Mark Holmes

@Rainbowsendmfo Yeah, conditioning is a big part of it and Roden should help. But we need to take fewer risks and sign players with a history of playing 40+ games a season at Champ or L1 level.

@Homzy I don’t feel the majority of injuries are linked to recruitment, largely in-game impact. Lengthy time out could possibly be due to over cautious medics which may be addressed by Roden 🤞🏻 Torrance’s “exclusive to SCFC” recruitment model should be in place this window

I vote to retain the status quo at Stoke. I have gripes with recruitment and tactics, but I think injuries have been the biggest factor. Albeit linked to recruitment. But does anyone think our overseas policy is Walters'? Or one from above that would remain even with a change?

@Rainbowsendmfo Bojan definitely did to be fair, but we're talking about a very different level of player! I actually think we've signed some good players from overseas, but it's frustrating that we seemingly can't make finances work to make marquee signings already proven in the Champ.

@Homzy Maybe rose-tinted specs but I don’t recall Bojan, Shaq & Co needing lengthy times to adjust, seems most of our recent overseas players need 6-12 months. Contrast that with others throughout the league who seemingly walk straight into starting XI and make an impact.

@gazproc_6 I see this type of stuff all the time, but where does it come from?! It's completely baseless. No one man has 'control' over transfers, but both Walters and Robins are key stakeholders, working within certain confines dictated by the club's financial strategy.

@Homzy Status quo should stay imo. hopefully they already have a plan to strengthen in the summer. My concern is divide is already showing imo. Robins new contract was hush money for Walters to make decisions in the Jan window. Robins is rightly making a power play for summer control

I'm not linking injuries to overseas recruitment, for the record, and we clearly need a bigger core of players who'll start c40 games a season, but Jared Dublin's player identification has certain similarities with Walters' recruitment. Even a DOF works within a framework.

Luke Littler rated my darts technique 8/10. I'm just leaving that here... sportbible.com/darts/luke-lit…

Then you've got Cisse (especially) and Bozenik, who look more promising with each cameo. And Donley who could quite easily get a chance and shine. There's Lawal to come back, Bocat taking his chance, even Gallagher to come. And players will want to join us in January.

I haven't tweeted much this season. But what a manager we've got on our hands. Every player is being managed perfectly. In seasons gone by we'd be flogging Rigo and probably moaning he's not up to it by now! But he's come out and I guarantee he'll be stronger for it.

Not sure how well known it is, but I played @RetroFootyMan for @planetfutebol and it's superb! It's like the good old days when you could do a season in a night (actually an hour!) and you can play from any year back to 1974-75. Love it! planetfootball.com/latest/retro-f…

@pharbron I'm not surprised at all! But I certainly agree with you. And if we'd have equalised when we were on top, I'd have backed us to go on and win tbh. We look in for a decent season.

@Homzy I’m surprised at the reaction on here tbh. Take the Vik mistake out of that or the fact it shouldn’t have even been a corner for a push then it would have been a fair point each 🤷‍♂️ Cisse, Rigo & Gallagher hopefully give us options next time out

We saw some of our deficiencies today, but we still created enough chances to get at least a point. Unfortunately we didn't take them, and once West Brom sat in we didn't have the ideas - or the subs - to hurt them. We were sloppy at times too, but it wasn't a bad performance.

Perfectly summed up! I'll say it again: we look a big, fit, tough team with a fair bit of quality. And that gives you a chance in this league. I'm impressed with how much threat we're carrying. That was Mubama's best game until he went off. Daft...but we are top of the league!

@Stok1e Certainly does seem like we're the best Championship team of all time

@Homzy Mate, I'm bed wetting already. Thomas looks quality eh? Going up, champions, +110 GD, 101 points

It definitely wasn't perfect*, but we look a fit, strong, streetwise Championship team with some quality. *And how exciting is it that we know we have several very good players to come into the matchday squad to hopefully make us even better. Sorba Thomas outstanding. Get in!

Hadn't noticed this yesterday as I was too busy celebrating. Great the players weren't: drawing at home is nothing to celebrate and it's great the team has that mentality. And great the new-season optimism is still here on Sunday!

@bayernoatcake2 @Mozzaa92 @pharbron They are, in terms of them both being able to play wide and through the middle, and I'm sure we would sell Gallagher for the right offer, but Robins clearly wants height and power in the squad too. Would he ever play Manhoef, Junho and Cisse together? Just got a feeling here...

@Mozzaa92 @pharbron @Homzy We might as well not have Gallagher though and even when he does play he’s weak as piss. This bloke seems to fit the profile of Gallagher more than anyone else. But will actually be available to play.

Excited by the Lamine Cisse news. I can't profess to have seen much of him, but he's the type of player we never seem to sign: a forward who can do the unexpected. Vidigal was a punt at it, but Cisse seems the real deal. I think a forward will leave now, but who? SG? Or MM?

@slacktheplanet Yep, I really wouldn't be surprised to see one of them leave.

@Homzy For P&S reasons, you’d think it’s more likely to be Manhoef or Bae, purely from a profit POV. Not sure who pays 1m for Gallagher for us to break even (maybe Wrexham if Moore’s injury turns out to be a bad one), but then again breaking even wouldn’t help us all that much.

@mdegg02 Everybody's got an ego, it's not a criticism. And Manhoef for eg would quite rightly see himself as a star of a Champ team rather than a rotation option, as he knows he could get a good move elsewhere. It'd be a nice headache for Robins, but I'd rule nothing out.

@mdegg02 I'd prefer that nobody leaves, but I've just got a feeling... Would Manhoef be happy splitting minutes for eg? Would Junho? Numbers wise we're fine with one more, but egos wise I'm not so sure. And there's PSR to consider too... Be an interesting end to the window.

@Traff Yeah, definitely not getting carried away by yesterday. After an hour I was thinking 'same old, same old' - dominate but don't create enough and lose! But Mubama getting a debut goal is a big plus. And you can see what Donley will bring. With Cisse to come? Exciting.

@Homzy I think the fact that we were the fittest i have seen us at the beginning of the season showed in that last 15 mins. I agree still light at the top if the pitch. We will have a better idea in a months time about how we really look. Great win though

A great start to the season! We largely looked as I expected - strong and competitive but without much threat. That's still true - we mustn't get carried away by those two late goals - but when you work hard and give yourselves a platform, you have a chance. A deserved win.