To be fair, this thread wouldnt be active for a long while yet if we stick rigidly on topic!

To be fair, the rumour seems to be a busy agent at work. And with the usual yearly dilly dallying seemingly making any proactive transfer business a pipe dream, and that a manager who has outstayed his welcome and with the recruitment team have a shoddy record at bringing players in for the last few years, you can appreciate any natural pessimism.

Clutching at straws. As if it needed confirming, at the fans forum the CEO confirmed that the owners had confirmed that he is remaining. Plus there is a piece from an interview today. No point getting your hopes up.

Every player? Do you think that Ayala, Gallagher and Johnson were signed based on data? Also, you are implying that we would be the exception if we didnt use data. Surely the fact that all teams at this level have access to similar data proves that the variable is the people that use it.

Data alone is pretty worthless. Its having savvy people to utilise it that is key, thats when it becomes useful.

Data is obviously used in football. That doesnt mean that people cant question it or doubt it, VAR is also used in football, the fact that it is used in football doesnt make it unquestionable. That doesnt mean that all data is useful or indeed relevant either. It also doesnt guarantee to be of benefit to anyone, it could be used (and often I am sure will be) used out of content, conclusions could be taken that are misleading, there are all sorts of variables. The key to Brentford's use for example is the people that use it, not the fact that they presumably are so data focused.

The idea of Mings playing for England at CB at a major tournament is a frightening one.

Rothwell has played all season centrally to be fair, and still is a 1 in 10 player. Not sure if he can hide behind being "shunted around" at all last season. Cairney not only never got a full season centrally, but was also performing at a much higher level than Rothwell ever has despite that.

This "expectation was instant" theory is a myth. The issue was not that we had spent 7m on a player that we expected to instantly bag loads of goals, its that he looked totally alien to what to do on a football pitch. Struggling with basics is almost an understatement. Why is advocating a loan spell part of a witch hunt, its a very constructive way of getting a player game time without impeding on our own results, which for 2 years, he was a liability when he played. Armstrong got plenty of criticism for 18 months when he was playing wide but lets not pretend that his performances were comparable and thats not even factoring in price tag. One was a threat but not contributing as much as he perhaps could, the other for 2 years looked like a bumbling clown. He was ok last season, perhaps exaggerated by how low his standards were from the first 2 years, but he contributed much more. Lets hope he continues to improve, I dont see him ever being a competent central striker to be fair though at this level.

The 2 main "defences" of our season ticket policy/lack of policy are that why would anyone buy a season ticket before when they HAD to (on what planet are season tickets released only in the first month of the season?) and indeed that no one would be happy to buy without knowing for sure if they could attend. I did last year with 2500 more knowing that there was a large chance that I would have to settle for ifollow/pro rata refunds and still gave my money anyway. I didnt complain having done so, I saw no one else in my position complain and it shouldnt be about why people would be willing to, it should be why arent the club taking up that demand as soon as bloody possible?! We all know that if it was the case that the club wanted to wait to see more clarity on the pandemic, then they would at least communicate that. Preston have been one of the latest teams to release season ticket details, doing so last week, but released a number of statements prior to keep fans in the loop. Lets not even pretend that it is anything but negligence and incompetence that has prevented season tickets from being released yet.

Mowbray suggested the bad ones and the recruitment team suggested the good ones? Easy assumption to make and even if it was true, Mowbray is still the manager so no reason to believe that suddenly our fantastic recruitment team will suddenly grasp the power and have the final say.

Do you have any remaining faith in the combination of our recruitment team and Mowbray leading to get us what we need?

Did anyone slag the club off last year for putting season tickets on sale?

Why is now the time to make him a regular in the first team? Has he shown enough on the pitch to warrant such a privilege, merely his age doesnt warrant it. I am comfortable with his current position, squad player, will get chances, to get a more regular spot, he needs to earn it which as of yet he has struggled to do. You are keen to dismiss the managerial conundrum, I get it to an extent but minor tactical suggestions and signing recommendations seem immaterial under the cloud that is an incompetent manager, under the biggest cloud that is negligent owners. He will continue to persist with his flawed "philosophy" with ill suited tactics. Why do I assume that Armstrong will go? Because he has a year left on his deal, we are going backwards, he is clearly above a team 15th in the Championship and it would make no sense for him to renew, plus our manager tries to invite bids every time a microphone is placed within his vicinity? Why do I not think that he will be replaced? Well to equally replace a 29 goal striker as a 15th placed Championship club full stop, especially with a small budget, is nigh on impossible. Throw in aforementioned manager and recruitment team who have barring exceptions ballsed up recruitment for a while now, why would I have faith in them? Why do you have faith in our recruitment? Blind hope? Why do I fear a dog fight? I just dont think that an underperforming manager suffocating in his own stagnation managing a squad of players who I predict will be poorer than the squad that achieved a 15th placed finish last season is a recipe for success. Assuming that Armstrong goes, its a given that his replacement wont be a 29 goal striker. We have also lost Elliott who whilst he obviously isnt as important as Armstrong, he was still our only other reliable attacking outlet. Do I think that Brereton, Gallagher and co can fill that goal void? No, certainly not. I then look further back, the idea of Buckley becoming a first team regular, nice idea to bring through the kids, do I think at the moment he is good enough to start as a regular? No. Further back, Harwood Bellis will be a miss too. Beyond Armstrong, Dack and Elliott, leaving, injured and leaving, I dont see much to really get excited about, all of course further hindered by Mowbray. To be honest, it might surprise you to read that I am actually excited about the idea of attending games again after so long away. Even then, it seems like the governments incompetence might jeopardise that!

Content with Rankin Costello being signed up. Should have been an easy one, has done well enough without excelling and seems to be made of glass but definitely a player that is wise to get tied down for a few years. I hope he is played further forward, not convinced on him defensively.

Where is this from? A lot of links may suggest an active agent I suppose.

Armstrong to be fair had previously had a prolific season albeit at League 1 level.

Not sure that they do enough with it to make best use of winning the ball back personally.

Quite clearly a suggestion and an unrealistic one at that!

I am not sure that it suits Travis to be a holding midfielder, it takes a certain discipline that I am not sure he has nor does it suit him to hold, I think he is better with a little more freedom. I think we need a new holding midfielder and another more attacking central midfielder in the window amidst other things but not sure I should hope my breath. Rothwell and Buckley could then compete for places with the former much closer than the latter for me.

The type of player maybe, but do you genuinely think he has the ability right now to impact games regularly? Would that be at the cost of Rothwell, if not then who and if so, dont you consider (based on where Buckley is at the moment) it to be a downgrade? Do you fear a dog fight next season? I presume by skillset you mean within the framework of Mowbray's flawed style of play. Even if he was which he may well be plus if he was up to the level we need which I doubt, its pissing in the wind. Lenihan, Ayala, Wharton, Johnson, all defensive players who cannot use the ball particularly well at their feet. In fact, the technical ability across the team is lacking. We have plenty of energy and pace in attack, we shouldnt try and play this tika taka shite and it is difficult to encourage using players within that framework.

I just feel that there has been an underlying ongoing narrative throughout his time here that he has been unfairly criticised by Rovers fans which is grossly untrue.

Walcott has joined Southampton, but there is no chance of us affording any of those, especially King.

Even if we go 3 at the back, it is likely that Mings will be still in that defence. Assuming that we are playing Mbappe/Griezmann/Benzema or Bernardo Silva/Bruno Fernandes/Ronaldo/Jota in the second round, having Mings there feels like a car crash waiting to happen. Also, presumably the third centre back would be Walker/James, it would also leave one less space for one of our attacking talents. Henderson and Maguire in particulars fitness is potentially critical. The replacement for Alexander Arnold needs to surely be either White or Ward Prowse, 2 ok players but nothing special, simply to numerically cover one of the 2 players who it seems quite possibly might miss the tournament.

Its not about writing him off, people just feel that they can judge a 7m signing that has been here for 3 years. He received plenty of praise last year in fact, perhaps at times slightly more than his performances warranted simply because of how low the benchmark was that he had set. There is no witch hunt but people will judge based on what they see. Am I convinced that he will ever be a top player at Championship player? Possibly not.