Seems from the statement put out that the Americans want more 'entertaining' football for their new 'brand'. Good luck with that. Easy to say they want "no fear" football from a position of 6th having only lost three matches so far this season and with the joint second best defensive record in the league. They might not be feeling so fearless if they end up plunging down the table, entertainingly losing on a regular basis. I suppose we'll see. It's a big gamble.

The time to sell him was the summer before his contract expired. If he wasn't going to sign a new one then move him on for a reasonable fee (even if it's a slight loss in the end) and use that money to strengthen the team as a whole, ensuring that the goals are more evenly spread out across the team, as opposed to the single focal point for goals that we'd had in Arma and BBD. The only way I'd accept him not being sold in this instance would be if he was steadfast against moving to any of the teams who put in an offer, as at this point we'd have our hands tied, but from what we know it was just that Venky's wouldn't budge from whatever the asking price was - reportedly £15m - £20m. As far as I'm aware he never got the chance to say whether he'd enter talks with another team or not, as no bid was deemed acceptable. I think part of playing the transfer game well is both ensuring sales are done at an opportune time, and also understanding whether a player is just hitting purple patches or genuinely very good. If it's the former then you need to sell at the peak, or close enough to, if it's the latter then you might wait longer. Not saying this is easy at all, but it's what separates clubs that do this well and clubs that don't. You also obviously need to have a proper structure in place in terms of budget, reinvestment and a scouting and recruitment team ready to deliver the moment an important player is sold. Goes without saying we didn't have any of that either.

That works on the assumption that if he wasn't on the pitch nobody else would have scored instead, which is impossible to know. Granted it's unlikely given the paucity of genuinely potent attacking options we've had over the past couple of seasons, but still, the fact remains that a three goal return from November 5th to May 1st is very poor. Even if we assume that his absence means nobody else scores and so we lose every one of the points his goals gained us, we still don't get relegated, albeit we finish much lower in the division. Just a couple of goals from January onwards, however, would have seen us sneak a playoff place (again working on the assumption that the games otherwise remain exactly the same). I think any attacking player with such a meagre return over a sustained period of time would hold their hands up and say it isn't good enough, regardless of what had happened beforehand. Losing a player who scores upwards of 10 goals per season is obviously a blow, but we shouldn't have needed to spend £7m for that. Some time back I looked through the list of scorers higher than BBD and I think every one of them either cost significantly less or was bought when the team in question were in the PL, so not directly comparable. If we'd been given anything close to a decent transfer budget by Venky's I think his goals could have been replaced, albeit with a bit more spread out across the team - which isn't a bad thing - but losing him for nothing and then having the budget slashed to basically nothing was always going to make things difficult. I don't discount the contribution BBD made for us in terms of his goals, but neither am I surprised he's struggling at a higher level. I didn't buy the idea of him downing tools in the second half of last season, I just think he's a confidence player who really struggles when it's not happening for him.

It was a stupid deal from the beginning. Overpriced and unnecessary for a club in our position. I'd go as far as to say complete madness from all involved at Rovers end. We obviously should have taken whatever we could get for him at the end, even if it ended up being a small loss, but our owners decided otherwise. The money probably would have ended up in a black hole anyway, so as far as the club is concerned it's probably irrelevent in the end. As far as bursts of goals, he only scored five after November 5th, with two of those coming in the final game of the season when we had all but thrown our playoff chances away. No assists after Jan 1 either, so wasn't even contributing in that way. There was a suggestion he had downed tools, knowing he was leaving, but I just don't think he was good enough to be consistent for an entire season. That's why he was plying his trade with us rather than at a higher level, as Villareal are seemingly finding out now.

I wonder if the recent wave of bad publicity has caused the VAR teams to be more cautious in terms of stepping in. It obviously shouldn't, as the point of VAR is to consistently apply the laws of the game in whatever manner has been decreed as necessary.

Not sure £8m would have been a profit when factoring in signing on fee, agent fee, bonuses and such... likely closer to break even or a loss. At best a very small profit. Realistically we needed his value to be at least a few million higher than we paid for him, but oh well. We got two decent 4 month spells out of him, not that it got us anywhere in the end, and he disappeared completely when it mattered at the end of last season.

Yes, would much rather see opposition fans and managers crying about how "awful" we are after smashing them, than getting empty platitudes after valiantly losing.

As I said, most of the shots were no-hopers so it didn't matter yesterday, but our goals conceded column shows it has mattered against better teams. Even Rotherham, who are worse than QPR this season, put a couple past us. It was fantastic to keep a clean sheet yesterday and there's nothing to complain about as far as the result or overall performance is concerned. Just a minor concern.

The only thing that concerned me yesterday was the amount of shots QPR had at our goal - 21. Now obviously QPR weren't very good and quite a few of those shots were no-hopers anyway, but we need to try and reduce the amount of shots teams have at our goal, as we've seen better teams have been punishing us for that.

Only Watford on the opening day have put four past QPR, and Leeds only managed one in QPR's last match, so we shouldn't sell ourselves short. It was an impressive display of goalscoring today and exactly what we needed to boost morale at a time when it could have started dropping after repeated defeats.

Friday night's result saw Birmingham continue to bounce back from their recent poor run of form, as they beat WBA 3-1 at home to record their second win in a row. Albion had been on a decent little run having not lost in four and won their last two, but this match was a bump back down to Earth - even moreso after today's results as they fall from 5th all the way down to 11th. Birmingham meanwhile creep back into the playoffs in 6th spot, having improved their goals scored and maintaining a fairly solid defence. Sunderland's recent good form counted for little as they found themselves heavily beaten 4-0 at the Stadium of Light in the Teeside derby. Old Tone watched on as his boyhood club ran rampant, recording their largest ever win against Sunderland. The game was goalless at half time, but a sending off for a second bookable offence (dissention) for Dan Neil gave Boro the impetus to push on in the second half, and did they ever take the initiative. Post-Match Mowbray suggested that 'gesticulating' at the ref should not result in a booking/sending off. Nonetheless, the result doesn't do Sunderland too much immediate harm as they remain in 4th place, although the result has put a bit of a dent in their goal difference - which still stands at a decent +8. Boro fans must feel like they're watching a rerun of last season, as their team storms up the table after a dismal start to the season. It was Boro's fourth win in a row and they now haven't lost in five matches, with their last defeat being to the mighty Rovers. They are now 16th. Watford's run of defeats came to an end as they battled for a point away to Cardiff, with the match ending one a piece in an evenly contested contest. Despite this Watford are still without a win in five, and have only taken three points from two matches this season. They are now 20th. Cardiff sit in 8th, having picked up two points from the last six available. Draw specialists Coventry once again found themselves sharing the points, this time at home with a 1-1 draw against Norwich. It's their sixth draw of the season and the highest amount of draws in the division. They'll likely take this point gratefully though, as it was an 88th minute own goal that saved them from a narrow defeat. Coventry remain in 13th and Norwich in 7th. Preston's nightmare run of form continued in earnest as Ipswich handed them a 4-2 defeat at Portman Road. It means Preston have now conceded eleven goals in their last three matches, decimating their goal dfference and leaving them on -2. The fact they somehow still remain in third, with a single point from the last twelve available, is a testament to how inconsistent the teams in this league not called Leciester or Ipswich have been and continue to be. Ipswich are now eight points clear of Preston in third, are the top scorers in the division with 25 goals and have won nine of their first eleven matches. It's a start to the season no Ipswich fan would have dreamed possible, but that's the Championship. As teams like Luton and Brentford have shown in recent years, a sensible plan, a good manager and reasonable owners is all you need to have a good shot at going up. Most clubs in the division fail on at least one of these, and often all three, making the division wide open every season. Leeds secured their second win in a row with a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Elland Road. It's their third win in four matches and lifts them to 5th in the table, just a point behind Preston in 3rd. One imagines Leeds will ultimately be the team that is likely to really put pressure on Ipswich, although there's a hefty gap of nine points between the two sides at present. As Rovers fans know all too well though, a gap like that can vanish surprisingly quickly when the team hits a sticky patch. Despite a win last time out, this result means Bristol City have lost three of their last four matches and slip to 14th in the table. Leicester picked up their tenth win in eleven matches, with a 2-0 home win against Stoke City team who rarely troubled them. The result keeps Leicester top of the division, two points ahead of second placed Ipswich and ten ahead of third placed Preston. It was a sixth win in a row for Leicester, who look set to bounce back to the PL with ease at the first time of asking. For Stoke it's now three defeats in four, and they sink to 21st, two points clear of QPR in 22nd. Despite being 2-1 ahead, Hull were unable to secure maximum points at the Den, having to settle for a 2-2 draw against Millwall. Hull's recent poor form, with only a single win in their last five matches, has them falling further down to 9th in the league. Millwall's form remains erratic, and they sit in 15th. Despite taking an early lead, Plymouth ultimately fell to a 3-1 home defeat against a resurgent Swansea City side. It was the Swans fourth win in a row, and they haven't been defeated in five matches. Their good form has pushed them from the depths of the league into a secure 12th place. Four points from the last fifteen available has seen Plymouth drop to 18th in the standings. Rovers broke out of their recent slump in style as we hammered QPR 4-0 at Loftus Road. The stats make for dismal reading if you're a Rangers fan, and I'm not just talking about this match. One win in twenty home games. Failure to score in 50% of games so far this season. Since Ainsworth took over they've failed to score in 11 out of 25 games and from those 25 games have a goal difference of -28, with just 18 scored and 46 conceded. Basically, QPR are in major trouble and have to be considered massive candidates for the drop unless something changes very quickly. Rovers, so often hospitable to those on horrendous runs of form, were merciless today and piled on the misery in emphatic fashion. It ends a run of four straight defeats for Rovers, lifting us to 17th in the table. A clean sheet also helps our goal difference, taking us from -8 to -4. QPR meanwhile remain second worst attackers in the division with just eight goals scored, and have only collected two points from the last eighteen available. Sheffield Wednesday's winless start to the season continued as they drew 0-0 with former boss Darren Moore's Huddersfield at Hillsborough. The result underscores Wednesday's inability to put the ball in the net, as they have still only managed five goals this season and remain the least potent attacking force in the Championship. This result takes them to three points for the season overall, seven behind Stoke in 21st. Huddersfield were similarly toothless up front today, not managing a single shot on target. Moore remains winless since his appointment, with Huddersield having drawn four of their last five matches, losing the other. The result leaves them in 19th. Southampton will be hugely disappointed to have been held to a 1-1 draw at St. Mary's by a Rotherham side who picked up their first away point of the season. Despite dominating the match with 22 shots, 10 on target, the Saints were unable to make the pressure count and will be left to rue the chances they missed. Rotherham meanwhile will be thankful to have escaped with a point. The draw leaves Southampton in 10th position, a point behind Birmingham in 6th, whilst Rotherham remain in 23rd with the worst defence in the division and a solitary win to their name after eleven matches.

No complaints from me. Fantastic result and a clean sheet.

Lovely to see us finally give someone a pasting in the league.

When can we get Siggy signed up longer term?

Wage bill is about a million higher, which sounds like a lot but compared to other teams in the division is still small. Similar for transfer spend. The comparison wasn't directly to Rovers, as Venky's are obviously starving their "baby".

They're in a proper tailspin at the moment. Ipswich meanwhile starting the season like a parachute payment club, despite having one of the lower wage budgets in the division and no significant transfer outlay.

Just keep it steady at the back. Not trying to be greedy but let's grab a clean sheet too.

Delighted for Dolan, he really needed that.

Just comes down to the lack of quality. With a decent striker on the pitch I think we win the game Wednesday comfortably. That system would work if we had a proper finisher at the club. Unfortunately we don't, which is why JDT is being less pragmatic with his approach in most matches. He knows we need more chances than normal to score, and that puts huge pressure on a defence which has unfortunately not been able to cope, hence being joint worst in the division for goals conceded. Just a shit situation really, and it's all on the owners.

In fairness even his strongest team would highlight the problems created by those above him, so he doesn't need to make an effort.

Eh, Millwall away was a low pressure game as there would have had to have been a lot of results in our favour to come 6th. In the end we would have had to have won 16-0 or something to come 6th. The matches that mattered were before then, all of which we either lost or drew. A run of eight games without a win before that is where we threw everything away. By the time it got to the Millwall match we'd firmly placed ourselves in our favourite position of underdogs with a minor chance of sneaking in, but relying on other teams to do us a favour.

Indeed, people seem to forget sometimes he's a young and inexperienced manager. The way we play shows he has impressive coaching skills, but there's a lot more to management than coaching a team to play a certain style well. You only learn those things through experience, and one of the pitfalls of hiring rookie managers is that their growing pains will also be yours as a club. Occasionally it clicks immediately, as with McKenna at Ipswich. but more often than not time and patience are required. Goes without saying that the above becomes much harder when the owners are at best passively useless and at worst totally destructive.

It would also be an FU to the fans, and I don't think JDT would do that just to prove a point to his bosses. I think he has more integrity than that.

I know you will mate. Reach out if you need to vent or have somebody listen, my inbox is always open.

Really sorry to hear that mate. Take care of her and take care of yourself.