The key, for me, is for the attacking unit to be well drilled - i.e. Diaz drifts central, Vale moves out left etc. TBH - I was surprised how well it seemed to work on Saturday - given the limited time to embed the approach. We didn't create a huge amount of chances though - but we did have a number of opportunities created by the new approach just missing that final pass or touch.

Even those that rate him - question he is good enough for the Championship. Anyway - lets give him chance to prove himself. Maybe the plan is for him to run around for 60 minutes, tire out the defence and then Dack to come on and score a hat trick 😃

Totally agree - watching how the system seems to work - puts a large workload on the forwards tracking back etc. Indeed that seemed to be the main thing SG did well at the weekend - as he put in a hell of a shift for the team.

I think they have explained that - he is here to fill a gap while some of our own youngsters gain more experience (presumably from the bench and the odd cup match). Only time will tell how good he is playing at this level.

Agree about Buckley - but wow - when it comes off for him, he looks like a hell of a player. Can't help but feel he will occasionally be caught in possession - but a few of the touches he made yesterday created room in midfield like no other player we currently have.,

I thought Vale did ok feeding off scraps. He was obviously there for a reason - and worked hard applying the new tactics - its not about individuals but the team. There is no way that Dack could have done the same job for the team given how much of pre-season he missed.

Though not his best match - I think Diaz showed enough to start to prove that last season wasn't a flash in the pan. Two brilliant long range efforts that could easily have been goals - and at times he looked a step above most on the pitch.

Interesting to read so many different opinions. Early season matches are always a bit hit and miss. Some promising moves that came to nothing - but you could see the intent. I don't think anyone had a bad match - but some were only average at best. Though Travis goal was something else, my MOM was Buckley. Didn't think they would work as a pair - how wrong was I - if they can avoid injury and cards - they have the ability to really push us forward. Though you have worry about defensive midfield against better teams.

So lucky the ref realised he had already booked Buckley 🙏, plus Buckley has looked good in midfield.

So lucky the ref realised he had already booked Buckley 🙏, plus Buckley has looked good in midfield.

I think I mentioned before - does seem steep - but depends on how much success structured - ie so much for promotion, number of games, goals etc. I do wonder whether we are now looking at lower leagues as there is a better chance they will hit the ground running - but also, when you look at total cost (fee + wages over contract) they represent better value than ex-Premiership academy players who are probably already on a decent salary and Premiership clubs seem to be looking for increased fees.

Will wait to see how that £2.5m transfer is structured - I would hope some will be linked to appearances, goals etc - plus a big chunk related to promotion.

It is difficult to know for certain - but I thought JDT had discussed with Nyambe prior to it being withdrawn. At the end of the day, I suppose we had to put a time limit on it before committing to a replacement.

Very embarrassing for us that Nyambi would prefer to go Wigan than sign for us. TBH I would imagine Blackpool are, like us, trying to stick to a wage budget - these things happen.

I think the market will open up more when the Premiership teams settle on their squads for next season - having a ripple effect throughout the EFL. When you look at our current first team, it isn't too different to last year - we are just very exposed to any injuries.

First team or first team squad ? I wouldn't wany any player to have a guaranteed place in first team.

With a 50% sell on clause - I would agree

Thanks for your work on this - without getting too excited - it all sounds more promising than it has done for some time. Though you possibly already have done might be worth catching up privately with Chaddy to see if the message is consistent or not.

I always remembered Brotherston as a left winger - with Windy Miller on the right ?

And a further drain on the wage bill - though I would obviously prefer us to sign players prior to the start of the season - if it means waiting a few more weeks to get the right signing at the right wage - though impatient I will wait.

Very much doubt sell on fee is 20%. Plus would it not be 20% of any profit.

We may have asked about Davies - been told £4m, wages over £40k and then backed off straight away. We can't compete with wages and transfers fees on offer from other clubs.,

Gotta say - that is a positive spin - on what I find a worrying situation 😁

Right from the start Broughton said we had a good transfer budget BUT within our current wage structure. I would imagine there is a certain amount of brinkmanship going on with wages - it will be a case of who blinks first - the club or the agents. In the meantime - any club with a bigger wage budget is likely to outbid us - but I think most Championship clubs (excl parachute payment clubs) have similar constraints to us. Even those with parachute payments are running a fairly high risk strategy as they get towards the end of them - we are a good example of how it can all go wrong quickly.

Irrespective of the fans - the club really couldn't win with Rothwell. The multi million pound offers were only coming from one club. £3m at Christmas or potential promotion. I think we can argue all day about the club letting the contracts run down - but mid pandemic who was buying players for us to recoup good fees for them ? I think we could have been more proactive - but appreciate it isn't straightforward.