Irrespective of where we differ in terms of our opinions, this much we can both agree on. Let's hope the JDT/GB duo can finally give us something worthwhile to invest in.

Then you sell them before it gets to the point where they can walk for nothing. Otherwise the model doesn't work, and indeed it hasn't really worked for us so far outside of AA. If you're relying on players to sign any new contract offered and to only sell when it's most convenient for the club then I think we can conclude from the past few years this is not sensible. Either we are not adhering to the model in question, or the people in charge of the operation were completely incompetent in executing that plan. The players running down their contracts is irrelevant as any worthwhile plan will factor contract length into account and ensure arrangements are made to either renew well ahead of time or sell if there's little hope of a renewal and only a year or eighteen months left. There will be cases when for whatever reason the player can't be sold or refuses to leave, but we already know that wasn't the case with Rothwell or BBD, and there have been bids in for Lenihan in the past so I am sure we'd have gotten something for him if we'd made him available. Nyambe I'm less sure about, but the point is the club had options in most cases. We chose, and with BBD are seemingly continuing to choose, to let players leave for nothing rather than sell them when appropriate.

That and it puts paid to the idea we have any kind of 'model' that involves developing youngsters and then selling them on for big profit to further reinvest in the team to eventually achieve promotion in a sustainable way. If we're just going to let players' contracts run down, as happened with Nyambe, Lenihan, Rothwell and probably BBD, or sell them cheap as we did with the likes of Raya and Cairney, we might as well just buy players who are ready to impact the team now rather than players who take years to make their mark. If we end up making zero or barely above zero on them anyway then it doesn't really matter whether they're young, in their prime or in their twilight years. You'd just be aiming for players who can come in and do a job now if there's no serious plan to sell at the right time and reinvest the funds. Armstrong is increasingly seeming like a one off rather than an example of what we're trying to do.

At this point it'd just mean that Newcastle win the PL every season, so I don't think it'd help much. Best case scenario a few of the traditionally upper-middle PL teams end up with big foreign investment and we're back to where we started with a handful of teams competing and the rest existing.

Try as I might I can't even get a glimmer of satisfaction from Chelsea's potential decline. The PL is just so soulless... utterly empty and devoid of any true value as a competition, unless you really enjoy billionaires using sports teams to amuse themselves and/or sportswash a regime or two. The Championship may be a significant drop in quality but, for now at least, it still feels like football in a form I recognise. Perhaps not for too much longer considering the increasing power of clubs coming down with parachute money, but the only way I could even feign an interest in the PL now is if Rovers were in it. Even then I am really not sure how I'd feel about it. It's obviously critical to the club in a financial sense to get promoted, but I know it won't be the same as it was the last couple of times we were there.

JDT/GB dropped a bollock in the summer with this one. We are fortunate Leicester were willing to take him back and another club was interested in bringing him in. I can accept that both JDT and Broughton had limited time in the summer, though, and hopefully this is a lesson learned. Probably won't be lucky enough for lightning to strike twice and for Mola to also be recalled, but one dreadful signing off the books is better than none.

I was there for that one too. Very strange atmosphere from the away end. Plenty of support for the lads but the anger towards Kean was still very much there. Not quite as vociferous as the middle and end of our final PL campaign, but still a very strong and vocal resentment as soon as he slithered out onto the touchline.

A couple. Pears was very good today, deserves credit for his part in keeping a clean sheet.

Seems that we just have Norwich's number this season, 25 shots to 9 but still managed to win 1-0. Had to dig deep to win that one, but kudos to the team for hanging on. A resolute performance.

Have to say this game has reminded me why I wasn't particularly bothered when Hanley left. So clumsy.

Can only be a good thing to have Vale's confidence boosted.

Think he has the makings of a decent League 1/League 2 player. Expect that once we get a little more depth that's where he'll end up, either on loan or permanently. In the meantime just have to hope he's in the right place at the right time to nick a few goals for us, as Nuttall managed before finding his proper level (although admittedly I didn't think Nuttall would be playing as far down as the National League at just 25).

Hirst will probably be alright in L1. The quality of that league is a massive step down from this one, as we saw the last time we were there. Having gone to a few Ipswich matches this season it actually seems to have gotten worse somehow since then. Hirst is only the answer for Ipswich for as long as they're in League 1 though. As soon as they're promoted he'll be out of his depth even as backup.

Possibly just because we started late, thanks to Venky's usual glacial pace of doing... well, anything, and panicking a bit to get bodies through the door. Hopefully not a mistake that will be repeated, and at the very least it seems like Hirst may be recalled if we're lucky.

Many said the same last season and we were on a better position then. Look where we ended up, and many on here predicted it would happen. The majority of the squad has a history of being bottle jobs under Mowbray. We'll find out in the second half of the season how deep that mindset has been ingrained.

Bottom half, how far down depends on how JDT adjusts his philosophy in the second half the season. The transfer window will obviously factor in as well. We won't get relegated but I can see us finishing a lot further down the table than seems possible at the moment.

Various stats also point to us being likely to tank fairly brutally now that lady luck has deserted us. The league is so congested that within a month we could easily be 15th and I fully expect that by February we'll be out of the top half unless JDT has a major rethink about how he's going about this. @JoeHmay be able to provide more reasons for optimism, but all the stats I've seen suggest we're due a major readjustment in terms of league position.

Yeah, can only assume they weren't confident enough to go for a full on appeal against the red card and risk the extra game. As you've said, the rules are what they are, so the defence is there for the referee and it seems unlikely an appeal against the decision itself would have succeeded.

If there was no penalty to appealing then I can understand why the club tried, even if it was unlikely to succeed.

Must have been a pretty hopeless cause if it was rejected that quickly. Are there any penalties for appealing something that's ultimately upheld?

Eh, I feel like a fine would be a harsh reaction, especially if the red card is rescinded as it would suggest Buckley shouldn't have been sent off in the first place. In my view measures like that should only be reserved for extreme situations - genuine violent conduct (throwing punches/kicks, biting), unnecessary aggression towards fans, missing training sessions, being late for a match day and failing to travel with the squad, etc. All JDT has to do is sit him down and say look, what you did was dumb and put us in a bad situation. Do it again and you'll find it very hard to win my trust back. Everyone's clear, we all move on. It's not like Buckley has a history of being sent off for stupid reasons. Only one other red back in 2019/20 for a reckless lunge which frankly would have been far more deserving of a fine than this incident.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and it'll be rescinded. If it is then I assume that will also mean people won't want the lad fined, publicly berated and loaned out into exile anymore.

Signed him to a new contract in 2019. Might be seen as a technicality, but still. If we're talking external transfers then okay... but other than Paul Caddis in our L1 season and Zeefuik on loan did Mowbray actually sign any RBs to compare Brittain to? genuinely can't think of one off the top of my head. I think there must have been and I'm just being forgetful. Maybe, but I also think it's fair to say a lot of people are looking at things through JDT-tinted glasses at the moment as well, failing to criticise him for things that TM was criticised for, and instead putting more emphasis on the players being at fault. I get it, it's the hope that kills you and all that, but imo there's a bit of both going on.

Maybe, but 14 games (4 of which I believe were only partial appearances) in our colours isn't enough for me to conclusively say Brittain is an upgrade. 0 goals or assists, so as of yet no better than Nyambe in that department either, although hopefully he'll have plenty more games to show he can contribute in that regard. It was one of Nyambe's biggest weaknesses.

Not convinced Brittain is any better than Nyambe, and seems to be made of the same kind of glass. Jury's out for me on that one. Hyam has indeed been an excellent signing, but balanced out somewhat by the sharp regression of Scott Wharton.