Bit concerning to hear some of the change of emphasis on defenders, but to be fair it's not numbers we need in my view, it's the right partner for Lenihan which is the real emergency. One centre half of the right quality could make all the difference. Also, reading between the lines, TM saying that he liked the balance of the side at the end of last year can probably be read as Rothwell & Travis are starters. Probably should go without saying, but nice to see some evidence that Mowbray is thinking the same.

I think there's a player in there who can contribute at Championship level. The trouble for him is that last season is when he was going to get the most opportunity to do so. His injury robbed him of the chance to kick on, but I don't think we have the luxury to wait around if we want to progress next season for me. For me, both him and Nutall would be going out on loan, with Graham, Brereton, Gally (or another new signing) and if necessary Armstrong/Butterworth as our options up front.

Basically exactly where I'm at! I'm not as optimistic that Samuel is going to make an impact. I feel for him, and I don't think he's without strengths, but I think the squad is at a place now where I don't see him getting enough game time to improve or really stake a claim in my view. Totally agree with Chapman and Davenport though. I think it's going to be a really wide open division next year. Inevitably there'll be a surprise team or two that break from the pack like Norwich & Leeds last year, but you can go through the whole league and there's nobody really to fear as far as I can see.

Expectations should always to be seeing progress in my view, and a strong play off push is the minimum of what would be classed as a good season. As things stand, the squad doesn't look capable of that, but we knew that last season. The squad in 4 or 5 weeks time will be when I decide to be optimistic or not. That said, I think even if we were to go into next season exactly with the squad that we have, I don't think we'd have any worries at all about flirting with relegation. Bad spells or not, we were streets ahead of half a dozen teams at the bottom last year. It looks like the teams that struggled last year are unlikely to be making significant improvements (if not going backwards) the promoted teams don't look that threatening and there are plenty of teams that look like they could under-perform versus last year with either smaller budgets or odd looking managerial changes. Staying up isn't remotely a benchmark for success, but I'd be amazed if it's something we're ever genuinely concerned about.

Wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of where we're at & Mowbray's record. Only place I'd differ is that I don't think Mulgrew's body can take playing in midfield anymore, not even as a holding player. I agree that it would be a shame if we can't make the most of out Mulgrew though. How we do that is tricky, one of three at the back, maybe as left-back without expecting him to get forward? Everything seems a little bit shoehorned, sadly.

Quick scout on the 'Boro messageboard suggests that they'd be sorry to see him go, fell foul of not being a Pulis player apparently. They're also of the opinion that they can get their £5million quid back and could be going to Sheff United (along with half of the football league, apparently) or Celtic. Don't know how much we can read into any of that, other than 1) Boro fans rate him 2) We're unlikely to get him on the cheap, if at all

I don't have any real problem with him doing what he's doing, provided he's getting himself sorted fitness-wise away from the club. Otherwise it shows a shocking lack of desire for someone is his position.

I'd class Payne as the same category of plenty of other players that we've been linked with (and signed, in Downing's case) - fine, but only if there's more to get excited about in our other summer business. Clearly the boy has the technical ability at this level. Physically, he's not up to it, but if we're genuinely playing a much more technical game this season then he could have something to offer.

To a point, but I think we can overdo how much time and effort that actually uses up. It's not as though Mowbray was physically chasing him.

Would've liked Lee Gregory as a younger back up to Graham too to be fair, but probably not on the wages that Stoke will be paying him. Looks like a good bit of business, but I suppose it's to be expected to be blowing teams out of the water for wages when they still have parachute payments. Shame we mainly squandered ours.

I do wonder if this is something return to. I know it was a disaster last time, but we clearly didn't have the players for it, just passed it around at the back, then the ball went to midfield and the move died. Those three at centre half can all play, and could be a way of getting the most out of Mulgrew's undoubted strengths whilst taking some of the pressure away from his weaker points. Our midfield is more mobile with more players who look forward too. Not saying it would be the best way forward, but reasons to think that it could work a lot better than last time.

I was gutted when Mahoney left, but I agree that if we signed him now, he would behind Rothwell and Armstrong at the very least. I didn't blame him one bit for leaving, easy to forget just how much of an empty vessel of a club we seemed for most of our relegation season. In retrospect though, there's no doubt at all that his career would've benefited staying with us in L1 and playing every week.

It does seem that TM telling him that he'll be a squaddy to begin with has cost us this one. Can't disagree with those saying either 1) he's not good enough to start so why chase him or 2) TM's approach has meant he's gone to PNE. All I'd say though is that he's used exactly the same approach for other players, Armstrong, Chapman etc. and they couldn't wait to get back here. I'd also hope that if he was going to be behind others to begin with then he wouldn't be the only centre half joining us this summer

Fair enough, but you need to give a few lads a game or two before you blood them! If Buckley, Butterworth, Magloire and Joe RC aren't getting increasingly more games as time goes on, then we have a problem, but they're all boys at present. Think the P. Downing case is a really good example. He was exactly what we needed as a squad player at that time, playing a lot of games in our promotion push which coincided with a massive unbeaten run. A 20 year old Scott Wharton may have been able to step up, but equally just making a few understandable rookie mistakes could have easily been the difference between a top 2 finish and a top 6 finish, which could have seen another season at L1 level which would have been a total disaster. It's tempting to think that squad players could be replaced by kids. Some could be, but it's a balance. Totally agree that players who don't contribute like Gladwin should never get in the way of a youngster. Equally we need to make sure that we have a squad that can do the business, that will involve squad players with experience alongside youngsters who are ready, and to be honest I think this is exactly what we have been doing over the last few years.

And all without Hazard! They'll be hoping that Man U, Spurs and Arsenal tread water next year, otherwise they could be a million miles away from where they're used to being.

I think that's just it, we aren't getting it wrong. Quite the opposite in fact. We've produced one player for the first XI. Probably closer to half a dozen that are in and around the squad. And to be fair the Tomlinsons/Wharton's were from a slightly different age group to the current crop. From that group, Nyambe is a first teamer, Mahoney would be if he didn't up sticks and leave. Raya was only 12 months older. Given our resources, our academy is prolific!

But Travis is 21, Buckley is 19. You do a lot of growing up as a footballer in those two years. I'm as enthusiastic about this crop as much as anyone, but ultimately we're nobody's feeder club, we're there to win matches on a Saturday and should play our best XI. Blooding youngsters is important, but you don't do them or the club any favours if you do it before they can genuinely stake a claim to deserve it like Travis clearly was. Wish Tomlinson the best, but he looked to me that he wasn't technically good enough to make up for his lack of physicality. Wharton is getting game time at a level appropriate for a defender of his age, let's hope he can make the step up as he develops. I really do agree that we can't go wasting this crop of youngsters, but I don't see any reason that we will. Our squad is probably as young as it has been in decades, Mowbray gave I think 4 academy players their debut last year. Made Raya his no. 1, Travis is now a first team fixture. We might have plenty of issues to deal with as a club and a squad, but the manager giving youth a go isn't one of them imo!

Derby looking for a new manager, wonder if last season was their big chance. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48755457 Will end in tears this one. Lampard seems bright enough and could have the right stuff to make it as manager, but the Chelsea job next year would be tough for anyone, let alone for someone with zip experience.

Fair, suppose we finished 15th this season too and you wouldn't expect an improvement once you take our best two players away. Don't want to be splitting hairs too much, I agree that we need improvements to progress and that this is a big summer, recruitment wise. I just think there's too much of a tendency to undersell and even write off a lot of our squad players needlessly, plenty of whom are perfectly serviceable Championship players. The jump from 'we need an upgrade on Smallwood' to 'Smallwood is rubbish' is made really frequently, and for Smallwood you can read 4 or 5 of our squad in my view.

To go up (or get close), yes. To stay up? We were miles in front of the teams in the relegation mix, 20 points above Rotherham. We rely on Dack but not so heavily that we're relegation fodder without him. Even the players deemed, rightly or wrongly, not good enough are lower half championship standard. Mulgrew, Evans, Smallwood, Bennett, these are all players who would've helped the struggling teams last year immensely in my view.

If it is (if doing quite a lot of work) I'm pleased at least that we've managed to keep it under wraps. I know the days of getting a Craig Bellamy from nowhere have disappeared, but it says good things about our operation if we can keep our transfer targets and, to a certain extent, budget to ourselves.

It's a definite risk. Think the effectiveness of Downing will depend on who he's playing with. Downing with Evans, Bennett, Travis could be extremely pedestrian, putting a massive amount of pressure on Dack. Swap a couple of them for Rothwell, Chapman or Armstrong out wide, and all of a sudden someone with Downing's ability to pick them out first time could add another dimension. Come to think of it, you could probably say the same about Murphy and Whittingham if we're going to carry on using them as reasons not to sign him. Both big let downs, but their lack of legs wouldn't have been as obvious if they had decent out-balls. There was definitely a 'they should be able to run a game by themselves' approach to both, which won't be the case with Downing.

Have to agree. Looked a million miles away from being a player in his Rovers appearances, but seems to have impressed at a lower level once he actually got a run of games together. Hopefully we could get a small fee and sell on clause for him due to his upturn in form, but he's of an age now where he needs to play.

That's a fair enough comment. Something to be said for both of those being pencilled in as our main men meant that they were bigger let downs though. Another way of looking at it, a 35 year old David Dunn still had loads to offer at this level, albeit very injury prone. I think Dunny always had more natural quality than Downing, but equally Downing has an abundance at this level. He might be another Murphy/Whittingham, but just because we've had our hands burned with players in their 30s doesn't mean we always will.

I think he's still liked as a character, and is popular for his approach to the game. Hugely influential in getting promoted the season before last. Even the most critical of fans couldn't knock his effort, desire and importance in getting the club back in the Championship. It became obvious last season that our squad needed a couple more players of more quality if we want to be talking about promotion. We have plenty of good characters who are decent players, who will probably see us lower-mid table easily enough but not much beyond that. Smallwood's become a bit of poster boy for that dilemma, a bit unfairly in my view when there are several others in the same category. I think defensive-minded midfielders generally get a bit more stick than is warranted unless they really stand out, and that's at all clubs. I think a fair summary will be that Smallwood is still valued as a member of the squad by plenty (admittedly not all) of fans, just that if he's starting most games next season, that we can't really expect to progress that far in my view. Then again it's more than feasible that we'll be going into next season with him as our 4th choice centre midfielder, and I bet there aren't that many of those in the division that I'd swap Richie for.