Broughton tried to get him to re-up from that improved offer (whatever it was), but he turned us down. By the sounds of it he hasn't really been interested in renegotiating since then. Who knows how much money he's left on the table in the short term by taking this approach - certainly several thousand pounds a week for two years.

What is there currently to celebrate?

What are they spending the money on? Certainly not the team.

I'd be absolutely astounded if he gets a PL offer, he's miles off that standard.

I think he's Plan A. A 6'5" aggressive, athletic CF who wins the vast majority of contested balls and brings others into play. You build around that and let the others (Cantwell, Winger, Winger) start taking over the game.

Easy enough to resolve, fire Ismael.

What was our style of play when Ohashi was upfront? Watch the ball come back at us time and time again? We had the balance right at the start of the season - start the games with Gueye and then bring Ohashi on as a sub on 70 minutes when the defenders were tired.

I've genuinely no idea why fans don't like Gueye. He was our best player at times last season and completely unplayable for defenders.

Exactly.

He was arguably our player of the season.

Derby came in and took our manager. What hope do we have of stopping a player going there?

I thought they were all pretty good signings, especially considering the outlay. Gueye was unplayable at times, Ohashi scored 10, Toth has taken the gloves off Pears (we hope!). Sadly Kargbo got injured, but he has the pace we've been crying out for. Alas the person that lined those all up left in October and you saw the calibre of player we brought in during January under Gestede et al. We're fucked.

Wahlstedt covered the cost of Toth, Gallagher covered the cost of Gueye and Ohashi. So what, we spent £1.5m on Cantwell and Kargbo after bringing in over £30m?

Well they haven't spent any money for nearly 2 years and literally drove off one of the best managers in the league because they refused to back him - so I'd suggest it's unlikely.

But the lame 'American Badass' version.

It's both. He's hated at Charlton and Coventry. The man is a cancer.

It depends what system Ismael installs next season. If he goes to 3 at the back with 2 wing backs then we need another CB and a CF. If he sticks with a 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 then we need two talented wingers.

I see the plastic scousers are out in force in Liverpool today. I really do detest that club.

It's a crying shame that after 15 years this appears to be the only way we'll be able to wrest this club from the cold, dead hands of the Venkys and that fans are begging for it.

Then you have to ship him out as he'll be on a decent wage (for us).

This fills me with dread.

Someone must be leaving then as we're well stocked at CB.

I don't think that's fair. Broughton tried to get Phillips tied down and his agent bent us over a barrel. They gave minutes to him AND Finneran before they were ready to convince them that there was a pathway to playing first team football here.

Last comment on the subject as I'm clearly in the minority - considering yourself as getting 'lucky' that a lad you've had at the club since he was 7/8 signs a scholarship deal absolutely stinks. The system is beyond broken. Phillips and Finneran were stolen for nothing - and those are just the higher profile ones we know about (I know City stole a winger of ours a few years ago). Boro are able to player trade partly because they actually sell their Academy products for good value. What are they doing that we're not? How do they get players to sign on and show some loyalty?

I assume eventually they'll fold the club, having taken us down to the non-leagues. They'll ultimately blame the fans for not backing the side.