Blueandwhitemike

Outside of this window (which has been terrible), at a normal club, I could see some logic in the Baradji signing. There's a player who they all think is really good and available cheap and for cheap wages and someone who really wants come to England and play in thee Championship. OK he is injured for a couple of months but he and his club will let him come on loan and the wages are even lower so it's an 'extra' signing. Travis, in their thinking, is covered by Tavares and Baradji, if he comes good can replace Tronstad in January. In our situation it's a. bit crazy but I still hold out some hope that he might actually be a very good footballer at this level.

I think you are deluding yourself here, did you actually watch the video properly and listen to what was said? The plan wasn't the get rid of the core of a team that had just finished 7th. They claim they offered all those players contracts so if we believe that to be true they couldn't have decided that squad had hit a ceiling and they wanted to try something different. The players left because they didn't offer them good enough contracts, including some that were offered exactly the same terms they were on, as I think Rudy said. There were no deeper issues exposed. What you wrote is sadly nonsense. I do hope the likes of Mori and Gudjohnsen and even perhaps Baradji come good but what has happened has happened primarily because it saves money, there is no doubt about that.

The most interesting thing from the video I think was that Ismael is totally on board with the clear out. He said we have four central defenders, which is enough. He included Miller, who he said is thee perfect modern centre back (has he ever played more than a couple of games in a 2?) and even when questioned on the injuries of Wharton and Carter still thought we had enough. I would think most people would disagree with him but if it goes wrong it is on him now and if he claims he is happy with that and the squad I will judge him on what he does with it. I would have initially given him more leeway and understanding but not now. I'm not surprised Rudy allowed and answered the question on the training ground atmosphere as I think he wants to get ahead of it and quash the rumours but I was surprised he went into specifics like denying the arm covering thing. Of course it is just an in house puff piece but I thought those two things were interesting.

It’s true the reason Duff is being mentioned is only because he was a great player at Rovers but that’s the reason he’s on our radar and that’s the reason we’ve heard about how he is doing in his coaching/managerial career and pretty much everything we hear about him is positive and that’s he’s done a really great job, that he has some really good qualities. Although the league is a much (how much I don’t know) lower level the fact that he’s done so well and the affection we have for him is the reason why lots of us are interested in him. He might well do a great job and even though it would be a risk I wouldn’t be unhappy with him just worried that if it isn’t great it might sully his growing reputation.

I like Dolan, he seems like a really nice lad and gives 100%. He has some skill and has some good games but he's not kicked on as much as I'd hoped yet and his lack of pace hurts him as well as inconsistency. I would really like him to sign a new contract but he's not one of our best players and doesn't deserve to be paid as one. If he's willing to accept being In the middle then great, he deserves that at least. We don't really have any idea what he's asking for or what he has been offered though,

Poor way to treat any player and possibly part of the reason JE left. Personally I wonder if it would have been better to keep him rather than sign Woodrow, I know he's not yet fit but still feel he might have been able to contribute in the run in. He's a better player than injuries allowed him to show but like some others have mentioned I would have liked to have seen how he did in the 10 role.

Re:goalkeeper I. reckon last season JDT saw Wahlstedt in training and whatever games they may have played behind closed doors and noted his weakness and decided that he needed time to get used to the league and that's why he didn't displace Pears, also I think JDT rated Pears a bit more than most of us. For Toht I presume that Eustace will want to see how he does in training and any behind closed doors games or U21 games he can play before putting him in to the team. Given he will be away with the national team we will probably have to wait least a little while. Personally I think Pears is a pretty poor keeper so we will have to hope that Toth is the real deal and he shows Eustace he is ready to start as soon as possible.

Anyone got a spare ticket for tomorrow?

I think that the two older lads should help with that and I’m hoping playing with his mate McFadzean should help Hyam get more confident. With Fleck’s age and injuries I don’t think he can or will be expected to be box to box either so is likely to add a bit more solidity. I think JDT approached lowly QPR still fairly attacking but now with the acknowledgement of alarm bells will look to be a bit more defensive

I think if he stays and McFadzean and Fleck are fit then JDT is capable of grinding out results in the same we may we did last season in which there were several 1-0 wins. I think he was flexible with 3 at the back against Huddersfield but Hyam, in particular needs to start playing a lot better quickly ( I chose to single out him because he’s been especially far from his best recently and he is the captain )

I was flying in from Shanghai for the game today, really excited and looking forward to it a great deal, especially after being there for the first fan takeover versus Girona, but unfortunately last night my plane got stuck on the runway for three hours and I missed my connecting flight to Manchester in Dubai. I have the ticket PDF and I would think anyone could use it so if you want it PM me Gutted

Personally I play in a league in Shanghai without promotion or relegation and it is for the most part very competitive. I and my teammates play every game to win and do our best. I certainly would be absolutely gutted to finish bottom but we usually finish mid table, still aiming to win the league though.

I think it will be a tough game this weekend, despite their troubles WBA have a good squad with some very good players, Corberan, who did an excellent job at Huddersfield, has had a preseason with them now (ignoring poor friendly results) and so it may be that they actually go on to have a really good season. It’s a big test for him and will really show how good a manager he really is. Still always hope for the beginning of the season so fingers crossed for a Rovers win

AW played deeper while Buckley and Garrett were more advanced but also came out to the sides on occasion Very preseason friendly feel about the game, movement wasn’t great and when we did play it in behind it was too late half the time No one really impressed that much, Batty had a few good involvements going forward but didn’t look great going backwards Gilsenan did ok with a few decent touches, Bloxham ran around and Edmondson fluffed a couple of good opportunities looking like he wanted them on his left but they fell to his right

Thanks mate, I just went on the site to have a look and get a ticket and the Stockport game is no longer there...