Andre Gray is reportedly on £70k a week. How is that even being floated as a possibility?? I'd have him though.

Big ask but it would go some way to covering up our lack of depth.

Oh I fully agree it won't happen under Mowbray. He's had so long to sort it out. It's just what we should be doing. For what it's worth, I liked what I saw of Ayala when he played. He just never plays. We're on for a hiding if we're relying on him being fit and one our main centre backs.

For me the work needs to start at the back. If we concede less, we won't need to directly replace 28 goals if/when Armstrong leaves. As you say injury concerns right across the squad. Galling to be continuously told that we're building something, yet one glance at the squad now and you could comfortably say its the most depleted of numbers and quality we've had since Mowbray joined.

That's just for an analyst job. I don't get the point you or the article are trying to make.

Nice work. And thank f for that.

Completely agree. Two big ifs at the end though.

All I can see on Wyke is that he's in talks with Celtic. Not seen much of him to be honest but I know he's been handy enough in the lower leagues. My Carlisle supporting mates rated him. Didn't realise he had done so well last season for Sunderland.

I've wondered this as well. It's not like the Premier League years where you'd happily pay a premium to see the likes of United and Liverpool.

I specifically made comment about his u23's performances last season, to which you tried to question how I could have seen them during Covid in a particularly snarky way. His performances for the u23's two seasons ago may well have been poor, but that's old form and not what was being discussed. So you either: A) Raised the point about Chapman's u23's performances two years ago as a slight on me, as there was apparently no possible way I could've seen his u23's games last season if I wasn't in the stadium watching it live. B) Started talking about his u23's performances two seasons ago to fit your agenda that he's been poor and unmotivated (generally but specifically within u23's games as well). When in reality his u23's performances last season were good (from the three games I watched anyway), but he wasn't applying himself enough in training, along with various other reasons no doubt. Neither reflect very well on you, but we'll leave it there. He's signed now, so that's that. Hopefully he gets a couple of games, as it sounds like he's got a point to prove.

You really do get passive aggressive when someone's opinion doesn't match yours. It's hilarious, if not pathetic. I've read the interviews with Chapman already and am well aware of what's been said. He's obviously not worked hard enough in training to get ahead of others in the first team. He's had some hard luck with injuries since rejoining, but ultimately it's up to him to get fit and prove to the manager in training that he's good enough to warrant a place in the team. I've not questioned any of that. The only thing I challenged was your comment about his u23 performances. "He had an attitude problem and didnt performed well enough for the under 23 so never deserve a chance in the first team." Last season he scored 2 goals and assisted 4 times in 5 Premier League 2 games. I watched the games against Derby, Leicester and Everton. He scored or assisted in each game and as I said earlier, I felt he was a class above and a real threat in those games I watched. That and his form at Shrewsbury on loan show that there has been a bit of an upturn in his form and attitude, which should hopefully hold him in good stead for next season.

No wonder people get their back up with you. You could watch some of the u23 matches last season for free via other clubs' websites. So I watched two or three of the games last season when Chapman played before he went out on loan to Shrewsbury.

I'm aware of your previous with Buckley haha. Jury is still out on him for me. If he doesn't cut the mustard this season (he should get plenty of opportunities), he needs moving on from.

Agreed but he's only really came on for 15-20mins if he's lucky. He's likely to get more of a chance this season if we don't properly add to the squad, regardless of his merits/weaknesses. Then we can properly judge.

I don't agree with your under 23s comment at all. I watched a few of their games last season when Chapman was still around and he looked a class above the rest (as you'd expect). Really looked a threat. He's definitely deserved more opportunities than he's had at Rovers but I do think he was rightly gazumped by Dolan after pre season last time out. Hopefully he shows a bit more this time around.

I think it's actually quite positive that he's signed up after looking like he was gone. He needs a run of games though. Someone we've all probably written off but may well show us something if he's given the game time.

Looks quite smart to be fair.

That bit where Mowbray is scribbling away is absolutely ridiculous. I laughed out loud but really don't find it funny. That's our manager...

You're bang on mate. Although I'd take Rhodes back purely for sentimental reasons in the hope that we could get goals out of him again.

We're scarily close to seeing how he performs as our main man up front (assuming Armstrong leaves this summer). Regardless of what has come before (form wise, goal return, etc), we can't afford to lose him on the cheap at the moment. I'd be offering him a new contract this summer to protect our investment and seeing how he gets on next season.

Chuffed for the lad. Just watched his cameo on iplayer and he really impressed. Playing (& training) at that level is only going to help his club form and confidence. Nice to have something to be positive about for a change.

You're right. We could all agree to log back in at the end of July and there still wouldn't be much to discuss.

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with everything JoeH posts, I don't think beating him over the head with the data discussion every time he posts is particularly constructive. Or interesting.

I would to be honest. But I'm literally only basing that on what he was like a couple of years ago. Definitely a busted flush vibe about him now though.

Whilst I don't doubt the importance of data in football, I doubt the importance of its application at Rovers. For years we've seemingly picked transfer targets based on players Mowbray's teams have played against before, whether someone is a nice man or not, what said players wear when they meet the management team & players from Middlesbrough. We're presumably ignoring a lot of data based scouting to do that. There needs to be a whole culture shift at the club before it plays any significant role for us. For me, that starts with Mowbray and his mates leaving. There's almost no point bickering about that until it happens.