Quite a few of the games in both competitions have been very good spectacles. The second half tonight was very watchable, the first half much more cagey. Some superb passes and bits of play amidst it, Thiago ran the show, Bayern as a team are outstanding, Neymar didnt turn up, nor did Mbappe bar one superb pass himself at the end. The Champions League I find a very entertaining competition. Far more watchable than the Premier League on average as you would expect.

https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/exclusive-tom-lockyer-activates-release-clause-at-charlton-athletic/ Here is an article on Lockyers clause. I am not necessarily saying that Lockyer would solve our defensive woes but considering our limited budget, I think hes worth a look on a free agent. No idea on either of those wages but I am just saying that as free agents who are both proven operators at the top of this league with the sort of defensive ability and leadership that we would love, I hope we have at least looked at whether we can get the numbers to work. The names you mentioned are not players that you would associate with a Championship promotion challenger. Moore was well down the pecking order at Bristol City. And im guessing that you arent a regular watcher of Sunderland (or Oxford) either. None of those 4 players would fill me with hope that they have the calibre to replace Adarabioyo. With limited money we will need to show more ambition and perhaps more creativity than that.

I dont think that we would have made the play offs even with a better keeper but you are right regarding the importance of Kaminski being an upgrade on Walton. We have to remember that we have lost Adarabioyo and Downing and will struggle to replace them with someone as good, in regards to even having a squad on par with last season. Goalkeeper is a position whereby there is certainly scope for improvement in regards to replacing the inadequate Walton, lets hope Kaminski is the answer and we fix the defence in spite of seemingly a smaller budget.

We have 2 goalscorers whereby if we put more focus on organisation and we improved the defence sufficiently, we could have a winning formula. My worry is that Mowbray has too much emphasis on a certain way of playing with inside forwards and both full backs pushed right up, and defenders signed more for their passing ability that I am unconvinced that we are going to concede considerably less goals.

I think bonus is the key word. The further down you go and when having the full package isnt possible, a goalkeeper with excellent ball playing skills becomes less important. Walton was poor and whilst he was frustratingly slow with his distribution, it was the repeated errors that were the main problem. Bialkowski is one of the best keepers in the league. Nothing flash, hardly a lite version of Ederson. But makes very few mistakes, very reliable, and very understated. All keepers are good shot stoppers. Often the best keepers are the ones that get little attention because they arent making mistakes.

My fear in attacking areas is that we are putting too much responsibility on the academy lads. We have Armstrong who will score goals, and we have Dack who will miss the start of the season. Aside from that, not seeing that much in the way of goals. Holtby might get a few but injuries and the question of where does he play make that questionable. Gallagher isnt the best. Brereton, 2 dead rubber goals in 2 years. Rothwell, flatters to deceive. Chapman, has played a few cameos in a few years, not a favourite of the manager. Rankin Costello and Buckley, not yet established. Theres a lot of ifs buts and maybes beyond our 2 main attacking players. I think we could probably do with a player in attacking areas if we can, ideally out wide, even if it is a loan. The likes of Butterworth (who himself isnt fit) and Vale etc should be treat as bonus players. Great if they contribute but we dont know if they are ready and as such we cannot expect much from them.

Ton Lockyer has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for free upon Charltons relegation. Has been drawing interest from the Championship. Whether he is good enough for a team with supposed play off intentions who need to replace Adarabioyo, unsure about that, I think we would need an Ayala or Van Der Hoorn to adequately replace him, but Lockyer could be worth a look for a club on a budget, impressed at Charlton in spite of their relegation and has been capped 10 times by Wales. You have mentioned that there are players under a million, but are any of them players good enough for the Championship, never mind a club wanting top 6? And a club who have just lost Adarabioyo? Moore is unwanted by Bristol City and was loaned to League 1. Willis is a league 1 player, Sunderlands best defender was Bailey Wright who was available on a free, again who probably isnt Championship top half material. Van Aken was unwanted by Sheffield Wednesday. And Moore, why didnt he play that often for League 1 Oxford? We need better than these players. That is why I suggested either at least one of the 2 CBs being another calculated gamble from abroad, where there could be more value. Kaminski's previous errors mean there is an element of risk bringing him in, we are totally unsure of how he will turn out, but failing a Westwood or a Marshall who I think would have provided some consistency, at least we havent resorted to getting a kid ie Muric on loan which I was against the idea of. Hopefully there are some bargains across Europe. The other avenue would be the free agent market as I said. It may mean signing a player at the higher end of the wage bill (somewhat offset by a lack of fee) but someone like Ayala and Van Der Hoorn would also bring leadership and experience to a squad which has lost the likes of Graham and Downing. If we was to get one of the 2 CBs on loan, I think there surely are far better options compared to Lindsay. Maybe someone like Miazga who did well on loan at Reading? With little money, I think it puts more emphasis on thinking outside the box. It is ok for the likes of Ederson and Alisson to be brilliant with their feet, ultimately that is on top of otherwise excellent goalkeeping skills. I dont think ball playing skills should be near the top of our priority list. We need someone who is consistent and dependable, making few mistakes.

I dont know what your opinion is on Buckley, all you do is repeatedly portray those of the "experts" and use it as a stick to antagonise. You once laughed at a poster who was a regular watching the under 23s who suggested that Mols was better than Buckley, despite then admitting that you had never seen Mols play!

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18669991.rovers-transfer-news-latest-budget-defender-search/ "While the budget will allow for cash signings, those are unlikely to stretch to seven-figure fees." Seems we are very much limited in terms of the fees we can offer, very much at odds with any theories regarding Venkys signing off every cheques. It comes as little surprise and to be quite honest it is understandable to an extent. That being said, as I pointed out the other day, there is a way to go before our side is even on par with last season considering the losses of Adarabioyo, Downing and one or two others. Apparently we want 2 from 3 domestic CB's, one of which is Lindsay on loan (which wouldnt be my preference) and the other 2 are permanent deals. Kipre is sadly too expensive. Whiteman is also too dear, a signing that never seemed realistic. I dont think you are gonna get much for your money for under a million in England. Certainly not the solution to fixing our defence. I would suggest that the main 2 avenues could be like we are with Kaminski, a calculated gamble from abroad, where the prices may be lower, although that doesnt seem to be the case. Or the free agent market, there is some real quality there in Van Der Hoorn, Ayala, Lockyer etc, the first 2 are probably debatable in terms of wages but they would be ready made starters. I also think that Mowbray needs to compromise on his principles of how he wants to play. For example, 2 full backs always pushed on is asking for trouble.We need to prioritise solidity more than we have done so far.

Out of interest, if you are so keen to regularly state how your inside line to the real experts is the set of opinions that you tend to go off implicitly, and dismiss anyone on here because they arent experts, what purpose does coming on here even fulfill? Whether you have heard through chinese whispers that Brockhall is essentially a John Buckley fan club or not, all you are going to find on here is people judging him on when they have seen him play for the first team. Which really is where it matters.

Its not negativity to have expressed doubts about a players ability to play for the first team at the moment, nor is it down to an expectation for him to "be a world beater." In the first team he hasnt shown really any signs that he is capable of being an effective player at this moment in time. He had one effective game at Charlton, beyond that he has struggled in the main. I just dont see how he gets in the team at the moment or close to it. Doesnt mean that he wont in the future and maybe a loan spell and regular football is the best pathway.

£5.99 to watch a stream of a friendly! Be amazed if anyone takes them up on that.

With Armstrong though, his goals last season v Reading, Luton, Brentford x2, Hull, QPR, PNE, Bristol City, QPR away, and his brilliant performance at Sheffield Wednesday all had him in a central role. Moving him central sparked him into life. In a 4231 we could have our 2 goalscorers central and then hopefully build around that being solid with them always proving a threat. Everyime Dack has played the false 9 before it has not worked. Has to play with his back to goal more and also nullifys his desire to appear a bit later to score.

Dont think this has been posted. Apologies if it has. A video of Kaminski. Appreciate that it offers little value because it is his best parts so there is no perspective of overall reliability. Seems to be a very dramatic goalkeeper in terms of loving a camera save, occasionally spilling it back into the danger zone. Also a few penalty saves in there. For quite a few years, I have never really been confident in our keepers saving penalties. Hopefully that could change now.

I dont think that the 433 suits the squad in general but saying that, I think that Dack has to be considered because he is so important to us.

So am I but I mean if he has another poor season there would be little reason to provoke talks for a new deal. If he has a good season then great.

Also he admitted trying to sign Atsu (a crap winger but its the position that counts!) in January so maybe the penny has dropped a bit? If you play 4231 it gives you more scope for 2 central players in attack. Well no, we have to learn from what went well and what didnt go so well last season. The 433 didnt work very well. Seems a bit of a cop out. Either way, playing 433 means only one of our attacking players can play centrally. Also puts more reliance on the wide players who havent shown an ability to score regularly. Even if it means Holtby as the 10 further forward. If we play 4231 im sure youll start bigging that formation up and dismissing 433 anyway.

I didnt mention todays game. I was judging on the last 2 seasons. Last season he did his "Better than Brereton but still saving his contribution for when our chances have gone" routine and scored a tidy finish v West Brom and a heavily deflected goal v Reading. It has to be far better and theres only so long you can say that. His contract is up next season and it might be time to part ways if he doesnt start contributing.

Evans and Travis central, Rankin Costello left, Chapman right, and Holtby off Armstrong. Dack can slip into Holtbys positon when hes fit again. As I said, makes no sense to play a system that wont suit our best 2 players when they are both fit. Which hopefully will be most of the season. Plus the formation didnt work last season.

I think there is an element of that to be fair. You look at us all getting overly excited over his post lockdown performances and getting our hopes up at any slither of ability shown. I also would rather see Rankin Costello play further forward and see what he can do in his natural position. Would love to see him left, Chapman right, and Dack off Armstrong at one point. Thats where he always plays but unfortunately, whilst there are some attributes there, he doesnt seem to have anything at the end and theres only so many times you can think "the talent is there now is the time to show it" yet he doesnt come up with the goods.

Brereton was offside numerous times. Kept breaking down attacks doing so.

Whatever Rothwell is supposed to be, hes not very effective.

By "could be the way to go" you mean the way that Mowbray will play? Doesnt suit us when Dack is back which shouldnt be that far away so theres no point building around that system. The results playing that formation last season were very poor.

Ha! Nixons story is us signing a kid presumably for the under 23 side? Exciting! I think it would need a fairly successful season just to match last seasons squad which is a bit of a worry, considering who has left. Walton obviously going doesnt leave too big of a gap, and although we are seemingly taking a calculated gamble on a goalkeeper from abroad who has had a tough time recently, the Walton benchmark is a low one there. Adarabioyo will be a huge miss. Id be amazed if we managed to get someone as good at centre back. Cunningham played only a fraction of the season but we gathered a fair few points in that game. That said, he didnt play enough to make it a major loss but again we will struggle to get a left back as good unless we go for him again. We have seemingly lost Downing. Im not saying that we should have acted differently or indeed that he would have been as effective but last season he was very good and must have been close to player of the season. Graham had a much less critical part but I think was in every match day squad and was always an option, plus his departure puts more onus on Brereton. Weve also lost some experience and also players who can use the ball well which is key to Mowbrays supposed new style. Its a vital window just to ensure that our squad isnt worse than it was last season.

I think you may be right. But considering our players and also the poor results using the formation post lockdown, im not in favour of it.