So he says "around 2 million euro" in English thats £1.7 million. I think we could probably round that down to more likely 1.5 mill including add-ons. He'll probably initially cost about 800-900k. Which sounds more like us tbh.

I guess it depends on your definition of bigger. If it is in terms of historic crowds then we are no bigger than the likes of Leicester and Southampton. I've made the point before that those clubs are lucky in the sense that we are surrounded by other clubs whereas they have big areas to draw support from. If it is terms of historic achievement then we are undoubtedly bigger than many of those clubs. But even then if you look at the last 100 years then we are no bigger than Leicester. They have won the League, FA Cup and League cup, and have several FA cup finals - all since 1960. And I object very much to your suggestion that for making these points I'm not a real Rovers fan. I was in our lowest ever league crowd and was at Millwall away in 1979 when there were so few of us it felt like we were outnumbered by the police and stewards! When you compare us to our direct historic competitors - Dingles, Nobbers and Horwich - then we have achieved more than any of them. I'm not arguing that what Rovers have achieved isn't remarkable - in fact I'm arguing that it is more remarkable because of our relative resources compared to some other clubs. I'm not accepting it is as good as it can be. It's merely stating this is where we are at the moment. We all agree that the only way this changes is either a complete change of direction by the Venky's - bloody unlikely going off the last 15 years - or new owners. I remember the gut punch feeling of Palace in 1990 followed by the ecstasy of Wembley in 1992 (possibly the greatest day of my life) and knowing I'd finally see Rovers play top flight football for the first time in my lifetime. I want that feeling back FFS. The point I was trying to make is that people who think we should accept where we are is ok are wrong. We are 'bigger' than many of those clubs historically and would be again with the right owners. But to the outside world, at the moment, the sad fact is we aren't. Palace have finished half way up the top flight and just won the FA Cup. The fact they've historically done fuck all when compared to us probably isn't relevant to prospective new owners unfortunately. You mentioned Bournemouth - it pisses me off to see them where they are - but that is purely down to their owner. We all want the club to move back to where it belongs but for that to happen we have to understand the current perception of us from outside. If we don't then we won't do the right things to change that. What does just saying we are bigger than Brentford do to change that?

I have no idea of the credentials of the person who posted this, but a translation of his post seems to indicate (I think... auto translations can be funny things) that the €2M (Euros not £) would be if/when all clauses are met * obviously assume that the guy knows what he is talking about and that it has translated properly/I have read the translation correctly (the bold part in the translation below is less than clear) Original post & translation below should anyone else want to hazard a guess Sidnei Tavares at Blackburn Rovers… the clock is ticking imminently! Negotiations in the final stages to reach a full agreement between clubs, in a transfer that will be around 2M € with objectives included (exclusive values). The midfielder leaves Moreirense and is expected to travel to England by Sunday to undergo medical examinations and sign a contract.

Can't imagine Tavares is costing us 2 million. A smaller Portuguese club where he played half the games... Sounds more like a cheap pick up.

Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk To Fuck

We're a million times bigger than any of those clubs you mentioned and bigger than a few more that are in the prem at the moment. When folk constantly claim the contrary I am left wondering whether they really are Rovers fans.

Absolutely no way we are spending that money on a midfielder as a bench option. Travis or Tronstad will be out the door.

Not going to be particularly excited about Tavares, will have to wait and see. Started half the games in the Portuguese league which is pretty poor outside the top three. Let's hope he's been brought in to fill in the squad a bit rather than be a starter.

Ah yes the mirror. The greatest source of factual information

It’s partially true for any club outside 7 or 8 post the 1960s. But any Rovers ‘fan’ that meekly accepts this is as good as it can be for BRFC when half the top flight are clubs like Bournemouth and Brentford are no fans at all.

RevidgeBlue, I agree with much of what you say. not all, but much. I haven’t said anything yet… as I prefer to wait until the window closes, as you say about many of our supporters.😅 After all, the club did finish strong at the end of the season, players coming back, Ismail appeared to make good selections, use his bench more wisely, etc. One thing you said, that I 100% agree with- the club will get several loaners just before the season begins. That has not helped us much in the past, and those longer than the loan, Because we cannot afford to purchase them. I am not a fan of this policy, even though we have got some guys in the past like Harvey Elliott, Branthwaite, etc. it is simply not a beneficial strategy to the long-term welfare of the club. it’s merely a stop gap. The other thing I worry about, is the players we’ve sold off, hardly any of that money seems to go back into the club. I believe most people here feel the owners are using that money to pay off their business losses. I don’t know for sure, & they are taking a huge risk in financing a football club, as few clubs make any money & they are entitled to protect their investment… but our academy, as strong as it’s been, simply cannot produce 2 or 3 quality players a year needed to advance the fortunes of the club. Therefore, the only way to improve the club to the goal of promotion is transfers.

Well I'm going to be negative, people are obviously free to disagree and argue the other side of the coin. The penny really dropped for me today with the Forshaw signing as to just how screwed we really are. Despite all the valiant attempts in certain quarters to depict this as the sensible addition of a bit of experience to the squad, in reality all we're probably seeing is the well worn scenario for us of having drawn a blank with our A, B, and C lists and ending up with something approaching the Z list. We didn't even want him a few weeks back, if we'd wanted him that badly we could have secured his services then. Then when the young Belgian lad with a sketchy record in a poor League was signed, it was justified on the basis he had plenty of pace and this supposedly suited the blueprint that VI allegedly wants to follow of high pressing, high intensity football. Next one through the door .....Adam Forshaw. You'd laugh if you didn't want to cry. The only common denominator these two have apart from probably not being good enough for the Championship is that they're also probably extremely cheap in the general scheme of things. At this point I'm sure there'll be the usual chorus of "Let's see who we've signed by the end of the window!" but tbh I don't expect anything to improve significantly. Most Clubs tend to target their key players and get them in first and pad out their squad a bit later. We tend to get one or two squad fillers in on the general understanding that ""Don't worry, they haven't eaten up too much of the budget" and a sort of "jam tomorrow" promise that the key players in the positions we really need will arrive later in the window. Tomorrow rarely arrives and neither do the key players. Instead we usually see a bit more squad filling and window dressing round the edges bolstered by the last minute addition of Premier League loans which again tend to generally centre around who is still available at the last minute rather than whether they can adequately fill the positions where we are in the most need. I've expected the worst the last two or three seasons and imo we've only been kept afloat by happening on 2 exceptionally talented young Head Coaches who we've then managed to drive away. I've also repeatedly said that imo we're only one bad manager away from oblivion. Has to happen at some point without a complete change of approach.

No but I havent made those comments in any way as a slight on either of the players coming in. To improve, we need to build on our core of good Championship players. I know enough about Travis and indeed Tronstad, Brittain, Hyam, Batth and Dolan to know that they are all good Championship players. They are capable of performing right now at a very good level (unlike Forshaw) and also bring lots of Championship minutes. If we replace a number of these like for like with players from abroad who may be talented but are unproven, that would be incredibly risky and also not address our issues with depth. I dont think what I am saying is negative at all.

Since the abolition of the maximum wage isn't some of that at least partially true? But the really fucking annoying thing is that after Jack 'pump-primed' the club to get us in the Premier League, the new owners only had to continue the good work of John Williams for a little longer and then the much increased TV money would have more than offset our relatively lower crowds. We're no different from, in fact still a bigger (at least as big as) club than, Brentford, Palace, Dingles, Southampton, etc. who have managed to become either established in the top flight or at least yo-yo'ing. Instead we got the Venky's clusterfuck who, ironically, managed to destroy any chance of establishing the model they now want to run, by their actions in the first few seasons. Any fan who thinks we should be grateful to the Venky's needs their bloody head examining!

It’s info or knowledge that everyone has. Just look at the wages other clubs pay compared to us, and look at the players we get linked with who turn up elsewhere. Or the number of times it has been reported in the last 3 years that we’ve made an offer to a player and then low-balled them when they arrive to sign their contract. It’s not a mystery.

Strikes me as either a smokescreen to dissipate some of the anger over the Forshaw signing or if there is anything in it, a possible Travis replacement.

Spending £2m on one player doesn't sound like us at all. But 23 years old and has come through Leicesters academy seems like there could be some potential here. IF Trav and Tronstad are tied down to new deals, this is the sort of signing we should be making.

We do if the recruitment team are signing a load of shite. Especially shite we know to be shite beecause we've already seen them at first hand and as a result have previously (correctly) said we didn't want them only a few weeks back.

You don’t know anything about the player to have ‘huge concerns’ about him being a ‘direct replacement’ for anybody. He might be better than Travis.

I think the comfort comes from knowing I’m still suffering watching this fecking charade, just like the rest of you.

he`s gone home,disgusted by rovers cheapskate antics of putting him up in one of jays properties

I am neutral about it in that like with De Neve, I have never seen him play. I will see what comes out in terms of how he is seen at his current club to gauge a brief opinion, but even then its only an initial second hand hunch. I think if we add players like these in theory around a core of proven quality at this level, which we have but just need to keep. Then it (obviously dependant on how good they are) makes sense in theory. If they are direct replacements, then I become very concerned. Like most I imagine.

Back into hibernation after a very brief excursion! Comforting to know he's still around for some reason I can't identify!

Factual tangent, but you do you. Since we’re just improvising here, can I say that the Parkers Arms in Newton-in-Bowland does the best pies I’ve ever eaten.

I was wondering the same thing. I thought you sounded (compared to your usual tone) really quite enthusiastic about this one.