This was the quote that seemingly I misread so my apologies. There is no indication that only a substantial King sell on will prevent us from going over FFP constraints unless we sell, but if that is only to allow further purchases, we never seem to buy in January anyway.

Parking bay area is "possibly" ours?

Does any of this add any further proof that we as an individual club are so close to the line that we have to sell an Armstrong to avoid a points deduction?

But Williams is hardly fast, so the difference between Wharton and Williams next to Ayala compared to the Cardiff game. Pace is not essential. Besides, against Forest, they have an aging Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor up front, we wont be facing blistering pace. Magloire is a player who really struggled in his last senior game here, and has only had a very unsuccessful loan spell where he was sent back after a couple of poor games. His stock has crazily risen off the back of a friendly and its crazy.

Is there any indication that we are in serious risk/breach of FFP on the assumption that the rules are not flexed/eased due to covid and indeed we dont sell our playing assets this summer? Not from anything I can see. The manager has been consistent in saying that there is no urgency to sell Armstrong or indeed any specific player, so surely @philipl implying that we are at risk of a points deduction if we dont sell is just scaremongering. This summer, we spent a reported £450k on one player, a couple more in on frees and Adarabioyo, Walton, Downing, Graham, Samuel, Smallwood, Hart and Leutwiler all are now off the wage bill. I dont agree with the prospect of risking a points deduction but with our current approach there is no suggestion of that being the case.

I wouldnt give Downing a new deal, not least because we are well into the season and especially at his age there will be questions regarding when he will be ready for selection. But the looking down the nose at him as some sort of mercenary is harsh. We dont know whether he wanted 2 years based on his very impressive year last year, whether he was told that his game time would have decreased or even if it was financial and he didnt feel like his performances warranted a pay cut to stay, which I could understand. If he had come back and had a full pre season he would be right about the first team picture again.

Definitely, especially with Armstrong, Dack and Lenihan about to go in their final year, this is going to be the last year of a cycle before we need to hit the reset button I suspect in terms of contracts and players.

That friendly v Leicester is becoming his Brett Emerton v Wolves moment, although for Brett's sake at least that was a competitive game! We wouldnt get anything other than a nominal fee at best for Wharton and its not as if hes hit his peak, nor has he been stagnating playing kids football. Id trust him far more than Magloire or Carter if we needed one of them which we may as soon as at the weekend.

Cant really grasp any urgency to sell any prized assets until it is financially necessary or clubs circle and the player or players in question force our hand. There is no suggestion of either.

To be fair, he isnt number 3. Seems like he is also behind someone called Roef who also dislodged him at Gent, and Casteels who dropped out injured who is at Wolfsburg.

Yeah we could do with 2 or 3 ideally, we look a little thin in terms of numbers. A first choice left back is a must. Even if free agent left backs are under consideration, the aim should be to get one done before Friday. There wont be many (if any) credible free agents at this point and if we aim for a player and it doesnt work out, there is no possibility of an alternative even as a loan once the deadline passes.

Time very much ticking on us getting a couple more in before the deadline.

Because he is a winger, he has said himself that playing at full back is not for him full time and Mowbray sees him as an attacking player too: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18576200.what-cant----mowbray-tips-youngster-bright-future/ But reiterating Rankin-Costello will be seen long-term as an attacking player, he said: “He’s got a big future in whatever position. If I was to pigeon-hole him after watching him for the last three years he’s probably most dynamic coming in off the left in a 4-2-3-1." Besides, Nyambe cant play effectively at CB either. Would he? Presumably the only interest would come from League 1 and the clubs dont have a pot to piss in at the moment there. You speak about Wharton as if his developing is over and he has not made it at a point whereby we wont get any better from here on in. He is only 23, very young for a centre back and now has some real good experience under his belt. As it stands, surely he should be our fourth choice centre back.

You dont need it, its a useful attribute if coupled with other relevant attributes. If it was all down to pace, Magloire would be a shoe in and Ayala will never get a game.

Didnt play.

Great news. Lets hope from next month he is back in the team and back being our best player.

Not one for cherry picking individual team selections to compensate for certain players in terms of picking inferior players as a result. Ayala is a defender that has been around the block and indeed Williams is hardly fast. Wharton is fourth choice centre back having played plenty of games in senior football compared to Magloire who looked incapable of winning a header when he last played for the first team. I know a few got a bit giddy after a friendly in which he did ok in but he is behind Wharton in the queue and should Lenihan and Williams not make it, which is very hypothetical at the moment, then it has to be Ayala and Wharton. I also hope that he doesnt piss around in that eventuality and put Nyambe at CB and Rankin Costello at RB, putting 2 players out of position in one move. Keep it simple, if 2 of the first CB's are out, pick the 4th choice, it isnt rocket science. If you are unwilling to do that, then you may aswell move Wharton on at this stage.

Is the picture quality that much worse? The time delay simply means avoiding your phone for an hour an a half. So is it the emotional blow of seeing an empty Ewood that you cant attend? That would surely mean no highlights etc either. The reason why I find it illogical is because you are embracing and even defending the extortionate pricing of neutral games on Sky, watching them ad nauseum, yet slightly inferior production values and watching your own team is suddenly a no go.

It would be at odds to what most managers would do for their first game managing a side that has lost all 4 of its first games, especially an experienced one without the distraction of a demanding crowd. As you say, lets hope they are playing with wreckless abandonment though, it might suit us. Although we will need to get over that weakness either way to make the top 6.

Is it out of principle? What does "poor coverage" exactly mean, the picture quality, the commentary? Surely the fact that you are watching your own team overrides all of that? When I stream Sky Sports I have a slight time delay and its not ideal but I would not just avoid watching it altogether, I would just avoid checking my phone during the game to avoid spoilers. Logic and yourself rarely walk hand in hand but I cant fathom why watching your own team with perhaps slightly inferior production values is a total no go, yet watching random teams as a neutral with Martin Tyler doing the commentary is a different story.

Its a hell of an ask to expect a top CB and a top CM to suddenly emerge of that standard! There is plenty of scope for excitement with the current crop of players especially at the front end but there are also a couple of glaring weaknesses and also I am not convinced by the shape in which the manager is moving towards. I think that there may be a realisation that none of the centre backs are particularly good, but playing a third to compensate means that you have to select one more in the first place. Maguire's struggles are well documented, I think Gomez has talent but is so lucky to have Van Dijk next to him at club level and the rest are equally flawed. Our central midfield options by comparison are much healthier, purely down to Henderson who people vastly underrate in spite of captaining and being critical to that Liverpol side. Foden I cant see where he plays in the current formation, in a 4-3-3 he can be the third man in there along with Henderson and perhaps Winks. We also have a ticking time bomb in net as long as small arms Pickford remains there.

Trying to win a game doesnt have to involve playing a high pressing game and "going for it," and inheriting a team on the back of 4 losses, I suspect that Hughton quite sensibly will not be too gung ho and "expansive" with his style, he is certainly too wily to do so purely to try and satisfy the whims of a fan base that wont even be there!

International football is all about summer tournaments. All of the mid season breaks including nations league games are purely an ends to a means, a boring and unwelcome break to domestic football. Fair play to England, a good result, still dont think quite a few bits of the team including the formation are correct going forward but aided by a very lucky deflection its a impressive result.

I hope not. The nations league is moderately more important than friendlies but it does not have the same importance and feel compared to Euros which are concentrated within a summer. Does anyone overly care about the Nations League?

That team has a much better shape to it. Henderson has to play, theres a reason he captains the Premier League champions. Id have Foden in there too, big talent. Replace the clown in net with Pope. Chilwell a necessary evil due to a lack of options at left back. Centre back is a big worry, we dont have any good ones. Would also go Sancho over Rashford.