Awful that something like that should happen to you and your son who is only six. Unfortunately neanderthals are still roaming free and some see offensive abuse as 'banter'. In their gang they are pseudo tough guys but on their own they are as meek as lambs. Next time you are coming if the imbeciles are likely to be around drive down.

Buckley's performance today reminded me of Danny Murphy's I'll fated first half performance against Peterborough. He probably walked more than he ran, passed to Stoke players more often than he did to his teammates and was so lethargic I wondered if he was ill. He needs to go back to basics in the reserves for a while.

You can't just turn up for one half at this level which is exactly what we did. It's no exaggeration to say Stoke will have been disappointed not to be at least three up at half time such was their dominance. But in truth we asked for everything we got, no energy or pace to our game, players slow in possession, taking four touches when one or two was required and a general malaise right through the team which was infuriating. Whilst nobody came out with credit in this period I was really angry at Buckley who almost played like he didn't want to be or as my brother said like he had a heavy night on the booze last night. Rankin-Costello simply isn't good enough but I expected far more from Buckley even if it was only running around a bit. His body language was shocking and perhaps he showed his true colours today. The half time changes out us on the front foot and injected some urgency into us. Suddenly our passes were finding their targets and were far more precise and on the second half performance could have got a point. Overall though I'm feeling really flat as our excellent start has disintegrated and reality has kicked in, no doubt for Tomasson too. Today once again highlights how inadequate our squad is. If we lose a player or two it weakens us incredibly as the back up players just aren't good enough. With a few days to go (one of them being a match day) Broughton has to pull his bloody finger out and pull some rabbits out of hats otherwise it's going to be another season of mid table mediocrity.

I didn't know about that Neal. Please give him my best regards - he will know me as the referee from way back as our paths crossed many times. He was some player too, one of the best of his generation.

Josh Kings finest hour in a Rovers shirt (quite a shallow pool to fish in I know).

He moved to Luton in the summer for an undisclosed fee and was immediately loaned back to Grimsby for the season. I saw him several times last season and he aS the best player in the National Conference.

Come on Gav you know how this works with some posters. Lenihan - crap, Nyambe - crap, Rothwell - crap. In a few days it will be Brereton too. The common denominator here is that they don't play for us now and therefore the opinion of some is skewed. I remember when Shearer went and one 'expert' said to me 'he's alright but we've got Gallagher who will score as many as him'.

It appears that Brereton is on his way then. So this 'healthy budget' and '£10m to spend' appears to be a load of tosh. It's more like you have to sell to buy and even then will the whole amount be given to spend? Nothing will ever change under this lot.

I think that is a really good fit. His reputation won't matter to Stokies who lauded Tony Pulis after several successful seasons. With this window nearly at an end it will probably take some time to stamp his mark but I think he will.

I was hoping for something a bit closer. At the moment a night match in London is a real ball ache if you want to travel on the train. Thanks to the HS2 farce there is no longer an 11 pm train back to Manchester. It looks like a long drive then and the vagaries of our wonderful motorways.

Thomason said in an interview earlier this week that Scott would be back next week. Calf injuries are notoriously fickle and having had a few I know they can take longer than originally diagnosed. The lack of a centre half signing is a huge source of frustration for me. We have another three games in seven days next week and could feasibly without Wharton for at least two of them if not all three. Flogging Ayala and Phillips will end in tears. My belief is that we are still hanging on for Van Den Berg but we really are at the mercy of Liverpool. They are hoping for something that just might not happen and it doesn't appear we have a plan B.

Scott Wharton won't be fit for Saturday. There is an outside chance Carter will. They have known Wharton wouldn't be fit for this game and still no incoming centre half. It really looks like Ayala and Phillips again.

The draw is at 9.45 tonight on Sky and we are ball number four.

I think Liverpool fans should be more concerned with their abject form and having to play the likes of Milner, Henderson and Firminho. I'm sure Klopp would have been pleasantly pleased to see the young prodigy play at centre half to further his education.

What an enjoyable game of football that was. The Rovers players did themselves proud and I'd bet that between six players they didn't have thirty senior games between them. The tempo was excellent and unrelenting which Bradford really struggled with. Most of the passing was quick, accurate and incisive and the range of passing was really good too. Morton at centre half alongside a young man making his debut in Annesley was my stand out player but in truth there were plenty of contenders as everyone contributed. I suppose if I was being overly critical it would be that we didn't make the most out of the many chances we created and were hanging on a little too much at the end for my liking. Well done to them all and I hope they get a chance to showcase their undoubted ability against a Premier League team in the next round. It was that enjoyable tonight I forgot about the turgid transfer window this far for a couple of hours. 😁😁

Liverpool were awful tonight and after the way their two centre backs played Van Den Berg could be in the first eleven. Alexander-Armstrong had absolute Joe Cocker. The Rags will be cock-a-hoop but the majority of Premier League teams will give them much harder games.

The Rags are eclipsing Liverpool on the number of team sprints. Hard work is still one of the greatest assets in sport.

Ten days to bring in a plethora of new, quality players and to sell Brereton. My belief is that Brereton will go first because we need the money from his fee and freeing up wages. Broughton is really going to have to earn his corn. Dysfunctional doesn't do it justice.

I think three of that Liverpool team either managed Liverpool or were on the coaching staff. Roy Evans, Ronnie Moran and Doug Livermore are the three. I didn't know Ted McDougall played at Liverpool.

I've read that their owners businesses, Duty Free shops have been one of the hardest hit during the pandemic. With the travel restrictions their cash flow has all but dried up.

We were promoted in his first full year in charge, in Europe in his second and won the PL soon after. It's about doing the absolute best you can with no timescales. In four years time if we are floundering around mid table in the Championship will people be saying calm down, it's a five year project.

I count our blessings that Jack Walker didn't see us as a project. I like Tomasson but I thought he had more about him than that. We are a professional football club and everything revolves around what happens on the pitch. Stagnation will set in if they are setting a multi year target. I currently see very little happening to indicate to me we are to improve on last years final position.

We bought Brittain and Szmodics for decent money but now when our need is as great as are suddenly prevaricating and waiting. Waiting until the last minute is folly for me. It's too much of a roll of the dice. We need to be decisive and if we need to free up some money for wages get rid of the likes of Butterworth.

And how long do we wait? Right now we are desperate for players as confirmed by Tomasson. He sounded as frustrated as the fans in his interview yesterday. Besides that and more importantly nobody knows how much we have to spend.

Leeds have run over 10 kilometres further than Chelsea in today's 3-0 win. And it was high intensity too. I don't like Tuchel and his antics and his team of prima donnas were well beaten today.