Probably correct. All it needs is for him to get 6-7 goals a season for a couple of years and by the time he's 21 or 22 his value will have increased.

You say he has not succeeded in his last 4 jobs, but there's a difference between not succeeding and failing. Would you say he failed at Villa, Rovers or Wolves? Whilst the football may have been dire Villa managed to keep themselves in the Premier League for 2 years under his management with a very young squad and a limited budget, and I'm sure if you asked the owner at the time he was quite happy with survival. I'm sure Villa fans would prefer to be back there than where they are now, although many might not admit it. Rovers and Wolves are often portrayed as failures but were they? Both clubs were in extremely fragile situations when he took over in November and both were looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone and needed a steady pair of hands to get them to safety. Wolves had just been taken over and had sacked Jackett and appointed Walter Zenga which was a bonkers appointment, they knew they needed a safe appointment until the summer and then regroup. Lambert provided that by delivering a mid-table finish with a good cup run and then they decided they wanted to go down the Mendes backed head coach Portuguese route which Lambert was never going to be suitable for, simply because he doesn't have the right agent. My recollection of his time at Rovers is that we were struggling by the time Bowyer was sacked, and although we weren't in the relegation zone we weren't that far off it. Whilst we didn't climb very much under his management there appeared to be some sort of plan and I felt performances at times were massively improved and we looked fitter (e.g. Middlesbrough at home when we were outstanding). It was only towards the last couple of months when survival was secure and promotion impossible and he'd obviously decided that he wasn't sticking around that results started to go downhill, as they usually will when you have nothing to play for and the players know the manager is leaving. Maybe it is excuses but in football terms I think working for Lerner at Villa, Venkys at Rovers and the Chinese at Wolves he was always likely to be up against it like so many others have been before him. Stoke was obviously a failure but they were also in disarray before he arrived. But given his position at the time he had to accept that job in the Premier League and give it a try even though it might have been advisable for him to avoid and not have the blemish on his cv. Again I'm not excusing his personality, demeanour or behaviour. I think he's a strange bloke who appears to perhaps think he is better than he is and has form for dumping clubs when convenient for him. But that's a different issue. It isn't a popularity contest and managers aren't or shouldn't be judged on what they say or how they come across. His behaviour at Rovers in terms of clearly expecting or demanding a big budget to spend and not being prepared to play the game with Venkys like they expect their managers to (like flying around the world to meet them several times a season) appears to have upset a few. But focusing purely on results in his time here I certainly don't agree he failed. Perhaps overall he didn't live up to expectations of when he joined but it was early days. Like with Mowbray he needed a full summer to get things in place.

What Lambert needs is for a good club where he can do a steady/good job over a number of years. He cannot afford a failure or another 6 month short spell like he's had in his last 3 jobs. Are Ipswich the right club to do that? Depends what his expectations are. If he's realistic about the budget he can expect and is dropping the whole obsession he had here about spending to achieve promotion in the next 12 months and looks to build them up over a few years then in theory they are a good club. Whilst funds may be limited they don't have the ownership issues that he had at Villa (owner wanting to cut costs and sell), Rovers (owners who live in cloud cuckoo land) and Wolves (owners with very close ties to one agent which was incompatible with a manager like Lambert). At least Ipswich have a traditional structure with an owner who will allow time, within reason, and he will be left to get on with it like McCarthy was able to do. Trouble is that whoever gets the job has tied hands until January, and looking at their squad it doesn't strike me as one that is massively underachieving, it is full of players used to playing at a lower level. Mind you with Rotherham, Hull and Bolton knocking about down there there's plenty of scope to find 3 clubs worse than them.

The only failure on Lambert's CV was relegation with Stoke last season. Not sure how keeping Villa up for 2 years and stabilising ourselves and Wolves during mid-season chaos could be construed as failure, unless you've got extremely high expectations. Plenty of issues with him in terms of his character and his staying power when the going gets tough but based purely on results his record is good, except at Stoke where he was up against it from the word go. Realistically other than Bruce or McCarthy he's probably the best man Ipswich could get in terms of experience of going into difficult situations mid-season and getting results. Interesting bit will be how he copes with Ipswich's limited budget but sounds like he'll have full control over transfers etc. which he wasn't going to get here or at Wolves and led to his departure from both. Maybe complete control on a limited budget appeals to him more than sharing power with someone in a suit.

Not sure I agree with this. I think that the manager and recruitment team should be judged on the basis of how much he cost, not sure Brereton himself really should. End of the day he's a 19 year old kid who plays football. He doesn't decide how much clubs bid or demand for his services, he can't do anything about it other than try his best. Not sure why because Forest demanded £x and Mowbray/Venkys paid £x for him that he should be judged differently to any other player at the club. If he some sort of supposed superstar arriving on mega bucks wages who had form for ripping this league apart then maybe additional pressure would be fair. I'm fairly relaxed about the whole thing. Quite clear to me that this signing was a long term project by the owners and Mowbray and after half a dozen substitute appearances I'm not reaching any conclusions as yet.

That would go down well in that part of the world. Still worshipped by many at Norwich.

The last time Ipswich were in this sort of position they got themselves out of it by appointing the ideal manager in McCarthy. This time, assuming he won't go back there, their options are limited, as there aren't many managers out there who would work to their budget who would be able to turn that squad around quickly and drag them out of trouble. Perhaps Bruce could do it but I'd be surprised if they could afford him and if he'd take the job given he usually ends up where there's a bit of money to spend. Then they're on to gambles like Warburton, Grayson, Heckingbottom. They could do worse than Bowyer but can't see that one happening. If they've one eye on what happens if they go down then Grayson would be ideal for them.

I don't doubt that some money was there all summer. Don't think I've said Mowbray has lied to fans. I've said Brereton hasn't cost us £7 million yet and probably never will, and that it was never as simple as Mowbray having free reign to do whatever he wanted with that sort of money. If you want to believe that the owners in this day and age are prepared to hand over £7 million to be spent anywhere and anyhow the manager wants without them or their inside man Pasha keeping a very close eye on things fair enough. I believe that potential signings have to fit a strict set of rules in terms of wages, age etc. None of these issues are necessarily limited to BRFC. Most clubs have Directors of Football, Chairmen, financial constraints, wage ceilings etc. to contend with. I'm not implying this is some sort of elaborate conspiracy. Just plain and simple - we took a risk on Brereton because he ticked all of our boxes in terms of price, age, wages etc. Never as simple as Mowbray going and getting a Patrick Bamford for example, who would have considerably more. Nor was it likely to be as simple as signing 3 players in 3 positions for £2 million each, doubt that money would have been there for that, hence why we brought in the likes of Rodwell, Rothwell and Reed on frees/loans instead of splitting the '£7 million' three or four ways.

I think we need to get into the mindset of what Mowbray was able to do with this pot of money that he supposedly had at his disposal. If you listen to his interviews around the time of the Brereton signing it very much sounds to me as though one of the owners suddenly decided they were going to push the boat out by making a 'big' signing. Listening to Mowbray it seems that was potentially a case of 'now or never' and he didn't dare risk leaving it until January when the money might never appear again. I'm afraid people who seriously believe that Mowbray had a cheque for £7 million burning a hole in his pocket and that he had free reign to go out and spend that however he felt fit on however many players in whichever positions he wanted have probably missed the point. To begin with Venkys don't do £7 million cash payments. They do smaller payments in instalments. I imagine the deal with Brereton was structured as it was rumoured to be with Jordan Rhodes when suddenly out of the blue came a big wad of cash for one player. That deal was never an £8 million payment, it was multiple smaller payments eventually reaching that figure if certain achievements were reached. So we probably committed to paying half of that figure, spread over time, with more if he performs very well or if Rovers get promoted etc. Again, I believe that a strict set of criteria had to be followed by Mowbray and co. when deciding who to spend the money on. I doubt the thing would have been authorised had the player in question been older, or on big wages. Indeed I suspect the main reason Mowbray got the money out of them to do it was on the basis he would in time turn Brereton into a star who would be worth more than they paid. It does irk me a little that people are quick to use the £7 million price tag against Brereton himself, when the lad isn't to blame for his transfer fee and that fee is being blown out of proportion (as most transfer fees are). Remember, it suits Rovers and Venkys for people to think they've paid £7 million for him, it doesn't really suit Brereton.

Does anyone still believe we've committed to spending £7 million on him? Try half that with the rest performance/appearance related, so if he does flop, which is far too early to tell, then we will save on payments.

I think we'd have all been quite pleased with 4 points from 9 v Leeds, Swansea and WBA so I'll be very satisfied if we can get a draw. However lose and it is 6 points from 15 so ok but not particularly great. Not particularly confident given our display in the 2nd half at Swansea and their goalscoring record this season. More than 1400 sold as of Monday so hopefully pushing 2000 travelling fans, should make a good atmosphere.

Crunch time for Ipswich on Saturday at Millwall. No point making a change now with that huge game imminent. If they get beat in that one then he should be on very thin ice. After that they've PNE at home and Reading away so they really need to be getting 6 points+ from the next 3. After these 3 they've WBA and Bristol at home and Forest away. Tricky ones.

Don't think so. The celebrations about Brereton were more to do with the cash we were paying than the abilities of the player himself. Can't recall much fanfare around Davenport or Armstrong as one is/was an unproven kid at this level and the other was here last season and whilst we were happy to be bringing him back on a permanent hadn't really done it at this level. The arrival of Palmer, given his Chelsea/Derby/Huddersfield background, was met with significant fanfare on here. Plenty of people hailing it as a top class/brilliant signing.

Ironic that Palmer's loan signing was probably the most celebrated on here of all of our summer transfer additions and yet recently he's been used less than anyone (bar the injured Davenport).

Those are typical statistics for a side managed by an inexperienced manager but one that is still packed with quality players. We had similar under Kean when we came down (not trying to be harsh on Moore by comparing him to Kean). Relatively easy to let a team containing the likes of Gayle, Rodriguez, Sako, Phillips etc. off the leash in the Championship - they'll score goals all day long and dish out some thrashings along the way - but the dirty work of organising a defence is a bit more difficult and that is clearly their Achilles heel. Only one clean sheet all season for them. By all accounts Moore seems like a nice bloke and I think it is good that they've put their faith in an unproven British manager but I still think that it might be what costs WBA this season. I think on paper they've got a top 2 squad but I'd be surprised if they ended up getting close to that. Maybe play-offs. Unfortunately we've got our own defensive issues to worry about and don't have the attacking capabilities/depth that they have. I've no doubt that this is going to be a long afternoon, as even if we get ahead it will be a Bolton style performance where we've got our backs to the wall hanging on for dear life, which rarely works out well.

About 4.5 according to Google maps. Think we're going via M50 on the way down and will come back via Oswestry to avoid motorway closures.

I went to the 3-0 defeat back in 2012. That goes down as one of the all time lows at the nadir of the Kean days. An utterly abject, embarrassing performance and Swansea wiped the floor with us. 2 days off work booked, £30 ticket bought and a 10 hour round drive ahead, be nice to come back with something.

A ridiculously tight division with just 5 points between Norwich in 5th and Bolton in 18th. The bottom 6 are slightly cut off but other than that the rest can switch massively off a couple of results. Back to back wins have catapulted us from bottom half to top six and a couple of defeats could see us drop significantly. We're doing well and the team are a joy to watch at the moment but too early to talk about play offs. Nothing to fear in this league where consistency is king. We're consistent at the moment and aren't losing games. Get through to Feb as we have been doing so far and survival should be all but secured.

When it comes to the Telegraph then yes, I think it is a lot to ask. This sort of nonsense has been spouted for as long as I can remember. Dingle arm of the operation healthily populated with died in the wool clarets but the Rovers side seems to have a high turnover of non-Rovers supporting people. Cryer was the epitome of that. Rovers correspondent and yet you could almost taste the envy and bitterness in his words whilst his beloved Bristol City were slumming it in the lower leagues. Then when he left he came out of the closet and now makes little/no secret of his contempt for the club.

Yes but Chris Wilder is English, born in Sheffield and before his current club has managed Halifax, Oxford and Northampton. Please ignore results and relevant achievements. Bielsa is from far away, has managed exotic clubs and Guardiola once said he was good.

I'm not really interested in what Spurs do. I'm very doubtful that they will be targeting players like Dack in January with Champions League qualification up for grabs. But if they are interested then what will be will be. I don't think anyone could have any serious complaints if he wanted to go or if Rovers held their hands up and let him go. A club with a lot more money, in a higher league, at the top end of that league, in European competition = fair enough all round. We don't want it to happen but we accept it is a step up at this stage and that is fair enough. My gripe comes when we get the Nixon fuelled transfer rumours to mediocre Championship clubs. That isn't a step up and I would be very unhappy if Rovers allowed such a thing to happen.

If Bielsa is a 'world class' manager then how come he's managing Leeds in the 2nd division and not Man City or Chelsea?

Fine thanks I just don't appreciate our local media playing the 'underdog' game with Rovers by portraying us as some plucky little club up against the titans of the Championship. Never thought I'd see the day Swansea City were referred to as a heavyweight. I don't care how much cash they get from Sky Sports, they aren't, and never will be 'heavyweights' in comparison to Rovers. As I've explained above if Swansea are heavyweights then presumably so are 12+ other clubs in this league. Where does that stop? Mowbray himself said he wished we could be like Bristol City and have a full house (even though they don't).

But you get additional payments each time a game is broadcast, or certainly do for the home games, to 'offset' lost ticket revenue. In addition you reap the benefits of regular live broadcasts around the UK and Europe, which no doubt significantly increases tv coverage, audience and profile for sponsors, who can then be charged more by the club. If you own a company that wants as much advertising coverage as possible the first port of call would be Leeds knowing that potentially half of their games and 10+ home fixtures are going to be beamed around the country on Sky Sports. Comparing to Rotherham who probably only have a couple of home games a season on Sky and so more often than not their audience will be limited to the 8000-10000 who turn up. I can completely understand Leeds fans being sick and fed up with it all but I don't buy this argument that Leeds are losing out from all this. Maybe they don't get as much as they think they should get but they do get benefits from it.

So that's Leeds, WBA, Swansea, along with Stoke, Forest, Derby, Villa, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wed who are all 'heavyweights' because they've all spent money, then also Sheffield United because they're top of the league, and Brentford because they've a decent side and are tipped to do well, and Norwich because they get quite a few on home games, and Bristol City because Mowbray was impressed that they had a 'full house' against us. Crikey. That's a lot of 'heavyweights'.