Mattyblue

Serious questions need asking that goes back to last summer in not taking advantage of the goodwill around the club going into the Oxford game. I was imagining by now that we would be looking towards the c11,000 we were selling under Bowyer. Small, incremental gains each season. Instead, unless there is a big spike over the next two weeks we are looking at returning to the Coyle season sales, still our worst in almost 30 years. The fact Waggott pretended we only sold 8,800 last season tells me he knew early on this summer that sales were struggling and a face saving operation has swung into place.

Apart from when the F1 is on them it moves to More4. So really like old times!

Boro make job cuts. Can’t they just sell the ground to Gibson? https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/job-cuts-middlesbrough-fc-club-16568406.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Their friendly gets a story on the BBC website. Great PR as always by Holt. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48958963

Sounds like there’s been an issue for a couple of seasons with direct debits being approved...

It has. Shame no bugger outside committed fans know it’s on.

I’ve always had a lot of time for Sheffield Wednesday. Go in my ‘grand old club’ category along with our good selves, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Derby County. Obviously living and working with folk changes your attitude. Me and my Dad have spent a lot of time working Preston way and we have a dislike of PNE that outweighs most Rovers fans who generally see them akin to a Blackpool or Wigan.

Bury v West Brom friendly cancelled. Some line about West Brom choosing to extend their overseas tour, but a bit of face saving, you imagine. https://www.buryfc.co.uk/news/2019/july/pre-season-game-vs-west-brom-cancelled/

Butterfield.

Knows him, be fairly cheap (in comparison to Rafa) and a safe pair of hands until he flogs them, will be the thinking.

Again, no issue with bringing in a young player. Armstrong, fine example at an initial £1.75m. BB, at that price, was not logical or ‘common sense’.

BB will get brought up because it is an example of a panic buy in the dying stages of a window. £7million is a lot of money for someone so raw, even if he’s on minimum wage. Your flex may hold water, but it still needs to be based on bringing in the right players. The fact Gallagher is being pursued says it will be another season of BB ‘developing’. I bet a lot of clubs would love such a luxury for a 7 million signing.. and yet you constantly talk about being poor relations!

Obviously bulk bought from an ad in the back of Four Four Two magazine.

Point I’m making is why are we struggling for funds for a GK, when we’ve just sold one for £3million? Ergo that says to me he was always going to be sold and his total budget included the £3million from the outset.

I take it Raya was always going to be sold then? I.e £3million already accounted for

Of course it is. But Travis, like the rest of them didn’t play particularly well so there was no reason for the Evans/Smallwood partnership to be broken up at that point. I don’t care as it worked out in the end, so thank you Smallwood for that rush of blood.

Nobody is suggesting that at all. But of course the make up of the squad is the final call of the manager at a club like ours - I.e manager dominant and no DoF.

He was in the side in place of Evans, who was rested after Boxing Day along with Graham. Ergo, without a Smallwood sending off, next game Evans would’ve have been back in, nothing to suggest otherwise as they were the first choice pair at that point and Travis would’ve been off to League 1 on loan.

Good chance two of the games are called off. Not getting ‘fitness in the legs’ without matches, are we? Not sure why you have to a daily chunner about what other people post, but feel free.

Well obviously, but contracts will be drawn up with the approval of the manager, no? It’s his squad.

Reading this doesn’t make the Bury game sound too promising... https://www.burytimes.co.uk/sport/17748515.comment-major-job-sgt-wilko-tries-sort-shakers-mess/

No problem with players being signed up. The issue here was they were handed out far too early in the season, when we were on a decent run of form/full of promotion momentum. In the new year, as form dipped, it was clear Mulgrew, as an example, was struggling at this level. Therefore signing him up to 2021, on presumably some of the biggest wages in the club, months previously was a ridiculous state of affairs. Why the rush to sign up Evans/Smallwood/Bennett/Mulgrew so early before they’d had chance to see if they are up to the required level? I doubt clubs were falling over themselves to check their availability in September. Very poor planning and as said on here, ‘we’ll pay for it in the summer’.

The fat new contracts for Evans et al biting him on the arse, as expected. If only ‘negative brfcs’ had just ‘trusted the manager’ when he was doling them out.

It’s everywhere in England, east Lancs isn’t as bad as many places, and getting worse. A coulple of generations and I fear for local football clubs.

Bell certainly was an obvious weakness to me. Looks a long way from a Championship standard full back. Lackadaisical, seemingly can’t stop crosses being put in on his flank, not great on the overlap and poor in possession. Lets hope he improves because I doubt a left back is being brought in.