Gareth Southgate you lucky lucky man. No shot on target over 120 mins. Still his gamble has now paid off so good luck to him. Having put all his eggs in one basket of going down this side of the draw it would be a massive failure now if we fail to reach the semi final. Thereafter Croatia are a decent side so whilst it Wouldn't be failure to go out to them it would still be a massive disappointment to get so close and go out to a mid ranking sort of side. It's on. Somehow.

Don't deserve it but I fancy us to sneak it.

It's been all Colombia for the last ten minutes of normal time and the first 15 of extra time. Gareth "put a glass eye to sleep" Southgate's pep talk at full time must have put them to sleep. A mate just sent me a very funny What's App saying "England's 5 penalty takers" with a picture of Harry Kane in various corny disguises.

Just rewound and watched BBC news a 3rd time. They said he's "only fit enough to start on the bench". Maybe they're completely wrong.

I could have sworn it said on BBC news just now he was only available from the bench unless I misheard and they said he'd be watching from the bench. I even rewound and watched it twice.

He is on the bench

Damn you England. We've got the wrong bloke in charge but by a sheer accident of fate if Southgate's gamble doesn't backfire and we can somehow get past Columbia we only have to beat Sweden and Croatia to get to the World Cup Final. It's the hope wot kills you.

Agreed. Don't know anything about Bauer, I'd have said "experienced Championship Centre half" personally but on the plus side he does fit the Rothwell and Davenport model of being young with potential which is great as long as they're all good enough to keep us up next season. I'd be ecstatic with Chapman as one of the wide man and fairly happy with Armstrong as the "fast" striker. I'd also rather say "striker who can find the net at Championship level" as opposed to "big striker". That summons up visions of Chris Brown! Lol. Still think a new contract for Dack is an absolute priority, never mind who else might or might not be coming in as well.

That might be all well and good in normal circumstances but as JH says we are 110m + in debt already and still losing money at a rate of knots for every day we are out of the Premier League so it is somewhat risky taking a slowly slowly approach I case the owners lose interest at any point. I think we need to try and go up asap by whatever means possible. I know that you have to have one eye on FFP and that there are other Clubs with far greater income (if not richer owners) trying to do exactly the same but there will always be a question mark hanging over the long term future of the Club until the debts are either written off or brought down to manageable proportions.

Have you got all night? I'd take just about anyone ahead of Southgate. His managerial record at senior level prior to taking the job was roughly comparable to Steve Kean. Do you think a top Club side in the Premier League would employ him?

Well as this deal is only rumoured to be worth up to a maximum of 500k with add ins. We'll have to wait and see. If another eight or nine players come in at that sort of level and/ or we spend big on a striker you might be proved to be right.

Would you want Southgate in charge of Rovers? I Wouldn't. His only attribute is he is a bland FA yes man who will never say anything controversial or ruffle any feathers and from the FA's point of view was the ideal man to come in and pour oil on troubled waters after the big Sam scandal.

What are you on about? Because we spent an "undisclosed" fee? I.e. not very much? Might turn out to be a very good signing in the fullness of time but It's more a case of pulling a rabbit out of the hat on the cheap than evidence we have much to spend.

For me we have some very good young players but the wrong man in charge and that will continue to be the case should he still be in charge when most of this lot are at their peak in 4 years time.

I'm not a fan of 3-5-2 but that doesn't look bas at all considering Williams looks much more comfortable at CB than RB. I'd wager TM is looking more at keeping faith witb last year's squad something like Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Bennett Evans Smallwood Conway Dack Graham and putting the new lads on the bench though.

Belgium are through. Remains to be seen if we will be in 24 hours time. Noticeable both Croatia and Belgium laboured badly after resting 9 players in the final group game.

Unfortunately whist extremely commendable none of that is of any relevance whatsoever if he isn't good enough. Out of interest do people see either Davenport or Rothwell starting?

Rothwell was out of contract wasn't he?

Don't worry Bob. In a couple of Days according to Nixon Kent will have Its' bag packed all ready to move to sunny Lancs but by the end of the week in a shock horror development the move will mysteriously and sensationally collapse.

Anyhow good luck to the lad. If we've signed him on a permanent four year deal as opposed to a loan we must see something in him and hopefully he won't just be a bit part player. Only a big nasty centre back, left back two strikers and a couple of wingers with pace needed now.

When have you seen Davenport play?

Certainly is, he's 42! Don't give Waggott any ideas. On a serious note it would be nice to be linked with or sign a player that is obviously going to go straight into the first eleven as opposed to being a squad filler or bench warmer. I would imagine that's the basis of most people's caution.

This thread is becoming a bit like a spoof, not only are people apparently whinging about what effectively is after cashback in the shop at most an OPTIONAL £5 for away ticket priority if You're a season ticket holder and Don't buy any extra tickets for friends and family, now they are trying to see if they can catch the Club out on their advertising blurb by calculating whether the ratio of Club cash to season ticket price is higher or lower than last season! Unreal. It's pretty simple really. If you Don't think away ticket priority will not be necessary next year then the 1875 scheme is optional not compulsory therefore it doesn't cost anyone a penny. If you think priority might be necessary for two or three games then £5 (if you use the Club Shop) is surely a more than reasonable price to pay. It's little wonder we might only be signing loans and free transfers this summer if the reaction on here to the modest increase in ST prices and the Monty Pythonesque debate about the 1875 scheme is typical of the fan base as a whole. Outside of this board I haven't heard any comment about price one way or the other.

Wouldn't have thought he could have been that great given they were relegated. Given TM's preference for experience hard to see him being anything other than another squad filler. The other thing that doesn't particularly stack up is that according to the City fan who posted he had turned down a new deal at City to try and pursue a career elsewhere where he was likely to get a game. That being the case why would he agree to a loan move anywhere?

If correct another loan/freebie.