I like that team and I think the players prefer 433 as it’s the formation they play mostly at club level. Id pick Pope over Pickford and Chilwell over Saka but the main issue I have is at CB and I don’t see two who can adequately fill those positions. Gomez and Maguire most likely. Having said that, I do think those three in midfield look very good, though I’d be tempted to play them as a flat 3 as Rovers do.. Front 3 is as good as any in world football imo.

It was the tactical change which was most impressive. He tucked the wingbacks in which released the likes of mount and Rashford. Southgate is astute. Had Pep done that in a match and turned the result around the media would be drooling over him...

I don’t think I’d ever want to use that term again after the Beckham, Scholes Lampard etc era which promised so much and delivered very little... But yeah, I think we’re as close to being a top International side as we’ve been in 20yrs. The results indicate that too. You can’t imagine many international teams enjoy playing against our forwards now. I feel we’re a couple of players off being the best and because of how young the group is, they’d be able to sustain it for a long time?

Same 11 as started vs Cardiff for me bar the cb’s. If Del is out then we start with Lenihan and Ayala.

Great result. Second half very strong... individual comments - I like the formation because I don’t think we have 2 x cb’s that can do the job. I’d also play Coady over Dier. I don’t know what Rice brings to the party at all...reminds me of Keith Andrews as every game seems to pass him by. We need a CM who’s willing to pass forwards. Winks? Chilwell and Saka capable on the left and TAA on the right. Excited with the forward options in Sancho, Kane, Sterling, Rashford, DCL, Grealish, Foden, Greenwood, Hudson Odoi etc ?? England have the potential to Dominate international football for a decade if they can find / develop a top CB (Terry / Ferdinand) and a top CM (Scholes / Gerrard)...I think Gomez and Maguire have potential to be excellent. Not sure on the CM options tbh...hopefully something coming through.

Great post. The only way that gets done is with a signing on fee and a two year contract. Which isn’t going to happen. Absolute clusterfuck is the Mulgrew contract situation. I Cannot defend Mowbray putting that to the board and anyone signing it off at the age Mulgrew was.

Yup, all about opinions...though im Not sure there’s many Rovers fans who’d accept that Nyambe and Raya are / were as important to our club as Lenihan, Travis, Dack and Arma in terms of their impact on the pitch and / or value as an asset.

Ok, I’m sure a couple felt aggrieved but he wasn’t a key player. We haven’t lost any of those on a free since Hoilett in 2008.

He’d have to come flying out of the blocks to get a move at Christmas mate. Been out 9 months too....a very risky investment. Im sure we’ll push to sell him in the summer if he hasn’t signed a long extension or we haven’t gone up.

Argh, come on....you’re grasping there!! He hadn’t even done as much as Dolan. A tad disappointed at worst.

There’s no way you can throw Nyambe in with those guys Rev. He just isn’t THAT good. He’s too inconsistent. For the purpose of a sale, we’re safe with Dack. He’ll be back before Christmas and assuming he’s back to his best by new year and banging the goals in, we’ll invoke the 12 month extension and sell him for healthy fee in the summer. If he doesn’t hit those heights he might panic and decide to sign an extension. I’m not concerned about Dack or the other 4 key players I mentioned. After that group then let’s get our promising players tied up now...Dolan, Nyambe and JRC would be my first three.

It’s not that simple mate... Dack is looking at his pals like Reed and Tosin earning £60k a week thinking he would treble his wages. At what 27 he’s not signing another contract with us unless we’re in the PL and can offer him that type of money. The BEST chance of him re-signing is either if we go up or if he comes back to poor form and decides that move isn’t going to materialise. I personally think he’ll go next summer. Nyambe just hasn’t been consistent enough. He’s never nailed his place in the team down and that’s why it’s drifted. I don’t think anyone’s blown away with him and I reckon there’s a really good chance both he and JRC will sign. Theres currently the more players out of contract than any other time since the Bosman ruling. A lot of players shitting themselves. Nyambe and JRC can’t afford to run their contracts down.

Eh!!? Come on Rev....Dack is the only ‘key’ player in there and he’s got two years effectively because we have the option to extend. (Please don’t start talking about slavery again mate). 12 month extensions in the clubs favours are VERY common. We recently exercised one of them with Bell. It’s 100% the clubs prerogative to do so. No questions. Nyambe, whilst promising has never nailed down spot in our team and JRC only broke through a few months ago and has played a handful of games. Would we like to resign them? Absolutely. Could they be key men in the future? Absolutely. Are they key players now? NO. Our key players are Lenihan, Trav, Dack and Arma. All of these have at least 2yrs on their contracts.

Interesting thought about our perceived desirability now too. Hopefully there are a few top clubs and top young players looking at the start we’ve made, the signings and performances and thinking we’d be a good option for a loan?

We have a good relationship with them. Nearly signed their young keeper On loan early in the summer.

The Mulgrew one gets me. Absolutely no way he was seeing that length of contract out. Smallwood and Bennett I can live with. I don’t think they believed for one minute that Trav was gonna kick on so quickly. Prob thought they’d have got to the following Christmas before Smallwood was surplus. Bennett has been worth it, I’ve no axe to grind there. The Sam Hart and Smallwood mini extensions were absolutely scandalous,

Nope!!

Well bearing in mind the last time we lost someone meaningful via the running down of their contract was Hoilett 12 years ago....I’d say THE CLUB have been pretty good at it tbf?

Fuchs?

He ain’t coming for money mate. Sure he’ll get a rise but the lads love Mowbray. If anything he’s too good to them...why’s Mulgrew not literally rotting right now after that outburst?

??? like the gift that keeps on giving.. Read the article mate...”It’s an opportunity we couldn’t miss....we had the money to spend so why not...” How many times does the word ‘opportunity’ figure? Another question, where in their does our painfully honest leader mention our detailed scouting of him? Bearing in mind he’s our joint Record signing... Brereton was an “opportunity” brought to them at the end of the window whilst they were making £4m Luke Freeman bids with cash on their hip. They took the bait and still think there’s a top player in there but that deal was the catalyst for the overhaul in scouting process, lead by Mowbray.

They probably just asked mate...like rubbing a genies lamp so I’ve heard!! ?

Haha - If only you knew!! I can tell you that Brereton was barely scouted and brought to them via an external scouting network in collaboration with an agency who sold us the dream. I used him because BB is the epitome of not being a Mowbray signing. That signing is part of the reason Mowbray tore up the old system and created the new one. Because either way, any signing made under the watch of a manager who has the final decision, good or bad belongs to that manager. This same rule stands in every industry. Which is why leaders are sacked when organisations fail.

Mate, they’re one in the same thing...good and bad...surely you can see that?

Kenny, c’mon pal, that’s just a manager being honest! Dya think Fergie went out, scouted and recruited all those top players? Course he didn’t, he had scouts reporting into him and making recommendations that he either accepted or rejected. The recruitment team (that the manager built) came to the manager and brought a player to the table. They had a discussion and the manager trusted his team....now whether it’s Dolan or Brereton the player is a Tony Mowbray signing. The end. We can’t have it one way and not the other.