Jarrad Branthwaite

[Shogun]

I remember him spending £20m on Ben Gibson and never using him. I remember him bring back in Keane and him still looking absolutely shite. I remember Coady being shite under him the season before last. Branthwaite is a lot harder to replace than people are making out.

[TheRam]

I remember him spending £20m on Ben Gibson and never using him. I remember him bring back in Keane and him still looking absolutely shite. I remember Coady being shite under him the season before last. Branthwaite is a lot harder to replace than people are making out.

He’s got a very good record with defenders.

I trust him.

Think we can all agree coady was just rubbish no matter who used him and he hardly had much choice.

Same with Keane really. Dyche is the only manager to make him look good.

[AjaxAndy]

Jorrod Bronthwoite

Completely correct if you want to say his name in a Birmingham accent.

[Shogun]

He’s got a very good record with defenders.

I trust him.

Think we can all agree coady was just rubbish no matter who used him and he hardly had much choice.

Same with Keane really. Dyche is the only manager to make him look good.

I'm not arguing with his record with defenders, but I'll be shocked if we can just stick a bog standard CB there and see no fall off from replacing JB who has been one of our most important players this season.

[Audrey Horne]

Baffled that people think we won't see a difference without him.

[Goaljira]

Baffled that people think we won't see a difference without him.

It's not even like he's been a mainstay for years? Surely people can remember what the defence was like last season when Mina didn't play?

If it was as easy as its being made sound, clubs would just spend £20m on a CB and employ Dyche for 1/3 the cost of Branthwaite.

[Gary1878]

He is the main reason for the difference in team performance between last season and the one before that.

There is no doubt players will also be attracted to the club given those back 3 at the club making it a solid platform to play from.

If we sell him, we go back to where we were. That’s not something we can afford to do, and it makes him more valuable to us than any transfer. Better off breaching FFP.

[777Kidnappings]

He is the main reason for the difference in team performance between last season and the one before that.

There is no doubt players will also be attracted to the club given those back 3 at the club making it a solid platform to play from.

If we sell him, we go back to where we were. That’s not something we can afford to do, and it makes him more valuable to us than any transfer. Better off breaching FFP.

He's not going to want to play for us long term. Why would we be better off breaching if we can get the money we want for him?

If we don't need the 75m for debts (which we obviously do in part) then surely we'd be better off selling for big money and getting 3 players in and not breaching

Buy low and sell high. That's what we should be doing but people still want us to make the same mistakes.

[Bob Sacamano]

I think it’s more people being worried about us being worse at the back and potentially still being toothless up front apart from the in-form DCL spells.

Dyche will likely keep the defence sound but we’ve got proof that our current back line is one of the best in the league and kept up in the PL last season.

[AjaxAndy]

Baffled that people think we won't see a difference without him.

He's a solid premier league defender playing in a very well organised and structured defence. I honestly don't think it's that hard to replace him... Not that I don't think he's great, he's a very competent player with a massive ceiling, but we aren't needing to replace his ceiling to be as solid, just replace his current level of ability, and there's loads of players out there with his current standard.

I'd be more worried under previous managers as the system wasn't as conducive to good defending as Dyche's is, but all you need is a decent player who works in the system (most defenders should) and you aren't losing much, other than that potential to be a world beater.

Dyche prioritises defensive solidity over everything else, so the system is very much designed to bring out the best in defenders and make them the best version of what they can be.

Obviously if you get the signing wrong it'd be a huge issue, but I'm pretty confident Dyche will know what he needs and buy the right replacement.

[Bob Sacamano]

No we need to buy high ceiling again or we’ve got two first choice CBs with zero re-sell value. Back at square one.

[TheRam]

We replaced lescott with Distin and improved.

We sold stones and replaced him with Ashley Williams and improved.

It will be about how we spend that money as a whole rather than how we replace one player.

We’re not going to get better than Brathwaite but the way we set up means we can make average defenders look a lot better than they are.

I’m relaxed about it.

[Free Agent]

I get your point but Ashley Williams? Improved?
We only ‘improved’ when he was left out of the side.

[Gary1878]

He's not going to want to play for us long term. Why would we be better off breaching if we can get the money we want for him?

If we don't need the 75m for debts (which we obviously do in part) then surely we'd be better off selling for big money and getting 3 players in and not breaching

Buy low and sell high. That's what we should be doing but people still want us to make the same mistakes.

No, its very unlikely he will be here long term. But selling him this summer will jeopardize our PL survival hopes in a big way, when we finally have a defensive unit that works well. That is worth a lot. We should be concerned about next season in terms of the quality of teams coming up, replacing those v poor teams that went down. It won't be as easy as last year.

Unfortunately, we will need a lot of the money brought in from transfers for cashflow/debt repayment. Add to the fact that Carlisle have some sort of transfer clause, then I don't think we will have much to play with.

Even if we didn't require the funds, buying 3x £20m players is fraught with difficulty as they are higher risk. This is because they still cost a fair amount and they might not make the grade (as we have found out over the last 7 years).

Would you really want Michael Keane and Mason Holgate at the back again? Because I think it would be a likely outcome of selling Branthwaite, especially if you buy a £20m CB that doesn't quite fit in or work out.

Buy low, sell high works with players like Onana who I don't think we will miss as much. Branthwaite is just different. And it's not just him you will miss, its his additive quality to the defensive unit. You take one key component away, and the whole unit becomes weaker. The amount of 1-0s that we had last season were the key to surviving. And it will continue to be the key for Dyche.

[777Kidnappings]

No, its very unlikely he will be here long term. But selling him this summer will jeopardize our PL survival hopes in a big way, when we finally have a defensive unit that works well. That is worth a lot. We should be concerned about next season in terms of the quality of teams coming up, replacing those v poor teams that went down. It won't be as easy as last year.

Unfortunately, we will need a lot of the money brought in from transfers for cashflow/debt repayment. Add to the fact that Carlisle have some sort of transfer clause, then I don't think we will have much to play with.

Even if we didn't require the funds, buying 3x £20m players is fraught with difficulty as they are higher risk. This is because they still cost a fair amount and they might not make the grade (as we have found out over the last 7 years).

Would you really want Michael Keane and Mason Holgate at the back again? Because I think it would be a likely outcome of selling Branthwaite, especially if you buy a £20m CB that doesn't quite fit in or work out.

Buy low, sell high works with players like Onana who I don't think we will miss as much. Branthwaite is just different. And it's not just him you will miss, its his additive quality to the defensive unit. You take one key component away, and the whole unit becomes weaker. The amount of 1-0s that we had last season were the key to surviving. And it will continue to be the key for Dyche.

It doesn't if we invest the 70m plus quite well. Centre half right back and winger... obviously we wouldn't invest 70m because we need the money so he has to be sold anyway.

Also branthwaite probably isn't even the best centre half at the club currently. He's had a great season but he's not irreplaceable