Ambitious

We haven’t played a team outside the top 10 since Rowett took over at Oxford. Five of their seven games under Rowett have been against teams 16th or lower - including Plymouth twice. You also mentioned their defensive improvement, perhaps more to do with the fact the only time they played a side with more goals than us they were beaten 4-0. The fresh start, combined with favourable fixtures have given them a renewed confidence. They have two more games against sides in the bottom 7 coming up then their fixtures get more difficult. They’re committed to giving it ago, think they’ve spent £5m this window alone.

What is a proven championship manager though? All managers are a product of their environment to a certain extent. Realistically, you take any manager who has been in the game long enough, at different clubs, their results will fluctuate massively. Rob Edwards is a great example: got Luton promoted, competed to stay up in the Premier League with a relatively small budget & plummeted them to the bottom five in the championship after relegation. You have two good examples of him overachieving the economic expectation, with another completely falling below the expectation. The team is largely the same, albeit they lost some of their premier league talent. They have a side that should be top six in the Championship. Is he a good manager, a bad manager… is there ever such a thing? Paul Jewell will be remembered fondly as one of (if not THE) best manager of two clubs: Wigan and Bradford. He will be recognised as our worst. We can pose the same question there. Ultimately, for me, recruitment will always be the key. You need good players. Any manager, especially in the modern era, can be successful with good players. The coaching is becoming so standardised that from academy level up to the highest, most elite clubs - it’s roughly the same. It’s why you can have ex-players with limited experience come straight in and do well.

I hope so, obviously, but I’m doubtful. Objectively I’ve felt that he’s struggled at times this season, he can definitely play at this level but he has to play very close to his man and very physical. He is shrewd and knows how to cover up shortcomings and play to his strengths. I don’t think that translates well at the next level, against superior athletes.

This would be an interesting signing: a young defensive midfielder with a big reputation in his country and has been playing relatively consistently for a top 4 Eredivisie side at such an young age. He’s prone to inconsistency, but which 21 year old isn’t and especially at that position. I would assume the fee is going to be substantial (for us) but a sign that we’re willing to invest in intangible assets that we could profiteer from? I hope so.

£10million would be outstanding business, but feel like his value is closer to £4-5million. Brighton are going to see him as a commercial asset they can develop and profit from, I doubt they have £10m in mind. I think any fee we’re likely to receive will be sub-£5m even with add-ons.

He was, but a free transfer who definitely played a role in our promotion gets a free pass. I think if we had paid any money for him, on top of what would’ve likely been a top-end League One, below average Championship salary then absolutely.

By all accounts a poor defender, but a promising defensive midfielder. He might suit a back three as the ball-playing CB, but defensively the universal opinion is that he’s not at it. He’s yet to play a senior level game at CB - only academy level.

True, but that’s just where we are as a club. We’ve had few fall short of their economic value to the club. James Chester, Tawanda Chirewa (depending on outlay) & Nat Phillips are the only three I suspect that our investment fell short of their production.

He struggles enough in League One.

We need better, but wouldn't be surprise. A quick fix replacement. He's not at the level, though.

It's a shame, but at least its happened at a point where we can remedy the situation with a signing. Tomorrow was a bit of a write-off any, but even more so now. We needed to replace Bradley, as it is, so now I could see a permanent CB coming in and a loan.

Either way, it’s his money and club so can do so as he pleases. He did so at a similar point last season and got a promotion out of it.

I'm glad to see we have a chairman that trusts his own judgement and isn't a puppet for the masses, personally.

Rob Edwards was really the beneficiary of excellent scouting/player recruitment prior to him joining Forest Green. Same with Luton. He's clearly done some impressive things in his management career, but peel it back and I think there are some concerns. I also don't think he would come to us when his stock will be enough to get a good Championship move.

As much as we rate Nymabe, he’s only ever played in struggling championship sides and had to join a league one team when he was available on a free.