If you watched it, Boro made our performance at Brentford look like kryptonite.

If we had paid £10m and £40k per week for whatever it was Assobalonga thought he was doing in Newport tonight, this board would be unreadable for the next year. Ben you are brilliant mate and the bargain steal of the season!

True- Coyle would have taken us to League 2.

We took eight injuries yesterday, not just the four who came off.

Just as last week, it was Sunday when how good we were against Hull hit me and I couldn't stop smiling for three days, woken up this morning with the hammer blow of just how goddam awful that defeat was.. One for the oldies here, but this season is reminding me of 1977/8 under Jim Smith. Totally unexpected really good season with some stunning dominant wins interspersed with some horrific defeats. We lost 5-2 at Blackpool in front of the cameras with Bob Hatton getting 4 if I remember correctly. We finished 5th but in those days no cigar. Happily take 5th again this season but sticking with my forecast of 7th and a lot of recriminating bunnies in East Lancs. Another parallel, mid-table bunched up that season as well and in fact we finished only 8 points (2 points for a win) ahead of Blackpool who got relegated- Brentford be warned! At the risk of upsetting Stuart again, we lost yesterday in the centre of the park. For the first quarter we were hitting nice diagonals and getting Arma in to terrify their back line. From the moment they pinned Reed to the advertising hoarding, they signalled their intent and bullied us out of control in the centre. From then on it was their players being fed the diagonals to expose Bennett in particular. Our supply to Arma dried up and they could press forward without fear. Conway was a really bad sub decision, we needed Rothwell to worry them the way Dack worried them assuming he could survive the assault and battery the ref was letting go. In fact the 50th minute yesterday was the ideal platform for Rothwell to stake his case in the same way BB got to show he is the obvious forward sub ahead of Nuttall. Big job behind the scenes this coming week. Mowbray to get the heads right. The physios to repair the bodies of Dack, Graham, Evans (sounds he could be the worst from Mowbray's interview) and Lenahan plus the walking wounded of Reed, Bennett and Travis- all of whom would have been taken off injured in a more normal game.

I'd back Mowbray to do it again- yes.

Thank you. Echoes what I have heard that Rovers has become a properly run club again remarkably quickly. The Briggsy Boy situation is every CEO's nightmare- you are damned whatever you do. Rovers have an ifollow/Sky contract which confers video exclusivity and technically and in reality Briggsy compromised it. So you "don't notice" until put in the position creative ignorance is no longer tenable and you have to send Briggsy a letter which you know no matter how well it is phrased or officially presented, will unleash gnashing of teeth over big brother etc etc. I am sure Waggot didn't want to intervene but contractually it was a no brainer. As a fan, Briggsy is a good watch but his videos weren't- I know what it is like to be in the crowd when Rovers score and thankfully I am tall enough and better focused to get better views than Briggsy offered. As to whether I want to see Briggsy's video clips after the event or an increasingly professional ifollow offering live for E6 each game, it is a non-contest, sorry Briggsy.

He was clearly feeling the effects of repeated clobberings.

Yes he was playing centre half...

I didn't write I want Smallwood back and no I don't want him back. BUT There have been cracks in Travis' game and Brentford had a plan to rob Travis of the ball when he got possession and force him into passes they could intercept which worked. Travis and the coaching staff should learn from this and Travis will become the better player for it.

Well I am going to take a contrarian view to all the tearing of hair and rending of clothes which is going to happen on here. Brentford had spotted Travis' inexperience and forced error after error from him. That left Evans isolated and ineffectual. For all the damage they did down the wings, Brentford won that game through owning the centre of the park. The other factor was a soft ref resulting in Rovers ending the game on ten men and Travis and Bennett walking wounded. Mowbray's selection headache is probably going to be solved for him by the treatment room. Brentford were allowed to be brutal and they didn't pass up on the opportunity. Of course Raya cost us again today but I still think he is a fabulous keeper in the making and would stick with him. Bennett was shown up for not being the natural right back he isn't- would have much preferred Nyambe out there. A clear positive was the Brereton cameo and being on the park with Nuttall at the same time showed he is much the better of the two. Disappointing but the crunch is how we respond against Bristol City next week.

Three injuries forced the subs. Brentford been dirty

Must admit to feeling nervous about this second half. If we let them, Brentford haven't only got one goal in them, they could score two or three. Rovers have to come out on the front foot because we haven't got the players on the park or the bench to handle a 45 minutes long siege.

We didn't press and make the ball stick well enough. Concerned about Bennett at right back. Both teams are going to fancy this one in the second half. Possession 67-33 in their favour, other stats pretty even but 1-2 is the score that matters.

Amazing game!

Terribly slow start from Rovers this.

Really really looking forward to this game. Brentford another team with plenty of forward power so a good challenge for the renaissance Rovers.

Do we know if this is definitely going ahead? Practically all National League and NL South games in and around London are already off because of the weather.

Good point- this new professionalism in the Prem is drying up the easy money for agents which will make them even more voracious around players with Prem potential.

The issue is volume- sure there is money so silly prices can be forced for the few going to the Prem. But the deal flow is strangled. Championship to Premier League deals amounted to just 4 this window: Mepham, Crouch, Bacuna, Sako Two of which are Prem League players returning to the Prem from recently relegated clubs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/sports/premier-league-transfer-window.html Some of the most insightful writing is now in the New York Times "on Soccer". Basically argues technology and technical staff have taken punting out of transfer signings so now only players profiling to meet needs exactly get signed. Meaning less transfer activity in the Premier League. Money is there but now it is harnessed to scientific assessment so doesn't get thrown around the same way. At which point I am adding this means - Less windfall selling in the Championship - Less transfer money to merry go round in the Championship - and quiet windows for everybody because if you sell you cannot be certain of winkling out your targeted replacement from his current club.

Have we signed anybody today yet?

We sure will get fed up of playing Norwich three times in ten days.

Looking at those fixtures we could win every one of them based on not only how we have played in the current run of wins but also in the majority of games before. BUT Looking at those fixtures we could lose any of them...

Madan should try Magadan (look it up) if he really wants to get away from us.