JHRover

So sounds and looks like Gallagher going nowhere. In Southampton's squad tonight (Austin isnt) and Pete O'Rourke saying Saints want to keep him, with numerous clubs interested anyway, so even if he was available we'd have competition. Hope we've something else up our sleeves. Telegraph seemed to suggest there was a 1st choice target in mind, but seemed to be under the impression that it was Gallagher. Will be disappointing if we don't strengthen or add to the depth of the squad.

Gallagher on the bench for Saints tonight so think if anything is going to happen there it's going to be tight on time. Safe to assume nothing close there if they're putting him on the bench for a big game tonight.

Reality is if we don't get promoted we will have to sell players. Whether that is to meet FFP requirements, to offset some losses, to recoup some for the owners, because our best players attract interest from higher divisions or just because our best players grow tired of plodding along in the Championship and want to move on. The ONLY way to ensure we are protected against departures is by getting up. These owners have very recent form for stripping the club bare after 3 seasons of missing out on promotion, following which we sold off just about everyone that could command a half decent transfer fee. So I'm sorry whilst I'd love to buy into this 'all the time in the world' theory where we can steadily and sensibly build over 2,3,4,5 years or whatever it is I'm I little bit doubtful that is going to be so straightforward, especially with these owners in place. That doesn't mean I'm advocating going for broke this season or that I'm against a multi-season development, just that if it doesn't work out as 'planned' the consequences of failure are likely to be quite significant if the post-Bowyer era is anything to go by. It may well be that things are more sustainable now than they were then, with a more manageable wage structure etc. but that really doesn't help much if the owners get a taste for sales again and start stripping the squad bare. In this hypothetical 2,3,4 season built it neglects the fact that by the end of it we'll almost certainly be without Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan, Dack, Reed and Travis all of whom will either be retiring or elsewhere should we not get promoted within that period.

It might be fun for the message board and twitter people but really it means nothing if we don't get the deals done. For all his faults we got the Chris Brown deal done and dusted, whereas it's nice to be 'linked' to quality players until they're at Ewood having their photo taken it gets us nowhere. Interest and 'bids' for players are very cheap and easy to do. Actually getting a transfer completed and committing to a major cash outlay isn't.

He is a dingle. Doesn't matter if he's from the South East or Zanzibar if he's played for them he's a dingle and that should be a factor when considering whether to sign him, IMO. Perhaps not a deal breaker but as I said I'd tread carefully considering his age and injury record, his dingle past is just another problem. He'd be here for a few months and then off elsewhere leaving us picking up again where we are now. Option/agreement to buy very important as far as I am concerned, if nothing else to maintain the image that we're actually building something here and not just making it up as we go along depending on who comes available and the whim of those upstairs.

Tread carefully with Austin. Won't be cheap, doubt he's a long term solution for us, very dodgy injury record and he's a dingle. Players have to be exceptional to overcome the dingle hurdle in my book, not sure if he's worth it.

Gallagher played under 3 different managers at Birmingham last season - Redknapp, Cotterill, Monk

It isn't really, just pointing out that a side going for automatic promotion has assembled a lot of depth without spending very much at all whilst we, allegedly, have spent multi-millions on a prospect to develop. Most of those players are cast offs from other clubs - seen a few asking why Boro would let Assombalonga come here. Well Villa have allowed Hogan to join Sheff Utd on loan - what's the difference?

Yeah and how much have all those strikers cost Sheff Utd? Sounds like Leon Clarke is off to Wigan.

If I were betting on it I'd expect another 24 hours or so of rumours about Gallagher and Assombalonga and then for the deadline to approach before someone at Rovers informs Rich Sharpe that we're done for the window and that there's not going to be any more additions than those already in the building. I'd like to be proven wrong, but it seems very out of character for Rovers under Mowbray to go out and make a late splash in the market and bring in a first team ready player. Usually business has been concluded before deadline day or those arriving are squad players.

I'm in two minds to be honest. I'd be very pleased with a signing of Assombalonga's calibre provided the deal was reasonable and if it was a loan that there was provision in place to make it permanent come the summer. I'd be less supportive or keen on the idea if it were merely a stopgap loan until the summer and a permanent arrangement is out of the question financially. Why? Because I quite like the idea of building something that will last not a few months but a few years and whilst it would be nice to push the boat out now to try and sneak into the top 6 the probability is we won't get there this season and need to keep one eye on the longer term. So by all means invest in quality but make sure there is something to build on whatever happens. Signing Assombalonga or Gallagher purely on a loan until the summer might do a job but would then need re-visiting in a few months when we'd have to go through it all over again. In some ways I'd be more comfortable with Gallagher on loan with an agreement to make permanent come June, though I completely accept Assombalonga is currently in a different ball park to Gallagher and would be a statement of intent.

I suppose that could be the case. I would however be alarmed/concerned if our CEO and presumably the central component of any transfer business at the club was spending 3 days off at the back end of January to visit friends and family just as the transfer window is closing.

Thing is that's happened by design, not by accident. The way they play is the Dyche way and I doubt he's going to try and change a 'style' that has worked for him so far.

Just noticed that Sky Sports are including Dack in their 'Deadline Day' circus act with their countdown clock and touchscreen thing. Apparently there's 'interest' from Leicester and dingles and an 'enquiry' from Southampton. They really are an embarrassment. Not that we should entertain anything like that but if interest did materialise from Southampton it would be Dack in exchange for £10 million, Reed and Gallagher.

Perhaps surprising that the nationals including trouble maker Nixon are avoiding the gossip with him. I'd have expected more by now, though I suppose there's still time. Hasn't stopped one or two local people trying it on though. Only the other day I think it was Bayes asking him about his future. Why would you do such a thing when there's no evidence of anything happening on that front?

Yeah, so of which I'd see only Forest as a major threat (if they were interested) as he's played for them before. Bristol and Swansea are not bigger or more attractive clubs. I doubt Swansea are in the business of paying big wages. Something along those lines yes. Rather than destroying the team spirit and upsetting existing players going out and signing top drawer quality could actually have a positive impact. If someone like Dack is contemplating whether to stick around for another season or move on elsewhere is he more likely to stay at a club recruiting for a promotion push by signing and spending accordingly? Good players want to play with other good players, if a good player can see the club is ambitious and is 'going for it' I'd hope he is more likely to fancy hanging around than if we turn around and ask him to wait for 3-4 years for the 'slow build' development that has been mentioned.

Which bigger clubs are you referring to? Villa and Derby don't need him, they're already well equipped. WBA and Stoke probably have more cash but aren't bigger clubs and again probably don't need to waste their time with a 4 month loan. Norwich and Leeds on their way to promotion with what they've got. Sheff Utd doing well and aren't a rich enough club to be able to throw £20,000+ a week at a loan. Birmingham and Sheff Weds are heavily restricted on signings. Not sure who else there is who are richer than us who are more attractive at this moment in time.

No he didn't. But you were throwing Ipswich out there as a potential destination shortly after saying we had no chance due to the cost. If those figures are correct and Graham is on 20k a week then a loan at 50% of his wage is more or less on that figure for Assombalonga. Again I'm not saying it is likely to happen but it wouldn't surprise me if that is the sort of deal we're looking at and Middlesbrough might fancy saving themselves 16 weeks at £20,000 = £320,000 to allow him to come here for the next 17 games rather than sit on their bench if Pulis doesn't like him. If he comes here and notches 10 goals his value will increase and they'll have a better chance of selling him come the summer. That's the incentive for Boro.

Not sure on that. If he's on £40-50k then even half of his wage would be £20-25k per week. I think it's safe to assume that the majority of Championship clubs couldn't pay that for a player on loan. No chance that Ipswich, Bolton, Rotherham, Brentford, QPR, Millwall, Birmingham, Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd, Hull, Wigan, PNE would be able to cough up those sort of wages at this point. Then we've WBA, Villa, Stoke, Derby who probably could afford him but already have plenty of other options already at their clubs. Norwich and Leeds doing fine as it is. I'd say we're in a small group of clubs there along with others like Bristol City and Forest of not only needing reinforcements up top but also being in a position to pay decent wages should our owners allow us to do so.

When Wolves were sold by Steve Morgan to Fosun they very quickly decided to invest very heavily into assembling a squad to get promotion as soon as possible. They had a plan and it has worked very well but they must have blown their wage structure to smithereens when bringing in the likes of Ruben Neves to the Championship whilst already having people like Connor Coady already on their books. Point being that if you are serious about progressing there comes a stage where you have to push the boat out and bring in one or two top drawer players, and that in itself doesn't necessary have to upset the applecart with those already here. I'm not saying I'm keen for us to start paying silly money out or going back to the bad old days but steadfastly refusing to go beyond an existing wage structure whilst noble and financially sensible may result in us not progressing. To attract quality and keep quality you have to be able to raise the levels on wages and spending.

There isn't anything 'official' anywhere until the club or manager announces it. The rest is gossip or third party information with varying degrees of reliability.

Lets suppose Assombalonga is on £40-50,000 a week at Middlesbrough. I don't know, just guessing. Pulis doesn't rate him or want him and wants to bring in someone else but given their wage bill has to get rid of some not in his plans first. Rovers offer to take him on loan until May whilst paying 50% of his salary. Pulis is happy - gets shut of a player he doesn't want until the summer, Assombalonga gets to play more football and still gets his wage, Middlesbrough save £20k a week on the wage bill to put towards someone else. Assombalonga does well here then his transfer fee rises for the summer. We get a player for a few months that 'makes a statement' and gives us a better chance of making the play-offs. Fans happy at us making a big signing. Low risk to Rovers as we're only committed to an extra salary for 5 months, the majority of which will be covered by letting Palmer go. That's the way it will work, IF it happens.

To be fair Chaddy you were saying Gestede was an unattainable player for us due to his wages and our budgets, yet subsequently linked him to Ipswich Town. Simple fact is none of us know what money players are on, what our budget is or indeed if Venkys have authorised an increase to the budget. They are perfectly capable and entitled to increase the funding to the manager should they wish and to be honest I'd be alarmed if they weren't prepared to at this stage with the top 6 tantalisingly close and us on an impressive run of form. They should be knocking Mowbray's office door down asking him what more he needs to continue our upward momentum. I wouldn't go as far to say it is a 'pipedream' signing. It would be an impressive and unexpected piece of business were we to land him and potentially a 'difference making' signing mid-season, but I agree it is unlikely to happen, as we seem to be extremely cautious in our recruitment and would be reluctant to add someone who might upset the balance we have. Richard Sharpe is doing his usual routine of playing it safe from all angles. I don't get why people even bother asking him. Even if he knew something he would likely be sworn to secrecy by the club until it was done. His only sources are employed by Rovers so he is only going to know what they feed him and is only going to go public with it as and when they want him to. Waste of time worrying about what he says. The usual is 'not sure, will look into it' or 'he's one we've looked at but not first choice' or 'wages might be an issue there'. Covers all bases.

Again I think it comes back to Venkys and their ever moving goalposts and budgets. It seems to be a running theme under their ownership that spending is restricted in the early days of transfer windows and any significant outlay only takes place at the back end. Cast our minds right back to the deadline day signings of Yakubu and Dann in 2011 when prior to that we'd barely spent anything. Rhodes was deadline day. Brereton deadline day and had to wait until the loan window opened. Under Coyle we spent nothing until a sudden late splurge with Williams, Mulgrew, Gallagher and Emnes late on. IF we do anything major this window it is going to be close to deadline day. If we look at yesterday's signing of Chapman I noticed that the club website referred to it as our 3rd January signing after Brereton and Lyons. Trouble is both Brereton and Lyons were here before January, one has been a benchwarmer, the other a kid in the u23s, and now our '3rd' signing we're told isn't physically ready to play for us. It would be nice if we signed someone to come in and immediately strengthen us, though I accept it isn't necessarily easy nor an urgent requirement given recent results.

Looking at that draw with no Liverpool, Arsenal or Spurs or even West Ham, Everton or Leicester and either United or Chelsea going out in the next round there is a glorious opportunity for an unexpected club to reach the final, perhaps even win it. Wouldn't be surprised now to see Wolves or Watford get to the final, though looks to be City's to lose.