That was good fun! Though remembering the correct spelling of quite a few of our players was a challenge!

I bloomin love the Tour de France! Tour of Britain starts in a few days Sept 3rd - 8th - ITV4 for all the coverage!

I wonder what the outstanding maintenance list would cost to clear?

To be fair, the Stockport result was great (entertainment, opportunity for fringe players to get game time etc), so had hoped for another win against Blackpool and then either another 'easy' match, or a glamour tie. I get the league is more important (hence the use of fringe players), but a better result (and performance) shouldn't have been beyond us.

How long until Leonard is back from injury?

Makes sense. Has tailed off for a while now, so this his make or break loan - full season, could come good, or maybe that will ultimately be his level. Hope he can kick on.

Positives: Draw away to one of last season play off teams. Fought back to grab a point, something rarely seen under previous managers. Goals, goals… goals! Stockport thumped Blackpool, so roll on the cup. Margot got to wear her pink Rovers kit at the family BBQ to the annoyance of Dingle relatives gathered. Negatives: Burnley winning comfortably again. Defending is for wimps. Stronger squad, but why do some players struggle to last 90 mins? Oh for Brad Friedel.

Positives: Thumping, morale boosting win. 10 goals in 2 games, will help boost attendances (and club cashflow). Sammy still here and firing. Squad players stepping up - strong squad competitive. Wembley, Wembley! Negatives: I wasn’t allowed to put Rovers Radio on until the girls had fallen asleep in the car on the way back from Chester Zoo - they were in no rush…50 mins in. Rovers Radio - crowd noise louder than commentators rendering it pointless, so only updates on Talk Sport. We don’t do clean sheets. We are running out of County’s who we can play. Good times.

Agreed. They play good football. If he clicks, like Scott Wharton and Hayden Carter we will get back a decent player. He needs game time to be judged / build.

So thoughts on starting XI? Similar to Derby to help players gel, or rotate for game time for the wider squad?

Positives: 3 points. 6 goals, well worth the long drive. Didn’t crumble when Derby equalised and we’re on top. Strong substitutions. Good crowd, who were entertained. Pink shirts pretty much sold out in the club shop / online. Everyone loves the opening day hope feeling - ‘we are going up!’ Negatives: Derby defensively were hopeless, we will have tougher challenges. We still prefer to not defend set pieces. I couldn’t spend my £10 online voucher in the club shop. No age 5-6 pink kit sets left, so the more expensive 7-8 (Margot will be wearing that for a few years). We can’t play Derby next week.

I was lucky enough to meet him just over a year ago. Very friendly and spent time discussing my highlights of his Rovers career. Top bloke.

I am in… ‘Expect Toulouse’ league?

I regularly watch Swindon Supermarine. 30 years ago they played in Rovers blue and white. I continue to press for a return!

Confident we can hold them at 0-0 right until kick off. More seriously, we have to, somehow, someway get something from this as next up Sheffield Wednesday are red hot. Team selection / formation absolutely no idea.

I worry. Fell short at Kidderminster Harriers with a decent budget for that level. Mixed record at Birmingham and QPR. 1 in 12 with a ‘fantastic squad’ might be his (low) bar?

Absolute miserable performance - all well covered in all the post match posts. For me, Sunderland aside our dreadful form makes this not a massive surprise - with Sammie’s goals masking just how poor we have been / are. Grim.

He replaced Coyle, so *anything* was a bonus.

Really hard to find any positives - this is going to be a tough run in.

Excellent as ever. Thank you to the team for producing this 👏🏻

Yes welcome to see Snr players starting to return. Pears is a must.

For once I was right. 7 goals, not bad for the reduced admission!

Strong team, clearly wants a cup run and boost to morale. That said surprised Hilton not given a start, presume JDT has already decided he has no future. Should be a good match for those there.

As there has been zero interest from anyone in the entire time. The *immediate* issue is recent recruitment has been poor, hence 17th in the league.

Fair assessment. It’s easy to blame Venkys, but they pump in £millions (no one else is willing to step in and replace that money), but if it is spent on dross what can we expect?