I think a pre season training camp is the least of our worries and possibly even unnecessary, but what on earth has the fact that a positive test go to do specifically with the fact that they have just gone to Austria? Would have been the case had they stayed too!

Did anyone appreciate the irony of the story posted on the official website this morning, that Lewis Holtby is looking forward to benefiting from a full pre season? We can use the same template of the story for this time next year.

How are people feeling ahead of the current season? Has anyone managed to maintain even a slither of excitement? Just personally totally disillusioned with the whole situation. Of course primarily regarding the pandemic which is out of anyones hands. Maybe part of the season will be watchable in stadiums. Maybe not. Ans if it is, all very sparse. All very diluted. No singing allowed, no atmosphere. No sitting with mates. No last minute winners followed by going mad. No drinks in a packed pub or the concourse. Sitting for hours with a mask on. No away days. No away fans at Ewood. There is a feeling of stagnation with the manager to chuck in for me too. The owners seem to have now totally forgotten about us, even more so than before. Not even a suggestion that we will strengthen. The incredibly high possibility of having a kid on loan in net again. Our assets will inevitably leave in the next 12 months. No communication from the club. No further idea on how we can watch the games. Just for example saw the cup draw. Usually id be hoping for specific games, maybe Harrogate away or similar. As it is, I didnt give a shit. Probably will be the same on fixture release day on Friday. Id usually eagerly anticipate the opening day fixture, weve had some horrible starts in recent years but it doesnt dampen excitement. Losing at Southend, going 3 down at home to Norwich in 25 minutes, last years frustration at home to Charlton. And then theres looking out for specific away days, Preston and the day out there. Im just interested to know if I am the exception and if people are out there desperately counting down the days until the new season.

Bailey Wright went to Sunderland a week or two ago. https://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/10-free-agents-canaries-could-target-this-summer-1-6780794 3 of the players you mention are on this list. On a list of suggestions for Norwich. Plus one or two others that may be of interest. We shouldnt look at strikers until we have fixed the defence and goalkeeping area. With money no doubt tight and it not being a priority. No doubt we will end up with a kid on loan in net.

Why Vorm? He is soon to be 37 and has played 13 League games in 6 years.

Get the feeling that there is absolutely nothing happening at all the club. I know Rich Sharpe struggles for scoops at the best of time but Ive regularly seen him suggest that he "is hoping to hear from Mowbray and/or Waggott in the next few days" for a few weeks now.

Good point. Was he at training today? Total silence.

https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/news/2020/august/flexi-season-tickets-blues-break-4000-barrier/ Here is how it is done.

Bolton have put their season tickets on sale today.

He has only been capped 3 times, and there are players currently in the squad such as Judge, Whelan, Byrne, O'Brien etc playing at a lower standard even than Williams. Obviously I know that there are some decent players like Egan, Doherty etc but beneath that its not the biggest of talent pools so opportunity is there for players playing at the level of a lower Championship standard or even below to get a couple of caps. Obviously they have had some excellent players in the last 30 years but the likes of Roy Keane, Robbie Keane, Duff and Given arent about at this stage.

Evans I would definitely agree with. We statistically pick up more points with him next to Travis than anyone else. Possibly a victim of his injury ravaged, disappointing Rovers career prior, with the ability to recover for international games rubbing salt into the wound. Bell, I am not sure when this improvement happened. He had a decent game v Bristol City if I recall but it is very much an exception to the rule. Defensively really flimsy, constantly allows crosses to come in and offers nothing from an creative point of view as he should. Cunningham came in for 7 games as a quality left back and we really saw how far away Bell is. Also, being a Republic of Ireland international is hardly a huge achievement. He is a lower half Championship/top League 1 player who obviously shouldnt be near the team if we want to be near the play offs. That back 4 is the exact same defence that conceded 63 goals last season, minus Adarabioyo. Relegation is perhaps an exaggeration, although factor in the total rookie of a goalkeeper that those who have suggested that have factored in, and it is hard not to fear the worse. Mowbray is a much more complicated one. He has been here for 3 and a half years and is the longest serving manager in the league unless Ainsworth has overtaken him so especially considering a repeated failure to address weaker areas of our side, and a few tactical changes made that didnt really work, people are going to question his ability to take us forward. It is not like he has only just arrived.

Not sure. Definite upgradre on the useless Bell so would have played here. My point was that the onus is now on Mowbray to find better from somewhere across Europe than a standard Championship LB like Fox. Most transfer links are bollocks. Par for the course in the off season. Often lazy links, maybe an agent fuelled to try and get their client a club, an assumption that a player will go to a former team/manager, something totally made up, who people want to see signed etc, either way most of the players we have been linked with will have never been under consideration. Was that ever confirmed or just speculation? What makes you say it could be a smart move? He made quite a number of mistakes at Stoke and at Barnsley in League 1 it was Pinnock who took all of the praise. Maybe be could build a solid partnership with Lenihan but I suspect with his lack of pace, he would need to be protected by a change of tact in terms of the way Mowbray sets us up.

?

Most transfer links end up being false. We will see how much we spend. And yes, basically every left back in the league is better than Bell.

As has been pointed out, people are concerned because Venkys "way of working" ALWAYS means that we are behind everyone else. In regards to signings that have gone elsewhere, Morgan Fox, George Friend and Tyler Blackett are all better than any of the left backs we have, Chey Dunkley, James Chester and Grant Hall would all currently get into our team next to Lenihan, Kieffer Moore, Lyle Taylor and Steven Fletcher would all be better than Gallagher and Brereton, Ryan Woods and Jack Colback would be useful in midfield and Kieran Sadlier looks a decent winger which is something we lack. The vast majority of them players, we can definitely do better than and I dont think any scream out as outstanding but working in a tight economic climate, the challenge is now on to see if Mowbray can get any better. Before the season starts surely. No good signing players after that otherwise we are already potentially at a disadvantage.

Suspect that Hofmann will be at another club in a different country within 48 hours as Iversen was last week. We dont need a striker and a target man would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

In the 7 games that he was here and played, we picked up 13 points and only conceded 7 goals. I thought aside from a mistake at West Brom, he was excellent.

Common consensus from what ive seen is that Pinnock was very much the better player in that partnership. If we do anything about this supposed interest, I hope it is at least a permanent deal and we try and make a partnership with Lenihan. And play full backs both so high up leaving him isolated. Although I think we will need a right footed CB either way.

It is a strange situation we are in because our first choice CB is right footed and the 2 back up options with senior experience are Wharton and Williams. If we was to get another left footer then it would potentially add balance alongside Lenihan but it would mean that should he get injured as he often does, we need to play 2 left footers which Mowbray doesnt like.

Just had a quick look and it seems that the common consensus was that Pinnock was very much the asset in his partnership with Lindsay and indeed Lindsay has made numerous mistakes for Stoke hence falling down the pecking order. Also a slow defender so wouldnt suit us playing a higher line. http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/liam-lindsay.284603/ https://mobile.twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/1186727088373583873?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1186727088373583873|twgr^&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html1186727088373583873 A mistake he made last season.

We collect a very healthy level of points with those 2. Plus we concede plenty of goals so the more protection and stability that we can give back there, the better. Its the same when we play 2 "attacking" full backs who not only provide very little creativity but leave big holes. But after the window had closed, you was quick to mock those who had suggested that Stoke had done some good business. Lindsay didnt impress for Stoke, I had a quick look and their fans dont seem too fond of him. If our European scouting network can not find anything better than a player we were linked with last year and who has struggled to perform at Championship level, currently 5th or 6th choice at a team who conceder more goals and finished lower than us. Surely you understand the scepticism? It would be impossible to muster up any enthusiasm if we loaned him too. That being said, it seems we havent even bid for him. That being said, we need more than just a couple of new signings back there, especially when any CB is unlikely to be as good as Adarabioyo. We need to become more well organised and solid as a team. As I said above, having 2 attacking full backs is no use when we are conceding so many goals and especially as we rarely if ever have goals created from those areas.

Not even at the stage of testing the waters with a bid.

I wonder if its as accurate as the Iversen one last week!

You could say that about anyone. But it does bring me on to a different point you made. One of your main reasons for keeping Mowbray was because he held the key to our European scouting network. Since then, we have been tediously linked with players such as Pears, (his dad is Mowbrays former team mate at Boro) Iversen/Muric (kids on loan from English clubs like Walton was) and Souttar/Lindsay (players well down the pecking order at a club who finished further down with more goals conceded than us) and you have as far as I know, unsure on Pears, but seemed to endorse them all? Surely we should be raiding Europe for some unheralded gems to justify the point you made? Last year I am sure that you were very dismissive when people said that theyd have liked Lindsay here on the back of a League 1 season where he impressed. Now he has struggled to make the step up, how a year later is he suddenly a totally different proposition? Styles of defender, dear me. The best defenders help to stop the ball going into our net. If we signed him permanently, unsure but maybe. A loan of Stokes reserve CB would really be unambitious.