Of course, it would never have been a sky high fee in January 2024, nobody said it should’ve been. He was still not a household name at this level, oh and we were a distressed seller with cash flow problems, so how could we have got anymore there and then. Obviously a normal club with billionaire owners wouldn’t have been conducting a fire sale in the first place and would have instead been selling post he had developed further and become the league’s hot prospect on their terms at some time down the line, not the buyers.

Just looking through the booklet that was anonymously printed back in 2016. Nothing changes.

I think physical toughness is a much more important attribute down here (general weakness in our squad for a long time now, as it happens) and there’s more emphasis on “protecting the players” in the top division. It basically nullifies his main weakness and turns it into a potentially exploitable benefit (being physically overwhelmed while shielding the ball to win free kicks in wide positions). He’s got a lot to learn and his pace without the ball is questionable but I can absolutely see him becoming a Premier League player.

We already are with the three idiots running the club so it isn't surprising!

jason roberts,or jigsaw as we used to call him🙂

think you are being very kind to him,for me,he did`nt to anything to suggest he could play at this level let alone the top league,he looks a mirror image of adam moran,lightweight,unwilling to his body into tackles and a typical academy product,i suspect premier league full backs would have an easy afternoon with him ayari always looked a decent player,he never got an extented run to show himself here,was a bit of pointless loan imo,we certainly never got the best out of him

If that ends up being the case it would still be disappointing because with a halfway decent negotiator on our end, it should have been 40+ million. Although as has been pointed out it seemingly doesn't matter anymore anyway.

A lot of people wrote Ayari off here and he’s made 32 appearances in the league this season Brighton. I think ACD has a lot of qualities that will serve him well at Premier League level, he’ll win a lot more fouls up there than he did with us and not be burdened with defensive work as much.

Crucial point miss is that Huijsen has those PL games and played very well.. Wharton only had championship experience.

Putting aside the fact that none of it goes into improving the squad so its all made redundant. He would have to be sold for £120m for us to then earn £35m which is a hell of a presumption. But that wouldnt make it a good deal for us because it still assumes that had we got a better initial deal, that we wouldnt have got a sell on. Say if we had waited and sold him for £30m + 15% sell on and he still went for this wishful £120m. Instead of £20m + (15% x £100m profit) which equals £35m, we would have got £30m + (15%? x £90m) so £44.5m. Im always wary of basing a transfer fee on sell ons anyway. Its contingent, you cant bank on it coming in.

He's done here. Didn't even make the squad for the last 2 games, didn't feature much under Ismael at all really. RG is on record as saying we're looking for a box to box centre midfielder and Ismael is on record as saying he wants to keep Forshaw. Trav and Tronstad are the starting 2, Forshaw comes on to see games out, Montgomery will get more game time this coming season, plus the new CM puts Buckley 6th in line. I'd be very surprised if he's a Rover by the close of the window. Possibility he gets loaned to a League One club for the season but I suspect we'll be hawking him around for about £500k to anyone who'll listen.

Oh how I miss these days, I'd even have Roberts back, as frustrating as he could be.

He has also been capped twice for his country and Is recognised as one of the best young defenders in the country with many top clubs registering an interest. Wharton had only played Championship and hadn't even recieved an under 21 cap.Wharton was never going to be recognised as one of the best young midfielders in the world playing for a championship side.

His technical ability is I would say overrated. Obviously the best part of his otherwise limited game but certainly hasnt been close to Wharton and our current technically most gifted player is Cantwell. Struggles on the ball in tight spaces.

Buckley under contract until 2027, be one of the last out of the door, then it's just up to Val who is the only person contracted any later than that to turn the lights off on his way out.

Didn't BBC want it at 3pm kick off? Wasn't that with care for fans and traditions

Probably adequate for a 2nd/3rd choice midfield backup, and we are assumedly not breaking the bank on him wage-wise. Just a case of whether he's happy to be that far down the pecking order. I don't think Buckley's a bad player - he's just developed into a very average player, with the exception of his passing which can be excellent at times. As an aside, reading the posts on this page I was baffled by the positive comments about JRC until I realised they were from April 2024. Some fall that lad has had.

The Righteous Brothers- ( You’re My) Soul And Inspiration

I deleted " ... oh wait" off the end when I wrote it 🙂

Arguably, the most naturally gifted footballer in our current squad (not saying much) but is it the end of the road for Buckley at Rovers? He has a few years on his contract, I think, without checking, but things have never clicked since the days when he was touted for the Premier League. His best brief spell was probably as a false 9 with Reda Khadra creating space with his pace (the rare days when the team had pace). He also had a handful of end of season games as a CM under Mowbray when he scored a long-range goal or two and looked to be finally cementing his place. At Sheff Wed, on loan, they stuck him out wide and then on the bench, in a desperate team near the bottom of the league. When playing well, he has fantastic passes in his armoury. However, he just hasn't developed (arguably, like other academy graduates, like Scott Wharton or JRC - though, they have injuries as a mitigating factor). For me it's a dilemma whether to keep or move on. Ismael's not a fan, it seems and even Montgomery was moved ahead in the order, it seemed (unless Buckely was injured at the end of the season). For his career, I think a move abroad could do wonders. A less physical league where he can get on the ball might help him. It's a shame, because in natural passing ability, he was/is close to Adam Wharton. Though, lacks in most other areas, perhaps, most importantly, in some aspect of mentality.

You’ve more confidence in them than I have then!

I don’t think we can complain if we end up receiving circa £35 million for him. We certainly can complain about how little (if any) will be reinvested in the squad.

David Soul - Silver Lady

It's appalling the way it's gone. It is now the norm for promoted clubs to have managers or players taken off them. What chance would we have had back in the day if Duff or Dunn were sold before a Premier League ball was kicked, after promotion? It's also notable to compare the top scorers in the second tier back in those days - Louis Saha, Michael Ricketts, Matt Jansen, Lee Hughes, Mikael Forsell and on.