Lancaster Rover

Wasn’t aware of the shared agent, mafoumbi goes down as another strange signing. The last few seasons I’ve been quietly optimistic as although the ownership and cabal’s a shambles we’ve retained a lot of solid players and had good (not without faults) managers. I personally don’t see VI in the same bracket as JDT and Eustace in terms of quality, throw in to that the loss of quality and experience and the accumulation of relatively unknown players from leagues with a lower standing than the championship and this season is starting to have the feel of the Coyle disaster. This accumulation of unknown players at the behest of the ex player/special advisor makes me very uncomfortable in termS of relationships, etc

Who we can’t sign until we offload/pay up Mafoumbi

He might as well have been

The nationality of our players doesn’t bother me too much, quality does. The biggest issue for me is we look like we’re back in the Kean days of accumulating no marks from across Europe who aren’t good enough to play in the championship. De Neve and Tavares have literally won the lottery

True, I'd omitted him on the basis I've not seen that much of him other than against our forwards which you don't have to be particularly quick to marshall

I, like many loved periods of JDT ball, however a back 3 of Wharton, Hyam and one of Pickering/Carter/Ribeiro could be up there with the slowest defensive units we've put out, they'd make Nelsen and Ooijer look quick.

It's very JDT, starting 4-2-3-1 and going 3-4-3. De Neve and/or Miller are going to have to be very, very fit with bulletproof hamstrings

So like I said 3-4-3 is the base formation when in possession, what you've listed is basically Tuchels' version of 3-4-3

Agreed, I think it looks nailed on we will play a version of 3-4-3, what that looks like in terms of which CM drops in to help in build up or where the full backs play is anyones guess at this stage. What's for sure is we don't have any natural touchline hugging wingers barring Kargbo and even then he needs to be able to cut in narrowing the pitch.

I think we are terrifyingly short on the right hand side, I think Miller will be a good addition though may take some time to adjust and Alebiosu is an unknown at this stage. Our only wide option is currently Hedges unless we try Kargbo off the right on his 'natural' side.

We desperately need a full back or winger who can cross, for all the talk of a pacy or goalscoring winger we're neglecting how many chances Gueye got as a result of Brittain whipping the ball in (first or second phase). An ability to regularly get quality deliveries in to the box is what worries me most if we're going with Ohashi and Gueye as our forward options. I'm sure getting Kargbo in behind will initially catch teams unawares but they'll quickly work that out and starve us off space in behind, at which point we need a plan B to make the most of our other attacking assets. Brittain created 45 chances last season, that is going to take some replacing

Mafoumbi who is seemingly a dud is sure to be offloaded/paid off to free up a spot

I think there is an expectation from the management team that Cantwell steps up his goals tally this year, add to that Kargbo and the new lad I would wager that is where the Weimmann/Dolan goals are expected to come from. Not saying I agree that it should be considered a like for like swap but that's the way I see it at present.

The Scottish side of my family are split between Celtic and the Hibees, they speak very highly of Miller and one of my uncles (Hibs) who takes an interest in Rovers says he has a modern Lucas Neill feel about him. Aggressive, physical and likes getting forward.

Batth is a good player and decent for us but people seem to have quite short memories, some of his passing into midfield was a bomb scare. I forget who it was but feel it was QPR at home when he repeatedly played slow, flat passes into midfield that kept getting picked off, it wasn't the only game he did it either. We have a tendency as fans on here to go overboard with negativity or praise when a player leaves, they were either the second coming of christ or the worst player since Kaba Diawara. Batth was a solid championship centre half at the end of his career, who provided a good foil for Hyams skills set. Beckenbaur he is not.

Yes, the writing has been on the wall for 4 or 5 years with the 2 seasons in league 1 being a temporary distraction from the owners actions. He’s pretty much follows his Worcester playbook day by day, the board who were in place (made up existing directors) sadly took too long to accept what he was doing and contributed to the death by a thousand cuts we’re seeing now. Whittingham as he did at Worcester will walk off into the sunset with all his debts wiped and having picketed millions from loans to the club, etc.

Lower league and non-league clubs are one of the few places that still take large amounts of cash on a weekly basis

I know they seemingly have lots of money but it's taken them 18 months to pass the EFL test, it's also unclear as to where any of their wealth comes from. Again, lots of dissolved companies and live companies with no obvious earnings. I can make guesses as to where the money comes from or their reasons for wanting to buy a business that you could argue was easy to hide/introduce money into, but neither of those guesses would I be willing to share on a public forum though if you catch my drift. The phrase frying pan and fire springs to mind

I'd argue financial fair play rulings (which I don't agree with in their current form) are slightly different to a membership body stepping in and ordering someone to sell a club, sell it at a loss or who to sell it to.

In fairness to the EFL there is not a lot they could do, the current owners took over prior to the Worcester Warriors debacle, and the information on Goldrings involvement only came to light after initial takeover. The dissolving of companies is commonplace and the compulsory striking off isn't as severe as it sounds. You can't bar someone on the basis of having been involved in lots of companies. I would guess if you looked across the EFL there are lots of 'good' owners who have similar number of appointments as directors to companies, etc. It's the nature of business creating shell companies and group companies to shield business people's personal wealth if the shit hits the fan. There are a lot of things I don't feel sorry for with the EFL however on ownership I do feel their hands are often tied in terms of removing owners. Football clubs are privately owned businesses, the EFL don't have the power/right (nor should they or any other membership body) to start telling private businesses how to operate. Whilst football is a very different business, it still has to operate within company law and the minute we start saying a membership body can start dictating to businesses how they operate we open the floodgates to all manner of things in the wider business world. As someone who has spent a lot of time at Christie Park and the Mazuma it's looking very bleak, I employ couple of lads who are scholars in the U18's/21's and they're playing their last game today having not been paid for 9 weeks! The only viable option now is a phoenix club operating in NW Counties from 26/27 onward

So De Neve is essentially Owen Beck

Only issue with Prem Loan's on the wing is they have tended to be lightweight and not cut out for mens football (yet), unless we get someone who is stupidly quick they end up getting lost and/or forced to turn back or cut in all the time.

I’ve just shown my lad (10) the kit and he said it’s the best Rovers kit he’s seen, opinions eh

Agreed, I think he has to do a full season injury free for someone to pay big money for him.

No, I think it was 96/97 away shirt where we narrowly avoided relegation. Had a panel down one side that had Rovers crest replicated in different sizes then repeated on one of the arms, both home and away had 'grandad collars', sponsored by CIS