Quite clearly a suggestion and an unrealistic one at that!

I am not sure that it suits Travis to be a holding midfielder, it takes a certain discipline that I am not sure he has nor does it suit him to hold, I think he is better with a little more freedom. I think we need a new holding midfielder and another more attacking central midfielder in the window amidst other things but not sure I should hope my breath. Rothwell and Buckley could then compete for places with the former much closer than the latter for me.

The type of player maybe, but do you genuinely think he has the ability right now to impact games regularly? Would that be at the cost of Rothwell, if not then who and if so, dont you consider (based on where Buckley is at the moment) it to be a downgrade? Do you fear a dog fight next season? I presume by skillset you mean within the framework of Mowbray's flawed style of play. Even if he was which he may well be plus if he was up to the level we need which I doubt, its pissing in the wind. Lenihan, Ayala, Wharton, Johnson, all defensive players who cannot use the ball particularly well at their feet. In fact, the technical ability across the team is lacking. We have plenty of energy and pace in attack, we shouldnt try and play this tika taka shite and it is difficult to encourage using players within that framework.

I just feel that there has been an underlying ongoing narrative throughout his time here that he has been unfairly criticised by Rovers fans which is grossly untrue.

Walcott has joined Southampton, but there is no chance of us affording any of those, especially King.

Even if we go 3 at the back, it is likely that Mings will be still in that defence. Assuming that we are playing Mbappe/Griezmann/Benzema or Bernardo Silva/Bruno Fernandes/Ronaldo/Jota in the second round, having Mings there feels like a car crash waiting to happen. Also, presumably the third centre back would be Walker/James, it would also leave one less space for one of our attacking talents. Henderson and Maguire in particulars fitness is potentially critical. The replacement for Alexander Arnold needs to surely be either White or Ward Prowse, 2 ok players but nothing special, simply to numerically cover one of the 2 players who it seems quite possibly might miss the tournament.

Its not about writing him off, people just feel that they can judge a 7m signing that has been here for 3 years. He received plenty of praise last year in fact, perhaps at times slightly more than his performances warranted simply because of how low the benchmark was that he had set. There is no witch hunt but people will judge based on what they see. Am I convinced that he will ever be a top player at Championship player? Possibly not.

I don't get why it has to be as clear cut as that, I think he is ok as he is as a squad player, and ultimately when he gets a chance next, he needs to do more to retain his space. I dont think we have to say, right, hes a regular from here on in, he hasnt earnt it. That midfield is very underwhelming with Buckley a downgrade on an inconsistent Rothwell. Factor in the assumption that Armstrong will not be sufficiently replaced, and with Elliott and Harwood Bellis leaving, you would expect all 3 areas of the team ahead of Kaminski to be weaker with the same manager. Very depressing isnt it. And very much has yet to warrant a regular guaranteed place in our midfield. Obviously Sparks Rovers' agenda aside.

Exactly! So a free agent with his quality with no fee required will be even more in demand! You seemingly have reverted so inevitably quickly from regularly stating your disdain towards Mowbray to now implying that a very good Championship player may come to us simply because he can work with Mowbray! We can't give injury prone squad players and continuously inconsistent players sufficient contracts to get them to re-sign. Our financial clout isnt going to get him! The key to it all is the people involved though.

Your last paragraph sums up exactly why Mowatt will be in demand. A free agent who has got in team of the year at this level will surely have teams higher than 15th in the league that will want him. No I agree that Mowbray is not clinging on because we know that our owners dont give a shit about us. But you said that one of the potential reasons would be a "role under" Mowbray. Why would a player who has just had success working for a successful manager be attracted to work under a boring old fart like Mowbray who has us going in the wrong direction?

2 years of him being around the team but I (and seemingly quite a few others) havent seen enough to suggest that he will play in the Premier League! Or even that he should be a regular. He hasnt shown enough yet to warrant that guarantee. Thats not logical to just say, well Travis didnt look ready straight away, as if that will be replicated every time with others who initially struggle. He had a couple of games in League 1, not 2 seasons worth of games to impress in like Buckley. If he performs when he gets a chance next season, then by all means let him keep his place or try to. But no guarantees that he must be a starter, ive seen nothing to warrant such a statement yet.

Rothwell played regularly all season in a central role so that makes no sense. And I have heard 2 different rumours on here about Rankin Costello, that he wants to play a different position and that he is still on a pitiful wage that we arent willing to noticeably increase. Either way, its pretty depressing to see that 2 players we want to keep, we are unable to do so and ae struggling with contract negotiations. One is made of glass and has been ok when he has played. The other has talent but 9 times out of 10 doesnt turn up. Id like to keep both ideally but the fact that even players like this we cant sign up again is not a good sign.

You think that as a key player and captain under a manager that has done such a great job, that the promise of a "role under manager" in reference to someone clinging on to a job he is regressing in solely down to negligent owners would in any way sway his decision? Surely you dont think that any sane man would swap Ismael for Mowbray? Surely you dont think that we are an attractive prospect for the captain of a 5th place team who even if he chooses to seek employment elsewhere, will have far better options as a free agent than a team who has finished 15th, is going backwards and cannot get its key players to extend their contracts. Even if we could offer a slight increase on the terms that Barnsley will offer, which is speculation, there will be financially stronger and indeed ambitious forward thinking clubs who would take him before us.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/15158162/england-maguire-henderson-injuries-euros/amp/ These could be critical blows. Mings and Coady are not going to instill much confidence, neither does Kalvin Phillips and Bellingham is obviously still very raw for all of his talent.

Hell of a shout based on very little. Even the first sentence is a big shout, dont think hes shown that he is ready to be a regular starter.

When the club cant agree contracts with any first team players (Armstrong aside, none would be huge losses individually perhaps but that makes it even more galling) aside from ones done after a lengthy negotiation period that have either not established themselves in the first team or have suffered serious injuries, it just shows where we are at at the moment.

Why would your primary judgement of a central midfielder be goals?

They aren't "light years" ahead of us but as depressing as it is, the continued and constant negligence of our owners has progressed to a stage where Barnsley finished 10 places and an embarrassing 21 points ahead of us. Last season saw a huge improvement on their part and us going in the wrong direction. They have an exciting manager, we have one who is just stagnating to the ignorance of our owners. Our best player is likely to leave too. The fact that I am being somewhat patronising to Barnsley in my comparison shows that I feel that Rovers ought to be out performing them. At the moment, on the pitch, we are sadly not a pretty sight though. We could possibly offer him a slight rise, suppose its speculation either way. But if he chooses not to stay at the ambitious, progressive club that hes at, he will be an incredibly appealing free agent to teams with more ambition and more money than us. All we have heard lately is how covid has affected our finances and how difficult we are finding even keeping the players we have.

Hes a central midfielder, which stats do you mean? Ive always rated Mowatt even when he was at Leeds.

Another one I have seen lately is "vertical passing."

Absolutely no chance of him coming here in a month of Sundays. Why would he, hes the captain of an upwardly mobile team who finished 5th, and every time I see them, he looks the part. Either staying at the club hes at now, or playing the market whereby at least top Championship clubs would love him on a free are both far superior options to coming to a club on a downward trajectory. Its unlikely that we could even offer him more money than Barnsley which shows where we are at.

Makes sense, there very much seems to be an order at the moment. Any player within the senior squad with a contract about to expire, we cant do anything. Players on the fringes with likely very little if any interest elsewhere, or with serious injuries, Buckley, Dolan, Wharton and even Dack, we can just about get them done, although at least 2 or 3 of them mentioned how long it took. Kids nowhere near the first team, 4 year deal easily sorted.

No injuries?

I hope we dont go down the route of playing 5 at the back, that in my opinion would again be weak management trying to fit in a second right back on the right hand side of the 3. We need Maguire to be fit, assuming he is, id just go with him and Stones in a 2, then Shaw at left back, and then pick one of the 4 right backs. Henderson and Rice will provide the necessary protection, and allow 4 (rather than 3 as would be the case if we play an extra CB) of our best attackers to score some goals.

Cant say ive seen Kirk nor do I put any stock in the data especially as it is against League 1 standards but I do know that Chapman shouldnt be a benchmark for us as a player yet to play very much for whatever reason, although the key difference would be that if he was to be here next season, it wouldnt warrant a fee, and I doubt that we will be spending much if anything.