If we hadn't already signed Downing then Adam would have been a decent signing, but with Downing signing we don't want to be signing another player in his mid 30's. As for Gallagher it all depends on the fee if we signed him for £2-3 Million then he would be a decent signing but £3 Million+ and I'd be looking for a bit more value.

It seems as though he hasn't learnt anything from January. January's results papered over the cracks which meant we didn't strengthen our defence. Now it sounds as though winning a few dead rubbers at the end of the season has again convinced him that everything is alright.

If we could get a decent fee for Raya then take it, get an experienced keeper in (which shouldn't cost a lot) and then invest the rest on the defence. If funds are tight then this could be a stroke of luck, getting a reasonable fee for a keeper that costs us more points than he saves.

Even Coyle could see that we needed a big dominant centre back which is why he tried to sign Ba in the January window. Mowbray is half way through his 5th window now and still hasn't addressed the issue.

A Championship quality defender would do.

It was the 2006-2007 season when he won the Championship just one year before our Tony enjoyed his finest hour by winning the Championship with West Brom.

He wasn't at Sunderland, he took over of them bottom of the League and in the same season won the league. He also kept them up the following season when the other two promoted sides both went down.

It's an alleged story. But if it is true then perhaps those 3 players should have listened to him as Keane achieved more than those 3 players combined could even dream of. Keane would have been World Class in any era and there is not a lot of players you could say that about especially players in the last 25 years.

You don't achieve what Roy Keane did the game by have the 'emotional intelligence of a sponge'. Take the 1999 Champions League semi final he got booked and knew he would miss the final but did he start bawling like Gascoigne in 1990? No he put in a match winning performance. That is the thing with Keane is he's a winner as was shown by his career and he expects his players to have the same ambition and standards that he did.

O'Neill might well be but at the right club with the right owners Keane could still well be a success, what he would need are sensible stable owners who would back his ambition and standards. He had tremendous success at Sunderland and he finished mid table with Ipswich which bar a season or two under McCarthy is where they spend the 13-14 years.

I'm no United fan but as a player and a captain Roy Keane was everything I would want in a player.

A very strange appointment be surprised if he lasts the season.

Signing one centre back still leaves us with a goal keeper who costs us more points than he saves, 2 left back's that can't defend and a right back who can't defend and is shoehorned into the team over a decent young full back because the manager likes him. It's no good just signing a centre back and hoping he changes everything when you can see that there are areas the need addressing.

But Ireland have been a terrible side to watch for many years going all the way back to Jack Charlton's teams, the only difference is that now unlike in previous years you don't have the players to grind out the results. And any side who's main attacking options are Shane Long and Jon Walters are bound to struggle to score goals but that is how international football works you have to work with what you have and Ireland were always going to find it very hard to replace the goals of Robbie Keane.

I never even mentioned Mowbray, strange that when I mention O'Neill not being the only dinosaur in management you respond by comparing him to Mowbray. Also there is no 'may have a better CV than Mowbray' he has got a better CV than Mowbray. He had many successful years as a Premier League manager Mowbray has had one season in the Premier League and he finished bottom. As for their respective records at Celtic they are not even comparable. Also I would say with the team he had O'Neill did a decent job with Ireland getting them to the Euro's last 16 losing to France and getting them to within one game of the World Cup last year.

He's not the only one.

It's pointless Mowbray signing loan players as he usually sticks them out of position playing on the wing. When he came in we had Gallagher who he played out wide. Since then he has signed Armstrong on loan and played him wide, Payne played wide, Antonsson played wide, Palmer played wide and Reed played wide. None of those players best position was out on the wing.

Our defensive issues will still be far from solved by signing just one centre back.

So which is it we wanted to sign him 'to fight it out and maybe earn a spot' or 'our needs changed between windows, and Bauer doesn’t meet those needs'?

One rather large flaw in your theory and that is that Mowbray has already said that we did try to sign Bauer.

Some good business there from Warnock.

There was plenty of evidence that Magloire struggled in the air during the 2 games that he played in, he failed to win a fair few defensive headers. Also whilst Magloire played well against a very poor Wigan side he had a bit of a horror show against Sheffield Wednesday which showed he has a long way to go before he is ready for this. And Mowbray must have the same as he didn't appear for the first team again last season.

The Wigan game isn't a great example as they were dreadful, a few days later playing 3 at the back we went to Sheffield Wednesday and conceded 4 which could easily have been 5 or 6. Nothing in Mowbray's recruitment over the last year suggests that he is looking to play 3 at the back, whereas you take Wilder at Sheffield United over the last few years he has signed players for his specific 3 at the back system. Whereas Mowbray has a scatter gun approach he signs a player and then decides where he is going to play him which is usually out of position. But what ever system we play next season the defence needs a complete overhaul we need a new keeper, a right back/wing back, 2 new centre backs and a new left back/wing back. We won't achieve anything this year unless this happens.

We don't have 2 good centre backs let alone 3.

Payne would be a pointless signing he's not going to improve the first 11 and unless Dack got injured he would spend all his playing time out of position.