I found that a particularly confusing line too. Especially since it was the rationale given for the last deal last summer. Either that deal didn't put him in line with the top earners last year...or the new boys are being paid a fair chunk more than our top earners from last year. I'd put my money on the latter. Hope we give him the right length of contract this time. Has to be four years, or, like I said last summer, we will just be here again next year.

I'll save my mirth for full time. Hopefully.

Just read in the LT pre match buildup that Rothwell is injured and that's 'why he isn't in the starting lineup'. Hah, good one LT, I'm sure that's the only reason. We seem to be playing decent anyway.

Asked my Spurs-supporting mate about him. Says he is a good player if he's fit, which was why they ended up selling him. A little injury-prone and turned up to a pre-season overweight but was good enough to start for Spurs at the time, when they were an upper mid table team.

I'm 100% confident that whatever happens, when this season is over, it will have been a season.

4 of those 7 are most likely only here FOR one season. Leaving a lot of work to be done next season even before natural attrition of players and reinforcing where we are weak.

To get people on message boards to talk about them.

And Rothwell handing in a transfer request. Downing sucking up a large wage to not start. Sounds like a good player but I'm still amazed that midfield never seems to stop being our main recruitment priority.

If the rumour that we paid a million pound loan fee is true, recalling him should be a contractual impossibility. At least, without a partial refund.

Also, if Bennett is playing as an actual winger, he really is being forced into the team at any cost despite what Tony says. Several better options available there.

Assuming Millwall are the rough and tumble team they always seem to be, this doesn't seem like the game to start Buckley, due to his lightweight build. It calls for a warrior like Travis. Sceptical of that formation, especially at home to Millwall. We will see how it turns out, but I'm expecting a dull, attritional game. Hope we have enough to come through it, though we could find ourselves bullied today. Arma is no giant.

Shoring the whole side up would have involved bringing in more than two defenders.

We don't like to buy defenders but we love to collect mids and strikers. So kids in the former area have more chance of breaking through when our defenders inevitably break, than kids from the latter. Players like Mols sadly have far too many players to compete with for a sniff.

There's a good reason for that.

It was 100% the right decision.

That was an excellent goal from their lad to be fair.

Not if we have paid a million up front as rumoured. Doubt the contract allows that. If it does (without some sort of refund) then whoever signed it needs firing for incompetence.

You would hope, anyway. But we do like to give out the occasional charity contract.

I think I remember reading that Coventry's council did something like this and made a packet off it?

We were already losing by the time I got out of work to know the lineup so I didn't think anything. But even with hindsight, playing 3 of his usual back 4 when we are light on the ground for quality there, and Dack, suggests he is taking it fairly seriously. Not that I particularly want him to. Dack shouldn't be playing, for me. If we end the game with an injury in the back 4 I'll also be annoyed. But again. We are apparently dominating the play, so TM and the players are obviously taking it seriously. Just think playing Leuts is a mistake (wants to give everyone game time annoyingly). Keepers don't need resting unless injured. Ever.

Why did you think that? Our first choice back 4 (what should be anyway), Dack...I think we took too many risks if anything. We've also dominated the game by the sounds of it, just gash at the back. The only wtf inclusions are Leutwiler, Smallwood and arguably Evans (he's good enough for a cup game for me though, just not paired with Smallwood). I'd have benched Dack personally, and Cunningham, to keep them fresh.

You're like the anti-Mercer.

In fairness sounds like we have fielded a reasonably strong team and are all over them, but ballsing up at the back as usual.

I think it's inevitable Nyambe starts at centre half if we are resting Williams and Lenihan and Tosin is out, as Joe Harvey reckons. No way he goes with Platt and Grayson, who he described as not good enough at home against League Two Oldham, against Premiership Sheffield United away. He might play one of them (I'd guess Grayson) if what Joe Harvey says is true, as there really isn't anyone else. Short of putting Cunningham in at CB and Bell at LB. Games like this really do highlight how criminally short in defence we are beyond the first choice (except at RB, where our second choice should be our first choice anyway). As soon as people are injured, unavailable or need to be rested, our options look pitiful and the jamming in of unproven youngsters or square pegs to round holes commences in earnest. TM obviously didn't grasp the issue in the summer window, we can only hope he figures it out by January. I'm not optimistic about that from his track record, but the penny has to drop eventually. Surely...

I don't think we are overestimating the level they can play at (except for when we loaned Platt to League One which was never gonna pan out). If anything I think the loans are sometimes too low down, and if our main team were in the Prem, they'd be loaned higher up the pyramid. I think it's more that teams are reluctant to risk starting young players in defence, where basically all of the players we have loaned out in recent times play. Especially when they don't own those players to get the eventual benefit of their development. I think attacking players like Butterworth would get a fairer shake. I agree the situation is starting to get daft and needs looking at. Mowbray seems to get this, since he has been talking about clubs making bigger wage contributions to ensure they want the player and aren't just padding their squads cheaply.