Shaun Wright-Phillips has an 18 year old son? Those Wright men seem to settle in early.

My immediate association after seeing that starting 11:

And everyone who goes on about how Chapman is our salvation will be put to the test...

I'm not saying you're wrong, but Mowbray clearly signed him to play in that weird striker on the wing-role he likes to employ. We're much more likely to see him there than as the lone striker.

With Rothwell out for a month I don't see Brereton leaving.

Every club where a player has been between the ages of 12-23 gets to share 5 % when he generates a transfer sum. In other words, we'd be getting a bit of compensation, but nowhere near £5 million.

I've been impressed with Atsu when I've seen him play for Ghana, and he's played almost 20 games for a not terrible PL side already this season. My only reservation would be that I'm not sure he has the motivation to step down to the Championship on loan and push on from there, I'd rather have a hungry player with something to prove.

Reel it in a bit... If it turns out to be someone with the pedigree of Baines, Albrighton or Antonio, I'll eat my hat.

GET THE **** IN!!!!

Anyone else thinking "How are they going to screw this one up?"

I certainly did, good catch!

Allardyce's results against Manchester U, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal: 21 Feb 2009: Man Utd - Rovers 2-1 14 Mar 2009: Arsenal - Rovers 4-0 11 Apr 2009: Liverpool - Rovers 4-0 16 May 2009: Chelsea - Rovers 2-0 28 Aug 2010: Rovers - Arsenal 1-2 24 Oct 2010: Liverpool - Rovers 2-1 30 Oct 2010: Rovers - Chelsea 1-2 27 Nov 2010: Man Utd - Rovers 7-1 0 points out of 24 possible. It is what it is, it wasn't easy taking points from those teams, but I think this supports that he targeted "winnable" matches and let other ones go.

I like that midfield trio, but not the players in front of them.

Well, the one positive thing is that our unbeaten run is intact, as that was dreadful all around. Even Walton, with his two good saves towards the end, looked shaky throughout the rest of the game. While he didn't exactly turn the game around, I feel Holtby showed that he needs to be in the team when fit as he's our best passer and decision-maker in the final third as well as offering effective solutions further down the field.

Terrible 45 minutes, Wigan not much better mind... If this proves anything it's that Tosin needs to play every minute of every game, on crutches if need be. Think we would be well served by Holtby's composure on the ball in the second half, everyone else is currently just hoofing it away or slowly advancing util they run into an opposition defender.

It was hardly a barrage against Walton though, it seems harsh to expect the opposition to not create a single goalscoring opportunity. And they were only awful because we frustrated them and didn't let them play any better.

I've seen a tendency in him to play for himself rather than the team in central midfield, I.E he's tackling, shooting, passing and dribbling but without much thought or positional sense for such an important position. He was toned down today and had plenty of defensive support in midfield from Travis, Bennett and Holtby, and looked much better.

Fantastic away performance, locked down the middle of the pitch tightly and forced Bristol out on the flanks, where they ran into the immense Nyambe and Bell again and again. I was also impressed with Holtby's class mixed with defensive toughness and Johnson's calm performance, miles away from the maverick midfielder he's looked like up until now. Only disappointment was Brereton, who didn't play disastrously but looks devoid of confidence as well as afraid of being injured. Looks more and more like he should be loaned out to League 1 or somewhere in Europe to give him a proper chance to build himself up again.

I had a memory of Grabbi going on a good scoring run in our UEFA cup qualifiers right before we finally sold him, and thinking "maybe he should have gotten another chance after all?" Turned out it was all of one goal, against CSKA Sofia.

Ruiz Jr is a scary opponent, even when massively overweight (even for him) and facing an opponent who's physicality easily kept the Mexican at a comfortable distance and allowed for easy rounds from jabs, he always looked like he could seriously hurt Joshua if he got a chance. Came close a couple of times as well. Would have been a career-ender for Joshua, and for me he looked like he was still fighting demons from their last match throughout all 12 rounds. If he's so scared of Ruiz' hooks, how will he handle Wilder's cross?

Has Evans just hit a purple patch, or has Mowbray found a perfect role and midfield partner for him? Most of the Rovers team I've seen throughout the years have tended to play better when there's one dedicated defensive midfielder in the side.

Probably because there was a fat brown envelope in it for him... Allardyce is good at what he does, but him being retroactively contrasted against the corrupt Venkys as a trustworthy, dependable good 'un is wholly undeserved. He's a proven corrupt grifter that stands out even among his generation of managers.

How many times have we tried a new tactic only for it to fail and then revert to 4-2-3-1? It's the formation the squad is made up for, I have no idea why Mowbray insists otherwise. This needs to be a true turning point for the season, Mowbray still very close to the sack for me.

...while players like Williams, Lenihan, Cunningham and Nyambe are all at best OK at this level (jury is still out regarding Adarabioyo). Mowbray's non-prioritizing of our defense before this season is costing us, and will continue to do so.

Dack is strong as an ox, not many players as skilled as him could have shaked off two defenders and turned to shoot like he did for the second goal. MiIlwall and Reading aren't top tier opposition, but comfortable wins against lesser opposition is not to be taken for granted, and the squad looks deeper than it has for a long time. Get one of Graham or Gallagher firing, and things would start to look really hopeful.