Rumour - a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth.

All rumours chaddy. Regurgitated by more than one reporter at times, but still rumours. I'll wait until they are shown with a Rovers shirt. You believe what you like.

Same squad. No obvious losses either like we have had with Armstrong etc heading back after their loans. He is but hes good and thats all that matters.

You can back a manager, you can rate him and still occasionally think that he gets things wrong, because he is human. I think Southgate has done all the things you said, used young players, performed better than people expected, taken the fan base with him etc. I also think he was slow in his subs, in particular in midfield, and out thought by the Croatian manager last night. But overall, impressed for sure. If you cant make sensible constructive criticism, whether it be Mowbray or Southgate, 2 managers I am happy with, then it invalidates your stance because it shows that you can only accept the side of the argument that suits you.

He finished above us and above Mowbray with that squad "that isnt great." He is a bit of a prick but hes a good manager with a track record.

How was he right about the Bauer, Chapman and Harrison links? None of them have signed?! Im not convinced he was the one who broke the Davenport story, think it was the guy from Sky Sports, but hes wrong far more than hes right. Agree that we need to see who we sign. Rumours, Nixon ones included, are in the main, rubbish. All we can judge on is deals confirmed either way.

Agree on Boro being up there, wont be pretty but all that matters is results. Villa have no chance, aging squad with Grealish soon to go according to Bruce. Clubs in chaos. Swansea need to push to get back at the first attempt. Projects, whatever you call them, have to really try and get back at the first time of asking. My questions of Forest arent of the manager, hes proven himself with a promotion before. Not 100% of the calibre of the new players, if they are like Neves, Costa, Jota. Boly etc, and they still have some players that arent good enough but I fancy them for the play offs. QPR, not convinced they have the good young players to get them mid table? Plus managers a shocker, have to consider that. Bolton have a diabolical squad, Madines goal spree before he left is what got them over the line, Lowe and Donaldson are poor signings, players unpaid, have to be favourites for the drop.

Think its impossible at this early stage to be making such firm predictions to be honest. Looking at Rovers, the squad weve got now is considerably weaker than last seasons (no Armstrong, Chapman, Payne etc) but we will sign players so its a moot point. If we didnt wed probably go down. But we will. Stoke obviously have a settled defence, an experienced manager, Afobes a good signing and Etebo looks a decent player, bit of a World Cup revelation, they dont have any flair or width once Shaqiri leaves so that needs sorting. They look better than the other 2 relegated teams, Swansea havent done anything bar lose Fabianski and Ki, West Brom seem to have a team of wantaways, you can never be sure how Moore will do, can see the front 2 leaving, big pressure on Burke to step up. The traditional big clubs are a mixed bag, can see Villa struggling badly, Leeds have done nothing to back Bielsa, Forest have done some very interesting work in the transfer market, trying to replicate Wolves, spent big on Carvalho and Grabban will get plenty of goals. Can see them troubling the play offs. Norwich have lost their 2 stars but Marshall, Rhodes, Leitner, Passlack etc represents a mix of proven Championship quality and highly rated foreign players, they might do quite well. Can see QPR struggling with no money and a terrible manager, maybe they will drop to League 1. Also think Bolton will drop, surprised you didnt mention them @chaddyrovers adding Jason Lowe might be the final nail to an abject squad. Ipswich will struggle but their managerial appointment is a shrewd one. Rotherham will struggle, think Wigan can stay up.

My main point was that Nixon is the one talking nonsense. These targets are probably a figment of his imagination. I never said I know Mowbrays thoughts. I actually prefer Armstrong wide so if we signed him and played him there again id be very happy as long as we had a natural winger on the other side. How is that nonsense? An unnamed, unmentioned player? Yeah, most likely, and considering his work there last season, correctly.

Armstrong is not really a winger, another one who "can play there" albeit id potentially say hes actually more effective there. Would love him to sign permanently. Harrison is a striker isnt he? Most importantly, the source is a bad one.

No way should we have changed formation. I do think we looked fresher but couldnt use it to our advantage. Should have used Delph as mentioned for Alli, that would have been my first sub.

No wingers that Mowbray perceives to be starting wingers, so lets hope Nixon is typically wrong.

Gutted. Think its safe to say that the players and manager should be proud and that we didnt expect a semi final. That said, I do think people are going a tiny bit overboard in terms of how much weve overachieved, in that you have to factor in the draw in the way you analyse meeting of expectations, and thats why I feel as gutted as I do, yes we may have had some great individuals in the past but we have a good team now and its as much the strength of your main rivals. The group we had was possibly the easiest in that the 2 weak teams were particularly weak. Then the 3 knockout games, the first opponent were missing their best player and Sweden are really average. Croatia are a step up but even they arent one of the favourites so it is a big opportunity missed even if I am very proud. Southgates perhaps benefitted from previous failures in lowering expectations and although im unconvinced by his decision making during a game some of the things hes done in general have been very impressive indeed so fair play to him. Obviously I dont take for granted beating anyone based on recent tournament failures. Englands run to the semi finals has been a highlight of the best world cup ive seen. On last night, thought Sterlings link up and hold up were terrific, Rashford was a really poor sub. Kane and Alli werent at it either. Maguire and Pickford brilliant again. Always felt Perisic was a threat coming in on to Walker and he was a class above. Experience and intelligence prevailed over energy and enthusiasm.

The point I made which he replied to was about our transfer strategy, which made his staunch defence even more baffling and irrelevant.

I never had any slight digs! Go back, read what I put and try again.

I get your angle, the fans are due some happiness, but whoever goes through deserves to. Hopefully us.

Stop being needlessly defensive of Mowbray when its totally unwarranted. I never said he hasnt done a great job or got people united so please dont portray that I did. Putting this is both inaccurate and irrelevant. I made a point in isolation about buying players for small fees, and how its worked as a strategy thus far. I listed these, and bar Dack the players we bought for fees last season have either turned out to be squad players, or just generally of no use ie Gladwin and Hart. I'm well aware that some of the other signings he made via different means (Smallwood, out of contract or Armstrong, loan) were also successes. My point was that these fees might need to go up a bit and that we need to look at a higher calibre of players than your Gladwins, Samuels and Harts. He was, quite strangely considering he didnt play that much really here, so must have got it for his form at Fleetwood. I dont understand why you even put that, I never said hes rubbish or a bad signing, just that hes a squad player in that I think Mowbray considers Williams to be his number 1 at left back.

In terms of where Mowbray has spent money, however small the fees, id argue there are definitely more misses/unknowns than hits. Gladwin and Hart are definite failures, Samuel may not have been an unmitigated disaster but id suggest wed never make a profit on him, Bell and Downing are squad players. That said, Dack was such a success that if we sold him hed pay for all of them. Whilst the policy of of buying players for lower fees is in general a clever one. We need to make sure we step up in the market, if we are signing League 1 players they need to be the best ones in that league, Dack was proven as that having won player of the season once. The others were low fee gambles and now at least 2 are just drains on the wage bill, however small. Bell, Downing and Samuel, regardless of my personal opinion on the latter can all at least be squad players for us. Lets hope Mowbray is allowed more money, and allowed to buy more in the way of finished product/proven quality.

Not sure hes a football man who prioritises the happiness of the home support, based on decisions hes made thus far.

You do realise that since the first one left, we spent half a season near the bottom of the Championship, then the second left, following which we had a woeful season seeing us slip into League 1. (half way through which the third correctly saw the chance to leave) Last season, one of those players (Hanley) has a Championship medal albeit after playing a minor role, and then was the best player at a solid Championship club last season. Thats better than a spell in League 1. Marshall was a massive player at a team that finished 8th and 3 points away from the play offs while we were in League 1. Rhodes you could argue yes has struggled but hes still won promotion in that time.

Rhodes has won promotion to the Premier League in that time, as did Hanley before going to a solid Championship club and I believe winning player of the year there. Marshall was a key component in a Millwall team that very nearly got into the play offs. We have been relegated (and obviously since promoted) to League 1 in that time. All 3 would get into our team if they were still here. But yeah, nowhere.

My point is more, you mention that the rumours shouldnt be questioned, but why not? People want to know roughly the chances of its accuracy, and especially in a time where you see clear shite posted everywhere, and obviously at a time where Mowbray seemingly is doing a better job of keeping targets under wraps, as you mentioned. Ive never really got the line of people are protecting confidentiality as, for one, why did the person pass on the rumour at all if that was a primary concern, and two, why would it then be passed onto a messageboard. I appreciate your points and am not saying we should stifle all rumours or anything. But you mention the culture you are trying to encourage/discourage; on the flip side, is it right to have a culture whereby people who post rumours cannot be questioned? And the answer of "i cant tell you who told me" will at times rub people up the wrong way because its the equivalent of saying i know something, but im not telling anyone. So in my opinion there has to be a balance and if someone posts a rumour they shouldnt be able to then hide behind a shield, its only fair to be able to ask them.

If its so confidential surely he wouldnt have said anything at all.

Understandbly so. Some people will jump on the back of any transfer gossip however unreliable but most want more than just "ive heard" or "my source tells me" before taking any notice. For example, your mystery source suggested that we wanted McNulty, and a Liverpool winger (cant remember the name) on loan in January. Neither happened. Said it the other day but Peterboroughs chairman is the most unprofessional ever. A dream for those who can try and guess where his players are going based on process of elimination and pass off the information as being "in the know" but it sends out a really bad impression of the way he and by association his club operate.

The source proves that the debate is almost certainly hypothetical and irrelevant, but out of interest, how good is he, how often have you seen him, what would he offer etc?