That *was* the January Window

[cesus]

It's ended up a shrug of a transfer window. I hate the transfer window to be honest and the last minute nature of it, I think the money men at the club love the chaos and excuses it brings.

We have added to a woefully under performing defence with numbers but how well they will bed in is anybodies guess.

Midfield is weaker than when we started the window. Topped off by losing our best player. 

We've loaned in a striker for a few months, from what I can gather he will go back if the owners don't sanction the fee in the summer. Reasonable to assume his loan fee is funded by Ennis's exit fee.

Suppose we've got a limp to the end of the season, with a summer of freebies and wondering if the manager is going to quit to look forward to! 

[Miller11]

2 hours ago, Jimmy612 said:

 

What on earth am I reading here

I got into an argument with that one the other day. Absolute simpleton.

[Upside Down]

Just now, Miller11 said:

I got into an argument with that one the other day. Absolute simpleton.

It's best not to waste valuable time on cretins like this.

Just bypass them the same way that all other aspects of reality do.

[Miller11]

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

 

We have some people that follow this club that are on another plane of existence. 

 

Edited February 2 by Upside Down

[philipl]

So we lost our future, gained two OAPs, got someone recognisable as a striker and unless we have another injury crisis with 10 players out, JDT can't use the lines "it is about the players we haven't got" or "we are a very young team" again.

5 loans and 2 six month deals mean GB and the 8 in the recruitment department will have a busy job between now and the end of the summer window.

Going to be weird looking for clips of Sheffield United and Crystal Palace because despite my aversion to both those clubs, that is where my favourite Rovers are...

Edited February 2 by philipl

[philipl]

30 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Do we have a disproportionate amount of fans with learning difficulties or are the majority of football fans totally void of the slightest shred of intelligence? 

I got banned for being far less disrespectful about our fans than this...

[Upside Down]

27 minutes ago, philipl said:

I got banned for being far less disrespectful about our fans than this...

I thought I was being quite complementary actually. 

[Upside Down]

34 minutes ago, philipl said:

I got banned for being far less disrespectful about our fans than this...

I have edited to avoid upsetting the 'snowflakes'

[Dan]

4 hours ago, Silas said:

An abysmal spelling of yesterday. 

In a modern age where technology literally does it for you. 

What’s an alot? 
 

The yesterday spelling reminds of a dingle I used to chat to on a Yahoo! Clubs championship club back in 2001. He used to call me a “Basturd”. (Or maybe it was Basterd)😂 Never heard from after the 5-0 Mini’s v Ferrari’s match 🤔

 

[Ossydave]

So Fleck who's getting on a bit to start with, he's played 89 minutes of football total all season. This is the same guy who collapsed on the pitch the other season too if people remember. Now he's expected to play the way JDT wants to? I bet the manager is delighted.

[roverandout]

4 hours ago, Jimmy612 said:

 

What on earth am I reading here

Lol the typical Facebook twitter mob

[Paul Mani]

Wow!!! I wasn’t expecting that!!
 

So I think the window is tinged by a number of factors:

The ins - Fwiw, I have a feeling that we have recruited well. O’Riorden is very highly thought of and in McFadz, Fleck (A technician who I’ve always liked) and McGuire we now have the necessary experience and our number 1 striker target onboard.

Outs - I’ve no problems with Trav, he needed to go and in hindsight I’m now kinda glad it wasn’t permanent (we will need him as an option at least in the summer). Selling Ennis for £500k is genius but the sale of Adam is desperately sad.

Here lies my biggest concern. I’ve had a strong feeling that there’s been an acceleration in the ‘managed decline’ since the summer. It was happening before, in truth the evidence shows it’s been happening since they turned up. But the last 6 months are giving me massive alarm bells.

In short, I’m now happy that we’ll win enough games to stay up. With a fair wind we’ll finish mid table and potentially flirt with the top 6. But I’m dreading the summer when we potentially lose a third of the squad? The manager? With little or no money to spend.

Theres a bigger picture at play here…ugh

[roverandout]

3 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

Wow!!! I wasn’t expecting that!!
 

So I think the window is tinged by a number of factors:

The ins - Fwiw, I have a feeling that we have recruited well. O’Riorden is very highly thought of and in McFadz, Fleck (A technician who I’ve always liked) and McGuire we now have the necessary experience and our number 1 striker target onboard.

Outs - I’ve no problems with Trav, he needed to go and in hindsight I’m now kinda glad it wasn’t permanent (we will need him as an option at least in the summer). Selling Ennis for £500k is genius but the sale of Adam is desperately sad.

Here lies my biggest concern. I’ve had a strong feeling that there’s been an acceleration in the ‘managed decline’ since the summer. It was happening before, in truth the evidence shows it’s been happening since they turned up. But the last 6 months are giving me massive alarm bells.

In short, I’m now happy that we’ll win enough games to stay up. With a fair wind we’ll finish mid table and potentially flirt with the top 6. But I’m dreading the summer when we potentially lose a third of the squad? The manager? With little or no money to spend.

Theres a bigger picture at play here…ugh

Uh what?

[imy9]

So it’s finally over!

My two pennies for what it’s worth…

1. we clearly couldn’t spend any money this window so all the signings have a kick the can down the road vibe.

2. We should survive but don’t expect much more from this squad.

3. We have added experience to the squad which I am happy about.

4. The owners have decisions to make in the summer. If the money issues are resolved then they have shown that bills will be paid and then perhaps we get to spend 10 million out of the 23 million we will have sitting somewhere. (It’s the hope that kills you!)

5. McGuire- I’m glad we did the right thing and signed him. He also has much needed pace and movement with the ability to finish, I am excited to see him play.

[Ossydave]

Clearly looking at quantity over quality for the window.

Can't wait for Greg to say how delighted he is to get 7 (I think) 'bodies through the door' with that creepy smirk on his face 🤮

I think it sums up how far we've fallen when I'm looking on enviously on the transfer activity at Hull and Ipswich, possibly others but those 2 stand out.

[Paul Mani]

15 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Uh what?

It just all feels off, even for these lot…it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more cuts in the summer. More downgrading.

I hope I’m wrong.

Edited February 2 by Paul Mani

[Ossydave]

6 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

It just all feels off, even for these lot…it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more cuts in the summer. More downgrading.

I hope I’m wrong.

A failing business that's preparing for either a takeover or administration either stops spending completely or cuts right back to the bare minimum. We can only dream its the former. The 'plan' based on those transfers is clearly not one for the future, it's one that gets us through to May (with a bit of luck avoiding relegation).

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

4 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

It just all feels off at the mmrmt. Even for these lot…it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more cuts in the summer. More downgrading.

I hope I’m wrong.

It wouldn't surprise anybody.  It's been their MO for years.  

Another awful window. Still think we'll be looking nervously over our shoulder come April. 

Clear as day that Swag had the Wharton deal lined up to plug costs - where else was his 'next tranche of funding' coming from?

There's nothing to sell in summer so if the court issue isn't addressed, things should get interesting. 

Alternatively, if it is, the usual bollocks about ffp won't be an excuse for a year or two.  I'll not hold my breath. 

[Old Codger]

31 minutes ago, Dan said:

What’s an alot? 
 

The yesterday spelling reminds of a dingle I used to chat to on a Yahoo! Clubs championship club back in 2001. He used to call me a “Basturd”. (Or maybe it was Basterd)😂 Never heard from after the 5-0 Mini’s v Ferrari’s match 🤔

 

Back when Blackburn Rovers was a club to be proud of, a club to be reckoned with, a club to inspire, a club to admire, a club to spark dreams, one of the top teams, a club to make noise, a club for the boys - but now what the hell? An empty cold shell, a club that is broke, a club that's a joke, a club built on loans,  and clips filmed on phones, a desperate boss, forced to accept dross, a long slog ahead, and a fanbase that's dead. Oh Rovers, what's wrong? The Venky's have come, and what's in the past, a new die is cast and everything they touch, boils down to not much, at the end of the day, the bills they may pay, but they've stolen my club, and with that there's the rub, for as others may scoff, Venkys still wont feck off.

A meh window. I hope the Yank messiah comes willing to graft and is able to do the business.

It is, as they say, the hope that kills you.

[matt83]

It’s like going out for a meal. We know we’re not in the market for Michelin star establishments or even a nice gastropub. However, I’d like to think we’re in the market for some edible Wetherspoons fare or a takeaway from a place with a 5 stars hygiene rating. Essentially where we’re at is looking in the bins behind Tesco. 

[matt83]

[roverandout]

37 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

It just all feels off, even for these lot…it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more cuts in the summer. More downgrading.

I hope I’m wrong.

I agree with that part. But did u say top 6? And a good transfer window?

[matt83]

As a transfer window closes I always think are we looking theoretically stronger or weaker now than before. Theoretically, as most folk (myself included) haven’t heard of any the players we sign much less seen them play. A keeper could turn out to be a kaminski or a wahlstead, could have a Chris brown or a Szmodics, etc. Statistically far more likely to be on the shit end of the scale. With what’s come in 2 6 months deals of codgers and iffy loans vs who's left. We are definitely looking weaker. 

[EwoodBobbler]

Wow, the optimism for any signing can emphatically dissipate with a simple scroll through this forum.

So, to recap, on the last day our deals are.... 

Fleck.... Not long ago I'd argue he was a big upgrade on Travis. A guy with bite, who covered the ground and who undeniably had far more goals in his locker. Whether he can still hack it at this level remains to be seen but I'm not writing him off because he is 32. Jury out yet but surely a reason to be quietly optimistic, especially when there is an Adam Wharton sized hole to fill and a manager crying out for more experience.  

On top of this Travis is still our player. If he really is all that then he will be playing for a promotion pushing team and his value will only increase with good performances. He gets the chance to prove why he should play for us or gets us a bigger fee than we would get for him now. Win win. 

On top of this we manage to sign a USA International, certainly one of our top targets, who has scored 15 goals in 37 games at the tender age of 22. Raw prospect but hopefully plenty of growth in him and we get him on a try before you buy basis so if he turns out badly we aren't hugely out of pocket.

Backed this up with a young Liverpool kid who has the physicality to hopefully stop us conceding quite so many soft goals. Admittedly he hasn't had the best loans previously and I am honest enough to admit I have seen nothing of him to form a good basis but there must be a reason he is still at Liverpool.

I rate Ayari. I don't care what happened at Cov. There is a brilliant player there. McFazdean another vastly experienced player that has stood out when playing against him and has the physicality to outmuscle and bully if his legs are still there at 37. O'Riordan was beloved by Crewe fans and hopefully a real steal of a player with plenty of potential and Chrisene looks good when moving forward with the ball. All fairly positive, no? 

I remember years ago reading through the comments on here. They sounded out our decline and several posters were actively praying for relegation and hoping we got beat which I found bizarre. They wanted rid of the woeful manager at the helm, who at the time was Mowbray and called for us to bin the worst player they'd ever seen, that player was JRC. My response must have been quite inflammatory as it was immediately blocked. 

I was similarly angered at the tripe dished out when we signed Szmodics. He doesn't look too bad now does he? 

To my knowledge this is my first post since. I don't know if it will see the light of day either. I certainly expect more to disagree than agree. 

Yes, we have massively cut costs. Yes we aren't run well, (the on/off nature of the McGuire deal was a fiasco) but recruiting the kinds of players JDT asks for whilst not spending vast amounts highlights to me a job well done in the end. 

Our future may well be determined in the Indian courts. Venkys for all of their failings have never shirked putting money in. Hopefully they are allowed to continue to do so and in the summer we can finally begin a Brentford model of reinvestment based on selling players of the calibre of Adam rather than letting them walk for free. 

If this isn't the case then maybe I understand the doom and gloom of some posters but until then I'm fairly content with the job done by Broughton in this window despite him having both of his hands tied behind his back. 

Despite the soft underbelly and the injuries we have suffered this season some of our football has been fantastic to watch and I for one am optimistic if we can keep JDT and offer him better players in the summer then we really could turn around some of the pessimistic followers and look forward to a brighter future.