The high hopes I had of Mowbray’s talk at the consultation meeting about defensive signings coming are rapidly evaporating... but I can’t believe Mowbray is getting as much stick as he is. Here is our back four on the first game of the season for the last few years... the first is before they came... Salgado Samba Nelsen Givet Salgado Hanley Nzonzi Olsson Orr Dann Givet Lowe Kane Dann Hanley Spurr Baptiste Hanley Kilgallon Olson Henley Hanley Duffy Olsson Lowe Duffy Ward Henley Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams At the moment it looks like this time round it’ll be Bennett Lenihan Williams Bell Some of the illustrious subs include Greer, Ribeiro and Anderson... The point being, failure to address glaring defensive issues in the summer window isn’t a Mowbray problem. If you can’t see a pattern, you are likely shutting your eyes, jamming your fingers in your ears and shouting to block what is being screamed out at you. The problem is 5,000 miles away. I have no doubts at all Mowbray is absolutely desperate to properly rebuild the defence. If new permanent signings, for fees, who are actual proper defenders don’t happen, as well as being apoplectic with rage, I’ll also believe beyond any reasonable doubt that he isn’t in control of transfers and Venky’s are not sanctioning the signing of defenders. For fucks sake, he’s already talking about converting Downing to full back (like Shebby did with Pedersen and Steven Gerrard!)... I hope I’m wrong. Time will tell. Until then I’m not going to get on Mowbray’s case. If my fears are realised it’ll be his integrity I’ll question rather than his judgement.

I’ll be heading to Preston for this on Friday. WWE have allowed their wrestlers to appear, so I expect a number of NXT UK faces to be there... fair play to them for that.

Thank god for that!

Just noticed this scarf Downing is holding up. Not seen this design before... I hope this isn’t a new design to match the kit, meaning that we are going from a ridiculously light sky blue to a ridiculously dark navy. Cos that’s just as shit, and just as wrong.

This silly new fashionable idea of “playing it out from the back” is ridiculous. We (and many other teams) try it and all that ends up happening is we knock it around the back four for a dozen pointless passes, invite pressure, knock it back to Raya, who boots it out for a throw-in in their half. We need defenders who can defend first and foremost.

I’d get in touch and see if there are any ground tours happening while you are over which you may be able to join on with. When I used to do them there were usually one or two public ones a week.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/786647/British-wrestler-lionheart-Adrian-McCallum-dead-aged-35 A catalyst of the British Wrestling resurgence. Absolutely heartbreaking.

As I said, I think he’s jumping to conclusions based on the fact Bauer’s contract was up. I know I had the benefit of hearing it first hand, but he really was very dismissive of the idea of signing Bauer. I had been wondering myself why Sharpe continued touting him when the message I got from the horses mouth was very much contrary to this.

If C = Cooper, all this Bauer talk will seem silly.

Regarding what Mowbray said about Bauer at the consultation meeting... I want to point out that the overarching message was we were in for him last year, his demands are high for a league one player, and we need bigger and better players ready to come straight into the first team. It seemed to me we had moved on from Bauer by that point. The 40-50k comment was in my mind pretty throwaway, to emphasise the fact his agent was over valuing him, and I’d confidently state it was in no way meant to mislead anyone. An exaggeration to highlight a point, probably. To be honest, I think us continually being linked with him is more to do with his contractual circumstances and journalists jumping to conclusions. Mowbray was dismissive of Bauer and after what he said I’d have been pretty disappointed if we had signed him. I should point out again though that if these better players fail to materialise I’d have serious doubts over Mowbray’s integrity and Venky’s intentions.

I’m hoping that it’s not a case of North End beating us to him, but a case of us not wanting him. Mowbray down played him at the consultation meeting, and stated we needed better players to come in to the first team. Actions speak louder than words, and these better players need to materialise. I’m more hopeful than confident that it will happen. Freebies, loans, converted midfielders, projects, lamenting missed opportunities and excuses will not do.

Speaking of good promos, without doubt one of the best in the world at it right here. His debut one on NXT UK was unreal. The shackles of wwe will neuter him soon enough no doubt. https://youtu.be/w2f8_bAmFNA

I liked the Darby Allin one. I know nothing at all about him, so it served as a good introduction. Bit long though. I just can’t warm to Janela, which will no doubt contribute to the fact that I thought his was rubbish. Hammy and OTT, but not in a good way. Didn’t engage me at all. Once again he looks like small time and amateur on a stage too big for his talents.

I can’t stand Joey Janela... but I’m intrigued to see what they are like

To save you the job of moving any more parameters, I’ll do it for you, and I will concede that Brereton was miles better than Nuttall... when he started up front... at Ewood... with Rothwell in midfield... when the weather was nice... against already relegated opponents.

I’d be really disappointed if we only get Bauer, in fact, that’s not true... I will be livid. It would make a mockery out of the assurances that have been made to supporters about improving that area of the team.

- You have mentioned money time and time again... both in disputing the generally accepted fee we paid for him, while also using that same reported fee as supposed proof of his ability. You seem to acknowledge he’s been “more miss than hit”, but are outraged at the suggestion he has done “more bad than good”. I absolutely believe that in the vast majority of games where he came on we looked worse for it, and in the games where he was subbed off we looked better for it. - allow me to expand on that then... he needlessly threw himself to the floor on more than one occasion, and in doing so needlessly surrendered possession - I don’t have any stats to hand, but I’d be astonished if this were true. I’d bet significant money that Brereton was involved in many more games than Nuttall... no idea in the number of minutes in total they both played, but I’d expect Breretons to be higher. If Nuttall has had more, it won’t be by much. If you’ve got the stats please let me know. - I can’t remember specific games, but on multiple occasions from my memory.

Those offside goals are becoming the new Myles Anderson tackles... Conceded at least two throw-ins directly from shots where he should have got the back of the net. Dived a bit. Lost possession cheaply countless times and didn’t retain the ball. Appeared to lack effort which allowed the opposition to control possession from the back far more easily. Provided absolutely no outlet. He did far less than Nuttall. If you think Brereton has been worth the money, and positively contributed this season, fair enough. I massively disagree. We aren’t ever going to change each other’s minds.

When does it become acceptable for a supporter to judge a players technical ability? Is it possible for me or you to ever judge someone who plays for Real Madrid, Man United or Macclesfield? I’ve seen more of Brereton than I’ve seen of any of their players. Really, it’s more about how Brereton is able to contribute, which in his first season was very little. He did more bad than good. I’d also point out we’ve had plenty of players who are widely accepted as technically lacking (Savage being a prime example) who have contributed plenty, whereas someone like Rochina who had all the technique in the world was pretty ineffective. Besides, if he had as much technical ability, or as much ability to influence as we’ve a right to expect of a £7 million signing, surely he’d have been given more first team opportunities?

Nyambe was 17 when he made his debut. Plenty of people immediately wrote him off and still insist he is shit to this day. If he’d have cost 7 million quid perhaps people would have been a bit more willing to see him succeed - cos I’ve seen the argument on here in the last few days that Brereton must be good, because we paid all that money for him. Nobody has any personal issue with Brereton. People question his performances and ability, same as every player in the world is judged by supporters. He has received tremendous backing from supporters. A collective groan, a piss taking tweet, or a “bloody hell Brereton” uttered in frustration isn’t stick. Cast your mind back to the abuse and boos Keith Andrews (a midfielder, playing in the premier league, with a better goals to game ratio than Brereton) got, and ask yourself if BB is really that hard done by. Some people make the argument that the transfer fee isn’t all that high... without the same old discussions around flex, add ons and whatever else... in simple terms - The quoted transfer fee we paid for Brereton was more than we paid for the rest of the squad combined. - We are frequently reminded how fortunate we are that the owners continue to find out academy. With plenty of graduates playing key roles in our first team, it’s clearly a worthwhile investment, yet we are expected to be pathetically grateful it hasn’t been shelved. The amount we spent on Brereton would keep it going for 2-3 years. Again, I really don’t think questioning the Brereton signing is in any way unreasonable, and I will bet good money there are people within the club who have asked questions too.

The fact that he has only managed a handful of appearances is precisely the reason people are questioning the wisdom of the signing.

Wow, I hadn’t seen that they had slipped that low. I wonder how bad things would have to get for the TV networks to do something drastic? I am not certain of how their deals are structured, but there could come a point where they decide enough is enough and cancel it. Wrestling was traditionally seen as cheap programming for networks, but those days are long gone. They have paid top dollar and I’m sure they are alarmed at those viewing figures.

This 5 minutes of TV is infinitely better than anything WWE have put out in years!

I think people taking a wait and see approach to renewing is far more complicated than just “seeing who we sign”. At the consultation meeting, both Mowbray and Waggott categorically stated that Mowbray was in control of all signings. He is given a budget and allowed to sign players within its confines with no interference from Venky’s. I had long suspected the opposite. They were both also quick to shoot down any suggestion that Venky’s had an aversion to spending money on defenders, and acknowledged this was an area of the team that needed urgent improvement and investment. If we go into the first game of next season with either Mulgrew or Williams (or Bauer) starting alongside Lenihan, not only will we struggle, it will also make a mockery out of everything they said. Even if we spend relatively big money on a striker, or a “project player”, and stuck a few ageing midfielders in there as well, it would just be more of the same, and not only would it further cement my suspicions of Venky’s interference and raise questions around their motivations when it comes to signings, it would also damage Waggott and Mowbray’s credibility massively in my eyes. I’d see them as, at best, puppets incapable of exerting enough influence and common sense on the owners, or at worst, liars.

Those couple of early spears should have done it. If they were that desperate for Undertaker to go over then he should have slapped Hells Gate on... would have actually looked good with the blood pissing from his head! They were both visibly struggling with basic movement, never mind anything resembling a power move. You could see Goldberg slipping through Takers grasp on the tombstone. Undertaker can’t kick his legs up enough for a jackhammer, and he’s too big and Goldberg far too knackered by that point to use enough brute force. Goldberg is no doubt going to take the majority of the flak, but Undertaker was no less culpable. The majority of the blame needs to go to whoever allowed it to happen in the first place though.