Wouldn't have dropped Graham to fit in all 3 of Bennett, Evans and Smallwood who surely is now a performance away from being dropped. That said, theres definitely pace and flair in the 3 attacking players in that team. Not a fan of the stupid video revealing the team.

Both worked well in tandem last season, and Graham doesnt deserve to be dropped, so id like to see both. Grahams hold up would allow Armstrong, Dack and Palmer/Rothwell to run into the space he vacates when coming short for the ball.

No one is saying theyd rather spend it on an over paid player on daft wages, so thats not a viable argument. Some people are arguing that they would rather spread the cost over 2 or 3 players to improve, seeing as we are light at centre back, out wide and in central midfield too. There are also questions as to the quality of Brereton in terms of what he can offer now, or whether we are just paying solely for potential. Add to that the role that he plays and there are a few questions to ask, assuming you dont have tunnel vision of course. I find your insistence on his talent a bit odd being based on a video, but each to their own.

Bringing in Graham isnt a negative move. He is crucial in the way he is a focal point, his hold up is outstanding at times and he can get us up the pitch to allow our flair players to take advantage. I agree with you in the main in terms of not adopting a negative mentality. I'd put Bennett and Evans in the centre of midfield, and then Dack, Graham and Armstrong are definites and the only debate is whether to start Palmer or Rothwell.

Not sure what you based them figures on. No way wed profit on Samuel and Leutwiler, or get a fee for Sam Hart. Even Armstrong and Rothwell havent gone up in value from when we signed them. Its all opinion based but if you was to pick our first 11, Dack and Armstrong massively improved it, Smallwood would get in as probably a main weakness. The rest of his signings are either squad players, unneeded players or loan players who have gone back.

Theres not a chance that the deal would be such a big fee but if we decide before Christmas that we dont fancy it after all, we can send him back and not pay. It is practically a buy, through the workaround of a loan initially with an obligation to buy in the flawed transfer window. I don't think the question is do we trust Mowbray's scouting network, which has given mixed results. It is whether we feel that spending such a large fee on one player rather than 3 or 4 is wise, whether the player is worth and what role the player will play, in our personal opinions.

Or we could sign a player that can ensure that we dont have to totally change the way we play when a key part of it, Graham, who is also incapable of playing all the time, is missing? You cant have everyone wanting to run beyond the ball, you need someone who the ball can stick to. When did you see him? The video is only the good things hes done, not the times he fell on his arse, when he hit row Z or when the ball rolled under his foot. Can find one of anyone on youtube, making Heskey look like Pele, Carlos Villanueva like Maradona, Liam Feeney look like Ronaldinho and Elliott Ward like Franz Beckenbauer. On the flip side, Forest fans in the main from what I can see rate him highly, want him to stay unless the fee is big, but mainly think he is not capable of being a lone striker, which is what he would be in our team. If hes a weak striker who can play wide who likes to get in behind, isnt that what Armstrong does? I'm not saying we shouldnt sign him, hes clearly a talent but your argument has more holes in it than a golf course. Basing it on a video that can make anyone look good, and totally changing your opinion at the drop of a hat to ensure you appear happy about anything that is happening is always going to cause ridicule.

@chaddyrovers as asked earlier, may I ask how much you have seen him of him to have such a strong view as to his potential and how he would be worth the massive fee?

May I ask how you know that he can hold the ball up? How many times have you seen him play? I only recall seeing him once personally. The video you showed is meaningless as a highlight reel can make anyone look good. From what I have read Brereton is not an effective loan striker, hence why he was often played wide. My main concern is that he would be similar to what we have in Armstrong, and still leave us lacking a focal point should Graham be out.

£8m is a lot of money @chaddyrovers and @Stuart cant be expected to list a shortlist of other potential signings as he is, presumably, not a professional scout. For me, there are a lot of question marks. We'd be spending a massive chunk of money, a club record amount, on someone with a very underwhelming goal record thus far, we'd be paying for potential. Last time we spent this much, the striker we bought was a proven goalscorer. My questions are in regards to his style of play mainly, he has played many games wide having read up on him, we need a focal point more than anything, he sounds like a player who is quick and runs towards goal, similar to Armstrong. Surely we wouldnt spend that much on a striker to play him wide? I would be cautiously excited to see him join, I'm sure he is a huge upgrade on Samuel (who isnt) and hes very highly rated but for that sum of money some people may expect someone to be the first name on the teamsheet. I've only seen him once that I recall, v Arsenal, he tore them to shreds in terms of running behind Mertesacker but he missed a few chances if I recall. Not interested in videos that can make anyone look good. Would rather have him than not but take on board peoples suggestions that surely there is better value in spreading the money across 2 or 3 players. And chaddy, Alan Myers said "not sure tbh" when asked how likely it is. He is just echoing what was already in the public domain, as he did with the Freeman bid.

Sports therapist according to Rich Sharpe.

Alan Myers tends to recycle stories and rumours already in the public domain. Don't think hes in touch with Rovers any more.

Where does it say we want Brereton and Gallagher together?

Only if the front 3 ensured that we never needed to use Samuel as he is so much worse than all 3 of them. Needs to go ASAP.

5 or 6 points is what id expect in the next 3 games personally.

Doesn't mean that people can't have other opinions. I dont see us signing Brereton and Gallagher, if we did, we'd have 4 strikers who can play as "wide forwards" and no natural wingers, leaving what most would consider to be an imbalance in our squad.

Apologies, that wasnt aimed at you. I personally think the pair of them are very good, Mulgrew in my opinion is underated.

I hate comments like this because if we are just blindly trusting his judgement without being able to cast opinion beforehand, whats the point of a messageboard? It implies that people have no trust in faith in Mowbray at all, which is totally unfair. The vast majority if not everyone does. People are having hypothetical conversations about a potential signing, the kind of deal he may join on, the fee and whether its a wise investment or if alternatives should be considered, and the role he will play if he signs, both positionally and in terms of game time. And what he would add, and what he wouldnt add. Feels like theres been more meaningless platitudes thrown at people this summer than ever, such as "trust his judgement" "have faith" and "stop being negative" and all it does is shuts down any healthy debate. Football is about opinions, not every thing will be a positive, and people shouldnt be castigated with worthless cliches just for raising what they consider to be constructive points.

The problem was on Saturday, in that first half when we were all over the shop, they were our 2 worst players, and didnt do their job.

I felt like the reason we were so poor in the first half v Millwall was not the number of defensively minded players, but more so the individual performances of those players. The horrendous ball retention of Evans and Smallwood in particular, as well as the lack of protection they provided was the reason that we were under pressure. I believe we can play without a defensive winger in games, and still not play with wreckless abandon.

I don't think theres any chance of Smallwood leaving. My suggestion on the soldiers and artists front, is that it surely should be rare that we include 3 soldiers (Smallwood, Evans and Bennett) in the same team.

Surely the pressure of a fee northwards of 6m would be more pressure still.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/august/the-experiment-worked/ “I’ve played Adam off the left wing before. I play with two and a half attackers, really. Adam is one, Danny [Graham] is one, and Bradley [Dack] is the half," Tony revealed to iFollow Rovers. "I’d then have a [Elliott] Bennett or a [Craig] Conway on the other side, running up and down. Like I say, football is about balance." Mowbray made these comments on the website. Whilst I appreciate the need for balance, I hope these comments dont have the lack of flexibility implied, and that they are more examples of how we have lined up in the past rather than a fixed blueprint for his team. I think most would agree that we dont need to be playing a "defensive winger" as Mowbray calls them every week, ie Bennett or Conway. We've added players like Palmer and Rothwell and are in the market for a couple more, sometimes they should be fighting over 4 places, rather than 3. The next 2 games are winnable, I'd like to see the shackles slightly let off, as much as I appreciate that Bennett may be needed for tougher games away from home when we are going to be playing one of the top teams.

Find it baffling that people overlook Mulgrews defensive capabilities. To suggest that hes only guaranteed a start due to his set pieces is crazy talk, without even considering who the replacement could be. As much as I rate Lenihan, im not sure how hes become considered as the superior of the 2, doing "most of the good work." Both are very capable Championship centre backs but id suggest that Lenihan makes at least if not more mistakes than Mulgrew. Maybe its because hes more of an orthodox defender and the additional aspects of Mulgrews game, ability on the ball, set pieces etc gloss over his defensive quality. Hes the second name on the team sheet for me.

One of my main concerns is in terms of the actual role that he plays. His main attributes are his pace and his ability to run in behind. He has also played from a wide position. Very similar attributes to Armstrong. Last season he gave Arsenal a torrid time running in behind. But im not convinced its within his armoury to play effectively with his back to goal. We cant really just have Graham who cannot usually last full games as an option to hold the ball up. If it was a permanent deal the signing would be one greeted with cautious optimism as he would definitely add to our attack but it is a lot of money for a player who might not start every week.