For all of the stick AEW gets, and I have given them a fair bit in the past year too, it's great to have another big wrestling company around for moments like Adam Copeland's debut last night: Kind of crazy that they were able to literally copy his WWE entrance and even the "Rated R Superstar" nickname, which WWE apparently abandoned the trademark for in 2020. A different name but otherwise literally everything else the same. A really cool get for AEW, and it's great that Edge gets a final full-time run. Judging by the post-event scrum it's something he really wanted, but WWE were only willing to let him do a part-time schedule. Considering Edge has been a WWE lifer up until this point it's really weird to see him in the ring for a different promotion, but I'm looking forward to what he can do there.

Apparently Liverpool are taking things further, will be interesting to see what avenues are open to them. Something needs to change. Clubs can't just keep accepting "oops, our bad, one match suspension for the officials involved".

Can't imagine Warnock touching us after we messed him about six years ago. Besides of which, hiring him seems like far too sensible of a decision for Venky's to make. I think our only real hope is that JDT finds a way to make this work, by tweaking his system to give us more defensive stability but still enough attacking prowess to score a goal or two. If Tomasson goes I dread to think what comes next.

That's the thing, for me there's always a massive asterisk applied to any criticism of JDT because he is not the root cause of our problems. He's one of the few good decisions made by Venky's in the past decade plus. I don't hold him primarily responsible for what is happening because he has been sold down the river, alongside the recruitment team and the fans. If he's staying out of loyalty and an unwillingness to give up, even with so much against him, then I admire that - but he still needs to have a real think about what he's doing now and whether he needs to pivot to something a little bit different. There are things about his current style that work. We do play some fantastic football at times. We can score goals, even with very limited options in terms of talent. That's good. However, these positives are undone by the fact we cannot defend and concede far too many goals. He needs to try and find a balance between continuing to allow us to score goals, but prioritising being solid from the back. The vast majority of great teams were and are built from a solid defensive foundation. Those who aren't either have huge budgets and can regularly outscore the opposition (Norwich in recent seasons when they've gone up, and Mowbray's WBA way back when), or end up as nearly rans, such as Newcastle in the mid-90s, or fondly remembered losers, like Blackpool during their PL relegation season. I don't envy JDT's job, but for now at least it is his job.

I tend to agree, if JDT resigned leaving us in the relegation zone that wouldn't be a good look, regardless of how many managers claim we're the best they've seen. He may come to regret not leaving in the summer when it was obvious the 'project' had changed and he had been lied to. I don't think any Rovers fan who really understands how shambolic the running of this club is would have begrudged him leaving. It would have hurt, but been completely understandable. From his perspective he'd have a solid first season at Rovers on his record and perfectly legitimate reasons for departing. There's always the "well would you walk away from your job without compensation?" argument, but I'm not wealthy and a world famous name, so it's not really a fair comparison. I'm sure JDT wouldn't have struggled to find work. Walking away in the summer would have been making a point. Walking away now is less clear cut because he started this season accepting the new project, even if he didn't like it, and would be leaving with the club struggling. That's also why I don't think he should be exempt from criticism. The budget changing in the summer and piss poor recruitment is not his fault, but by starting the season with us and continuing to take his wage for being manager of the club with the circumstances known, he also has to take some responsibility for how the current situation is being handled on the pitch. Would another manager come in and do better? I don't know, but we still shouldn't be shipping this amount of goals. And that's not me saying I want JDT to leave. I am in the camp of wanting him to stay, as I like his personality and believe he has some very solid ideas when it comes to playing football. I just want to see more from him in terms of adapting and adjusting to our current position. He's doing so with severe limitations, but a manager earns their money by being able to improve bad situations. That's not to say he can get us into playoff contention this season, and I don't expect that, but at minimum I expect us to concede less than two goals a game on average. I want us to stop letting the opposition have 15+ shots on our goal each game. I want to see us improve defensively, even if it means we scrape some 1-0 wins or even some 0-0's. That's all I'm asking at this point, as I don't foresee us finishing any better than mid-table based on the way the owners have hamstrung us in terms of recruitment.

Glad the focus was on our goals conceded, not sure I agree with him saying it's not because we're open, though... we are. That's inevitable because of the way we play, but still, the amount of shots we typically allow against us suggests we are open. We did better at that today with only 11 shots against, we just conceded all four that were on target. I'm not sure our first eleven necessarily has a problem with experience. Pears has a number of games under his belt now, and Wahlstedt has a Swedish cap - although he's obviously inexperienced at this level. Brittain is 25 and experienced in this league. Hyam is 27 and similarly very experienced. Hayden Carter is 23, so whilst young, is not a youth prospect being brought in to play defence. Pickering 24 and plenty of games played. Travis a seasoned pro by this point. Wharton definitely still learning, but if we hadn't let Buckley go out on loan we'd have some experience there to rotate. Siggy is 24 with experience at levels comparable and higher to the Championship. Moran still learning his trade, as is Markanday. Typically we'd play Hedges there, though, who does have plenty of experience. Szmodics is 28 and a seasoned campaigner by this point. Squad depth and potential options available is where we have a major problem, and you only have to look at our bench to see evidence of that. With injuries piling up we're very limited in terms of bringing on any type of experience to positively change a game. It's not a developmental first eleven, but it's fair to say with the amount of injuries we have right now it's a bare bones squad with mostly development players remaining in reserve. A lot of question marks over how good many of our more experienced players are as well, although many of them have been part of a team that, under Mowbray, was regularly in the upper reaches of the Championship, so... they can't be that bad. Mowbray often trotted out the young, inexperienced team line when it wasn't really true, and I don't think it's really true for our first eleven either. There's enough experience there, there's just not enough in reserve to genuinely challenge for starting places or come on to impact games when needed.

We already have injuries - Gallagher, Ennis, Leonard, Pears, Hedges...

I don't know, we were playing a far less expansive style in the first half of last season. Wasn't pretty to watch but we got a decent points total out of it before the new year. Although I suppose it could be argued that was a mutant hybrid between JDT's style and what Mowbray left behind.

Also how it used to be at Ewood in the Hughes and Allardyce days, albeit with more quality on the pitch. If you couldn't handle a bit of rough and tumble you were going away bruised with no points. Managers may not have been calling us "the best team we've played" but they weren't walking away with three points too often either.

Not going to repeat myself as I made my feelings clear when we'd already let in another two goals. JDT needs a total rethink. Yes Leicester are strong, but the likes of Ipswich, Walsall, Rotherham and Plymouth? Not so much, and 2+ goals conceded in all of those. Something must change.

Whilst I have wanted Pears replaced in the starting line up, I wouldn't have wished it via injury and hope it's nothing serious. Time for Wahlstedt to show what he's capable of.

Assume Siggy coming off is more out of concern for his fitness. Sometimes players aren't the best judges of this, so I'll trust JDT and the coaching staff if they feel they need to be careful with him. Bringing on Dolan is a certainly a decision... but then you look at the bench and.... 🤷‍♂️

I don't think we'll be worse over the season than at least three other teams in the division, so I don't see us going down. I think JDT will win us enough games at Ewood to ultimately keep us around mid-table. It's just very frustrating to see a team that had potential to push on from last season being so brutally hamstrung by the owners' negligence and failure to give the recruitment team a suitable environment to work in.

The big question is how we do this, though. We have the players we have, so it seemingly requires a change in approach from JDT?

How do you see things changing as things stand? JDT has made it clear he's sticking to his principles and philosophy. 20% into the season and the players aren't looking capable of doing what's asked of them. Unless there's a pretty big change in mentality from JDT I don't see how this gets any better. Can't really understand people being happy with 18 goals conceded in 9 games and saying "this is fine", just reminds me of that meme picture with the dog sitting in a burning house.

We're one of the worst teams in the division for goals conceded and games lost so far, and moreso if we lose again today. We're also 18th as it stands. It's as simple as that, regardless of how much you enjoy the football.

Doesn't matter how well we play if we're repeatedly conceding multiple goals. They've had two shots on target and scored both of them. It's just not good enough.

They just need to stop now. It's clear they don't have personnel with the capability to implement the system correctly and it's just getting a bit embarrassing now for all involved. They obviously won't do this as there's too much invested in VAR and it'd promote claims of unfairness in earlier games from certain teams if it was suspended/scrapped, but you either implement it properly or not at all. It totally kills the credibility of the league when obvious decisions are being called incorrectly by a system that is literally supposed to be there to stop that from happening.

Klopp isn't exactly well known for being calm with officials in-match, so I imagine the fourth official is preparing himself for some choice words.

Friday night's game saw a demoralised and beleagured Sheffield Wednesday team comfortably beaten 3-0 at Hillsborough. The Owls' owner Dejphon Chansiri gave Sunderland a boost by announcing he would no longer put "additional funds" into his club due to the behaviour of a portion of the fanbase. This, I'm sure, was exactly what the Wednesday players wanted to hear on the morning before the match. The result leaves Wednesday rooted to the bottom of the table, having only scraped a measly two points from their opening nine games. They are the only team in the league without a win, and have also scored the least with a paltry five to their name thus far. Sunderland meanwhile bounced back from defeat last time out and move up to 4th, now joint-second top scorers in the league alongside Ipswich. The lunchtime kickoff today saw Southampton beat a lacklustre Leeds 3-1 at St. Mary's. The result lifts a little pressure from Russell Martin, whose side did not enjoy the lions share of possession, with 47%, but nonetheless picked up a much needed win. It was their first victory since August 26th and halts a losing streak of four games. The result takes them up to 10th place, although they are still the worst defence in the division with twenty goals conceded. Leeds had been on a decent run of two wins and two draws, but today showed their flaws have not been completely ironed out. The result drops them to 9th, having only won three of their opening nine matches. Stoke's five game winless run came to an end away to Bristol City. Despite being 2-0 down after just 15 minutes, they fought back to earn a 3-2 victory, with an 89th minute winner. Despite a decent start to the season, it was a disappointing result for Bristol City and their second loss in a row. They fall to 11th. Stoke meanwhile jump to 16th in the table. Cardiff recorded their fourth league win in a row as they handily dispatched Rotherham 2-0 at home. Rotherham have now failed to win in eighteen away league matches, stretching back to last season. Three points for Cardiff sees them creep into 6th spot, whilst defeat for Rotherham keeps them in 23rd place, with only one win in their first nine matches and the second worst defensive record in the division behind Southampton. Their goals scored tally of eight also places them joint third-worst for attacking, two very worrying statistics if you're a Rotherham fan. New Huddersfield boss Darren Moore nearly got off to the perfect start as his side took a 1-0 lead against early high-flyers Ipswich Town at the John Smith's Stadium. However, an 87th minute goal from Man Utd loanee Brandon Williams rescued a late point for the Tractor Boys. Ipswich will surely see this as a point gained in the circumstances, and it is a point which, for the time being, takes them back to the top of the division. Ipswich remain with just a single loss on their record so far this season, and this was in fact their first draw of the campaign. It was Huddersfield's third draw in a row, but they are unbeaten in five and sit in 18th place, two points clear of the drop zone. Hull maintained their recent unbeaten streak with a draw at home to Plymouth. The Tigers were by far the better team, but Plymouth defended in a resolute fashion and came away with a point they'll be quite happy to take. The result leaves Hull in 5th and Plymouth in 13th. Millwall suffered a surprising 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Swansea. It's evident that Millwall are lacking in firepower, having only managed seven goals from their opening nine matches. They had been fairly resolute defensively up until today, which put a bit of a dent in their goal difference, dropping them to 15th in the table. It was a second win in a row for the Swans, having not won any matches beforehand. They climb to 19th in the standings. Norwich got back on track with a comfortable 2-0 win at Carrow Road against a Birmingham side whose early season momentum has rapidly vanished. It was a welcome three points for a Norwich side who had lost their last two league matches, but they remain just outside the playoffs in 7th, just behind Cardiff on goal difference. Birmingham have now failed to win in five matches, only picking up two points from a possible fifteen. They still have a decent defensive record, but just eight goals scored so far is proving an increasing cause for concern for Big Club, who have only netted twice in their last five matches. Nonetheless for the time being they sit in a relatively stable 12th place. The only remaining unbeaten record in the Championship fell in brutal fashion today as Preston were whomped 4-0 at Dumpdale by West Brom. How sad. Preston were thoroughly outplayed and outmatched, making a mockery of the league standings. Thanks to their good early form Preston are still 3rd with a four point cushion between themselves and Sunderland in 4th, but that won't last long if there are many repeats of today's attempt at a performance. WBA had not won in their previous four matches, losing one and drawing three, so it was a morale boosting result for them and lifts them to 8th spot in the division. QPR's struggles continued as they were beaten 3-1 at Loftus Road by Coventry. Having not won since the second match of the season, it was a much needed three points for Coventry and lifts them to 14th. QPR meanwhile sink into the relegation zone in 22nd, having lost five of their opening nine matches and only managed eight goals thus far. Finally, Middlesbrough's revival continued as they recorded their second win of the season and their second win in succession as they took maximum points from Watford at Vicarage Road. Boro were 2-0 up inside twelve minutes, but by the 52nd minute Watford had clawed the game back to 2-2. Despite seemingly being in the ascension, however, they then contrived to concede again in the 63rd minute and ultimately succumbed to a 3-2 loss. Two defeats in a row for Watford means they've now only won once in their last eight matches. Ominous signs as the club drops to 20th in the table. With Watford's owners not exactly being known for a patient approach, one imagines Valérien Ismaël is already preparing for a new challenge in the near future. Michael Carrick meanwhile will be seeing some light at the end of a dark tunnel, and will be setting his sights on a repeat of last season's swing in fortunes which saw the Teesiders rise from the depths of the table to the upper reaches. For now Boro will simply be pleased with being out of the relegation zone, ascending to the heights of 21st.

He'll probably be upset because they only had 47% possession. Almost like possession isn't the be all and end all when it comes to getting results.

Mowbray must have been delighted at the helping hand from Chansiri this morning. Not that they really needed it as Sheffield Wednesday are awful anyway, but they've looked beaten from kick-off tonight.

Well, we technically got the excuse of "muh government taxes" from the club but serious question marks over that. At least Chansiri is being upfront, regardless of how rational his reasoning is.

JDT has been needling Waggot for a while now. After Waggott did that stupid interview about the bus and other nonsense, JDT referenced it mockingly in practically every interview he did for weeks afterwards - especially in regards to the fabled bus. Seems clear to me that JDT has little respect for Waggott and doesn't believe our beloved CEO has the guts to fire back in any meaningful way.

I assumed by cutting off funding he meant anything additional to basic running costs. Would be cutting off his nose to spite his face otherwise - arguably he still is, but even more so.