I agree. The impediments in place, don’t prevent them from sending funds, but whether it’s semantics or not, there are impediments and that’s a fact.

I think the club sees this summer as a chance to reduce costs and renew the squad. Players like JRC and Buckley, whilst both being technically very good IMO, just don’t have the physicality to provide what Val is after. He appears to want hard-running players to go along with high-tempo style and it’s already been stated they are after a box-to-box midfielder. Buckley couldn’t be further away from that profile but he’s still a fantastic passer of the ball when he’s on his game. But it’s probably time he moved on. I don’t think Val wants someone shuffling around the centre circle at 4mph! JRC looked really good in CM under JDT, and was making really good runs into the box. He could fit the Box-to-box role easily, cos he’s no slouch when he’s fit and he’s a nasty fucker when he wants to be, as well as being a really intelligent player….but sadly he’s just of glass. If he could stay fit he could be a real asset again. They are both Championship level and should get a club. Not sure how much they’re worth though as I’m guessing they’ve only got a couple of years at most left on their contracts.

Are Rovers the only business to declare a redundancy situation?

Ironically the one given 5 years to secure the asset was the one who almost instantly fell away the most and i personally think there is a connection. It did come under the Mowbray and Venus regime though so not that surprising.

Its really difficult to directly compare managers at international level. Unlike club football where in a league you playe everyone home and away. Luck plays a bigger role, the draw you get makes a huge difference. Sven lost 3 quarter finals but one was against Brazil and also twice on penalties to Portugal. Throw in the likes of Colombia, Sweden, Senegal, Switzerland, Slovakia and Ukraine and he probably would have gone further. This England generation peaked in 2022 and 2024 when we had a foundation of players like Walker, Stones, Shaw etc playing at a good level. Now that has gone, this post Southgate era sees us with a much weaker and more unsettled and imbalanced team not equipped anymore to be at the top level.

If they do appoint Andrew’s I’ll bet any money thst he won’t be there this time next year.

Putting the record to one side the football we played under Southgate was dull, uninspiring and boring.

Apart from giving an Indian govt dept who doesn't want them sending ANY money abroad millions and millions they might never see again, before a rupee has landed at the club itself. I have a grain of understanding the reluctance on that but zero sympathy as it's another self created problem that is dragging the club down....again. Billionaires, huge business, many whizz kid accountants and solicitors you'd expect now after about 4 yrs since they knew this was coming they'd have found a way around it or accepted the untenable situation and sold (or tried) to sell the club. However what advice and information have they had from this end in the SwagHail era ? 'Oh don't worry we have players to sell, costs to cut and then can grow more to sell from the academy under the right head coach.' In other words leave it to us we'll be fine but we really want to cling onto our jobs and gravy train which we know would end as soon as you sold it !

Maybe Black and Red stripes or quarters for the away kit? Probably Yellow version of the 3rd kit

Yes sadly i think Championship level on a consistent basis has always been beyond him and he just had a little purple patch. He was never the most mobile anyway imo but he was a grafter and his engine was ok but that seems to have seized up. I like him but lads like him shouldn't be difficult to replace at this level for not much money and that is how you improve a squad by trading the JRC's and keep your best players. I look fwd to the million quid we'll get for him going on something a bit fresher......

I started watching England around Graham Taylor time in charge. Southgate has been the best England manager in that time frame and apart from Euro 96 under Terry Venables the only manager I actually thought would take us all the way.

Arguing about semantics and the definition of "impediment" really but I'd still maintain in reality there isn't because there's nothing whatsoever to prevent them from complying with those conditions if they WANT to.

Completely false comparison to compare England to Rovers. Other than a very brief period under Jack Walker we haven't had the choice of the best players in the Country to choose from, in fact for most of the time, not even the best players in the Division. So you're not looking at anything like a level playing field. Despite that in my time we've achieved actual success in 1975, 1979, 1992, 1995, 2002 and 2003. Southgate has never achieved any success at senior level as a manager. I suppose he did get Middlesbrough relegated which I presume was very memorable for Boro fans.

I think it's a bit subjective. I've never rated JRC personally. Conversely I wouldn't criticise anyone for giving Buckley a 5 year deal at the time as again he looked like he was going to be the next big thing. I rate Scott Wharton and again wouldn't quibble about him having been given a long term deal at the time. On the other hand at no point would I have been rushing to offer Pears or Pickering new deals, I don't think you can just hand contracts out to everyone carte blanche, you have to assess who's performing best for you and who has the most potential resale value and prioritise accordingly. Mowbray was particularly guilty of handing out contract extensions to those who didn't warrant them.

He was absolutely class under JDT. It's quite amazing how players can flourish under one manager and offer nothing under another.

Why? None of them won anything.

It's supposed to be a 150th anniversary. There should be no sponsorships on the shirt at all.

I love winning things, although being born in 65 I can't remember any wins with England,the closest I've been is obviously under Southgate. Thanks to him, the England set up is ready to compete to actually win a trophy, we now almost expect to get to the very latter stages/finals of competitions. It's set up for Tuchel to succeed. If your only yardstick is winning things, you must have an extremely dim view of virtually every Rovers manager in history.

JRC was at the time too as he was playing superbly. Easy to look back now and say who was a coup and who wasn't. They all needed renewing at the times they were renewed. Some have worked out, some haven't.

Thanks. The only one of those I'd say was a real coup would be Carter's as he looked at the time as though he'd be the next one to leave for big money. His form and fitness have declined somewhat since then though which couldn't have been predicted at the time.

Or it’s just the classic red against blue and white

Pears, Carter, Wharton, Pickering, Buckley & JRC. Also Garrett and Leonard if you want to count them as they would both need a squad place allocating this coming season. Travis signed his extension a few months before he joined.

Well, if they needed signing up because we wanted to sell them on for a profit maybe. How many senior players still here did he sign up for an extension? (Genuine question because I don't know) Buckley and Scott Wharton maybe?

I rather have Southgate's tournament record than Sven or Capello or Hodgson.

As others have said, Andrews would be an insanely bad appointment for Brentford imo. On the other hand I think Frank will do very well at Spurs. Seems a lot more adaptable than Postecoglu was.