Absolutely rubbish half. Szmodics and Buckley to come off at HT. The likes of Pickering, Edun, Szmodics, Gally are just not good enough for this level. They cannot control or pass a football

This is unwatchable. Not even a contest. Chase shadows, Sheff Utd attack breaks down, hoof the ball forward, give the ball away, Sheff Utd come again. Rubbish.

Huge gulf in class here. Not surprising really. Keep saying it but we have a really poor squad. I'd love to know what Szmodics offers.

I fear another drubbing here. Sheff Utd are one of the best teams in the league and will win the majority of their home games. Vale and Dolan will hopefully be nowhere near the starting 11 for a while, both are poor players. I'm still not convinced by the false 9 play despite it working in the first 4 games. Interested to see how JDT changes it tomorrow after a horror show at Reading. Five at the back with Pickering tucking in and Edun playing at LB?

I completely agree. We've been poor all season and were going to get well beaten sooner or later imo.

LB, 2 CBs, CM, ans striker all required. We shouldn't let a good start paper over the cracks. We've got a bottom half squad at the moment.

Big wake up call and reminds us that we've got a bang average team.

Apart from good finishing, have we really played that well in any of the previous 3 league games this season? OK nowhere near as bad as today, but our ball retention and general play has been poor so far this season despite the very good results. Much improvement needed.

Fully deserved

Horrible half. No fight, desire, or quality. Reading will be kicking themselves its only one.

Vale is nowhere near good enough for this level

Big blow to lose Phillips. No point playing him from now on.

So Van Dan Berg is almost a done deal and I think it's another very shrewd signing. He's a proven performer at this level and knows the area well, so he should be able to hit the ground running. I would hope that there's a chance we may be able to sign him permanently down the line too as he's never going to play for Liverpool and I doubt he would be wildly expensive. The youngsters look good, our new signings look good, and our new manager has started well. It's all looking a bit more promising for a good season ahead. Still think we need more though.

Van Hecke won't be coming here. Anyone who thinks otherwise will be sorely disappointed.

Didn't someone on here yesterday say Van Hecke has 100% not travelled to Manchester 😆

Tactical masterclass from JDT. Swansea are dire to watch. Pass the ball to death without doing anything with it.

It does seem a little surprising we'd make a big investment, by our standards, in a player who plays in the same position as Dack. I know Szmodics can play across many positions but it sounds like he's best in the hole. That to me suggests there are big doubts about Dack's fitness and ability to play a pressing game. For me, Dack is still our most naturally gifted player who has a huge role to play.

Brighton are signing a centre half from Chelsea. Looking likely Van Hecke won't be part of their plans. Still not convinced he'll end up here though.

Dead in the water now Morton is here. Always a long shot anyway.

One in, another one to come. I suspect Szmodics will be done by midweek. Don't know much about Morton or Szmodics but they get my backing.

Obafemi is one that I'm pleased we missed out on.

Overall I thought we did well today, especially given the amount of key players we've lost and the lack of incomings. It was a fairly routine win in the end (did they even have a shot on target?). I thought the defence was outstanding and the combo of Travis/Buckley in Central midfield was excellent. The front 4 didn't quite click - Vale struggled, Gallagher was his usual self, Hedges did OK, and Brereton was quiet. There's no doubt we'll need to be better than that to win matches consistently, but it's a good start and hopefully 4/5 good signings over the next few weeks.

Talk to Gregg

Thought we looked poor for the majority of that half. QPR were much brighter but lack a cutting edge. Happy to be leading.

"Growing sense" just means he's seen the tweet from the Peterborough owner like the rest of us. I suspect we have an interest in Bowler but it's unlikely to happen. I think he'll end up at Bournemouth.