Viktor Johansson, who's been among the best keepers in the league for two seasons running despite playing for a hopeless Rotherham side, has a £750.000 relegation release clause...

Let’s be real, the vast majority of posters here would have been up in arms if we’d offered Brereton a new contract before him unexpectedly coming along in the 21/22 season, and then it was likely too late with him (correctly) envisaging a golden ticket to somewhere even higher in the pecking order than a lower half PL club with his contract running down.

I remember Nzonzi doing a similar (but even more egregious) thing in the 11/12 season. Hope that's not a portent.

We already knew he's a good shot stopper, but I'd like to see him go 10 games before throwing a ball into his own net before I'm even near satisfied. As things stand we still desperately need a safe pair of hands for next season.

Another cameo appearance today. There's not really a place for him in Eustace's current kick-it-and-run stye, and I doubt him nor the club are prepared to wait and see through next pre-season if he'll fit better into whatever JE supposedly cooks up then. Which is a shame, because I genuinely believe he's the classiest player currently on our books, and probably the one with the highest potential.

Thanks, that's very enlightening. Any hope for Bloxham or the two Polish lads?

Are there any other under-21s apart from Gilsenan who might be close to a place in the first team?

We clearly need a mixture of the two. I concede that we desperately needed bodies in the last transfer window and couldn't afford to think about long term development or sellability, but in the long run we'll never go anywhere if we exclusively keep going for the Flecks and Fazackerleys of this league. Academy players and buying cheap young talent from places where everyone else isn't looking and developing them to sell on with a big profit is the only way to go if we're hoping to go anywhere in this league or above.

There's an argument to be made that Hanley ended up with the better career.

Early days, but very worrying that the defensive frailty of Tomasson's days persists (three missed opportunities to get the ball out of the penalty area before their goal!) while the attacking flair seems to have been replaced with counter attacks as our sole route towards goal. If Eustace is just another bog standard Championship coach we're in trouble.

Hell of a trio for a team set up to press and counter attack, almost like playing with three Paul Dickov. Then again, while I think Sammie has proven he's the real deal, both Gallagher and Dolan need to spend less time injured (probably a lost cause in Gallagher's case) and Gallagher's sometimes atrocious controlling of the ball will always hold him back.

What matters (disregarding the shambles of out ownership and English football as a whole) is of course what he’ll be able to make the team do on the pitch, but he sounded about as charismatic and engaging as a plank of wood in that Instagram interview.

For context, Wahlstedt's cap was in a friendly against Finland in a squad that consisted solely of players from the Scandinavian leagues, comparable to the old England B squad.

We're absolute shit when chasing a result, not the first time this season we've battered a team only to get robbed at the end. To be fair, the PNE attack looked more dangerous than ours, it seems like we need at least 2-3 exceptional individual touches to get to a goal while they got by with just throwing bodies forward at the right opportunities. Markanday can't be here next season, he's currently filling up a place in the squad but beyond that I don't see it happening for him, another player that needs way too much in order to get in on goal or create a chance. Moran was our best player, A Wharton some good passes and interceptions but plays his defensive game at a very high risk. Sigurdsson uneven but shouldn't have been subbed unless he was absolutely knackered, which he did't look.

Wahlstedt is a tricky one, he LOOKS like the perfect keeper (big tall muscular yet athletic) and moves and throws himself just like keepers should, but then he still flaps at crosses or pushes shots back into the danger zone. I think both we and JDT/Broughton are praying that he can learn on the job at this stage. Bit of a sobering thought though, I watched the highlights from Luton-Liverpool, and Kaminski made several good (albeit not fantastic) saves only to hesitate at the cross that allowed Liverpool their equalizer. Maybe it's simply part of the game now, crosses come so flat, hard, and quick that keepers can't be expected to catch them like they used to 10-15 years back?