You wouldnt be banned if it was a quote and any swearing was asterixed out. What did you hear? And by how many?

Depends what you consider to be "behind him." If its someone calling Brereton shit to their mate alongside them, thats not abuse. If its someone or some people groaning when a shot or a touch goes wrong, again thats not abuse. Him going off 5 minutes after skewing a shot out for a throw in, would surely be the perfect time to show a player they have not got the backing of the fans. Warm applause suggest that he does. As @Stuart says you will get the odd idiot everywhere but that doesnt represent the whole fan base. Why have you not replied to my earlier post to you about the attributes he has shown, about actual constructive analysis of the player? Same reply applies to @chaddyrovers.

At games, people get behind everyone. He'd be easier to warm to still if he gave every drop. Lets hope his Rovers career takes off but we can only judge on what weve seen.

Thanks for the tangible attributes you feel he has. To be honest, I have yet to see evidence of most of it, His first touch is really loose, and I can only recall his disallowed goal at Deepdale as evidence of good technique. He rarely gets into goalscoring positions and the last 3 shots I recall him having are a totally misjudged free header and 2 shots that went out for a throw in. I wouldnt describe him as quick but I do suspect that if there is an area to build around, he does seem to want to travel with the ball. Alot of patience is wittled away when the work rate is questionable too.

The reason there is less debate about successful signings is not because everyone is desperate to moan and whinge, its because there is very little scope for discussion about something everyone agrees on. Take Dack. Mowbray gets plenty of praise for his signing but how much discussion can you get. "Dacks been an unbelievable signing." "100% agree." End of discussion. Armstrong has thrived in the last month but has been patchy overall and poor in the main prior to 2019 but I am very happy to have him.

Most of the defence regarding the Brereton deal, predominantly from @Biz and @S8 & Blue is based on buzzwords such as "time" "patience" and "faith" which is fair enough to a certain degree but what have you actually seen in the way of tangible attributes from an admittedly small sample in terms of game time, or had you seen in his time previous to joining, to suggest that with time and patience, that he will/could/might prove to be a positive signing, and justify some of the quotes I have taken from the last few pages: Youve all mentioned other players but there was never any doubt that there was something in their armoury to suggest there was something there, some potential, however raw, to build on. Take Armstrong, pre-2018 in the main his form was poor I would argue, he hadnt contributed enough goals or assists, he was poor much more often than he was good, Leeds and Rotherham at home being the exceptions really. But there was always a hope, because he had obvious attributes and potential. He is lightning fast, he has proven in the past that he is a very good finisher, therefore he was persisted with, starting most weeks. Then you move on to Nuttall. I have doubts that he will become a Championship striker, but he has impressed me becoming 2nd choice after seemingly being destined to go out on loan, and he also has something to him. He has a knack of getting into goalscoring positions, and a habit of being ready for tap ins and in the case of Oxford and Millwall away, being in the right place for the ball to rebound off him and go in. Is that a fluke? Perhaps somewhat, but he knows where to be to get goals. Then theres Travis, he has played very few games, but his attributes were obvious instantly, composed on the ball, energetic and tenacious. All I ask is, what is Brereton good at, what are his raw attributes that can be moulded into a 7m striker at any point during his Rovers career, or even a competent one? Theres also some desperation in trying to make it seem like people expect too much, too soon. Danny Graham has been our best player this season for me, all (well all but one) appreciate how good hes been, therefore Brereton could only realistically be expected to be pushing Graham as much as he can, desperately trying (when he comes on he doesnt scream of a young lad desperate to impress, ducking out of headers and "pressing" half arsed) to impress, impacting when he can, being first in line when Graham is injured or tired. Modest expectations for a 7m striker with over 50 appearances in the Championship, dont you think? His lack of game time is somewhat self inflicted too, he has shown nothing when he has been on the pitch and thus fallen further down the pecking order. Theres seemingly also a need to make the 7m price tag seem like a burden but in some ways I think its beneficial, without it, would anyone be suggesting that he has potential with time?! And would he make every matchday squad on merit without the circumstances surrounding his arrival? Also @Biz youve again pleaded for the enormous price tag to be ignored but that isnt realistic and it isnt balanced. The signing of Dack from Gillingham for a 6 figure amount is universally seen as a masterstroke. Mowbray has also received plenty of praise for picking up Rodwell off the scrapheap on a free following the recent run of form. You cant praise Mowbray for excellent, shrewd signings and not judge the most expensive signing based on his cost, it doesnt work like that.

Mowbray himself said that he wanted a striker, that he felt he was a striker short and am sure that he is himself dissapointed that we couldnt bring one in. Spurious links to big name targets obviously dont help expectations I concede. I personally think that the 7 figure fee quoted by Rich Sharpe as to how much the loans (fee and wages) would have cost would have been a worthwhile small risk considering our position. Sign a proven striker to get us 10 goals extra could be the difference between 6th (with potential access to a promotion windfall) and 10th. You seem to think its "over entitled" to harbour hopes for a play off push. I consider it just about realistic and an acknowledgment that there IS a lot to be happy about (players and manager) with us so close to the top 6, that rather than settling for safety and stability, fans are hoping for extra firepower (an injury to Graham and we are goosed) to give us a potential leg up to overachieve, without losing sight of the fact that finishing just beyond the top 6 would still be a positive season even if we dont quite make it. Fine line between ambition and over entitlement. You are exaggerating and using poetic license in your comments regarding lack of ambition and ability to recruit. Very valid criticisms about the impact of our 7m striker and also suggestions as to us needing to broaden our search beyond the same few names and potentially even abroad are fair and the latter is something Mowbray himself has suggested that he is looking to explore today.

Raya Bennett Lenihan Rodwell Bell Evans Travis Reed Dack Armstrong Graham Subs: Leutweiler, Nyambe, Williams, Smallwood, Rothwell, Nuttall, Chapman (Conway if Chapman deemed too unfit)

There are duds and gems in equal measure wherever you look, my point was that its better to choose from a bigger pool and that English playees can be overpriced (Brereton a prime example) and was shot down for it as if it was a character assassination on Mowbray. Even he has admitted it today. Obviously it is still difficult and risky to find the right players wherever you look but at least you arent seemingly focusing on predominantly ex loanees. People seem to think that those championing widening our recruitment scope as basing it only on successful signings from abroad but that is nonsense. The Portugal example you give is flawed in that it was obviously not all above board.

Poor window if we arent signing anyone and one that we will end weaker than we started, with Downing and Palmer no longer options, and Chapman seemingly not fit any time soon. Have to worry about any injury to Graham potentially de-railing us.

We can assume that the Brereton deal was a significant one, the fee of 7m is regularly banded around by primary sources. What we cannot assume is the payment terms, when the installments are due, how much is guaranteed, his wages or any other additional fees. Im not sure how much it matters either, if its in installments or all at once it will still cost us the same, and with a fee of such signifance even a million either side doesnt really change anything, even if he cost say 5m that would still be very expensive. You havent provided a view or a perspective at all with your "information." A mystery "colleague" with unknown "connections" has told you "details" about the deal which you are unwilling to share, and I suspect dont know yourself. This is far from the first time you have given cryptic "information" on something seemingly done to make you seem like you know more than you do.

I am critical of the Brereton deal as are you but cryptic nonsense doesnt support any argument.

I am not saying that signing players from abroad is a risk free strategy, there will be duds everywhere. My point is the more players we are considering, and the bigger pool we are picking from, the more beneficial it will be for us. A player with equal "potential" as Brereton signed from overseas would almost certainly cost a much more reasonable fee. It also worries me that our primary targets seem to be former players, despite their obvious flaws/limitations (Chapmans injuries for example) which for me highlights a lack of variation and imagination. I never expect that we will have a perfect record in the transfer market either, obviously I am going to show examples of successful transfers from abroad to back up my point, but that point is that picking players from a bigger pool is better than being limited to where we buy from, not that signing from abroad is guaranteed to be more successful. I have never doubted that some of the business we have done is good.

But that implies that if we started looking at players from abroad, that we would totally neglect the English market! The key is to find the best players possible wherever they are, but having a bigger pool to pick from is only going to be an advantage. I suspected that Mowbray was restricted in terms of perhaps a limited scouting network but recent quotes suggest he is uneasy with the idea of bringing in players from abroad. Look at Norwich, they have signed Pukki, Leitner and Onel Hernandez but also the likes of Rhodes and Hanley, and Brentford signed Maupay and partnered him with Watkins from Exeter, its getting a nice mix. You look at the Brereton deal, I refuse to accept that across Europe we couldnt find an alternative for that amount of money who would offered so much more so far. And going for the likes of Chapman and seemingly Gallagher again seems incredibly restricted and unimaginative.

I prefer a squad with the best possible players in it, whether they are from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain or Timbuktu. We will see if this supposed scouting upgrade sees us signing good players from abroad as well as England. That is all me, Mercer and others who have suggested it want.

It doesnt, that wasnt the point I was debating. Chaddy implied that we was 8th in spite of spending little money on our front 4; that is a bit of a deceiving fact when you consider one of our subs cost so much. I don't think its painting a true and fair view of our achievement if you only consider the cost of our players who have been successful signings up to now. I have never doubted that we have made some cracking signings that other teams would be jealous of. I dont think anyone has suggested that. Dack is obviously the jewel in the crown, Armstrong has been poor in the main for most of the season but has in the last month showed form that he has enough to prove a very shrewd signing in time for 2m. Reed has also been a very good loan deal, and Graham was a very good signing from Coyle. That being said, I do worry that our transfer targets seem to be from a limited pool, and believe you are wrong to shoot down Mercer for suggesting that we need to look abroad aswell as in the UK.

My point was not suggesting that Brereton should be in the team. Although some fans are capable of having opinions contrary to the manager on certain things... My point was that you showing how cheaply our front 4 was assembled is a slight doctoring of the truth in that we spent plenty of money on our attackers when you factor in the cost of Brereton aswell.

With a 7m striker unable to get into the team but sat on the bench collecting dust, im not sure that is as much of a good achievement as you make out haha.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/transfer-news/coventry-city-transfer-news-loan-15749683 And wasnt this supposed to be Nuttall rather than a winger?

Didnt get the impression from Waggotts quotes that hed been in Middlesbrough for 3 days!

I wasnt lambasting anyones opinion, i literally took the individual point that you see more on TV and disagreed with it. You see all 11 players on each team, the shape of each team in full, the off the ball movements, you see everything. Obviously you still see how good a player is on TV but all I am saying is you see more at the game.

You can see the whole pitch rather than the select area where the camera is focused. Why do managers like to scout players in person if its just as good to watch on tv?

Talented player but not what we need, a number 10 who is far less effective than Dack and I would suspect would have been sidelined similar to Palmer.

I am sure that Dack has a lot of respect for Mowbray (albeit he wouldnt say publically if he disliked him!) but you are naive if you think that sole factor would prevent a player from trying to further his career, in MOST cases. Its not just about money. Its about being ambitious and going to a bigger team. He sounded like he loved it at Gillingham but he joined Rovers because they are a bigger club and a richer club.

Going off on a tangent, you see far less watching on tv than being at the game.