Would be a big ask, but for me Garrett has potentially the attributes to be a useful left back, even if just as a back-up - a position he sometimes played as a youth player. I’d like to see him there for the U21s to see what he can do.

Good to see Harrison Wood score a goal as he inevitably winds down his Rovers career and also to hear that the team might’ve played well. However, this first teamer reports in the PNE team, though with some factual basis, requires a little context it seems. Evans is a player-coach but has played for the firsts. Kian Best made a breakthrough last season but is out of the picture and doesn’t play. Patrick Bauer has been out of football for virtually 2 years with injury and is a back-up player now. It should also be remembered that PNE don’t field a regular U21s side and have failed dismally in this competition. Not to deny the experience they had in the team or that Rovers may have looked good, according to a user, but, the result is not particularly impressive. All that said, at this stage, getting some performances would be welcome, with results secondary. It would be nice for some players to make a case for involvement in the latter stages of this season for the firsts or in pre-season later this year.

Any news on Harrison Wood? Signed on loan until Jan with Annan Athletic in Scotland's League One but not heard anything recently. Presumably, he's injured.

It can occasionally happen that a player is loaned out to a lower league and struggles to make an impact but comes back to impress. We've seen it with several players we've taken on (Jarrad Branthwaite etc.). Though, the only Rovers example I can think of now is Keith Gillespie, who, I think, fell out with Souness, went to Wigan on loan in League One (as it is now) and struggled. However, he came back, patched things up and became a Premier League player for us.

Yes, he signed in 2020 and then signed a new three and half-year contract in 2021, that took him to last summer. He's now in the 12 month extension period. Edit: It's always difficult to know when to sell players - even more so when the club recruitment is so poor. However, I do think he should've been sold (assuming there'll be bidders). He's not an integral player and is, in theory, replaceable.

Owen Beck's defending for the goals looked suspect - albeit, some are saying he wasn't fully fit at the time. He was concerned about Roberts cutting in but seemed to give him too much space to go down the line. It could be a blessing in disguise if Liverpool were looking at that (and the fact it seems Robertson and Tsimikas are both back for them). And probably mentioned already, but Dolan's miss when through looked appalling. You might miss but there seemed no excuse to sky it, except, for terrible technique. That said, Dolan looked very positive in the highlights. You can see why his performances fluctuates - he relied a lot on chancey toe pokes and runs. When they come off, they look great but a lot of the times, he'll give it away - and in the middle of the park, it's high risk. Edit: To add, on Harry Leonard, I wasn't too sure about him. However, having seen a few more glimpses, I'm a bit more hopeful. He lacks pace and is still developing physically, however, he does have good positioning and promising touch and vision. I just wonder if he has the mentality and potential to develop as a target man forward, in the mould of a Harry Kane. There's a very long way to go, though. Ideally, he'd go on loan but the squad is short of strikers.

A question for the regular Rovers U21s and academy football followers - at what point can we say whether or not the management are doing a good or bad job at that level? It does seem there's been a conscious decision to change the approach - perhaps, reacting in part to the structural changes, such as PL2 no longer having any relegation. There has been a lot more emphasis on "toughening" the lads up with short-term non-league football loans and trying to mix that up with occasional Rovers games. Some of them, like midfielder, Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews, are/were U18s players who have barely, as far as I know, played U21s level recently - or maybe at all. There's also been a decision, as mentioned above, to sign up to various cup competitions (I guess some are voluntary). There is also recruitment at U21s level, such as Mafoumbi, Doherty and Barrett. I guess it is too early to reach definitive conclusions (especially about the new recruits) but, to my mind, the U21s are faltering at almost every metric - the most important being, contributing to the first team. On the other hand, it might be argued that talent comes in cycles and it just so happens that the current tranche are not as good as the classes that came before. My view is that we do have to be patient, and there are some hopes at U21s and U18s level, but I do feel quite a lot of concern of the level of talent and progression and what it might mean for the club's future.

He’s at Damien Duff levels of potential and talent and came through at Rovers, so the interest will go on as long as he does well. If the women’s game had as much of a following, many of us would be talking about Keira Walsh, who’s in the mould of Wharton (to some extent) and now plays for Barcelona.

Watching Liverpool’s left back situation with some concern re. Beck. They seem to have played Gomez in the Carabao Cup, with Endo, normally a midfielder, at CB. Tsimikas came off the bench. Robertson meanwhile has been indifferent lately. It seems possible they’ll bring in a new signing at left back in Jan, but also possible they’ll consider recalls. As well as Beck, I think they have another left back, Scanlon, who’s less experienced. Not much Rovers can do, but will need a replacement if he does go back.

Saw a bit of the early second half, as Rovers U18s made a fight back from 2-0 down, though ultimately dumped out of the FA Youth Cup, again. I must say, though reportedly much improved compared to the first half, it looked poor. They battled well but defence couldn’t beat the press, so the midfield were all but out of the game. It reminded me a bit of England in the last Euros, trying haplessly to play out. Though, Rovers forwards had some mobility about them. Joseph, the big forward, was a threat but to my mind was busy being overly aggressive rather than focusing on his game. Nonetheless, he was the main outlet because of his size and strength. Based on only a small part of the match but didn’t look too good.

I wonder if the January transfer window was in mind in delaying his surgery and playing him through pain. Maybe too cynical but it seems they now might feel safe in holding on to him until the end of the season.

A very similar goal from Markanday to what he scored in their last game. You can see what his strength is and, maybe, why he was prolific at U23s level for Spurs. He's an old-fashioned striker, in that he wants to be running onto flicks ons and knock-downs from a strike partner - taking a touch or two and then shooting. One of his problems is that not many play with two forwards, so he ends up wide, where he's basically lost. Edit: Those highlights are great - much better than the 2 min all too brief snapshots you often get.

Billy Koumetio was on loan at Rovers the end of last season. He barely played but looked shaky initially though I thought he looked like he had some potential.

That line-up looked almost straight-up 4-4-2 on paper, albeit ACD drifting in and, perhaps, Ohashi dropping. A sign of the times?

Club need to have a back-up plan for Beck. I think he’s the key man, though, the Travis-Tronstad partnership is also up there.