Fingers crossed, although i dont think anyone will sign before next weekend. Dont think Mowbray and Venkys appreciate any urgency and importance in making a strong start.

There were quite a few people suggesting that Kipre was going for the money and to sit on the bench, the latter of which is an assumption not only that he wont play but that he has been told he wont play, when there is no reason to suspect either. As you say, any sane minded person in his situation would have chosen West Brom. Obviously it is just looking at the situation through blue and white tinted glasses, but it is quite ironic because when a number 2 goalkeeper joins, there wont be people questioning his ambition and motivation.

I agree that we need another keeper, Fisher is miles away, but that wasnt the point I was making. There is irony in slagging off Kipre for going to West Brom for money (based on a fictitious theory that he has gone to warm the bench) and slag off Mulgrew for sitting on a decent contract yet endorse us signing a keeper who knows that he has not come to play. Plenty of which has been seen, not specifically you, at Rovers fans in general. We dont know that, we can only guess until he does what we might think he can do based on kids football and the very limited experience he has in the first team. Until he does, we can never be sure. Cautiously optimistic and hopeful. My issue is that although I would like to see him play plenty of football, no one knows if he is good enough to be a regular starter in a side chasing the top 6, and like in other areas, I dont feel that the balance is correct between proven quality/effectiveness (Armstrong and a currently injured Dack who may prompt a change in formation again) and very raw, untested but of course promising players but ones who we do not know if they can regularly contribute for a team chasing the top 6, getting us goals, ie everyone else, Rankin Costello, Brereton, Chapman, Dolan, Vale, Butterworth, and to a lesser extent, Gallagher and Rothwell. In an ideal world, we would have maybe 4 or even 5 more proven options, and then that raw potential bubbling underneath, contributing as much as possible but without too much pressure should they not be ready at that time. Talk about 20m price tags is absolutely crazy though, thats what I mainly took issue with.

Thats one hell of an unfounded suggestion glad we have him, did some good things today and hasnt let anyone down during his dozen or so senior appearances, mainly out of position. And I would start him next weekend. But we arent sure that he can establish himself as a regular in our side yet. Talk about 20m plus price tags in the future is at this stage speculative and baseless in the extreme. Another point of irony that i find is that we are all calling for a back up keeper, yet when a player goes elsewhere, even when there is no suggestion/guarantee for example in Kipre's case that he is going "to be back up" that he is a greedy money grabber and everything that is wrong with the game.

I agree with Mowbray that we need more men back there. Nuhiu might be an extreme example but there will be other wily experienced strikers that lie in wait.

Behave. Any drastic conclusions shouldn't be taken either way. All of the things I have said are things that I would have said prior to the game. Of course, it was a promising performance which I did point out to be fair. Maybe, but he hasnt even played a minute in pre season and I dont expect or think that he will be around the first team this season. I am overly cautious that another summer in which the manager publically declares the need for "men" in defence is still not sorted. I also am unconvinced that we have enough goals for all of the pace, energy and potential across the front 3.

I think people quite understandably are getting a little carried away at a very decent performance in a friendly v a Leicester side full of kids. Magloire for example, he looked well out of his depth playing against a very limited player like Nuhiu, and struggled at Rochdale I believe. Also had a couple of wobbly moments today. He could do with another loan, we need experience at the back and I dont want Mowbray to fall into the trap of thinking that the likes of Magloire and Carter who have struggled when dipped into the first team before are ready to play now. i feel like we have quite a few quick and energetic players to play that front 3 but still remain totally unconvinced that there is much substance there at this moment. Armstrong, we know his quality, even if he did nothing today. Brereton was his usual dithering self, for all of this talk about him bulking up, new man post lockdown, we dont have any evidence that he is up to it yet. Starts next weekend though, also his defensive "contribution" belies why Chapman doesnt start if that is the reason! Rankin Costello, that run was superb, also had a decent but comfortable shot at the keeper, id start him next week, obviously though we have no evidence that he is a top 6 player across that front line playing regularly. Dolan is bright and energetic, and has raw talent. But a total unknown to us. Chapman went on a nice run, has talent, but he has come in from the cold. Rothwell, full of pace and energy, did little with it. Theres plenty of raw talent there but I just worry beside Dack and Armstrong, how many of our other attacking players can hit 5 goals this season? There is reason to be excited by the youngsters but I dont expect too much from them all. It also cannot be lost how much we need to add quite a few to the squad. Obviously defensively but also could do with a drop of quality in attack.

Do people think that front 3 has enough goals in it to challenge for the top 6?!

Hope Mowbray doesnt get any false impression over the likes of Magloire and Bell helping to reduce the urgency we need to fix the defence. I also seem to be the only person who thinks we are really lacking going forward. You look at that front 3, Brereton usually comes up woefully short and we havent seen enough from Rankin Costello to suggest that he can be a regular. Beyond that, there is barely anything. Gallagher and Dack to come back aside, its all unknown and kids. We need something else going forward, we look lightweight and overly reliant on Armstrong. Our strongest area is central midfield although even there we could do with another technical addition. Travis, Evans and Holtby should be the main 3 in there, not Johnson who cant use the ball.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2016/may/hanley-named-player-of-the-year/

Ireland play again on Sunday. With only one absentee, our back 4 will be a frightening indicator of what we could field in a league game should we not get on with our transfer business. Leicester will have plenty on international duty.

I am not sure how you have come to that conclusion based on that back 5 to be honest. I get that you are implying that Walton is less than tolerable, which there is some truth in, but "tolerable" is hardly a glowing endorsement for the standard we would like from our goalkeeper. However, I take your point that if Kaminski is better, obviously we are better off there. But youve underestimated the downgrade that taking Tosin out would cause. He might not have been the very best defender in terms of his ball playing being the stand out attribute but he was a very competent Championship defender. Wharton has done well in League 2, happy for him to be 4th choice, but as a replacement for Adarabioyo that is a huge downgrade. My worry is that we will struggle to get someone as good as Adarabioyo this summer even as a defender, and even then, we would need to improve the defence anyway. Naby Sarr has been repeatedly mentioned, a player who has earned cult hero status but that is not for his solid defensive play at Charlton. But it has to be more than just a good centre back coming in. We need a new left back, we need Kaminski to be good (and a good experienced number 2 in case he isnt) we need to change the way we defend as a team (no need for full backs both being so attacking simultaneously) and we also need more options, whenever even one of our key defenders missed a game last season, we struggled. There is also left back. Bell only actually started 19 games last year, plus played the majority of the game at QPR. Cunningham obviously had a spell of games where we picked up plenty of points, and Downing also was at left back during our upturn in form. Either way, and obviously I dont think it will be so its moot, but that back 5 would have us closer to the bottom 3 than the play offs! That is not an improvement on last year even if Kaminski is ok.

Fingers crossed we get walloped at Bournemouth and humiliated v Wycombe then if these exceptions to the rule that a strong start is important is anything to go by. Bell is as much of a liability as Mulgrew.

I love that the isolated example of Boro keep getting brought up. We might not be the only club lagging behind but we are always one of the slowest under Venkys and always will be. We started v Charlton last season with the usual dregs in defence and lost. The value of a fast start has been lost. Does anyone have faith that Mowbray is going to bring in the defenders we need?

The main issue has always been not only that season ticket But that scenario is totally different. Liverpool in a full stadium already have more demand than there is possible supply. In a restricted capacity, the demand is massively higher than supply. With us, we have less than a third of our stadium capacity as season ticket holders. Factor in an inevitable reduction due to health worries and affordability issues in a tough economic climate (with a price rise) and it wont be a problem for us.

Where does there seem to be a reluctance? Most of the criticism surrounds the tone of the statement today (more guilt tripping) and the price hike which is justified. But most people last time I checked put on the poll today that they will renew. The thing is, we will never know the situation fully. There will always be scope for fans suddenly not to be allowed so it all surrounds the way in which Rovers tackle it, details which were still absent in todays press release. Bristol City are essentially offering the choice of an ifollow link or pro rata refund for any home games missed. They could in theory allow a deduction on next seasons ticket too.

Rich Sharpe replied to someone a couple of weeks ago saying that he had heard Elliott mentioned so that isnt a new one.

That last sentence ultimately shows that the sole purpose of your message is to provoke. But can a supporter not hold negative opinions about price hikes, lack of communication until 9 days before the season, and a marketing campaign built on guilt tripping? Should a supporters financial situation and the affordability and value of season tickets not come into the equation regarding their thoughts on season ticket prices? Surely there should be no debate and discussion at all in this thread, it should be everyone in unison thinking "the price is good because im a positive supporters." We arent Preston. If I was a Preston fan though, when they put their price up to what it is now, id have been fuming.

Waggott a few months ago claiming that reimbursements from last year would be carried across ?

Not them specific players but the fact that we are lagging behind many and scrambling around under these owners is no surprise. Lets not pretend that its unavoidable and one of those things. Its the same every year. Plenty of re writing history. Mowbray has to wait until a couple of weeks until a season ends and then flies to India for a week, thats how they work, one of those things. He moans in the press about a lack of clarity, many make out that he probably does know his budget but is just waiting on technicalities. And to Mowbray himself, he fails to fix our defence, he has done the same at other clubs, yet there seems to be quite a lot of faith that this will be the summer when it is sorted. 9 days before the season and not one defender had come through the door, just plenty of gossip, near misses and hard luck stories.

Unsurprising that after weeks and weeks of waiting, when they have finally (9 days before the season!) released some form of communication, it is the usual guilt trip approach surrounding the price hike. Hope there is more clarity regarding bubbles in terms of who you attend with (details given by other teams) is forthcoming, and also I hope the price hike reasonable. £400 or less.

Edwards isnt very good. Stoke fans would be glad to see the back of him and have questioned his professionalism in the past. Also, right back isnt the priority at the moment. It seems that we are focusing on Stokes reserves at the moment which surely is a haven of defensive quality, right? The days tick by towards that first game and as per last year, closing in on the new season, the defence remains untouched. I have settled for the fact that Bell and Wharton will start on the opening day.

I suspect that considering that you were bigging up the signing of a kid with 20 or so senior experiences, your previous staunch defence of a very negligible improvement in terms of points and goals conceded, and your seemingly untold faith and trust in the clubs precise recruitment network and the manager in spite of his historical failure to fix our defence, that our standards regarding fixing our defence this season in order to support a top 6 finish may be slightly different.

We need more than 2 players but can you not surely understand why people have no faith in Mowbray fixing our defence?