I believe so.

I suspect the two Clubs are still currently a long way apart in terms of asking price unless Brighton have a massive rethink.

Well, the structure of the fee obviously DOES make a big difference as if for the sake of argument it's £500k down and the rest is add ons then if he's shite it's not as big a deal as if we paid the £2.5m upfront. Obviously we all hope he's a roaring success in which case at what point exactly we paid the £2.5m all becomes academic.

Why, what's up with Wharton?

Graham hasn't, I'll give you the other four though. An interesting post. We've also had our share of donkeys in recent years though, Best, DJ Campbell, Chris Brown, Luke Varney, Simeon Jackson and Gallagher etc etc so prolific goalscorers aren't that easy to unearth despite appearances to the contrary.

I also think that if BBD leaves we need two strikers not one as as we saw in the second half of last season, unless Dack gets back to somewhere near his best there's barely a goal in the rest of the team. Will people also stop with the "if we do X,Y and Z with Gallagher he'll become a 15-20 goal a season striker nonsense?" He's 27 and has only managed double figures once. It ain't happening, stop torturing yourselves. I did think I'd snap anyone's hand off if they offered half our money back for Gallagher. After his display on Saturday I'd reduce that down to £1m and get his wages off the payroll.

Although we're in no position to complain about any bodies coming in I'm not really convinced by the two latest signings and a BBD departure would make it a very poor window indeed imo. Shows up the "It takes longer to get quality in" argument as the players concerned have been linked to us for a while and you wouldn't exactly say either are out of the top drawer. At this stage of the window I'd wager BBD would be replaced by someone who isn't as good or temporarily by a loanee on the basis "it's difficult to do business at the last minute" or "everyone wants good players". If BBD absolutely has to leave to leave the best deal for us would be involve a top quality player in PX such as £10m plus JPVH from Brighton. Otherwise I fear we'll just bring in a substandard replacement and be weaker as a result in the long run.

I know that in your eyes no-one could possibly do as good a job as Saint Tony but it is incumbent on me to point out that since finishing 8th we've lost nine players from that squad (for nothing) so it's totally unfair for you to use last season's finishing position as the benchmark. If we do beat it, fantastic, but it would be some achievement I feel.

I couldn't give a monkeys about how it appears on TV or social media platforms, I'm only bothered about our own team having the maximum possible advantage which to me entails putting the away fans as far away from the pitch as possible whenever possible. Why do fans need less stewarding in the upper tier than the lower one?

We'll have to wait and see if there is a genuine "Dack stuation" or whether it's a figment of people's imagination. After yesterday's game, assuming JDT has 2 eyes in his head and isn't someone who "should have gone to Specsavers," I'd be rather more worried if I was Gallagher than Dack.

Bit harsh to sack the manager after one game one win! 🙂

Sorry I wasn't clear, I meant that due to the general nature of some of our play we looked to have a lot more potential "going forward" I.e. "looking to the future". I didn't mean we were dynamite going forward in an attacking sense yesterday, indeed we looked quite toothless up front which is why I don't think we can afford to lose BBD without getting 2 quality replacements in.

Thought Ryan Giles looked quality playing at LB for Boro under a decent manager. Not one of Lenihan's better games though

It doesn't take much these days! 🙂

Had this argument over and over with John Williams back in the day. If you're planning on the basis that you're going to fill the Darwen End with away fans half the season, you can never put into motion serious plans to fill the ground with home fans. I know we're a long way off even those days now but I'm sure there were home fans who enjoyed going in the DE lower when it was possible to do so and I'd have kept that going and been looking at ways to give us a credible presence of home fans at both ends of the ground.

Yes, with our own fans.

If there any actual evidence he's sulking though or is it just some nonsense posted on social media?

Rather more to do with Mowbray sulking and falling out with all and sundry, refusing to sign a striker and playing Bradley Johnson as a false 9 and losing the dressing room I'd have thought!

I strongly disagree on this. Keep away fans as far away from the pitch as possible imo. Why would it save a few pennies sticking them up top as down below? Wouldn't make any difference would it?

There seems to be quite an agenda building up against Dack in certain quarters, he's had two serious injuries, a very lengthy absence and then picked up a minor injury in pre-season didn't he?, I'm not sure at this stage his current absence can necessarily be put down to him not being willing to get fit enough or the manager not fancying him. If he hasn't featured two or three months into the season then maybe there's something in it. For me personally though, Dack on one leg is still preferable to Gallagher.

Can't agree. Gallagher offers nothing. I'd rather persist with Vale out of the two although I would say bringing in a decent striker should be a priority - just as it should have been in January also.

I think most of us would agree that even after one game there looks to be be a lot more potential going forward under JDT than Mowbray. But come on for Christ's sake the Club need to give him the raw materials to do the job. We got away with it yesterday, but It seems to me that we would be absolutely stuffed if we get a serious injury to Travis, Brereton or Kaminsky. We would also be struggling if either Scott Wharton or Ayala were out for a considerable period which you have to say is more likely than not in Ayala's case. Added to that Pickering's form appears to have fallen off a cliff and we could do with a better LB if we want to be challenging. (Which if QPR are indicative of the standard in the Championsip this year, should be possible) So let's not repeat the mistake of January when we failed to bring in cover for BBD and tanked as a result. CM Decent striker (2 if BBD leaves) CB LB Back up keeper Come on Waggott and Broughton, pull your fingers out and get the job done. No more weak excuses, it's obvious where we need strengthening.

Can't believe anyone would criticise Vale on his first appearance but but exempt Gallagher after the latter's quite simply embarrassing performance yesterday. He offers nothing. That's far more of an issue going forward for JDT to resolve if we want to be successful than Vale having a quiet game on his debut.

Well......if he's given £7m to spend and finishes higher than 15th ......he'll have done better than Mowbray in his first full season in the Championship.

Great three points, some encouraging signs, but we'll have to play better as the season goes on. Buckley played well but was a very lucky boy on 27 mins, already on a yellow he needlessly pulled someone back in the centre circle. The ref reached into his back pocket then realised he was already on a yellow and let him off. Most refs would have said "Tough shit mate!". Thought Wharton and Ayala were the best two performers today, very impressive I thought. Travis and Brittain were decent, didn't realise Lewis had a shot like that in him. Thought Dolan was very good when he came on. Negatives for me were Pickering, very shaky defensively and seems to have lost all his confidence when he gets the chance to go forward, opting to check back instead. And Gallagher, JFHC, even by his usual standards he was atrocious. Only JDT knows how he stayed on the pitch 90 mins. If I'd had a fiver for every time he gave the ball away I wouldn't need to work for the rest of the week. And the guy marking him was about 5 ft 8 and got the better of him nearly every time. Just remembered: Thunderstruck before the game! Great stuff - keep it up!