Huh?

I think there is a formula to be followed in targeting either European or lower league players with great physical attributes and hoping that they can make the step up or thrive at a higher level. It's not dissimilar to what Wenger did at Arsenal for years. There are few known quanitities in the Championship who would excite me at 5 million or above.

I think we are still waiting on Ronaldinho to decide.

I think he was referring to all of the free agents that would be leaving Rovers...

I think Ismael showed enough at the back-end of the season to believe that he has a clear sense of style and structure and the players are relatively bought in. We've lost a couple of important players, but we have still kept the core part of most of our team and can expect some improvement from some of them (I think a season of Toth will be worth a 6-9 point improvement over a season with Pears). I do think we will add some more players and basically end up with a squad that is of a similar quality to last year. I don't think the Championship is particularly strong. Birmingham and Wrexham are better-than-usual promoted sides, but the three sides that are dropping down are weaker than normal. I don't think we will be in the playoffs, but I'd be less surprised by a playoff appearance than I would be by relegation.

I'd be very surprised if we were relegated or even involved in a relegation battle at any stage this season.

So, we've just gone from 8 to 5? One of those is a youth player who we can't expect to feature too heavily. One is an older player who is probably in the squad more for his experience than anything else (and, again, hopefully won't feature too heavily). Even an optimistic view of the non-Travis or Tronstad options would see that we need another central midfielder.

Yeah, I get that and mentioned it in my post. But we need a MUCH larger squad. We need strength in depth in virtually every position, and I will not complain about any signing that is made. Yes, and we dropped out of the playoff places when they got injured. There's a solid chance that they be injured or suspended for a decent percentage of the upcoming season. We need more cover in central midifeld. Who are these 8 that we would consider real first team players? And are you throwing someone like Buckley in? Who is typically played further up the pitch? 'CM' can be a pretty broad category, but I don't think we have many viable options for players who can sit in front of the back four, break up play, turn, and get the ball moving forward.

This messageboard sometimes confuses me. Most of the second half of last season: 'We don't have enough midfield options and injuries to Travis and Tronstad derailed our season' This offseason 'We've already signed one extra CM, I don't understand why we would sign another unless either Travis or Tronstad are leaving.' I have little faith our club to build out a complete squad, but we definitely need more central midfield options and I'd be delighted to see another one signed without anyone else leaving.

I think this is stage 2. 18 months ago we were offering contracts. They were to players we knew would leave or deals that were representative of their true market value, but we were at least holding talks and putting a contract on the table. I believe Broughton on that front. Now we are openly avoiding negotiations. In Travis and Tronstad we have two players who have publicly stated that they would like to stay and that they've yet to hear anything. That's insane. Does their willingness to stay guarantee a deal? No. But it does mean that talks should have been held.

Wharton, although injuries are a slight concern, and that could easily change within 12 months. But, they're being sold for similar prices at a similar point in their careers. We're also talking about two players who were sold/being sold at 19 years old, so there are many unknowns and many possibilities for either one to surpass their current potential or never fulfill it. We could run through lists as long as our arms of players at 19/20 who were expected to be world class and never got close. We could also come up with long lists of players at 19/20 who were never expected to be particularly special and who went on to amazing careers. I'd be very happy with either one.

Yes, and Bellingham signed for Sunderland for a reported 2 million 6 months before Wharton left us. So...what's your point? He's just been promoted to the Premier League, he's the brother of one of the world's most famous current footballers, and he's played twice as many matches for Sunderland (his second club) as Wharton played for us. I don't think his transfer proves the point that you think it does.

His ultimate issue is his lack of pace. His style of play would require him to be significantly quicker if he were to be an impactful player at a higher level. He looks like he should be quick, but he just isn't. Stronger, faster, smarter defenders will have him in their back pocket. He could definitely join a more ambitious club in the Championship and find his way in the Premier League through promotion, or get a taste of European football by going to Rangers or Celtic, but if a Premier League team signs him, they will be making a mistake.

I'm not sure if a comparison to Casemiro this season is all that flattering.

Very strong chance that it will be worse than Danny Batth last year. Decent chance that he will be on par with whatever Danny Batth produces next year.