It is certainly understandable that people are frustrated at Dacks dip in performance level these last few months, albeit it coincided with the whole team really. But there seems to have been a somewhat collective writing off of our best player with many concluding that he should be sold. I suspect that it will only be once he leaves that we appreciate how important he is. When hes on form, with his flair, his tricks and his nutmegs he is a joy to watch, but ultimately its his goal contributions that make him so valuable. In a team that for most of the season has been set up very much to the detriment of flair players really, very direct, "defensive wingers" etc he has got 14 league goals and 7 league assists. Rothwell looks a real talent and one who ultimately should have been used far more this season, especially with the 2 and a half forward crap. But ultimately he has 8 league goals in his whole career, and yes he tends to play wide but it would be incredibly presumptious to assume that he could replicate those numbers if he moved inside.

I think that top Championship sides would pay more than 5m, and I think youve underestimated his importance and also the goal and assists tallies which will be difficult to replicate.

How is he not allowed an opinion? Just as hes allowed to give it, people are allowed to disagree with it and give their own opinions. I've no idea where youve got them valuations from, of course they are subjective but you really think you could get Vaulks for less than a million? I'd love Vaulks next to Travis in our midfield but theres not a chance youd get him for less than a million, indeed recent international honours will have caused his valuation to swell furthers. Lolley and Browne are 2 very good players at this level, again youve massively exaggerated how low their values are, and they are at teams performing better than ours, but both have inferior numbers to Dack. Im not doubting that Dacks form in the last 2 or 3 months has been disappointing, but in his first season in the division his numbers stack up against everyone elses, I understand that hes a talent that we can demand for but lets not massively underestimate his worth, or even suggest that his social life has caused his value to fall off a cliff. In our team with 3 of our midfield chosen solely on defensive "ability" up until very recently, with our direct tactics not suiting him either, you cant argue with the numbers even if you are fair in expecting more in general. You say he "has been in the right place at the right time on many occasions" as if its an underwhelming and easy thing to do, its the most important thing expected of an attacker and its a canny skill.

Your opinion is subjective but more than 20 direct goal contributions suggest that he has done something right and is worth more than 5m which buys precious little in the current transfer market. Players far better than Dack perform regularly at the top level without much pace. Im glad you arent in charge.

The problem is, can you see Mowbray ever losing the blinkers he has towards Bennett and not have him as the first name on the team sheet?

5m for an attacking midfielder with 14 goals and 7 assists? Behave.

It is definitely true that they have had a better couple of seasons, promotion and then survival, but the key difference being a league title many are insisting on dismissing for some strange reason. It is however very illogical to suggest that they have had a better season this season. Id also say that we definitely are currently in a more favourable position ahead of next season.

Rodwell can pick a pass from deep and is perfect for the role you suggest, played one defence splitting pass v Bolton that Armstrong ought to have got on the end of. Brereton needs to learn where goals are going to be scored, when our player has the ball wide he very rarely ends up in the box, I understand that heading a ball is not an asset in his game but even if Dack is in there our striker must be in there too.

The problem with the flex issue is that youve given yourself creative license in terms of assuming a particularly low wage to make a mockery of what is a very healthy amount of money. We may not have been able to afford say Bamford or Grabban for example so you would be right there but its definitely fair to suggest that we could have spent it more effectively, without needing to presume and guestimate his wages based on very little evidence.

But the point is that we have committed 7m on a player not able to contribute in the season following his signing that even those defending him have in the main acknowledged that could have been spent elsewhere more efficiently. The fact that it hasnt affected this season is exactly the point people have made. Ultimately, was the team at a stage of its development considering glaring weaknesses elsewhere to splash out the majority of a very healthy budget on a player unable to contribute at all in the short term at all barring a goal after our division for next season has long since been guaranteed? No. Should expectations increase when the manager is given such a fee to spend in the first place? Certainly. Where have you got the impression that Rovers have been castigated in the media and Preston lauded? Thats what I dont understand. Alex Neil has been defensive even in todays media of their current league position, suggesting that expectation was to be higher as they were last season.

When the payment is made is irrelevant and a pedantic attempt at skewing the comparison. Preston havent committed the same amount of money to transfers that weve been able to, nowhere near.

Can we please stop with this nonsensical myth that ANY Rovers fans want him and are willing him to fail. We are talking about a striker who cost 7m and going into game 44 of the season, had yet to score a single goal, and has often to be honest looked out of his depth. Obviously that is partially down to lack of appearances, which then brings us back to a point people often mention and even you have acknowledged, that the 7m could have been much better spent elsewhere. Even you have said that Monday "was the first real taste of what he has to offer" so why does it surprise and seemingly disgust you to see that prior to that, most comments on social media were critical? If he has been a poor signing people are going to say so, it doesnt mean that they are happy, or it doesnt mean that they arent supportive of him, its social media, its for opinions both positive and negative, and its mutually exclusive to supporting him on a match day. Why do you have the arrogance to suggest that others lack the footballing brains to be able to judge a players ability seemingly as well as you can? Please can you point out where these people are saying he played rubbish? He did miss a few chances, one was a sitter, but he played well and got an important goal which he has been from what I have seen both in the ground and since roundly praised. The relief and joy in the ground was tangible when he scored. Im fed up of seeing people trying to take the moral higher ground and ultimately create an atmosphere whereby it is unacceptable to criticise a player even if he plays crap, or if he should have been signed. Social media and forums are the perfect platform to air such views if that is the case. No one has said that he should have replaced Danny Graham either. I think its a reasonable expectation to expect a 7m striker with over 50 Championship appearances, even at his age, to at least provide some competition, and to provide a viable striking alternative to him, which up until Monday, he simply hadnt done so.

That we have a young few players (Lenihan, Nyambe, Travis, Armstrong, Rothwell and of course Dack) that are there to be built around. That any progression is based around Mowbrays ruthlessness, ie his willingness and also his ability (made far more difficult by handing out new deals) to move on senior pros who have given good service but have dropped below the level we need, ie Smallwood, Mulgrew, Bell, Bennett and Conway. Said progression is also based around Mowbrays success in the transfer window. Goalkeeper, centre back, left back and right back the 4 priorities. Central midfielder, striker and perhaps a winger after that if possible. That we are still so, so reliant on Danny Graham. That Jack Rodwell and Elliott Bennett are not defenders.

You keep saying people are thinking Preston have had a "great season" but as @Exiled in Toronto pointed out to you they finished 7th last season. They havent had a great season this year. Also, theres no way that we have similar resources. Preston broke their transfer record in January for Potts from Barnsley if im not mistaken for the first time since signing David Healy. Less than what we paid for Armstrong who they were priced out of signing. They havent had 10m to spend, plus Waggott has stated this season that our wage budget is very competitive whereas Preston are reknown for having a small budget.

Hes been very good lately and is a player id be happy at being in the team next season but talk of bigger clubs circling may be premature. Hes not had a brilliant season by any means and has had further injury problems.

I would agree that even though promotion was still a expectation, it can still also be very much considered an achievement. But minor point, I dont think Prestons season has been described as "amazing" by anyone. They had a horrendous start where they ended a good 10 points below us, theyve been ravaged by injuries and of course recently a dip in form has coincided with their manager being linked away. Theyve been much closer to the play offs in the last 2 seasons.

Varane, Pique, Godin, De Ligt or Ramos no good for you?

Id keep him too but id disagree with that second bit. Poor at centre back.

Think he started the cup game v Newcastle and the league game v Boro, both at home.

Im not writing Buckley off, nor am I unaware that it is very understandable for him to show signs of nerves. I just thought he looked like a fish out of water. I'm sure hes got a bright future but to be honest 2-0 up against a shocking, relegated Bolton is as comfortable a game as he could get and he looked off the pace. Also, I think Butterworths position meant that of course any mistakes are less likely to cause problems, but I just thought he looked miles closer to pushing for a squad place on a more regular basis.

Why 18 months?

Thought it wasnt a great performance nor a great game against a horrendous side, but a comfortable win with plenty of positives. Brereton was much, much better. Superb finish, although missed a couple of other chances including an absolute sitter, but that monkey is hopefully off his back. Also though some of his hold up in general was much better. One thing I would say is he doesnt spend enough time central, he drifts to the sides too often and it can leave us without a pivot, I get that its not his game but when someone has the ball wide he needs to get in between the posts. The three in behind him all played their part in the second goal and obviously Dacks pass for the first was excellent without any of them being at their absolute best, Rothwell I would say was the best of the 3. Thought Rodwell was very impressive, Travis didnt have his best game before getting injured but Rodwell looked so composed, looked more energetic and played one ball in particular that I felt Armstrong didnt put 100% into getting on the end of that split the whole defence. Worth a new deal solely as a midfielder. Lenihan and Williams totally fine again, look good together, Bell I thought first half in particular was very erratic again, not a fan, Nyambe not the most convincing either. Bennett isnt a central midfielder either, some terrible passes when he came on. In terms of the 2 younger lads, Butterworth added urgency, went on a lovely run and in general kept wanting the ball and looked a threat. Buckley sadly I thought looked well off the pace and well out of his depth, his shot summed up his performance really as much as I was to willing him to impress, I feel like hes quite a bit from being a squad regular at the moment.

The problem at that time was that not only could we only offer 10k but we also were unable due to the embargo to pay a fee. The likes of Conway, Marshall, Duffy, Cairney and Gestede all cost small fees, less combined than Breretons.

The reason Brereton courts far more debate than say Dack is because there is no debate to be had about Dack, every single person on this messageboard would agree that hes been superb signing. At this point in time, Brereton has not shown any signs of being a competent striker and as a result, is at this time an undeniably terrible signing.

Rothwell wouldnt be a Rovers player at all if it wasnt for Mowbray so to say hes a good one in spite of Mowbray is a little unfair. That being said, I dont think at this point in time you could judge him as a very good signing simply on account of lack of games and as a result, goals and assists. Travis has much less reason to feel aggrieved about how he has been treated, indeed I have been pleasantly surprised that he has managed to break up the Evans and Smallwood axis on practically a permanent basis since coming into the team at Sheffield United. Deservedly so.