Feels like this is the game for Ennis to announce he is the number 9 weve been looking for since Graham left.

We really got away with that one... Never seen a goal disallowed like that. Issue for me is JRC is having a rare poor game. Wonder if we might try Wharton and Tronstad together?

That basically everybody who Gregg has brought in has been good except for Hirst who then went on to do very well at Ipswich makes me a bit hopeful Telalovic has something we haven't seen yet.

Tronstad is real quality. Very impressed with Gregg's business.

Look very solid but not creating much. Wonder if things tied at 60 mins we'll flip the system and bring Wharton and Ennis on and put JRC or Brittain at RB and go gungho. I guess we'll go back to it sometimes.

Team I would have picked. Think we improved the midfield defensively a lot with thay selection. Tronstad, Brittain and JRC offer a lot more solidarity than Wharton, Markanday and Moran. Do we lose something offensively? Maybe, will be interesting to see. Think Brittain will actually do really well on the right wing, and Tronstads forward passing was very good at QPR.

You got it right there. Dolan led the line and surprisingly well too.

Playing Phillips and Maguire in a key game like this though after they have hardly featured for their clubs and have struggled when they have, and are not match fit, does just seem very very strange. We do have decent if unspectacular alternatives on the bench, young players who need to kick on and have a future with England. Why stick with players who are obviously on their way out? Very odd situation. But hats off to Southgate - he got the job done as he usually does. In terms of results he's got us closer than anyone since 1966, and continues to look as likely as anyone to get us over the line. I wouldn't be particularly confident if we changed manager we would get someone more likely to get positive results. Been through that cycle with Capello, Eriksson etc. If there is an outstanding candidate then yes, but I can't see one. Most likely name to rock up would be Eddie Howe, and while a good manager I don't think I would be putting any bets on to say he will improve on Southgate's record.

I don't think we will see much of Wharton for a while, Tronstad has settled in very well. Adam is going to need to fight his way back into the team and it seems Wharton has got a fair way to go.

Leonard I am intrigued by. Some games he looks like he just isn't going to worry Championship defenders as neither quick or strong enough... but then I have also been impressed with his movement and he's scored a couple of goals. Really on the fence with him. I like that he plays as a proper striker who wants to get in the box, covers the ground, seems able to link up play. I am pretty sure we will start with Dolan up front on Saturday as he scored and had a good all round game. Then it's really up to one of Leonard, Ellis or even Telalovic coming on second half and looking the part. So we've got a lot of options, but no ones really grabbed it yet. But... I would hesitate to say all four of them will fail (Dolan, Leonard, Telalovic, Ennis). Based on our hit rate I feel like one of them at least will have a decent season in that striker role.

I don't quite follow what you mean by back five at QPR? looks like a standard sort of back four with the full backs pushed up and a sitting midfielder in front?

IMO I don't think that formation is an accurate presentation of Szmodics to be honest - Szmodics plays right in behind the striker or up top. It's much more a 4231 - see the average positions below from QPR, Covernty and Leicester (Szmodics is number 8 ). I think I've only ever seen one game where Szmodics has played as a proper midfielder rather than a forward some time last season (can't remember who against but we played 352 with him on the right side of the three centre mids). Every other game he's always in the final third very rarely anywhere near the midfield. Also not sure how Dolan or JRC get dropped after a very good performance at QPR. //

Agree with this in bold. But given Tronstad and JRC looked so good think Wharton and Travis will be warming the bench for the next game at least.

I suppose defensive mid who can pass. A player who likes to sit in front of the defence and rarely gets forward but keeps the ball moving with accurate passing. When Mourinho rocked up at Chelsea and everyone started playing 4231 with two defensive mids (effectively trading one striker in a 442 for an extra DM in 4231) it was very very rubbish for football. Thought we were past that. Think there must be a happy medium between beings super conservative two DMs all the time, or going for the gungho 433 thing which means the one DM is left entirely on his own in the middle of the park. Would hate to go from one extreme to the other. TBH last couple of games have been pretty well balanced imo, with Tronstad as the single DM/pivot but JRC making sure he helps out and doesnt disappear off into the final third all game, so id just stick with that.

It is surprising given Luton got promoted last season on a tiny budget by being direct that very few teams are trying that approach. Theres obviously success to be had with it if you have a couple of old school centre forwards. For what its worth while Rovers are playing out from the back we do get it forward very quickly. Less "possession for possessions sake" than previous iterations, as shown by the number of goals for and against this season.

Hes obviously a real quality player. Think he could end up being as good for us as Harvey Elliott was. Elliott got 7 goals and 11 assists. Moran already has 2 goals and 3 assists, and could have had several more by being slightly quicker on the finish. Signs are that Sigurdsson, Szmodics and Moran will be an excellent set of attacking mids at this level. Still think Hedges is pretty handy also. Markanday I cant quite figure out how he'll turn out.

Hmm... interesting that he has gone back to join training with the Rovers squad. Suggests it isn't like a family or medical emergency. Maybe found out he wouldn't make the team or the bench and told them he'd rather go home? I wonder if Hungary are buzzing around seeing if they could get him. All speculation anyway.

Given Szmodics technique, movement and relentless workrate being more than a match for your decent Championship player I am a bit confused why he has only really got to Championship level at 28. In the 8 seasons he has played prior to joining Rovers he played 3 seasons in League 2, 4 in league 1 and only one in the Championship. Shows there is decent quality down there if you can find it.

Also would say the players are much better balanced now. We had an excellent set of attacking mids/forwards in 04 to 06 but they all wanted to play central in the number 10 area of the pitch (Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Joe Cole). Even Beckam was quite a narrow right sided player. We use the width of the pitch in the final third a lot better now. But.... we lack good defenders and goal keeper which was never really a problem till the last 10 years or so. If an English keeper and a pair of centrebacks can show real authority over the season then I think we might have a real Euros winning team. Great full backs, centre mids, wide mids, and - as long as Kane is fit - goals up top.

But he lost a whole year at the higher income and run the risk of getting a serious injury. Just seems a strange thing to turn down a move up a division. I reckon if we accepted a bid from a top tier side he would have have moved, but no way to be sure.

While BBD was determined to not sign an extension for Rovers and leave on a free we never actually accepted a bid to test if he would sign elsewhere. I really can't see that he would have said no to the likes of Fulham, Nice or Seville to go on a free transfer in a years time. Has anyone ever refused a transfer to the division above to go on a free in a year? I can't think of one...

Agreed - everyones annoyed that he left for free but we would have been more annoyed if he left for 6M as everyone, including me,would have (wrongly) assumed Breretons 22/23 would replicate 21/22 form. Such is life. Whats important is we might have not only replaced him but potentially upgraded with Sigurdsson. Vibes I'm getting is that Gregg knows what hes doing. Szmodics, Hyam, Brittain are all performing very well. And while too early to be sure Sigurdsson, Moran, Hill and Tronstad look good, with promising signs from Leo. Just need Ennis or Telalovic to step up.

Cant really see how Ennis gets ahead of Dolan or Pickering gets dropped. Only real potential change imo is maybe Brittain ahead of Markanday. Otherwise pretty certain it will be exactly the same no matter how fit Wharton or Ennis are. Theyll need to come off the bench and make waves to get a starting spot.

I only half watched the last 30 mins on Saturday as the parents in law turned up unexpectedly... so went back and watched after. Two things stood out - 1) Ennis made zero impression. Obviously not writing him off but just was a bit of a nothing performance. Looking forward to him getting more up to speed over the international break. He's going to have the opportunity to make #9 his own over the next run so I really hope he grasps it. 2) Brittain played right wing very well. He's such a good allround footballer I wonder if this could be where he ends up. Makes us very solid down the right with Hill in behind, he's got that ability to drift and find space, good pace, fantastic technique, has the ability to recover and get back into shape quickly. Markanday had a good game and I am sure will keep his place, but longer term I can see some mileage in Brittain playing further up.

Everything about this video confirms every stereotype northern fans have about southern fans. It's like if someone did a Rovers fans POV video and they were wore a flat cap and took a wippet to the game. Felt like one step away from a parody. And for his dad (I think) at the end, I guess we didn't look that amazing but we looked in absolute total control throughout. We did look special against Sunderland first half but then lost 3-1, so I know which I would rather be...