I also find it strange @chaddyrovers that you feel that it is "not your place" to share season ticket sale numbers. Did Waggott ask you to keep it confidential or is that of your choosing? He has taken up a supporters request for a meeting and told you the number, if his intention was to keep it private then he has messed up by telling a fan in the first place! I think even though he seemingly just gives people lip service that it is good that he is willing to meet with fans, although I do wonder if it is because he knows he can charm people with words to cover up shoddy actions. I might be remembering incorrectly but didn't you say @1864roverite that he was essentially slagging off Lenihan to fans saying how he is never a Premier League defender and he told him as such after the 7 nil loss? In my view, that sort of conversation is totally unprofessional and quite frankly unacceptable.

This fits my theory regarding how Nyambe totally polarises opinion. He "wasn't very good for us" seems incredibly harsh, and the fact that you wouldn't take him on a free at his age having been a regular solid right back at this level even with how poor he is going forward is crazy. There was a reason that we tried to get him to sign and it is surely worrying that seemingly Wigan had the financial muscle to beat us to the deal. Even if we have what is for us a reasonable budget for fees which I doubt, we have a number of holes in the team therefore signing even a steady mid table standard right back for a small amount will be very hard, especially under a strict wage ceiling.

I was there and thought he was beaten too easily on a number of occasions.

Nyambe is such a strange player in that he totally polarises opinion more than basically anyone else I can remember. People now are even creating narratives of his agent totally hanging him out dry as a result of the strong link to Wigan. Defensively, he is not far off the very best at this level one on one. Many will tell you that being a full back first and foremost is about defending (I would side towards that more) and as a result think Nyambe is absolutely brilliant. Conversely, those who don't rate him (a few of which are the usual suspects in terms of defending every move the club makes therefore this fits their narrative) will understandably point out that as an attacking full back or indeed especially as a wing back he is atrocious and probably as poor as you will find at this level, with a nod to competition for that over on Luton's left side. In reality I would argue that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, full backs especially at Championship level will likely be either suspect defensively or very conservative but not usually to the extent that Nyambe is which means that he is very useful but equally has a limit to how far up he can play. @Miller11 I wouldn't argue that we are stronger with Nyambe than without but I would qualify those findings somewhat by pointing out how poor our alternatives are in that position.

As expected. Praise Waggott on a few things, won over by his charm and not the place to ask "difficult" questions.

It was a friendly where both teams started with basically totally different teams compared to how they finished. Are loads of people calling him shite? The problem is and it is something that you touch on, that he is a total unknown and we don't know he will cope. As it stands, he may be expected to start the season as our first choice right back. I thought he was really poor and out of his depth against Birmingham to be honest. I don't understand how you can possibly see us as not ill prepared. Maybe Waggott put something in your cup of tea! I am sure we will sign players, my guess at this stage would be predominantly loans towards the end of the window. But the season starts in 12 days and we are massively weaker.

I dont see why else he would go there, your scenario would be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

Broughton actually said that the wage budget is "within the same wage budget we had last year" which to me reads as if it is no more than least season but it is up to last seasons budget ie it could be the same and it could be less. Is the wages thing beyond gossip at the rugby? May well be but not seen as such.

How do you know that his agent was saying that? We have the highest % of empty seats in the league. The music is really irritating although if he is getting thousands a week more I think he will get over it. If.

I dont get such a common narrative coming from such certainty that Nyambe's agent must be screwing him over. Im unsure if its as he is popular and as a result slightly overrated or if it stems subconsciously from his agent being mentioned as an issue when in fact its an easy scapegoat. But if Wigan have offered more money which is the million dollar question then hes just joined a side in the same division in a fairly close location for more money. The only losers really are Rovers unfortunately.

Nyambe is a solid Championship right back, nothing outstanding, not one of the very best in the league and with his own limitations but a solid option in a back 4 of whom re-signing would leave 1 less headache to solve. A very competent one on one defender with good attributes and at a good age. That horrendous list of shite shows why you and many others are very justified in having no faith that we can replace him adequately however, thats just modern day Rovers with minimal budgets and with incompetence stemming from the very top.

But we didnt get those deals done, so I dont see how being supposedly interested in 2 players who we subsuquently failed to sign shows anything positive about the budget. All about the replacement but we wanted Nyambe to sign hence offering him a deal and lost out to Wigan so it is easy for that to cause concern on the back of an inability to sign anyone yet. Does it? Maybe Wigan offered him a better deal, in which case how does it reflect poorly on him to do something that most people would do and get a pay rise? What if it was only Wigan and Rovers who offered contracts. His agent has got lots of blame and has been mentioned by Waggott of course but how can we be so sure that he is a "fuktard" rather than having just successfully earnt his client more money. Maybe but if he has got a payrise then it is still an understandable move. This seems like a very specific theory based on nothing in particular in my opinion but still. If it is Rovers v Wigan and the latter offered more money which I suppose we will never know for sure. Then his decision makes sense.

I dont find it funny that we become even weaker personally. Plus if Wigan offered more money than us even in the assumed absence of other concrete offers, how has he been done over?

I will judge on who we do sign rather than on rumours. We dont know if we actually bid for those players, we may have enquired and run a mile once we found out their financial demands. I would see being the only team not to have signed anyone leaving us ill prepared for the season ahead and compounded by a player we wanted to k8eep choosing to join a promoted side to be a big cause for concern. Lets hope we sign a better replacement as you say. I certainly am not optimistic that we will.

Presumably you will only laugh if we sign a better, permanent replacement?

If that is true then surely him accepting a contract at a team with a supposedly low wage budget shows that his demands would have by virtue fallen within our current wage ceiling. We wanted him to stay, he has chosen to join Wigan. I think he is a little overrated by some but he is a big loss nonetheless and I would find it concerning if he went to Wigan with us still unable to bring anyone in. I am dubious about an admittedly subjective "healthy budget" and suspect us to again rely on the loan market.

We cant even compete with promoted Wigan. Healthy budget.

Im not personally bothered about what he says, its about what he does. I think had we successfully got some players in then no one would want communication, it is in the absence of actions that words are demanded. I think people are fully aware of how the structure works. Many including myself seem to worry that adding an extra layer at a club that already takes ages to make decisions could potentially make that problem even worse. You seem to be naive in not accepting that the structure (like any) has risks and the potential to not run smoothly. It can slow decisions down and it adds an extra risk of conflict which you wont acknowledge because Tomasson was "promised" that he would get the final say but I am sure at some point there will be differences in opinions.

We have never managed to get into the top 6 in over 10 years even in years without the additional provision of downplaying the importance of the first 7 games. Obviously it wouldnt be terminal but it would be a huge dent in any aspirations should we start slowly. A lof of focus is now on Broughton, with Tomasson not yet receiving any criticism because he is not seemingly the key in terms of recruitment and also because of the good feeling following his appointment. Many in the past have been blamed heavily including Waggott and Mowbray like Broughton is starting to now and I certainly would say that they all will have warranted criticism to an extent but the underpinning reason for the constant snails pace decision making lies in India.

People are only asking for communication in the continuing absence of players in the building. You mention no leaks but I would be amazed if anything is close. Your comments about the structure are very patronising. A big fear at a club already known for taking ages to make decisions and action them was the additional delays from adding the additional layer of a director of football. I am yet to be convinced that this decision does anything but further slow everything down. The days keep counting down with 13 until the season and nothing has happened. Them clubs dont have the same issues with speed in actioning decisions like us, predominantly stemming from India. Its an idea that makes sense in theory but relies on the manager retaining final authority (which can never be guaranteed regardless of promises) and efficiency/speed.

Really?

We dont need comments, we need actions!

Think it shows that there is little point in even speculating such is the disparity between gossip.

Gallagher on the wing?

My point was that both youngsters broke individually into the team during the season within a squad that would have had enough cover had they not been up to the mark, rather than at the start of a season amidst a pack of players making up the numbers after a large outflow of players. A youngster breaking into the team should come down to the individual breaking in, not as an expectation out of necessity due to outgoing players.