Of course luck plays a part. It does in all sport but in a normal season, one game isnt decisive in the same way that knockout tournament is. You play everyone home and away in a league, you can get easier or harder draws in major tournaments. Also a dodgy decision can tilt a game either way, we have seen it against us in the past, take the Lampard goal v Germany and Campbell's header v Portugal, we have had 2 really dodgy penalties in our favour in our Euro semi finals. That doesnt mean that I am saying that Southgate is purely lucky. One thing he clearly is very good at is man management. I don't disagree with your analysis of international football, you often see that more pragmatic managers get success at international football. I suspect that Mourinho would do well at least short term if he went into international management. If you totally took nationality out of the equation though, would the likes of Potter and Carsley come into consideration?

It will be the owners who are limiting the length of deals like they did with Batth, removing any chance of getting those players. They also rejected bids and wouldnt sell the 2 players whose contracts were running down that had value in Rothwell and Brereton. Unsure if we had interest in Lenihan.

Still deadlocked in Cooper talks according to the LT. Even if he does sign which seems increasingly unlikely. He will be nowhere near fitness with all of this unnecessary faffing.

Ultimately a manager who has done a poor job or poor job at club level can still do a good job elsewhere, its not a guarantee. And I totally appreciate that international football is not the same, its essentially 2 years building up to one tournament whereby it comes down to small margin knockout games where luck and the difficulty of draws can define your job. But invariably you more likely will end up with candidates who have managed at club level rather than international level so accepting that it isnt the same, you are surely best suited to picking the best of those club managers. Its not about calling people a disaster. But in terms of credentials, appointing a Carsley or a Potter would suggest to me that the FA has gone down the route of prioritising English nationality and perhaps a temperament that will limit the risk of the manager being outspoken over managerial credentials. Appointing a proven repeated failure like Lampard would be a disaster appointment.

Its an internet messageboard where people share opinions. Its not a ranking system where people's contributions are judged based on accurate ITK information. Your track record is shocking and the majority of your "information" is beyond cryptic and the actual supposed information is covered by not actually being able to say what it is for confidential reasons. So even if you do know stuff, which I doubt, then its worthless if you cant actually say it. But equally, you dont have to know anything insider to justify your place here. Just be comfortable knowing that you know nothing more than the rest of us and its just as valid to be here sharing your opinions like the rest of us.

A potential relegation and looking nice in the process.

People are discussing their concerns on an internet messageboard, its totally valid and seperate from backing the players in the ground. You wasnt right about Broughton. You did your usual cryptic nonsense a matter of days post window suggesting rather than saying that he had gone, I asked a few times for you to confirm what you implied and was repeatedly ignored. He then did interviews month later outling transfer plans/recommendations. His exit may have always been on the wall and most could have predicted it but you wasnt correct when you said it. You also havent said anything of any substance here. Everything you say is really vague then you can try and take credit for things when they eventually happen. If you know specifically who is behind this then even if genuinely you cant say for confidential reasons, saying " a disaffected individual" is so vague that you can not then say you knew who it is was should the source ever come out (unlikely) you can't then justify an I told you so reaction. And besides, this twitter account also suggested that we would have money to spend so you are essentially trying to take credit for "knowing" who is behind a random anonymous twitter account with a mixed track record. We all know the public details, the owners have stopped funding, budgets have been slashed over the last year, there is a well publicised court case next month and we are the only Championship side not to have made a signing so it doesnt take a genius to realise that we are not in a great state. Its ok not to know any more than that, anything around that is intepretations and you dont need to try and claim that you have an inside scoop beyond any of that. All this "there is more to come but I cant say anything as its sensitive" rubbish, I dont really see what it adds. Even if you do know loads more, if you cant actually say what it is then theres no way that you can try and act like you do know more because you cant quantify it.

Everyone would prefer an English manager. That being said, the quality are so poor that the decision then becomes whether you prioritise quality or being English, knowing that you cant really have both. People referring to Capello or Eriksson as proof that a foreign manager doesnt work totally undermines their argument because it moves away from their desire to have an Englishman and implies that foreign managers wouldnt work, which doesnt make sense. Those 2 underachieved because they were Capello and Eriksson and they as individuals failed, not because they were not English. People also giving examples of managers with poor track records prior to managing certain countries is also a backwards argument. Almost as if we should look for failures. Its like saying Rovers should sign players with poor careers to date because say Gestede had struggled prior to coming here. We would still be better off signing players who we could have more confidence in succeeding. Obviously a poor record doesnt guarantee that a player or manager will then struggle in their next job, or vice versa, but you wouldnt actively choose failure over success.

Lots of crypticness as ever, who is it then rather than weirdly taking credit as if you are bang on when you havent actually said anything. He/she said earlier in the summer that we have money to spend. Its clearly another attention seeker. We clearly dont have any money and there are lots of justified worries, but nothing this account says rubber stamps that.

One thing that will be proven this week even further. Nathan Jones is an attention seeking bullshitter!

Mercer's regular fishing attempt putting blame on those who go to games as if attendance or non attendance makes a blind bit of difference to Venkys, followed by the usual self proclaimed superfans. Rinse and repeat.

Another bad symptom of our terrible ownership is having people making those attending games question themselves and general squabbling between fans. But we are not going to make some good quality signings ahead of a good season, I think thats pretty clear.

I noticed that the club put out an article today with Eustace eulogising about Hedges being like a new signing. Otherwise, whilst other teams are active, our social media has only some delayed youth extensions and photos of our team playing golf to share.

I have never understood why that Rovers Insider page is seemingly seen as on the money. Nothing to do with the budget restrictions/limitations including not allowing players over a certain age more than a years deal and not being able to even bring in a loan despite letting Buckley go out? Could they have recruited better? Yes but like with the current set up theyll find it practically impossible under such restrictions. You always turn on people and freely criticise as soon as they are no longer employed by the club.

The blame all piled on the 2 people who couldnt do wrong when here...

The candidates WILL be. Big statement. It probably will be, and it is a depressing list especially if and when Howe decides to stay at Newcastle. Lampard would be particularly hilarious.

I think those elite managers will be beyond us but there is a layer or 2 beneath that who are still above the sorry list that is being banded around of the unproven or proven failures. Howe is the only one who would maybe justify an interview on merit. We would all prefer an Englishman but the pool is so poor that we have to look further afield.

Is the German second tier on par with the Championship? I dont watch it but I very much doubt it. Gallagher is a bottom half Championship standard striker. When fit for most of the season he has tended to score 8 or 9 goals a season. I think because he isnt great, people still overplay how poor he is. We have proven a number of times that on a budget it isnt a formality to improve on him. Obviously I am not factoring in injuries and assuming that he plays a full ssason So do you think Venkys would spend money if it wasnt for this theory of yours that people are telling them not to? "Insider" very much tongue in cheek.

I suspect that Gallagher would get more than 10 in the German second division. Or more likely. The owners simply wont allow the money to be spent.

He wouldnt be my first choice, but he has a far better record than the likes of Potter, Lampard and Carsley.

But it doesnt mean that we should specifically target club failures. Lampard is a shocking manager. He shouldnt be under consideration.

He probably wont even sign. But Telalovic is a low bar. He might be a gem but a striker with only 1 average season below the German 3rd tier hardly suggests that we will sign the required quality to stay up. These owners continue to fuck us over unfortunately. No budget and even getting deals done within that proving impossible.

So you can now see that you writing off my concerns as me being negative actually were valid. Having too many layers of staff carries a risk of causing additional conflict, especially under owners as negligent as ours. To be honest, I dont think that too many people is the primary problem. I suspect the owners simply wont sign off any signings.

Would you welcome Lampard? He is a shocking manager. Would be an interesting policy, looking for Englishmen who have failed at club level.

One thing I flagged as a potential risk of a structure where you have people like directors of football/technical directors etc is conflict between parties and delays in decision making, especially at a club owned by Venkys. You mocked and suggested that I was being negative.