O'Hara is one of the worst and least intelligent pundits around. Must be a rare lapse to make a reasonable point.

Its literally a sentence at the bottom of a seperate article with a local journalist saying that we would expect some funds to be available. No specifics, nothing suggesting significant funds. Now thats a club endorsed guarantee.

Sadly true. He is arguably at least as good as anyone we have beside Rice in there, it would be a huge shame to see Gallagher ahead of him. Mainoo I would somewhat understand, Trent again as a bit of a curveball although that would be a risk.

Italy have quite a strong defence, Bastoni is a very good player at Inter and Mancini a regular at Roma. Although I would have them down as maybe 8th favourites. The problem is not necessarily Guehi's ability at full fitness but its how he is now having barely played since a long term injury. Add in Stones' lack of game time and the main issue at left back and we can certainly be got at. Such a shame that when we get such a plethora of attacking talent that we also have such issues in defence.

I look forward to a £7m bumper kitty pre Szmodics sale then if its happening 100% and the club have confirmed this to Jackson, especially if the 100% reliable Nixon has also confirmed the bumper kitty, if indeed he has. Especially after that £50m warchest he once promised was bang on.

There should, considering weve received so much in to the club. Whether there will or wont be a decent budget ultimately is still unknown but IMO it didnt read like a tip off, the club has been silent post season.

Talented yes, good yes outstanding no. Maybe a bit of English bias. He doesnt get close to the other big nations. But the main issue is his lack of fitness.

He didnt even say that there will be a reasonable budget, it was clearly his opinion, nor did he clarify what a decent budget is.

A nice hypothetical suggestion but unfortunately not anything like the reality. Shaw has not played for a long, long time. Even if he can "feature" as Southgate suggested in the second game he is going to be well off the pace. The alternative is Trippier who is aging, out of form, has been injured and will be on the wrong side. Guehi is a decent defender, certainly not close to being a top level one, and again has had a serious injury so will be rusty. He made a big mistake v Bosnia which you can maybe put down to that. Even beyond that, Stones has not played much and looked shaky in the cup final and even Walker has been below his usual standards. The issue is not predominantly down to the manager, he has made a huge error not taking Branthwaite over Dunk but even then, is Branthwaite a top level defender? We are starved of quality and crucially fully fit defenders and the key to winning a tournamrment is often a solid defence. Im guessing you are strongly against the squad picked considering that Grealish who you wanted to start and Maddison to be in the squad.

Not experience of the highest level though, not many caps and whenever hes played for England hes been really poor. The defence is a huge concern. The fear is that we have so much attacking talent that everyone will fear but its build on shoddy foundations.

Dunk over Branthwaite?

As expected, the final squad is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of decisions made. Brilliant to see Wharton make it, and fair play as it would have been easy to not take him. I don't think he will play with Rice, Mainoo, Trent and Southgate's bizarre love of Conor Gallagher, but I really hope he does get on the pitch. The defence is a real concern for a team with supposed ambitions of winning the tournament. Even a fit Maguire isn't a huge loss as he is not the best but how Dunk is going (carrying an injury himself too) is beyond me, not good enough whereas Branthwaite is for me the biggest exclusion. Not sure there is any need for Watkins and Toney either.

Grealish and Maguire are also being cut.

I think its hard to knock how Pep has dealt with Foden, he has become the player of the season and he now more often than not starts centrally although he still has that flexibility and when he starts from the left hes still got that licence to roam. Maddison has been in poor form for months after a mid season injury. We have Bellingham and Foden well above him as genuine world class difference makers and Palmer who is not only ahead but also more flexible. Eze is another who has been playing far better than Maddison.

Cant help but feel that there is an elephant in the room here. Perhaps aggressive budget slashing from the owners.

I never said that. Im not the one assuming that appointing staff implies anything about budget.

He plays as much as anyone at City. Has been the leagues player of the season.

Im not letting him off the hook. I repeat consistently that hes a Venkys stooge out of his depth and needs to go. If despite this, merely saying that our problems wont go until the owners do is defending him then I think thats your warped definition.

No. My point is just that appointing staff doesnt mean there must be.

I think somehow Foden is a bit underated in that he is at least on par with Bellingham for me, but because of the latters understandable and deserved hype he has become the main man. He is also unfortunate in that hes easier to move out of position as he can play from the left as you cant not play both and equally I dont think the balance is right with them 2 and Rice. It doesnt help that our weak spot is left back so he may not get the opportunity to drift like he does at City when he does go on the left.

I love the idea that any new scouts must have been promised a decent budget in order to join. As if literally no one, even if it meant a step up or a jump in wages from a previous smaller club or even one currently out of work would be attainable if the budget was tight.

I feel like it is dificult to ignore how poor a season he had, missing half before then not doing much when he was available after his ban. Both are a million miles away from Kane and neither give us what he gives should he miss a game, Toney would suit going more direct and Watkins would suit playing on the break. But the latter deserves to go. I think he meant that he would personally play Grealish ideally but if we went with that front 4 then Gallagher would be his choice to partner Rice. I think he is bang average personally, really limited in possession and provides good energy but often leaves gaps, he often played further forward for Chelsea. Wharton/Mainoo/maybe Trent could provide some composure next to Rice.

Maddison has now reportedly been cut which makes sense considering the quality ahead of him. He started the season well but got a bad injury and had a few poor months when he came back. Bellingham will play there, if he isnt available then surely Foden moves there and we also have Palmer and Eze.

"Good spells." "Would like to see more of." "Rated highly on Rovers Chat podcast." And they are some of the better ones! Suppose its somewhat to be expected when you are working on such a pitiful budget. I suspect the main reason behind this culling is more cost cutting. Broughton's "mutual" exit was probably more driven by him, he clearly was frustrated by both the budget cuts and Tomasson leaving, obviously he wasnt worth pleading to stay and there was also not room for both him and Waggott it seems. Then a lot of his staff have also gone, some to try and find normality in new roles elsewhere. It certainly won't be the owners disappointed by a lack of high standards.

And more importantly, all on the cheap.