arbitro

West Brom two up at Coventry and deservedly so.

A close friend was at the game last night as the referees coach and as such attends the security briefing before the game. He told me the police had said they were really worried about a group of 40 Zwolle supporters who were over for the game and had a reputation for causing bother. I wasn't aware of any trouble but we parked near the White Hart well away from the town centre. Is anybody else aware of this?

I really don't think that would make any difference. Pratt has played plenty of times in a three in the under 21's so from a system point of view he knows the role.I How would Hedges know the role never having played there before? What would have happened had one of the three centre had got injured in the warm up or in the early stages? I believe Ismael got it completely wrong against Derby.

Ismael's logic for playing Hedges as a centre back in a three was flawed. He cited his height but being tall doesn't mean he is a good header of the ball, in fact I don't believe he is. Surely using someone who can head it should have been picked there. And as demonstrated last night we were further weakened against Derby because our best left sided player was playing at centre half. If Pratt was ready for last night surely he was ready a fortnight ago against Derby.

I don't understand your point.

I actually thought Morishita was getting caught in possession too much in the first half but he seemed to be predominately on the right side. He moved inside in the second half and had a far greater influence on the game. Let's hope last night was a turning point as he appeared to be adapting to the rigours of the Championship. As you say Yuki must be a nightmare to play against. He is relentless in his pressing and last night worked the channels really well. His bravery is commendable too as he is not deterred by some big gorilla of a centre half.

Condolences Carl. I noticed you hadn't posted for some time and now I understand why. I'm pleased that last night gave you some despite from your grief.

I've just seen the 'tackle' on Baradji by Whiteman and how he wasn't sent off is astonishing. It fulfils every criteria for a red card and really should have been picked up in real time. Baradji is a lucky boy. There was an earlier challenge on Tronstad which I thought was a caution but the referee didn't even give a free kick. I'm all for allowing some physicality but even in a lenient mood the referee has a duty to punish bad tackles accordingly. Yuki was on the end of some robust challenges but ironically he was penalised twice for similar challenges that Nobbers defenders were getting away with.

He was on the bench against Derby.

The little nobber who gave it the big 'un in front of us after scoring scurried off the pitch quickly at the end. His celebration was almost as embarrassing as having a baked potato on the front of your shirt.

If the season ended now he would be my POY.

I spoke to several Rovers fans before the game and every one of them would have taken a draw so the delirium in the ground at the final whistle was perfectly understandable. I thought we started quite slowly and were really careless in some of our play particularly our passing. But in fairness we grew into the game and aside from the first fifteen or so minutes were the better team. Going ahead just before half-time should have been the perfect fillip but to concede in the next minute should really have knocked the stuffing out of us but from the first whistle in the second half we were excellent. Morishita showed what a talent he can be as he seemed to play a bit more centrally and his creativity had us on the front foot on many occasions. Defensively we were excellent as a unit as we headed, kicked and blocked any threat that they posed. I thought Tronstad was outstanding tonight as he ran the midfield both defensively and offensively. They simply couldn't match him. Ohashi once again never stopped running and Hedges showed what an important player he is for us as he worked the line. Special mention to George Pratt tonight though. Making your debut in a local derby live on Sky must have been daunting for him but he came through with flying colours. Why didn't Ismael trust him to play against Derby and release Hedges to his best position. I had some doubts about the triple substitution which I thought was too many to make at once but to be fair to Ismael it worked as we saw the game out comfortably. There are many things wrong with our club but nights like tonight make me realise why my love affair of many decades is still strong.

For me I think it was more a criticism of Mr Aloof's logic. Hedges isn't very good in the air and is our best left sided wing back. It was a double whammy for me and whilst it didn't cost us the game it contributed to it in my opinion.

It's getting to the point with me that I'd cut my losses with Carter and get rid of him. I rate him as a player but his unreliability supersedes that by a country mile. It's almost like a competition between him and Wharton to see who can be unavailable the most. 😁 But somewhere inside me I wonder if the managers cryptic comments about Carter are rankling with him. Expect Mr Aloof then to play Hedges as a left sided centre back as he is more equipped (using Mr Aloofs Derby rationale) to deal with Nobbers aeriel threat. I feel it's going to be a long night.

I don't know for certain but as I don't have a printer we will using the digital ticket to access the ground. Presumably they will scan the printed ticket at the turnstiles so I don't see any difference. It seems pointless to issue digital tickets if you are mandated to print them off assuming Nobbers use the same environmental excuse as Rovers.