Im not sure theres much in it between Yates and Gallagher, and it would probably take more than any fee for Gallagher to get him. Yates struggles as a loan striker whereas Gallagher can do that role more effectively.

Ive never been totally convinced, at least that he is Championship ready for the here and now. I think ideally he could do with a spell in League 1 but obviously he wont because especially assuming Wharton goes, we are light in there.

A win in which the 2 divisions between the teams was in full view, a massive gulf. The formation I am not a fan of and we won in spite of it, due to the far superior quality on show, not because of it. Championship sides would have tore us to shreds. Both Dolan and Sigurdsson cannot defend and equally were hindered going forward. Szmodics and Gallagher were the difference makers, such a threat. Szmodics' finishing gets better and better and we are so reliant on him. Gallagher is an actual Championship striker and miles above Leonard, Ennis and Telalovic whose touch is miles off. If he is sold he will leave a big void that wont be easy to replace, all this "ill drive him there" stuff is nonsensical. Tronstad was very good, Garrett very poor and lacks ability on the ball, if he plays more as a result of Wharton leaving its such a huge downgrade. Hyam and Scott Wharton were fine, JRC is one of our stand out players but still rusty and Pears made a big error but made up for it.

Its been covered, Ipswich want 2 as per their local paper and retain an interest in Gallagher which is dependant on us replacing him.

They did, they offered a huge warchest each time that managers decided not to bother with. Alledgedly.

I feel like all context has long gone when it comes to judging Gallagher. Weve been used to seeing him in teams of ours especially in the last 2 years where we have been pushing around the play offs, and theres no doubting (ironically considering that Ipswich now want him) that he isnt a top quality Championship striker, especially when it comes to goalscoring. He isnt a striker a team desperate for promotion should aspire too, and when our team was more functional, we rightly wanted an upgrade yet the funds never came. But he is a decent striker at this level, there are worse strikers than him and that should be evidently clear when we have been working on such low budgets for years, weve seen players like Ennis, Telalovic and Hirst brought in for a pittance or graduates brough through who arent Championship ready like Leonard and Vale. You could make a striker from them 5 put together that would struggle at this level. It wont be really easy even with the fee he will generate to get even an average Championship striker like him, before you start questioning if that will even happen. You even look at someone like Jerry Yates who we are linked with. His goal record is not too dissimilar without the penalties, plus there are question marks over his general play. Hes slower and weaker than Gallagher, he cant play as a lone striker as well and hes not as good in the air. He isnt brilliant at this level, and he has his limitations, which is why for a functional club, losing him would not be much of a big deal. But for us, it is a concern because if we lose him and either dont replace him or get someone sub par, the alternatives in that position are frightening.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/24080759.ipswich-town-close-ali-al-hamadi-signing/ Ipswich close on Al Hamadi and still want another striker. Gallagher a target dependant on us signing a replacement.

Where have you read that Gallagher is now staying. Much preferred yesterday, posting a link to the Wharton to Spurs rumour 👍

Regarding Jerry Yates, the common consensus between Blackpool and Swansea fans (the former obviously were much fonder of him than the latter) is that he cannot play as a lone striker and works better off a target man. I remember he had Gary Madine with him at Blackpool. We play one up front...

He also said here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25559800/ipswich-blackburn-transfer-sam-gallagher/ Ipswich are close to reaching £2 million but Blackburn would struggle to find a replacement at this stage. The same day he linked us with Jerry Yates who Swansea apparently are happily willing to sell. We all know what will happen. Gallagher will go, we will not sign a replacement.

It was tongue in cheek.

Im very surprised someone has offered, and I was wrong with my prediction which I am guessing is what you want me to say having mentioned it a few times. You must have had that comment in your back pocket waiting for me to be wrong. He is our best striker, as average as he is. The other 3 wouldnt make a Championship striker between us. Yates is a similar level, an underwhelming Championship forward a bit more padded out with penalties but not as quick and strong. A normal club would sell Gallagher now and spend the money on a replacement. A loan wont be good enough IMO.

He also said we wanted Rajovic at Watford which his agent promptly rubbished. Lets not stop the Nixon love in though.

He is a fantastic talent, but so is Alex Scott. Plus he has proved it more consistently than Wharton has at this level and has also shown competence at Premier League level.

Its a big and potentially biased statement that. Scott won young player of the season, Wharton has shown his class but hes not been consistently great I wouldnt say this season. Scott meanwhile since his injury has shown his quality in glimpses at Premier League level. Scott is certainly ahead of Wharton now, both are excellent talents and have the potential to play for England but theres a hell of a long way to go until they do.

Reinvest half of the 25m into 6 players. Will. Never. Happen.

Another loan, which would be our last because you can have 5 in any squad. Gallagher is if we want him to be, here for 18 months. Yates isnt a Premier League kid so presumably would be more expensive than usual loans, the rest of the money would vanish. We then in the summer have Telalovic, Ennis and Leonard as our 3 strikers. QPR didnt win today so we are unlikely to go down, will be nowhere near the top 6 obviously, so it seems counter productive to be too short term focused. If we sell Gallagher, I would want a permanent replacement and would be very annoyed if we didnt get one. But not surprised.

Again, people very keen to accept the Gallagher bid, seemingly not interested in the fact that he is considerably better than our other 3 below par strikers. I get it, its a decent offer, but only useful if we buy someone. Yates im not sure is really an upgrade, got 14 last season but some were penalties. If we bought him then fair enough, loan until the end of the season, no thanks.

We would not have a transfer thread though if we didnt pass opinion and comment on previous clubs.

Equally, we didnt expect Hill to go back or Carter to get a serious injury. Neither are our fault, but it doesnt alter the question.

Even if with the limitations, it is the best we could possibly get, it doesnt mean that people shouldnt be able to question whether he is what we need, whether he suits the style we play, whether be improves us, whether his lack of general game time especially in recent years is a concern, whether he is good enough etc. If we are limited to loanees, then considering most are usually kids with minimal experienced, maybe game time wise it is as good as we could do. But it doesnt mean he is sufficient to solve our problems.

One thing O'Riordan and Phillips will give us some added height which we obviously need, if the latter signs. Im guessing that to Tomasson, it will be a case of Hyam plus one if we stick to a back 4. I guess that with O'Riordan being younger it might initially be between Phillips and Wharton, the latter has been in favour much more lately. He mentioned in his latest press conference that he hasnt been able to have the flexibility to play a back 3 due to a lack of options and obviously went with that against Huddersfield but we looked imbalanced and we lacked a goal threat. If he wants to use that, I think it would take some tweaking if it was to work. Rankin Costello would help at right wing back, and the balance of the midfield would IMO need to change, Garrett looked out of place playing towards the right and it could do with an extra attacker supporting Gallagher and Szmodics who doesnt really suit that way of playing. Admist the options of Hyam, Wharton and Phillips in particular, I havent seen O'Riordan play before, theres a lack of pace and although Hyam is decent, the other 2 arent ball players. When I have seen Phillips, he has looked quite slow, not the most elegant on the ball and is quite rash and aggressive. He is strong in the air and quite old school. Is he a JDT player? Not too sure about that.

Cresswell is even less experienced.

Not too sure about Phillips. We need experienced heads and less than 70 senior appearances and less than 10 in 2 years is quite simply not that. Quality wise, question marks there too. Celtic fans thought he was hopeless: https://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=11414667#p11414667 He certainly isnt the best on the ball nor the quickest so will take a change of style to get the best from him. All that being said, he has had spells at good levels so he has a bit of calibre, and he isnt totally untested.

That might be Ben Davies from Preston you have confused him with.