. Brittain might be in the squad but Id be surprised if he was thrown straight back in from the start. We'll need that same back 3 if we are to keep Luton's forwards quiet, especially as the midfield battle to be very tough, probably tougher than Watford given Luton haven't won at home yet and they'll be desperate to change that. Let's hope the team goes into it full of confidence and not the slow and tentative approach that we've seen in other games. Rovers really have been a Jekyll and Hyde so far this season. I'll go for a 1-1 draw. Rovers to score first, and we'll probably be hanging on a bit by the end but we have to draw at some point...right!?

Having S. Wharton and Ayala back in the quad and with at least one of them starting would be a huge boost. That being said, it won't count for much if the midfield don't have an impact on the game as we saw against Bristol City. Instead of 3 at the back, I would look to sacrifice one of the forward players to install a holding midfielder to beef things up in the middle. Not ideal but then Watford are a far superior side to Rovers at this moment. GK. Kaminski RB. Carter CB. Hyam CB. S. Wharton LB. Pickering DM. Travis CM. Buckley CM. A. Wharton RF. Hedges CF. Hirst LF. Brereton The concern of course is that Hirst could be very isolated, but if they can get the ball into him I think can do a good job at holding the ball up and bringing others into play.

Now that it's been confirmed that all games are off this weekend I'll try to look at the positives...we might have more key players back from injury by the time Rovers play another game.

Seems like they should be doing the exact opposite of calling games off. Sporting events and the like should be used as a celebration of the Queen and her life.

Ah, didn't realise that! I'm really not sure how the club thought they were ok for cover at right back. I think you're right...the best option looks to be Carter at right back for now providing Wharton or Ayala are available to partner Hyam.

We have to draw at some point and that's as good as we tend to do at Wigan, so I'm going for 2-2. Dack to get his first of the season, and one of the CB's to score a header from a corner would be nice! We really need Brittain back so Travis can move back into midfield. If JDT wants to continue playing 4 at the back as he apparently did most of the time at Malmo, then the defenders need greater protection than two inexperienced 18 year olds. Yes they did brilliantly against Blackpool but teams with more tactically astute managers than Michael Appleton will know how to set their teams up to overpower that midfield. If we switched to 3 at the back then you'd need that central player of the 3 to be confident in stepping out from the back as well, something that Van Hecke generally did very well at times last season, and I'm not sure we have anyone who can fill that gap now. Hopefully S. Wharton and Brittain are back, and If so I'd like to see this team: GK. Kaminski LB. Pickering CB. S. Wharton CB. Hyam RB. Brittain CM. Travis CM. Buckley LF. Brereton CAM. Dack RF. Hedges CF. Hirst To me this seems like a team that is more than capable in this division...but I do worry about the midfield and the lack of protection they can give to the defence...especially as they seem to be experts in giving the ball away as we continue to try and play it out from the back.

Well that was effing dreadful. Final score flattered us. The players never looked like they wanted it. Sluggish and passive. BBD didn't look up for it. Hirst showed signs of promise when he could get involved but was totally isolated for the most part. Think he was unlucky to be taken off. Not sure why Dack and Hedges went off, although perhaps its fitness related. Why we continue to try and pass it out from the back I don't know. The players are clearly not good enough to do it when most teams tend to high press. We saw this style of play 2 years ago when Mowbray tried it.

A great win - fully deserved as well and a very good team performance. It really should've been 2 or 3 so I'm glad we didn't pay the price for those missed chances. The first 10 - 15 minutes were a tough watch. We didn't look up for it and Blackpool were pressing high, but the goal relaxed the team and it all 'just clicked. I'm glad I was proven wrong with my pre-match prediction! Hyam was exactly what we need at the back - solid and very good with decision making. Carter also did well. Hope he keeps it up. Vale impressed me off the bench initially but went quiet as the game went on after his yellow card. Would've been a great moment if that chance of his had gone in. I thought Dolan was also a bit better tonight but he's not a starter for me. Hopefully Hirst can come in and make that central forward role his own. Great win, back into the top 6. Hopefully we can top this week off with a good end to the transfer window and another 3 points on Saturday! 😄

His recent history before signing for Rovers - yes...he had an awful record at Sunderland.

No problem with giving Hirst a go. We've had a few strikers come to the club with poor records in their recent history who turn out to be great players for Rovers (Rudy Gestede, Danny Graham, and even Adam Armstrong had a really poor record at Championship level until things clicked for him at Rovers. If he's been identified as someone who can come in and play to the system that JDT wants then that's good enough for me to support this signing. We really need a focal point down the middle of the attacking positions to link up with the likes of Dack and Hedges, so I'm hoping Hirst can be that. No idea who else we'll try to bring in, but hopefully it'll be an exciting end to the transfer window 😆.

To an extent that's true but we have after all lost 3 league games on the spin so the manager deserves criticism just as much as he deserved praise after winning 4 on the bounce in all competitions. That criticism needs to land at the feet of the players as well though. The coaching staff prepare for a match as much as you want during the week but if the likes of Buckley, JRC, etc. are doing the absolute basics wrong during a match then there's not much that can be done on the touchline other that to do what JDT did and haul the drastically underperforming players off at half time.