He wasn't at all at fault for the goal, but can this be the last time that we see Pears start, please? Incredible the number of times he has to push things away or tip things around the post when he could either catch them or not go for them.

He's young, far from the finished product. But performances like this are what people need to remember when they talk about him being unsellable or worth tens of millions.

Wharton looks like he's worth about 2 pounds today.

We also have to accept that we've been out of the Premier League for over a decade now. 15-22-year-olds will barely remember us as a Premier League side. A bit of a tough pill to swallow, but I can understand why they reference the two 'biggest' clubs on his resume. They want him to come across as instantly credible to those unfamiliar with who he is, not illicit the response of 'why is a former Blackburn goalkeeper telling me who can break through at Chelsea'.

Let's go Premier League exclusively? Numerous times where the lines have been messed up for offside decisions (West Brom 21/22 I think?) or the entire phase of play hasn't been factored in (Arsenal vs Brentford last season). Those are black-and-white instances where the technology has been incorrectly used. That's just a factual error. No debate. Clearly worse. Rodri's handball against Chelsea a couple of seasons ago? The goal that wasn't given when the ball crossed the line in the Sheffield United vs Villa game (I think it was)? Those are literally off the top of my head and just focusing on the Premier League. If I took a bit longer and looked back through examples I think I'd find dozens that were clearly worse. But recency bias always comes into things when these debates take place. Wrong decision? Sure. Worst ever? Give me a break.

It's definitely not a red, that's crazy. It's also not even in the top 10. We've had moments where the technology has completely failed, we've had totally incorrect interpretations of defenders playing the ball or not, and we've had some truly clear and absolutely obvious errors. This was probably a penalty 9/10, but to make it out as if there's absolutely zero room for debate is wrong. If you disagree with me, are you saying that every time a goalkeeper comes out to get the ball that his first contact has to be the ball? What if he doesn't get the ball but just brushes into/knocks a player over? How many penalties do you plan on awarding this season when a keeper comes out for a cross? This is an extreme version of that, but it's not as black as white as many are saying and it is certainly far from the worst error of the VAR era in the Premier League.

That's just patently wrong.

It's a penalty, but it's not as stonewall as some of you are making out. There's always going to be a degree of debate over a keeper making contact with a player when he's going for the ball and when that contact had no impact on anything following on from it. I'd want it. I'd expect it to be given. But there will be far clearer penalties that aren't awarded this season.

It might be the only opportunity that we have... I still think a win at home to West Brom is a very good start.

I know, I know, it has only been one match. But this messageboard is so often inundated with total negativity that I thought it might be time to enjoy a little bit of optimism. We're off to a great start. We've got a young squad that a lot will be envious of. We play a brand of football that is genuinely really enjoyable to watch. 1 down. 45 to go. This will almost certainly age badly, but let's just take a moment to embrace the positivity. A couple of more signings and there could be reason to hope for - and maybe even expect - a good season.

Some very valid points within that and a good post within a number of replies from mods and admins who should know better (or give up their titles and responsibilities if they want to be snide pricks - I'll take the ban). I'm not implying that the messageboard shouldn't run ads to generate revenue. I just don't feel that the ads need to be quite as intrusive as they are. Then again, I don't know the full cost of running the site at the moment and my estimates might be miles off.

It's a free version. I'm tremendously appreciative of the effort that everyone puts in to keep this website civil and running. In my brief moments of contributing, I was able to witness just how big of a task that is on a consistent basis. I saw this thread as an opportunity to give a little feedback on how I felt the popup ads - in particular the full-page popups - negatively impact the experience on the website. I didn't really want to get into a long discussion about it, but others have continued to push me on the feedback. It's clear from the reaction that I got that I'm either wrong, in the minority, or simply pissing into the wind. Simplest solution? Shut up and solve my own problem. I know that I'm not particularly popular with many of the posters on here, particularly more modern spammers, but some might remember that I've certainly put in effort when it comes to this website. I don't think I deserve the type of backlash that I've received from just saying that I think this is the worst ad experience of any website that I regularly visit. That's it. Not a personal attack. The topic is done for me. The sad thing is that I've sought out a solution that many others probably have as well.

It's alright, far too much time has been taken discussing the topic and my thoughts on it. I've put an adblocker in place for BRFCS and put mattyblue on ignore.

On your first point, you've sort of missed the fact that the examples were not real. Second, I don't think the site or anyone involved is doing anything 'nefarious', but everyone must surely be aware of the nature and frequency of the ads and I doubt anyone would describe them as being a good thing. A necessary evil, perhaps. But this website runs more ads than any other that I visit. I am not in a position to really assess how they could be made more efficient or how the cost of running the site could be reduced, but JB and others certainly know how to get in touch with me if they ever want to talk about it. As for the last, you miss out on a third solution: an adblocker. The unfortunate thing is that this type of website experience would drive someone to install an adblocker: therefore negating the main benefit of the subscription whilst also depriving the website of any revenue. As I said, I'm done on the topic. I gave my feedback, that was all. If you, or any other admin would like to speak about it then I'm sure we can find a more effective means of communication. Who'd have thought, the only thing more ever-present than the ads has made an appearance.

Why are you taking such a strong interest in this? The ads themselves are targeted, but their nature is not. I'm not complaining about the fact that I'm seeing ads for BMWs, cigarettes, or alcohol, I'm saying that the popup ads (which, at times, include full-page ads) negatively impact the visitor experience. I just gave my feedback. After 20+ years on the messageboard, I've not exactly made a habit of being critical of admins and policies. But I think I've explained myself well enough for them to understand the context and everyone involved is undoubtedly tremendously bored by the topic.

Which is great, if I only ever accessed the messageboard from a device where I'm logged in (which is maybe 20% of the time). As I also said earlier, the aggressive nature of the ads actually makes me far less inclined to pay the subscription. The logic of 'we'll make this experience so unpleasant that you will have to pay to get rid of the ads' doesn't compel me to do so. It's just my bit of feedback. I may well be in the minority.

I think the ad experience is awful. That's separate from the platform used to run the messageboard or their hosting choices. Those tech stack decisions may impact cost and then allow them to implement a less aggressive ad policy, but the fact that we're dealing with full-page popups and banner/footer ads that you have to click out of every few pages is just an awful experience.

I've contributed to the site in the past as an admin and through content and, as I acknowledged in my original post, I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to a messageboard. If we were talking about a standard CMS, reducing hosting costs, dealing with normal website issues then I could be of some use, but I'm sure that everyone involved knows far more than I do when it comes to the platform that they currently use and other options that might be available.

I don't doubt @J*B's assessment and I know that this is a world that he's very familiar. But, as someone who works on helping tech companies optimize their online experience (admittedly not through messageboards), I find it hard to believe that such an unappealing ad experience is the best course of action. Every visit and new page comes with a new pop-up. I don't believe in adblockers, but this website gets me closer to changing my mind than anything else ever has.

I don't have a problem with the ads, but I do have a problem with the number of ads and the number of popups. I think it massively impacts the experience on the website and at times makes it almost unvisitable. Now, you might say that I could just sign up and get rid of them, but I actually feel less inclined to subscribe when the user experience is being placed after revenue. This feels like stepping back into a website from the early 2000s and it's a real shame.

It's good to have two goalkeeping options and you and make a case for either one. I think JDT was right to stick with Pears even once Kaminski was fit (that's without speculating on any of the internal politics); however, I would have dropped him after the Huddersfield match.

I think this is the most important point and one of the biggest differences between the two regimes. No one is going to be able to convince me that these young players would have played as important of a role under Mowbray. Several of them would have been loaned out or frozen out and would be off to join lower-half Championship sides or League One sides this summer. Then throw in the difference in messaging. JDT was cleary extremely disappointed that we missed out on the playoffs, but still took time to acknowledge the support. Mowbray would have stood there with a frown and told us all how much we had overachieved to even be in the playoff race.

I don't understand this criticism. Considering the fact that shortlists and transfer targets should be determined at least a month or two before the window opens, then it makes sense to have budgets set long before the season is finished. These might involve setting multiple potential budgets depending on how the end of the season goes, but I can't understand criticising the club for proper planning - especially when you consider how out of character it is. In all honesty, it feels like either approach would be criticised. Had they announced that budgets had yet to be set then there would be people on here questioning why we were leaving things so late.

I'm beginning to remember why I stopped posting on here. I'll see you all in 5/6 years.

I'm not knocking him down a peg or two. Do you think he's reading this? I'm pointing out that if another player (namely Morton) had misplaced a similar pass then that is all that would be in his match report on here. So, no, I'm not using it to be critical of Wharton (who I think had a very good match), but rather to point out some inconsistencies in how people assess performances.