Ireland play again on Sunday. With only one absentee, our back 4 will be a frightening indicator of what we could field in a league game should we not get on with our transfer business. Leicester will have plenty on international duty.

I am not sure how you have come to that conclusion based on that back 5 to be honest. I get that you are implying that Walton is less than tolerable, which there is some truth in, but "tolerable" is hardly a glowing endorsement for the standard we would like from our goalkeeper. However, I take your point that if Kaminski is better, obviously we are better off there. But youve underestimated the downgrade that taking Tosin out would cause. He might not have been the very best defender in terms of his ball playing being the stand out attribute but he was a very competent Championship defender. Wharton has done well in League 2, happy for him to be 4th choice, but as a replacement for Adarabioyo that is a huge downgrade. My worry is that we will struggle to get someone as good as Adarabioyo this summer even as a defender, and even then, we would need to improve the defence anyway. Naby Sarr has been repeatedly mentioned, a player who has earned cult hero status but that is not for his solid defensive play at Charlton. But it has to be more than just a good centre back coming in. We need a new left back, we need Kaminski to be good (and a good experienced number 2 in case he isnt) we need to change the way we defend as a team (no need for full backs both being so attacking simultaneously) and we also need more options, whenever even one of our key defenders missed a game last season, we struggled. There is also left back. Bell only actually started 19 games last year, plus played the majority of the game at QPR. Cunningham obviously had a spell of games where we picked up plenty of points, and Downing also was at left back during our upturn in form. Either way, and obviously I dont think it will be so its moot, but that back 5 would have us closer to the bottom 3 than the play offs! That is not an improvement on last year even if Kaminski is ok.

Fingers crossed we get walloped at Bournemouth and humiliated v Wycombe then if these exceptions to the rule that a strong start is important is anything to go by. Bell is as much of a liability as Mulgrew.

I love that the isolated example of Boro keep getting brought up. We might not be the only club lagging behind but we are always one of the slowest under Venkys and always will be. We started v Charlton last season with the usual dregs in defence and lost. The value of a fast start has been lost. Does anyone have faith that Mowbray is going to bring in the defenders we need?

The main issue has always been not only that season ticket But that scenario is totally different. Liverpool in a full stadium already have more demand than there is possible supply. In a restricted capacity, the demand is massively higher than supply. With us, we have less than a third of our stadium capacity as season ticket holders. Factor in an inevitable reduction due to health worries and affordability issues in a tough economic climate (with a price rise) and it wont be a problem for us.

Where does there seem to be a reluctance? Most of the criticism surrounds the tone of the statement today (more guilt tripping) and the price hike which is justified. But most people last time I checked put on the poll today that they will renew. The thing is, we will never know the situation fully. There will always be scope for fans suddenly not to be allowed so it all surrounds the way in which Rovers tackle it, details which were still absent in todays press release. Bristol City are essentially offering the choice of an ifollow link or pro rata refund for any home games missed. They could in theory allow a deduction on next seasons ticket too.

Rich Sharpe replied to someone a couple of weeks ago saying that he had heard Elliott mentioned so that isnt a new one.

That last sentence ultimately shows that the sole purpose of your message is to provoke. But can a supporter not hold negative opinions about price hikes, lack of communication until 9 days before the season, and a marketing campaign built on guilt tripping? Should a supporters financial situation and the affordability and value of season tickets not come into the equation regarding their thoughts on season ticket prices? Surely there should be no debate and discussion at all in this thread, it should be everyone in unison thinking "the price is good because im a positive supporters." We arent Preston. If I was a Preston fan though, when they put their price up to what it is now, id have been fuming.

Waggott a few months ago claiming that reimbursements from last year would be carried across ?

Not them specific players but the fact that we are lagging behind many and scrambling around under these owners is no surprise. Lets not pretend that its unavoidable and one of those things. Its the same every year. Plenty of re writing history. Mowbray has to wait until a couple of weeks until a season ends and then flies to India for a week, thats how they work, one of those things. He moans in the press about a lack of clarity, many make out that he probably does know his budget but is just waiting on technicalities. And to Mowbray himself, he fails to fix our defence, he has done the same at other clubs, yet there seems to be quite a lot of faith that this will be the summer when it is sorted. 9 days before the season and not one defender had come through the door, just plenty of gossip, near misses and hard luck stories.

Unsurprising that after weeks and weeks of waiting, when they have finally (9 days before the season!) released some form of communication, it is the usual guilt trip approach surrounding the price hike. Hope there is more clarity regarding bubbles in terms of who you attend with (details given by other teams) is forthcoming, and also I hope the price hike reasonable. £400 or less.

Edwards isnt very good. Stoke fans would be glad to see the back of him and have questioned his professionalism in the past. Also, right back isnt the priority at the moment. It seems that we are focusing on Stokes reserves at the moment which surely is a haven of defensive quality, right? The days tick by towards that first game and as per last year, closing in on the new season, the defence remains untouched. I have settled for the fact that Bell and Wharton will start on the opening day.

I suspect that considering that you were bigging up the signing of a kid with 20 or so senior experiences, your previous staunch defence of a very negligible improvement in terms of points and goals conceded, and your seemingly untold faith and trust in the clubs precise recruitment network and the manager in spite of his historical failure to fix our defence, that our standards regarding fixing our defence this season in order to support a top 6 finish may be slightly different.

We need more than 2 players but can you not surely understand why people have no faith in Mowbray fixing our defence?

Im not sure you can question the desire of any of the current squad but its not enough in isolation. When Bennett plays it invariably has a negative impact in terms of the teams ability to win points. Surely tweeting him after poor performances is worse than suggesting that you hope he is leaving on a messageboard.

If we do have interest in Phillips, he signed a new long term contract before he joined Stuttgart so it probably would be a loan and he is certainly not the man Mowbray mentioned he wanted next to Lenihan.

Sorry, I meant that Joe has suggested it a few times. Yeah Lenihan had a shocker on Saturday but we know how important he is to us and we need to sign some defenders to play with him.

I dont get the clamour to play a back 5, in essence partially to accommodate Wharton, as if he needs to be shoehorning into the starting 11. Nyambe is never a wing back in a million years either. That back 5 would hardly instill any confidence. The Phillips link seems very much a weak one but if he did sign, he would have to be capable of playing in a defensive 2. It would also make absolutely no sense to play 4-3-3 throughout pre season (and the end of last season) if he was going to totally change it.

I would suggest that article is a rehash of the rumour from elsewhere with many assumptions and regurgitated facts. I think he insisted that we wanted Phillips based on rumours for a while.

You could also say what have you seen from Dolan aside from a couple of bright cameos and a cup game? There is a reason why he is regularly in the first team squad at the best team in England.

I know but I would and many others would understand that there is an element of jeopardy. Even if this was a calculated plan, how can you justify a total silence from the club?

There is absolutely no chance of Curtis Jones coming here as he is in and around the Liverpool first team squad, but it is absolutely crazy that you would be dead against the idea, if you are being serious.

I think the criticism is not in regards to genuine slithers of gossip to discuss, it is at the baiting of a cryptic message with absolutely no substance, no name, no position, no personal opinion, so nothing really to discuss. Thats only my opinion. Regarding Nathaniel Phillips, he has barely played any senior football and presumably would only be a loan. Not for me. Ashley Williams, absolutely not.

McNair is a central midfielder.

He seemingly came on in an attacking position based on the team line up v Barrow and he scored a penalty anyway. The most important thing is that Rankin Costello is clearly not a defender and thus was regularly seen out of position or beaten by the winger of Doncaster. Nyambe is a far better defender which is the main priority.