Sickening. Predictable. Still in it.

Tonight is a huge game. Win and we go 5th, with a game in hand over those around us. Lose and it starts to look like an uphill battle, even with that game in hand. Coventry would leapfrog us and you would expect PNE and Norwich to win tonight. We could end the night in 10th place... Win and we would still be minimum 5 points from 4th. It is so close for those final 2 play off places. We cannot afford to lose too much momentum. No win in 4 is a tragic run after what was a promising 8 games beforehand I find myself quite nervous for tonight. Rovers in recent years simply have not shown up for the big games. In the 4 games before there was a 'margin for error' but we have used all of that up now. Lose and we go to the back of the pack. We don't handle them situations well In reality, I have long thought promotion to be a step too far for this squad. We are missing that goal scorer; we are missing a big game midfielder. But to be so close is still an enormous achievement. It would be heart breaking to let it slip yet again I would go for the below team: Pears JRC Carter Hyam Pickering Morton Travis Wharton Thomas Brereton Szmodics Nervous but excited for it in equal measure. I am a lot more invested in this squad than I have been over the last couple of seasons. Imo they have an appetite to succeed, and regardless of our finishing position this season I will be entering next in a much better frame of mind than I entered this season. Providing we keep JDT and co that is.

As long as you know Step forward Freddy Adu

A lot of my friends know of Rankin-Costello too. But that's in the main because he was a sensation on a Football Manager. Think it was FM16.

Well there we go So the question remains: why do they persist in owning us? The only reasonable conclusion is that they still intend to recover the ~£300m either through a sale or by recouping through promotion and retaining PL funds. It then begs the question why they continue to miss the target when it comes to piecing together a boardroom capable of operating in the constraints we have. It is is possible, but they persist with your Waggott's instead.

I will be honest I was thinking this myself Do the payments to Venkys London count as expenses in the Venkys Indian accounts and therefore allow them to offset taxes through loss of profit? Seems more plausible, but given the size of Venkys conglomerate it really is pennies and would it even make a big difference? I have wondered for ages why they continue to own us...pure pigheaded stubbornness is my best guess these days

🤣🤣 This gave me a good giggle

Morton is going to really demonstrate the value of loan moves in my opinion There's always lots of talk about how we should send our own players down to L1 or L2 before putting them straight in. Unfortunately, not every club has the opportunity to send players out to develop. Instead, most have to take on the role of the developer. That is where we are in the pyramid of football at the moment. I think we will continue to see us loaning players from the PL. With that comes the risk that some may underperform on occasion, and then the frustration comes in that they may be blocking the path of one of our own academy graduates Sometimes you have to trust the opinion of the professionals. They obviously see Morton as 'more ready' than the lads we have. I would say it's not an outrageous statement. At times, he has impressed and frustrated in equal measure (the first 60 against Leicester vs his last 10 minutes in the same game is a big example). But that comes with the territory of loaning players just starting their journeys in pro football This season will be fundamental in his development. He isn't a terrible player, and looks very comfortable on the ball. A bit of a modern day player: in that he's played all his life with little contact, on perfect pitches, and has to get used to the "real game" which still exists in some form, despite being watered down over the years. That will come I think because the talent is obvious I do think he puts himself about a bit, but in the later stages of the game his tenacity fades and it really brings his weaknesses out. He isn't a 90 minute player for me. With all that said I think he will have a career in the top leagues, and do think given time he will work the inconsistencies out of his game. Unfortunately we won't benefit from that in any way

Has this actually came into effect in the UK now? I thought the loophole was "unless they are allowed to be longer in a particular country" And I don't know whether the FA have restricted it If it does, or has, come in then this will be the second time that Chelsea have been directly responsible for financial restrictions being put in place. A pretty rancid football club

Well, you have just assumed that Nice are going to send £8.4m and that will be shown as a full figure in our yearly accounts You'd show a profit on whatever fee we received against his book value in that year So let's say we had Brereton's book value at £1.4m: The profit on trading would be £7m The accounts would show a reduction in amortisation of £1.4m And you'd save £520,000 in wages The profit and loss account would benefit by £8.92m But very few, if any, transfer fees are as shown in the headlines. Nice would have a realistic understanding of BBD's book value. So it could have been that they offered £2m up front with a further £4m over the next two years, and then £2.4m in performance based add ons. Not entirely unreasonable. So that would show: Profit on trading of £600,000 The accounts would show a reduction in amortisation of £1.4m And you'd save £520,000 in wages So the p and l would benefit by £2.52m And you would also have to replace him with that. And that doesn't even take into account what we would have to pay Forest, what we may have to pay Forest, and what we would have to pay for Brereton It is also likely that Brereton 'cost' Rovers much less than £1.4m this year. Given we gave him an extension at the start of his fourth year it would probably be drawn down like £7m-(3x1.75m)/(1+1) = £875k cost per year for 2 yrs I don't know, it is a lot more complex than just receiving £8.4m and then expecting it to be wholly reinvested. That's why I think this idea that he 'cost' Rovers 8.4m this season is not right. But I'm verging on nerd territory here so I'll let it rest. Plus I could even be wrong in the above, but that's how I understand it. Chaddy's right not to answer I think if Brereton plays a part in a team that gets us into the play offs then the about £2m he cost us for the year is a reasonable gamble

It didn't cost us £8.4m Clubs never use net spend when calculating costs of players For a start we don't know the details of the £8.4m - it could be paid in instalments, £4m of that could have been performance based, there will be solidarity payments to Nottingham Forest and of course are there any % of future transfer fees included in the original transfer between Rovers and Forest? I'm going to try one last time, because whilst I agree with you it is sad to lose him, you demanding Chaddy answers this question is just silly because it isn't relevant A player is costed to the club in two ways: amortisation of transfer fees and wages. Now, this is admittedly an amateur attempt as I am not an account, but Brereton probably costs the club £1.92m a year That is: Estimated £7m fee over 5 years £1.4m Wages are estimated £10,000k a week (I think this is high) x 52 weeks = £520,000 Given how delicate Rovers' accounts are, and the consistency between turnover to wages, and the financial assistance each year by Venkys London, the 'wiggle' room for Rovers may be about £2m a year if BBD is sold. Considering FFP runs in 3 year cycles and most contracts are 4+ years Let's say a new striker costs £5m, that would be £1.25m a year. It would leave you with 750,000 a year left (or £14,400 a week) to purchase a player of a similar standard to Brereton. And you'd still be costing the club more All of this is assuming: The £8.4m is real and paid in full up front, and that Brereton's wages are as high as £10k but I don't think they are. I think they are closer to £7k p/w. But I hope you get where I am coming from Waggott and the money men probably thought it was easier for a year for Brereton to cost Rovers £1.92m a year and then forward plan for a new striker next year, knowing that £1.92m a year becomes freed up in club costs and Venkys will provide x amount transfer budget regardless of how much transfer incomings are made anyway Now I agree with you - pure stupidity. This spate of players leaving for free came from Waggott's decision to not sanction any new contracts during Covid-19. It gave the power of transfer to the players and agents - for some it worked like Lenihan, for some it didn't like Nyambe But it is in no way comparable to "loaning a player for £8.4m". And this is why I think selling him in the summer for such a paltry amount considering his potential value in the season ahead would have been a silly idea

I feel like we are approaching this from two different angles You are preaching to the converted about what “should” happen I do need you to show me a season that we made big profits though. Plenty is a big word…I actually don’t think there’s been one year we have made a profit under Venkys, let alone big profits

Hello cheeky

Okay On the first point: yes we can. As has been shown over the previous 10+ years of this lot owning us. We absolutely can afford to be taking gambles like not selling Brereton. They’ve done it a few times now. What we can “afford” has been pretty constant over the past 5/6 years. Just look at the accounts to see that On the second point, I would start by saying if it is “literal sense” it is the only sense The contract Rovers signed with Brereton was for 4+1 years at the transfer cost of about £7m. He had one year left of that contract. As to tomphil says there wasn’t much point in recouping about what we paid for him We paid only what we had decided to pay 5 years ago for a striker that could, and looks like will, be a big part in getting us in the play offs I don’t see it any other way. The £8m for him was an irrelevant offer A case for this would be Lewandowski at Dortmund. They had an offer of £20m from Bayern the season before he joined them on a free. They said no - his worth to them in that season was worth more than that £20m. Did they effectively “loan him“ for £20m? Nope. In my eyes they turned down a bad transfer offer

But that's faulty logic We didn't agree to loan a player for £8.4m; we simply agreed to honour a contract we signed over 4 years ago It isn't comparable to loaning a player at all. We made an agreement for a sum "up to" £7m for Brereton. Over 4 years, with an option for another year, that we exercised. So £1.4m a year. The fact we rejected a bid for £8.4m doesn't mean it is comparable to agreeing to loan him for that year; it means we believed it was worth more to see out the contract we signed in 2018 and then allow him to move on

How much did we actually pay for Brereton? I don't understand where this idea that we loaned him for £8.4m has come from What we did was use the full extent of the contract that we agreed to 4 years ago. Which I believe was for £7m if I am right?

Give over For a start not everybody would be paying £30 And an extra 5k fans would come at a bigger cost too - stewarding, bigger policing operation, retail staff, clean up Of course there is also the simple fact you lot are strange people who can't behave themselves. You take great pride in damaging everything in your path - if you have a few dormant years you turn on your town. We've seen it before You deserve the bear minimum. We shouldn't have to face the costs of 7,000 coming because your shite ground can only fit a tiny amount of fans in, especially when you have shown you cannot be trusted and have some of the most deplorable fans in the country - either shaming the nation with tragic flags over a dead man or otherwise

Really difficult to answer Last season he scored 22 goals - beaten only by £22m Mitrovic and £19m Solanke He looked every bit a player to rival them, but has since fallen back. Players like Akpom and Piroe show that there are goal scorers out there for cheaper I don't know how much of the £8m I would have to reinvest. History tells us not much. It would plug a financial hole in that years accounts; mean Venky's have to put in less in that financial year and maybe give us an extra million or so in the following windows In that case, can I find a 15 goal striker for a couple of million? Knowing that if I don't then my goal scoring threat is Gallagher or Vale Or, do I take what limited funds I have and try and strengthen in other areas, taking a gamble to go up? Brereton has been part of a team that sees us in the play off positions so far. The gamble may pay off; the gamble might not. For me, the result is more or less the same, the £8m will not be given to properly "reinvest" and therefore we will be left with whatever funds Venkys sign off in summer for GB / JDT to play with and the cycle begins again I also don't know whether the £8.4m was a serious bid. He would have been Nice's 10th most expensive signing. They signed Pepe on loan and dropped £10m on another striker. Okay it was reported, but how many teams really just walk away after 1 rejection? Surely you go back for him. And within a week they moved on to a new striker for £10m and signed him. I really don't know the intent was there I think they thought of it as a steal, threw a bid in for him and when it was rejected quickly moved on. All the while knowing they'd have at least a chance of negotiating on a free, whilst giving him 12 months to see if he could recreate that form Had Brereton scored another 20 goals this year I do believe a Premier League team would have been in for him. As it stands I don't think that many clubs were prepared to take the risk and make a bid worth considering

Yeah, I mean that’s what it is all about. Opinions I wouldn’t have signed off on selling Rothwell to our promotion rivals at that time. Hindsight says I would be wrong. But I am being honest about it - there’s no point pretending Neither would I have sold BBD. £15m was a hell of a deal, but it would have meant we sign a player guaranteed to get goals for that fee. It would be a big call especially in January The massive dip in form after January ended was the fault of Mowbray If you’d have made those calls fair enough

I never “dismissed it as fictional”

If that offer was genuine interest. The press reported it but that means nothing. It came and went like the wind. They “put in an offer”, we said no and that was that Doesn't seem right. No offer is accepted first time of asking for a player you don’t want to sell!! Supposedly Celta Vigo and Fulham did the same. Can’t see it myself - in less than 6 months they could talk to him for free The bids worth discussing supposedly came in January, all above £8m. Then it wasn’t the right time to sell I’d eat my hat if Nice were to pay +£8m for a player out of contract in 12 months. Would have been a serious outlay for a team like Nice - for a lad who has never score a top flight goal and only had half a season of regular scoring under his belt

There would be relatively few people who would have sold Brereton-Diaz in the January window of 2022 - sitting 2nd in the table, with Brereton 2nd only to Mitrovic in the goal scoring charts. The gamble was obvious: sell BBD in the middle of absolutely fine form and hope a replacement comes in hitting the ground running.. or hold on to him knowing full well it meant he would go for free No £8m offer in the summer was ever confirmed, and seems like pure waffle to me. BBD's form sunk Feb onwards, and with him available on a free in 6 months (abroad) or 12 months domestically I reckon we'd be hard pressed to find a team willing to throw £8m on him. Especially knowing full well he'd get another full season in the Championship under his belt anyway Obviously, people that have now had the benefit of hindsight make out like they always would because hey, we all like to be seen to know it all Knowing the context of January 2022 who would we spend this supposed £8m on? Bear in mind the only player matching his numbers at the time was Mitrovic - a bloke who cost the handsome sum of £22m in 2018.......... There's plenty of room to criticise the goings on in the boardroom at the Rovers. This just isn't one of them. Neither was refusing to sell Rothwell (also in fine form at the time) to our closest rival in the automatic promotion push Tony Mowbray spoilt that season with his constant blunders at management level, and managed to turn a team flying into a team devoid of any confidence within a couple of games

Spain are showing why no qualifying campaign is ever a dead cert There are usually a big name that gets caught out. Spain could be this years I personally think the competition is getting better around Europe, not that these 'great nations' are in decline. European academies are venturing far and wide to unearth that next gem and nations are benefitting

Kaminski is obviously the better keeper between the two With Pears, I trust him more when playing out from the back. I think he has a better grasp of when to go long. But that's it. Kaminski is better at everything else

You are wasting the 308 in net. He has to be a central midfielder with the engine he has on him. Can run all day long