This is how I think Mowbray sees our pecking order in terms of defenders (providing we do land Adarabioyo). Right back: Bennett, Adarabioyo, Nyambe Left back: Bell, Downing, Williams, Hart Centre Back: Lenihan, Mulgrew, Williams, Adarabioyo, Nyambe A lack of quality defenders and baffling loyalty to the likes of Bennett will be our downfall. I’d love Nyambe to nail down his place and Adarabioyo and Hart to provide a nice surprise, but without a real quality centre back coming in we are in trouble. That’s a relegation defence.

So it’s took a whole hour of Downing’s Rovers career for him to be converted to a left back.

I think you are absolutely correct, but I couldn’t bring myself to press the like button. I honestly don’t think there is a worse back 5 than that in the Championship, so a new keeper needs to be a good one.

Everyone else appears to be wearing their squad number... Hope this isn’t reason for alarm bells

Behave. He’s explained his mate is a lower level club employee who hears bits and tells him. If his mate has asked him to keep it to himself he’d be an absolute dick to rush straight off and post it all over a forum... I doubt there is much worry about scuppering a deal, more about upsetting a friendship. We aren’t talking here about someone with any other agenda than just wanting to discuss transfers... no links to his blogs or anything like that which we’ve seen from other apparent ITKs. Similarly, I’ve got a mate who gives me bits of info... and I’m not going to say who it is as it’s not my place. I’d also never post anything he asked me not to or that could be unequivocally be traced back to him. He’s quiet at the minute, so I appreciate any info I hear from others and base how reliable it is on a number of factors. If I decide it’s bollocks I’ll ignore it or maybe argue the likelihood. The whole demanding of more info and revealing of sources is pointless. The digs are out of order.

While I don’t think Mowbray is either dodgy or incompetent, those are two words that Venky’s are going to have to go a long way to shake off.

There shouldn’t be a difference... actually it shouldn’t be reported at all but that’s another matter. The difference is the emotive response those headlines are trying to stimulate: a) Outrageous! What a spoiled brat! b) What a nice generous lad!

Adarabioyo on loan would be a decent signing to add depth and options, but we are still in dire need of an aerially dominant leader at centre half. Signing one looks less likely as time goes on... I believe wholeheartedly Mowbray wants one, just as I believe Venky’s won’t sanction it.

It’s a concern that we haven’t addressed the goalkeeper issue as yet. The worry is that we are missing out on our top targets. We don’t just need bodies, we need a better goalkeeper than Raya (or selling him is bonkers) and we need a better centre half than Lenihan to really push on. Leutweiler, Bennnett, Lenihan, Williams, Bell is a back 5 I could see Mowbray selecting from what we have available... and it’s one that is relegation standard. A Raya upgrade, Nyambe, Lenihan, a quality centre back, Bell is possible and is a back 5 which could challenge for promotion. Fine margins, but massively important. I’ve no doubt Mowbray wants to strengthen... but whether Venky’s share his vision remains to be seen.

I’ve heard the wages were a big factor. Wasn’t on much at all here considering his place in the squad. Obviously though people would rather reimagine him as being utter shit. I’m sure his replacement will be a shot stopping, cross catching machine with a Beckham-esque delivery and the ability to organise a defence better than Bobby Moore.

Loan signings who slot straight into the starting 11 and contribute are good. Loan signings who remain on the periphery of the first team squad with the odd sub and league cup appearance here and there are a waste of time. We seem to have had more of the latter recently.

I predicted a while back we would go for him. After the window closes. With the caveat he isn’t going to be ready for months. If this, or similar, is our only defensive addition I’ll be furious. If it’s in addition to some ready made first teamers, happy enough with it.

Just remember what Mowbray said re the European scouting network... He had to catch a plane to Zurich and stay in a hotel to ask Balaji if he was allowed to catch a plane and stop in a hotel in order to scout a player in Europe. Another fine example of a normally functioning football club.

Complaining about the clubs transfer activity/policy is at least on topic. Complaining about people complaining about the clubs transfer policy is more of a stretch... it’s also much nearer to anything that could be construed as against forum rules.

This is the question that was put to Mowbray and Waggott at the consultation meeting: Do the club/owners have an aversion to signing defenders? Since Venky’s took over we have recouped circa £45 million on selling defenders, whereas we have only spent around £6.5 million on defenders during that period (85% of which went on one player) There is a perception that we have a “make do and mend” approach to the defence, often with players playing out of position at the back There seems a willingness to spend money in other areas when it is apparent to most that our defence has been something of an Achilles heel for years now. We have had a high turnover of players in defensive positions, but we have invariably replaced players we have sold for decent sums with free or nominal fee transfers When Venky’s first came along they spoke about their preference for “exciting, young, attacking players” – the transfer history during their tenure supports this, but does this extend to an unwillingness to sanction spending on defensive players? The response was emphatic: Defenders are coming We need defenders who can come straight in and improve the starting 11 Big ugly centre backs I guarantee defenders are coming No excuses Not up to the job We need better than Bauer Big, strong men who love defending Jake Cooper? He’s one who we could look at The recent about turn is a massive concern. I went from being confident to hopeful... hope it doesn’t end at dismayed.

You can draw conclusions when presented with evidence though. And there’s plenty of evidence to suggest my theory holds water.

Never mind the fees we payed for Armstrong, Brereton and probably now Gallagher too... Dominic Samuel cost more than our entire defence. Denying there is something beyond Mowbray’s control going on is burying your head in the sand. Venkys won’t spend on defenders.

It’s not that it’s a fantastic model, it’s just the nature of things. I think everybody accepts that Dack has a price? If a bid of £15 million came in from a prem club I’m sure we’d all be a bit gutted, but see it as him moving on like players do. If we then failed to reinvest that money, or wasted half of it on another Brereton, people wouldn’t be happy, but that’s a different matter. Look at some of the players we’ve lost in recent times - the argument isn’t that we sold them... Cairney - went too cheap Hanley and Duffy - weren’t replaced King/Mahoney - weren’t tied up so we lost out Raya - sold too soon For a time we had a squad with virtually zero re-sale value. Now we have some players who would actually command a fee, and eventually they will go.

Let’s use Konsa as an example. Bought 12 months ago from League one for 2.5 million, played a season with them and sold to a Prem team for 12 million. They have already made signings in that position and could well make more. No fan of any club wants to see their best players sold, but when a team from a higher division comes in and gives you a big profit, you accept it as inevitable. If we were to sell Dack, Lenihan it Travis, I’d have very little faith in us bringing in anyone remotely near the same level... fucking hell, I’d be pretty amazed if we replaced them with players who even play in the same position. Getting raided for your better players by top flight teams shows you are doing something right... it’s the nature of transfers. We are lightyears behind Brentford in terms of identifying players and recruiting them. Barring Dack, and to a much lesser degree Armstrong and Rothwell, the only players we have of any real value are academy products.

Nyambe stays back for every single set piece. Bell goes up for every single set piece. Bennett has played in the 10, centre mid and on both wings. Stats like this don’t really paint a full picture.

Mowbray: So Madam, Balaji, thanks for taking the time to speak to me Balaji: No problem Tony. As you know we are passionate, knowledgeable, supportive and humble Desai: I trust you are telling the peasants that at every given opportunity Tony? Mowbray: Oh yes, rest assured I am. But the reason I’ve called you today is we desperately need a new goalkeeper Desai: What’s a goalkeeper? Balaji: It’s a servant who cuts the grass Mowbray: Forgive me Bala, I think you’re thinking of a groundskeeper... goalkeeper is a position. We need a new player Desai: A young, exciting, attacking player? Mowbray: Well, no. Not really... it’s kind of a specialised position? Balaji: Can Benno not cover it? Mowbray: Ordinarily I’d say yes, but I don’t want to lose his energy and quality at right back. Desai: Can we not manage without one? Mowbray: Not really. The goalkeeper is the one that’s allowed to use their hands Balaji: Oh, that should be an easy job! Desai: Can we borrow one? Mowbray: That’s what I was hoping. I’ve got my eye on one Desai: Hmmmm, I don’t know about that Tony. We should really let the experts identify the players. Bala! Give Shebby a call Balaji: We aren’t friends anymore Desai: Well Where’s that list of Jeromes friends gone? Mowbray: I’ve taken the liberty of providing a video package. A kind of highlight real that shows what caliber of player we are dealing with. It shows the pinnacle of his career Desai: This is most unorthodox, but I’m intrigued. Let’s see it. * Mowbray presses play * Balaji: Wow! Desai: Authorised!

I’d also question how much we as a team worked on crosses during training. We always like very susceptible to them defensively and barely ever utilise them in our attacking play.

They seem to be playing the market really well though. The players they lost had an air of inevitability about them, and have gone to ‘bigger’ clubs for decent fees. They haven’t hung about, seemingly cast their net wide and are quickly re-investing. Just had a look at a look at a highlights package they put together on announcing the Diaby signing... lad looks a beast! We all know the potential pitfalls of getting too excited over a bunch of clips, but I can’t help thinking I wish we had someone like that.

Just been having a look at the business other teams in the league have done. One team that really stood out was Barnsley. Not unlike Mowbray, Stendel has done a bit of a raid on his past club, Hannover rather than Middlesbrough in this case. But as well as a couple from Germany they have also bought in what look like two big young centre halves from Denmark and Belgium. I don’t profess to know anything about these players, and they might not be any good, but while no doubt helped by the fact they have a manager from Europe, their scouting network clearly stretches a lot further than ours.

Jordan Archer was released by Millwall - he looked really good there for a while but lost his way (and place) this season. I think he’d be one who could give a good no.1 a challenge.