If Gallagher has to come off at any point we’d be better chucking Ayala or Wharton up top than Hirst.

Agree. We could do with a bit more power too. Quick, strong players often do well in this league. We only really have Brereton who fits the bill.

Loaning players to fill squad places needs to stop. It’s a complete waste of time and benefits nobody. If a loanee isn’t improving our starting 11 they shouldn’t be looked at. We have made far more pointless/bad loan signings in recent years than ones who were of any benefit.

Baffling that Hirst is still on the pitch.

Dolan’s subsequent touches make things happen on a regular basis though. His overall game is far superior to Markanday’s.

I’d say that sums it up perfectly. He’s had a couple of really iffy moments - a silly blind pass, a horrendous touch, been run ragged a time or two, but he’s been 1 v 2 loads of times. No help at all. Difficult at times to tell if he was supposed to be playing left sided centre back or fullback.

Fortunate to be level, but we can capitalise on this in the second half. Hedges needs to help out a lot more and stop drifting. Diaz on for Hirst will rattle them!

Stupid blind pass inside from Mola, no excusing that, but he’s completely on his own down the left. Nobody shining so far. Braindead challenge by Wharton, Hirst looks totally incompetent. Oh, and we’ve doubled down on the pissing about at the back!

Good job we hardly sold any tickets. Might not have been kicking off until Christmas Eve.

A cheap away game just in time for Christmas after a months break must sound good to Forest fans. Certainly a lot better than a home cup tie off the back of being embarrassed by our two biggest rivals, the Norwich performance came too late, and that snow last time out at Ewood was off putting!

Jason Wilcox too. A Farnworth Rovers 11 would have a decent midfield!

Good question, perhaps not. He certainly looks a talented player, but less potential than Wharton for me. He’s done pretty well by and large with a few really strong performances and a few horror shows. I don’t think he’s one of the individuals that has been vitally important to us so far this season, so I don’t think we’d be far off.

Very sad news. Gutted. One from King George’s a few years back. Played for hours - a phenomenal set, absolutely no filler. One of the most important bands there has ever been. RIP Terry

Personally I’d rather fill the gaps with our young players than those of premier league teams. Morton is playing week in and week out for us and he’s a month younger than Harlock and 6 months older than Garrett. I don’t think he’s anywhere near special enough to be pushing these lads down the pecking order. The ideal scenario at left back would be to sign someone with a bit of experience to upgrade on Pickering, or at least provide genuine competition. If we are looking purely at an understudy I’d use the kids.

Travis doesn’t seem to have a tackle in him these days. We looked far more up for a battle yesterday without him in the side. He looks like he’s spent the last couple of years trying to become a pound shop Robbie Savage. Savage was thunderous in the tackle and a better player than he ever got credit for. Travis seems to be utterly obsessed with “shithousery”, moaning at the ref, rolling around, niggly fouls and acts of petulance.

It’s proven to be dangerous playing attacking players as full backs instead of players who specialise in that position. Batty and Cirino would be my choices to replace Pickering when he’s not fit. I actually don’t mind Edun, but he looks like he’s on his way out.

Agreed. I think he’s struggled at times this season, and I think he was overhyped last season. That said, playing actual fullbacks on their actual sides is simple common sense and shouldn’t be an area for experimentation or tactical changes. We need another right back with Brittain struggling with different injuries, because while the stop gaps work for the odd game here and there it’s been proven many times we don’t have another reliable option there. Jake Batty should be deputising for Pickering when he’s unavailable.

Bigger than the EFL.

Don’t blame him.

Much better that. And much needed after our last 2 pathetic showings. I’m not getting too carried away just now, but cutting out some of the suicidal shite at the back was a start. Dolan was brilliant for me. His effort and endeavour counts for a lot and seems encourage some of the others to graft harder. Dack did well and Buckley should be forcing Travis into the wilderness now. Ayala has to start when fit. JRC has been dealt a really bad hand by Mowbray, he’ll never be a natural fullback (unlike Pickering who was solid - good to see him back after his iffy spell), but there’s a decent player in there. I think he looked quite good today and hopefully will be kept around and given a chance in a position he’s better suited to. I don’t think Morton should be blocking the path of Wharton, Garrett and Harlock. Maybe also JRC.

I’m not on about how they look. The quality of their materials and manufacturing process is poor and cheap. They also appear to be using Asian sizing for our kits judging by the comments from fans who have had to size up or ended up with a shirt that’s way too small. Despite this they seem to have sold well, and people who want one are missing out. They definitely needed to order more, or at least had the option to reorder in smaller numbers than what’s stipulated in the deal.

Even if you shrug your shoulders and blame everything on supply chain issues, you can’t absolve the club. They should’ve picked a better manufacturer - Macron are notoriously crap, and not agreed to such ridiculous terms that basically prevent them from restocking. I managed to get hold of a 7-8 year olds GK shirt a couple of weeks ago. I ordered online and opted for same day click and collect… it was more than 72 hours until they actually had it ready for me to pick up. I guess that’s my own fault though somehow, can’t possibly be down to incompetence at Rovers!

I’m really tempted to try and pay for Christmas by lumping on a Pukki hat-trick at 28/1. We are guaranteed to gift him one or two to get him started.

Could not agree more with this. I’m clinging on to a bit of hope that we might see more of him in an attacking sense as the season goes on, but while it looks like he can put a good cross in there is rarely anyone to cross to.

None of us can match that gaffer, but did you achieve all that as part of teams that played the way you are trying to instil in us? No.