No Ayala for Rotherham. After his four match ban he has picked up an Achilles injury which will keep him out for a 'significant period'. 'Twas ever thus. https://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/sport/football/rotherham-united/after-the-red-cards-comes-an-injury-for-rotherham-uniteds-daniel-ayala-4461813

And some of our lot had the temerity to have a go at Nobbers for allowing Liverpool to use their ground for a pre season friendly. And they will be selling Liverpool merchandise.........at Ewood. Frankly that is embarrassing.

We are about to enter the season of one-upmanship. 😉😂 Be aware.

Totally agree. A few eyebrows were raised (including mine) when the team was announced but he showed up really well. I liked the way he linked up with Szmodics. It's no coincidence to me that Szmodics had his best game since Dolan got injured simply by having someone to link up with.

One thing that really surprised me last night was the lack of ball over the top particularly after Szmodics scored from exactly one of these. Hull were playing a really high line probably to condense play I guess in an attempt to stop us passing. I really expected lots of this type of pass in the second half but we just didn't do it. There were several occasions when Telalovic made a run in behind but he just wasn't spotted.

Just imagine if the Cambridge fans outnumbered Rovers fans on the day. That would be a real smack in the eye for Digital Day and the half wits who dreamt it up. But they might get some shiny environmental certificate from the EFL.

He showed up really well. He was dropping in to collect the ball, bringing others into play and rarely have it away. On another night he would have scored. He is definitely worth another starts on NYD.

That is why I said questions are rightly asked about tactics and team selection. No manager on a run like ours should get a free pass.

I thought last night was the best we have played for some weeks. At times our intensity and quick passing was too much for Hull. But as has become the recent norm we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Defensive mistakes which are of a schoolboy nature are killing us. I really don't know how any manager can legislate for the type of errors we are making. Hull didn't have to really work for any of their goals as they were offered up by the ineptitude of our players. Hyam was shocking and getting stupidly sent off summed up his night as his calamitous defending for the first goal and his culpability with Hill for the second gave us a mountain to climb. But we got back in it and teams normally have the momentum when coming back from two down but at the back of my mind was our propensity to give away soft goals. And so it came to pass that we couldn't deal with a floated corner from which nobody was prepared to deal with. Rather than that some of them looked at each other and not one player took and responsibility. That really knocked the stuffing out of us. We are in the results business ultimately and rightly questions will be asked of Tomasson, his tactics and team selection but surely every can should consider the context and circumstances under which he is working. Ultimately the real criticism should be for these horrible people who own us and for the freeloaders and wasters they employ. They are the real problem.

Micalski was warming up with the players last night as our third keeper. It appears he has overtaken Eastham in the pecking order.

Rovers reported it is a season long loan for James Hill. I'd be surprised if Bournemouth recall him given the amount of game time he has had with us so far. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2023/august/31/james-joins-/

I can't really see us spending a reported £500k a project signing. He has to be considered first team material straight away and if he is it will effectively mean we have five centre halves competing for two places. My guess is that Tomasson sees Hill as more of a full back or holding midfielder and if so that will mean outgoings from either Travis or Garrett. My personal preference would be a permanent move for Travis. He isn't really contributing at the moment and would at least bring in a fee.

Totally agree.

There has to be a huge effect on the local economy when around 50,000 less people are visiting the area in a season. We need less match day staff in the form of stewards and catering staff as a result of the vastly reduced crowds. It will be a similar story on the ticketing and retail side too. And the blame lies firmly on the errant ones several thousand miles away. It really isn't difficult to understand.

In truth I really had doubts about Tomasson around that period last season as the style and his method of playing clearly wasn't working. The penny must have dropped as suddenly we were playing with pace and intensity and we looked a different team. Also at this time JRC came into the team and added another dimension to our attacking play. JRC has been a huge miss undoubtedly and his qualities might have been the difference in some of those close defeats. Whoever has played at right back since just can't step into midfield like he can and get forward from central positions too. Hopefully Tomasson can come up with a plan to see this bad period through even if it means temporarily abandoning his principles.

I'm still struggling to come to terms over how bad we were on Boxing Day. Not one player in my view comes out of that with any credit as they quite often struggled with the basics, things like passing the ball five yards to a team mate. And at the back of my mind I know we are nowhere near as bad as we showed at Huddersfield but we simply have to cut the mistakes out and start to rebuild some confidence by doing the basics right. Undoubtedly in my view this is the most testing time of Tomasson's reign so he too had to react in the right way and perhaps change his footballing emphasis and try to frustrate Hull by defending properly and playing more on the counter.

Having seen plenty of Hilton in the under 21's I absolutely would not start him. I agree Walstedt needs leaving out but my opinion is that Hilton is much worse. In my view Jordan Eastham would be a better option.

No argument from me on his howler but pretty much every player yesterday has to ask themselves about their performances and unenforced errors. Too many were insipid and didn't seem to want to accept responsibility. The body language of far too many told it's own story for me.

He had a point though. Don't get me wrong he should have saved it comfortably but Brittain and Moran were almost as culpable as neither tried to close the Huddersfield player down. And that was a snapshot of the match, a match where I haven't seen so many collective and individual errors from our team in a long time.

Our real weakness recently has been too many individual mistakes by players and poor decision making all over the pitch. The last five goals we have conceded are all down to player error and a manager just can't legislate for that. I really don't think we are conceding goals because we aren't competing or because we have small players. With the recent exceptions of Sheffield Wednesday and today we have competed well enough. Today was summed up by a free kick we had about twenty yards out to the right of goal. The centre halves come up but instead of putting it in the box it is played short to Szmodics who for some unfathomable reason wants to play Brittain in but plays a lazy pass behind him, they get possession and swiftly counter. That is one example of poor decision making and choices of which there were many.

Out of interest what do you think are the strengths of the current squad.

In all but the Sheffield Wednesday game I have found some comfort in our performance, some positives despite the horrible taste of defeat. Today I simply can't offer anything in excuses, no positives whatsoever but instead lots of negatives and a sick feeling brought about by a gutless, spineless and utterly weak performance. I can't blame having injuries to key players when the starting eleven are so devoid of the passion we crave from our players. Not one player comes out of today with any credit at all. Slow, pedantic, poor decision making and physically weak was evident all over the pitch today and they all epitomised how poor we really were. Some of the players body language was awful today which is a huge worry for me going forward. They looked like they were feeling sorry for themselves and that is totally unacceptable.

I'm not sure where this physical Huddersfield notion is from. Looking at their team on Saturday only Helik and Hogg strike me as being robust. Pearson and Ward are doubtful with their regular keeper, Nicholls (who in the past has starred against us) definitely out. Their manager likes to play in a specific way but with the pressure piling up on him if we can score first it can be damning for them.

With still what is a depleted squad Tomasson has to be mindful of the fact we have three games in six days. In my view it would be folly to start Hyam after he got an hour on Saturday. Clearly Hill was rested on Saturday with this in mind and Carter (although I think he is our best centre half) needs a break. So my preferred centre halves would be Hill and Wharton. Unfortunately we don't really have that luxury in midfield and attack so it looks like several of these are going to get beasted over the next three games.

Merry Christmas to everyone particularly the ones who put the time in to keep this site going. Here's to three points, some outstanding football and a safe journey for everybody on Tuesday.