Before the dawn the darkest hour.

So Lorient want £5m and Rovers are looking to discuss a compromise... Magic beans again?

So the total opposite!

Same formation, but a different approach. Clearly want one of the DMs to be a box-to-box CM. Wants to press high up the pitch rather than employing a low block.

😂😂😂

Eustace (kind of) did get this backing. JDT was the unlucky loser when it came to real investment in the squad. I've seen a fair bit of Soumane, he could probably best be described as a more complete version of Gueye. He's fast, but not rapid. Good hold-up play, but you can't exactly run your attacking play through him. Decent finisher.

Rarely nowadays. I keep trying to walk away but your club is still yours even if you've almost fallen out of love with it.

‘Huge promotion payment’. Surely Lorient wouldn’t fall for that one.

14 goals 14 assists last season. And the player himself has said he prefers to play in attack .

Not according to this chap (Tweet as of yesterday). Think Nixon is pulling that figure out of thin air. More our price range:

Because they aren't french

made 53 appearances in 4 years at Lorient beyond which he's been loaned out to 3 clubs I've never heard of. Ambitious? £5 million? Really?

Exactly this. His Pep-ball reputation sees him get further than he should do. He finished 19th and 13th in league one with MK Dons. He took over a Swansea side that had finished In the play offs twice and led them to 15th and 10th. Somehow he got the Southampton job. Despite the parachute payments he finished 4th but won the Russian Roulette of the play-offs. In the Premier League they got 12 points, losing 30 out of 38 games. On what grounds did the Rangers board think he was a good appointment? If he turned up here I’d be furious with that record. Absolute Charlatan.

Celtic are looking at him, £5M this one isn’t ever happening.. if so why didn’t JDT or Eustace never get this backing?

Football insider where linking Celtic with a move for him earlier

From the fevered passion of Legia's legendary Ultras to the quiet grumbling of Ewood Park. Welcome lad!

Nixon just link us with this striker. Said we were in France watching him this weekend this

Anyone heard anything about this chap?

Common, I can't be the first - Ryoya of the Rovers.

The direct comparison stuff is a little odd. Truth is we’ve completely changed tact. The profile of player we want is like chalk and cheese to what we had.

He’ll be our new centre back then.

Welcome Ryoya! 🇯🇵

I do think our long run of an academy player in squad may end this season. Only hope is fact we have 9 subs these days.

I don’t abuse him, good luck to him in his career - I just use him as a neat symbol of the Pep-isation of the game and how football is all the poorer for it.