Yup. We just can't justify carrying Mulgrew. He's poor in the air, was always not quick but has lost another yard of pace, and positionally not great. He's been at fault for so many goals. We need to find a top quality partner for Lenihan, move on Rodwell and Williams, play Mulgrew from bench and either sign another CB or promote the likes of Wharton to the bench. As an aside I'm increasingly of the opinion we might get to keep Lenihan and Dack for next season. Neither are hitting the form to get clubs to pay out the big bucks for them. A silver lining of sorts.

I get the sentiment of the above two posts but as it stands if Venkys walked away the club would cease to exist. We are totally reliant on them with no way out anyone except Venkys control. It's an utterly horrendous situation.

Without both Henderson and Dier we look porus through the middle. Also think our full backs could be better. On the positive side Barkley, Stirling and Hudson-Odoi have all been great .

Aligned with all of that. I'd also say Walker is probably at risk as we have Trippier and Alexander Arnold who play right back, and Walker has looked a bit dodgy on the defensive side, and lacks the quality of crossing that the other two have. Probably best team we have imo is as follows : -------------------------Pickford Trippier------Stones-----Maguire-----Chilwell -----Henderson------Dier---------Alli ---------Sterling------Kane------Rashford Squad : Butland, Alexander Arnold,Rose, Shaw, Walker, Gomez, Rice, Barkley, Lingard, Sancho, Hudson-Odoi, Wilson On paper that team looks workmanlinke in midfield and soft in the centre of defence, but it works really bloody well as everyone works their nuts off and can inter change positions. On top of that we very rarely give the ball away, and we have three players in Kane, Rashford and Stirling who will score a lot of goals. Then you can throw on the likes of Sancho and Hudson-Odoi to give the opposition something completely different to think about.

In a way I quite like us not having too many "world class" players. If you have them there is a demand to play them, fit them in somewhere even if they don't quite fit together (see England at the 2006 world cup as a prime example). A lot of very good players will do me, with the ability to use them flexibly against different opposition. What I particularly like is that we went from a pretty successful 352 formation at the World Cup straight out into a totally new 433 in September which has pushed us onto another level. That change meant reassigning every role in the team back to front. Southgate and team are obviously continually re-thinking what's the best setup. We probably now have 2 players who can play every position in that 433 system, and the only area that looks a bit weak is central defence. Everywhere else we look well stocked, and with more youth coming through also. Obviously I wouldn't say no to an English Messi or Ronaldo, but if we keep on working the way we are - which is prioritising the team over individuals - I think it will keep us in good stead.

Thought we were sensational tonight. The two young wingers - Sancho and Hudson-Odoi - are cracking players to watch. I look at this squad and genuinely think we will win something over the next six years or so. Much better than the so called "golden generation" because there is real depth coming through, and the players we have are a lot more versatile. Southgate is doing a phenomenal job.

Start of the season Dack was quality, but that's fallen by the wayside for some reason. If we could sort out the defence and play Rothwell , Dack and Chapman behind the striker that would be with watching. All contingent on having a good defence though.

We'll have to figure out how to play Mulgrew as he's the club captain and he's someone who contributes a lot when on song, and I think Bell is a player who can be developed over time. Williams needs to go though, hopefully someone will be daft enough to give us a few grand. Also we should cut short the deal talks with Rodwell, and focus the budget on genuine defenders. We don't need anything fancy. Just a couple of guys who can head the ball, have a bit of pace, and can sense danger and react.

I agree with all of this. I would argue legislation should be introduced to mandate a % ownership by fans of a club (25% or 50%), and a equivalent mandatory number of seats on the board. They have it in Germany and it works well. Fans all over the country would prefer that system. There would still be room for private and foreign investment. It's win win really. Existing owners could be compensated for their lost share. Someone should bring it to parliament.

Great game yesterday. Pleased for Wales - they deserved it. Would be great for them to go on and win the world cup now. England and Ireland have a lot of work to do. Anyhoo... what sets the six Nations apart from any other competition I can think of is just how relentlessly competitive it is. Shame you can't get the same in football. A six team league round robin of the best European international sides would be tremendous. But how do you pick the best six etc.? To a certain degree rugby benefits from being a bit of a niche sport. Means you really end up with a lot of competitive games.

I'd say the only position we have the required quality and quantity is central midfield and number 10. Every single other position we could sign players for. Not an exaggeration to say 7 players. 2 CB, 1 RB, 1 LB, 1 winger, 2 strikers. Maybe a keeper. If Dack and Lenihan go we'd need another two also.

The key for Mulgrew and Rodwell is to only play one of them and make sure you have plenty of pace and physicality around them. Then you can just about survive. But they are both luxury defenders. We would replace them if we had the resources.

I'm not sure this is totally fair as he has persisted with Travis. Perhaps the same will happen with Mangalore

I don't think I've ever been as convinced we'll lose a game to a team below is in the table when we're playing them at home.

Bloody hell. How in light of that could downing be released? Is that new for this season?

Where has that been confirmed? Did we really loan players without the option of recall? And leave ourselves with only Williams, Lenihan and Mulgrew as proper centreback? And Lenihan and Williams are really converted from other positions like Rodwell. If so that is absolutely crackers.

Not picking on you, just illustrating where we are - but that entire back four is abysmal in the air. All Wigan need to do is hoof it into our box and they are guaranteed goals. The only sensible action is to recall the loanees. Mowbray has to do it.

I'm not sure he has lost the plot per se, he's just put himself in a position where he does not have the right players to staff a functional defence. I'd say everything flows from that really. If the defence was solid we would be better going forward also as the midfielders would feel more at liberty to push up. Indeed the defence could push further up too. As it is a simple ball up the middle undoes us. Could Mowbray turn it around? Not sure. Has he ever led a team with a solid defence? A strange consideration as in his career he was as a decent centreback. But it does seem a weakness of his sides. Whether it's Mowbray in charge or someone else I'd argue we need to sign an entire back four in the summer. If we can hold onto Lenihan great, but I suspect he might be bought. Nyambe I am on the fence on, but think he could progress in a more stable defence. Mulgrew's way too slow and weak in the air, ditto for Williams and Rodwell, and Bell has the attributes to be a decent left back but he seems to make bizarre decisions.

It's really hard to argue with this. He's brought some talented players in like Rothwell, Reed, Armstrong and Dack, and got some good young players coming through like Lenihan, Nyambe and Travis. But he hasn't got the right balance in the squad at all, nor found an effective way to stabalise the side and get them to play together well, except for one great month in January, and in spots before Christmas. Essentially he's violated the old adage "build from the back". We're absolutely shambolic across the back line, and if that is the case how can the team progress. Lenihan is our only solid defender - every single other defender (and there are only four of them in the squad) have very significant weaknesses. It shows how one or two bad decisions can really snowball. Pushing Downing out on loan and blowing the budget on Brereton instead of splitting it and bringing in a top defender, have been shown to be catastrophic, and now seem certain to cost him his job. Edit - What I genuinely can't understand is why, when we are having a full blown defensive crisis, we haven't recalled at least one (arguably two) of Downing, Hart or Wharton?

I think the request will be out for managerial CVs.

Surely we have to recall one of Bell, Downing or Wharton? It's farcical at the moment. What if Lenihan breaks down again? Also Mulgrew and Rodwell are both injury prone. Something's not right.

Are there any decent youth defenders we can put on the bench at least? How's Wharton doing? Can we recall him? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Rovers_F.C. Also - If you look at our squad of 25 only six are classed as defenders, but one of those is Rodwell who I would say is more a midfielder. So really only 5. Really you should have around 7-8 defenders in the squad. Then if you scroll down five of our nine loaned out players are defenders....!

Getting very near to being a must win as far as Mowbray keeping his job is concerned. Critical that we change something at the back. Hopefully Lenihan is back and fully fit. If not Id advocate playing a nutty formation we tried earlier in the season, simply to have some pace at the back. I'd drop Mulgrew as he is culpable for so many goals ATM. -----------------------Raya -----Naymbe----Rodwell-----Bell Reed--------Travis------Evans------Bennett -------------------------Dack --------------Graham---Armstrong Mad that I could be advocating a back 3 without a single CB in it, but that's the horrendous position we find ourselves.

How do we get to 12m - Ive got 6-7m for Brereton, but who else have we spent on?

Yes I agree with this. Without him we're pathetic at the back. One of Rodwell, Williams or Mulgrew with Lenihan is a reasonable partnership, but you take him out and suddenly you have no pace or aggression.