Three matches at Deepdale stick in the memory with a few thankfully erased following woeful performances. The first one was shortly after we'd been relegated from the old 1st Division (now PL) and we went there and thumped them 5-3 (might even have been 'bonfire night). Pretty sure 'give us a goal Barrie Hole' netted at least one. We had Blacklaw in goal and familiar players involved at that time included class personified Newton, Billy Wilson, the man for all seasons Fergie, the mercurial Rogers and the powerhouse of a winger Harrison (Clayton and Douglas were still about but time was catching up with them). It was like a war zone on Preston's Kop that day with at least a dozen fans covered in blood passing me by in front of the West Stand Paddock. The second one was in Howard Kendall's 2nd season when we could only manage a 0-0 draw towards the end of the season and a win there would have meant back to back promotions and that would have been a miracle given what little resource Kendall had to work with. The sitter Marshall Burke missed at the Town End in the 2nd half still haunts me. The third one was the memorable occasion when Souey's team secured promotion back to the PL in 2001 led by the indomitable Flitcroft - wow the offensive talent in that team, Dunn, Duff, Jansen, Berkovic etc. It was particularly poignant given Jack's very sad passing just months earlier.

Won't be easy. Derby games can be so unpredictable and there are signs Heckingbottom is getting a bit more structure and organisation into their game. Beck MUST play ahead of Pickering - as a full back, he's way ahead of Pickering in all facets of the game. Big question is what Eustace does up front. Gueye would be terrific in a game like this. Can he accommodate both Gueye and Ohashi? Would be harsh in the extreme to leave out Ohashi who was signed to score goals and has delivered in style. Confident we will have too much for PNE and we will run out winners by a couple of goals.

Football is a simple game with too many, including some posters on here, getting hung-up with sexy tactics and notions in the fanciful belief they can replicate Pep. The bottom line is JRC's best performances for Rovers have come when he has played as a conventional right back and been able to get into the opponent's box 'under the radar'. It's my belief that is his best role and he should be played there instead of the, IMO, cowardly bag of wind Brittain. Simple as.

Like you, not my cup of tea and if truth be told I couldn't wait for the bloody thing to end when I sat through it! As for Burnley, I honestly think Parker has done a cracking job there so far. I was talking to both a Burnley 'diehard' (who follows them home and away) and an ex Burnley player last night and both admitted they faced the season with some trepidation but are now very confident they will finish first or second. TBH, I don't disagree.

Not backpedaling! Ipswich the exception to the rule!? Think your memory is a tad selective - what about Sheff United, Southampton, Norwich, Man City and Watford who all achieved back to back promotions to PL since its formation in 1992. And not to get sidetracked, yes I will judge Eustace on his ability to get us in the play-offs this season. When he joined us, he spoke of this 'fantastic opportunity at a fantastic club with fantastic facilities and fantastic players'. Well, let's see if John Boy can walk the walk as well as talk the talk! A bit rich from someone who one minute wanted to give Mowbray a new 5 year contract and then in the next minute is calling for him to be sacked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, I wasn't impressed with Eustace last season. This season, he's set up the team well and we are off to a cracking start helped by some of our new signings excelling of which there are at least two/three Eustace seemingly didn't want! Eustace should stick to what he does best and leave the recruitment to Gestede and Park - a structure you have been banging on about since Adam was a lad! Let's hope our superb start continues. As I said in a recent post, there is often a team that comes from 'nowhere' (let's hope it's Rovers this season) - confidence and momentum can take you to the pinnacle in this league.

Who wants to stand still in life not least in football? Ipswich went from League 1 to PL in two seasons. Were their group of players that secured promotion to the PL any better than what we have now? I don't think so. Recruitment team seem to have pulled a couple of rabbits out of the hat and I have more than acknowledged this in previous postings - as I posted before, all our new signings might not hit the heights but some imaginative and out the box thinking is so refreshing after the turgid days of Broughton. Eustace has started the season in great style but lets not forget it seems there were divergent opinions between him and the recruitment team on certain players including Gueye and Ohashi with Waggott seemingly overruling Eustace on these two lads (a number of members have posted about this). So all in all with Ipswich as a barometer, I think we should be looking for Eustace to at least hit top six. So lets show some real ambition, and who knows what we can achieve, instead of settling for mid tablish mediocrity with far too many then basking in a false sense of warmth and achievement. Please.

Retire!? I think any quarter decent company would have fired him a long time ago, in fact they wouldn't even have employed him. IMO, a highly incompetent bullsh1tter with nothing in his track record to suggest he could have moved our club forward.

Some debate on this thread about Eustace. To me, success thus season is at least making the play-offs. Don Mackay did it with even poorer resources and not even a feckin training ground. If he achieves top 6, I'll give Eustace the benefit of the doubt for another season. Today is a red hot home banker.

Think it's clear from Euros and even Saturday in Dublin, Kane's body is creaking and vastly reduced his mobility and whatever pace he had. Walker will be 36 at World Cup and for a full back expected to get up and down........ As for McGuire, never rated him at his 'peak' and he's on the slippery slope down. If he can't hold a place down in the United team, he shouldn't even be under consideration. The new England coach needs to be ruthless and focused on the World Cup in 2 years' time. Think only Kane should come into consideration and ONLY as a bench player should we need a goal. There's no room in football for sentiment.

You miss the point. If it hadn't been for all his earlier season errors which cost goals and points, the Leicester match would have been academic.

Roll on weekend and goodbye to the international garbage. My opinions of both Pears and Benson have been well versed. Even with Pears in goal on Saturday and the high probability of him gifting a goal, pretty sure we will have enough in our locker to see off City who have another manager with his head so far up his own backside he fails to see reality.

Yep, I saw the game and given how poor ROI were and how much possession we had, it would have been absurd not to see Rice in a more offensive role as for Mainoo, he too was similar to Rice but merely a poorer version. As for your 'dream midfield three' of Bellingham, Rice and Foden it wouldn't work! Bellingham and Foden are really number 10's and I think some folk need to accept it may be a struggle to successfully accommodate both in the same team (same Lampard and Gerrard issue). Sir Alf Ramsey once said to Jack Charlton when Jack strangely queried his selection for the 1966 World Cup, 'it's my job to put the best team out on the field and not the best players' !!!!!!!!!!!! - so, so very true and Sir Alf remains the only England manager to have lifted the Jules Rimet. It's painfully obvious we need a midfielder in there who can 'knit the team together' and Wharton's your man. I am absolutely baffled by your apparent indifference to Wharton.

Gomes - so why select / play him when you have Rice in that position and you also say Mainoo is a "sitting midfielder" Mainoo - he is either 'box to box' or a 'sitting midfielder', which one? Bottom line is he's no different to Conor Gallagher and both are overrated. So you have Wharton as a midfield playmaker which in Southgate's own words 'England have needed for years'. Question - do you think Wharton should start in England's midfield alongside Rice and, if not, why not.

So how are they all different? What are their main strengths?

Read again! I didn't say Carsley's time at Rovers should be a factor in whether he gets England job or not. What I did say is I didn't like the guy and part of that is due to his unmemorable time at Rovers. Yes, Mainoo is VASTLY overrated. If he played for Palace and Wharton for United the selections for England would be different! As for Gomes, if he was THAT good he wouldn't be playing for Lille but rather for a top PL team. Who do you think is the best midfielder out of Wharton, Mainoo and Gomes?

Sadly, think we'll roll Finland and Carsley will get the job. Appointing Carsley will be a huge, huge mistake. Predictably, those called up singing his praises. As well as questioning his abilities / credentials for the job, I simply don't like the guy and I guess that stems from his time at Rovers which was distinctly unmemorable. Any manager who leaves out a huge talent like Wharton and continues with the overrated Mainoo and picks Gomes from absolutely nowhere seriously needs to give his head a wobble. A decent first half against a League One equivalent ROI followed by an excruciating second half. Sadly for Adam Wharton, think the only way he will get an England call up / start is when he moves to one of the 'big clubs'.

I think this will be his last job in football management as he's simply not got it - gone by the turn of 2025!?

I think Burnley have some very good players at Championship level. Parker is not the idiot some on here make out - he's got 2 teams up from the Championship already. I think Burnley will secure an automatic promotion and providing we secure the other automatic spot, I wouldn't mind. I understand the Rovers / Burnley rivalry having lived through it and experienced it for 60+ years but Ì do think some fans on both sides go overboard. My two ongoing hopes - Rovers finish higher than Burnley in the league pyramid every year and when we do play them, at the very worse we draw.

Optimism and confidence should be surging through the veins of players and fans after our league start and yesterday's outstanding resilient performance. A banker home win - the only question is by how many!

Outstanding resilience!!!!!!! Also now we have a left back who can defend. Fantastic point. Well done Rovers.

Fortunate still to be still in it. Weimann's stunner got us a foothold. Pears is a major, major worry. Dolan needs hooking. Travis needs to be careful, lucky Burnley lad stayed on his feet towards end of half otherwise a 2nd booking. Beck grown into it and my God he needed to after a shaky start.

Disagree with your forecast. Have to be shooting for top 10 as a minimum.

Credit to Gestede and Park for a job well done when operating with one hand tied behind their back! All these signings may not come off but at least they have shown some imagination and an ability to work outside the box in stark contrast to, IMO, the turgid efforts of Broughton. Who knows, given a fair share of luck, we may well surprise a few this season - there's always one team who 'comes from nowhere'. If Ipswich could then why not us!? At least a mood of foreboding has been lifted and we have some hope and optimism.

Balls on the block and it's Rovers to win. At 3/1 just couldn't resist a punt. Think they are in turmoil and we will have a cohesiveness and togetherness they will not be able to match. All this despite Pears almost certainly being in goal. Fun bet at 80/1: Rovers' win, score 3-1, anytime goals Ohashi and Gueye. COYB

Shite, shite, shite.................................