If they are the benchmark of any new addition, then we really aren't aiming high.

Stoke have started the season very poorly and again their manager is under pressure, at home, a game we have to be looking to win. That being said, they have a good set of strikers in Gayle, Delap, Brown and Campbell so we need help ideally from above Tomasson but sadly that doesn't seem forthcoming so we need at least one of Wharton and Carter to return to prevent Phillips having to be played again and massively increasing the chances of a goal or two going past Kaminski. I would ideally go: Kaminski Brittain Ayala Wharton Pickering Travis Morton Markanday Dack Hedges Brereton Subs: Pears, Carter, Gallagher, Dolan, Szmodics, Buckley, Rankin Costello Assuming Wharton is out, put Carter in and Phillips on the bench, if he still isn't ready and no one comes in, its time for panic. If Hedges isn't fit, Gallagher in and Brereton out wide left.

Good to see us win, I can never get my head around anyone suggesting otherwise. A handful of extra games maximum arent terminal to league chances, it can if necessary be an opportunity to rotate and give youngsters/squad players some sharpness, it improves confidence and momentum and it can lead to some excitement dependant on the draw, which assuming we finish mid table more often that not is not otherwise abundant. Havent seen the game so cant comment on individual performances but positives include Dack scoring again and he has to start over Szmodics at the weekend, and also Markanday scoring and catching the eye. We have attacking players who struggle to impact games more often than not so I hope that Markanday is a big player for us this season.

In the last 2 games we were uncompetitive due to the fact that we had to use a 17 year old who is clearly not ready for the standard and also physically nowhere near ready to play 3 full games in a week. Of course the chances are that we wouldnt have picked up 6 points but people seem unconcerned that we werent competitive. Im not sure that the 3 we have signed have hit the ground running either, a mixed bag at this very early stage.

Why are you so active in this thread if all judgement is to be withheld until the end of the window?

Why do you regularly ask journalists questions about transfers if seemingly what people say is so irrelevant?

The mental gymnastics on show to remove Venkys of blame and responsibility regarding a lack of transfers is crazy. Fictional unspent budgets allow them to seem like they have done their bit I guess. As is the common dismissive nature many have towards the lack of speed regarding transfers. You can't compare to last season @Finlay McKenna because we hadn't started the summer quite as bare as we are now and we didn't have a couple of injuries in a position whereby we have already lost 2 players. In the last 2 games, we have had to flog a 17 year old kid who is miles away from being ready so we are not far from forfeiting games without being competitive. You can't afford to just dismiss 6 points like we essentially have. That being said, it is at times not genuine dismissiveness when some of those same people harass journalists for any gossip! Van Den Berg is on the bench tonight so no deal seems imminent.

He had that slight setback in pre season but tomorrow will likely be his second start and hopefully as a pre cursor to a start at the weekend. So far, our attacking this season has been lacking spark and creativity and talk of the fluidity and high intensity has been nowhere to be seen, with our wins very much based on structure and organisation. So the idea that he doesnt fit in doesnt really apply. Even if it means that he can only last 60/65 minutes in his first league start, the alternative is him becoming rustier still by only playing cameos.

There seems to be too much focus on development and not enough on actually getting results now for me, the sole, primary focus is not just development. You have to find a balance but going with what we got would be too far Phillips has really struggled in these last 2 games and we have not been competitive with such fragility, not to mention that he seemingly cannot physically cope with back to back games. Van Den Berg isn't the ideal choice in that he is a loanee but he has come off the back of a very impressive 18 months playing well for Preston. You need 4 centre backs of whom you can have some reasonable confidence can play the position effectively because it isn't as we have seen this week a position where you can make do. There is also the potential of playing 3 centre backs, added to the fact that both Van Den Berg and Carter can play at right back ahead of Rankin Costello who isn't good enough, plus with only being able to name 7 subs yet you can bring on 5, a versatile defensive option within the squad is really important. The likelihood of the main 4 all being fit all season especially as one is Ayala is minimal so the focus on keeping players happy is lessened.

"Inverted forays."

I would not oppose to a new left back but Pickering certainly isnt woeful. He was very steady in the first 3 games and has been no worse than Brittain in the last 2.

Surely a striker prior to a Brereton sale is what we need before a wide man. Even if anyone thinks that Gallagher would score regularly as a 9 which to me is a big stretch, unless Brereton is moved there are no real alternatives, Vale is miles away and otherwise its more false 9s There seems to be even less cohesion in attack than before with Gallagher on the right and players like Hedges and Szmodics playing most centrally. I would agree about reservations over Edun and Rankin Costello (chuck Pears in too) even as squad members and Phillips isnt ready either. I get to an extent maybe not needing 2 CB's but surely you wouldnt advocate getting 0, unless Van Den Berg is assumed?

Injured.

You are usually very keen to dismiss the idea of comparisons with other teams. I suspect that supporters of the teams you mention are also frustrated with gaps in their squad and feel that they are costing us. Boro are near the bottom with their manager regularly bemoaning the inability to get deals done and Preston fans are very frustrated at their inability to bring in a striker and a right wing back. The problem with us is that you can't directly compare with these examples. We lost loads of players in the summer and have only signed 3. This week, we have lost 2 games in which we were so short in one position that we keep having to play a 17 year old kid who isn't ready, which has impeded our ability to be competitive.

How poor have our set pieces been this season? I know that we don't have any good takers and I get the idea of being a bit inventive but the corners in particular that we have tried have been very strange and haven't come close to working.

In the last 2 games we have not only lost but have been uncompetitive due to how short our squad has been, so 6 points surrendered. Very few if any Championship squads are stretched like ours, having to keep flogging a 17 year old who isn't ready. No one has ever suggested signing players for the sake of it, for some reason you think the only alternative to what we have at the moment is to sign shite or pay stupid money. Is there a period of time to which you suggest that people totally withhold opinion on him on an internet messageboard?

Absolutely embarrassing performance yesterday, absolutely battered and offered nothing going forward. Much of the blame goes to Broughton for simply selling the manager down the river with a lack of signings. We don't have a competitive squad, our squad wasn't big enough last season and we need not just a couple more but quite a few more. That being said, from what he did have, Tomasson does warrant criticism for how he used it. He does not fancy Dack who is a marked improvement on who did play. He got his selection wrong, he again got his formation wrong and going forward we offer zilch. I don't see the supposed game plan is about. Lots of talk about pressing, none of it in the first 5 games. We offer minimal attacking threat, Gallagher traipsing out wide still but not to the same levels of criticism, and none of this "fluid" attack that again is constantly mentioned. Szmodics looks a poor player and a 3rd division player making his previous struggles at this level understandable and also shows why Peterborough fans thought they had such a good deal. Brereton and Gallagher both anonymous too. Phillips is blatantly not ready, good goal line clearance but lots of hesitancy that once put them in and also once nearly caused him to nearly lose it in his own box. Ayala looked furious regularly at what he was going on around him. I thought Brittain was worse than Pickering but neither were good and Edun is simply not up to it. Big questions as to whether it suits Buckley playing deeper, he can't seem to control games from there at all. Travis also struggled and against the best in the league he comes up short.

Such a patched up side when there is one winger and one main centre back out is quite stark.

Id love to be proven wrong and I think the main blame lies above Tomasson but Edun at wing back and Pickering and Ashley Phillips as centre backs does not scream "solid as a rock!"

Edun playing and no Dack. Not what I wanted anyway.

English club that includes a Frenchman, a Colombian, a Welshman, a Korean, a Swede, a Croatian, a Brazilian, a Uruguyan and a Dane in the line up?

The "my striker" handshake on social media was not the signal many seemed to think! I definitely dont think that the attacking side of our performances and the chances we have (or moreso havent) created have convinced as of yet. With Wharton to return and presumably defenders coming in eventually, as frustrated as I am that Tomasson is having to work with such little, I have seen plenty on how organised we have been in the main to be more worried about how the attack will click across the season rather than the defence. The key could be Dack but we need a striker.

Thanks. Reads suspiciously like Mercer and looking briefly down, comments about Ferguson and Farke getting the Rovers job but I suppose a broken clock is right twice a day so lets hope this isn't one such occasion!

Can you copy the tweet please?

Blackpool are really average and have a poor manager as Rovers know only too well. You would think Burnley will expect to go there and win although hopefully Blackpool can pull off a shock.