Diaz had to stay for that kind of money. He's such a likable bloke with a genuine story behind his development that I'll just enjoy seeing him in a rovers shirt for another year. Disappointing not to sign someone on the right as it'd make us genuine contenders. Hopefully he signs a new deal. Doubt he will, but it'll be good seeing him with us regardless. Also... if we don't make it back to the prem any time soon, all these two bit clubs with a few bob from premier league money will know they can't just take the piss out of us.

A right sided forward for me. It's a position we have a few players who can do a job there. Gally, Hedges, Szmodics. But nobody who is a natural. Bowler is probably pie in the sky, but a right sided forward who can run at and commit a defender would give us real balance in attack and reduce pressure on Diaz. It'd also stop teams doubling up on him.

Wharton being capable is massive for us. Like a brand new signing. I'd love to see Styles and Bowler come in. Quality and flexibility in Styles. And Bowler would add such balance to our attacking line up. Whether that's realistic I don't know but I'd say it'd be an excellent transfer window. For all Mowbrays criticisms he did sometimes pick up some half decent players. But every single season we lacked balance. He just collected players at random. It really does feel far more targeted this year. Specific positions and players with specific attributes.

I agree with everyone saying the deal is a good one for a club like us. Try before you buy. I just don't think that given his previous exploits £5m is fair. Especially if theres a sell on fee too. He may well be worth way more than that in a few years. Its criminal the way top clubs hoard players. Once over a certain age there should be a limited amount you can have contracted to the club. If the player is over that age and not included in the squad then they should be free to move through a tribunal.

In regards to Hirst. I live in Portsmouth and the verdict of a couple of mates is that he started slowly but then became indispensable in the second half of the season and has all the raw attributes needed. In my opinion he's no replacement for Brereton but he's exactly the type of player we should be looking to 'gamble' if its the right deal for us. I.e. a loan to buy at a realistic price or a low fee with a sell on clause.

Qpr supporting mate says Dykes is very poor. Fairly physical, but no footballing intelligence. He's being subbed in games for a teenager as Dykes is providing no goal threat at all.

I think a combination of Mowbray and injuries have set him back years. Personally I think JRC isn't a bad footballer. But he's not an athlete and has been asked to play in one of the most athletic positions on the pitch. Injuries have taken their toll but he never has been and never will be a RB or RWB. As a result he's now a few years older and neither he nor coaching staff have any idea what his position is so when he is fit he's no direction on what aspects of his game to improve.

It could be a 4-3-2-1 The old Christmas tree formation

Have we ever hit 600 pages before?

Agreed. Time and again last night Phillips was bullied by Shane Long. Punt upfield and Long was holding his ground, letting it bounce off him and Phillips missing his header. On one occasion Phillips tried to nip in front and it skimmed off his head and out for a throw in deep in our half. No major criticism as he's such a young player, but if a 5'8 Shane Long was giving him trouble in the the air, it really shows its not going to be a seamless transition from youth to first team football, no matter his potential or size. It was a remarkable drop in standard from his performance vs West Brom. One other point is that every pass was short and square. The midfield were generally very poor in showing for the ball but without any adventure in the pass we are going to struggle. Not to pour cold water on him. The potential is clear for everyone to see. I'm just not sure he's of the required standard quite yet.

I think we can get £15 million rising to £20 million with add ons. We're about to hit silly season and his performances will have refocused a few clubs gaze his way. We may even get more if a bidding war ensues.

If he's playing the next two games for us we'll begin to see if the West Brom game was a fluke or not. I felt he was superb. Its a big week for him and the club. Show his worth now rather than just potential and suddenly the club have justification to offer him a first team players contract rather than a youth contract. He gets the money, we retain an asset and he's put his hat in the ring for a lot of minutes moving forwards which will be best for his development. Like someone else said, the money we can offer for a first team player will be comparative to a spurs youth player. The big thing is us being able to justify the contract to our squad and the only way to do this is him performing in our first team.

@chaddyrovers has pinned his colours to the mast regarding Dack. He does this sometimes in that he's taken a controversial stance on one particular debate and nothing will sway him in that opinion. Even his biggest doubters recognise that Dack offers something that no other player in our squad does, so it's a ridiculous stance to take which not only demonstrates a lack of footballing knowledge but also an inability to have a true debate based on merit. The irony being he'll tow the club line with 90% of other debates which come up on this forum, again with an unwavering opinion, regardless of circumstance or fact. As peculiar as it is though, fair play Chaddy for your constant support of the club. I'd buy you a pre-match pint for sure.

John Buckley will be almost universally regarded as the best footballer at the club at the end of the season. When I say almost universally, I mean everybody but @Sparks Rover

I'd love to see Ten Haag put Ronaldo in the reserves. That would send a proper message to the rest of the squad and the world about who's in charge. Plus Ronaldo, as great as he's been in his career has been stat padding and playing for himself for the best part of 4 years now, if not longer. I'd love to see the masses who fawn over him throw their toys out the pram. That would make me happier than any United demise. Admittedly they are both past it now, but in their generation there was one player who stood head and shoulders above the rest, a true footballer in every sense of the word, and that was Leo Messi. It's an endless debate and one that bores me to death. But I'd enjoy seeing the arrogant one put in his place.

Don't know much about him. But he looks a lot bigger than Clarkson from the couple of clips I've seen. I'd say we definitely need another body. Still want Styles. Wharton is only 17. Surely he's not ready for the step up this year. As for Garrett. Even with Trav, Buckley, Styles and Morton in there he should see some minutes and an opportunity to work his way up the pecking order.

Genuine question. Have I missed something where Dack has thrown his toys out the pram?

No issue with Morton and Styles. Morton alone, regardless of talent would be a big disappointment. I'm happy for us to bring in loan's to bolster the squad, but right now it's threadbare. We need a permanent signing in CM badly.

I don't think it has been made clear him signing a new deal is a non-starter. He's worth pushing the boat out for, salary wise. I don't expect him to resign. But I've seen no quotes from him being 'flattered' by other clubs interest or anything along those lines, and the club is pretty quiet on deals in the pipeline.

It's worrying we've not brought anybody in, but I do think a few assumptions are being made. From what I can see the only real solid link has been the Bosnian defender. Him choosing Sheff United over us doesn't mean we've no budget. It sounds like an excuse but parachute payments skew the landscape. It is very plausible in my eyes that he was highly interested in coming here so Sheffield United blew us out the water with his salary. I agree our wage structure requires some 'flex' however completely breaking it on a highly rated, but somewhat unproven player would be foolish. The fact we were in for him, to me shows we do have a budget. We've missed an initial target. It happens, but it's important we were already making progress on alternatives. Broughton will be aware of the urgency. It's a tough gig, but I don't believe our budget is buttons and the current set up, I'm sure, have a real desire to get these deals over the line. Pressure is on, so I'll just sit back and judge at the end of the window. And that judgement will be on a scale. Not purely success or failure.

I wonder if Dembele might be considered for a loan. I got the impression they didn't want or need him, and were hoovering up players in a grasp for promotion. He didn't play a huge number of minutes, so could be available considering they have stepped up to the prem.

Yes it's a little concerning we've yet to sign anybody given our depleted squad. But I don't think that we have wavered from the plan at all. It was always said by both JDT and GB they wanted to assess the players at their disposal first, before then looking into the transfer market. That makes sense. This is why it was concerning that it took us around 6 weeks to bring them in. The pace we moved in making a managerial appointment was always going to lead to huge time based pressures. We didn't set them up with the tools / time needed for success. They may well still achieve it, but waggot and pasha etc didn't make it easy for them.

My recollection is that an extended contract protects the investment rather than compounding it.

Nonsense. Last summer that was not the mass mindset. It was that he was looking like a useful player.

Nobody predicted Breretons meteoric rise last season, however i am certain an overwhelming majority would have been supportive of a new contract. He had shown signs, especially post lockdown that he was finally beginning to find his feet. The fact that he also represented a significant investment from the club and is a young English striker made it a no brainer. That is without mentioning he'd just been called up for international duty. All these posts saying people would have been disappointed had we offered him a new contract last summer are ridiculous. It was the perfect time to do so when comparing progress/potential vs length of contract remaining. But we'd fudged ourselves into an embargo to begin with and then suddenly woke up in shock once he started banging the goals in. Unbelievable lack of foresight, even had his progression not been so dramatic.