That was what I thought, that's why I said two LBs on the bench. But Rigger seems to disagree. LT pre-match comments are calling him a LB too. This better not be some inane LB/LWB pedantry....

Nah, hopefully they're both brill, and we get promoted and never need to sell them 😁 They're not identical twins like the Olssons anyway so the joke wouldn't land the same. Just seen Martin Olsson actually joined Malmo in 2021 and is still there as far as I can tell. JDT signed him.

Am I getting mixed up with my youth team LBs and RBs again? If Batty is a RB, I'd probably start him ahead of JRC, who simply isn't good enough and unlikely to ever be so.

It's already been clarified, they did. There were even jokes about selling them the worse twin when Norwich came in for Martin.

This team is strong enough on paper to see off a League Two side who have started with a draw and a defeat, at our own ground. If we balls it up, it won't reflect well on the character of some of these second stringers. I wouldn't want to see it face a Championship team though. Mostly as the defence and keeper look a bit frail.

It's pretty much what I and seemingly most others on here would have picked. The only real question mark was over whether it would be Morton plus Wharton, Morton plus Garrett, or (least likely) Wharton and Garrett. Rest of the team practically picked itself. Think S. Wharton would have been rested too if we had a reasonably experienced CB to replace him (or even just Barnes). Personally I think I'd have swerved Pears too (just like he swerves the ball). At least Kaminski is on the bench in case Pears starts playing dodgeball. That attack is plenty good enough to dispatch Hartlepool, and should be hungry enough to pull it off. Haven't seen Morton or Wharton much but they're rated. JRC is dogshit unfortunately, not really any getting around that (unlike JRC, who there is plenty of getting around) as I think resting as many of Saturday's players as possible was the right call. Phillips, well hopefully his inexperience won't be a problem and we see the beast we've been hearing about. Not that I'll see it, sadly. 4 defenders on the bench, 2 of them LBs I believe, is a bit odd.

We've played two matches 😂

Dunno if it's the best idea to be brutally honest. Will be 22 with no senior appearances by the time he is eligible again. Ligament injuries can make a player regress too. That said, probably won't cost enough to affect anything at all in the grand scheme of things. And suppose he could still come good. I do feel sorry for the lad with the timing.

How did you 'estimate' so precisely? Have you counted all the unavailable seats?

I'd honestly rather play Hilton. But, Pears has been on the bench under JDT so he's obviously next in line and will likely play tonight for better or worse.

No. Not one game. He had been shit before too. I forget the game/s and circumstances, but the season before last we had pretty much written him off as shite. Last season he seemed to have improved and had a series of acceptable performances (nowhere near as good as they were bigged up by some, the defence did most of the work but he performed solidly) before the Wigan clangers. But Wigan was by no means the first time he had looked like a shaky keeper.

Pears might need to play, but we certainly don't need Pears to play.

We do need our back and sides securing. Got to think what her teammates might think though, does she make the crew's cut? If not it could get hairy and bobble over. Course, I reckon they'd be happy enough if she scissored for them.

Yes, we don't have (reliable) evidence of an issue with Dack. I never said we did either. I know I'd be a little hacked off at not getting on the pitch in either game, even with a heavy lead in the second. Hartlepool should be when he gets his chance though, and I suspect he will have been kept on the bench in anticipation of playing midweek (don't see what difference 10 minutes would have made to that though).

Personally I didn't want hair (her) here at all, so I consider this a very close shave.

You have no idea what he would or wouldn't resort to. I imagine you've never even met the man. Just because it would be foolish doesn't mean someone won't do it. Everybody should know that by adulthood.

How do we know that? Cos he seems like a nice, bubbly lad in interviews? He has been top dog here for years, most players would come across cheery. The test of character is when someone is feeling adversity.

Just a question here Chaddy, and I'm not looking to provoke you or argue. And it's not about this quote specifically either. But I'm just curious, do you ever look at a Rovers transfer story from a journalist and think 'nah I don't really believe that'? I don't mean when another journalist denies it either.

Can't see JRC attracting a buyer tbh. Injury prone, probably only appealing to League One or lower, but after a couple of seasons around a Championship squad I bet he'd expect more wages than a lower league side will be willing to stump for an injury prone player. Depends partly on what he is on now I guess. But yeh I'd quite like to move him on. I'd take a fairly cheap deal with a decent sell on. Don't think he is much use to us, but if he gets better luck with injuries I could see him improving in the future.

That just isn't going to happen unfortunately. We couldn't keep two players who graduated from our own academy and another who didn't, who are good Championship players but no more than that for now. Why would we be able to convince a Chilean international star, coveted by numerous clubs, to sign on for far less money than he will get elsewhere and forego the fantastic signing on fee he will be eligible for next summer? Optimism is all well and good but it should be grounded in reality too. The only scenario I can see it happening is in the fairly unlikely one that we get promoted this season. Even then, it relies on him not signing a pre-contract with a foreign club in January. We know some are looking.

Hopefully they're all like that for most of the season!

Is this something he has actually said? The only young debuts he has given so far are Vale (first start anyway not first game) and the young lad on loan from Liverpool.

No no, it's not a question at all. It's as near to a fact as it's possible to get, that he wasn't.

No need for the 'blimey', I'm not saying sack the manager or anything, it's not a huge deal, just think it's the wrong judgement call. The chances of one of our keepers picking up an injury on the day, and then the other getting injured during the game in order for him to actually need to come on, are extremely, extremely slim. I see no reason he couldn't have played the game, and then driven down tomorrow for the unlikely eventuality of a keeper becoming unavailable at short notice.

Don't talk to Pep like that, it's disrespectful.