There is a cryptic Elliott line in the LT that Sammy has done well to be back for tonight's game from Ipswich.

After the first round of games, all we know is Plymouth, Norwich, Luton, Derby and PNE have all started terribly... Portsmouth and Oxford got really good results so we handled the Derby newly promoted club bounce very well.

Luton badly hit by injuries plus missed the guile and knowhow of Ross Barcley or however he spells his name. Put a player like that in their midfield and the dingles would still have won but Trafford would have been far more exposed.

Scott Wharton hopefully recovering

Easy to say this after a 4-2 win but Eustace is growing on me. Am a huge JDT fan but I think this guy can do an excellent job for us. Doomed now!

He also has a Premier League engine and whilst not the quickest, can still out run Premier League quality defenders in a straight foot race.

Watched the first half until Wednesday scored. Plymouth Abysmal. Hard to tell how good Wednesday are but they have decent players all over the park and of course the best coach in the Championship. Glad I tipped them to win the league.

Flogging the players we have already sold has sorted the club surviving for the next 18 months even if zero comes from Pune. So the situation is very different from the legging over we got from Palace. Rovers are no longer in a must sell, thank you for the penny from the rich man's table position. If I were Sammy, I'd be seriously wondering about Ipswich. They either believe he is a vital piece in keeping them in the PL in which case the 5m or whatever the difference is becomes core to them earning an extra 170m in 2025/26 or they don't. The Ipswich stance screams they think they are signing a bench warmer/impact sub. Sammy might get his assured millions but will also lose his sharpness and career. There are other PL clubs out there who are in the market for a Sammy type of player so both Rovers and Sammy should sit tight.

Great shame Gilsenan is out injured. There is a case for starting with the 11 who finished on Friday night except swapping out one from Hyam or Carter for Buckley or going 3 at the back and going for Duru in place of Brittain with Duru and Pickering pushed further forward. Would be good to see Tyjon on the bench.

I believe the Ipswich 500k gap on Sammy is not true. Apparently it is much bigger with Ipswich low balling and moving very slowly. The only number we have heard authoritatively is their 6m initial offer. Obviously age is a factor but Sammy scored more goals last season than any of Stewart, Gyokeres, Akpom, Mitrovic (46m for a 29 year old!), Assombalonga, Gayle, Bowen, Toney, Maupay, Watkins and Adam Armstrong did before their treansfers which between them averaged just over 20m in transfer fees. An asking price of 15m and accepting 12m would be very reasonable in that context.

My views about Waggott are well known. Last season's interview horrified me when he stated the ambition was to stay in the League and develop young players- just after we had missed out on the play-offs on goal difference. So for him to say this year's target is top half to be in position to challenge for the play-offs was as big a surprise. At least we didn't get the team bus bought (it was hired)... I am sure he is aware of the contents of the last 80 pages on this thread. Well time to walk the walk because talking the talk is easy. 20 days to transfer deadline day- we pay transfer fees in instalments as well as receiving them in instalments. Let's see if this was all BS and whether for the first time in four windows we can process paperwork properly. There enough Chiefs to make sure the right button is pressed. Of course I know we will be let down.

This thread will get interesting when the PL loan deals start becoming available.

Stockport had a good win yesterday. Over to Rovers to maintain momentum.

Can believe the Rovers team being a nightmare but this is a club which has paid 20m for Liam Delap....

Watched a lot of the second half. Norwich individually and collectively woeful all over the park. They can't possibly be that bad again when we go to Carrow Road. Oxford played lovely neat compact football but were never seriously challenged. A lot of their passing looked spectacularly good but left me thinking an aggressive pressing side could really mess with them.

I have just watched those extended highlights. Pears' starting position is all wrong. For the first goal, both hands are by his hips when Nelson heads the goal. By that stage his arms and hands should be much higher and if they were it would be a routine palm over of a ball directly over his head. For the second he has drifted too far towards his near post which means he doesn't get a strong hand on the headed ball which actually brushed his belated lunge. if he had been where he should have been, he would have blocked it.

Hyam and Carter had poor moments but I think a lot is down to Pears not being a commanding keeper.

Well that was sweet to say the least. Particularly after the "Rovers are just here to be beaten" Sky pre-match build-up. Positives: - Eustace has got us (mostly) playing crisply with the ball moving between players much quicker than last season and far fewer unforced errors in passing direction - the three subs switch immediately preceded their equaliser but we were going to lose that game had Eustace not made the change when he did. It was nice to have that depth on the bench. - Gueye is better than Gally in ball control and positional play and as good at defensive headers - Yuki is a strong lad as well as all energy and took his goal delightfully. That challenge on him could and perhaps should have been red as it was always over the ball. - Trav and Tronstad look an awesome combination in midfield. Apparently JRC had a hamstring tweak. Cautionary: - Derby defence was sent AWOL. Most other Championship defenders are much better. Derby were quick going forward but had no punch in open play. Most other Championship sides will be better in open play. Only their corners were excellent. - even with Derby defence being poor and Hedges' mobility taking all over the front line, Derby coped too easily with him but would have struggled faced with some explosive pace in Hedges' position. Negative: - both Derby goals went straight past Pears and a keeper with quicker reactions would have saved both. Getting a new keeper is top priority because Pears is sub-par at Championship level in so many other ways as well.

So in the words of Souness, "we have to wee with the willy we have got" Challenge for Eustace to get a result with the current squad - this will tell us as much about him as the players. I suspect a spirit crushing 0-0 despite the inadequacies of both keepers. That in itself will be progress given our abysmal record against newly promoted sides in recent seasons.

Waggott rank incompetence strikes again

Still no Rovers TV offer

Interesting game. Derby don't have a keeper. Rovers don't have a crowd.

https://theanalyst.com/2024/08/championship-predictions-2024-25-opta/ Opta forecast Rovers to finish 16th with a 1.7% chance of automatic promotion, 9% chance of a play-off place and 17% chance of relegation.

God knows ... or perhaps the WATR minutes taker...

As someone who will be perfectly content to see Burnley fail this season, I greeted Scott Parker's appointment with a broad smile.