Gestede excelled at something, he wasnt perfect in general but he was outstanding at attacking the ball in the air and directing it. Gallagher isnt great at anything.

I think Pickering is decent technically, he can handle the ball. Edun is more athletic but also more erratic and when he played at left back last season his positioning was appalling. For much of last season Pickering was very comfortable but he wasnt the same post injury in a struggling team. Edun I assumed would be better in midfield but that didnt really work either.

He had a knock at the weekend so maybe he still is suffering.

Hopefully no more setbacks beforehand.

Edun was awful at left back when he covered last season. Pickering has his faults but should be first choice. Performances v Hartlepool and Dundee in friendlies shouldnt make a difference. Magloire is awful I agree. Both of the other 2 could do with loan spells in an ideal world with us bringing 2 in. Rankin Costello I have severe doubts over, but Brown at a decent age has only played 1 game ever at a reasonable level himself in which IMO he struggled, regular games in League 1 would be ideal. I would personally play Carter at right back assuming we only bring in Brittain and if he is ever unavailable.

If that was the case, I wonder which of the 2 would be most likely to go out on loan. Both could do with a loan.

Hopefully you are all right, difficult to tell fully without the context of the specific question.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/20293077.tomasson-responds-blackburn-rovers-interest-callum-brittain/ “Of course, at the moment we have (players in) that position, if he should come in, then there could be players on loan.” Does this mean that it will be Brittain and then loans after that? Or is it just maybe slightly imperfect English?

Was the team necessarily played purely to add value to those two? I am not sure that direct football suited a technical footballer like Dack as much as he very much worked well with Graham, nor do I think that endless possession suited Armstrong who likes to run in behind, last seasons tactics may have been even better for him with space to run into.

All gossip, speculation and assumption then. I very much doubt that Nyambe is on 3k a week now.

Their first team played last night and he played a half.

Szmodics starting for Peterborough tonight.

How do you know? How much has he joined Wigan for and how much was he offered here?

Surely a pre-season in which 22 players get 60, 75 and then 90 minutes is fairly standard? The problem is that we are so short of senior players to begin with. @neophox I doubt potential results matter one jot to the manager. All about fitness and preparation.

How many of our defenders would you consider as average to good?

I would agree that it is foolish to dismiss a player solely down to his teams relegation too. It's not conclusive proof that he is not up to it as much as it is not irrelevant.

It seems like they are just spreading the senior players out a bit more, they will have then played 60, 75 and presumably 90 minutes but there are so many kids constantly involved because the squad is so thin. Dack is a huge worry though, he needed a good pre-season and he has not had any minutes. Kaminski, Brown, Carter, Wharton, Pickering, Travis, A.Wharton, Hedges, Dolan and Brereton could then play on Saturday, I would love Dack to at least get an hour but I guess that another kid will play unless I have missed someone.

Better players have been relegated so as I said, there could be mitigating circumstances, obviously they struggled following Ismael leaving. And it isn't clear cut to dismiss relegated players. But it isn't irrelevant, nor is the season prior when he and the team was better. It might be that he is not as consistent, that he isn't so good when the chips are down, or simply that the rest of the team were so bad. But it isn't irrelevant. So Lenihan, Rothwell, Nyambe, Van Hecke, Khadra etc have had their places in the squad taken by young kids, with lets say 6 new first team signings yet to sign. As I said, ill prepared. If 5 or 6 key players were all injured you wouldn't say that we were in good shape, would you?

Yeah but it isn't irrelevant, there could be mitigating circumstances but it shouldn't just be dismissed as irrelevant out of hand.

I don't get how people are so insistent that it must be his agent, as if he has no say in his future.

Rich Sharpe says that Dack won't be involved again tonight, it really is an ongoing worry.

Is it irrelevant? He played a regular part in that relegation so that can't be totally disregarded. Because at this point in time (and moreso yesterday when I commented) we have huge holes in the squad where key players leave. As it stands, our squad looks very thin. Stop making out like it was a specific plan not to sign anyone until now, as if it is all part of a huge plan. Lets hope a number of those signings are made in the coming days to get involved from the off. He mentioned Sessegnon as a potential signing yesterday, 2 weeks after joining Charlton. A decent Championship defender at least yes, so if we pulled away altogether considering that we are hardly stocked with them, then that would be odd. Do you still stand by rating Rankin Costello more? Seems like quite a changed line up anyway. Presumably they will go to full strength at the weekend.

Different positions, Rothwell had his best season playing deeper.

Did the same source say that Nyambe was going to Boro?

Not sure about Szmodics. I have seen him play for Peterborough a few times and he is a technically good player, but he is an attacking midfielder so if and when Dack is fit, he will struggle to play elsewhere. He has also struggled to make the step up to the Championship twice, never breaking in at Bristol City and struggling to get close to the output he managed in League 1 upon promotion at Peterborough.