Hell of a shout based on very little. Even the first sentence is a big shout, dont think hes shown that he is ready to be a regular starter.

When the club cant agree contracts with any first team players (Armstrong aside, none would be huge losses individually perhaps but that makes it even more galling) aside from ones done after a lengthy negotiation period that have either not established themselves in the first team or have suffered serious injuries, it just shows where we are at at the moment.

Why would your primary judgement of a central midfielder be goals?

They aren't "light years" ahead of us but as depressing as it is, the continued and constant negligence of our owners has progressed to a stage where Barnsley finished 10 places and an embarrassing 21 points ahead of us. Last season saw a huge improvement on their part and us going in the wrong direction. They have an exciting manager, we have one who is just stagnating to the ignorance of our owners. Our best player is likely to leave too. The fact that I am being somewhat patronising to Barnsley in my comparison shows that I feel that Rovers ought to be out performing them. At the moment, on the pitch, we are sadly not a pretty sight though. We could possibly offer him a slight rise, suppose its speculation either way. But if he chooses not to stay at the ambitious, progressive club that hes at, he will be an incredibly appealing free agent to teams with more ambition and more money than us. All we have heard lately is how covid has affected our finances and how difficult we are finding even keeping the players we have.

Hes a central midfielder, which stats do you mean? Ive always rated Mowatt even when he was at Leeds.

Another one I have seen lately is "vertical passing."

Absolutely no chance of him coming here in a month of Sundays. Why would he, hes the captain of an upwardly mobile team who finished 5th, and every time I see them, he looks the part. Either staying at the club hes at now, or playing the market whereby at least top Championship clubs would love him on a free are both far superior options to coming to a club on a downward trajectory. Its unlikely that we could even offer him more money than Barnsley which shows where we are at.

Makes sense, there very much seems to be an order at the moment. Any player within the senior squad with a contract about to expire, we cant do anything. Players on the fringes with likely very little if any interest elsewhere, or with serious injuries, Buckley, Dolan, Wharton and even Dack, we can just about get them done, although at least 2 or 3 of them mentioned how long it took. Kids nowhere near the first team, 4 year deal easily sorted.

No injuries?

I hope we dont go down the route of playing 5 at the back, that in my opinion would again be weak management trying to fit in a second right back on the right hand side of the 3. We need Maguire to be fit, assuming he is, id just go with him and Stones in a 2, then Shaw at left back, and then pick one of the 4 right backs. Henderson and Rice will provide the necessary protection, and allow 4 (rather than 3 as would be the case if we play an extra CB) of our best attackers to score some goals.

Cant say ive seen Kirk nor do I put any stock in the data especially as it is against League 1 standards but I do know that Chapman shouldnt be a benchmark for us as a player yet to play very much for whatever reason, although the key difference would be that if he was to be here next season, it wouldnt warrant a fee, and I doubt that we will be spending much if anything.

It would have made much more sense IMO to remove Trippier and include another CM or even a CB considering that Maguire is struggling with injury and is a doubt for the first game.

Its not about moaning, there is plenty to be excited about, but why take a 4th right back who "can" play in midfield or someone who can play that role competently and give us depth in an area where we look short in a tournament where we can take 3 extras. You cant play players who have played their careers at right back/right wing back and shove them in a position whereby on paper they may have some useful attributes when in practice they have little to no understanding of how to play in that position? At the end of the day, an England squad for a major tournament is there to be constructively criticised. I am sure (with validity!) that you wouldnt tell people to "stop moaning" if they criticised a Rovers squad!

Strange balance to the squad, Southgate has been indecisive and weak in choosing all 4 right backs simply because he can not decide who is the best. At a push, take 3. The argument that they "can play elsewhere" is not a strong one either, all 4 are predominantly right backs. If we want one to cover midfield, it would have made sense to actually pick a central midfielder, even if it is someone like Ward Prowse who isnt necessarily great, he would be a much more useful central midfielder than Alexander Arnold/James because the position is totally different to which they play, the angles, the distances, you cant just throw one in midfield in a major tournament like that. We look really strong at full back obviously and also in attacking midfield, the key is to play the right ones, I would say that Sterling and Rashford dont warrant places at the moment, so for me Sancho has to play to keep some pace, and then it would be Foden and Mount or Grealish. We look short in goal where none of the options inspire and at centre back where past the main 2, one of whom is injured, we look weak. Mings is very average and Coady is really underwhelming especially in a 2. We also look short in central midfield, we need Henderson to be fit as beyond him and Rice, there isnt too much. Bellingham is a refreshing choice, Phillips is ok, think we could have done with another in there.

Suppose it is one of them with League 1 players, more often than not, they will fall short in terms of quality, and it is impossible to know whether they will be able to step up because if you compare them to Championship players, you are not doing so on an even keel.

Over Trippier for me. To be fair, most bar Kane in attacking areas have only just emerged and have at most shown flashes in an England shirt, often due to a small number of caps, the likes of Grealish, Foden, Mount, Sancho but for me are all far better than Lingard. I have always felt that Rashford is somewhat overrated, and he is in horrendous form. Its a shame that Greenwood has missed out, he had really hit some form and looked far better than Rashford, plus he is left footed. Had he been fit and only able to name 23, I would even suggest that Rashford's place could be in jeopardy.

In regards to your first question, you would like to think so. When everything is allowed without restrictions, then surely it would be financial suicide for football clubs if people still could opt for a tenner match pass sitting at home rather than attending games, attendances would never recover. Undoubtedly, between now and that time, of course match links must remain. Although in theory, despite the governments incompetence, social distancing should be a thing of the past prior to the season starting, unless it is delayed by a month and a half.

I think the covid issues are part of a wider issue but I would like to think that sooner rather than later, that away fans will also be allowed back in. At which point, when everything is allowed as it was pre pandemic, do you then stop the live streaming of games, with the intention of allowing clubs to focus on getting fans back in stadiums? Im not convinced that live streaming should be allowed indefinitely beyond that, obviously that wont be a club specific decision either way. I suppose as you said, that under 23 and under 18 coverage could be combined with such a show and maybe there would be a market for it, not something id be interested in but seemingly something that would have a market, so if its financially viable it should be looked at. A question would be, arent under 23 games currently in the package with season tickets anyway? Would that continue?

Portugal I think look as strong as anyone and so much better than previous tournaments. You look at Dias and Cancelo added to their defence, Bruno Fernandes now key in attacking midfield with the likes of Neves and Danilo sitting, and they like us have an abundance of attackers whereas in the last Euros that they won, it was Eder who got the winner, an otherwise poor player. Along with Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva, they have Jota, Felix and Andre Silva. Either way, that last 16 game is going to be so difficult should we get there.

On the assumption that we can attend so you hadnt needed to purchase the game itself. Would you pay just to watch a preview/review? At the end of the day, whoever the club gets will naturally have to have a pair of blue and white tinted glasses. Never going to have them being overly critical, I sort of get that as long as they arent too biased. They do need to change the commentators though in general, they dont seem to be popular with anyone. For me, its (especially Warren Lucy) the constant agenda towards the referees gives me constant earache. Transfixed from the very first minute, every decision that goes against us no matter how minor they are berated for, whereas ones in our favour are ignored. I also find the nickname stuff irritating, Arma, Breo, TK, JRC, Benno, dont have to pretend that they are 2 of the lads in the dressing room, again Warren Lucy is particularly bad for that. Mind you, assuming that fans are allowed to attend again, will match links be a thing of the past again? And if so, will this risk of moving away from ifollow backfire?

I disagree with this, I would actually say that our biggest strength is our surplus of attacking options. Say we go with Kane, Mount, Foden and Sterling which I expect although I wouldn't go with the latter. If we was struggling, we could make a triple sub of Sancho, Grealish and Rashford, thats a hell of a change and I dont think Lingard would come on before any of those.

I also dont get this at all.

Seems crazy to allow people from other countries in to be honest. Interesting to see the squad today. The pathway that we are likely to face looks like chalk and cheese compared to the World Cup. We are looking at tough teams throughout any route past the group stage, including France, Portugal or Germany in the second round in which wed be the underdog.

The idea was a silly one really prior to covid (as was even more so making the tournament asymmetrical and 24 teamed) but it has worked out ok. Are away fans allowed to travel to stadiums, it would seem illogical if they are.

I have never really understood that point of view. If the manager has lost the trust of the owners based on previous transfer indiscretions, then he shouldnt still be in a job. There cant be a middle ground where a manager continues but with limited money in case he blows it on shit again.