We need 1 CB - that leaves us with Wharton, Ayala (who will get injured at some point), Carter (we have to give him 6 months to prove himself at this level), Phillips and A.N. Other. That's plenty.

Baseball is a closed system though (a pitcher and a hitter), it's much easier to apply statistical models to.

It doesn't factor in whether Harry Kane or Chris Brown is taking the shot. Kane would outperform his expected xG considerably.

I was always taught "don't be afraid to ask a stupid question". Shame on you if you repeatedly ask it though.

What if he's sold and replaced with Styles and two of Evjen / Bowler / Birmančević? That'd be good business. We have to hope Broughton and JDT have a contingency plan in place.

I'd bet against that.

I'm ok with taking that gamble. £10k a week isn't going to break the wage structure or the bank. The eventual transfer fee (assuming he doesn't help us power to promotion) might.

He's judged it perfectly so far - clearly he's a fantastic man manager (that little hug with Phillips, encouraging Dack to close people down when he came on [after starting him mid-week against Hartlepool], the players running their blood to water). I've no worries about him managing our resources - I just wish we'd pull our finger out and give him more. Three more of the same quality as Brittain and we're laughing.

Are we targeting promotion? JDT has called for patience (and 5 more players, tbf). I think we COULD push for the Playoffs and of course it's wonderful to be top of the league at the moment... but our squad is wafer thin AND carrying passengers (I won't single them out, but you all know who they are). Two games a week is an incredible ask of them.

If he's what we think he is, Travis, Wharton et al will recognise that he's a better player than they are - to use an Americanism, 'game recognises game'. Plus if he helps them win football matches they'll want him to get paid. As of this moment he's our third best CB - Carter hasn't proven he can play at this level (I think he can) and Barnes is injured for the season.

£10k a week for a lad that you can play once a week (when we have to double up on fixtures) and can sell for tens of millions in two years? No brainer. He looked so assured on Sunday.

To be fair it was our problem when we were good too - we produced loads of Championship / L1 / L2 players, but very few PL players and they were eventually snapped up. Money talks.

The article says it was Mowbray. It also looked shit on tv.

I'm attributing it to JDT.

Fourth choice? Luxury! We were down to our sixth choice on Sunday - Pickering as emergency cover.

I imagine they'd just say "you're not going to play for us ever again - so rot in the reserves on £100k a week or take a pay cut and move elsewhere".

My dad turned to me after his goal on Sunday and said "if I was a PL club on the fence about buying him, that would have convinced me". He obviously then went on to skin two Watford players and lay it on a plate for Gallagher.

Because he's a big intimidating bully in CM and that's the style of play Bruce prefers. He was constantly in the ref's ear yesterday and clearly had a massive influence on how he officiated the game.

It's why the minnows try to lock them up early - before they've had a chance to establish themselves and get on England's radar.

Do we know how serious the Carter injury is? We've just been told Wharton is out for a couple of weeks.

I think we're doing ok in terms of 'replacing' players, I think we need to improve on them to push on: Rothwell - replaced by Morton (who looked a gudd'n yesterday) Johnson / Davenport - replaced by Wharton and Garrett (neither played much for us last season anyway) Lenihan / Van Hecke - replaced by Carter and Phillips To push on we need a CB (ideally one who can cover RB with Carter and push Wharton / Ayala for a starting spot), a starting LB (Pickering isn't quick enough and Edun is a disaster there) and a quick CF.

If it was my son I'd be advising him to sign with Blackburn Rovers. I'd do the same if he was breaking through at any Championship club at 17. If he's good enough those Premier League offers will be there in a year or two and you'll be in a better bargaining position too.

We need a CB, a LB and an attacker (preferably a quick CF) to consider it a 'good' window.

Exactly, they'll be in the Playoff mix come the end of the season. We looked leggy because the weather was ridiculous. Whenever we need a break during games we drop into that mid block. We need reinforcements due to injuries rather than tiredness at the moment - although that will soon change with 2 games a week for the forseeable.

I don't think one is influencing the other - they're after a certain quality of player and those deals are taking time to get over the line.