Rovers's January transfer needs

[wilsdenrover]

The Vince Grella suite will need an extension.

[KidderStreetNoise]

10 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

The Vince Grella suite will need an extension.

Get him in the Daniel Ayala wing

[RevidgeBlue]

1 minute ago, KidderStreetNoise said:

Get him in the Daniel Ayala wing

Or Augustus Kargbo corner.

[Upside Down]

As long as the commission is good then he's good enough for this club. 💰 💰 💰 

[bluebruce]

On 18/11/2025 at 12:45, davulsukur said:

I think what he really meant was, that free transfers such as Liam Cooper, will want wages and we aren't prepared to pay them.

Don't Wednesday have money problems too though? Or has that been resolved?

[bluebruce]

19 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

The Vince Grella suite will need an extension.

We don't do extensions.

[Exiled_Rover]

2 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Don't Wednesday have money problems too though? Or has that been resolved?

I'd bet everything I own that Wednesday will turn that club around quickly after administration. A fan gave them a £1m interest free loan the other day to pay wages.

They have multiple buyers lined up.

Meanwhile we have the Venky death grip around our throat strangling the life out of us.

[Exiled_Rover]

21 hours ago, KentExile said:

 

Sounds like our sort of signing, 30 years old, history of knee injures, and played just over 40 league games over the past 4 seasons, also out of contract at the end of the season

What happened to sellable assets?

[Lancaster Rover]

20 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

Looks like he did his ACL a couple of years back and had various hamstring problems, will fit in nicely with Wharton and Carter.

Although looks to have been an ever present this season to be fair save for one game on the bench.

Assuming he had a hamstring graft for his ACL reconstruction this would set off air siren style alarm bells for any medical team.

[KentExile]

12 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

What happened to sellable assets?

"cheap" trumps "saleable"?

I would imagine a 30 year old, injury prone, soon to be out of contract player from the Scottish Leagues wouldn't cost a lot, and may be seen (at least by Pasha/Gestede etc) as a body to fill in for a season or so

Obviously don't ask what happened to the money from the Hyam sale

Edited 11 hours ago by KentExile

[K-Hod]

32 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

What happened to sellable assets?

We've already sold them all 👍.

[47er]

36 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I'd bet everything I own that Wednesday will turn that club around quickly after administration. A fan gave them a £1m interest free loan the other day to pay wages.

They have multiple buyers lined up.

Meanwhile we have the Venky death grip around our throat strangling the life out of us.

Somebody with money who cares! That would be nice.

(I can dream can't I?

[Exiled_Rover]

48 minutes ago, 47er said:

Somebody with money who cares! That would be nice.

(I can dream can't I?

I'd settle for someone that cares.

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Don't Wednesday have money problems too though? Or has that been resolved?

They are in administration but have been granted permission to sign 2 free transfers, as they have been able to present an improved cashflow forecast to the administrators. Cooper took one slot and both Nathan Redmond and Duncan Whatmore are training at the club, with the possibility one of them signs in the future.

A bit mad that a club, which only a few months back couldn't pay their staff/players, can now present an improved cash flow forecast, whilst in administration in order to sign some free transfers (and pay their wages)

Our hierarchy, have cut costs to the bone and would unlikely be willing to sanction the wages for a much needed experienced centre back, such as Cooper, who would possibly command a higher salary than either of McLoughlin or Miller.

Instead we play Ryan Hedges at CB.

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, davulsukur said:

They are in administration but have been granted permission to sign 2 free transfers, as they have been able to present an improved cashflow forecast to the administrators. Cooper took one slot and both Nathan Redmond and Duncan Whatmore are training at the club, with the possibility one of them signs in the future.

A bit mad that a club, which only a few months back couldn't pay their staff/players, can now present an improved cash flow forecast, whilst in administration in order to sign some free transfers (and pay their wages)

Our hierarchy, have cut costs to the bone and would unlikely be willing to sanction the wages for a much needed experienced centre back, such as Cooper, who would possibly command a higher salary than either of McLoughlin or Miller.

Instead we play Ryan Hedges at CB.

We play Ryan Hedges there because Pickering, a player who has been a first team regular for years, is being frozen out of the squad due to his wages.

[HowzBRFC]

January window is going to become another farce. Panic buys will happen due to the recent injuries. For the last 6 years we have faded away because the squad has never been strong enough to last a WHOLE season due to lack of planning. They must have all the data on this, its been obvious to see and so frustrating for a fan. 

All the fans knew Carter and Wharton had the potential to miss a chunks of the season due to their injury record. The championship is getting more and more intense each year so for them not to have cover is criminal. 

It gets bleaker and bleaker as the weeks go by. 

 

[KentExile]

Ismael confirms that despite being allowed a 25 man squad, Rovers essentially limit themselves to 22 players over the age of 21 so that they can give opportunities to youngsters.

He just states it in a roundabout way

 

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25638233.blackburn-rovers-boss-january-transfer-window-admission/

 

"At the same time, the EFL tells you that you can only take 25 players over 21 years old. On your list, two goalkeepers come out, it leaves 23 outfield players.

"Blackburn Rovers want to offer a chance to young players so one or two players are on the list. Then 20 players to fill your team. If you take two players into every position, it's two players per position that's 22, two too many.

"If you say we need more players, it means we can't play the younger players. On the other hand, if you want to develop young players, you have to let give some away.

Edited 5 hours ago by KentExile

[wilsdenrover]

18 minutes ago, KentExile said:

Ismael confirms that despite being allowed a 25 man squad, Rovers essentially limit themselves to 22 players over the age of 21 so that they can give opportunities to youngsters.

He just states it in a roundabout way

 

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25638233.blackburn-rovers-boss-january-transfer-window-admission/

 

"At the same time, the EFL tells you that you can only take 25 players over 21 years old. On your list, two goalkeepers come out, it leaves 23 outfield players.

"Blackburn Rovers want to offer a chance to young players so one or two players are on the list. Then 20 players to fill your team. If you take two players into every position, it's two players per position that's 22, two too many.

"If you say we need more players, it means we can't play the younger players. On the other hand, if you want to develop young players, you have to let give some away.

To state the obvious…

This is fine if the youngsters are good enough, it isn’t if they’re not. 

[KentExile]

7 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

To state the obvious…

This is fine if the youngsters are good enough, it isn’t if they’re not. 

Don't bring logic into the discussion, we have an arbitrary quota to keep to 😉 

[wilsdenrover]

24 minutes ago, KentExile said:

Don't bring logic into the discussion, we have an arbitrary quota to keep to 😉 

How silly of me 🤦‍♂️

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, KentExile said:

Ismael confirms that despite being allowed a 25 man squad, Rovers essentially limit themselves to 22 players over the age of 21 so that they can give opportunities to youngsters.

He just states it in a roundabout way

 

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25638233.blackburn-rovers-boss-january-transfer-window-admission/

 

"At the same time, the EFL tells you that you can only take 25 players over 21 years old. On your list, two goalkeepers come out, it leaves 23 outfield players.

"Blackburn Rovers want to offer a chance to young players so one or two players are on the list. Then 20 players to fill your team. If you take two players into every position, it's two players per position that's 22, two too many.

"If you say we need more players, it means we can't play the younger players. On the other hand, if you want to develop young players, you have to let give some away.

That's absolute BS. 

You can have as many U21 players as you like. If they're good enough they'll break into the side.

What he means is:

"We dont want to pay the wages of 25 senior players"

[RevidgeBlue]

34 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

That's absolute BS. 

From Ismael I hasten to add.

 

[Tomphil2]

3 hours ago, KentExile said:

Ismael confirms that despite being allowed a 25 man squad, Rovers essentially limit themselves to 22 players over the age of 21 so that they can give opportunities to youngsters.

He just states it in a roundabout way

 

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25638233.blackburn-rovers-boss-january-transfer-window-admission/

 

"At the same time, the EFL tells you that you can only take 25 players over 21 years old. On your list, two goalkeepers come out, it leaves 23 outfield players.

"Blackburn Rovers want to offer a chance to young players so one or two players are on the list. Then 20 players to fill your team. If you take two players into every position, it's two players per position that's 22, two too many.

"If you say we need more players, it means we can't play the younger players. On the other hand, if you want to develop young players, you have to let give some away.

That's fair enough when you already have a good solid first 11 plus back up in key positions and are expecting midtable mediocrity.

It's no good at all when you've got rid of every good player and replaced with inexperienced foreigners and others who've never played in the Championship. In fact it's a self inflicted for relegation policy and something that nearly happened a couple of years ago with a better squad.

These people need to walk the plank they really do.

[47er]

Not being run as a football club are we?

[roversfan99]

Everything they say is just full of contradictions, and ultimately full of shit. Ismael is a proper lap dog, nothing likeable about him.

Setting yourself a self imposed squad limit, less than the one that is in the rules? Bizarre, purely to cut costs. Its a tough season, you need the full quota of senior bodies. They then compound that by signing an injured player, signing a veteran not suited to starting games, knowing we already have injury prone players, and signing players that need time to "adjust."

But they say that its to ensure that young players play? I call bullshit. When we are short of centre backs, does a graduate step up? No, its square pegs in round holes, even a winger at centre back. Montgomery was constantly being bigged up in the summer, I don't rate him but thats what they were doing, hasnt started a game. Has any youngster started a game this season from the academy?

They have also tried to claim that Miller was signed as a centre back. Why did he just happen to sign within hours of Brittain leaving, and start featuring at right back initially? Why did we sign only one right back otherwise, when we had already said we wanted cover in that position as one of the priorities in the summer?

A couple of months ago, never mind now, Ismael said he wouldnt consider the free agent market as it takes time to get up to speed. Why did he want Baradji then?