International breaks do funny things to me. I have just watched interviews of Ryan Manning and John Eustace back to back by the respective local media. That's 18 minutes I will never get back- 9 minutes each. Stunning contrast For a city of the size and wealth of Bristol, the interviewer was a disgrace. Don't ever knock Andy Beyes! Manning was both vapid and specific- meaningless yet said too much about his players all of whom have an added y at the end of they surname... Manning wouldn't get me out of bed never mind motivated to run 12k during a football game. Had the right words but gave me zero confidence he really knew why they are leaking goals or if he had fixed it... Eustace on the other hand struck me as the accomplished cool diplomat/politician. He doesn't have the smoothness or the eloquence of JDT (whose press conferences were as much a weekly highlight as the actual games!) but behind the West Midlands voice and occasionally mangled grammar is a guy in control, knows what he wants to say, says it and no more. Of course the good start helps but I am becoming a big fan.

Assuming no training injuries and excluding Leonard and Gilsenan plus suspended Gueye, Rovers can now field two elevens of recognised senior players. So who is not even going to make the subs bench tomorrow? Are youth in Tyjon and Duru to be sacrificed?

After so long without that Rovers feeling of excitement twisted with apprehension of impending cock-ups, it's back again. Match day is approaching...

Apparently they expect to be without 9 players at Leeds in the game we all want both to lose.. Hadn't realised we had roughed them up that much.

Disgusting

On the profit over what was paid. Southgate not giving Wharton a minute in a competitive game has apparently cost us at least a million in add ons.

Would Chrysanthemum Somerville have got a minute playing for Arsenal last season? Perhaps a shot at young player - we can dream!

This post is in whispering mode We seem to have a Manager who has ambition and knows what he is doing and is ruthless and has the squad on board with him. We seem to have squad depth and a good balance of youth and experience and several goal threats And in ACD and Cantwell we have two shots at Championship Player of the Year if they come good First time we have had all three in combination since Souey. We might even have a good January transfer window OK gone for a lie down

He is even worse than he was reported as being!

Looking at it from Toth perspective. He has two keepers well onto their 30s ahead of him in the Hungarian squad and was getting all the game time he needed at his former club. He wasn't sold the Rovers on being a bench warmer to a younger keeper. Pears always has a mistake in him. Two unpunished howlers at Burnley. From our perspective, does Toth get a chance before or after Pears costs us points? And I am putting the likelihood of Beck starting this game at over 50%.

Excellent podcast. Enjoyed it very much.

Barrow top

Dull boring

Chesterfield had a defender sent off and Markanday was one of those subbed. Was doing less in the second half .

Markanday tap-in to put Chesterfield 2 up. Most quality player on the park but fleetingly involved in a game Grimsby have dominated for long spells despite the scoreline.

Looking forward to serious football a week today.

Pickering or Beck? Surprised this isn't also a raging argument. While we are about it, does Lewis Baker get in the side? And Cantwell, ACD, Hedges, Ohashi, Dolan, Sigurdsson, JRC, Weimann all to start with Tyjon off the bench when we have a cushion?

Clearly the combined wisdom of the powers that be concluded we needed a keeper. We got one. Hopefully not a nervous wreck this time. And something will be seriously amiss if Toth isn't a better keeper than Pears.

Championship at four games in is more interesting than most expected. Of course it helps having Rovers at the more interesting end of the table.

He is only managing a goal or an assist every 58 minutes. We will miss him against Bristol City.

I agree but a 26 year old Hungarian international is hardly unproven talent as these things go. But then again, Wahlstad had a full Swedish cap....

Saw the title and immediately assumed Rovers had been put up for sale. Good luck selling the ties!

If we haven't signed a better keeper than Pears, what has the Recruitment team been doing for the last 12 months? It is not difficult to name at least 50 keepers plying their trade in England one would select ahead of Pears.

Not for the first time I cannot believe what I am reading on here. We have signed 11 new players. 1 is a kid, 1 is suspended, 2 are capable OAP cover in central defence. The other 7 have cost diddly squat in transfer fees but would be £5m + buys today in the sort of normal transfer market most of us were brought up to understand. And Duru has come through from the Academy to be a real alternative at right back. We bemoaned a thin squad. Now we have a decent squad and don't seem to have the emotional cojones to handle it. In the Rovers of last season it would be unthinkable to drop a player who had scored a wonder goal at the Dingles, or that Pears, Pickering, Britain, JRC, Dolan and Hedges are all at risk of being dropped because we have (shock horror) not only set out to get better players in their places but quite possibly/probably have done. I wouldn't be surprised if Eustace pins a blank sheet of paper to the wall and tells the first training session this week that is the current first team and subs bench for the Bristol game. And I forgot Sigurdsson...

Shearer 112 goals in 138 Rovers appearances. Liverpool could give City a challenge this year.