@J*B where did mid November come from? Mowbray refused to put a date on it during his interview.

Playing on the side of a front 3 carries far less responsibility and would be easier for a striker like Armstrong to play than out wide in a 4231 which needs more tracking back. Weve seen albeit from a player who cant score goals that with Brereton. But Armstrong undoubtedly is best down the middle. Theyve never been played in a system whereby they could both thrive in tandem, but its not as if Dack is a big brute, hes a very technically gifted player who could compliment Armstrong within a more technical and pressing based set up. That being said, it takes a short memory to not be desperate to get Dack back into the side when fit. There is no reason why we cant play both as a 9 and 10 whilst still pressing high and ultimately Dack would be brilliant in terms of playing Armstrong in. Either way, we have to try and fit them both in because with one consistent goalscorer proven over his 18 months into the Championship, and another who has developed into one in 2020, having two regular goalscorers gives us a massive leg up over most teams in this division. When we have had them together in the past it has always been with Graham in a far more rigid style. The rest of our attacking players, Rothwell, Dolan, Rankin Costello, Chapman, Brereton, even Gallagher, theres plenty of pace and promise there but im not sure how much substance over the course of a season. Even if one of Armstrong or Dack would be slightly compromised by having them both together positionally, they would still be far more of a goal threat than any of the above players.

Theres no way that if a Premier League club failed to promise him regular football as a number 9, that it would overrule the benefits to him of playing at the highest level and a massive pay rise. We cant justify leaving out Dack, such a regular source of goals and such a catalyst to us. Him and Armstrong are so far ahead of all of our remaining attackers in that they are regular sources of goals. We have to make it work. The 4-2-3-1 wouldnt have to be as rigid and direct as we played when Graham was in the side. We could still have similar flexibility and high pressing as we do now but a secondary potent goal threat added.

U23 is not the same as competitive league football, but my comment was not specifically about him as I have never seen him, I just think considering our problems in that position and his inability to ever make a squad, it is safe to say that he wont be in the managers thoughts in the near future.

If he cant get a sniff of the first team with Bell repeatedly struggling and last season with Rankin Costello and Bennett shoehorned in due to lack of alternatives, I cant see why that would change anytime soon.

Yeah, I cant see that being critical to a new signing. I just dont think that a deal has been done or is imminent.

Cant see that being true, Fleetwood wont be able to pay much of his wages anyway with the new rules.

Agreed, and journalists dont seem to have directly followed it up. I think the meeting on Thursday went badly.

Absolutely. I also think that if you post something, especially as surefire as that someone has signed, and it turns out to be false, you cant expect to be exempt from a bit of ribbing and questioning. ITK information is always welcome but it doesnt mean that you should be put on a pedestal and have people blow smoke up your arse even if the information is not right. That is just in general, not saying JoeH is wanting that.

I wasnt overly impressed with Rankin Costello, for a natural winger I thought his crossing was really poor, always to the keeper. Seems technically ok but whilst it wasnt shown today he also is obviously not a natural defender. I can only assume that the meeting went badly, more changing of the goalposts perhaps? As you say, he said we can potentially afford one player for a fee. Warnock said we bid for Pears earlier in the week. We should be spending our fee on a sub goalie.

Dack has to come in when he is fit as our best player. He along with Armstong are the 2 guaranteed starters in the attacking position. There is room for the pair of them but it might take a bit of trial and error beforehand. The options will presumably be either in the 433 with Dack central and dovetailing with Armstrong coming inside from the left. Or 4231 which doesnt have to involve a change in style but would mean our number 10 and number 9 are both prolific scorers. Question would then be which way you play the other 4 around them. You can be as naive as you want about this working relationship but im saying as someone in his position I would hold off. If he has a really good season, we dont finish top 6 and a Premier League club offered him not only the opportunity to play at a higher level but probably double or triple his wage, no amount of respect for the manager or even a guarantee of playing in a certain position would stop that. You look at young English players like Bowen and Eze who had a couple of stand out seasons in the Championship and got big moves. He has only scored regularly for 6 months, if he makes it 18 and we dont go up and Premier League clubs circle, with a year left our hands would be forced to sell. Conversely, if we went up or indeed he didnt have quite as good a season as we expected, he could still sign a new deal here then. I would love him to sign a long deal as I would Dack and Nyambe but I wouldnt rush to do so if I was him.

Im not sure why people even think that Bell SHOULD be a good player, the only attribute he has is that he is fairly fast, which is often perhaps the usual thing that causes people that a player well out of his depth COULD step up. @chaddyrovers not a positive interview there. Mowbray admitting we have no money is one thing but I hope his delusion around not needing a left back urgently is false.

Very true. The 2 times he ran through (as well as when Brereton did) in the second half was obviously down to pace but also woeful dithering by their defenders to begin with. One thing that pleases me is 4 goals being a tap in, a penalty, a one on one (although he should have had 2) and a good finish in the box last week. My worry was that his ability to score screamers was undoubted but they are the goals that get the numbers up.

Definitely needs to be a priority to try but I cant see from his point of view why he wouldnt be better served holding off. If we went up somehow, perfect. If not, hes in a powerful position if and when bigger teams start sniffing around. Million dollar question is how do we get Dack in the same team. If we do and get it right we have 2 superb attacking players at this level.

Went top half ie similar to last year. Ayala a good signing. Kaminski still difficult to judge at this point. Still have the main weak point (Bell) in the team and seemingly no urgency to replace him. Armstrong a goalscorer that not all teams have, Dack a second but a real conundrum in how we get them both firing together. Travis a big loss. So a mixed bag really. Not good enough for top 6 but certainly too much to get dragged in to anything at the wrong end. Problem is, I cant see us keeping our best players next summer if we dont go up.

The lack of money always seemed to be the thing to expect so to be honest I am not shocked that it seems like Thursdays meeting on transfers has only compounded the fact that we are searching for bargains. But Mowbrays talk about left back not being the main priority is the big concern. Bell is and always will be not up to it. We do also need a sub keeper, a central midfielder and another attacking player. It doesnt seem like anything is imminent which considering that Mowbray said 2 days ago that he expected an answer on a left back within 24 hours is a concern.

He is hardly going to publically slag off the owners is he, and paying the bills is different to being held back from throwing loads of money on transfers. Suppose it is just one interpretation against another. Doesnt sound like anything is done based on Mowbrays interview. Unless hes pulled a blinder.

We couldnt compete with those 2 clubs. We couldnt afford that sort of fee, backed up by Mowbrays comments today. I dont see why he would come to a side in a similar situation in terms of where they can finish and Johnson would be a regular in our team.

Why would staff members discourage them from spending and why didnt they spend before they came?

He mentioned on Thursday that he had a meeting in the afternoon about signings. Im guessing it didnt go too well. The main worry amidst the quote is that left back isnt his main worry. Im guessing that the left back who was deciding within 24 hours has decided to go elsewhere.

Absolutely, but at the moment I think suggestions of him moving abroad for big money like Bellingham or like Eze domestically is crazy when hes only made one league start. Hes a talent and its exciting though, no doubt.

If he genuinely thinks that left back isnt the priority and it is going to be Bell there all season we can wave goodbye to any top 6 hopes.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18733710.mowbray-manning-interest-rovers-transfer-latest/ “I know exactly to the penny how much money we’ve got, it’s either a couple of loans or a signing, I would suggest, and I am not sure we’re going to spend it all on Ryan Manning when we’ve got Amari’i Bell doing okay." For fucks sake! Sounds like we are skint and that he is deluded over the lack of quality of Amarii Bell. Mowbray mentioned a meeting on Thursday. Sounds like it didnt go too well!

Huge if at this point, and again like the Bellingham one, it is a crazy comparison to make so soon. Eze was QPR's stand out player for 2 seasons, with many goals and assists.

Excellent result of course and a totally dominant display against an absolutely dismal Wycombe side who I suspect with their team and resources will do well to hit 20 points. As others have said, a shame we missed out and hopefully we can be allowed in to the next home game, although sadly I suspect that we wont be allowed even in small numbers. Armstrong the main man again, absolute game changer, and guaranteed source of goals. Be interesting to see how we fit Dack back into this team, as he undoubtedly has to come back in and give us a secondary guaranteed goal source. Dolan an absolute livewire, tired second half and sometimes spends too long on the ball, but a bundle of energy, pace and skill and not only that, a goal and a penalty won so there is some end product. Very raw but a very nice bonus to have considering his sudden emergence from an expected player for the under 23s. Midfield 3 very impressive too, thought Johnson had a very controlled game, Rothwell with some end product with the third goal, and Holtby with his usual class. Defensively totally untroubled, Williams stood out there. Kaminski I think we are struggling to get a real indication of his quality based on the games, totally untested in terms of saves, very safe with his handling of low balls in, seems accomplished with his distribution but very, very nervous from crosses, nearly costly early on from one. Full backs I thought had nothing to do defensviely but were both poor going forward. Bell did nothing of worth as per usual and I thought Rankin Costello aside from the shot that hit the outside of the post had a few poor touches and all of his crosses seemed to go straight to the keeper. Brereton also a curious one. Today had to be a perfect opportunity to get a meaningful goal and it passed him by. When they went down to 10, he should have been kept on but he offers zero goal threat. He did some neat and tidy things, a couple of nice touches, and contributed small parts in 2 goals, albeit his pass to Rothwell was perhaps a little wider than he would have liked, but he certainly hasnt guaranteed his place in the side. Subs wise, Buckley was bullied a bit initially but a couple of great passes, the one for the 5th goal was superb. Chapman bright and lively, Davenport neat and tidy.