Ah, lovely ITK pats on the back Wont fully believe the Ayala deal until hes on the official site but would be as good as we could possibly get. Proper leader, experienced but not too old and a track record of being in good defences at this level. Also, Adarabioyo was good but when Lenihan didnt play, Adarabioyo and Williams lacked leadership. Ayala means that we have 2 leaders back there. Injury prone however, a lack of fitness and of course potentially quarantine team will mean we might have to go with the current centre backs until the international break which is not ideal. Also, if Mowbray doesnt compromise slightly on his principles, we will concede even with Ayala, if it is left just to him and Lenihan to defend with both full backs high up, even having a good CB pairing wont be enough. Ayala isnt going to bring the ball out from the back and he isnt the quickest but ultimately I dont think they are the 2 biggest priorities of a centre back. Him and Pears would also increase our "Middlesborugh quota" that Mowbray needs, especially with Graham, Smallwood, Leutwiler and Downing all going. I just hope we get a left back as soon as possible as Bell is the weak link.

No real clarity from what I can see in how you link 2 people together in a "bubble." The terribly timed price rise is a further stain on Waggotts "legacy." The sooner he leaves our club the better. The ballot thing seems crazy too. Surely limit season tickets at 6k (20%) for the time being. The 17.34 split between a link and a pro rata refund is sensible.

No i know, I was just backing up Ewood Ace regarding his comments on the comparison. Boro have a good academy too although I would probably favour our graduates at this moment. Buckley and Rankin Costello have not really established themself in the starting 11 at any point but hopefully will at some stage and the other 3 are very important to us.

Very true on their academy. They have the likes of Wing, Fry, Spence, Pears, Tavernier all regularly in the first team picture.

No I know but you said the squad was identical, so I was just correcting you on that.

The squad isnt identical, theyve signed 3 players to improve their first team. And ultimately that comparison doesnt factor that Mowbray has had 3 years and 20m pound extra to mould his squad compared to Warnock.

Unforgiving position ? being an ITK, because not all heroes wear capes! Regarding the targets. By all means its about quality, but he under appreciates the games that any signing will miss the longer these deals take to close, especially with quarantine. Need the competence and the urgency to get a left back and a centre back in ASAP. Ayala would be ideal, not fast, not good on the ball and has had injury problems so may need a second CB and we cant play too aggressively high up the pitch with our full backs. No resale value either. But a proper defender and a leader. Im unconvinced we can get a deal done for him however.

Lets not get carried away and give a player with about 40 minutes competitive football under his belt a 5 year contract.

I do regularly see people refer to Mowbray and Waggott as the people who have ensured that our club has "stabilised" and returned to some sense of normality. Mowbray, for all of his flaws, you cant really argue that he has not been positive for our club. Waggott on the other hand, I have yet to see why he warrants the respect he regularly receives.

That is the main issue. For all of those defending every single decision that the club has done, whether people thing it is the right or wrong thing to do by the club, the main thing that is important is whether those fans affected will continue to attend.

Because he is the most vocal with his frustrations and thus seems to be the go to from those defending our lack of ability to get signings through the door, even though it is a recurring theme, especially in defence. What that fails to appreciate is that why, as a club who have lost some key figures and one who was well off our target last year in the end, we are benchmarking our transfer business against the most frustrated manager in the league, we need to make up points and have a better window than our rivals. And also that amidst the public frustration, Warnock has signed 3 first team players to our 1. That being said, theres no doubt that he is as good a manager as you can get at this level.

It isnt, but we are always the club that lags behind most which is the main frustration. We need to improve and our current side is worse than last season, why would we compare to an example of the most frustrated manager in the League. Boro have signed 3 players too so even amidst the frustration he has done a lot more than us.

I dont think we can afford to start Armstrong, if he gets injured I dont see any goals across our front line to be honest. And Lenihan is equally critical in terms of staying fit. I am usually very wary of falling into the trap of underappreciating the cup, I do want to go through but I dont think that we can risk those players. Kaminski Rankin Costello Magloire Wharton Williams Buckley Evans Davenport Dolan Brereton Rothwell Subs: Eastham, Lenihan, Bennett, Chapman, Armstrong, Travis, Holtby

Hes had about 6 cameo appearances of around 20 minutes during his time here. Its not a reasonable amount of game time. In one he set up the winner. Ultimately Dolan was very bright but his main contribution was losing the ball in the lead up to Bournemouths winner. Even in your hypothetical scenario, Dolan wouldnt have directly got us any points, he didnt cross the ball for Evans or Holtby. They had 5 shots on target, 3 he had no chance with, he made one good save and the 5th could barely be considered a shot. Did all he could and the save is reason for praise but nothing too much to really judge overall.

Wheres that from? Guessing assumed from that random tweet? Would be the best possible CB we could get although doesnt have the mobility to cope with the full back on his side playing so far up.

Every player cannot be signed based on re-sale value. You need experience amidst it and we have lost a lot this summer.

The wages are guesses but one thing that is a fact is that Elliott is earning less than Pears at the moment! Im not sure there would be much development either sitting on the bench week in week out. I dont necessarily think that resale value needs to be a priority of a sub keeper, just someone who can come in and be dependable as and when required. In terms of standard though, Pears would probably be as good a number 2 goalkeeper as we could get and I would be content as long as it doesnt hinder us affording competent defenders. Archer isnt very good.

I dont think hes gonna play much at either club so he will be upgrading from sitting in the stand to sitting on the bench, and potentially from playing for the reserves weekly to playing a cup game or 2. Elliotts wage at Newcastle is irrelevant. His current wage is zero. As I said, no point speculating about unknown wage demands. Would be happy enough with Pears but im skeptical about the potential fee in light of our defensive needs and also am confused as to why he would come and find the irony of you lambasting others for going to clubs to sit on the bench yet when its a player coming here you put a positive spin on it to be rather amusing.

Raya to Arsenal may not be true.

With a tough draw there is a good chance that he will have to wait until January.

If it was our goalkeeper leaving to go and sit on the bench of another Championship club, I know that your opinion would be vastly different. Surely Pears would be more desperate to get some game time having had a taste last year. He presumably wont be coming for a big contract here. I think if I was him, I would just run down my contract if the only alternative was to sit on our bench. Mowbray has already said that Kaminski will be first choice. If Pears comes it will be to warm the bench. I would be fine if he came but we have more obvious areas in which to spend any limited funds so as long as that isnt affected.

Not every player needs resale value, he wont develop much sat on the bench and any wage discussion is purely speculative.

Kaminski made one good save and his distribution was ok but I think it is a little premature to describe him as a massive upgrade at this stage, he didnt have overly much to do besides pick the ball out of the net 3 times, none of which were savable.

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/18717677.middlesbrough-reject-blackburns-first-offer-aynsley-pears/ 200k bid was rejected. Seems that he could potentially be third choice at Boro but still dont get why he would come here to still not play.