He only played about 200 minutes when he was there last time

I remember reading that he’d told the players if they won that midweek game at Bristol City ( the one we actually lost heavily ) the players could have the rest of the week off. Most players would lap that sort of attitude up.

They have just bought in a dutch midfielder for over £10M, have an Irish international, and a fairly highly rated youngster who had a decent spell in league 1 last season who they may think will be able to step up, but they will probably think that they need one more

That's a fair shout, could see it!

Team at a guess will be Toth Alebiosu Atcheson Hyam, Riberio Hedges Travis Tronstad Kargbo Cantwell Ohashi

I see Sam morsey looks like he’s moving from Ipswich - add that to Phillips returning to city and luongo leaving would they revisit a permanent deal for Travis given his contract situation? They seem very light in that area

Never been so apathetic at the start of a new Season at Ewood,possibly more away fans than home for this.

Yes okay but i have my doubts he - or most modern footballers - would behave any differently if we were suddenly well run

Fine him for agreeing with the truth that the club has already been brought into disrepute by the hierarchy?

On Saturday Rovers will play Everton at Ewood in our 'marquee' friendly match. With so much going on in the background it will be interesting to see who plays. Will Brittain carry on his strike, will Travis and Tronstad start and what the centre half pairing will be. Will Pears or Toth be available? For anyone who is interested Everton TV are covering the game live. I haven't seen anywhere that Rovers are yet. https://www.evertonfc.com/live

I think they really need to clarify if this is matchdays only as if it's not, it's a disgrace. I also thought this bit in the email summed up the idiots who work at Rovers, does anyone actually think before they type anything!: Do they not think that those who don't use a smartphone are probably those who are older and/or not tech tech savvy and probably don't use the internet much anyway!? As an example, my 78yo mum does have a smartphone, does use the internet, FB etc yet isn't confident with anything online which involves money or booking things. If she's going anywhere by train she'll always ask me to book it for her. Absolute muppets.

Yes, definitely this. Whatever happens behind the scenes, we don't appear to be 'building a team', but instead are 'assembling a playing staff'. The difference in terms of preparation, outlook, togetherness, awareness of relative strengths (and the ability to play to these), team spirit, coherence and cohesion, compared to a settled side whose core has been unchanged for a couple of seasons and who 'know' how each other play across a wide range of game types and conditions, well that is likely to be a massive gulf, and one that it will be nigh on impossible to bridge. Consider the wet, dark and cold months ahead. How will a bunch of (let's face it) journeyman players, relatively underpaid compared to their opposition and operating in unfamiliar conditions at a level probably higher than they have ever faced before, react when things go against them, as they inevitably will? I'm no expert, and am just a Rovers fan that has seen more or less everything in my 52 years supporting the club, but my feeling is that we are probably heading for consistently underwhelming outcomes on the pitch, accompanied by a growing discontent off it. Not a recipe for a triumphant continuation of form that saw us miss out on the play offs by ten sodding minutes ! Please come back and quote me at various points during the season, regardless of the actual results we chalk up. I would be delighted to be proven wrong, but this approach doesn't fill me with any sense of looking forward to the coming campaign. VENKYS OUT! PASHA GET OUT YOU SNIVELLING ROTBRAIN! RUDY- DO ONE! But, COYB!

Yep the fishing in the relegated Belgium teams is another step down from recruiting the likes of Quashi and Tronstad so the chances of them hitting the ground running are less. It's not always about what abilities they posses as most players have some sort of qualities it's more about how quickly they can adapt. The right attitude, desire and mindset and that takes a bit more scouting time and research than pouring over stats in less demanding leagues. Fingers crossed.

I don't think the board give a shit!

Well, you'd assume simply from a pr point of view the club would want at least 1 decent signing in by the Everton game. The 'board' are looking the incompetents they are as it stands.

Wonder if this Colin will bare his behind too... must be a Colin thing

Understand, however unearthing one gem from an unknown league and supporting them to adapt and fit in to our squad is one thing, we are buying a few players with no championship experience and likely they will be our starter's going forward, high risk and I think we may be doomed

Unfortunately that cunning plan will involve shipping out any proven quality and/or experience we have because of their "unrealistic wage demands", and replacing them with young players from overseas who will cost half the amount. Of course this doesn't necessarily mean that they will be worse, but it is certainly a distinct possibility that they will be. The whole "project", and certainly the "transition", resembles the downgrading that Huddersfield performed a couple of years ago that lead to them being relegated to League 1 where they didn't even manage to finish in the play offs If Rovers are not in trouble this season, then both the coaching and especially recruitment teams will have worked a miracle Transition? "I think you see clearly now on the transfer market, we are in the transition," Ismael explained. "We spoke after the last game in the season, we wanted to keep that stability in the squad to try to extend the players. We made offers but they chose another way. "So now, our strategy is to go into the transition. We didn't expect to have that this summer but now it's time. "We want to reduce of our players, we have a clear profile of player that we want. Young, very athletic, players who are very able to give us that intensity. Technically as well, to give us possibilities with the ball. "At some point, it's ok to say, what shall we do now? Should we be chasing (contracts) or are we going to start with a transition period? "That means new players in, new profiles of players. They need more time to adapt so the fans can enjoy the new players, our new signings. It takes time. "We are choosing to be proactive. We are in a transition period, clearly. We know that until September 1, anything can happen due to the contract situation of some of our players."

It isn't.

Someone with lotsa bling might be all over that, we are going down, oh dear oh dear.

This sudden new narrative about us unexpectedly and unluckily being "in transition" is absolute rubbish. It's always been claimed since VI arrived that the aim was to add more pace and power to the squad so there's nothing new there and RG also said during the car crash interviews that the number of players out of contract was an exciting opportunity to reshape the squad so again the possibility that players might not be extending their stays has been known for some time. Looks like the recruitment/retention of staff hasnt been going as well as expected and they're starting to panic a bit.

Napalm Death - You Suffer

Seriously, all any new owner would have to do initially is get rid of these bullshit charges, and introduce a ‘new era’ ST of £250 all over the ground. Just be the antithesis of Venky Rovers re: actual engagement with fans. The money/investment wouldn’t matter half as much with competent ownership.

It’s a write off statement to say “wait till you’ve seen them in action”, and there are lists of obscure European (and further afield) players we, and others have signed over the years that have been great. That doesn’t mean it’s not a risk btw, I’d agree with that but I still think there’s potential in the approach. Tronstad and Ohashi - both very good recent examples of signings for peanuts. Whilst I’m sure people can say they have different pedigrees, some players just work with managers, systems etc. That Dack (thought it was relevant because he’d mainly played 3rd/4th tier when we signed him) article I read earlier summed up his form for rovers, his love for Mowbray and the way he was paired with Danny Graham played a big part in his (and our) success.

That's how I'm reading it.