2025 Summer Transfer Thread. 😂

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, Theaxe15 said:

Can only get one of Baradji or Miyoshi

Not necessarily. If the thing about him not being eligible because he came off the bench for Bochum is true (I'm sceptical) Miyoshi would still be one we can launch an appeal for. As I've mentioned before, I suspect we would have strong grounds on the following bases: would have qualified comfortably with 19 points a week or so ago and is the same player now, Japanese international in his prime, has experience as a regular in the Bundesliga and Championship, and if he hadn't left Birmingham upon their relegation just over a year ago they would have been able to easily get him a full exemption from needing an ESC slot.

Given that even with the reduced points he still has, if I remember rightly, 13 of the required 15 to automatically qualify, I'd be surprised if an appeal wasn't successful.

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, Angry_Pirate said:

So we released a statement:

"The club limited media questions at today’s pre-match press conference on matters relating to individual players."

During the same press conference:

Tbf there is a difference between 'limiting' questions about individual players, and banning them. The club also said the reason they wanted to do this was to focus on the match, which player availability for definitely related to. And it's not clear from this quote whether he was answering a question or voluntarily providing information.

None of this is to say I don't think the decision to refuse to answer questions about Travis and contracts is acceptable, I certainly don't. Just saying they haven't technically gone against their own statement.

[bigbrandjohn]

5 hours ago, TugaysMarlboro said:

I used to, I don't love what it currently is.

If I've read the minutes right, the wife's told me she'd rather let me lapse and get someone younger instead.

And cheaper. Preferably from Belgium as they have more potential. 

[Trinidad Rover]

Another happy day in this storied ownership. I’m moving past the phase of anger to just utter apathy - the lack of professionalism at the club is embarrassing. I’d be appalled to be associated with it.

They treat us like fools and underlings. If only they knew the passion, knowledge and talent in this fan base. Ignorance and arrogance born out of silver spoons and misplaced authority.

It really is, above all else, sad. 

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Atko's Engine]

20 hours ago, Lancaster Rover said:

I can understand the standpoint of contracts for players over 30 however there needs to be some consideration to games played at the level of(or comparable). We have an average age of 26.5, which is right in the middle of the champ average squad age. 25 years olds who've played a lot of games are great, however I'd prefer a 32 year old with 400 games over a 21 year old with 20 when considering the nature of the championship. I'm sure Gestede, etc will point to data, ceilings, etc but the one thing with football data is good analysts also use context and most importantly their eyes. 

I listened to an excellent podcast last week with the Head of Recruitment at Coventry, Dean Austin. He was highlighting the importance of context and using what you see in front of you with data playing a supporting role. He gave an anecdote of a player from overseas Coventry were all in on, so much so he went over to do a physical scouting exercise. The data on the player was all there, ticked every box. Going over was seen as merely due diligence and confirmation on what was going to be a big outlay. He watched 2 games and 2 training sessions and went from being all in to all out. Because no matter what the data was telling him, his eyes saw something different. And herein lies the problem with Gestede, Suhail et al they seem to be working purely on data and looking for a certain profile of player (i.e. age, height, running stats, recoveries, etc) and not taking into account contextual factors. 

 

Great input overall, but I'm not sure that last point is entirely correct. Tavares appears to be quite a shrewd signing from what most have said; likewise Miller, who not only looks to have all boxes ticked as a footballer for his position but also seems a great character for team morale. Henrikksen too seems to be competitive, have a good eye & seems an amiable chap.

Ohashi & Gueye likewise. In fact I think most of the incomings seem of the right character in context; are they Championship quality skills wise though? Time will tell, but Gestede is only being given peanuts to spend by the owners & Pasha so there is more risk than there should be given the money received in player sales recently.

 

[Hasta]

9 minutes ago, Atko's Engine said:

but Gestede is only being given peanuts to spend by the owners & Pasha so there is more risk than there should be given the money received in player sales recently.

So don’t come out, smile and say it’s going to be an exciting summer. Gestede knows the game, and they’ve removed GB and employed Gestede to make sure they have a patsy to implement it. He’s not going to rock the boat and try and negotiate more funds for the players like I suspect previous people may have done, so in my mind he’s complicit. The jury is out on VI on this point.

Edited 2 hours ago by Hasta

[Ossydave]

11 hours ago, rovers11 said:

Am I the only one who couldn't care less that questions were limited today. I actually agree with the club on this one that the focus should be on the game tomorrow and the questions about Trav and others can wait until after the game.

We all know the situation with Travis anyway and the other out of contract players. VI only gave an update 3 days ago! And quite frankly those questions are boring for everyone at this point.

The club is broken, we all know that, but we have much bigger problems than questions about Travis being banned for one press conference.

Whilst I kind of agree with you, the pre match presser should indeed to be to talk about the game. 

BUT VI is a big boy, he is more than capable of saying "come on chaps lets focus on the game here with the questions". There's no need for a gagging order unless they're scared of the answers, it's as simple as that. 

[yankfan]

22 hours ago, DutchRover said:

Henriksson self-describes as an 8, so might see him and Tavares as the midfield duo once Trav and Tronstad are shipped off.

God help us with Forshaw and Montgomery as the only other options.

Was the plan weeks ago. Anyone thinking we brought in depth is dreaming 

[Emerald Isle Rover]

18 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Whilst I kind of agree with you, the pre match presser should indeed to be to talk about the game. 

BUT VI is a big boy, he is more than capable of saying "come on chaps lets focus on the game here with the questions". There's no need for a gagging order unless they're scared of the answers, it's as simple as that. 

Talking about Travis and the game goes hand in hand. He was captain and started for us in our first league match so as fans we should be made aware if he’s available for selection 

[MarkBRFC]

5 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Not necessarily. If the thing about him not being eligible because he came off the bench for Bochum is true (I'm sceptical) Miyoshi would still be one we can launch an appeal for. As I've mentioned before, I suspect we would have strong grounds on the following bases: would have qualified comfortably with 19 points a week or so ago and is the same player now, Japanese international in his prime, has experience as a regular in the Bundesliga and Championship, and if he hadn't left Birmingham upon their relegation just over a year ago they would have been able to easily get him a full exemption from needing an ESC slot.

Given that even with the reduced points he still has, if I remember rightly, 13 of the required 15 to automatically qualify, I'd be surprised if an appeal wasn't successful.

Far to much hassle for them all that

[wilsdenrover]

8 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I know who is on the board and on the companies house website. 

Sreenivasa Rao was at Tuesday's game. Could it be him? 

Elliott Jackson says Rovers board.

Question for people who know much more then myself about this sort of thing than a novice like me. Can other people can been on that board without be director of the company? 

Do Rovers have a football board made up of 4 or 5 officials from key positions at the club? 

Rovers’ directors ‘as seen by’ the EFL:

 

https://www.efl.com/governance/owners-and-directors-test-public-register-of-directors/

Edited 1 hour ago by wilsdenrover

[Ossydave]

32 minutes ago, Emerald Isle Rover said:

Talking about Travis and the game goes hand in hand. He was captain and started for us in our first league match so as fans we should be made aware if he’s available for selection 

I know.

They are shit scared of probing Travis questions though and it's blindingly obvious, hence the gagging order.

[Waggy76]

14 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Rovers’ directors ‘as seen by’ the EFL:

 

https://www.efl.com/governance/owners-and-directors-test-public-register-of-directors/

Robert Coar !

[wilsdenrover]

5 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Not necessarily. If the thing about him not being eligible because he came off the bench for Bochum is true (I'm sceptical) Miyoshi would still be one we can launch an appeal for. As I've mentioned before, I suspect we would have strong grounds on the following bases: would have qualified comfortably with 19 points a week or so ago and is the same player now, Japanese international in his prime, has experience as a regular in the Bundesliga and Championship, and if he hadn't left Birmingham upon their relegation just over a year ago they would have been able to easily get him a full exemption from needing an ESC slot.

Given that even with the reduced points he still has, if I remember rightly, 13 of the required 15 to automatically qualify, I'd be surprised if an appeal wasn't successful.

I don’t think he qualifies now but not because he played last week.

Having taken another look at the regs I’m even more certain of that:

His current club is now in a lower band - the fact his last match (if he hadn’t played) would’ve been in a higher band doesn’t change the one his club are now in.

I could be wrong - where I’m definitely right is with thinking things would be far simpler if the regulations made absolutely clear when the change of league quality takes place (re relegation/promotion).

In terms of the exceptions panel, whether they’d agree that relegation counts as an ‘exceptional circumstance’ is anyone’s guess.

Edited 1 hour ago by wilsdenrover

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, yankfan said:

Was the plan weeks ago. Anyone thinking we brought in depth is dreaming 

There is no plan. Apart from cutting costs.

Edited 52 minutes ago by Tyrone Shoelaces

[OnionBalaji]

With Travis and Hyam likely out the door, it doesn’t bode well for them as there’s only Tronstad and Cantwell so far with any reasonable sell on value left to move on to keep the lights on. Carter arguably could be included but is injured so often that I can’t see a decent fee there any more. 
 

Should none of our cheap punts work, this time next year looks like it will be a horrible time 

 

[Mercer]

8 hours ago, JHRover said:

There is no board to make such a decision. 

Let's have a look at our 'board' of directors:

Robert Coar, Gandhi Babu, Sreenivasa Rao, Steve Waggott

Those are the only four active directors of the club, according to Companies House.

Which one or more of that bunch do you reckon has interfered in a pre-match press conference and decided what questions can be asked/answered?

Gestede / Pasha are not directors and therefore not board members, if they have made the decision it is a lie to say the board has.

It's laughable isn't it.

Seemingly, the club can't even comply with simple governance.

Just WTF does our Company Secretary do down in Brighton (filing changes to directors at Companies House typically falls on the Company Secretary)?

[wilsdenrover]

1 hour ago, Ossydave said:

Whilst I kind of agree with you, the pre match presser should indeed to be to talk about the game. 

BUT VI is a big boy, he is more than capable of saying "come on chaps lets focus on the game here with the questions". There's no need for a gagging order unless they're scared of the answers, it's as simple as that. 

From a regulatory point of few it says to ask ‘relevant questions’.

I think asking if the captain is available for selection (and if not, why) would be relevant but ‘digging any deeper’ might not be.

But, as you say, VI (or the press officer if we have one of those) could have covered this without the club’s preemption. 

Edited 50 minutes ago by wilsdenrover

[chaddyrovers]

54 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Rovers’ directors ‘as seen by’ the EFL:

 

https://www.efl.com/governance/owners-and-directors-test-public-register-of-directors/

@JHRover

[chaddyrovers]

23 minutes ago, Mercer said:

It's laughable isn't it.

Seemingly, the club can't even comply with simple governance.

Just WTF does our Company Secretary do down in Brighton (filing changes to directors at Companies House typically falls on the Company Secretary)?

Waggott is still employed by Rovers as the Rovers fan forum minutes says. 

Also we don't have a company secretary, Brett Baker is the head of Football administration and it was reported on here he is now based at Brockhall 

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, wilsdenrover said:

Rovers’ directors ‘as seen by’ the EFL:

 

https://www.efl.com/governance/owners-and-directors-test-public-register-of-directors/

 

27 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

@JHRover

The only ones that matter are those listed at Companies House for The Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited and it is shown we have 4 active directors (see below).

This should be simple but essential governance and the penalties for providing inaccurate information range from financial penalties to more serious actions like disqualification and even criminal prosecution.  It is typically the role of the Company Secretary - just wtf does our do (does he still work from home in Brighton?)

COAR, Robert Duckworth

Correspondence address

Ewood Park, Nuttall Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4JF

Role Active

Director

Date of birth

January 1947

Appointed before

19 October 1991

Nationality

British

Country of residence

England

Occupation

Company Director

GANDHI BABU, Reddy

Correspondence address

Ewood Park, Blackburn, BB2 4JF

Role Active

Director

Date of birth

August 1963

Appointed on

12 January 2011

Nationality

Indian

Country of residence

India

Occupation

Director

MANDAVA, Sreenivasa Rao

Correspondence address

Venkateshwara House, S. No. 114/A/2, Pune Sinhgad Road, Pune, India, 411030

Role Active

Director

Date of birth

November 1959

Appointed on

12 September 2023

Nationality

Indian

Country of residence

India

Occupation

Service

WAGGOTT, Steven

Correspondence address

Ewood Park, Blackburn, BB2 4JF

Role Active

Director

Date of birth

June 1954

Appointed on

5 January 2018

Nationality

English

Country of residence

England

Occupation

Chief Executive Officer

 

 

Edited 1 minute ago by Mercer

[Mercer]

15 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Waggott is still employed by Rovers as the Rovers fan forum minutes says. 

Also we don't have a company secretary, Brett Baker is the head of Football administration and it was reported on here he is now based at Brockhall 

So Waggott is still an active Board Director!?!?

Would suggest the role of 'Head of Football Administration' encompasses the previous Company Secretary role !!!