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If we sell Toth and Alebiosu and Tronstadt and Cantwell and Baradji and Jorgenson we should get one bench warmer from a league in Mogadishu fingers crossed!

Id say McLaughlin is a terrible signing personally. All of the above would be on the bench for most well ran championship clubs.

Looking at the players we have brought in since summer, I've identified 8 where I can't really tell you their absolute, best nailed down position, regardless of whether they are any good at football. Morishita Henriksson Baradji Miller Jorgensen TGH De Neve McLoughlin You could argue Miller has proven himself to be a RCB rather than a RB/RWB because of his inability on the ball, but, we were told he was a RB when he arrived. I also don't know if he'll be any good in a two if we persist with 2 CBs. Mcloughlin has cemented his place as a CB, more through necessity than him being outstanding. The rest, honestly, I couldn't tell you their best position. I don't think VI knows where they should play, I don't think he knows which formation suits them. Every squad needs a bit of versatility, but we just seem to have picked up a load of Jack of all trades, masters of none.

Roy Keane listed Batty as one of his toughest opponents and called him 'nasty'. I'd have Batty down as being hard.

Mobile and athletic - but doesn’t score goals

If you know you are playing 2 up front and need 4 strikers in the summer, and you sign Cadamarteri for around a million as your 4th choice then I think it's worth a punt, young, someone to work with etc. As your main striker signing (considering Jorgensen to be more of a winger) in January when you're in the bottom 3 though? Not so much.

I thought he looked quite useful when he played against us. Mobile and athletic. We won't get it over the line though.

Honestly I'm more concerned by that front 3 than by the lack of keeper.

Ismael said at the weekend that with the injured players back and a new signing we would have 8 bodies extra compared to v Swansea. Seems unlikely that we will get a deal done before then. Cadamarteri is a really underwhelming target.

Aren't Sheff W under administration? Rudy probably trying to trigger someone looking at a spreadsheet to let him go for below market value.

No goalkeeper? I'm off to the bookies with my house deeds

I'm a bit sceptical towards Pululu. Some players look like world beaters in the highlight reels but there might be more to the picture.

Yeah they're playing silly beggars again.

I always thought Ooijer gave off this vibe, I loved him.

0-4 Hull city, Ismaels usual bullshit, it was a decent performance were getting there.

Mick Speight?

I mean, we're well versed in selling players for less than their value due to financial difficulties, so I suppose it was only going to be sooner, rather than later, that we tried to take advantage of someone else.

Nicky Reid, not Stephen? Or maybe Stephen? Maybe my memory is failing me, but I don't remember Batty being hard. How about John McNammee (probably spelt his name incorrectly)

Faz, Keeley, Moran, Batty, Todd, Mokoena. Next rung down would be players like Hendry, Shearer, Newell, Reid, Nelsen. Can't think of many in the venkys era that you would put in that list.

In my time following the club (start of the 90s), I’d probably go with Andy Todd. Not only was he tough as nails but he had the combination of that and being slightly unhinged at times. Enough to frighten his own teammates let alone the opposition! Oh for an Andy Todd in the side today.

Which shady dealings are you referring to? An agent was operating out of Brockhall and was bypassing the board on transfer dealings making sure certain agents profited. This is known through the JW letters and the authorities are aware, but have chosen to ignore it. However the agents fees paid are known. It's not new knowledge. The other dodgy dealings are we paid ridiculously high agents fees and only bought players from he same pot. But I'm not sure that's illegal, just badly run. The past rumours which could be unearthed in due diligence due to a a sale are Venkys didn't fully own the club, they were just a proxy (highly unlikely), match fixing / betting (highly unlikely and wouldn't show in due diligence) and any evidence of money laundering (highly unlikely). The most obvious answer now appears to be they are just plain stupid.

Also baffling that according to Nixon we bid £3m for Smit, yet we're lowballing Cleary and Cadamatari with bids of 750k-1.5m. Something not adding up as per.

Boggles my mind how we'd pay 1 mil on Cadametrri and not 2 on Pululu (or equivalent) Even accounting for wages, the resale and staying in the league must be worth it

Growing up watching Rovers in the 90s, it felt like we always had at least a few players in each team who made you think: “Yeah… I wouldn’t want to mess with them!” Players like Batty come to mind, and of course Shearer, Hendry, and even Newell looked like they could certainly handle themselves. Fast‑forward to the 00s and… well… Andy Todd arrived. A man who seemed to specialise in elbows and the occasional bit of diplomacy delivered via the boot. The famous moment he turned round and kicked Christophe Dugarry up the derrière is still one of those classic memories that feels impossible to forget. We also had players like Bellamy, big Chris Samba, and Admiral Ryan Nelsen - lads who were always up for a scrap on the pitch but gentlemen off it (well, Samba and Nelsen anyway!). You could even say that Robbie Savage would always back up a teammate, even if he wouldn’t quite make the “hardman of Ewood” shortlist. But looking at the most recent Rovers squads… I don’t really see a proper “don’t mess with him” figure anymore. Perhaps football has changed. Maybe that edge gets coached out of them. They all seem nice. Friendly. Media‑trained. Professional. But not exactly the type to put the fear of Ewood into anyone. Am I being fair? Who would you say has that bit of bite in today’s team? I’d love to know who you’ve watched over the years, in particular from those who watched pre-Premier League football. I bet there are some tough players back in the day! Maybe there are some players who may not be the absolute hardman but deserve a mention. The main question is this: Who deserves the crown as the ultimate Hardman of Ewood Park? 🦾