Should it be left to a junior journalist not associated directly with the club to be doing this? Not sure he can tell us anything that we dont already know.

Not sure what defines a "Premier League fancy lad" but you dont have to be a brute to score goals at this level. Armstrong is tiny and came from the Premier League and he scores goals. The Championship is not a league full of thugs, and Solanke will presumably find it easier against weaker defences.

Plenty of excuses again from Mowbray, as has been said, we are going into the season with a back 4 of Nyambe, Lenihan, Williams and Bell, that is all we need to know. Agents are sadly a necessary evil, its a strawman argument to suggest that people are implying that we should spend loads on agent fees, but why wasnt that know before it got to the medical? Another excuse, and more time before an actual defender comes in. No one has claimed that they want to be a wannabe CEO, although no one would mind his quite frankly obscene salary! People quite rightly have regularly criticised his policies, on ticketing via a passive aggressive advertising campaign and focused on rinsing the hardcore rather than maximising the quantity, hence the continued failure to hit targets. And the total void of communication over a 6 month period leaving supporters feeling out of touch. What has he done that is positive?

They still have plenty of Championship experience in Steve Cook, Lewis Cook, Adam Smith, Dan Gosling, Philip Billing, Chris Mepham, Junior Stanislas, Lloyd Kelly etc. They also still have plenty of quality in Brooks who is fit again, King if he plays which he may well, Stanislas, Danjuma, Solanke hit form last season, Lerma, they have to be big favourites.

I must say that is very difficult to get enthused and excited over the usually eagerly anticipated season start. The fact that we have to watch games on ifollow with no fans and seemingly after yesterdays announcement any hopes of getting into stadiums seem to be removed in the near future and we are going through the motions for a little while yet. Thrown in is our inevitable failure to strengthen and going into the season with a weaker side that finished 11th and conceded 63 goals and I cant get excited.

He definitely needs signing up long term but the best RB in the league and capable of playing in the Prem? Based on a friendly? Not sure about that.

Im not sure about Mount. And with Havertz signing I am unconvinced that Mount will play much. Abraham wont either, Havertz and Werner are huge upgrades.

Nice of Waggott to communicate too, 2 days before the season starts having not bothered to ever update the fans on the official sites with regular updates, even if it is just to keep that line of communicate too. A man very much not earning his substantial salary.

Only problem with clips and highlights is that its unlikely to highlight weaknesses and errors and impossible to gain a full picture. The stats/data are as variable to the team they play for as the player themselves. Although interesting to read.

Ha!

Definitely Sancho over Rashford, 100%.

Out of interest, is that bottom conclusive paragraph based solely on the stats ot based on watching him play? I have not seen him play much and would be wary to come to a conclusion based solely on data. For me though, being good on the ball is a luxury at the moment. Kipre and Ayala are very much old school defenders, neither will bring it out from the back but both can do the basics and defend. The issue with McKenna seems to be the price. Same with full back. Rankin Costello there would give us more going forward compared to Nyambe but even v Doncaster he was run ragged by the winger. We wont stop conceding if we prioritise playing it out from the back over solidity. Not sure on Sarr either. As the "second" centre back maybe but as an actual defender there seems to be more questions than answers surrounding him.

I still am amazed that a fair few thought he improved last season.

Ayala is hardly a ball player either. Ultimately the main priority though is stopping the goals going in but I cant see us getting McKenna for 6 figures.

If that is the case then quite a few EFL clubs wont last that long. Fingers crossed that at least some tester events are allowed to go ahead and everything goes well and we can get back in well before next spring. The game is a shell of what it can be without fans and financially it is not viable.

The usual lines and excuses from Waggott. Blow some smoke up the owners arse, moan about agents, moan about wages, moan about FFP, the whole inferiority complex. Ultimately as @K-Hod touches on, we go into the season with the same defence minus Adarabioyo and actions speak louder than words. We need "a couple" just at centre back. Chuck in a left back, a sub keeper, and then obviously a further wide man, central midfielder and right back in an ideal world. Also, fair play for eventually communicating about this to the local paper, but not sure he has been questioned on his constant inability to provide any communication on the official site to keep supporters up to date.

I cant believe that anyone would happily continue with Pickford in goal. He is far, far worse than either Pope or Henderson.

Not saying that he isnt, but how can you be so sure that Garner is so much better than Buckley? I am not one to turn his nose up at shorter term deals (obviously amidst long term ones too) if it means better results. But just curious as to how you can be so sure that he is so good that you call the comparison "bizarre." I think obviously whilst the contract should never have been given out, and now it has, we should look to get him out as a player unable to contribute on the field anymore for any sort of financial benefit to us. I am not sure that I feel comfortable with the phrase "trashing the morale of the club." There is absolutely no suggestion that he is anything but a good professional aside from a bit of a tongue in cheek tweet, and he deserves a lot of respect for what he has done rather than being made out to be a bad egg.

I think it was done at the World Cup with an acceptance that we didnt have the midfield to compete and basically we could bypass it wasnt it, with 2 number 10's ahead of Henderson. We were very reliant on set pieces even against poorer teams. With the emergence of some players since, especially Winks, Foden, Mount etc who could now potentially be part of that 3 and hopefully help us win the midfield battle more often than not with a bit more technical ability and creativity in there. I dont think 4-3-3 in theory has to leave the front 3 isolated, although in the big games they obviously have to be the 3 match winners, there could be scope for the 2 midfielders either side of the sitter to push on. I definitely agree that we should move away from 3 at the back. Having only 2 midfielders (especially 2 average ones at internation level, both with defensive mindsets) in front of 3 centre backs will not enable us to play through the lines and dominate games with the current players.

And from the looks of things, I bet that had we still been looking for a goalkeeper, ie had Kaminski gone elsewhere or had it not gone through yet, we wouldnt have even moved onto stage 2, ie look to bring in a CB! To be fair, would Mowbray have said that if it was totally unrealistic and indeed would even an agreement have been in place had it been double our current structure? I doubt it. Seems that the speculation about his wage demands was a little bit wayward. That being said, he gets judged on who he does bring in, not who he fails to bring in 100%.

Would have that side but as a 4-3-3 with Winks sitting and Henderson and Foden either side. Would also not have Pickford near the side, Pope for me with Henderson as number 2. Agree that I have no idea what he was doing last night.

The thing is, Kipre or Ayala would have been very good signings, but ultimately, whether they were realistic enough, affordable enough, whatever, Mowbray and the club couldnt get those deals done. The thing that it doesnt excuse is the lack of recruitment in defence full stop. Even if we had been focusing on getting that main CB in and had failed, that only accounts for one missing defender. We equally need a left back, yet he has seemingly put that on hold for the time being and we now go into a season with Bell at left back which is crazy. Also, we want 2 centre backs, presumably one will be for competition purposes. Why hasnt the secondary centre back come in either? It seems that we are working on one deal at a time and that compounds our failure to get these deals over the line. Its an absolute mess.

Dont forget the one who wasnt part of that defence who was signed by Mowbray and is by far the worst of the lot and the worst left back in the league.

To be fair, I would certainly have Dunk, Tarkowski and maybe one or two others over the uselese Eric Dier.

I will be interested to see if the following line is continued post season ticket release later in the week: "How can you sell tickets for a game that might never happen?"