I'm going to England's first game, first time for me at a tournament. Can't wait. If it was up to me I would start : Pickford Walker Stones ?????? Shaw TAA Rice Saka Bellingham Foden Kane Probably as good a front six players as England have ever had. A proper midfielder instead of TAA would be better but you can't deny his quality. Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Kane are probably all in the top 10 forwards in world football, I can't think of a period where we have had that ever? Rice as also kicked on massively, and you wouldn't be surprised if Real or Barca wanted him. Also - unlike the period where we had Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard - the player are well balanced as Foden and Saka are very comfortable playing wide. Back five though has been bad for a while and going backwards. Stones and Walker are solid, but the keeper, left back and the other CB are all worries for me. Its super concerning that we seem to be drifting into Maguire starting after he had a really bad season and more injuries. I am still very confused why someone like Tomori has not been given a chance to bed in. Shaw and Chilwell both unconvincing. Shaw was great but injuries have hurt him badly, and Chilwell has also missed most of the season. Pickford I can live with as he is decent at everything (handling, shot stopping, coming for crosses, distribution) although not brilliant at any either, but great teams need great keepers and while good he is not in the top bracket.... Edit - also with Watkins, Cole Palmer, Grealish, Gordon off the bench there is genuine quality to bring on to change games.

Yeah, it's an okay first XI keeper and striker aside for me. But out of those XI I think every single one has had an extended multi month layoff in the last 12 months with the exception of Tronstad. So i would say we should probably expect everyone except Tronstad to play max 60-70% of games. Some like JRC and Hedges 50% might be a more prudent number. Based on those ratios we need 5 more we see as genuine starters before we even get into having tactical options and youngsters etc. I can't think of one....

Scottish football really needs a third club to step up and compete with Rangers and Celtic. Once you have three on a similar level things can improve a bit (Portugal, Netherlands are three club dominated countries). The gulf is so huge through... probs Hearts are the next best supported but they only get crowds about a third of the old firm.

We've got a good team but football is football...... Portugal, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands all have a lot of quality as well as France. I think it's naïve to think any one of those could not beat England or France on a given day. International football is not like club football where a dominant highly tuned team like Man City or 2010 Barcelona can steam roller everyone. Its more unpredictable. For example the France team that was obviously the best in the world at the time (won the WC in 2018, final in 2022) went out to Switzerland in the quarter of Euro 2020.... Just got to enjoy the ride.

Sad to see Gregg the Egg go, mainly as he was one person who sounded like he had a plan. Probably didnt have too much to do with the Szmodics or Hyam signings though, and Wahlstadt has arguably been our all time worst signing, plus all the McGuire stuff. Plus loans were pretty poor. Its hard to really make a case that he should stay The BBC article makes it sound like Eustace is not happy too.. Feels like its going to be a long long summer...

We have moved between 343 and 4231 a bit. We did change setup half way through the Swansea. But I agree it's not like he's Jose Mourinho. Hope to see more flexibility from Eustace next season.

I am not sure if the results really bear out that Eustace is good man manager. What we can hope for is that the defensive pressure off approach has just been about trying to restore the sides confidence and resilience after the December and January free fall and we will see a different way next season. But... thats more hope than really being based on any data.

Another great interview by a rover... thought Sammie did a great job of being respectful to the club but also being honest. Interesting that what he has said about the managers is pretty much exactly what the general thoughts on here have been. JDT being great on tactics but having no plan B, stubborn, poor for morale when you are losing; Eustace more direct, more relaxed, keen to keep the pressure off.

I didn't realise it was the same Chris Brown who played for Rovers?? He is described as a comedian on their page - which I suppose could be a fair description of his time at Rovers it seems not the biggest self endorsement. Ah.... there are two Chris Browns on it. How confusing, but I get it now.

Thought it was a brilliant interview, very entertaining. You can tell how much he loved playing for Rovers. Its interesting that so many of that Mark Hughes side say that those years at Blackburn were the best of their career. Going through the episode list for under the cosh they've had a lot of Rovers connected players on (Warnock, Dunn, Rathbone, Ben Marshall, Tim Sherwood, Jason Macateer, Craig Hignett, lots more)

It would be odd if we offered a new deal with a sell on clause when he still had 2 years on his old deal (1 year + 1 year option) Better just to leave him on that. I imagine of anything new contract would have been a big pay rise to remove any such release clauses in the previous deal, or (more likely) just get him under a longer contract to put us in a better negotiating position.

If we're being realistic we are not going to sign that many players. My expectation is that Hyam has been playing injured so should get back to himself after a proper pre season. And while I have reservations about Pickering and Brittain I think in the right system they do okay. With limited resources you need to target them to be most effective. Keeper and forwards for me. Id take signing two genuinely top forwards, an effective midfield creative player and a solid reliable keeper over loads of new starters of questionable quality. The risks associated to turning over the entire XI are very high - as any review of signings over as long as football has existed is only aroun 50% of signings work out, so you can often spend a lot of money and leave yourself in a worse position.

Hmmm third season of it though... Does a leopard change their spots. I think Im okay with Pears on the bench but we need a really dependable first choice.

Sigurdsson to me looks like he hasnt got up to speed with English football. Theres a chance with a full pre season he could come back a different player.

I broadly agree with you, but also have to say not a soul on earth including you or I would have thought Szmodics would score how he has this season a year ago. I reckon the most optimistic Sammie lover would have said he could get 10 or 15. So we dont really know how it will pan out. I could see either Sigurdsson or Hedges scoring more if they get a more prominent central role. It would be no more outlandish than what has happened with Szmodics. But obviously it would be much much better if we actually go out and sign an experienced striker with a good scoring record at this level.

Im pretty sure after seeing him run Fadz legs went a long time ago. But as long as we play deep with three at he back its not a problem for him as he doesnt get exposed. My main issue with Fadz is if he plays we have to play that way to accomodate him. I guess the plan would be have him on the bench and bring him on to close out games. Sort of makes sense... But hes a specialist effectively, dont think we can rely on him as a core starter.

For me hes quite wasteful as an attacking mid, picks the wrong pass all the time and gives it away in dangerous places but as a striker hes lethal. His movement and finishing are so good. Also works his balls off which you have to respect. Bet he and his agent are wondering why he didnt convert to a striker earlier in his career. They would both be a lot richer! I would never bemoan a player a move to a higher division, but Szmodics particularly Id be pleased for as the work ethic hes always shown has been so good.

I hope Farron will use his know how and Westminster connections to help get the incoming independent football regulator onto Venkys as soon as its setup.

Im pretty sure we'll sell him if we get a good offer. Combination of high wages, him walking for free next year and his poor season means he will go. Will be very very surprised if hes here come September.

Far inferior seems a bit of a stretch? Lost BBD and Kaminaki and gained Tronstad and Wahlstead. Loans roughly the same quality for me. Thats about it? Lost Wharton half way through the season, but then he was only used about half of last season? Kaminski was a massive loss, and a good keeper is so crucial, but apart from that I dont think there has been a massive change in quality since last year. Since BBD went Szmodics has more than filled his void as the goals tally show. The difference for me has not been the squad quality, its been the escalating madness off the field leading to JDT leaving and the general confusion and demotivation round the squad.

Travis must be exactly the sort of player Eustace rates. I imagine he will be keen to bring him back in. Can't see Trav going unless we get a decent offer.

It will be an interesting battle between Wharton and Mannoo to get the third midfield birth alongside those two. They are both just the sorts of player to compliment Rice and Bellingham as well. What's impressive about England's midfield is not only is there a lot of quality already there and coming through, but different types of player who play in very different ways. Also hats off to Wharton I thought physically it would take him a while to get up to speed in the Prem, but he's already dictating games.

This is the kind of research that I come to BRFCS for. Strong work! Thank you.

We should just survive but Id love to know how many teams showing our form over the latter half of a season have stayed up the next year. Must be tiny. (If you extrapolate that last 50% of gaes over a full season its around 37 points.....) Im very much a glass half full person but it's very hard to not conclude we are done.

Well I doubt we will get anything from Leicester. So were hoping that a Plymouth and Birmingham dont both win or only one wins and Wednesday dont at least draw. Individually packaged each seems possible but all two in combination seems unlikely. Wonder what the bookies reckon.