I was coming on to say the same thing. Yes, the Wigan match was beyond awful, but it’s only fair to recognise that he’d had a few good games prior to that.

Were Valencia not one of the clubs linked with BBD? The money from this deal might bring them back to the table...

Sure I read someone trying to downplay Hedges' second assist yesterday, so I went back and looked at it again. Absolute peach of a ball, perfectly weighted - defender had no chance intercepting it. Said defender will be disappointed to have been muscled out by BBD, but the ball was sublime. To suggest otherwise, you're either trolling or have something against giving Hedges praise.

Not really related to anything of interest, but the buggers drawing cost me £300 on my accumulator yesterday. All other teams (including Rovers, of course) did the job 🤮

And this has been the benefit of us persevering with him cutting in from the left. Not 'playing left wing', like some folk state, but playing as a wide forward who cuts in. He can play central, but I think he's better (and more likely to get game time for a team in the Prem) on the left side of attack. Lovely goal today, including the sublime ball for the assist.

3 times - the most recent being in March 2020.

Near enough perfect away performance. Hedges outstanding.

Really pleasing first half. It’s not always about flowing football and dominating teams - to be successful you have to be tactically savvy and alter your approach for the situation. Big credit to Hedges (2 assists in 2 games for him), he makes that goal, well finished also. Back four look solid, let’s hope same again in the second half.

Having been at the game and watched it with my own eyes, I can’t believe the ‘Pickering lost the ball 20 times in 90 minutes’ stat. He had a decent game without being as impressive as Brittain down the other flank. I do agree with the scapegoating comment - Rovers fans always have to have someone to negatively focus on. I like Pickering and whilst he clearly has areas to in, he’s shown us that he’s got some quality and he’s still young enough to improve a lot.

If the premise of imminent first team Championship football at his young age isn’t enough for Phillips to sign a contract with us, I’d question whether he has the faith in his own ability. I’m hoping that the Spurs thing is all rumours, he signs his contract here and proves his worth. But the odds are currently in his favour to get some game time here, if he wants to stick around…

I think it's premature to suggest that. All of the signings so far made mention of 'it's been in the pipeline for a while now...' and I'm sure that's the case for the CB situation as well. You'd like to expect some progress in the next week or so, but let's work on the presumption that the work is going on in the background and hope we see some results in the near future.

I was confident that the fee was decent when it was announced as 'undisclosed' - usually a way for the selling club to not let their fans know that they've had their pants pulled down. I'd heard <£1m as the initial fee and if it's around the £500k mark, that's a smart piece of business IMO.

Whilst there’s an element of fortune involved, he was heavily scouted by the club - and then lots of work has gone into improving his touch, positioning and tactical awareness on the training ground. We spent a decent chunk of money (c£3m-£4m) up front on him as an investment. If we can sell for £15m+, that’s the model that the club has to operate to and represents a decent deal.

Imagine how good he could have been in the modern game, with his natural talent combined with taking the profession seriously. Dunn was similar, albeit to a lesser extent. He's only a few years older than me and I'd see him out on the pop in Utopia & Jaks very regularly. As in, a day or two before a game.

But yet spaces for Duffy and Steele. Strange logic. Either way, if we pull this one off, what a statement…

Certainly puts that 'owners have turned off the taps' whisper to bed, from a couple of weeks ago.

Pleased with the first 3 through the door. A good centre back or two and, ideally, another forward and we look in good shape.

Sounds a good signing on paper and, as JDT says, if Klopp trusts you at that age, you must have something about you. Not sure if we’re likely to get Cantwell, though as he plays on the wing, I’m guessing BB leaving would be the trigger for that (taking cost and wages into account). If we’re not even asking the question of JPvH, that would be criminal.

First match of the tourney I've watched - good game and pleasantly surprised by the quality of the goalkeeping, particularly ours. Nice to see us win something 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I can’t imagine a player of Dack’s ability not playing his part over the course of the season. I’d have been a lot more concerned had Dack started yesterday, considering his fitness and level of pre season injury. JDT knows what he’s doing, certainly more informed than any of us in terms of who is ready to play.

Agreed. I’ve been fortunate to play at Ewood a few times, once as captain leading the side out - and absolute goosebumps when you’re stood in the tunnel and you hear those first few notes 👌

I was sat in line with Dack warming up throughout the match - I didn’t see anything untoward. In fact, he was laughing when the crowd were chanting for him to get on, can’t remember if he was with Dolan or Edun, but he seemed happy enough. And again, Vale did absolutely fine yesterday. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start the next game, JDT obviously likes him. Oh and the Sammy S deal will be structured like BB’s - smaller initial fee, rest incentivised if we’re successful.

Strange comment - Vale did fine today. He's been one of the better performers pre-season and deserved his chance today. Dack has struggled in pre-season and, barring a well taken header in the final friendly, he was absolutely rusty - lots of misplaced passes. The season is long and Dack will play his part (should he stay injury-free). Vale was the right choice today, the result being vindication of that.

Agree with most of what’s been said - first half was a bit flat before the goal, but we picked up and improved further in the second half. Strange how opinions can differ from those in the ground to those watching on telly. I thought Brittain looked a mile better than Nyambe going forward. And he did fine at the other end too. Pickering and Hedges, the two current favourites for being picked on, it seems, both did fine. Could be better, but they both played their part - Hedges getting the assist for Trav’s goal was a bonus. And I thought Vale showed some very tidy touches and definitely didn’t look out of place at all. What I did find interesting, as I was sat not too far from the bench, was seeing and hearing JDT giving out his instructions; he’s very clear on what he wants. At points in the second half, he was literally telling BBD where to position himself to gain maximum advantage of space/etc. 3 points, that’s the important part and an okay performance. Some of the close control and passing was very impressive at times, but we were also wasteful in others and a better team that QPR might have taken advantage. Look forward to seeing who joins and how they make us stronger in the next couple of weeks 🔵⚪️

I see it encouraging that we’re taking our time to get the right deals in, rather than take a scattergun approach of just getting bodies in. Don’t know enough about the Posh lad, if I’m perfectly honest. It’s a position we’re light on, he brings some experience, which we’ve all been shouting for and the fee is reported either way, could well be a lot less. Once again, let’s see how we look once the window is closed and our squad is settled. As for whoever is calling Broughton a ‘dud’, based on the one decent signing he’s made so far and the clearing out of some deadwood…I have no words.