Having trouble in the US atm. Just sat down for breakfast, trying to work around it.

Don’t think Sunderland were value for the win at all. Fortunate and mainly by virtue of two of our own mistakes, plus the untaken chances. Jack Clarke has an exceedingly punchable face. Hope he finds the fists that mug deserves. Nothing we don’t know about our deficiencies but I am especially annoyed to lose to a poxy club like these. Their fans were shitting themselves and silent for most of the game and their players looked utterly bamboozled. We let them back in but we could’ve been home and dry before they’d got their trousers on. We move on.

Managed to negotiate with the Virgin Atlantic WiFi to let me watch this one (so far!). Standard of play on our side has been very high. As I’m writing this, Sunderland have nicked their second, but it’s a robbery. They’ve looked totally unable to keep up with the attacking play. Heroics from their centre back have halted an early-stage demolishing. Results matter - at the end of the season, they’re the only thing that matters - but this game is the best example of how far we’ve come on the football front since Mowbray. We should be ahead, undoubtedly and we may yet lose this game, but the standard of play is so much higher, compared with the five years he was here. Leonard is a season away from being the type of player that has premier league clubs tapping him up, his goal was hard work and he was unlucky not to have another earlier. I’ll watch season after season of application such as this and it really won’t take too long for everything to click.

He’s a convicted rapist, currently in prison, I think?

Seems to be a shoot-out between Telalovic and Leonard. Hope one or both can take their chances to put themselves at the front of the queue (although it’s only one shirt to play for, I think the point still stands).

I think we’ll start as we have so far this season: quick and bright, with chances. If we put those chances away, I don’t see Mowbray rousing the troops for the second half and would expect us to manage the game effectively (gulp). Even still, we will have to be Very Good, because they have some dangerous players and are on a high. 2-0 home win, the new PA rolling out a “stick that on Netflix” after a Szmodics screamer, as yet another apt tribute to Matt Sillitoe.

Gonna just step in here and say that the board is for opinions, as far as I know and - aside from getting incredibly personal and abusive - the opinions on players are exactly that: opinions. If you don’t like it, disagree with it. Holding a post up as “a pretty mental thing to do,” isn’t that. I am the last to person to be inherently negative about Rovers and the players that play for Rovers. There are plenty that drone on about their own personal pariahs, week-in, week-out. My only continuous grievance is the owners, Pasha and Waggott, a hill I will die on. The player that Gregg and he himself described was a lot different to the one that I saw in those few minutes. Assuming he is match fit, having been at a Bundesliga side, having the international break and a behind-closed doors friendly, as well as no indication that he wasn’t up to match fitness, he was the slowest player in the forward line, straight off the bench and slower than most of their defenders. Couldn’t effectively press, didn’t seem to have much positional awareness, either. At 23, I suppose I would normally think he can cope with the occasion of a debut, but it’s fair to say that nerves must have played a part in his performance. As I said yesterday, I hope he proves me wrong and I’ll be delighted if he did, but for all the constant whinging about “15-20 goal a season strikers” on here, I still don’t think I saw anything yesterday that hints at close to that. Most posters on here think Dolan, Gallagher and Pears are not of the required standard, either, but he looked a way off even their levels. Niall Ennis is a year older but looked off a lot higher level than Telalovic coming off the bench. He got pelters for not putting a chance away on his debut off the bench, but I can’t remember anyone rushing to his defence. On this board, he’s been labelled as fat, a pisshead and a crock, some of it before he’d kicked a ball. Few have chirped up. As it happens, the player does speak the language (numerous mentions of this in interviews with others, as well as his own interview in good English) and two weeks pure training, as well as a behind-closed-doors friendly is not an insignificant amount of time.

The same thought crossed my mind, I can’t lie. I hope it’s not true, but he needs a lot of work.

Winning when you’re not at your best is a good habit. Unfortunately, we were pretty solid everywhere except the final third, so this is a lucky escape from profligacy. Luckily, we’ve got Sammie Szmodics. Sad for him not to close the game out and walk away with the match ball. MOTM, which he’s in danger of being every week, even when he missed a penalty and nearly gets sent off. JRC gave the kind of performance that would get you MOTM, but he did most of it in 20-odd minutes. I do like Trav and I rated a lot of his work today. Difficult to say that JRC didn’t look a lot better, though. Pears quietly had a really good game and had answers to every question that Boro had for him, except an apparently-obvious offside goal. Weak points: Dolan and Pickering. I don’t think either can really thrive while we’re playing this brand of football and we can’t afford passengers with this squad. I’d look for a loan for Dolan in January, if he re-signs at a reasonable wage. Otherwise, I’d cash in. Most were fine today, there was just a collective panic for no reason other than wasteful finishing. Gally’s included in that but he had more than a couple of moments defensively that signpost why we tend to do well when he’s on the pitch. Paternity leave is over, extra sessions of shooting practice for the foreseeable. Most of all: a particularly magical moment in the 30th minute for Matt Silitoe. An undeniable high point of the day.

Had to wait for the defender to approach to get it through his legs. I fear I’ll get in trouble for commenting on the finish, though.

He can prove me wrong, I’d be delighted if he did and I doubt my opinion is going to make much of a difference either way, but that’s all I’ve seen.

One touch-passing in your own defensive third when you’re being pressed this late in the game is an ideological misstep. We’ve conceded four or five chances from committing the same errors over and over again.

He’s slow and ungainly. He’s played one pass into a twenty foot gap.

Telalovic does not look the required standard, sorry.

Telalovic was about four yards behind that all being played in, I thought he was supposed to be fast?

We are 2-1 up here, there’s no need to be being caught out on the break at all.

When you let borderline geriatric linesmen try to keep up with men in their 20s who are paid to be fast and athletic, you get decisions like that. Someone let his tires down, so he takes as long getting home as he did to get up to speed with play there.

Let’s fucking punish these lot, now. Send them on a relegation spiral.

Highly rate Remy drinking a lucozade sport while sat on the bench.

Funny half. Sam Szmodics is clearly the talisman for this season. Trav is maintaining a good level of performance and I hope he continues to do so for a long time. Adam Wharton looks better today than he has done in the past couple of/few games. They’ve not looked entirely woeful, as they’re intentionally sitting off us, but they’re pinning all their hope on their number 9 (who does look a good player) and set pieces. Not exactly the forward-thinking genius that they make him out to be, is Carrick. They have to come up with something at half time, which means we should be properly prepared for a reaction and to exploit any vulnerabilities that arise. That set piece coach can’t come soon enough. Players are marking the wrong counterparts currently. We’ve been warned in that half, so it needs to be fixed for the second half.

Ball was slow to him from Gallagher, pressure around, he had to get a shot away. Quicker and he probably does better.

I’m a Rovers optimist, but if you don’t finish open goals, one-on-ones and penalties (we’ve missed all three this season) then you won’t go far.

Difficult not to look at that Dolan miss as the same kind of miss that Hedges was against Plymouth. An ominous sign.

Jesus Christ

Seems odd, really. Vitesse are a good side and he played a good number of games over the last three seasons. Maybe it’s some adjustment time to get up to speed with the style of play.