This formation really plays to our strengths. Brittain has some freedom to get forward. Our two ball playing centre mids allow for Travis to concentrate on battling. The tall strikers can actually play as strikers instead of being expected to be nippy wingers. Adam Wharton has a coolness on the ball that I don’t think can be taught. He needs more playing time as he can really transform how we approach games this season.

Looks like we’re finally getting on top of contracts. Fair play to the lancs live journo sticking his neck on the line getting the early report in on him signing.

Tactically today has been all wrong. Just once, I’d love Dack in attacking mid and and Brereton through the middle. Seen as much of Dack as we have Brereton this game. One positive, Brittain has looked exciting.

JDT just said there’s the prospect of “one or two more” coming in tomorrow.

Really enjoying Wharton and Morton tonight. When Brittain is back Travis should be worried about his starting place!

I’m not sure there is room for higher earners once we replace most of the players who left last year. I think Greg said the budget is about the same this year as the last year. To me it seems that any player we go for that’s wanted by clubs with higher attendances or parachute payments we get blown out of the water by. To get these players we aren’t talking about paying a couple of hundred thousand a year more, but a million or even more. It has happened but it’s rare that we lose out on players going to clubs in a similar financial situation to us over a couple of grand a week.

It is at the moment but it seems we are trying to replace a good number of those graduates so the expenditure will go back to what it was last season. In terms of people being paid higher salaries, I’ve seen it all throughout my working life. If some people are getting paid more it pisses other people off and then they want more, or they leave. Then we’re back in a position where we either pay higher salary to get a good player in, and so increasing the budget further or we get a lower quality of player.

But you can’t get new players in on big contracts then when other players come to renew their contracts offer them less than what the newer players get. Eventually it leads to an increase in wages throughout the squad.

So… how do you get them in?

What is the solution to the wage structure problem? Increasing costs is a risky game to play and even then we’d struggle to compete with clubs at the top of the championship with their parachute payments. Say if across a 25 man squad we increase the salaries by on average 5k a week, that’s 6.5m a year. A huge amount for any championship team.

Well, if it’s 15k more than whoever his replacement is then it’s the same outcome.

If we offer Lenihan a 4 year deal on £15k a week more so we could guarantee he signs, that works out at an extra £3,120,000 over the 4 years. Then he’s the best paid and that’s the benchmark for our top performers. They then want that amount because we’re paying it to one player so we should pay it to them too. The wages could easily spiral or we don’t pay the player what they want and they bugger off anyway to a club that will pay it. We’re attempting to replace like for like by paying small fees and lower wages than the players that left wanted. It makes financial sense but it won’t half make it a struggle to get out of this division.

How could you be so cruel!? 😂 Great post.

I’ve been telling myself we’ll be much more competitive when we bring in some more players. However, if they’re of Szmodics standard then that really is a worry. Other than the obvious need for CBs we are in dire need of a centre mid who can actually put his foot on the ball and dictate play.

His decision making when taking throw ins was particularly painful.

If it's about money, Spurs will always be able to pay more than us. The only way we can compete is by making him a guaranteed starter which he isn't yet ready for, especially if we do harbour ambitions of challenging for promotion. Plus, even if he was a starter then it'd still be hard to turn a down a permanent move to a premier league side. Looking at it from his point of view, he could be on the fringes of a Championship team or he could be on more money at a premier league team and, if he doesn't have the opportunity to play, can get a loan to a team where he will play week in week out. In reality, the situation is multifaceted and on the balance of it a move to Spurs is the more attractive option.

Even if we make a signing or two at the back and keep BBD, I still think we don't have the quality or depth to hold a sustained challenge for promotion this year so I regard this as a year of transition for us. Especially if he or some of our other players get injured. If we sell BBD and get some money that we can spend on a further 3 players of quality (caveated by the jury still being out on whether any money would be reinvested) then I would absolutely go for that. That could help us keep a sustained challenge for promotion for the next 3 seasons.

That basically means he’ll be a certain starter for most of the season then. He’s just turned 17 and I’m not sure he has enough yet to be a starter week in week out for a team hoping to get in the playoffs. I’d have him as 4th choice at best this season, which then makes it tough to keep hold of him. Paying him 10k, making him a starter this young, having him play instead of a stronger player (especially if we sign van Hecke or Sepp) and pissing off the squad because he’s on more than most of them whilst having played only a couple of games doesn’t feel right to me. It’s a tough one but I’m not sure we can offer that which is why I think realistically holding on will be difficult. It’s gutting, but maybe the pessimist is preparing me for the worst!

We’re just speculating that it’s down to money but if it is and we offer £10k then Spurs up their offer to £15k so he still goes. Even if he stayed then he probably leaves on a free in a few years anyway. I just don’t think it’s as cut and dry as people are making out.

I’d be surprised if keeping a player with Phillips’ potential is a battle we can ever win. After seeing him yesterday I think he needs a loan where he can play week in week out. Worst case for him going to Spurs is he gets put on a wage far more than what we can offer and then gets loaned out. Alternatively, he doesn’t get loaned out, learns from premier league level players and coaches, and still gets his great wage. Also, us offering him 10k a week is a complete gamble and a sure fire way to piss off an entire squad of players. Plus would stop us being able to strengthen elsewhere.

It wasn’t a cracker by any means but delighted with the win. Whilst it didn’t happen often enough, some of our one touch attacking play looked promising. I thought the midfield had a Rothwell shaped hole in it though. We didn’t have anyone who could pick the ball up in the centre and allow us to dictate play higher up the pitch so I hope we can get someone in for that. I enjoyed some of Hedges’ performances towards the end of last season but thought he was poor today. He seems to get brushed off the ball in the centre very easily. I was hoping Pickering would prove some people wrong today but he was out of his depth. Brittain was underwhelming. I was willing him to get the ball and drive forward but it seemed to me he played with the shackles on. Today really highlighted that we need quality in through the door. I’m feeling positive though that we still managed to win fairly comfortably with the squad that we have.

I’m expecting a very average window on the whole partly due to the delay in getting the current hierarchy in position and partly because we clearly have a restrictive transfer and wage budget. I think most of the players of the calibre we’re hoping to recruit at are at the moment above our means. So we either wait and hope as the window draws to a close there are some deals to be done, or we get offers in and spend more than we’d like to on a lower calibre of player.

Unfortunately, unless he’s said differently(?), I can’t imagine JPvH would want to sign for us permanently. It’d be a drop in level and wages from what he’s capable of.

It's like you want the reporter to call a meeting with everyone at the club and give them all a bollocking. Then write an article telling you about the bollocking he gave them to appease you. Sure, ask the difficult questions but he is not the person to raise hell and dish out punishment. He writes for the local paper. The circle at Rovers is clearly very small and not much comes out. Your second paragraph is reinforcing what I'm saying in that you're starting to lay a portion of blame of the shitshow that is Rovers on the local journalist. That's frustration directed at the journalist, but obviously, rationally, none of this is in the slightest bit the journalists fault. The fans don't have anyone to engage with at the club so the fans take their frustrations out on the journalist. It gets poisonous, which it never should when it's not his fault.

Of course asking the question is his job. Clearly it's been posed but there has been no response. Still, it's not his job to hold them to account. Nobody seems to know what the hell is going on, even the most well-connected of journalists. However, it's the local journalist who takes the abuse on here and on Twitter. It really needs to stop.