I'd say we have been through a bit of a 8-9 game experiment which has had some plusses but obviously is unsustainable in terms of goals conceded, and probably we will become a bit more conservative now. This sort of thing happens... I remember the season after Holtby joined Mowbray went for a very high intensity gegenpress at the start of the season which looked really good initially but we started conceding a lot of goals and eventually we changed the setup entirely. Feels a lot like that. I'd say most Championship teams will play 2-3 systems over the season as they get worked out and adjust accordingly. Way we play at the moment if Wharton is marked out of the game we are buggered, and if the opposition are happy to play direct they will create a lot of chances as we only have three players back to do any defending. Think we will change it.

Dont think we will really know whether it is till end of October/ early November. Still no idea how good Ennis, Sigurdsson, Wahlstadt, Tronstad, Telalovic, Hill are. Only one we've seen a decent amount of against Championship opposition is Moran and he looks good to me. The only player we lost who I think really was a big blow was BBD. Dack and Ayala were rarely fit, Kaminski, Sorba Thomas and Morton had mixed seasons. Edun, Mola rarely featured. That the new lads are at least equivalent in the round seems very possible. We shall see.

Got round to watching the game on Rovers TV. Thought first half we were completely tactically overrun, and while you can (and JDT did) say that the goals were individual errors, the sheer weight of chances meant a 3-1 lead for Ipswich seemed like us getting off lightly. They'd done their homework - pressed us relentlessly, marked Wharton out of the game,were pretty direct and cut through us at will. That said I was very impressed with how we got ourselves back into it second half. Once Leonard got his goal we were on top for a long period. Showed real guts. `What I did struggle to get my head around though was that when we did manage to get us back to 3-3 we didn't change things up to be a bit more normal. We still had (an absolutely knackered) Adam Wharton ploughing a lone furrow in the centre of midfield . It just seemed a bizarre thing to do tactically when we had been mullered in midfield first half, everyone was tiring, and Ipswich bringing on quality subs, and we had Tronstad on the bench. In the end we conceded from (another) Pears error, but also generally the game was very chaotic end to end stuff and Pears did make a couple of good saves also. It really looked like it needed some fresh legs and a bit of proper midfield structure. Couldn't believe Wharton actually played the full 90. Im really enjoying how we play, and I think we will improve as the season goes on. But... I don't think just sticking to this kamikaze way of playing for 90 mins every game is going to get us to the playoffs. It has its strengths but we need to be smart about how we use it. I think other teams used a system where you have two ways of playing with the same players on the pitch, but you change it for periods during the game. It feels like we should do that... have times during a game where we sit deep with both Wharton and Travis protecting the defence in a more traditional way, conserve energy and play on the counter, then alternate to the mad 433 thing we're doing at the moment with every outfield player except Wharton, Hyam and Carter in the final third for 20 mins at a time....

Wharton needs a rest and we need a plan B so Id change the setup significantly to test out a different way of playing. Argument for either 4231 or 352. With Hill apparently being quite a comfortable powerful ball player I wonder if we could use him like we used to use JPVH in the centre of a back 3? Wahlstadt Carter Hill S Wharton JRC Travis Tronstad Batty Markanday Telalovic Gilsenan

I don't think even if you had the best defensive midfielder ever to play in the Championship he's going to protect you on the transition if you have only one player in the centre of midfield. The way we are playing is basically on the premise that we will rarely turn over the ball. When we do it frequently like second half Sunderland or first half Ipswich we get murdered. Our standard situation is when we lose possession the only players who will be anywhere near the half way line are Carter and Hyam with Wharton just in front. Everyone else is in the final third.

Games Ive watched Szmodics is far more a number 10 right by the striker than anywhere near the centre mids.

Yes fair point. If it was Morton making the mistakes he would be getting absolutely murdered. That said I dont think we ever asked Morton to play as a one man midfield like we are this season. Its hard to think of a more difficult role in football than the one we have put Wharton in. Whartons a special player but its too much to ask as our core tactic imo. We need a more normal setup to play regularly and then we can pick the times to switch to this one man midfield business.

Yeah... haven't watched this game yet - will watch tomorrow. But I was at Ewood for Sunderland mid week and Travis was playing as an offensive box to box midfielder pushed right up the right side. Wharton totally on his own in the middle of the pitch. In games we are confident we are the better side I can see being so aggressive amd confident making sense. But in a close matchup it just seems hubristic.

Not watching but seems on the stats thay we're getting genuinely turned over, not like other losses where we have looked good just not able to finish. I was surprised that we went for such an attacking team again given being away and the form Ipswich are in.

Much as I have liked him in previous appearances I would say Garrett's 20 mins was one of the worst midfield performances I have seen in a long time. The way we play asks a lot from our midfielders who are expected to turn and pass very quickly and very accurately with very little support, particularly in that central role that Wharton owns. When Garrett came on he couldn't do it all, to the point where you could see Hyam and Carter trying to avoid passing to him. What worried me was that we did not change the system when we obviously couldn't continue to play that way once Wharton went off. We just plugged away. We are going to need a plan B when Wharton is unavailable.

I think things both JDT and Broughton have said openly in the media (how Buckley left, the Spanish La Liga striker not coming in, his lack of endorsement of Semir) clearly show JDT might help draw up the lists of players but he does not select the players who come in from that list. What's interesting is that he doesn't really seem to mind that arrangement. A normal British manager would be going absolutely crazy, but JDT seems to go with the flow.

Think we have to play a bit more defensive in this one. I would make a few changes. Put in an extra holding midfielder - I would have said Garrett but he was absolutely shambolic last might so Tronstad to come in. Wahlstadt Brittain Hill Hyam Pickering Travis Wharton. Tronstad Moran Leonard Szmodics

I dont think we should significantly change how we start matches. First half of recent performances have been excellent. But we need to do two obvious things imo. 1) Until Ennis is fit give Leonard the 9 shirt. He did well last night - scored, and got into the right places. I don't think we've had a player get into central scoring positions so much for a long time. Hopefully as his confidence grows he will bag more. Chopping and changing between him and Semir wont help I think. Let Semir have the last 30 each game. 2) Figure out a good defensive shape. I know because we went behind and we were chasing we got more and more open. But.... I am not sure what our defensive shape is. Imo the back four is very good but in front of the defence are very porous. How do we solve that? And what do we do if Wharton has a poor game or gets injured.

Offensively we were brilliant today except for our finishing. We controlled the game. Had the most shots the most possession... but defensively when they did come at us we were poor. If we struggle to score easy chances but find it easy to concede rare chances from the other side it doesn't really matter how many chances we create or how much we control the game. The big positive for me was Moran who looks a real player. Doubt we will see much more of Dolan starting. Big negative is thats the first time I saw Wharton really rattled. If he goes off the boil we've got a big problem. He had a poor game today and we could have done with Buckley coming on.

That goal was really all down to garrett not being able to take the ball on the half turn. Since hes come on we can't pass through the middle at all. I like Garret but you can't expect him to play the Wharton role.

Generally weve played so well, can't believe we're behind. Wharton though has an absolute stinker. With him and Travis both on yellows we need to change something there.

Id say Wharton is the on whose really struggling with passing. Must have turned over the ball half a dozen times.

Moran is quality player

Well on the plus side weve got a lot of time to show we can win from behind

Fucking hell...

What an incredible performance so far. Top class. But no goal...

Looks okay, should have four hours to clear the pitch after rain stops between 3pm to 4pm. I presume they cover it during a big downpour like the last couple of days?

I remember Jason Roberts picked him in his greatest ever team mate XI on Sky Sports years ago. So baffling, they must have played a handful of games together?

Looking at the forecast it looks like rain from now until kick off... does feel like it could get called off?

Yeah, but while atrocious at finishing or linking up the play Gallagher is very good at pressing and running and physically disrupting the opposition back line with his power and pace. He's also very handy defensively at set pieces etc. My fear is when Leonard, Telalovic, Dolan etc come in we just lose the ability to put effective pressure on up front and we get pushed out. Ennis really looked handy to me is the games he has played. Physical, knows where the goals is. Seems much more of a proper striker than Gallagher or BBD. He's the one I am looking at thinking he could make the difference. While we wait for him we're just gong to have to hope whoever fills in can step up.