Gallagher was fantastic there, and Szmodics too obviously.

As good as we’ve been that’s a ridiculous miss from Hedges

I’m really enjoying this so far! Good call to bring Pickering in for this one and keep it simple at the back, though JRC is running riot as usual! Dolan has been superb, Hyam and Carter super comfortable, and well impressed with Travis.

This was run by the Community Trust rather than the Supporters Trust. We get this confusion sometimes. I did spot this on the club’s website which might answer your question… https://www.rovers.co.uk/fans/rovers-readies/

I think one of the factors in our collapse last season was the churn of players in January. We brought in Zeefuik, Brown, Hedges, Markanday, Giles. Carter, Magloire, Butterworth and Clarkson (who had all played) went out. Let’s also not forget the baffling situation with Chapman where he came back briefly, played, and then went back out on loan. None of those coming in made any real impact (although Hedges is now an integral part of the squad and was probably under utilised by Mowbray). Mowbray having more options was pretty disastrous and he utilised a couple of these really badly. Injuries were also a factor, but the core 11 that had done well started to get regularly disrupted and we went to pieces. Fast forward 12 months and our January signing is proving to be effective - he’s brought something different, cemented his place and is being picked week in week out in his actual position. If we’d got O’Brien the same would probably apply. I suppose what I’m getting at is the quiet January window doesn’t look to have done us any harm. The players who have been on the fringes have really stepped up when we’ve had to turn to them. Obviously we’ve been left lighter up top than anyone would’ve liked (again), but we seem to be dealing with it a lot better. Keeping a tight knit group together has its benefits.

From my point of view, he’s done exactly what I wanted him to do. The big source of frustration was his stubbornly sticking with the laboured passing style. Lately we’ve been attacking with a lot more intent, playing more direct, clearing our lines, and it looks like prioritising the points instead.

Bingo! I always rated Nyambe. Still do. Really good defender. It was also particularly good to see a young player come through and play a couple of hundred games for us - things like that have been one of the few shining lights in the last decade or so. He was certainly more worthy of his place and our support than a lot of the absolute dross we’ve witnessed under Venky’s. He’s maybe a bit of a throwback, and fullbacks like him are certainly out of fashion now. He wouldn’t fit the way we are playing currently at all. That said, shame he didn’t stick round til January. He’d have been very useful in some of our defensive horror shows before the new year.

I’ve not had a lot of luck since the big Brereton one, you wouldn’t generally want my tips! I think I only put it on today because I was annoyed and thinking he was extremely fortunate to be starting, and I was ready to be proven wrong!

The fact he was on the verge of being packed off on loan for the season shows how fine the margins between success and failure can be. I think he is proving to be the perfect fit for the way Tomasson wants his fullbacks to play - although he looks like he’d do a good job anywhere at present! He’s comfortable on the ball and happy to come inside. He struggled under Mowbray as he was expected to be constantly bombing up and down the touchline, driving forward and chasing back.

I think it’s very picky to be critical of anyone’s performance today. To a man they were all good and played their part. Great three points! I had a funny feeling about Gallagher today and had a little bet on a brace at 25/1 so even happier. I enjoyed seeing us mix it up again. The shift to going a bit more direct and not overplaying is paying dividends. I get the feeling there has been a decision made that we are going to have a proper go at making the playoffs, and it feels wonderful right now.

No criticism of Brittain, it’s just the risk you take

We’ve seen the positives and negatives of a right footed left back here today. Brittain has been great on the ball, but Pickering blocks that cross

He’s definitely been a victim of been played all over the place. I’m not sure what his best position is meant to be, but I’d quite like to see him on the left - Him and Thomas on opposite wings. Doubt we ever will though.

Hedges is a good player, but like a jigsaw he goes to pieces in the box.

I think that highlights how Jekyll and Hyde our season has been. When we’ve been good we’ve been really solid, and when we’ve been bad we’ve been dreadful. Looks like we are finding a bit of consistency now though. Like I said the other day I think JDT seems to be understanding the league more. If we continue to cut out the daft mistakes we’ve got a great chance of making the playoffs.

I know it’s not just you saying this Chaddy, but I’m not sure your first sentence is correct. Over the last few games it looks like we are getting there defensively, but it’s only just over a month ago that Rotherham put 4 past us, and we’ve had a number of hammerings. Being on a negative goal difference despite being 4th in the table doesn’t scream ‘solid defensively’. Like I said, hopefully we’ve turned a corner. We seem to have cut out the self sabotage and gifting opposition soft goals.

Two things that have become noticeable lately… Since Pears has come into the side we are going longer than we did with Kaminski. Goal kicks are taken properly and not passed 5 yards to a centre back. It’s a very welcome change as the previous tactic put us under enormous unnecessary and sustained pressure and cost us a number of goals. I thought Brittain last night and both JRC and Carter of late have used the ball better and not been averse to trying a longer ball to relieve some pressure at the back. In the early part of the season we missed Nyambe carrying the ball down the right hand side, we’d become accustomed to that being one of the main ways of getting upfield over the past few years, for it to be replaced by incessant back/sideways passing. Last night was the best collective fullback performance this season (won’t have it so easy very often though). Secondly we have a lot more attacking intent and actually attempt to get more balls into the box. This has started since Thomas came into the side. Now we seem to overplay it far less when we are in and around the opposition area. We still need better finishing though… last night would certainly be enough to persuade me to have a look at the free transfer market, there must be someone there who could become an impact sub for the run in. Hopefully these are some concessions JDT has made to his preferred playing style that we saw for the early part of the season. Perhaps he’s learning the league a bit more and prioritising points over philosophy.

Well happy with the three points tonight. Should’ve been a comfortable 3-0 and against better opposition our lack of centre forward options might have bit us on the backside. Gallagher was very poor, as was Vale when he came on. We never looked in any danger and it was nice to see us attack with a bit of intent. Becoming a big Sorba Thomas fan. Thought both fullbacks had really good games and benefitted from not having to worry too much about their defensive duties against pretty impotent opposition. It was clear that Poveda didn’t fancy it after the first few minutes and Brittain duly had him on toast. Dolan I thought was a shoo-in for MOTM til he did that daft flick on the edge of the box. First half in particular he was superb and nice to see him step up with the goal. Szmodics put in a hell of a shift and despite recent criticism Travis had a very good game. There’s a big gulf in quality between us and Blackpool, being in and amongst the playoffs isn’t overachievement for us.

I only glanced at the Brereton article, but it just seemed a rehashing of Broughton’s comments a few weeks ago. Is this a supposedly new contract offer we’ve put to him? Nobody would meet Venky’s asking price because Brereton is a technically unorthodox/poor player and players aren’t valued on their effectiveness these days. I’m sure there’ll be several top flight teams willing to take him on a free in the summer though. Only chance he plays for us next season is if we manage to go up.

Maybe JRC could take Brereton’s place? He is our number 11 after all.

That’s the nail in the head for me. I don’t see how any neutral watching it could’ve come to any other conclusion.

First half today was beyond bad. Solid bordering on overcautious at the back, absolutely clueless in midfield, created nothing. The players looked confused with what they were supposed to be doing. Two teams stubbornly sticking to their managers half baked philosophies, and the one who binned it off in the second half got the win. So much better seeing us commit players forward and get balls into the box. Obviously it needs a lot more work, but it paid dividends in the end. Brilliant to nick a late winner like that. Carter, Ayala and Dolan the standouts for me. Thought Thomas came in to his own late on and Pickering did well on the left. The mounting injury list is a concern. Gutted for Dack and hope it’s not a bad one. Depressingly predictable how it’s being used to dig at fans who wanted him to start by those who see managers as infallible.

Rumour mill saying 5 at the back with Dack on the bench.

We are obviously now in the midst of a run that will see us clock up our longest ever sequence of draws. I’m going for 1-1.

The lack of players getting in the box is really infuriating. At one point last night Dack picked up a loose ball on the left hand side and your natural instinct is to want him to sling it back into the box. Brereton sprinted over going short for him, Dolan was in the box (just) but is no target and JRC was arriving late… from fullback. Telling that our goal came from a free kick outside the box. Based not just on last night, we create very little. Dack has been back nearly a year. The injuries are no longer a factor.