Exiled_Rover

Rothwell will do nothing in the PL. Those mazy dribbles he goes on only happen because he has a decent turn of pace. Everyone in the PL has a decent turn of pace.

One of the many problems I had with Mowbray is that every offseason was a firefighting / patchwork job just to assemble a squad - mostly by bringing in 5+ loanees. He never actually built a squad, just survived year to year with loaned players. In a way it's good that now the buck has stopped, JDT has almost a clean slate to work with (Ayala's ridiculous wages aside), but he has a lot to fix in a short time.

Vilas lost control in the middle overs - we were strangling them in the power play, then started leaking 10+ run overs. They scored about 50 more than I expected them to. He's a poor short overs captain imo.

So have the new administration not offered him a contract? Why is he suddenly announced as leaving?

Our Director of Football and Head Coach have only just arrived - they need to watch a few training sessions (and a few games from last season) to work out what everyone can do before diving into the transfer market. Burnley's structure hasn't changed - and they must have known they were losing their two starting CBs and their starting GK the second they went down. We need to make the right signings, not just quick ones.

Duff was forced out, wasn't he? I read a story that basically he was told his bags had been taken off the plane (I assume we were off somewhere for pre-season) cos Chelsea had met our valuation / his release clause and he had to speak to them. I gather he was pretty miffed about how it all went down.

Friedel pissed me off on Five Live a while ago when he didn't correct the interviewer - said interviewer seemed intent on focusing on his time at Liverpool and Spurs, rather than y'know the bulk of his career and the reason he was considered a success. 'Big club' bias, as per. Never had any time for Brad after that.

Really poor from England today - gave New Zealand at least 50 too many runs with their moronic bowling before lunch and now you'd think they'd never seen a ball swing with how they're batting this afternoon. Test over. As Boycott used to say 'you can't win a Test in a session, but you can certainly lose it.' This is a textbook example - 4 down for nothing with an extremely long tail chasing 300+.

Genuine question - does anyone feel any sort of emotional attachment to the players these days? Maybe it's just me and the standard being so poor - I used to love Tugay, Emerton (for all his faults!) etc. This lot are mostly just replaceable cloggers in my eyes - nobody to get attached to. You don't feel like you're watching anything special. At a stretch I'd say I'm fond of Travis.

Bottom 8 is generous. If we played a competitive Championship fixture tomorrow I'd put my mortgage on us losing.

I'd give that honour, comfortably, to Lenihan. Bang average Championship CB on his best day. Earned the captain's armband due to seniority rather than on merit.

I think he's fantastic defensively 1-on-1. If he's able to stand you up you might as well just give the ball to him. He has lapses of concentration at times (don't they all) and his end product is poor going forward - which is why PL clubs haven't come calling. I think it's a big loss in terms of its another hole we have to fill (no thank you to JRC or Brown playing any meaningful minutes at RB), but he's not a world beater of a player.

My point stands. We quickly hired JDT after Broughton was appointed. That's no coincidence.

I won't applaud him when he returns to Ewood. I would boo him if he signed for Burnley.

Hiring JDT after Broughton was appointed.

He doesn't have to - they clearly want to keep the U23 (or U21?) team strong. If he's a decent contributor at that level then there's no harm in extending his contract to provide depth / options at that level. He won't be on good money.

If we sell Brereton for £20m and don't invest half of it back into transfers / wages, then yes we have no real desire to compete.

Yep, sadly that's the stranglehold the PL has on the game in this country.

Well firstly they both took 3 years to blossom, so you have to plan accordingly. Secondly, that's why you have Broughton in place - it's his job to find said talent. Otherwise why is he here?

Brentford don't have an Academy, so there's no model to follow.

There are lots of good players available for free in the Championship. The days of big transfer fees are in the past at this level - nobody has any money.

It's a big blow, but as I understand it JDT relies on his FBs to be offensive outlets. That isn't Nyambe's strength at all... so I wonder if they put a cap on the salary they were willing to offer him?

Welcome to the Championship - you have no leverage over disgruntled players. Also I reckon that's an easy 9 points that's walked out the door - he's a fantastic keeper.

Interestingly, as one of the earliest and staunchest defenders of Brereton, I want him to go. It's best for all concerned - we get a much needed injection of cash, we show that we can be a stepping stone for the next young player and quite frankly we don't have to worry about whether it was all a fluke. Obviously Ben gets his big money / opportunity. He's not a £20m player.

I'd just point out Phil Jones to him. Fabulously wealthy, but a laughing stock. Utd absolutely ruined him.