I'd be delighted with £8m if it's reinvested into the squad.

Lancashire for mine every time. Beautiful part of the world.

You thought Mowbray was operating to a plan or model? To me he was flying by the seat of his pants trying to fill a squad every year. There was no succession planning - hell he didn't even decide on a style of play / formation.

As one of the few fans that persisted with Brereton-Diaz when he was getting pelters from all sides because it was clear there was a footballer in there - he'll be getting a stony silence from me come his last game at Ewood.

I'm only adding to the thread derailment, but screw it. Broughton and JDT could do nothing about Lenihan, Rothwell and Nyambe (seems his mind was made up). We'll see if Dack stays / is sold and evidently Brereton-Diaz has had his head turned. Everyone seems to expect these guys to be miracle workers. They have a lot of damage to fix, give them time - I genuinely thought this could be a relegation season with the squad Mowbray left.

That would be the cherry on top.

People are also making too much out of our CBs being playmakers. Their primary job in this system is to defend. When they're on the ball they're meant to pass it to the CMs or FBs. They're not being asked to deliver 40 yard through balls. The problem is our CMs go hiding (hence why Dack is dropping so deep to get the ball!) and our only system-friendly FB is injured (again).

You don't think an attacker is a priority? Striker is #1, but Brereton-Diaz is walking out that door soon. Who replaces him?

Personally I'd like to take the gamble on Cantwell - but it looks like we've been priced out.

You'd have lynched everyone if we'd tied him down to a contract 18 months ago. He was persona non grata.

Pretty much - I'm not going to whine that we're bringing in a quality player. They're scarce enough around Brockhall as it is.

Loses his awkward cult hero status if he leaves on a free, surely.

Sadly with 6 months left on his contract that's very difficult to do. He'll just sit it out and go for free to the club of his choice (with a massive signing on fee).

Mainly because Mowbray never built anything. He flooded the team with loans every season so every summer you had to completely rebuild the squad. You're punishing JDT and Broughton for Mowbray's sins.

Except most of you don't actually get to Ewood so that analogy doesn't apply. We're literally down to an absolute hardcore of 12k+ who attend despite 12 years of crap ownership and incredibly expensive season tickets. Broughton and JDT aren't trying to pull any wool over anyone's eyes - they're both ambitious and think this is a platform to make their mark in the football world. At the end of the day neither one really cares about Blackburn or the surrounding area - it's a means to an end.

He comes across very well in interviews and I really, really like our Head Coach. Basically I'm the poster in the X-Files office - I want to believe.

That's incredibly unfair. It's clear that we were running a skeleton crew under Mowbray with Venus and Park the only two others involved with transfers. Broughton has had to come in and appoint a raft of people to get those departments looking anything like. This is a big window for him.

I'd keep Carter - who's never let us down and can play CB and RB - and sell JRC. I'd loan / sell Barnes too.

As I've said, both Garrett and A. Wharton have taken a game by the scruff of the neck in very limited starting appearances. Morton has started pretty much every game and has never done that. I don't understand the hype about him at all - he's an alright Championship CM.

If we're honest Morton is just a bit shit.

My friend, who's a Leeds fan, insists that they're not a PL team without his contributions last season. Take that for what it's worth.

I also assume Ayala is one of the highest earners at the club.

Agree to disagree. We need a goal scoring #9, that would change everything.

It's a bit of both - if we're to become a self-sustaining club then besides Academy graduates coming through (and inevitably being sold) we also have to bring in players with future transfer value. This lad from Hibs is highly rated (I wouldn't like to comment as I've never seen him play), but if we can bring him in for a cut-price deal and he starts then he both strengthens our current team and has re-sale value if we don't go up. It's the same with Cantwell for me, he's well worth the gamble. Barnes needs a season on loan and might just be someone we eventually sell to fund the Academy.

You can't send him forward because he doesn't have the pace to get back. Realistically this system needs a Brittain at LB as well as RB - two FBs that can get up and down the flanks and deliver crosses.