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...

When hes fit again would like wharton to be given a shot in this more conservative setup alongside Tronstad with the licence to get forward a bit. Its a much less pressured approach than how we were playing before.

Yeah agreed. Think we can use the way we set up now as a base to avoid conceding early then if we need more penetration later in the game swap Hill out for one of Brittain or JRC and for all the overloads etc in the final third and go gung-ho. Gives us different options.

Cant agree with this personally, Hill having the physicality and awareness of a centre back on the right has been a big positive for us. Put him central and drop a cb and I think we will look more brittle again with Brittain or JRC wandering around midfield.

Id hesitate to say anything definitive after a game against an absolutely shocking QPR side. Travis and Wharton have both blown hot and cold, and my guess is that Tronstad and JRC will be similar. Good though that, on their day, we look to have four very decent centre mids who we can rotate.

Yeah I was curious if there was something about Telalovic the stats dont tell... but after seeing him he is clearly a development player well behind Gallagher, Ennis and (to a lesser extent) Leonard. Reckon Dolan also in the mix ahead of him to spearhead the attack too. I wouldn't write him off, we do that way too easily, but he's some way off.

Dolans laid the ball off really well along with his goal. With Dolans new muscle man physique maybe number 9 is a better role for him than outwide?

JDT likes slowly introducing players, always been like that. See Whalstad, Hill, Sigurdsson etc Think it probably a result of that JDT clearly wants to express that if you don't play his way you dont play. TBH I think it has generally worked pretty well.

While notionally a similar setup on paper, the way we played against Cov and play today is so different than the few games before. Hill really makes a huge difference at right back, and we have completely stopped throwing everyone into the final third for overloads. We look defensively very decent. Also think Sigurdsson is an upgrade on Diaz, while he offers goals like Ben, he gets in the box and adds allround build up play quality which Diaz did not. Like Ben hes also a big unit who is pretty effective physically. Think Gregg has found the perfect BBD replacement for nothing.

Personally I think one chink of light could be now that we have this more solid looking setup we can vary it with the more attacking one. So we have two gears and a bit of unpredictability. But we really really need someone to step up as a number 9.

Well one of Ennis, Gallagher, Telalovic or Leonard needs to turn into a genuine Championship striker.... I think Ennis most likely. But we will see.

Yeah, Ive put his drop in form down to him being put under too much pressure in the mad ultra aggressive way we were playing. But today with Hill in there we were much more solid, not too much pressure on him but he was really ordinary. Tronstad looked a better bet...

Thought we looked much better defensively with Hill in there. Probably edged the chances. But same story of not being able to finish. Hope Ennis is fit for Saturday.... we really need him to look the part.

Id say a good performance generally, just need a cutting edge... would like to see Ennis.

Think Hill coming in at RB has made a massive difference. Hes like a third CB really in size and presence, and not getting forward too much. Adds a lot of cover.