2025 Summer Transfer Thread. 😂

[Hasta]

56 minutes ago, Eternal Optimist said:

No evidence we low balled anyone, confirmed there’s a wage cap in place which is understandable in the current climate

What are you referring to by current climate, cos I can only understand that if by it you mean uninterested, dumb owners who currently are unprepared to put money into the club.

Edited 13 hours ago by Hasta

[BRFC.]

Rudy says we need to “believe in the project” 😂😂😂😂 rip apart a squad that finished 7th last season and buy inexperienced players. 

[neophox]

Gudjohnsen looks a beast...two games in short time ...should be fit and ready for Watford.... Could be a very shrewd addition up front.

[Emerald Isle Rover]

9 minutes ago, neophox said:

Gudjohnsen looks a beast...two games in short time ...should be fit and ready for Watford.... Could be a very shrewd addition up front.

Will probably come on when we are 2-0 down 

[Exiled_Rover]

26 minutes ago, RoyWegerlesLeftToe said:

He's scored again. 2 goals away in France. Get the going up juice.

Var disallowed it. Relegations back on...

https://streamin.me/v/366a389e

Disallowed goal here.  

I don't want to 'back in my day' that defender, but bloody hell the game has gone. Diving in your own box defending a cross because of a shirt pull.

[DanielMB]

Whatever you think of Rudy and his comrades they are not the problem. Venkys are the problem. They have been the problem for 15 years. They have overseen the decline and they are the masterminds behind our wagecap and they are the reason why Rudy can’t offer our players decent wages and forces him to sign the likes of Dion. Lots of people have come and gone. All under Venkys watch.

 

Venkys out!

[neophox]

16 minutes ago, Emerald Isle Rover said:

Will probably come on when we are 2-0 down 

Surely 😉 

[Polky]

1 minute ago, SuperBrfc said:

For anybody wanting to watch that interview...just watch Adam Owen.

Fidgety, uncomfortable throughout and an absolute waffler.

He might be able to win over the gullible with his claptrap about alignment and sustainability, but the experienced in the fanbase recognise these types straight away.

Get him out. Along with the others.

I thought he was doing a sponsored silence for the first 20 minutes 🤣

[BlackburnEnd75]

Ismael (and I'm assuming gestede) is claiming that the squad is better than last season, where we finished 7th. 

A decent press would be hitting him with this quote quite regularly, let's see if he's allowed to get away with it.

As for the rest, it was a fan re-education piece presented as fan engagement. 

I'm at a real low in my engagement with the club. Rudy and suhail (trying to go back in the shadows) have reduced me to withdrawing ant financial support for the club.

Edited 4 hours ago by BlackburnEnd75
Spag

[BRFC.]

The body language from Ismael and Owen when discussing “an uncomfortable environment in training ground” 

[Polky]

I sent a question in under the name ‘Tony Vukes’ which was an anagram of ‘Venkys Out’.

I was hoping they would read the whole name out, but instead they just said it was from ‘Tony’ 🤣

I asked an easy question as I thought it would be easier to get the anagram out there 🤣

So I’m presuming the other questions were genuinely sent through the form as they answered my question.

[Miller11]

1 hour ago, Emerald Isle Rover said:

this today was pre empted nonsense. Put a post up asking for questions to be put forward and unsurprisingly the pg questions asked answered and unchallenged 

It’s even worse than that. All 3 of them refused to answer one of the incredible soft ball questions - they wouldn’t commit to which signing they were most excited by. Although Ismael did trot out the Scott Wharton is like a new signing cobblers.

[Miller11]

24 minutes ago, BRFC. said:

The body language from Ismael and Owen when discussing “an uncomfortable environment in training ground” 

Owen also eventually stated in the fans forum fiasco that he didn’t believe it was possible to become a sustainable club and remain in the Championship. Not sure he’s 100% “aligned”.

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

It’s even worse than that. All 3 of them refused to answer one of the incredible soft ball questions - they wouldn’t commit to which signing they were most excited by. Although Ismael did trot out the Scott Wharton is like a new signing cobblers.

C’mon, no-one should answer that, it’s like saying which of your kids you prefer!

Like it or not, the views prevalent on here are not held by the majority of Rovers fans: the Facebook crowd are at the other end of the spectrum and the majority are neither, but they are all Rovers fans. Following live commentary on an Indian court case can hardly be described as mainstream. The questions were always going to be middle of the road.

[Blueandwhitemike]

 

The most interesting thing from the video I think was that Ismael is totally on board with the clear out.  He said we have four central defenders, which is enough.  He included Miller, who he said is thee perfect modern centre back (has he ever played more than a couple of games in a 2?) and even when questioned on the injuries of Wharton and Carter still thought we had enough.  I would think most people would disagree with him but if it goes wrong it is on him now and if he claims he is happy with that and the squad I will judge him on what he does with it.  I would have initially given him more leeway and understanding but not now.

I'm not surprised Rudy allowed and answered the question on the training ground atmosphere as I think he wants to get ahead of it and quash the rumours but I was surprised he went into specifics like denying the arm covering thing.

Of course it is just an in house puff piece but I thought those two things were interesting.

[Miller11]

6 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

C’mon, no-one should answer that, it’s like saying which of your kids you prefer!

Like it or not, the views prevalent on here are not held by the majority of Rovers fans: the Facebook crowd are at the other end of the spectrum and the majority are neither, but they are all Rovers fans. Following live commentary on an Indian court case can hardly be described as mainstream. The questions were always going to be middle of the road.

So it was a complete and utter waste of time asking that question then wasn’t it.

You don’t necessarily qualify as a fan just by following a Facebook page or a Twitter account. The issue is the club have made putting out surveys on these platforms their entire “engagement” strategy and are dodging all the recommend and mandated forums for fans to ask meaningful questions of ownership and senior management.

The questions “selected” weren’t even close to middle of the road. 

[BRFC.]

Am I right in saying there’s no excuses for Ismael not to do well. He’s said this team is better than last season 

[MarkBRFC]

12 hours ago, Ghost7 said:

I can't believe we haven't gone all out for a free agent centre back. We are insanely short.

Again, on the pitch matters are secondary here. Nobody cares.

Why add another wage to the budget when you don't have to?

[Tomphil2]

Ismael was purposely selected for the impending clear out they knew exactly what was on the horizon as long as the bids came in as expected.

That's why he is here so of course he's always on board with it they could sell the entire squad and he'd nod along as long as some sort of replacements were brought in so he actually has something to work with.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

10 hours ago, DanielMB said:

Whatever you think of Rudy and his comrades they are not the problem. Venkys are the problem. They have been the problem for 15 years. They have overseen the decline and they are the masterminds behind our wagecap and they are the reason why Rudy can’t offer our players decent wages and forces him to sign the likes of Dion. Lots of people have come and gone. All under Venkys watch.

 

Venkys out!

ALL of them are the problem....ALL willing accomplices to the 'project' that is destroying this Club on ALL levels.

[Emerald Isle Rover]

1 hour ago, BRFC. said:

Am I right in saying there’s no excuses for Ismael not to do well. He’s said this team is better than last season 

He was smart in answering - edged towards stating next season is when we will see the benefits of all of this 

ultimately buying themselves a season of transition and then judge on next season 

[rovers11]

11 hours ago, DanielMB said:

Whatever you think of Rudy and his comrades they are not the problem. Venkys are the problem. They have been the problem for 15 years. They have overseen the decline and they are the masterminds behind our wagecap and they are the reason why Rudy can’t offer our players decent wages and forces him to sign the likes of Dion. Lots of people have come and gone. All under Venkys watch.

 

Venkys out!

I completely agree. They're not the problem at all.

We've seen it countless times in the past with those running the club being scapegoats - Shaw, Agnew, Waggot. The list goes on. Did anything improve when any of those left? Of course not. Just like nothing would change if Gestede left.

I don't blame them at all for the transfer window, I blame the owners entirely. What are you supposed to do when you're given one of the lowest budgets and wage structures in the league. I actually think they did a pretty good with the players they brought in and were hamstrung with the players who left due to our wage structure.

And, as for those long standing staff that were asked to leave, you only have to see the bitter posts they've made on social media since to illustrate the kind of characters they are. Toxic.

[JHRover]

12 hours ago, Miller11 said:

They really do think we are stupid.

A completely transparent unsubtle propaganda piece that will appease a good chunk of the social media masses, but you don’t have to scratch very deep to see much of what the more observant fans were thinking was bang on the money.

Wage bill cut, wage structure problematic, all about “sustainability”.

That's because the majority of people they have to deal with / bullshit actually are quite stupid. 

They're still sitting comfortably at the moment because the consequences of their high risk strategy are yet to unfold. As I said the other week - Rudy has had it incredibly easy in his 12 months in this high responsibility position so far because thanks to players already here (Brittain, Dolan, Travis, Hyam, Tronstad), a manager already here (Eustace) and players Eustace insisted we recruited (Batth, Weimann) business took care of itself last season with a better than expected 7th place.

Rudy and his chums have recklessly and comprehensively dismantled all that this last 6 months, and over the next 6 months the results will become clear.

Unfortunately we have owners and a large chunk of fans who are quite content to plod along in mid-table/bottom half, and even scrape survival and finish 21st every year with little more than a shrug of the shoulders, so provided Ismael has enough about him to achieve that the circus will continue under the current setup. At a normal club a bottom half or relegation battle this season would not be tolerated after finishing 7th last season and heads would roll, but here we all know it isn't about results or performance it is about who you know and whether you are prepared to 'play the game' the way the owners and their stooge require.

Things will only get heated if our Championship status is coming under increasing threat. I think Rudy might struggle to bullshit his way out of that one with comfy in-house interviews masquerading as communication.

 

[Tomphil2]

I don't think people being forced out of long standing jobs then having a snipe back is in anyway toxic it's just normal human behavior.

In fact branding them toxic is pretty pathetic to be honest when not knowing the ins and outs. The number of ex employees and players having a snipe and those who previously spoke out before they left more than hints it's they who were leaving a toxic situation behind.

A toxic do as we say/take what we offer or leave environment that has clearly been created since Rudy Gestede set foot in the building.

You can blame who you want for that but there are ways of dealing with things and there are ways you don't, all this is on his watch now he's the owners latest poodle so with that comes accountability. 

So it's all on him.

[davulsukur]

14 hours ago, danger19_80 said:

Oh god, here we go

They've not said anything you wouldn't expect them to in an interview like that.

Back on with another project, which will take a few years to bare any fruit, by which time the owners will have gotten bored and changed their minds again.

As others have pointed out, it seems the better players aren't on board with the self imposed wage cap and obviously have refused dismal new contracts at the club, as we all expected was the case.

Another, presumably deliberate, slip by Rudy was that there "are others in that situation" (1 year left on their contracts), and that something might have to be looked at in January. Paving the way for a Tronstad exit in a few months.

A couple of slight digs at the fans needing to turn up and get behind the players on a matchday and about the coalition's stay away statement.