I can get on board with Caulker if accompanied by someone like Hyam and if we don't flog Carter! Leaves us with 5 centre backs, 1 of which is injury prone and 1 very young. We might also want to play 3 centre backs on occasion and gives us the depth to do that.

Not plugged 'any' of the gaps might be a tad unfair, but we are undeniably weaker. Szmodics and Khadra are totally different players, and Morton might have replaced Johnson but what about Rothwell? At centre back we lost Lenihan/Van Hecke and have only replaced them with the returning Carter. Comfortably weaker there. I don't agree that Khadra was awful. He was frustrating and a bit raw, but 'awful' just sounds like sour grapes. I could wager you weren't describing him that way last season when he was putting on the blue and white! In reality, we should really have been trying to kick on, but we've applied a few plasters here and there whilst leaving JDT with a squad lacking in depth. Of course we have a bit of time to change that, but if BBD goes and we don't replace him we are looking very weak.

Not far off 😁

I don't blame JDT but found the front 3 selected at Reading very strange, and today we seem to have set up ridiculously negative.

Officially very worried about where this season is going. Looked like relegation fodder 2 games on the bounce. People moaning about transfers have been belittled previously but it's beyond embarrassing we've been forced to blood a 17 year old at centre back. Pickering lookes miles out of his depth too. There's just no pressure on players as in most positions there's no competition for places. Up front we look toothless. 1 shot on target in nearly 180 minutes. Broughton needs to earn his coin asap.

Starting to become worried. We look so creatively devoid, which we looked past when we won the first 3 games, largely because it was coupled with a very strong defensive showing. SS has seemed absent since the goal at Swansea, the midfield keeps getting overrun and I just can't see where the goals are coming from. Big test for us 2nd half.

He played there at Blackpool last season and he was really impressive.

Jack Walker 1929–2000 - BRFCS.com Good time to share these pictures from this website - demonstrates the strength of feeling towards him. I remember the Norwich game afterwards, 'Time to Say Goodbye' with the accompanying video was unbelievably stirring and emotional. Will be joining in with a hearty rendition of 'One Jack Walker' tonight. He will never be forgotten.

I hope JDT feels differently at some stage, because we are going to need to manage the team's game time considerably over a long, gruelling season, especially with a pressing game. Tonight might be the night, it might not be - but Dack offers something a bit different and I don't think it's totally absurd that he might be considered ahead of Szmodics or Hedges, although I'd wager the former is much more likely. That being said, I won't be upset if he doesn't start. But I don't want to hear you moaning or criticising JDT if he comes off the bench or does start 😂

Not sure why you're suddenly so dismissive of Dack. The manager considered him good enough to be one of the first options off the bench on Sunday, so he must be alright? You seem aghast at the thought of picking Dack and are questioning it like he's proposed bringing Alan Fettis out of retirement, but it's an entirely reasonable suggestion - he's obviously in JDT's plans and given our hectic schedule and the conditions on the weekend there's a solid chance we rotate slightly (if not tonight then in future games). And obviously we have other players now who are key players, but that doesn't mean you dismiss Dack suddenly. He might never get back to where he was, but I thought you'd be a bit more supportive of him and a manager who obviously has some faith in him!

I think a lot of the people are the same - I treat XG in the same way people casually talk about possession stats/shots etc. It doesn't dictate my view of the game but is quite interesting and I was shocked how predictive it ended up being last year (by and large). I do think it's flawed though and doesn't always reflect how a game's gone. I don't think XG would ever change my opinion of a game and I only really find it mildly interesting when there's a larger pool of data. Back on the game itself, I'm quietly confident but wary they may be a bit of a wounded animal. Either way, we have the quality to beat them and if we score early I'm confident of a pretty comfortable 3-0 win. No easy games in this league but this certainly isn't one to fear.

Also true, but I guess it's just a more intuitive method of what was used before - before you'd have people pointing to 'we had X shots on target'. So early on in the season it isn't really too informative, it needs more data to really demonstrate trends and account for the sort of cases where a team scores and sits deep (like we have done). I'm a bit of a sceptic myself, but people are quick to decry it when it's been shown to be a pretty good indicator in the past. Although it isn't the be all and end all and I don't think our low XG this season is reflective of how the games have gone. We were largely in control for most of the 3 games.

I often think the same. I'd love to see the metrics for it. For instance, vs QPR we had a lot of good opportunities where we picked the wrong pass, which is impossible to put into a model like this. Very intrigued to know the stance on tackles like this as well. I think from what I've seen it does have value - typically teams 'revert to the mean' and outperforming XG can often be seen as an indicator of a freak run of form that will soon go 'back to normal'. What we're doing well is also restricting the opposite XG to very low levels, which is important. As an aside, my mate is obsessed with it, and spent a lot of time before Christmas using Celtic's higher 'expected points' (derived from XG vs XGA) as his justification that they would rein Rangers in. He was laughed at quite a lot based on his Twitter but was spot on. So I think it is a decent enough indicator, but where it lacks nuance is that it doesn't take into account the ability of the player in question. With players like BBD, we are more likely to 'overperform' XG wise as he's much more clinical than 90% of the league's strikers in front of goal.

Anyone know how many we've sold for this one? Tickets priced nicely but appreciate it's a tough trip midweek, especially with everyone being a bit lighter financially with all the goings-on.

L'amour Toujour is brilliant! That being said, 'I gotta feelin' is a truly awful song and I still remember Ewood bouncing to it when we beat Burnley 3-2. My Burnley mate (I know!) still walks out whenever it comes on, and whenever I'm unfortunate enough to hear it somewhere I'm always sure to send him a video. Then again, they could have played any tune that day and Ewood would have obliged in song/dance!

I'd argue it isn't even England's, Northern Ireland have been playing it for years now. Then again, they nicked it from America. I do love Simply the Best but slightly tainted by the links to Rangers (for me, and I appreciate others will disagree). That being said, Rangers playing 'I'm feeling it' sounded brilliant in their European games.

Looking forward to this one. Making the short trip from Cardiff, and will be in the Gateway pub pre-match availing myself of some of the best Guinness around (if it's as good last time). The only highlight of my trip last year. As a few people have said, we have a terrible record here and it's a pretty horrible away ground. Miles away from anything, no atmosphere, soulless etc. This is the type of game we'd have lost in the last few years so it's a good barometer of progress. I must admit when I saw them 4-0 down at half time I thought instantly 'it would be typical Rovers to lose to this lot'.

Reading getting thumped early on at Rotherham. Paul Ince doing Paul Ince things. Hope we turn up at the Madjeski (or whatever it's called now) for once midweek.

Caught the last 20 mins of the Dingle game last night. They'd improved slightly before the red and then showed a bit more impetus post-red card. Watford looked really ragged, I know they had a man less but some of the marking was desperate. Based on what I saw and heard from others, nothing really to fear from either side. That being said, Burnley look a striker (and maybe a bit of pragmatism) away from being a decent side. Like many have said, you don't see many teams get out of this league playing that sort of football exclusively, so they'll have to mix it up a bit to succeed. They have 2 winnable home games now I believe, will be interesting to see how they get on as I'd imagine both away sides will line up with men behind the ball. As much as I want Burnley to fail, don't want to read too much into early performances - the manager and team probably need a bit of time to settle, but it is an unforgiving league. Glad they've had a small wake up call after seeing a minority of Dingles declare themselves title shoe-ins after the Huddersfield game 😂

I agree with that - although with 10 minutes to go you might throw caution to the wind and are more likely to risk conceding another in search of an equaliser. Of course if you do that earlier in the game it is an acceptance your original system didn't work, and if you have confidence in your system then conceding a goal shouldn't cause you to massively deviate from it! That doesn't mean that some teams aren't better than others at protecting leads - with very little empirical evidence to hand I'd probably put Bruce/West Brom in that category. Based on this season, I'd also say we are the same. We play with much more swagger and confidence when a goal ahead, and it takes a good team to score 2 past us.

Obviously yes. I just think with the way Bruce sets up the first goal is even more important than normal! We've shown how difficult we are to break down with a lead this year, so if we score 1st (and avoid the absolute horror start from last year) I'll be very confident of all 3 points. We're more of an unknown quantity from 1-0 down!

I appreciate that, I'd much rather win and hope we approach the game with that mindset, but a draw would be a decent result and would reflect an improvement on last year. I think we have a more than reasonable chance of winning and I know JDT will be going all out for 3 points, although don't think me 'probably taking a draw' is being too defeatist! I'm certainly not suggesting we set up in that way. And I know the other part was relating to the other quoted post, but I definitely wouldn't take a narrow defeat 😂

I'd probably take a draw. West Brom looked very good so far. Think first goal is absolutely crucial, as much of a cliché that is. A win and things are looking very rosy ahead of a very winnable game at Reading.

I absolutely love listening to this man talk football. His enthusiasm is infectious, but you also know that he is deadly serious and players will be well aware of expectations and the repercussions should they not meet his expectations. Having the youngsters deliver presentations should increase their knowledge, confidence and most of all achieve buy-in with Tomasson's ethos and way of doing things. On a personal level, I really want JDT to do well. Obviously I'd wish that for any Rovers manager, but this fella just seems to get it. I'm truly sold on the entire project.

Great opportunity for the likes of Markanday and Phillips to stake their claim, and also fancy Jack Vale for a game to get him off the mark for the season. Big night too for Dack - he's obviously chomping at the bit to play and hope he gives JDT something to ponder. 3-1 Rovers for me.