smiller14

Not many are saying it's a 'good' signing, but merely pointing out that what you said previously was untrue - Vale etc haven't done 'as much'. Wanting Vale to play instead is a fair shout which I think is up for debate.

I saw a Burnley fan on Twitter bragging about 'terrorising' Rovers fans at the station like he was some sort of hard man. As with most of these type of people, it seems his 'bravery' extended to shouting at random people and acting like a pillock. Hope it doesn't put you or the little one off following the team in future.

It's self explanatory isn't it? Sure he wants Rovers to win, but suppose backing the other team if you think they'll win/are generously priced is a way of hedging your bets. I don't tend to back against Rovers - one of the one times I did we got a shock win at St James' Park. I have an okay feeling about tomorrow mind, so don't fully share Mercer's pessimism.

I'd be delighted with 4 more. The priority for me is a striker at the moment, we look so toothless at that end of the field. If/when Brereton goes we probably need another at that end of the field too.

One thing I'll say is a healthy travelling contingent usually results in an abject performance if previous history is anything to go by - last year at PNE (when it was too late) a noticeable exception to the rule. Last year's trip to Blackpool, numerous Deepdale debacles and our wretched record at Wigan testament to this. Hoping we can buck this recent trend. Too far for me midweek from Cardiff; wish everyone a safe and enjoyable trip. As for the game - couldn't call it. Don't think we can afford to expose JRC, can see a similar team to the one that finished the last game, with Hyam slotting in too (not sure at whose expense). That's assuming there isn't more bad news on the injury front.

I just think he was okay. Not the disaster we feared, but then reverted to type when he rejected a contract offer and ended up in the wilderness for months as a result.

I commented on how he performed at Rovers, not afterwards. Didn't take the league by storm but was alright and we wanted to keep him. He pitched up at Roma briefly on trial but was unsurprisingly not kept on. In my view, he certainly wasn't awful at Rovers and was actually a pretty good squad player. The parallels drawn were the way in which both were quickly written off and derided as over the hill. Not saying I'm over the moon of course, and would be very disappointed if not joined by another centre back.

I'd be disappointed at that. One of the star men at Pompey and my Pompey-supporting mate was convinced he was far too good for League One

I didn't think he was awful. How he left left a bitter taste but he generally exceeded expectations and earned a move to Sheffield United as a result.

Reminded me initially of the Rodwell deal - he incidentally did well for Rovers. Taking a closer look, he's actually played a lot of football lately so isn't the washed up player many seem to be suggesting!

I can get on board with Caulker if accompanied by someone like Hyam and if we don't flog Carter! Leaves us with 5 centre backs, 1 of which is injury prone and 1 very young. We might also want to play 3 centre backs on occasion and gives us the depth to do that.

Not plugged 'any' of the gaps might be a tad unfair, but we are undeniably weaker. Szmodics and Khadra are totally different players, and Morton might have replaced Johnson but what about Rothwell? At centre back we lost Lenihan/Van Hecke and have only replaced them with the returning Carter. Comfortably weaker there. I don't agree that Khadra was awful. He was frustrating and a bit raw, but 'awful' just sounds like sour grapes. I could wager you weren't describing him that way last season when he was putting on the blue and white! In reality, we should really have been trying to kick on, but we've applied a few plasters here and there whilst leaving JDT with a squad lacking in depth. Of course we have a bit of time to change that, but if BBD goes and we don't replace him we are looking very weak.

Not far off 😁

I don't blame JDT but found the front 3 selected at Reading very strange, and today we seem to have set up ridiculously negative.

Officially very worried about where this season is going. Looked like relegation fodder 2 games on the bounce. People moaning about transfers have been belittled previously but it's beyond embarrassing we've been forced to blood a 17 year old at centre back. Pickering lookes miles out of his depth too. There's just no pressure on players as in most positions there's no competition for places. Up front we look toothless. 1 shot on target in nearly 180 minutes. Broughton needs to earn his coin asap.

Starting to become worried. We look so creatively devoid, which we looked past when we won the first 3 games, largely because it was coupled with a very strong defensive showing. SS has seemed absent since the goal at Swansea, the midfield keeps getting overrun and I just can't see where the goals are coming from. Big test for us 2nd half.

He played there at Blackpool last season and he was really impressive.

Jack Walker 1929–2000 - BRFCS.com Good time to share these pictures from this website - demonstrates the strength of feeling towards him. I remember the Norwich game afterwards, 'Time to Say Goodbye' with the accompanying video was unbelievably stirring and emotional. Will be joining in with a hearty rendition of 'One Jack Walker' tonight. He will never be forgotten.

I hope JDT feels differently at some stage, because we are going to need to manage the team's game time considerably over a long, gruelling season, especially with a pressing game. Tonight might be the night, it might not be - but Dack offers something a bit different and I don't think it's totally absurd that he might be considered ahead of Szmodics or Hedges, although I'd wager the former is much more likely. That being said, I won't be upset if he doesn't start. But I don't want to hear you moaning or criticising JDT if he comes off the bench or does start 😂

Not sure why you're suddenly so dismissive of Dack. The manager considered him good enough to be one of the first options off the bench on Sunday, so he must be alright? You seem aghast at the thought of picking Dack and are questioning it like he's proposed bringing Alan Fettis out of retirement, but it's an entirely reasonable suggestion - he's obviously in JDT's plans and given our hectic schedule and the conditions on the weekend there's a solid chance we rotate slightly (if not tonight then in future games). And obviously we have other players now who are key players, but that doesn't mean you dismiss Dack suddenly. He might never get back to where he was, but I thought you'd be a bit more supportive of him and a manager who obviously has some faith in him!

I think a lot of the people are the same - I treat XG in the same way people casually talk about possession stats/shots etc. It doesn't dictate my view of the game but is quite interesting and I was shocked how predictive it ended up being last year (by and large). I do think it's flawed though and doesn't always reflect how a game's gone. I don't think XG would ever change my opinion of a game and I only really find it mildly interesting when there's a larger pool of data. Back on the game itself, I'm quietly confident but wary they may be a bit of a wounded animal. Either way, we have the quality to beat them and if we score early I'm confident of a pretty comfortable 3-0 win. No easy games in this league but this certainly isn't one to fear.

Also true, but I guess it's just a more intuitive method of what was used before - before you'd have people pointing to 'we had X shots on target'. So early on in the season it isn't really too informative, it needs more data to really demonstrate trends and account for the sort of cases where a team scores and sits deep (like we have done). I'm a bit of a sceptic myself, but people are quick to decry it when it's been shown to be a pretty good indicator in the past. Although it isn't the be all and end all and I don't think our low XG this season is reflective of how the games have gone. We were largely in control for most of the 3 games.

I often think the same. I'd love to see the metrics for it. For instance, vs QPR we had a lot of good opportunities where we picked the wrong pass, which is impossible to put into a model like this. Very intrigued to know the stance on tackles like this as well. I think from what I've seen it does have value - typically teams 'revert to the mean' and outperforming XG can often be seen as an indicator of a freak run of form that will soon go 'back to normal'. What we're doing well is also restricting the opposite XG to very low levels, which is important. As an aside, my mate is obsessed with it, and spent a lot of time before Christmas using Celtic's higher 'expected points' (derived from XG vs XGA) as his justification that they would rein Rangers in. He was laughed at quite a lot based on his Twitter but was spot on. So I think it is a decent enough indicator, but where it lacks nuance is that it doesn't take into account the ability of the player in question. With players like BBD, we are more likely to 'overperform' XG wise as he's much more clinical than 90% of the league's strikers in front of goal.

Anyone know how many we've sold for this one? Tickets priced nicely but appreciate it's a tough trip midweek, especially with everyone being a bit lighter financially with all the goings-on.

L'amour Toujour is brilliant! That being said, 'I gotta feelin' is a truly awful song and I still remember Ewood bouncing to it when we beat Burnley 3-2. My Burnley mate (I know!) still walks out whenever it comes on, and whenever I'm unfortunate enough to hear it somewhere I'm always sure to send him a video. Then again, they could have played any tune that day and Ewood would have obliged in song/dance!