Morgan Rogers plays for Villa. Emery is letting him shine. Lewis Hall is Newcastle's left back. They signed him from Chelsea. Chaddy has been talking him up for a while. Jones, Gallagher, and Madueke, played really well. Bellingham looked like the "old" Bellingham. I know that most on here couldn't give a hoot about the Nations League but I think it's important that England beat ROI on Sunday. England need to play top opposition. The World Cup qualifying draw is next month. England will be seeded.

I don't doubt that most of them will, but they are injured. This isn't a Ryan Giggs scenario. 2 of them had to come off at the weekend. Having said that, this is the 3rd international break so far this season. They are annoying, but if I want England to win a tournament (which I do) I think they should play together more. I also think that not having Tuchel in charge is odd too.

Man City lost again today, it's their 4th loss in a row. That has never happened to Guardiola before. They have a lot of injuries, but losing Rodri for the season is looking like it's causing them problems. Liverpool beat Villa 2-0. Slot continues his excellent start.

He has been much better this season, and maybe I am sceptical because of his history, but he doesn't inspire me with any confidence. Eustace has organised the back 4, Pears is benefitting from that (Hyam too). He doesn't gather enough balls. He's good at tipping efforts over and wide (he had 2 today) but struggles with shots straight at him. His distribution is also iffy. I too thought that Hedges played well today.

I commented the other day that Travis should score more. He didn't score but set one up and was trying to play more attacking football. It was good to see. How many passes for the first goal? 30+? Most of them were 5 yards sideways and backwards before Pickering switched it but it was a long possession.

I concur with all of that. Rovers thoroughly outplayed Cardiff and should be more than 1 up. Pears does some daft things. His slide then parry, a booking for timewasting, and more than one ball to nowhere.

I'd say the opposite. Those stats point to another bad midweek performance.

Travis must also shoulder some responsibility. He rarely scores or assists. Tronstad can be excused as he plays a deeper role.

Does anyone else think that Gueye should have been sent off for elbowing the Sheff Utd defender? He got away with it if you ask me.

In the second half especially Rovers were outclassed today. Sheffield Utd were better in every department. Rovers final ball was awful and could not get anywhere near their goal. As we all know it all goes back to Venkys. Proper funding would negate performances like today as there would be better calibre personnel available. Instead we get to watch Cantwell, a class above the rest, try to play with 2 new strikers who are starting to look out of their depth and "skill" players Dolan and Hedges who produce nothing.

Rovers are a JRC mistake away from 0-0. Sheff Utd have size and pace, something that Rovers do not, and it shows. They can play as high as they like defensively as Rovers have nobody who can run in behind. It's a good job Beck is on Rak-Sakyi's side. He'd run Pickering ragged. that half also summed up Dolan and Hedges. Early on Dolan has the chance of a break but isn't fast enough to get away, so spins around and loses it. Hedges misses another sitter.

Man U have their next manager; ESPN: Amorim to Utd He's been touted as the next big thing for about a year now. There were articles linking him with Liverpool last season, and more recent ones having him take over from Guardiola next season. He has to wait a month before he starts. I think that he will improve them as ten Hag was certainly not up to it, but they have a mediocre squad that will take time and money to shift. Speaking of ten Hag ESPN ran an article yesterday articulating his stay; ESPN: why ten Hag failed If the stories in it are true, and I've no reason to doubt them, he should have gone ages ago.

I've only missed watching 2 Rovers matches this season. Saturday will be the 4th game in a row on US TV. It's purely selfish of me but 12.30pm UK kick off's are perfect. The game is over by 9.30am so I still have my whole Saturday ahead of me. Yes, I am fully aware of the inconveniences it puts on those who attend matches and have other commitments.

Me too. Not to worry though, it will continue under new packaging. As us Rovers fans are painfully aware, owners matter, and until the Glazers sell up us non-Man U fans will be treated to this recurring spectacle. I can't name 1 player that Man U have who would get into City, Arsenal, or Liverpool's first 11. Maybe a fully fit Luke Shaw - but that is an oxymoron, and Roberston getting roasted time and again by Saka yesterday is fresh in my head.

Their "review" of ten Hag in the summer looks like a pointless exercise now. He was never good enough so why did Ineos go through the process only to bin him after 9 games? They've named van Nistelrooy as interim boss. My guess is that performances will pick up in the short term, the fans will get excited and hark back to the glory days, then it will all revert to type as their substandard players go back to normal.