How can we stop this downward spiral and survive this season?

[ewanrob]

If anyone believes these players are happy with the gameplan they are being forced into playing, then your in denial. This smacks of a downing of tools...sick to death of chasing long punts, playing to narrow, and having no possession...let's just keep it out of our defensive third as long as we can.

[nyclaret]

Take Leeds, Fulham and WBA out of the Championship (I expect at least Leeds and WBA will go up), and I don't think it looks tough at all, to be fair.

The side we have now, with no new investment I think would be more than capable of bouncing back up.

I guess the question would be who we can keep hold of.

Tarkowski and McNeil are the only players I'd be worried about leaving out of the contracted players (IMO).

[jojomk1]

The problem for me is that the current squad are not skilled enough to play to a different game plan
We struggle to hold on to the ball and make decisive passes in all areas
We lack strength/height to win the important midfield battle
We lack pace in all areas of the pitch
This squad was assembled by the manager to play his hoofball style
He can't change and I don't think the current players can
Example - Hendrick as the No 10 is not a bad option (I think he has some ability to play there) but nobody else can get up the pitch to support Wood when the punts into the air start from minute one. And my point is that the punts start from minute one when we have no possession in the middle of the park, or pace down the flanks to move the ball forward on the ground

[Stayingup]

Its perhaps not hard to know why the team that could get in the faces of the top teams and bully lesser ones has become a pushover. They are not getting in faces. They dont have an aggresive captain and Barnes and Tarkowski aside (cant count Bardsley as he plays infrequently) we dont have much physicality or skill.. Opposing teams must dream about playing us. Oh for Marney, Barton Ings and Trippier.

[Blackrod]

It’s all gone stale and is predictable every game. It’s dull and I actually couldn’t be arsed going to the last 2 matches even with a ticket. Garlick either invests in the team which isn’t good enough at all or he gets a new manager who can freshen up ideas with this bunch of players.

[MT03ALG]

Downward spiral to continue in the hope that this also applies to Norwich, Villa, Bournemouth and West Ham = our way to survive !!

[Dark Cloud]

I genuinely don't think the players are unhappy with the "game plan" as they know themselves that they are not capable of playing any other way when it comes to taking on PL opposition. Against Championship opposition they would get more time and the chance to pass it around and play to feet and show their skill, but in the company we're in they simply can't. IMO we're actually playing the only way we sensibly can, but the trouble is it's become all very predictable and extremely "powder puff" and without Arfield, Boyd, Barton, Marney, Ings, Vokes et al, we no longer seem to have the players to do it properly. As I mentioned on another thread, Arfield out, Brady in! I rest my case!

[Colburn_Claret]

We had 3 key players missing yesterday, and still got robbed.
Yes Chelsea were better than us, at the cost of them they should be, but if VAR was used properly we could have been leading at half time. Those 'little' calls change games.
We need players back fit. We need to keep the faith, yesterday first half was an improvement on the last couple of months. It takes one piece of luck, the ball going in off someones arse, and we could go on another run. The first 10 games we played some good football, and created lots of chances, it seems a long time ago, but it isn't
Most of all we need to get behind the players and SD, because without us it just makes the task in hand even harder.

[jojomk1]

Dyche agreed with all VAR decisions yesterday

[Tinribs]

There is only one option and that is to fight our way out.
It shocks me how fans can turn on a manager, but at Burnley of all clubs, I thought a little more sense might prevail.
Who got us here ?
He is restricted by what his employers are prepared to give him , and he has to get on with it.
How anyone can slate him for team selections and substitutions is a joke, he is the one who made all the right moves that enabled us to be playing football in this division in the first place.

So how long does that good credit last?
He’s not beyond criticism,his Tactics are Woeful unless we go 1-0 up.

His substitutions are often too late and mainly reactions to the other teams substitutions.

Baffles me how he persisted with an injured Barnes for 3 weeks when it was plainly obvious he wasn’t right and his performances showed it,he’s now Out injured.

The team that started the second half against United should have started against Villa and everyone in the ground could see that.

For him to Run off down the Tunnel at Chelsea without even acknowledging the Fans who had again travelled in Number to watch absolute rubbish was out of order and childish if social media reports about him having the hump over supporters cheering Vydras introduction are to be believed.

The Club is bigger than Dyche despite where he has brought us,We owe him nothing,other clubs would have fired him after the last relegation.

He continues to draw attention to our budget In interviews which is getting boring Now.He HAS had money which he has wasted and The signing of Joe Hart and Drinkwater were massive errors which have cost the club £100k a week.

Forget the Long term Project we need a short term fix that will keep us in this league.If he isn’t the Man to do this and cannot attract or find players even if it’s just loan deals then he needs to go and we can appoint someone with solutions.

[ElectroClaret]

We had 3 key players missing yesterday, and still got robbed.

We weren't "robbed".

We did well to keep it down to three. We were battered.

[Silkyskills1]

'other clubs would have fired him after the last relegation'

our recent run of results and performances( the first 45 mins. at home to Villa were as bad as I can recall with him in charge and that includes those dreadful home night games in early 2013) have been of the type that get managers sacked. There is certainly no ' feel good' factor at the moment and intransigence and bloody-mindedness are not ingredients required to bring about a turnaround.

[boatshed bill]

Quick answer: Fresh Legs in!

[NickBFC]

Firstly, we need to go back to basics. Organised, solid and ultimately difficult to score against - that we are not, and there lies a big problem. Longer term, but ideally this month (!) we need to upgrade the right back, and bring in a central midfielder who can get up and down the pitch. I think we have a chance with the first, but can't see any players of note coming in. Stay up or not, there's a hell of a rebuild job needed.

[Spijed]

The Club is bigger than Dyche despite where he has brought us,We owe him nothing,other clubs would have fired him after the last relegation.

And the chances of a new manager getting a club promoted at the first time are asking are very rare in football, especially from the Championship.
There is absolutely no way a new manager would have been able to get us promoted.

[atlantalad]

If anyone believes these players are happy with the gameplan they are being forced into playing, then your in denial. This smacks of a downing of tools...sick to death of chasing long punts, playing to narrow, and having no possession...let's just keep it out of our defensive third as long as we can.

Crikey......



Suuussssshhhhhh. . ... mods can you pull this post as it's giving away SD's secret, diverse game plan(s).

[boatshed bill]

And the chances of a new manager getting a club promoted at the first time are asking are very rare in football, especially from the Championship.
There is absolutely no way a new manager would have been able to get us promoted.

not meaning to sound argumentative, but you know this for a fact, then?

[Spijed]

not meaning to sound argumentative, but you know this for a fact, then?

As other examples of clubs doing it are few and far between shows how difficult it is to go straight back up.

[boatshed bill]

As other examples of clubs doing it are few and far between shows how difficult it is to go straight back up.

The only comparison worth making here is: do clubs who keep their manager after relegation from the PL have a greater success rate at immediate promotion than those clubs which change manager?

[warksclaret]

Right now I would be ecstatic for three 0-0 draws. As has been mentioned to become organised and hard to beat again. We have had some cracking displays at Spurs, Old Trafford, Anfield before this year

Maybe time to go 5 at the back, with a centre three of Tarks/Mee/Gibson and Bardsley and Taylor on the flanks.

[tiger76]

We had 3 key players missing yesterday, and still got robbed.
Yes Chelsea were better than us, at the cost of them they should be, but if VAR was used properly we could have been leading at half time. Those 'little' calls change games.
We need players back fit. We need to keep the faith, yesterday first half was an improvement on the last couple of months. It takes one piece of luck, the ball going in off someones arse, and we could go on another run. The first 10 games we played some good football, and created lots of chances, it seems a long time ago, but it isn't
Most of all we need to get behind the players and SD, because without us it just makes the task in hand even harder.

1st half was encouraging yesterday,we were well in the game before Pope's howler for their 2nd,and caused them problems,and looked a threat for once,in fact just before the 2nd goal we were having our best spell of the match,and how Ben Mee didn't score is beyond me.

But once again we gifted the opposition soft goals,Lowton didn't have to dive in for the penalty,and Pope made a rare mistake,if you give any PL team a 2 goal cushion you're going to struggle to get a result,let alone Chelsea on their own patch.

The individual errors are killing us ATM,as virtually every mistake is leading to us conceding,if we can limit those,then we've got more of a chance of getting a foothold in games.

[Dark Cloud]

I've not turned on SD and I can't ever see a time when I will. I still believe he's absolutely the best person for the job, but that doesn't stop me having opinions and airing my views and my feeling right now is that we've been rather complacent for a little too long and it's in danger of biting us hard in the rear end. I'd like to see him push the boat out a bit and sign two, maybe three players who can genuinely go straight into the starting XI and give us some much needed impetus before it gets too late, but as always, I also believe SD knows best. (I think! )

[Tinribs]

We had 3 key players missing yesterday, and still got robbed.
Yes Chelsea were better than us, at the cost of them they should be, but if VAR was used properly we could have been leading at half time. Those 'little' calls change games.
We need players back fit. We need to keep the faith, yesterday first half was an improvement on the last couple of months. It takes one piece of luck, the ball going in off someones arse, and we could go on another run. The first 10 games we played some good football, and created lots of chances, it seems a long time ago, but it isn't
Most of all we need to get behind the players and SD, because without us it just makes the task in hand even harder.

Are you joking?
I was there yesterday and we were awful.offered absolutely nothing except from corners and free kicks.Cant remember us stringing four passes together.

[Colburn_Claret]

Not what I saw first half. Thet dominayed the first 20, but we worked ourcway into it. I still think our goal was onside, the angle they showed it from to judge it eas pathetic, and just leads me to believe it was the only angle that gave a chance that Mee was off. Goals change games, and that and the soft pen changed it. I'm not saying we should have won, just that the performance until the 3rd goal was scored we'd done better than expected with the mia.

[Firthy]

If we go down it will be partly due to SD's stubbornness. Despite two strikers being out he still wouldn't play Vydra before Lennon. Unless our squad remains injury free we won't be able to reverse things because we won't be signing anyone.

[ŽižkovClaret]

433

Back four with Fullbacks given license to roam.
Tight midfield 3 triangle with Cork / New signing / Tarky sitting deep and Hendrick & Westwood in front
Wood or Barnes up top with Mcneill + Vydra/Jay/Lennon buzzing around from either side.

Whats the worst that can happen? We look stale and out of ideas in a 442

[lancastrian]

The problem with Burnley is that apart from McNeill the midfield players are not good enough. They are unable to create chances for the strikers whoever they maybe. Compare that with the chances the Chelsea striker had it must have been four or five. But my main worry is that many of the players are too slow, cannot control the ball and pass it to one of fheir own. Also the Manager's reluctance to make changes either before a match or during the game. Major surgery is required during this transfer period and if there is no money a lot of wheeling and dealing is required.

[BOYSIE31]

And the chances of a new manager getting a club promoted at the first time are asking are very rare in football, especially from the Championship.
There is absolutely no way a new manager would have been able to get us promoted.

Looks like Billic will be doing just that

[houseboy]

Take Leeds, Fulham and WBA out of the Championship (I expect at least Leeds and WBA will go up), and I don't think it looks tough at all, to be fair.

The side we have now, with no new investment I think would be more than capable of bouncing back up.

I guess the question would be who we can keep hold of.

You have apoint but the difficulty is will we have the same squad? I think not. Mee will go and probably Tarks. Mcneil will be poached in all likelihood. Even Wood might go. To be replaced with what? I'm not sure we wouldn't be in deep trouble if we went down.

[houseboy]

The one thing to come out of all this on Saturday is that it is clear that as long as Dyche is the manager there is no future for Vydra at the club. It must be personal. His ability can't seriously be questioned can it with 20 odd goals in his last 'proper' season, albeit in the Championship. We had half our already not brilliant strike force out and he got the last 17 minutes or so on the pitch. I think we have simply forgotten that football is, or should be, about scoring goals. When did we last score anyway?

[ashtonlongsider]

He definitely needs to shuffle the pack, and dare I say it tweak the system. Although I'm going through a period of malaise with our current plight, which lets be frank has been coming for some time, I firmly believe we will survive as we have a squad and experience to cope with the situation.

[burnleymik]

The one thing to come out of all this on Saturday is that it is clear that as long as Dyche is the manager there is no fututre for Vydra at the club. It must be personal. His ability can't seriously be questioned can it with 20 odd goals in his last 'proper' season, albeit in the Championship.

I genuinely don't think it is personal, I just don't think Vydra's style suits the tactics that Dyche has decided to adopt. No point having Vydra up top or as a number 10 in behind the striker when the plan is to hit long, high balls into/around the box.

As for surviving this season, a signing or two would definitely help, but most importantly we have to get back to what we used to do best, not give teams time on the ball and be the hardest working team out there, every remaining match.

[houseboy]

So how long does that good credit last?
He’s not beyond criticism,his Tactics are Woeful unless we go 1-0 up.

His substitutions are often too late and mainly reactions to the other teams substitutions.

Baffles me how he persisted with an injured Barnes for 3 weeks when it was plainly obvious he wasn’t right and his performances showed it,he’s now Out injured.

The team that started the second half against United should have started against Villa and everyone in the ground could see that.

For him to Run off down the Tunnel at Chelsea without even acknowledging the Fans who had again travelled in Number to watch absolute rubbish was out of order and childish if social media reports about him having the hump over supporters cheering Vydras introduction are to be believed.

The Club is bigger than Dyche despite where he has brought us,We owe him nothing,other clubs would have fired him after the last relegation.

He continues to draw attention to our budget In interviews which is getting boring Now.He HAS had money which he has wasted and The signing of Joe Hart and Drinkwater were massive errors which have cost the club £100k a week.

Forget the Long term Project we need a short term fix that will keep us in this league.If he isn’t the Man to do this and cannot attract or find players even if it’s just loan deals then he needs to go and we can appoint someone with solutions.

I agree with a lot of this. With the exception of Joe Hart. He was the right move at the time because our two first choice keepers were injured. However mostly I think you are right. Is it time to at least put some serious pressure on Dyche? Or maybe that 'conversation' has already been had at the club, we don't know. What I do know is that there are a lot of people on here who are, not surprisingly, faithful to Dyche, and I include myself in that to a degree. But no matter who you are you cannot live on past glories. Too many think he is unsackable because of what he has done in the past, but it is in the past. At the moment, in the here and now, he leaves a little to be desired. I have worked for pretty much 30 odd years on performance related pay, in various types of business, and what has always been said in my game is that you are only as good as your last week, or month, no matter how good you might have been in the past it is gone, forgotten. What matters is the here and now and Mr Dyche, though having worked minor miracles at our club in the past, is lacking. Sometimes it is for the best for an individual and a company to part ways because the relationship gets stale, I'm not saying this has happened but something is very, very wrong at the moment.

I don't want to see Dyche leave or be sacked but what I am saying is that whatever people on here think you simply cannot live on past credit forever. If you keep on doing what you are doing you will keep on getting the same results and whatever qualities Dyche has (and they have been many) his stubborness and intransigence are not what is needed right now.

The question is how long does Dyche get before his credit finally runs out? If he turns it around in the next couple of weeks (I'm not holding my breath) all this will be forgotten, but if not (as I think will be the case) just when do the club say 'sorry Sean but I think it is time for a parting of the ways'? Does he stay if we get relegated? If then things are still bad in the Championship do we wait until League One looms large before saying he must go? When does his past glory eventually no longer count?

[yosserhughes]

You have apoint but the difficulty is will we have the same squad? I think not. Mee will go and probably Tarks. Mcneil will be poached in all likelihood. Even Wood might go. To be replaced with what? I'm not sure we wouldn't be in deep trouble if we went down.

Don't forget that Hendrick will need replacing, he's not going to sign a new contract. Best player on the pitch Saturday and still got hooked off while the two in midfield stopped on the pitch.

I hope the Chairman going to get involved and start handing out some bollockings starting from the top ?

[houseboy]

I genuinely don't think it is personal, I just don't think Vydra's style suits the tactics that Dyche has decided to adopt. No point having Vydra up top or as a number 10 in behind the striker when the plan is to hit long, high balls into/around the box.

As for surviving this season, a signing or two would definitely help, but most importantly we have to get back to what we used to do best, not give teams time on the ball and be the hardest working team out there, every remaining match.

You may well be right, who knows. All I know is that Vydra's position at the club is just about as baffling as any player I have ever seen in all my years watching them. If you are right though it begs the question will we ever play decent attractive football in the PL with Dyche in charge? Would we always play the same kind of stuff whatever we have?

[kentonclaret]

Having watched the Bournemouth match yesterday and listened to the comments of the match commentator you got that feeling that many of the issues that bedevil Bournemouth are the same for us also. The commentator remarked that despite Bournemouth as a PL club having conceded over 300 goals (the worst of any club in PL history) and despite the dreadful run of form over the past 11 games, that sacking Howe was unthinkable as he had "too much credit in the bank". Many posters applaud the fact that BFC is being run like a business but sentiment seems to rule when it comes to parting ways with a long established manager no matter how dire the results or the performances.
Failing to add some youthful dynamism and pace to our midfield over the past few windows has come back to bite us in the butt big time. If we do suffer relegation to the Championship a major rebuilding job will be required, which presumably would have to be funded from player sales with McNeil, Wood, Pope, Tarkowski and Mee moving on. That will leave a big hole especially since our entire midfield also needs replacing.
Having retained the faith in the same group of players for so long it must be nigh on impossible for Dyche to find new ways to motivate the group, which may account for why performances and results do not improve and continue on a downward spiral. I am sure the same is true at Bournemouth also. Whatever the manager says the players have heard and seen it all before. Some new additions in the January window might help to freshen things up.

[Mala591]

Assuming we gradually evolve to a 4-3-3 formation we need QUALITY replacements in all the 'New' positions.

Pope
New Tarks Mee Taylor
New New New
New Wood McNeil

We also need eleven u23 players with the realistic potential ability to challenge for each position.

[Blackrod]

You can only flog a dead horse so far. By cementing over cracks in previous windows we are now faced with a gaping hole.

[aggi]

Haha. love the optimism, but the championship looks bloody tough and many of the top teams already have larger wage budgets than we do in the Prem. I worry that if we fall coming back up is not a given, by any means.

That's not really the case, we outspend pretty much all of the Championship clubs on wages by a pretty hefty margin (we probably spend nigh on double what Leeds spend for instance). The only exceptions may be clubs that have just been relegated from the premier league and are carrying a hefty wage bill and looking to go straight back up (which we would be one of).

[Firthy]

You can only flog a dead horse so far. By cementing over cracks in previous windows we are now faced with a gaping hole.

But we have the opportunity in this window to fix that before it's too late. It really will be criminal if we don't invest in this window and end up getting relegated. I don't believe that we don't have the finances to bring in 2/3 championship players like the two from Bristol City that could make all the difference especially with our current injuries.

[aggi]

Personally I'd say the real issue is the lack of first team signings over the past few years. We have too many players who have been playing at the peak of their ability and there is only so long that you can keep that up week in and week out. You can't expect to maintain the same levels of effort and desire year in, year out, when there is little pressure being put on your position.

I think it's probably going to be a case of bumbling through this season and hopefully scraping enough points to stay up but the squad will need a serious overhaul in summer. People have been pointing out for a while that we have an old squad but we haven't really reacted to that.

[burnleymik]

That's not really the case, we outspend pretty much all of the Championship clubs on wages by a pretty hefty margin (we probably spend nigh on double what Leeds spend for instance). The only exceptions may be clubs that have just been relegated from the premier league and are carrying a hefty wage bill and looking to go straight back up (which we would be one of).

Stoke, Swansea, West Brom, Fulham are either higher or very similar and there are others not that far behind. If we drop our budgets would also fall.

[houseboy]

But we have the opportunity in this window to fix that before it's too late. It really will be criminal if we don't invest in this window and end up getting relegated. I don't believe that we don't have the finances to bring in 2/3 championship players like the two from Bristol City that could make all the difference especially with our current injuries.

Maybe I'm being cynical but I've said this before, the board will not invest much at all in players if they think there is the remotest chance we will go down. And at the moment our relegation does not look that remote at all. We desperately need a good deal of investment on the pitch but that investment would only come with continued success, which isn't happening. It's a vicious circle, a self-fullfilling prophesy if you like. If you fail to plan you plan to fail, we have failed to plan too much in past windows and maybe we have reached the tipping point of no return.

I would love to see us invest in players this window but sadly I just cannot see it happening.

[houseboy]

I hate to say this but when you look at our team and think about who may be off if we go down (or even if we don't) we have the very real chance of having a first team squad that is inferior to that of the dreaded ones down the road. That would have been unthinkable a year ago. Lose Hendrick, Tarks, Mee, McNeil, Pope and even Wood and what are we left with? The thought is terrible to say the least.

[aggi]

Stoke, Swansea, West Brom, Fulham are either higher or very similar and there are others not that far behind. If we drop our budgets would also fall.

Unless we cut our wage bill by £25m last year we're considerably higher than Stoke. Swansea haven't released their figures but again I'd be surprised if they were higher than us. Similarly West Brom have done a lot of cost cutting after going down. Fulham are a recently relegated club and will be carrying hefty wages this year, the same as if we go down.

I agree that if we go down it will be tough and our budget won't match up to some of the teams but few match up to our current budget.

[Ric_C]

You also have to factor in that Bournemouth, Villa and Newcastle have massive injury problems.

Personally with Barnes out for the foreseeable, I'd like us to bring in some midfield quality and go to 4-5-1 and rotate Wood and Jay Rod.

Also we desperately need a Right Back. I think Lowton has made errors leading to goals in about the last 5 games he has played.

If I was a betting man, I'd go for Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth. Just get the feeling from Bournemouth that they have too many injuries, and some of their big players are getting itchy feet.

[TVC15]

I hate to say this but when you look at our team and think about who may be off if we go down (or even if we don't) we have the very real chance of having a first team squad that is inferior to that of the dreaded ones down the road. That would have been unthinkable a year ago. Lose Hendrick, Tarks, Mee, McNeil, Pope and even Wood and what are we left with? The thought is terrible to say the least.

Wow...i know there is a lot of pessimism around at the moment but to this has got to be up there with the worst !!

If we do lose the list of players you mention then that conservatively gives us £100m in the bank....to add to the money we already have. I think it would be pretty easy to assemble a team better than Blackburn have got for a fraction of that. Even their most expensive asset is pretty worthless now - after his injury he will hopefully come back even fatter and slower than he was before !!

Things are looking difficult for us at the moment.....but we are not £150m in debt to chicken farmers and losing £20m a year to finish mid table in the Championship - and whilst you do need to be careful what you wish for I'm not sure how we could find ourselves in the position they are on and off the field any time soon.

If / when we go down we are in a far better position than Blackburn were....but it was never going to last forever for us and we have already achieved far more than I ever expected without the sugar daddy Blackburn did as they bought there way to success in a way not too dissimilar to clubs like Chelsea did - its just that the media like to tell it as a bit of a different story with little old northern Jack Walker and little old Blackburn !!

[houseboy]

Wow...i know there is a lot of pessimism around at the moment but to this has got to be up there with the worst !!

If we do lose the list of players you mention then that conservatively gives us £100m in the bank....to add to the money we already have. I think it would be pretty easy to assemble a team better than Blackburn have got for a fraction of that. Even their most expensive asset is pretty worthless now - after his injury he will hopefully come back even fatter and slower than he was before !!

Things are looking difficult for us at the moment.....but we are not £150m in debt to chicken farmers and losing £20m a year to finish mid table in the Championship - and whilst you do need to be careful what you wish for I'm not sure how we could find ourselves in the position they are on and off the field any time soon.

If / when we go down we are in a far better position than Blackburn were....but it was never going to last forever for us and we have already achieved far more than I ever expected without the sugar daddy Blackburn did as they bought there way to success in a way not too dissimilar to clubs like Chelsea did - its just that the media like to tell it as a bit of a different story with little old northern Jack Walker and little old Blackburn !!

Look, I'm not saying we would lose all those players, it's just a potential loss, but if we did and we had all that money in the bank what would happen? The board won't spend now how much less would they spend if they did go and what would we replace them with? Rovers don't have a bad squad and are going reasonably well in the Championship , how well do you think we would do with our squad minus the ones mentioned? It's okay you pointing out Rovers debts and our money in the bank but money in the bank is only any good if you intend to spend it, otherwise it's just figures on a spreadsheet. If, and it's a big if, we did get that money from those players do you seriously think it will all be spent on players? Of course it won't and I think you know that. My comparison with Rovers is an extreme case but all I'm pointing out is that if we lost those players we would be in dire straights even in the Championship, a league Rovers are doing okay in. Of course the board may invest massively with the money we would get but historically we don't have a lot of reason to be optimistic about that do we.

[Firthy]

I'd like to see us get rid of Hart. P-F is adequate back up. Sell Vydra and Wells as they are never going to play for us which will bring in 7-8m and free up 4 wages with Drinkwater gone. Add £20-25m to this and bring in the Bristol pair and a quality player like Bowen, Eze or Watkins. Would give us some much needed pace and creativity and give us a fighting chance of survival. You never know, miracles can happen.

[TVC15]

Look, I'm not saying we would lose all those players, it's just a potential loss, but if we did and we had all that money in the bank what would happen? The board won't spend now how much less would they spend if they did go and what would we replace them with? Rovers don't have a bad squad and are going reasonably well in the Championship , how well do you think we would do with our squad minus the ones mentioned? It's okay you pointing out Rovers debts and our money in the bank but money in the bank is only any good if you intend to spend it, otherwise it's just figures on a spreadsheet. If, and it's a big if, we did get that money from those players do you seriously think it will all be spent on players? Of course it won't and I think you know that. My comparison with Rovers is an extreme case but all I'm pointing out is that if we lost those players we would be in dire straights even in the Championship, a league Rovers are doing okay in. Of course the board may invest massively with the money we would get but historically we don't have a lot of reason to be optimistic about that do we.

You do realise that the current board have spent more on players than all the rest of the boards put together in the history of our club ?
And that our wage bill is the highest in our history by a significant margin ?
You might think that if the board sold all the players you mentioned and received £100m in transfer fees that they would just let it sit in the Bank doing god knows what but that’s 100% not what I believe.
As I said nobody is happy with the current position we find ourselves in but that doesn’t mean it all doom and gloom for ever and a day and that we should start re-writing history.
What good do you think not investing in the team would do the current board of directors ? Do you think they would suddenly start to take money out and paying themselves big dividends when they have not taken a penny out so far ?
Do you think it would increase the value of the club if we had all this money in the bank and a team drifting towards division one ?

None of us can predict the future of the club. But you can look at what they have done in the past and either hope they will continue to act in that way or assume they are going to act in a completely different way - you seem to be opting for the latter.