Very early days yet. I don’t believe for one second that we’ve shown our hand and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if none of the linked players were on Rovers actual list. Patience

I was thinking that. Highly rated and commanding too...

Whichever version that I, you or anyone else chooses to remember, there wasn’t a single person (in the world) who expected us to to get in the top 6.

Whatever mate....?

I also don’t think for one second that anyone’s target last season was the playoffs. Evans point in context was him talking about the period before Christmas when they had been looking up at the promotion spots. Then the consequent disappointment of not kicking on. If it’s top 6 or nothing for you then fine. That’s your opinion ??

I’m being disingenuous or he is?

The short answer for me is yes. We need to see improvement and achievement of our stated goal. The season before last, TM said promotion was the target. ✅ Last season he said the target was 60 points ✅ This season the target has been set at top 6. So if we just miss out on 6th then I can accept that. If we fair like this season then it’s not good enough. Simple as that.

Failure for me is not being anywhere near the playoff spots.

As I’ve said, if he fails, he’s done.

Haha, weird. This literally never happened. Ever. Iv never said we are going to sign this player or that player. Neither have I poked fun at you about this. I did ask for some calm during the bad run when several in here were calling for the head of the manager. My point through all of this is that the manager has set his stall out. He’s shown his hand in terms of his ambition. If we are to achieve that then he will have to sign much better players. So let’s judge him and the club at the end of the window. None of this has changed and quite frankly the hysteria amongst grown men that can be created from 30 second excerpts of interviews in India is laughable. I often wonder if people read back their posts and think “How on earth did I get SOO upset over that?”

You’re on pal...??

Darwen festival Sunday night. Anyone fancy it?

Let's be fair, if Mowbray says he has £x million to spend then prices will go up, I don't think they have ever set a fixed budget, but they have usually backed the manager if he has wanted a certain player and makes a good case for signing him. I don’t see that budget stretching to ready made championship players now though...the model is buy young, develop and if necessary, sell on to offset the expense.

I’d agree. Has anyone seen the full video? It’s very hard to quantify exactly what he’s saying without hearing the questions and the context...

Fantastic. Sat on the benches in the sun!

Interesting. I know what you mean but I can see them wanting a more ‘ready’ made option in the 23’s (which are effectively the old reserves now). I also think there’s a strong chance that the club and Fisher want him to go out somewhere and play? With Albinson released maybe they don’t see a replacement from the 18’s. I’m also pretty sure that the last commentary post which Sharpe did with TM before he went to India. I’m sure Sharpe confirms that we’re looking to sign ‘at least’ one goalkeeper? Maybe that was the biggest hint yet that they’re considering selling Raya? Then adding two senior keepers to fight it out? Just a theory...

Think the rule is that you can play 3 over age players at any one time as well as an over age ‘keeper. Leutwiler in the 23’s with Raya plus one (experienced) other in the first team squad makes that Unit look a lot more capable of dealing with a promotion push, you think?

No problems. Leutwiler can be third choice. Send Fisher out on loan with Albinson released.

Keep Raya AND sign an experienced keeper like Ruddy. ??

Raya has potential. But he also has a lot of flaws. If the manager decides to sell him and buy someone else then that’s fine by me. If we’re going to judge him on his signings and demand promotion...the crack on Tony!

None of them ever played football pal. Perhaps you’re getting forgetful? Showing your age? ????

Have I missed something about the goalkeeper coach? Has anything actually come out about him being no good?

I’m not being obtuse. You made a raft of comments about the goalkeeping coach not being good enough etc and that Raya was likely self taught (which is laughable). I wondered if you had any actual evidence of what you were saying...obviously not. So it’s just your opinion then. Fine ?? Oh and remind me again who José Mourinho played for? Arsene Wenger? Villas Boas? Saachi? Houlier? Seem to have had pretty good carreers in coaching..??‍♂️ Oh, and in the interests of clarity...the saying you are referring to is ‘those who can’t do, teach’. Which kiiiiiind of goes against your theory abit pal ?

A lot of specific calls there. Have you got a source regarding the standard of the goalkeeping coach? Or that Raya is ‘self taught’? Or even that Raya spends a lot of time watching videos?

I think there’s some confusion here. So to clarify, a few (including myself) were critiquing players we’ve been linked with on here last night. But we were judging them on their ability to excel in a top 6 championship team because THAT is the stated aim for next season. @blueboy3333 came in accusing us of being ‘delusional’ for believing that we could go up (whatever). So I just pointed out the the context of this particular conversation which was far from delusional. No one was saying we were going up, just judging players based on their ability to impact a top 6 team. In relation to your points. The ‘club’ (via the manager and chief exec) HAVE stated publicly that they want to achieve promotion and are currently seeking an increased budget from our owners to achieve that. BUT there’s a huge difference between a club wanting to go up and a club being committed to going up. And, the blame for not going up is only squarely at the feet of a manager whose club is committed to going up.