Ghost of Clough

In 21/22, a £147m wage bill would have been the 18th highest in Europe (ahead of AC Milan) and 10th highest in England. In 20/21, only 8 teams had a higher wage bill than £147m. Less than 10 years ago (14/15) Liverpool were 5th highest with £144m.

It looks like they didn't even name a CF on their bench at the weekend. Their 3rd top CF scorer this season joined York in January. Up until Brown got into the side, they had almost entirely played with 1 upfront. With Brown in there, they've started playing with 2 upfront, so probably see the need for an extra forward as backup.

Warne set the team up wrong, but I don't think it was engineered. I just think Warne is a poor tactician. In the first half, we had two forwards who want to occupy the same same space in the box. In the second half we took one off and put Weston on who is a #10. Weston was able to play his natural game, and there was an extra player helping to create chances - hence Collins scoring two more goals for his hattrick. I firmly believe Brown would have performed better if playing with Weston instead of Collins. Either way, he needed game time in men's football and wasn't going to get the chances he needed in the first team. I remember Ebiowei starting the 21/22 season on fire, averaging a goal a game for the U18s. His youth performances earned his a few sub appearances in the first team, but cost us a valuable point away at Cardiff (?). If Warne was manager, he would have been dropped back intot he U21s, if given a go in the first place. However, Rooney opted to give him a start the following game. He started the restvof the games that season, and was viewed as one of our best players by the end of the season, all because he was given time in the first team.

His first international goal

He wasn't 'mentally' ready for first team football prior to this loan to be fair. It was obvious he had the physicality to cope, and his goal record at youth level showed he had that killer instinct. However, when given his brief chances in the first team, he looked lost. The only way for him to overcome it was from game time, and I think it was reasonable to give him starts in Cup competitions. Unfortunately, he never got those chances. It still took him a few sub apps to get over that mental block when at Gateshead. His first goal was just what he needed to get going. Is it 8 goals and 2 or 3 assists in his last 7 games?

It was the most surprising callup this time around with him only recently stepping up to U21 level seemingly in the absence of Cox (U21 debut in December). I really like Keilen and he has the right mental attitude and comes across in a similar way as Bird. The other defenders in that U19 side: Kian Best - 10 apps for Preston Alfie Dorrington - yet to play men's football, but very highly rated at Spurs. Billy Gee - yet to play men's football. At Chelsea Benjamin Arthur - Signed by Brentford from Peterborough in the summer for around £700k. Lino Sousa - a LB who has made 5 apps on loan at Plymouth this season. I think it's fair to say most current England U19 internationals will be looking for L1/2 football next season. For comparison, I think it's worth noting Cox is in the Wales U19 squad and as I mentioned was above Robinson in the pecking order until his injury. All but 1 of his defensive teammates are still playing U18 football. The exception being Nevett, who is starting most games for Rochdale in the National League. One of them got 20 minutes for Cardiff in the League Cup (when 4-2 down vs Blackburn)

I'm going to assume promotion for this and we'll go with a 3412/3421... Loans for: Evans, Rooney, Fornah, Radcliffe, Weston Extensions for: Forsyth (backup and in-game coaching for U21s), Sibley, Thompson and DRobinson Meaning we retain the following squad: GK: Vickers RCB: Nelson, Nyambe CB: Bradley, Forsyth LCB: Cashin RWB: Ward, Wilson LWB: Sibley, Elder DM: - CM: LThompson, DRobinson RW: - LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor CF: Washington, DBrown In my squad, that would leave gaps at GK(x2), CB, LWB, DM(x2), CM, RW(x2), CF(x2) - 11 signings GK, 1st choice - Chris Walton (free, Ipswich) GK, 3rd choice - John Ruddy (free, Birmingham) May want to go somewhere he will get game time which would rule us out. He's at the age where he should be stepping back, and he wouldn't have to move too far if he were to join us. CB, 1st choice - Sam Stubbs (free, Bradford). A risky option, but he's still only 25, dominant in the air, and a good defender. He is slow so could struggle with stepping up a couple of divisions. Saying that, I thought he played very well in his game against us in the EFL Trophy. LWB, rotation - Sam McCallum (free, Norwich) DM, 1st choice - Ebou Adams (£?). Makes our team click without doing anything fancy. Difficult to say what Cardiff would want for him. DM, 2nd choice - Nohan Kenneh (£?, Hibs). He would often train with the first team at Leeds under Bielsa, so you know the type of player he is. A 21 year old version of Adams. CM, 1st choice - Herbie Kane (free, Barnsley). Would take over from Hourihane as the main set-piece taker. RW, rotation - Tyrhys Dolan (compensation, Blackburn). Versitile, coming through as a winger at Blackburn before moving more central this season. The type of player you need in a squad to give the flexibility between formations depending on opposition and injuries within the squad. RW, rotation - Femi Azeez (compensation, Reading). One of the best wingers in the league, with a high goal contribution output. Will be in high demand, so an unlikely signing. CF, 1st choice - Harry Leonard (loan, Blackburn). A good all-round forward who creates as well as scores. We were apparently close to signing him in January, so I can see us going back in for him in the summer. CF, 2nd choice - John McAtee (loan, Luton). More of a #10, but is another hard worker and one of the more creative CFs in L1. A final squad of: GK: Walton, Vickers, Ruddy RCB: Nelson, Nyambe CB: Stubbs, Bradley, Forsyth LCB: Cashin RWB: Ward, Wilson LWB: McCallum, Sibley, Elder DM: Adams, Kenneh CM: Kane, LThompson, DRobinson RW: Dolan, Azeez LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor CF: Leonard, McAtee, Washington, DBrown

I think it's a bit soon to be putting him in . Still only 17 and has barely had half a season at U21 level. I would give him half of next season to see how he's progressing (maybe the full season) before loaning him out. He'll need to learn how to deal with being bullied by opposition players, something he wouldn't have truly experienced before.

With 6 games to go, we've given the 2nd least amount of league minutes to players currently aged 21 or younger (699 mins), only 221 minutes more than Cambridge. We're over 16,000 minutes down on the side leading the charts (Wigan) and over 9600 minutes behind Peterborough (3rd). We are however 4th for minutes given to academy graduates (7977 mins), mostly thanks to Bird and Cashin being regular starters and Sibley being a rotation option. Out of the promotion hopefuls, Peterborough are closest to us, ranked 6th with 5599 mins.

A similar trajectory to what we had under Clough? 2 seasons in the 29,000s, followed by a 6k drop over the next 3 seasons before picking up again under Mac I.

In colour form (red, orange, yellow), something close to this:

Our total club wage bill dwarfs everyone else's, so I think it's fair to say we aren't getting the most out of our expenditure. I also expect us to have the highest first team wage bill in the league, although it will be close to a couple others (such as Bolton). Top 3 is certainly where we should be IMO.

Bob Hoskins, the deceased actor? Or Sam Hoskins, the 31 year old attacker who has scored more than 3 goals in a League 1 season only twice in his career?

Let's pretend we don't have the highest first team wage bill in the league then? Our first team players are collectively on more than the entire wage bill for at least 18 clubs in this division. Last season, we had a turnover of £20.443m and a SCMP of 42.0%, equating to £8.56m. This figure excludes first teamers such as Knight, Cashin, Sibley, Thompson and Rooney, so the true first team wage bill was higher than this (approx £9.5m?). We're expected to pay out similar (if not more) this season. Based on the latest released accounts, only Charlton (£10.6m in 21/22), Bolton (10.2m in 21/22) and Barnsley (£9.3m in 22/23) had a total wage bill higher than our SCMP figure, and only 2 of them higher than the approximate first team wage bill. This season, Wigan's and Reading's will be lower than these figures, whilst Reading's is anyone's guess. Either way, there won't be more than 5 team with a total wage bill higher than our first team wage bill. Hardly bargain basement in terms of wages.

I always said he just needed a run of games to adjust to men's football by gaining that sense of "belonging" in men's football. The minimum he should be playing next season is L1, and depending on his pre-season, could even be with our first team in the Championship. Is it 9 goals and 2 assists in 14 games now (half of the games were 10 mins off the bench)? He would be exactly the type of signing we should be looking at signing if we fail to go up, so has to be in with a serious shout next season.

Fapetu is a CM

Wilson is better at RW than Ward

Fornah, Wilson and Washington were 'undisclosed'. Further details revealed nothing was paid upfront, but fees will be due upon certain clauses (promotion, sell-on, etc...) John-Jules will have cost a loan fee in the form of a wage contribution. This is the same for all loans, although you typically get charged a lump fee on top at Championship level.

No, academy would be U21 squad and down with all staff and maybe building costs included. U21 players are simply excluded from the SCMP calculation.

Weston would do a job if partnered with Waggy or Collins. If playing with a front 3, he would have to be used on the wing. Potentially starting with Wilson, Waghorn, Blackett-Taylor, then finish with Weston, Collins and Washington

Any player aged under 21 as of Jan 1st prior to the season starting (ie born in 2001 or later for last season). I thought it was only academy graduates, but it seems to include signigs too (such as Rooney). For the current season, Sibley and Cashin are no logner excluded from the SCMP calculation, but Thompson and Rooney still are. The academy costs around £4m a year at the moment.

That £7.3m didn't include: Bielik and all other players out on loan; Knight, Sibley, Cashin and Thompson as they fall into the U21 academy system category; potentially Rooney and Oduroh for the same reason; potentially Loach due to being a part-time coach.

That was because Wildsmith had plenty of time to claim that long ball. His starring position wasn't too far off where it bounced in the box. Instead, he backed off, forcing Cashin to deal woth it instead.

No, because Warne won't use him anyway. Waghorn will start vs Blackpool, with Washington and Collins on the bench. The hope would be to get at least one of them fully fit.