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.

I thought you said in 2 years, why has that aim now spread to the full 3 years of his contract? I am not talking under 21 football down by saying that it is almost exclusively young players all learning the game in a setting whereby many of the better players within that age group have been loaned out by their respective clubs. Ultimately the aim is development rather than winning games and therefore there is a huge gap between that and the grind of second tier professional football. The examples of Travis and Buckley back up my point. I don't think that we should avoid signing as you determine them "squad fillers" unless there is reasonable certainty that a player is ready now, for example I think there is with Carter. Travis broke through on his own in his own time, we didn't assume he would at the start of the season, we had signed Reed, Rothwell, Davenport and Rodwell on top of having Evans and Smallwood. Travis didn't break through until late December but because he WAS ready, he thrived and kept his place. Had he not been ready, it wouldn't have left us relying on him regardless because we had other options. Buckley was similar, he was on the fringes but we always had plenty of senior options and he wasn't initially ready but again because we had sufficient alternatives, it wasn't the end of the world that he initially struggled and he was taken back out. I don't expect those 4 to all show themselves to be Championship ready this season, 1 or at a push 2 perhaps, maybe in time 2 or 3of them, which I don't know but not all of them. Rarely if ever do 4 young lads all break through instantly unless they are all really special.

Has anyone suggested that we "blow the budget on knee jerk signings?" There is a middle ground between writing off the season and spending wildly and inefficiently. I can't abide an attitude of essentially writing off a season either, the Championship especially is not an environment to build up whereby seasons are written off because squad turnover is so high, players seem to let their deals run down more and there is such reliance on the loan market. Re-invest a decent chunk of the inevitable Brereton money and there is no reason not to strive for improvement on last season, that was the reason for the new manager. Would you have taken mid table obscurity on the back of 8th place had Mowbray stayed? I suspect not. But Wharton has only ever played against kids or in friendlies, so it is impossible to compare either way, that is my point. But why can't we improve on Johnson, why is the benchmark only ever to equal the outgoing players? I felt that we were short in midfield last season in terms of depth. I have never implied that Phillips should replace Lenihan, as long as we get a really good Championship centre back then we should be fine, him next to Wharton, with Ayala and Carter as the main 2 in reserve. No expectations on Phillips yet, any contribution should be a bonus. I don't think the comparisons are fair because Zouma and Jones are being judged historically having played senior football and Phillips hasn't. I think we should recruit without assuming that the majority of these youngsters are up to it, because many may not be yet and we can't leave ourselves short. You made out that I am dismissing them all but I am sure that a couple/few will break through, whenever that is, but not all will and it is just about timing and treating their breakthrough in any upcoming season as a bonus as to not leave ourselves short. So for example with Carter, we have proof that he can do well in League 1, so I am comfortable with him being a squad player pushing for a spot. In midfield, we have lost 3 but I felt we were weak there anyway, and we don't know if Buckley will be as effective deeper, so we need at least 2 who will play loads of games between them. Midfield is key so Travis plus 2 with Buckley flexible between there and further forward and at a push Edun, and then have one (as you have said, I have not seen them like others so which is beyond me) maybe on the fringes pushing for a place, and the other out on loan. With Vale, could go either way, I see the value in him going and playing in League 1 or 2, lets see if he can score goals at senior level, failing that, on the fringes but again we need a new senior striker because Brereton will go, Gallagher is not good enough to be first choice so have him pushing a new guy for that place with Vale pushing them 2, especially now we have 5 subs.

Im not sure they would if that was a direct replacement for either a captain or a player of the season. As a 3rd or 4th choice behind Wharton and a new ready made centre back, then that would make much more sense. I have never said that Vale isnt a "good un." The point is that youth football is obviously not a reliable barometer for 2nd tier Championship football and I have never said x or y isnt good enough or that they shouldnt get chances where appropriate, just that expecting a number to all step up even as squad members at the same time in the absence of enough senior recruits is really risky. It is also totally impossible to compare Zouma/Jones and Phillips, no matter how highly rated the latter is.