I didn't see any of it, but no surprise. What did they do?

Shearer was nearly 30 years ago, that's not a valid comparison to make at all. Same for Duff really. Even comparing Jones is disingenuous, the money in the game has changed beyond recognition since then. A Phil Jones would probably have cost about 60 million or more today.

Agreed. I don't think that place suits his personality at all either. Madrid absolutely embarrassed themselves with the petulant Ballon D'Or debacle. Never liked them as a club (always seen them as the Man U of Spain) but that really cemented how arrogant they are.

He might not be as bad as some state, but he still isn't good enough. Downgrading from Baker to him as our midfield cover was a factor in our plummeting down the table. He's also 34 and will only get worse. Absolutely shouldn't be re-signed, we can do better.

Montgomery is one of the lads sent on a short loan. He was recalled to play for us and is looking capable of making the step up next year. A couple of other players have had decent loans, but on the whole I don't think they've gone well and some (Garrett's) have been a disaster. I think a lot have been poorly chosen.

U18s drew 1-1 away to Everton. Our goal from Pates. The match stats skew heavily towards Everton (23 shots to 4, and 8 on target against 2, with 60% possession to them). We sit 6th in the 13-team North league.

Not to mention anyone we spend a decent fee on will want more wages than Dolan.

Not sure about that. Tronstad, Travis, Brittain, Batth. Beck if he hadn't gotten a bad injury from being overplayed. But he did, so I'll say 4 who had a strong claim, don't think anyone else touches them this season tbh. There have been some other good seasons played, but I think those 4 stand a cut above the rest for consistency and how key they've been for us. A hypothetically uninjured Beck aside, I can't make the case for any other player potentially finishing above any of them in the player of the season stakes.

Strange (and frustrating) that in the summer of 2023 we backed out of signing him because we only wanted the risk of a one year deal, not a two. Two years later, we are trying to tie him down for a third year and he's been one of our best players. Might not have been in that relegation scrap if we had signed him a year earlier.

Aye I know. Gives us a bit of protection for a year though (as long as his agent doesn't do what Phillips' did and put a fairly shit clause in) until we can get him on a longer one. Of course, hard to have faith we can handle the contract negotiations these days.

Then I hope we get him signed up to proper terms now he's turned 17!

I just meant they were the trio talked about as being our next big things, a golden batch. Batty was certainly being hyped by some as though he had future Premiership potential. The other two of course, were touted as 'generational talents', which Wharton has lived up to but Phillips has some way to go yet. A few years on, two are gone (both for less than we should have got) and one is no longer given much thought by most. Meanwhile we've lost one from the next clutch (Finneran) for peanuts, with top clubs allegedly showing interest in others like Higgins and Tyjon before we can secure them onto good terms. Nice that Montgomery has surprised many with his sudden rise to the first team squad though. Hope we can get Tyjon signed up to proper terms when he turns 17.

Even so, I think knowing their fans will be alright with them losing if it stops us getting a playoff spot probably takes a bit of pressure off them.

Seems strange to think Batty was once mentioned in the same breath as Wharton and Phillips. His star has certainly waned since, though I suppose it's not too late for him to make it yet as he's young.

I'm tempted to guess the opposite - there is one, but they're considering pretending there isn't so there is no pressure to spend any.