It's hard to think of a statement more damning about the future of the club really, but its true.

It would have been easy for him to speak to a few around the club and find out how chaotic it is. Most managers won't fancy it I think. Why work for an absente landlord with a complete lack of clarity on investment? The way the club's run must sound mental to any manager, even if the budgets etc have turned out to be okay until this summer. A decent manager is only going to come imo if they can speak to the owners and get guarantees on investment.

Ah makes sense thanks! Though I guess atill Mowbray being give f all now means a new manager could spend more next summer (assuming the funds are available).

Wilder is never going to come to Rovers? Not unless Venkys promised him massive investment? He could pick any Championship club.

Could the strategy be explained by the coincidence of Mowbrays contract and the FFP cycle? So basically Mowbray limping on with no investment to clear the FFP balance and then giving someone new a clean slate with significant resources in the summer?

Watched highlights of all Southampton's games. I was skeptical that he would succeed at Premier League level, but he looks right at home. Good on him.

I completely agree with this - from a professional perspective he shouldn't have done it. All I was saying that it was a racist hostile crowd makes no difference. Players equally shouldn't remove their shirt playing Luxembourg in an empty stadium for the reasons you say above (ie. they could get sent off/suspended).

Reasonably we have to sign at least one senior striker. You can't go into a season with only two first team strikers who have played senior and scored at least a few goals. In terms of league goals scored across squad we must be one of the lowest in the league, if not the lowest? In the team we have Gallagher who scored 6 last season and Brereton who scored 7. Beyond that several squad players chipped in 1 to 3 goals each. Only Dack - out till Jan - has any sort of scoring record. That's a pretty amazingly bad situation. We're doing okay with the defenders and mids chipping in at the moment, but when the shoes on the other foot and were in a death spiral I really worry about us.

I don't really see why anyone should modify their behaviour to appease racists. Players take their shirt off all the time, get booked, move on. Stirling should get fined and censured for it, but same as taking his shirt off at any game.

With Senor Diaz out for 2-3 games we literally have 1 first team striker available. That's incredible. If Gally gets injured or suspended we could have none available. Has that ever happened? I guess we would just throw McBride on, or Mowbray could quite happily start a front line of 3 wingers.

Yeah if no young players come through I would look at dropping Foden into midfield. Hes more of forward running link up player by nature though, not sure he would adapt that well to sitting deeper and dictating play. But I can't see any other options really. It will be a real challenge to find someone who can compete with Jorginho, Pogba, Pedri... But we need to do it.

We made a good signing post window in Holtby a couple of years ago. You'd think there must be one half decent striker free agent we could sign out there? Surely?

Yes. I think having Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham all coming through at the same time totally screwed Carrick. Partly because he couldn't even get in the XI. But even if he did due to injury etc none of those other mids wanted to battle and tackle in midfield and give Carrick the ball. They all wanted to be bombing up field. Balance was all wrong. One thing the current England team has got is balance. Players fit the roles they play and work very well together. Just need a bit of quality in the middle and genuine world cup contenders for me.

Yes, the total physical domination from Phillips and Rice is not as talented as the 2006 vintage but it really squeezes a game. Hungary didn't have anywhere to go. Think we do need some passers in there though when we play teams like Spain or Brazil who will run rings around us. Not really got anyone who can do that from the middle coming through. The player from years past who this side really needs is not Lampard or Gerrard imo but Carrick or the Scholes of his latter career when he was playing deep.

Not on tonight's performance, but we know they're a good side from the Euros. We completely outclassed them in a way the Germans and the French couldn't. Its a single game but bodes well for Englands continual improvement.

Have to say really impressive performance from England against a good side and a hostile crowd.

I think we've done pretty well. Kane should have scored. The player is don't get is Mount. I get that he's good at closing down but give we have 75% possession is that really necessary? He offers very little going forward. Rice and Mount off for some more creative players would be good. Edit - great tackle by Rice, great pull back by Mount. We score. What do I know!

I agree - feels like morale should be rock bottom but seems the opposite from the performances. I guess a lot of the kids will be energised that they have a real opportunity to further their careers significantly. When we get on the wrong end of some results though it might turn quickly though. That's always been the way with Mowbrays teams. Great when on a run, but really sink in the mire.

I agree it was odd we didn't try anything different mid season, particularly when we were getting consistently beat by clubs who played three at the back. But he does change the system each summer it looks to me. And it does seem we are going into this season with two systems 4231 & 352 which is wise as I think it's very hard to compete with a single system unless you have the best players in the division (which we don't).

I think Mowbray gets characterised as an ignoramus, but I don't think that's really fair. He, like anyone, will look back at the last year - what worked, what didn't, what resources he had available, and make a new approach for the year. So in the same way he introduced the high intensity 433 press at the start of last season, I think he is capable of changing to a counter attacking 4231 which we've seen this season. He's got faults, but does obviously plan and introduce new tactics (although many of them I do not agree with- wtf is Gally on the wing all about? etc). Also - if he was just seeing out his contract that doesn't really align with how motivated and hard working the team appears at the moment. Where I do agree is he has had the lack of budget forced on him, and I am sure he will - like any manager - move if there is a better opportunity out there. But as long as there isn't a better opportunity - and I can't see any clubs who will pay him more and support him more our there - I think he will stay. That said Venkys way of working is to pay the absolute minimum attention possible (why - I have no idea at all) and be very reactive rather than proactive in any way. So my guess what will happen is his contract will expire end of year and he will go, and we will start next season managerless in a fog of uncertainty about who will take over. I would prefer to bring a better manager (and CEO) ASAP as would we all, but the chances of doing that imo are very low indeed as Venkys have no interest in it. What's needed is either 1) the current owners to engage and get someone on the ground to drive the club and empowered to make decisions, or 2) the owners leave and ones who are engaged come in. Until that happens we're buggered.

If the owners were properly engaged Mowbray would definitely have gone last season with the horrendous run we went on. No manager at a properly led club survives that run. What exactly the owners are up to, signing off millions of additional investment every year but not seeking to properly lead the club is bizarre. Their behaviour feels like the situation is they have to own the club and do enough so it survives, but minimise investment beyond that. It doesn't really make any sense. Why not just sell up? I hope one day we find out.

Yes on paper it looks like one of the all time worst transfer windows. But... It's possible that the signings turn out better than expected in the same way Douglas and Trybull turned out to be worse than expected last year. Also it's possible suddenly players who looked terrible before (hello Gallagher) suddenly look better as they are played in proper positions. Will not really know until November. But I'm not hopeful.

Oliver Burke has a scoring record of about 1 in 10? Not what we are looking for surely?

How do you get access to that?

Not sure what our right back options are? I guess put Travis there and put Davenport or Buckley in the middle. Failing that could go 3 at the back and play Travis or Buckley at RWB.