Seen him on several occasions and always liked him. Energetic, solid and dependable. Always a 7 of 10. Can tackle, head and has good distribution. Hard to judge U23 level, but one of a handful I'm certain will have a professional career. Could probably do a job in an emergency, but would probably benefit from a loan before chucking him in. Some players like Buckley, Rankin-Costello and Butterworth are easier to identify at U23 level because they were obviously a level above. Others are more solid but can turn into great players with experience. Pike is one of them. Others would be Whitehall, Barnes, Vale and young Garrett. Hayden Carter was solid but never eye-catching at U23 level, but did a decent job for the first team. On the other side, Magloire was very dominant at U23 and probably found it too easy with his pace and physique against small techincal forwards. Found it much harder at senior level when positioning, tactical and heading is much more important. Still think he might come good after loan experience, proved his potential against Vardy in pre-season.

Played at highest Norwegian 3 div (4 th tier, not high level then, only 2 highest divisions are national, this was regional) Biggest moment was playing Viking in a cup game. Roy Hodgson was manager and Hangeland played. Big moment for our little village of 3000 people to have them visit. A fun rule in that cup is that the lower division club get one penalty for each division in difference before the start of the game. We scored 4 of 5 and ended up losing 5-4 in the end.

That was a strong win with basicly the U-18 side that went to the semi-final in the FA Youth. Even more impressive considering Brennan is away on loan, and there is not so much creativity in that lineup. There is raft of good centre-back prospects in Barnes, Whitehall(plays midfield, but reckon centre-back is his best position) and Garrett. I'm sure Pike will have a career as a professional footballer. Maybe with us.

Great topic! Kaminski, Rothwell and Armstrong based on the season so far (might change). All are very important for the team dynamic and we don't have any replacements close to what they bring. Johnson, Breo and Holtby as the second wave. Haven't considered Dack and Travis yet. Travis can replace Johnson as the anchor, but on Johnson's current form might not be a big improvement. Johnson brings aerial strength in a team that is low on that as well as more of a goal threat. Will be interesting to see where Dack is deployed and how that will change the dynamic.

Having Kaminski back was a big reason for the win. You could clearly see how much more confident the defence was with him behind him. He's very vocal and Wharton described it has having comfort blanket with him there. Looks a steal so far. I think it was around 500k for a keeper with quality, the right age, experience and good cultural fit. Also telling that he is part of the Belgium national team that has been ranked number 1 in the world the last couple of years.

I think the "flat track bully" comparision really relevant. Really enjoy watching Rovers this season dominating teams this season and certainly can be placed as a"happy camper". Mounting a promotion push you need to be able to handle all aspects of game handling: 1. Putting lesser teams to the sword. We are certainly doing that this season, which is refreshing after Charlton and Luton came to Ewood last season. 2. Grafting out a win against decent teams that get behind the ball. Cardiff and Forest was a struggle to create enough chances. It's one of the hardest thing in football but probably were our biggest challenge lies this season. Promotion teams will carve out that 1-0 win in the majority of games. 3. Strike the right balance against "better teams". Bmouth and Watford show how they can hurt you even if we have possesion and have more chances. They are far mor clinical and hits you on the break. We need to be a bit more tactical when choosing to overload esp with fullbacks and midfield, so the centre-backs are not so exposed. Right now we might be a Brentford over the last seasons, who scores a lot of goals, play well, but also been loses to many matches. Norwich manages to outscore the opposition when they went up, even if they conceeded a lot. Leeds last year did both parts very well, kept a great shape even when they were on the front foot.

Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time to back your argument with a good factual case. I'll concede we had a greater net spend in transfer fees. But I would be very worried having Paul Cook at the helmet. Looking at his transfers over the last 3 seasons it's very poor. He's brought in 24 players, and I don't think one of them has increased in value. You'll have to give him credit for the run Wigan had after Covid, but I think there must be so many better candidates out there if the aim is promotion to PL

Well in 18/19 they bought Joe Garner for 1,25m + McManaman, Kipre, Windass, Lee Evans, Daniel Fox + 5 or 6 free transfers They finished 18, we finished 15. in 19/20 they bought highly rated Jamal Lowe, Kieffer Moore, Joe Williams and Tom Pearce. + 2 free transfers. They finished 23 (would've been 13 if not points deducted), we finished 11. Paul Cook brought in 18 players in his 2 championship seasons. I think the transfer sums might not be that different, the wage budget is certainly similar. They had a large decifit like us, the difference being their owners didn't want the bill.

I doubt it. There is just so many promising young centre-backs at the club currently. Wharton, Carter and Magloire has already made their senior debuts and would be preferred in such a match. At U-23 you also has his partner Sam Barnes who is probably as talented. The great thing for Annesly playing international football is that it gives him experience against much better players and will help his progress. A loan to League 2 would do him a world of good. The biggest difference from U-23 football is the physical side, which I think he would benefit from. I've seen him on multiple occasions, and he is very much a cultured centre-back who can pick a pass(as someone mentioned). His biggest weaknes seems to be lacking pace a bit.

Well debt is obviously not a factor. Wouldn't make sense either. He should be judged by results according to the resources at his disposal. When we won promotion, Wigan and us blew the rest of the league financially and with wages, so that was expected and delivered. The two previous seasons has been adequate, with an adequate squad. This season is different for me. Now we have a squad that is play-off worthy and this season should expect play-off results. Unlike the previous seasons, our competition has been hit harder and we've been able to improve the squad. It's very much Mowbray's players, his style and his ambition on the line now.

If you are going to replace Mowbray, why would replace him with someone who has a worse win ratio for Wigan? Both manager got promotion in the same season and spent 2 seasons in the Championship with pretty much the same resources. Cook is not even a sideways step, the man is has managed 2 seasons in the Championship as his highest level and both were poor.

Yep, pretty much was Dack said himself last week I think. 10 months out, with no contact training nor practice games, it will take some time to get up to speed. Although I think Dack mentally is pretty fearless and confident, needubg less time than most to be mentally prepared to put the body on the line again.

Actually looking at the stats, Graham is rewriting history. He was not out the squad, but on the bench, and came on as a sub most games. He was also back in the starting elevent mid October. Dack was also sub on several of those occasions trying to get to match fitness as I recall. https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=308&teamTabs=results

Good boy Danny, but maybe not so great on self-reflection. First he tells on being hard done by Mowbray in League One, where he started 2 games, and then was out of the squad untill November. Shortly after he tells about him and Dacky going out on the piss all the time and getting called into the gaffer's office 3 times before October. Might seem related

He changed the formation from the start of the second half. Went from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-1-3. Evans was moved inside as a sitter with Johnson, and Buckley was pushed forward off the striker. Which was the same position that Chapman replaced him in. Not sure if you watched it on IFollow, but the commentators also mentioned the change.

Sure, I agree with that. I was just referring to the fear that Mowbray doesn't change formation, which he did in the game. DIdn't help much though, and Chapman was poor.

Very impressive with a young and weakened squad. The New signings for the senior squad will probably see a strong U23 lineups as many will be pushed down for match fitness.

Mowbray change it in second half. Buckley first, than Chapman played in the hole. Very much the Dack role.

Still a bit in shock after today. Thought we had a great window after Ayala, Kaminski and Douglas joined, then Turnbull came, and the most exciting one in Elliott. I never believed in a million years he was available nor that we afford him. Summary: Out: Graham (38 games / 4 goals), Samuel (15 games / 2 goals), Smallwood, Walton, Adebayaro, Leutwiler, Hart, Mulgrew, Fisher In: Kaminski, The Greek, Pears, Ayala, Douglas, Turnbull, Dolan, Elliott, (McBride). Transfer outlay probably 1-1.5 mill all together (depending on Elliott's loan fee) Except Adebayaro, nobody made an impact of note last season. Ayala replacing him with his leadership qualities should be as good or better. The rest should be a major upgrade on the ones that left. Considering Johnson, Rothwell, Hotlby, Williams looks better this year we are in such a far better shape than last season when we were close to play-offs. I even forgot Dack is returning. The last two seasons I've claimed we've a mid-table squad, now I'll say it's top six squad. Now Tony has the squad he wants and the style he wants, so it's up to him to bring it together.

The great thing with both him and Douglas, they are out of contract next summer. It's possible to pick them up on a free if they impress, while we're not stuck with they don't

Rich Sharpe says Wilson is a non-starter. Other reports claims a 3 mill(!) loan fee for the season, so can probably put that one to rest.

What are you talking about? 4 years ago our defence was Williams, Hoban and Greer starting 15th October 2016. Lenihan and Nyambe just started to get some game time. Nyambe and Lenihan are far better players now. Ayala and Douglas would be a massive improvement on that lot. Add Rankin-Costello as right back option instead of Jason Lowe, I think it's fair to say there is no comparison.

In fairness Belgium has a world-class keeper in Courtois, and Mignolet is quite good as well. Being number 3 behind them is not so bad.

Probably shite. He's played pretty good for the National team last years, but had a real stinker against a very good Winger. Didn't get much help either. But lack of match fitness clearly showed. Euro's came to early for our "golden" generation, but blew Romania away today 4-0, with a Haaland / Odegaard masterclass. Northern Irland up next, probably afraid of Haaland from last match.

You might have some luck pinging this account