Agreed but are there many players that could have been signed for £500 k(in installments) in January and the likely low wage that O'Riordan will be on that could have had an immediate impact? We had been trying to get that O'Riordan deal done early doors in January and reported we tried last summer so was a long term target of the club and could potentially still be a good signing longer term. We didn't have a pot to piss in as evidenced by who came in in January, so agree the money could have been spent on someone that was ready to play now but I'd have no confidence they would have been any good like the rest of our January signings and the majority of our summer signings with the exception of Tronstad and to a lesser extent Hill

O'Riordan was signed with the future in mine though to be fair, bought for his potential. You don't see many under 21 centre halves coming from league 2 and straight into the action for a Championship side. Only in time will we see if that money was well spent or not .I do take the argument that the fee could have been used on a player more ready to aid us this season but what does 500k in installments get you these days

Next season and beyond?He is only contracted till 2025.I think he will be gone in the summer

Johnston only on loan with them from Celtic . Looks a real talent

Hyam is only contracted till 2025 isn't he? If that is the case then can see him moving on in the summer. No way are we in contention to sign James,Brum will be looking for good money for him and reportedly they had bids from an Italian team and Palace in January

Nixon linked us, telegraph said yesterday nothing in it

Why would we be getting McGuire on a free?He will cost a transfer fee Not sure if Sibley out of contract at end of season but he wouldn't be free either as he is only 22

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/27303565/blackburn-rovers-john-ruddy-transfer-birmingham/#Echobox=1713033602 Nixon linking us with Ruddy

It won't take 52 points to stay up in my opinion. 50 should be enough

Well we did get Tronstad on a free who is better than them both. Not advocating selling either of them as it would probably be a cheap loan or nobody with this convenient block on sending funds over ,I would have sold Travis if JDT was still manager but he will have a clean slate under Eustace,tho I don't see him playing ahead of Tronstad or JRC and being out of the team here left Travis moaning behind the scenes etc reportedly I take people's point that we probably wouldn't sign better and would keep them both but at the same in Travis case going from being a regular starter and captain to being a bench player he won't want that and will be pushing to move away and rarely an unhappy player pushing for a move is kept on at any club,they get the move

Wonder if a transfer fee clause is in it? Whatever we get for him in the summer we can be sure Peterborough will get a chunk of it.Hopefully Waggott learned his lesson and didn't agree to 40% like with Arma.

Id put JRC at RB ,Ayari in midfield and Brittain on the bench

Going into December we were placed 4th for the number of clear cut chances created in the league. Some of the football was excellent going into December

Presumably he is put in the first team as other clubs have already expressed an interest and the club including him in our match Day squad is to try encourage him to sign a deal here In this day and age clubs are aware of the better young players at other clubs.Finneran had already won player of the year of his age group for the Irish national team before any inclusion in our first team

Morton isn't better than Wharton,and correct their is bias but Morton has done well for Hull this season and I don't think he was as awful as made out last season.He has been a regular starter for 2 seasons running for teams in and around the top 6 the majority of the season. When he did get a game for Liverpool he wasn't that bad , impressing in both the Milan champions league game and away to Spurs in the premier league in an important match when Klopp left other more experienced players out.Im not suggesting he is Liverpool level but he is one of the better young midfielders at championship level and he would be around the England under 21 squad imo regardless of his Liverpool connection, still a joke Wharton wasn't in the initial squad this time when he is playing every week in the premier league

Yeah but they could have got his wages off the books and received a transfer fee if they accepted the bid from Ipswich. It just doesn't make sense to turn down multiple bids from Ipswich, then when Ipswich have signed their alternatives we then make Gally available for transfer.

It would be odd if they were doing that with Gallagher on deadline day. Why turn down multiple cash bids for Gallagher from Ipswich, to then make him available after Ipswich had filled that position by signing Moore and the striker from Wimbledon?

If you listened to the interview then you would have heard him say that he believes the main reason he got the job was due to his background in academy football. It is the board or owners who have decided to go down that route,they obviously want the first team squad heavy with minimal spending in the transfer market.So in essence if it isnt Broughton it will just be another with an academy background and no experience of being a dof. The interview was good in my eyes for the reason alone that once again Waggott has been found out lieing to supporters who have gone to see him for a chat. Waggott claimed that both Hyam and Szmodic were on existing transfer lists from the previous regime and that JDT was already on the management shortlist before Broughton arrived. Before you ask why do I believe Broughton and not Waggott.Broughton answered the questions put to him that would be broadcasted for many people to see whilst Waggott hides in his office telling fans fairytales

Nixon saying Wharton being called into the under 21 squad

Yeah what a bullshitter Waggott is.Broughton also explicitly said in that interview that he asked for JDT to be added to the shortlist.Waggot was telling fans on here ,that he had already been identified prior to Broughton's arrival. Good interview I thought, the majority of the recruitment has been woeful this season but anyone would find it hard in those circumstances,budget changing every 2 minutes. Interesting he made a point of saying "Iv been told " when asked about the budget this coming summer his demeanor suggested to me he wasn't holding his breath. Also how he stated how he feels the main reason of him getting the job was due to his academy background.So any fans expecting a wheeler dealer type with heavy experience in this sort of role to be a replacement are going to be disappointed. This fella might not be any good at his job, I personally don't feel it's been woeful when you consider the conditions he has had to work under but he certainly doesn't deserve anywhere near as much grief as those above him.

Pears back tomorrow. JRC , Tronstad and Carter back after the international break according to telegraph

Not in the England under 21 squad.He should be

We won 5-1 mate

I haven't been overly keen on his sound bites either but I do think some of the criticism for them is way over the top. Like for example I have seen him being called all sorts of names on Facebook more than on here for suggesting that Plymouth didn't create much in the match , but the interview I read he was referring to after we went down to ten men and they didn't create as many clear cut chances after it. And then today an article in the telegraph and Eustace is saying the timing of our press being off was his reasoning for us being so open and Plymouth getting good chances prior to the sending off ,and that he had tweaked things tactically at HT but due to McFadzean being sent off we didn't see it being implemented

Bummer