Is having inside info, even if it is not even shareable, a massive point to boast about in your life? No, I moan at the potential, ie its not happened, of loaning in kids on a temporary basis, having sold a more talented and permanent goalkeeper to part fund a poor striker we dont even play in his correct position! Hardly something to be happy about is it. Whereas you have gone out of your way to repeatedly mention these names all week, because you knew we would be publically linked. As others pointed out with you waiting and seeing on Downing, you wait to see what Mowbray has done before agreeing with whatever that is.

Said it before but I would be fuming at bringing in another kid on loan. There is absolutely no scope for what has unfolded to be defended. We had a young and talented goalkeeper who we sold for cheap, ie 2/3 of a poor striker, all thinking that we were going to sign a more experienced goalkeeper for the here and now. We then got another kid on loan who was a disaster and made so many mistakes. If we are now entering a cycle of loaning kids to be our number 1 then I am dead against that idea. It is so risky, if the goalkeeper isnt ready, then theres little scope for swapping him unless as Reading and Forest did, the latter with Muric, you realise before the window shuts and get someone else in. Goalkeeper is the riskiest place to have a kid but if you do, at least have it as your own young goalkeeper, not someone elses. Obviously scope for them to prove me wrong, and at Championship level, be more of a Woodman than a Muric/Grabara/Walton/Virginia etc. But Mowbray has handled this horribly if there is any truth to it all.

So to clarify chaddy, Paul Mani told you these 2 names last week, and ever since that is why you have been bigging them both up, because you had heard we were interested and wanted to make sure that you appeared to endorse them before if and when they actually happened

I am unsure if he would be of the mindset that he isnt ready for 1st team football considering that he has just had 2 full seasons there after winning League 1. He thinks he is now ready to push for a Premier League place!

I always felt that, on the back of Raya especially, his fairly conservative nature was to his benefit in terms of how people viewed him. When Raya made a mistake, it tended to be an obvious one. So many times, im thinking Huddersfield at home, Fulham at home, Readings second goal, he let shots in that werent blatant errors but should really have been saved but for a mixture of poor positioning and weak handling. Whilst not being as blatant as the ones at home to Bristol City or Leeds. His distribution wasnt as eye catchingly bad as weve seen in the past in terms of clearing things into touch, but he never set up counter attacks and often dallied, and his long kicks rarely went off the pitch but they often went towards the smallest man on the pitch with little accuracy or power. You mention his ability to come for crosses but I saw things that backed up Wigan fans saying when we signed him that he has difficulty commanding his box. Off the top of my head, there was the Preston one obviously. There was a corner at Stoke that ended up as a goal due to his flimsy goalkeeping. There was the one at Wigan when he dropped it. There was one at home to Sheffield Wednesday when he misjudged a low cross, he also spilt a low cross/shot away at Boro that led to a goal. Whilst it is immaterial to us which goes back to the folly of selling a keeper and loaning one the same age. It might also be impacted by questionable coaching which always warrants discussion. But I dont think that Brighton are getting back a better player. I suspect that his career is at a cross roads. Certainly nowhere near a Premier League team as he thinks. Due to his loan spells he may get another Championship loan further down and do that until his contract expires as I cant see anyone paying a fee for him.

Very interesting to see some of the posts on here from just before lockdown. Noticed the thread so had a quick look and it was a mixture of answers, but plenty of praise for him: Was he overrated at this point? Or harshly judged for his string of blunders post lockdown? Seems to have gone from a mix of views, genuine debate as to whether he was an improvement on Raya, some wanting to see him as number 1, quite a few as number 2, and some not at all. To universal criticism.

Theres no way that we, as a team coming off 15th and 11th place finishes, could get a top 6 finish in spite of our manager.

To be fair to Mowbray, it sounded like he was getting frustrated at Venkys lack of communication and interest towards him, he was repeatedly quoted as to not knowing his budget, and the lack of proactivity comes from there.

Because Mowbray had numerous interviews including after the Luton game whereby he seemed frustrated at the lack of clarity given to him regarding his budget. Also, because it is Venkys.

No I said that I am not sure whether I wanted him and didnt say that we wanted him. I was just saying in general, our dithering will put us at a disadvantage in general and has done since these tossers bought us.

The point is more that we are always playing catch up and giving everyone else a head start.

Haha. If he has legs then yes. Not necessarily saying that we should have signed him. But it is little wonder that whilst we dally sorting our budget, the delay between here and India etc. That the pick of the free agent market start to go elsewhere. Tony Mowbray isnt this unique developer of his talent ? Keep his options open and if a Premier League club comes in for him, he could get a sharp pay rise and to play Premier League football. He wouldnt turn that down because of Mowbray. He has 2 years left and the power is with him at the moment. Continue his form into his penultimate year and he will be in a huge position of power.

Morgan Fox has joined Stoke on a free transfer. Another left back we were linked with. Wonder if Mowbray is back from his holiday yet?

Yep, would be in Armstrongs best interest to stay as he is for now in terms of not being tied down. By the way, Florian Hartherz has joined Fortuna Dusseldorf I believe.

Any managerial appointment in theory could work but its what is most likely to work. I personally think for Bournemouth, at a time of an inevitable turnover of players, probably with a bit of money relatively speaking even if its a fraction of the proceeds from selling off their crown jewels, when they really could do with getting back up if at all possible. They should go for someone with fresh ideas and can attract someone with a proven track record Obviously as a Rovers fan in the same league I would prefer them to appoint Tindall and Bristol City Holden because whilst of course there is a chance that they could do well, as with anyone, we want other Championship clubs to be as weak as possible. Maybe Hughton realises that his stock is high because of the Championship record that he has and he therefore has the choice of being able to wait and pick and choose his ideal job at this level.

Yakubu.

If ever there was a sign that things got stagnant and samey, it was there. For me, it cries out for a bit of experience and a bit of outside thinking. Bournemouth arent a big club so could struggle to get back to the Premier League unless its fairly quick.

He also went to Wigan where he couldnt get a game, and then settled in League 1 with Oldham. Maybe he isnt good enough to play above League 1 level, suppose the Irish league is difficult to directly compare.

Because they are at a juncture whereby they could easily become further and further away from a Premier League return the longer they dont get promoted. They are obviously going to sell a number of key assets, Ake has already raised 40m and the likes of King, Wilson and Brooks will all probably be off. Beneath that they do have some players capable of being good Championship players, but will likely have quite a bit of money to play with. I think they would be best served getting someone more proven. Also, Howe has been there for so many years and things had become stagnant and I think they are in need of a fresh face, not his rookie assistant. Hughton is the obvious one. Proven track record at this level, a fresh face, experience, a track record, the ability to tighten up a historically leaky defence. You mention Fulham @Bigdoggsteel they were very much in the best position of anyone, financially and in terms of playing squad to come up, fair play to Parker for getting up through the play offs, and I am not saying that Tindall is definitely a poor choice. But I would personally go for someone with a proven Championship track record at a time whereby they should be one of the favourites for promotion and need to make a strong push to get back as soon as possible otherwise they are likely to settle outside.

Very strange.

But Walton was part of our team last season which was on Mowbray. The team we had last year even with a fit Dack had no evidence of being capable of becoming a top 6 side. Lets not pretend otherwise.

Hes not good enough to be playing for Man City. He is very good on the ball but lets not forget that he was a mainstay in a defence that has conceded 63 goals this season at Championship level. They are potentially going to lose Eric Garcia though who wants out though.

I think you are set for disappointment if you expect that.

Why would we extend Bells contract to loan him out? Not feasible really. I think a competent first choice left back, with Bell as back up as a second natural left back and Williams in an emergency (a player who has played most of his career there) and if all THREE got injured, potentially Downing, I think is more than enough. All 4 of whom can play that position far more competently than Bennett can play right back. Rankin Costello is a wide man, but again could play either full back position but only ideally in an emergency. Personally think a first choice left back would very much be enough in that position. We was unfortunate to suffer both of our left backs being injured at the same time.

There wont be a market for teams willing to pay a fee for Bell. To be fair, assuming we got one in, we would have 3 left backs (compared to for example 1 right back) which is in terms of numbers, plenty. We was unlucky to get both left backs injured at the same time, but its unrealistic to stock pile in case of things like that happening.