Huge blow, massively weakens our defence. I think we have to go with three at the back now and bring Tosin in. We simply cannot have Bell as a regular starter.

Whilst I agree that we’re headed for another season of mediocrity, I wouldn’t be getting rid of TM at this stage. We’re a bad appointment away from free fall again and another stint in lge 1. I’d much rather take mid table over that and then re-evaluate in the summer. I wouldn’t back against some positive results again after the international break and suddenly a 4-2 shocker against a crap team like QPR is a little easier to take. TM has always bounced back well from moments where people question his position.

Horrific performance and result. I’m afraid top 6 teams do not lose 4-2 away to QPR, another season of mediocrity beckons. Very concerning day.

I know many will disagree, but I’ve been really impressed with our performances over the past few games. We’ve dominated the ball, won the ball back quickly and aggressively (Travis - what a player!), and have generally controlled the games. Plus, we’ve seen some real quality players in there that will surely mean we’ll win a lot of games this season - Holtby, Dack, Downing, Rothwell and Armstrong have looked good in patches. Sometimes it’s not all about results at this stage of the season, you get a feel for how we may do based on performances too. I remember our first season we came down and our early season results were very good but performances were woeful - we ended up nearly getting relegated. Results have been ok this season and performances have been good imo. The big problem, as many have said, is that our 12m worth of strikers don’t look like they’ve got a goal between them. I have more hope in Brereton longer term than I do Gallagher, but feel like we need someone else shorter term. Sheff W are desperate to get Rhodes out of the door in Jan...just a thought.

If only we had a top class striker, we’d then be very firm favourites for a top 6 slot. Gallagher doesn’t look the answer on any level. I’d even move Samuel ahead of him.

For the second game in a row, we have seen a robbery at ewood park. No idea how Luton took three points off us and no idea how Forest have gone away with a point. Completely dominated both games. Really promising signs but frustrating not to win that one. The progress we’ve made in keeping the ball and dominating teams is really starting to show.

I think we’ll win tonight. That would sum up this league perfectly, we go and lose to one of the worst teams in the league and then we go and beat one of the better ones. Team news is anyone’s guess but I expect recalls for Graham, Rothwell and Tosin. I also expect a return to three at the back which is TM’s preferred formation.

Only saw the second half but the Luton win looked like daylight robbery. They barely had a kick but we showed very little quality going forward. This is why I always dread the games against the “small teams” as there are no easy matches in this league. Their game plan defensively was simple - let Bennet have the freedom of the park as he’s not very good and you know he’ll just lump a ball into the box.

I’m one of those who thinks Samuel does have a part to play in the first team. He wasn’t that great in the lge 1 season but he did show flashes of being a good player, plus he has all the right attributes to be a good striker. No one has really nailed down that central striking spot yet so I think he will get a chance to shine. It wouldn’t surprise me if he gets added to the bench for a game soon.

Excellent win today against a club we generally don’t do well against. A lot of good performers out there today but Downing and Evans stood out. Downing must be up there with Williams as our best player so far this season, he’s been class since coming to the club. I’m not a big fan of Evans but he does have talent when he’s fully motivated. He played some clever passes today. Travis had one of his poorer games I thought. Very sloppy in possession. Dack is class obviously and showed that again today. Surely a prem club will come calling this summer if we fail to go up. Loved Holtby’s enthusiasm. He sprinted to the touchline when TM called him back from his warm up to go on. He played like he was delighted to be playing again and that perhaps meant he was not as composed as he normally is but still showed good touches. It’s only now I think we can begin to look back at the summer transfer window and say it was a huge success. A few of those signings could have gone either way but looks like TM got it right and a top 6 challenge is well and truly on.

Fantastic. Evans having a blinder.

Johnson out, Evans in is the eye catching part of that starting 11. Perhaps not surprising given that Johnson was hooked at HT in our previous away match. Maybe feels Evans deserves a chance.

Interesting match this one, hard to call what the result will be. They have a couple of good strikers in Joao and Puscas so they are a dangerous opponent. Still think we’ll sneak a win though.

A real coup to get him signed. Very pleasantly surprised he’s come here.

His representatives were at the game on Saturday and Holtby himself posted a picture of him catching a flight yesterday. Even Rich Sharpe of the LT says he's 'increasingly confident' the deal will get done and he's usually very cautious with rumours. All the signs seem to point towards him signing for us but it's never done until it's announced on the club website.

Holtby will be a real coup. His technical ability is very good, he prob would be the most technically gifted player at the club behind Dack. He’ll play in the middle alongside Johnson or Travis I’d imagine. Mowbray clearly wants a more technical player in central midfield to help us keep the ball better, hence why he played Buckley at the weekend. Holtby could well be the answer.

Just to clarify, TM is interested in bringing Holtby to Rovers now that he’s been released by Hamburg. Story was in The Sun today.

The Sun I believe. Think it was in Nixon’s transfer column.

Lewis Holtby on a free according to today’s papers.

4 clean sheets out of 5, ten points from the last five games, and Dack scores in back to back games. That’s excellent when you consider we’ve had tough fixtures and we haven’t hit top form yet. Promising signs. Having a solid defence makes such a difference, it gives us a chance to win games even when we’re not playing that well.

This is the type of game that I dread. A fixture that we should win but you just know it’s one we could end up losing. The most disappointing result so far this season has been against charlton, and that’s because we have better players than them and should have won the game on paper. I expect the same team that beat Boro at Ewood a few weeks ago. I also expect the same result: a 1-0 victory.

Sadly not. Gallagher is a handful and I think he can become a player who links up play well and brings others into play. Brereton has yet to show us anything, but he is still very young.

I think the difficulty is the wages that a top class striker would want to come here. We can’t afford the break our wage structure, the wages to turnover ratio is already too high. You therefore have to invest money in younger strikers on low-ish wages who have the potential to develop into top strikers. That’s what we’ve done with Gallagher and Brereton. I think both will be good players at this level and we’ll see the fruits of that given time.

I think we’re a top quality striker away from being a top 6 side. If we had someone like Assombolomba who guarantees 15-20 goals a season then we’d be up there. It’s clear TM hasn’t found the right formula for his attacking positions yet. Dack and Downing are probably the only two certain starters up there right now as they both have quality you can’t leave out, but the other positions are up for grabs. Time to drop Armstrong and give Buckley an extended spell in the team (which I think he will); and forget the idea of playing Gallagher out wide (although he has worked hard out there). I do think we need to keep things in perspective as we were at rock bottom 3 years ago with the worst Rovers side in my lifetime. We’ve come along way since then and are slowly progressing. The likes of Buckley, JRC, Travis, Nyambe, Butterworth means I think we have a good chance of promotion over the next couple of years.

Not bothered about a spirited second half display, conceding three goals in 45 mins after going a goal up is absolutely shocking. We deserved to lose and were outclassed at times. Sadly another lower mid half finish beckons from what I have seen so far, albeit in some tough fixtures.