Winks might not be top drawer (he was one of the better players in a champs league final so he must be alright) but if we want to play out from the back then he's by far the best midfielder at picking the ball up from the centre backs, and thats what we failed to do on Thursday. The cb's got the ball down and looked up but the midfield didn't provide them with enough options. Though we looked a lot better when Henderson came on for Delph too, Delph is a handy player to have around but can't play cm against top level opponents. Dier is a very limited player, Rice looks like he has some potential, Loftus-Cheek needs to stay fit and start regularly but is talented, Going even further forward then Foden as one of the 3 is the hope, just got to hope he starts more games for city next year.

I doubt its just Mowbray that is keen to implement this, it'll be Waggott too that approves this strategy. I'm pleased that somebody is actually considering a medium term plan for the club, although like you say it's always a risk for Mowbray.

My interpretation of that and other interviews with Mowbray is that his aim is to set up this European scouting network so that at the end of next season if we cash in on Dack, then we are in a position to reinvest that money. Doesn't look like we will see the benefit of the new scouting model until January at the earliest.

Thats an interesting shout, might be on a heavy wage for us even if its slightly modest for him.

Suppose he would keep us ticking over nicely but isn't the most mobile anymore. My concern is that we play with the two centre mids sat deep in midfield and the team as a whole sit deep.

Whelan in centre mid as Reed's reeds replacement makes me worry about the type of football we are going to playing next season. He'd have fitted well instead of Smallwood or Evans in the first half of last season but I thought we were trying to push up the pitch more and I hoped we would be looking for someone a bit more mobile albeit not as dynamic as Travis. Still would like to see us spend our budget on the defence, I think if we start next season with Mulgrew starting at CB then we can wave goodbye to any dreams of a playoff push.

Problem is, there is no majority for anything

Has to be the correct shade of Blue. Don't care about anything else.

I’d be happy with Sam Gallagher especially with the high pressing game we were trying to implement at the end of the season. Not at £5million though. Couple of million perhaps max. It’s not a good sign that we are spending that much of the budget on a position where in theory (Graham and Brereton) we are covered. Suggests that we are either not spending the budget on the defence or Dack is be sold (selling our best player never works for us)

Most times i've seen Rotherham this season he's played as a holding midfielder (and played well) and we don't play with a midfield anchor. I assume if we were interested it'd be as a CB. Is he any good at Centre Back?

No left back on that list which is a shame.

If Sharpe thinks we are still after a keeper. Maybe the plan is to have Leutwiler as third choice and allow Fisher to out on loan again, with Albinson released as he's not going to make the grade. Then the new keeper and Raya will compete for the number 1 shirt.

On Gladwin, letting him continue his rehab at brockhall is a nice gesture, giving him a new contract to do that seems a bit silly considering he’ll never play for us.

Letting Downing go in January was never the problem it was the lack of a replacement. It’s the same situation this time around, I’m please we’ve let him go provided that we sign a proper centre back

That suggests no new keeper....

I wonder if we've just announced those released that we had another year option on? Then they can say they are in talks with the otheers so they casn wait until Mowbray comes back from India with the actual budget. Because there's no way anyone sane would offer Gladwin a new contract!

I think what you've wrote there sums a lot of my feelings, i'm satisfied with where we are now but we made some unnecessary mistakes along the way. Mowbray still has a lot riding on Brereton, if he contributes 10+ goals next season alternating with Graham as the CF then it might be worth it, if he doesn't then he stays a big misuse of funds. My own preference would've been to see the younger players come into the side sooner, I wish Butterworth/Davenport/Buckley had got at least 5 games under his belt for example, he could be good back up in the Dack role next season and with the window shutting earlier again next season it becomes more of a punt as to whether he's going to be able to contribute.

Me too it's clearly not Mowbray's style of doing things. He'll more likely tell them that they aren't likely to get much game time next season.

I say come back starting Saturday when tickets are cheap.

Source for these Bauer quotes?

Raya Nyambe Lenihan Magloire Bell Chpman Travis Davenport Rothwell Butterworth Graham Bench: Leutwiler, Williams, Bennett, Conway, Buckley, Dack, Brereton.

It's annoyed me that people would claim that was a penalty, but from next season the law is being cleared up to say you cannot score if the ball goes in off your hand/arm whether it was a 'handball' or not.

Reed must look back on this season as being a waste. He's stayed in the acadamy at Southampton a few years too long and he desperately needed game time in centre mid. Despite being our best centre mid most of the season he has barely played in his actual position and isn't any closer to breaking into Southamptons first team, he certainly not going to do it as a right winger. I wasn't too bothered at the start of the season when he was being shoehorned in on the right wing as Smallwood and Evans were playing okay and we were winning games. But like with Rothwell and Travis, he had earned his chance long before he actually got it (if at all, did he ever start back to back games in centre mid?) and since October Smallwood and Evans have been average to poor. I suppose he's partially a victim of Tony's decision to drop Nyambe, with Bennett playing at right back for big chunks of the season we've only an ageing Conway available as the 'Defensive winger' in Tony's footballing mantra. You add in Mowbray's comments in the press throughout the season and I imagine he's pretty peeved off, he'll likely be back in the championship one way or another next season and its unlikely he'd bother coming back here. Perhaps there is a chance that Tony has told him he will play centre mid if he came back but I doubt it. My hope now is that we play Buckley or Davenport in his place until the end of the season but I just don't see that happening, one of them will get 25 mins against Swansea and that'll be that.

You say we don't need an overhaul but 6-8 new player is basically an overhaul of the squad. I would like to see some of these young lads slot in somewhere too. For me the squad would ideally be: Keepers: Raya, New Keeper to challenge him, Fisher Right Back: Nyambe, New right back to compete, Left Back: New starting left back, Bell Centre Back: New commanding CB, Lenihan, + 2 others (from Rodwell, Williams, Mulgrew, Magloire, Wharton) Centre Mids: Travis, Reed (If possible), Davenport, Evans, Buckley. Wide players: Bennett, Chapman, Rothwell, Rankin-Costollo 10's: Dack, Butterworth Stikers: Graham, Brereton, Armstrong, Back up striker to Graham