I think the back 4 and keeper isnt necessarily our best combination but considering our recent record and with Beck out, those 5 and the 2 midfielders pick themselves. Its the front 4 that has the most questions. Hedges deserves dropping and its hard to pick which striker to choose. Pears Carter Batth Hyam Pickering Tronstad Travis Cozier Duberry Cantwell Dolan Gueye Subs: Toth, McFadzean, Brittain, JRC, Baker, Ohashi, Sigurdsson, Weimann, Buckley

Hopefully we will become more creative when everyone is up to speed as the attacking make up of the team is still not right IMO. Cantwell should provide much more creativity when fit to start and hopefully Cozier Duberry can too. Repeatedly playing Hedges will never lead to many chancss creative and we have sometimes opted for the likes of Baker and JRC on the other side who dont seem comfortable there. I still think questions over Gueye and Ohashi are very valid as we try and figure them out. Both have been totally ineffective in the last 2 games and both have shown promise and potential limitations so its hard to know exactly what sort of return we will get over the course of a season.

Last season he was useless, partly down to constantly breaking down with injury. But again, and I know you have a total hatred of him, but he cant be any sort of benchmark, we avoided relegation on the last day. Our strikers combined total was 6 or 7 between him, Leonard and Telalovic which has to be the worst in the league. But we also had the top scoring attacking midfielder. Considering we want a far better league position and without Szmodics, the goals have to be much higher in other positions, obviously up front being the main one. But in the 3 seasons prior, Gallagher got 8, 9 and 8 goals. Still not great but the question is, will Gueye hit those numbers? Will Ohashi keep scoring a decent amount and if not, might he struggle to be our firsr choice striker to the other limitations of his game? Gallagher's contribution specifically last season has to be considered an irrelevance when judging the current 2 strikers. The make up of the team without Szmodics is difference and the expectation has to be an improvement. Thats in no way a criticism of Gueye and Ohashi, but we are still trying to figure out exactly how effective they are.

Im not convinced that Eustace particularly rates Buckley. He tends to only be given token cameos when games are won. It would be interesting to see when Travis inevitably is banned whether Buckley would firstly come in, as I suspect Baker and JRC would be more likely. And if he did, who would be captain. Letting him keep the armband for 15 minutes rather than passing it on might be clever man management to appease him, knowing he probably will need him at some point.

The benchmark for any strikers cant be Gallagher last season. He is a below average Championship striker but he has a particularly bad, injury ravaged season in which he only scored 3 goals. Baring in mind we nearly went down and had a player who scored 27 playing off the striker, we need much, much better than that. Of course, there have been signs from both that the pair can be assets, but questioning them is fair. It is early days for both, and we are figuring them both out after initial excitement that we had signed 2 strikers from abroad as our first 2 signings having had to wait ages to sign anyone. Ohashi has many question marks in terms of his general play. He is quite slow, he isnt strong and in the main he struggles to make any impact on games, especially in the last 2. That being said, he has already shown that he is an excellent finisher and someone with clever movement around the penalty box, if he maintains anything close to the goalscoring record he currently has, then the rest pales into insignificance. He struggled today and wasted a big chance. Gueye in his first 2 games, showing promise when he wasnt fully fit with his general play, and it felt like he would only push on as the games went on. The idiotic red card at Burnley and subsequent sub appearances have prevented that, and there are question marks (and these were backed up by comments from an expert in the Belgian league) about a lack of composure and being wasteful in front of goal. Early days with both, and certainly there is enough signs with both that they can be useful. I think the question marks are how good they can be, but the benchmark cannot be scoring 3 goals (Ohashi has already beaten that) and spending much of the season injured. And I think both didnt do particularly well today.

Really satisfying to win all 4 home games off the back of some valid question marks over Eustace who was unable to win a single home game last year. A very impressive start. Thought it was a game of 2 halves today. First half we were poor, I was underwhelmed with the first 11 and we (not unexpectedly) were flat in attack. Hedges was really poor, Weimann struggled to get involved and Ohashi was again invisible, Dolan was the one bright spark but we didnt really create anything of note. After the game changing red card, we did everything this week that we should have last week to capitalise on the man advantage. We from the start came out aggressively on the front foot, moved them around and created chances. Cantwell was a catalyst and looked much fitter with his class a level above anyone else. We got fortunate with their disallowed goal as it wasnt a foul on Batth but we deserved the win. Travis again was good albeit getting needlessly involved in his usual antics, Tronstad was solid beside him and the defence (beside Batth's big and thankfully not costly mistake) gave Pears an easy day. I have felt this season that we have struggled with the balance of the 3 behind the striker which I put partly down to the lack of fitness of signings made especially towards the end of the window. Hopefully with fitness building, Hedges can be removed from the team as he isnt good enough. Cantwell has to be built around, and I also thought that Cozier Duberry showed flashes in his cameo of what he can give us that no one else in the squad can. The striking position is a bit of a conundrum. After the initial excitement over a pair of unknown foreign signings, the jury is out as to which is better. Ohashi struggled again and was totally anonymous, lacking any physicality but we know that he can finish. Gueye was no better and needs to get off the mark.

There is definitely more senior depth in the squad compared to last year. I still think the side hasnt fully formed as a result of late deals for players with a lack of pre season. I also have question marks over that 3 behind the striker, we have more options so we arent looking at the likes of Markanday as alternatives but I am still unsure exactly what the best 3 will be when everyone is fit. I know it isnt a case of the same side every game but I feel like the decisions Eustace has are as much about him trying to figure out an effective attacking midfield with some balance as much as being spoilt for choice. Cantwell is the one that should be above everyone else but obviously is nowhere near fit enough yet, at the moment it feels like when Dack had just come back from injury, our best player but not in shape and only considered from the bench. So its how we build around him. My concern is that we didnt get enough pace and width through the door over the summer. We really could do with Cozier Duberry being good enough to nail down a regular spot. Hedges wont have any Championship side fearing him. Dolan flatters to deceive more often than not, he offers more than Hedges but the question will be how to fit him in the side when Cantwell is starting. Weimann at his age was intended (as per Eustace) not to play every week but he is a useful player to have to offer a goal threat. And start Buckley over either Tronstad or Travis? We really couldnt.

It is a myth that it is HARDER than against 11.

I do wonder if you are right, he was described as quick but in his brief cameos he doesnt look rapid, but he didnt really get into a sprint very often. Still far quicker than the others but our lack of pace has still not been addressed. But even if he likes running at players and cutting in and shooting, it could give us a new dimension. Agree on your last comment too.

I would like to see him as he sounds like a quick and direct player who can take people on. Our alternative wide options really underwhelm. I know theres been a lot of talk of players being played there purely to perhaps faciliate the full back on that side going forward and I get that, and maybe we can do that on one side depending on who is used there, but some individuality would be great. Hedges has shown over a number of years that he shouldnt be starting regularly and is very limited. Dolan and Weimann would rather play centrally, they can do a job wide coming inside depending on the circumstances and who is around them but are limited there. Sigurdsson has struggled and seems out of favour, the JRC out wide experiment seems to have been potted and the Baker starting wide choice also didnt work.

Obviously it doesnt always translate to a win, and it didnt. But we had a big advantage for 45 minutes and didnt make it count or even threaten to. Certainly disappointment and frustration from me coming away and seemingly a number of others. As @MarkBRFC touches on, dont get this idea that we would have lost that in previous seasons. Especially as comparisons are mainly to games with 11 v 11.

Why would the FA hate us?

It proves that statistically it is less of a hindrace than it used to be. Some examples given are of big teams who are superior to their opposition. But it is still objectively beneficial to have an extra man, it just isnt quite as statistically advantageous as it used to be. The cliche you sometimes hear on commentary (or at least used to) is that it is harder to play against 10 men. It isnt, it cant be.

Both are true, but I am speaking from a Rovers perspective. It isnt a given that 10 men will lose to 11 men, and it does have challenges. You wont be able to counter on them because it will become attack v defence and an exercise to try and break them down. And it might create a bit of a seige mentality. But to not even create a decent chance in 45 minutes with a man advantage, never mind score is poor.

A myth that is sometimes peddled is that its more difficult to play against 10 men. If you have an extra player for a significant period of time, you have such a big advantage. If you fail to capitalise, especially not creating a chance of note then it has to be a huge disappointment. On the flip side, we had 10 men against Burnley for half an hour and did very well to keep them at bay, again with minimal chances created.

That comment from Pasha is terrible. At least we have in black and white from a direct representative that the owners literally do not give a shit about us. They never have.

That same like is from the one person who seems to have asked the only question to try and challenge the rubbish that the clubs representatives come out with. The answer was as you would expect a load of shit but the question is appreciated nonetheless.

Of course there is disappointment from the Preston game, we had a man advantage for half a game and couldnt get the win. And in truth, were poor and never looked like winning. That result doesnt mean we havent had a good start to the season and equally that good start doesnt mean that we werent poor last Sunday.

But what if the neutrals who want to watch some football, dont fancy the Premier League game, dont fancy the main Sky Sports Championship game or the other 5 games from the EFL, all on at that time? Surely enough to justify inconveniencing many people who are or plan to attend, including those from London.

The prices were cut by a slight amount and for only a short period of time, at which point we had just come off the back of a terrible season and were the last team to sign anyone with rumours circling regarding our off field position. By the time that any glimmer of positivity came back with a couple of signings, the prices comparatively were The comments from the fans forum are misleading.

To be honest, I am not convinced that Eustace himself is overly sure who he fancies on either side. He tried JRC, and since he cant get off the bench. He tried Hedges off the left, he was as ineffective as he is on the right so he has since been moved back. Clearly doesnt fancy Sigurdsson, and has tried Baker drifting in from the left which again hasnt worked. We badly needed to overhaul our wide options in the summer, and one failing IMO of our business was that we only managed to sign one who is a natural out there. Hedges 9 times out of 10 struggles to impact on games. And you have suggested Dolan where he doesnt play. Cozier Duberry is the obvious choice for me, I would go with Weimann on the other side.

It isnt right, regardless of what happens elsewhere, and it has likely put a low ceiling on the potential season ticket sales. Waggott seems genuinely confused as to why no sales were really made once signings were made and we had started well. A baffling naivety towards the considerable price increase he set and in previous forum meetings refused to reconsider. Venkys continued ownership of this football has been a source of confusion pretty much since they sadly joined. But we have it in black and white from their pet snake Suhail that basically they are concentrating on more domestic businesses. That shows that Rovers are not anywhere near the forefront of their mind.

I wouldnt want Hedges to play, no. Nor Dolan on the right.

They shouldnt be increasing the price at any interval, full stop. And I was just pointing out again that Venkys have no interest in the football club.

There is such a lack of context regarding season tickets and I am not sure if it is purposeful manipulation or incompetent naivety, both of which are as bad as each other. The initial reduction doesnt factor in what the prices are before, or the fact that we live in one of the least affluent regions. But mainly, there were massive price hikes throughout the summer. Yes, a big reason for initial poor sales may have been a lack of transfer business. But why are they confused that when we did start signing players, for a small fraction of sales proceeds but ignoring that. People didnt then start suddenly buying considering the prices had since been massively increased. It at least helps with the narrative that price reductions arent sustainable, and im sure the relevant fan groups will lap it up.