Supplementary goalkeeping coach

My long standing take is that Pickering might make a good defensive midfield player - his passing, tackling and all round game are decent and he wouldn't be as exposed for pace. This might be a hangover of too many years playing football manager though - I always used to transition aging fullbacks into DMs because the skillset was similar but they didn't need to be as quick...

Broadly agree with Revs assessment, I'd have a couple more of the greens yellow but I understand where he's coming from. Writing off Garrett is a bit harsh - I'd like to see him get a league 1 loan and see if he kicks on in the manner of JRC and Carter, I think he's good enough to get games there. I think that the left footed CB is a bit of a red herring, if we go with a back three Pickering can play there and I don't think two right footed CBs in a back four is as disastrous as all that. If we have to prioritise I'd want a fullback in first, we're a lot lighter there. Of course if we can find a left footed fullback who can also play in the centre...

100% an in-head translation moment, which suggests his English is decent but not natural yet, props to him for doing the interview honestly. That said I'd have loved it if he'd just gone with Shearer-san in the moment.

Presumably Batth and Fadz are the 'Leadership' component of Swags shopping list. Pace and a GK incoming? Please?

We might be waiting to see if Sammie goes before making a decision on Siggy? I could see a 'keep one of them' situation - they are two of our most senior and probably best paid players and they both really should be playing in the same position, can't afford that.

Would we get compensation if he went to an SPL team, Scotland technically being a move abroad? Genuinely don't know off the top of my head, but that would have to be a possibility as he's played all his senior football there. You're right with the rest of it, but if we are effectively being funded by sales from the academy and the academy has produced a player of SPL standard at least this seems an odd way to let them go. Surely it'd be worth the gamble of a contract extension, even if we loan him out for another season and try to sell him for more next summer. 200k isn't going far.

If they are shipping Gent out permanently after the season he's just had and considering he plays in a position we are not exactly stacked in then I can only assume someone has really ballsed up his contract renewal negotiations and they know he's walking next summer. If we were so hard up that we have to accept whatever Barnsley can offer we wouldn't have signed Big Mak for a fee.

I have no doubt that he'd take any premier league move (any player would lets be fair) so his agent probably shopped him around to any and all that might take the bait. Looks like Ipswich are the ones that did. If the move materialises he'll be off in a heartbeat and counting his money and fair play to him for it, but I doubt that Ipswich specifically is his 'dream move' so to speak. I also don't get the impression that if it falls through he'd be the type to kick off about it or down tools or whatever. The move might not be all it's cracked up to be - Ipswich might be low balling him wage-wise in an attempt to keep a low overall wage structure. One of the benefits of going from league 1 to the prem is that most of their squad won't have massive prem wage hike clauses or the likes, so they might genuinely be attempting to keep a championship wage structure, planning for relegation and banking the TV money. We don't know, it does seem to be dragging on a bit. I still 100% expect him to go to be fair.

I mean I'm 90% sure that Brereton Diaz is a golden retriever in heavy disguise

McFadz surely wouldn't need a medical, unless the physios are worried he's picked up an injury on holiday - he's basically a contract extension if he signs up. If it's three medicals tomorrow I can't see him being one of them.

Always a bit wary of dealing with stereotypes but the one thing you can say about Japan's national teams is that they do not seem to be at all bothered by other teams supposed physicality.

I thought Batth had signed a contract with Solihull Moors in non league? Surely we wouldn't pay them a transfer fee for him?

In a competently run club on a free and with low wages/realistic playing time expectations Dack would still be worth a gamble. He'd score a few goals over the course of the season, even if he was basically an impact sub. The problem is that A. if we were to sign him we then wouldn't sign someone else who doesn't have significant fitness issues and B. we don't have the squad depth to cover him - if we sign him he's going to end up in the team more often than not regardless of whether he is still capable of playing that many games in the season. We couldn't afford to sign him and then not play him. Ennis, on paper, was a cheap low risk gamble but once the budget was cut the fact that we had signed him prevented us from signing a proven forward. We took a punt on another 'low risk' gamble in Telelovic who possibly prevented us signing someone in January. It's an opportunity cost. We'd basically need Dack to agree to play for free, or a nominal amount on a six month contract to use our facilities etc. in order to prove he is worth a contract, either with us or another club, and he isn't going to do that.

Watkins demanding the ball, haven't seen enough of that this tournament

Guehi has had a very impressive tournament but he was at sixes and sevens for about five minutes there, didn't close the man or the space and let them pass it around him

A one legged kane would still be a goal threat in the area, but Spain are so happy playing soft passes back to the keeper or between their defenders absolutely sure in the knowledge that no forward is going to try and nick one

God I wish kane could run.

I want to see Vale in a couple of pre-season games to see whether the shoe has dropped. He's a player who seems to have been consistently rated by the coaching staff but whenever he got on the pitch for us looked lazy and ineffectual - we've shipped him out on a decent loan where he has played a fair amount of football at an OK level and the reports coming back are praising his effort and work rate. It reminds me a bit of Carter - thought he was destined for non league until he had that one good season out at Portsmouth, even then I was in favour of selling him to them for whatever their reported offer was - £300k, something like that? To clarify, I don't hold out a lot of hope based on what we have seen so far but I would like to see him in a couple of friendly matches against decent opposition if we can manage it. If/when we lose Sammie and Gallagher we do need a new striker in regardless, unless we are really banking on Siggy to step up in a central role.

Have the commentators and pundits been instructed to keep telling us how much massively better England are in this match in spite of the very toothless reality or am I just a conspiracy theorist?

Got to justify having him in the squad and not a fit left back when inevitably asked about it in the post match after we get knocked out. Fortunately Saka does like to actually shoot occasionally

You know, you just know, that if Southgate walks away Bobby Martinez will make the FA shortlist. As for today, I'm not nervous, honest. *distant sound of cowbells intensifies*

Went onto the BBC Blackburn Rovers page to dig up an old article only to be greeted with us having signed a new left back two days ago, which absolutely astonished me as I had missed it entirely Top work BBC, well done. 'Rovers sign left back from Middlesbrough' https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackburn-rovers

This is basically the scenario in which Gallagher is the player you actually need

Playing Eze at left back is still a sacking offense