Newcastle are in a situation whereby the only reason that players will want to join is money, but any permanent additions will be wary of a likely relegation wage cut. Trippier will have (no matter how much he claims otherwise!) joined for the money, going from a Champions League team to a terrible Newcastle team, from Suarez and Griezmann to Jacob Murphy and Jonjo Shelvey. Ramsey is on a reported 400k a week at Juventus, the only way surely that Newcastle could get a deal to work without Ramsey having to have his wages reduced is a loan, considering that he would need a cut if they went down. Aubameyang has been linked, maybe money again will be the deciding factor.

I thought that Mowbray had rubbished the Burke links? I really do hope we go nowhere near him. Unsure where a player of Hedges' position fits in our current formation which is working. Plan B talk aside, we need all signings to be able to slot straight into our current formation. It's not about "getting on with it." My point is that we need a squad with a depth of quality capable of sustaining a promotion push amidst the likely scenario of injuries throughout the main 12/13 players aswell as a potential covid outbreak. We don't ever want to play players that significantly reduce the quality of the team and cost us points. Although to be honest, you seem to be arguing but have similar suggestions regarding numbers. Get a right wing back in and we seem fine there on both sides, although Edun doesn't overly convince me. We have 4 centre backs that we can trust for 3 places, so we are 2 injures/covid absentees away from having to draft in someone unproven like Carter or someone from another position like Johnson, is that enough? Not sure. If Kaminski is out, can we trust Pears? Not sure. We also desperately need a genuine alternative goal threat, if Brereton got injured then we are screwed and Gallagher is always injured.

Looking at our squad, we have one goalkeeper at the needed standard that we can count on in Kaminski, 4 centre backs in Lenihan, Ayala, Van Hecke and Wharton, 2 wing backs in Nyambe and Pickering, 3 midfielders in Travis, Rothwell and Buckley, one attacking player in Khadra and then only one consistent goalscorer in Brereton. Throw in top of that the imminently returning Dack, fitness permitting, then we have Edun who still hasn't convinced and perhaps suffers from his own versatility, Dolan carries a threat but struggles for regular end product, Gallagher is far too injury prone to be counted on, Rankin Costello even moreso, Johnson looks over the hill. Our direct rivals have so many options and we need more. A wave of covid seems inevitable and injuries will be picked up between now and May, I feel like the quality in the first 11 is good, but beyond that curtain we look very thin, and part of the problem is that the balance of the side suffers because there are only 3 or 4 that are trusted beyond that so they end up being shunted out of position. Would I be confident if any of Carter, Butterworth, Davenport etc were needed for an extended period in a promotion push? No.

If we managed to somehow get promoted, that would suggest that the correct players were playing in the correct positions.

At least 3 or 4, we need numbers. Lets see if the money is forthcoming.

Is this directly from Waggott? The idea that academy graduates tend to end up on lower deals makes sense to an extent (as long as eventually those players can get to the higher end of the pay structure) in that one of the main driving forces is surely a players previous contract, wages won't be totally proportionate anywhere purely to ability and performance. For example, when a former graduate goes to negotiate a new deal, his negotiation power is naturally weaker with his previous wage being very small. Compare that to say a Gallagher, Armstrong or even a more experienced player like Ayala/Johnson whereby their previous contract is probably in excess of our top earner, so they have to take a wage reduction even to join. There is absolutely no evidence that Dack was being sold, West Brom made a bid that was rejected according to Graeme Jones who was at West Brom, as reported by the LT. Armstrong wasn't replaced because in spite of a significant sale, none of the money was reinvested by the owners to sign a replacement. Your last sentence is agenda driven, especially about the manager. Performances (well results) are the barometer of how successful a manager is, and the way that we all agreed that Mowbray should have been sacked last season. Yet when they become positive, its merely "hiding what a shambolic job" that is being done? Laughable, you have to be neutral in your judgements. Ultimately, if we are contributing anything towards his wages, for us to send him back, that would put that liability back on to Leeds. I am guessing that there is no clause to release him from our end because otherwise it wouldn't make sense for Leeds to take him back, pay his full wage yet not be able to use him.

Really poor performance and in no way is losing any game "a positive," I went to Wigan thinking there was less pressure but it really rankled seeing us lose. It just highlights especially in a time where a batch of Covid absentees are around the corner that we need more quality players, we have the main 11 but they will get injured, beyond that we have Ayala, Dack to come back and little else. When we miss a player or 2 out, what tends to happen is due to a very small squad, one of 3 or 4 players can come in and the time has to be re-arranged from there. The squad is starting to creak, Pickering injured, Gallagher injured, Nyambe injured, Lenihan injured, Van Hecke picked up a knock and I am unsure where Wharton was. The time comes for Venkys to invest a chunk of the Armstrong money to get more quality in. Do they really care though? We need a striker, we need another attacking player, we need a central midfielder, (had to play the usual 3 again) we need a right wing back, possibly a centre back and definitely a keeper. Performance wise, Pears was embarrassing, Gallagher is so injury prone and his contract renewal was a waste of time, Dolan was out of position but very poor, Edun is miles off Pickering standard and the defensive injuries are a huge worry.

My comments were predominantly about judging players based on highlight reels, not the player himself. Obviously I would judge a player on his performances in a Rovers shirt. You seem to have either misunderstood my point or purposely ignored it so leave that one there.

My comment was more about the use of highlights to form conclusions about players that no one on this site had heard of 12 hours ago rather than the player himself. All of his defensive work which is critical for a wing back/full back in that video is last ditch sliding tackles and/or aggresive tackles, some of which led to fouls. Even the odd showing of aggression in totally unconstructive ways. That being said, I take that with a pinch of salt as if you was rating a full/wing back, even take our 2 both of whom have had good seasons, highlight reels would be unlikely to show a full back jockeying a wide man away from danger, anticipating trouble before it happened to ensure that he doesnt need to resort to a risky last ditch clearance, forcing a player onto his weak foot etc, all evident in a good full/wing back but not exciting all the same. If we was to made a video of Nyambe, it would probably include the burst and cross v Birmingham or his crosses to set up goals against Barnsley last season, against Bournemouth last season, against Swansea the season before etc as they are the most eye catching when in fact his best play is usually one on one defending.

He cant play tomorrow as hes cup tied but he has already played for us anyway so he can only play for us or Burton.

Even in that video, he looks like an absolute madman. Its impossible to truly judge from highlight reels, the defensive parts are all of him wildly lunging in last ditch which is not very promising. I suppose being in the right position to avoid needing to be so last ditch doesnt make for a good highlights reel.

Edun will be playing.

Very easily on a very limited budget to replace a full back playing a considerable part in being 2nd in the league? Pickering is regularly used as an example of comparison, now even if you take as a given that they are at least of equal quality, albeit very different players. Pickering had a particularly low release clause otherwise im sure Crewe would have demanded much more. Players who could have such an impact certaintly arent available "very easily."

He hasnt revealed any information though. I have not denied that he can post what he want and indeed ultimately the main discussion point is about Nyambe, what to do with him and how easy it would be to replace him. He has in my opinion exaggerated Nyambe's weaknesses and underappreciated his abilities, but appreciate that he has as much right to an opinion as I do. The problem is that he is using Nyambe's supposed speculated demands as a major part of his argument. Even if he knows the exact figures that Nyambe is demanding, which as confidential information I would be amazed about, he is (understandably) unwilling to share that therefore it shouldnt be used as a further stick to beat Nyambe with.

Measured and believable as in as cryptic as possible, revealing no information at all?

All speculation. We dont know what he is demanding or what he is on. Im guessing that Nyambe hasnt told you directly so no one can be sure if any rumours are true regarding those figures. Have you seen much of Zeefuik to be able to suggest that he will easily probably replace Nyambe?

Is he even that good at crossing? I dont remember many goals that he set up with crosses, maybe one v Reading at home last season?

In his opinion. My opinion was that it wasnt a penalty, a free kick on the edge of the box only, the second incident was not worthy of a foul/penalty. Brereton was already off balance and very much tried and failed to buy a penalty. The Holmes one was obviously a red card although I would suggest that it likely would have made a significant difference seeing as it was with only 10 minutes to go.

I wasn't convinced by either penalty appeal. For the first, a foul was not given on the edge of the box, but after that Brereton never regained his balance and went down very easily, not a penalty for me. The handball was not a penalty for me either as O'Brien was very close to Travis.

Out of the three impressive centre backs, I would suggest that Van Hecke should be the least likely to get a rest, he was in and out initially including a 3 game ban, and I feel like as good as he is, he would be missed less than Lenihan who has been superb and is captain and also Wharton who is unique to us. Ayala would also be likely to play in the middle. I think that Nyambe is one of the players with no serious alternative in the squad and high potential to pick up a muscular injury who could do with a rest, Rothwell has also picked up a few knocks this season and could benefit from a breather. I think Kaminski is one player who doesn't obviously need resting as a goalkeeper so should play as we try and go as strong as possible to win the game whilst rotating players. Kaminski Van Hecke Ayala Wharton Buckley Johnson Davenport Edun Butterworth Gallagher Dolan

Great news. Alan Nixon talking out of his arse again.

Mowbray said that we may struggle to name a bench on Saturday. Many players have played so much football already and Pickering being out is a huge blow, along with the impending threat of Covid. This has to be the time for Venkys to stump a fraction of the Armstrong money back up. We need new players in to help the main 14 or 15, because after that the quality falls off a cliff.

I am unsure when Rankin Costello ever shown that he is anything close to being better than either Pickering or Nyambe. He is really poor defensively (not his natural instinct clearly) and whilst being fairly steady on the ball, he wasn't the attacking threat that many seem keen to make out when he went forward.

Whether he would or would not have played Rankin Costello is a total unknown and hypothetical. The fact is that Nyambe has played consistently now as first choice for a while and to be honest throughout Mowbrays tenure he has trusted him enough to only sign Paul Caddis as another right back that I recall, instead choosing versatile players already at his disposal to compete with Nyambe. With Rothwell he often has been very inconsistent and has actually matured when trusted in a deeper role that I doubt many if any of us would have suggested. Both have grown and become more consistent over time into much better and more complete players under Mowbray to become key assets of a team 2nd in the table. Plus according to Waggott both (and Lenihan) have been in discussions with the club that have stalled with us offering as much we can, they wouldnt entertain the idea if the manager was the sticking point.

He has played consistently for the last couple of years now, there is nothing to suggest that he is potentially leaving because of Mowbray.