Biased? Erm, yes, this is a forum for Rovers supporters after all You may enjoy taking on the contrarian role but most of us relish in the opportunity to give Burnley and their fans a bit of crap So Burnley are doomed. They always have been. And Collins will go for peanuts because the monkeys at Burnley need feeding Good on you Chad, at least you know the side you are on 👍

I think most football clubs have what they call 'desso pitches' now, or hybrid. In that artificial grass is stitched into the actual grass. It is pretty popular across Europe due to the ever changing conditions. I wonder how much it would cost to install? I can't imagine it would cost over £2m. Does Ewood have this system or are we purely grass? If we are grass only then we are about 10 years behind the curve. Which isn't surprising given the utter neglect the Owners and various board members have shown our grounds We should all remember that maintenance and ground repairs fall outside the FFP rules. If Venky's wanted they could put us the best pitch money could buy; if they wanted to they could fix the leaks and renovate the Riverside. They don't want to and that's the problem

Exactly This notion that 'kids' aren't good enough because of their age is just silly A famous crap pundit was made to eat those words with the Class of 92 Who else here remembers Jones' performance vs Drogba? Sensational. Injury blighted career but it was clear to anybody with a brain he was good enough. He had just turned 18 when he made Drogba look a bit of a mug. Absolutely clattered Lampard if I remember correctly. Ewood's roof nearly came off. Phillips has just turned 17 so he may need a year in the gym to replicate that performance but if he is good enough everybody will know. You won't come across as physical a player as Didier Drogba in this league or as good a team as that Chelsea squad

You can't help but be flabbergasted at Waggot's comments there He holds this club in complete disdain. Our crowds haven't been as consistently low as they are now in the time I have been alive. At the same time has made it more and more expensive to purchase a ST. He's completely detached from the town, the club and the fans. Couple this with his attempts to sell Brockhall I think he has shown his colours I will never like or respect Steve Waggott no matter how many meal deals he gives fans on here. He can shake hands and provide guided tours all he wants. For me he's a crook, and another symptom of the Venky ownership. Apathetic owners leads to pathetic management.

To be fair arbitro the actual quote is “probably a further £100k” Depending how you read that it could mean a further 100k on top of usual costs or a further to money already spent

And his pace and physicality made him almost perfect for the defending from attacking corners role He could out pace almost any striker out there Ryan would be a starter for me at RB next season that's for sure. I'd be amazed if he doesn't end at a top table Championship club

That totally wicked logo is actually ugly As if they have put a registered trademark next to it; like anyone outside of the 1990s skater world wants to copy 'totally wicked' Will not be buying Macron must be kicking themselves. Putting together some fantastic shirts only for them to be ruined by our abysmal commercial decisions

Ryan has been a terrific asset to the Club Hard worker, good ethic, put his all into it. Can't fault him. A huge loss to our playing squad and the Club as a whole Him and Lenihan stood as examples of what can be achieved by staying at Rovers. Break into the team and become long-standing, regular professional players

I'm absolutely gutted to see Lenihan and Nyambe go. Rothwell less so, no matter how exciting he could be. The other two are lads who the club have invested a lot of money in over the years. The academy is not a cheap place to run. In most cases players usually sign a contract knowing they are leaving in order to get the club some money. Neither Lenihan or Nyambe thought it worthwhile, which is perhaps a sign of what they think of it. Nyambe was a good right back. Why he got so much stick is anyones guess. He will be a struggle to replace. I wish the lads well but I do wish they had been persuaded to sign a contract, give the new coach a year and then make the club some money at the end of the season if they are good enough. They haven't gone anywhere special - Stoke and Boro are plodders. They have been sold a dream that Waggott couldn't sell.

Uncompetitive? Talk about being patronising and dismissive. You should say that to the lads who go out and compete each and every week; who celebrate their wins and hate their losses. Outside of a kick about with friends I don’t think I have ever played an uncompetitive game of football! 😆 And no need to be defensive about the last paragraph. I meant myself in that too. We are all playing experts here, some more than others The truth is good players who are ready don’t need loaning. Wharton wasn’t good enough at that point. It’s as simple as that. The likes of Dunn, Duff and Jones were ready and didn’t need it. If JDT decides to play Vale it is because he deems him good enough. Him playing with “kids” in an “uncompetitive” league bears zero relevance And actually them teams did leave gaps. When David Silva left Guardiola made it quite clear Foden was coming into the squad. They didn’t reinforce because they expected him to fill that gap. We are also talking high level elite football here. This is the Championship. Dillian Markanday has only played “kids” football. We paid £1m for him. And most of these people you call “kids” are not. They are professional athletes. Ive seen it be said many times on here that we cannot trust a player because they’ve only played “kids” football before. My post was about that. I don’t really read yours and Chaddys discussions much anymore because they are circular. And my point was that if a player is good enough him playing “kids” football is irrelevant and he doesn’t require a loan to a worse league to allow him to showcase his talent. Professional people, experts in their field, are paid handsomely to know that before putting them in the 1st team or not So *if* Mr JDT does not sign a striker and uses Vale as back up that is because he considers Vale good enough. There’s plenty of 25+ affordable dollopers who have played plenty of “competitive mens” football to sign if he didn’t. Take a look at same of the signings we’ve made to understand that. So if we see Carter, Vale, Garrett or whoever starting that is a sign they are considered good enough. And I will trust the opinion of the likes of Johnson, JDT and Broughton (after seeing his CV) over those of people who are typically quite negative about players. And for your beloved constructiveness I will judge them on that decision too, but I certainly won’t write them lads off as not ready because they are all grown men

I am not for one moment thinking he is the next Seamus Coleman but success does come from leagues like Ireland I saw Brown at Blues and thought he looked good. He was up against Chong and Hernandez, who the Blues fans rated highly, and dealt with them well enough. I ain't writing him off yet

You mean the same league that has produced the likes of Coleman, Roy Keane, Shane Long, McLean etc? Go further back you have Paul McGrath I don’t think it is as clear cut as the league you come from. Vardy was playing non-league until late in his career If Brown is good enough he will fit in. This was a Mowbray signing, traditionally hit or miss, so time will tell if JDT rates him or not

I’ve always thought those that throw around the terms “kids” to define 20+ year old professional athletes, as if it makes them somehow incapable of being trusted, have obviously never played a game of football in their lives Everybody has been young once. Fabio Carvalho was a “kid” last season for Fulham I don’t need to go on. Plenty of “kids” have came into first team football and hit the ground running. Jack Vale is 21. He won’t succeed or fail because he has only played “kids” football; he will succeed or fail based on whether or not he is good enough It’s painful reading the continued essays on how “kids” can’t be trusted and require loaning out. The gap really is not that big. And that is why the players that are good enough don’t get loaned, the likes of Foden for example, whilst those who require playing at a lower level to better develop do because they are not good enough At the level we are playing at if Jack Vale needs to go to L1 and L2 to understand the game then him being defined as a “kid” is not the reason he can’t hack the Championship. It is because he is not good enough. The standard of defending in this league really isn’t all that good for players that want to make in the top tiers of the game The PL and other top divisions then maybe, yes, but if Vale can’t get be trusted to get goals against the likes of Hull, Cov, Blues etc then it might just be simply because he is not good enough to make it as a top football player. And in reality if you know football, like the people who are employed at pro clubs do, contrary to what we think in our iExpert mode, then they will know if he is good enough to be trusted or not

In truth I think a lot of players will get a chance of a fresh slate under a new manager There's one or two fans who rubbish any player throughout, same goes for all clubs, there will always be that type of person. SG is a Rovers player, JDT was a goalscorer, and I'm hoping he can get a tune out of him At least, I am hoping he doesn't play him right wing. JDT will understand the importance of 'being between the sticks' for a strikers chance of scoring and mentality

Sam Gallagher got 17 goals under Coyle - it can be done But unfortunately I have lost a lot of faith in him. He’s had some very bad performances in his time here But as said he was shunted out wide for a lot of it. Completely unnatural to him. If JDT can get a tune out of him then it’s our answers solved. If he starts with him this season then he must think there’s a striker there, and being a striker himself I’d take his word for it over mine

Let’s not forget that Man City’s hierarchy put a buy back clause in for Davenport They don’t do that for all of the youth products they sell. There’s obviously something in him, but his injury record is appalling New coach, new ideas and how often in football do you see certain players thrive under new management? You never know, such is the thrill of a new era !!

I'm inclined to agree But the difference between Buckley's first team performances and Dolan's, in their breakthrough moments, are apparent Dolan has looked far more assured than Buckley did. But as you say, Buckley is now showing what most of us could see, and that he has the ability to be a fantastic player As tomphil has said the only real justification for selling Dolan is realising the value. If someone is prepared to pay north of £3m it might be worth it, providing it is reinvested in better value

Dolan is a good player with a good work rate. There doesn't need to be much more of a deeper discussion about it. The final ball will come. Buckley has developed leaps and bounds from where he began and I'd wager Dolan has started at a higher level than JB did in terms of first team football I think Dolan will have a role to play in JDT's squad. I'd hope so anyway, I love the boy

I hate Totally Wicked because the brand is cheap, tacky and the logo a red devil. It isn't in the spirit of Rovers. But they are a national company now - they have shops in Scotland, London, Brum, Sheffield, Leeds etc. I even saw one in Shrewsbury the other day. They are expanding quite quickly

I want to see us linked with some real players not just Scandinavians for the sake of it We need a lot of bodies in imo, a busy few weeks ahead Any whispers?

I don’t follow other clubs managerial searches as closely as I’d follow Rovers. I think it’s important to start with that. Do other clubs go through several rounds of interviews? It seems absolutely insane you’d leave Farke or Carvalhal hanging whilst you waited to interview Warne or Ferguson. If you have either of them two ready to come on board surely you’d go for them? What can an interview demonstrate more than the successes they have had as coaches? I’m at an absolute loss as to how we have ANOTHER week of interviews. I mean for fuck sake. This is not how the real world works, I’m sorry. When you have a target identified you go and get them. That’s how sport works. The rest is just pure waffle and a sound bite to issue to local press to keep the hounds away.

I think I’ll wait until June 6th before I start doomsaying. We were told this is the date they were going to announce them It does seem very odd that Benson retains the role. I understand Johnson, and to an extent Lowe now JB has told of his relationship with Suhail, but what does Benson bring to the table? Any head coach should be allowed to bring their own coaches in. It’s a very odd way of doing things but we shouldn’t expect any different. They have never been normal. It must be pig headed arrogance to still be sticking by their ways of doing things when it is quite clear it does not work. I couldn’t imagine a more frustrating employer.

Totally Wiked is a just a shit brand It’s a shame because macron will no doubt produce a nice kit but have it ruined with that nonsense plastered all over it

At the end of the day Carvalhal has also apparently chosen to go and work in the UAE. A nothing league. It stinks of a lack of ambition. A lot of people seem to have come to the conclusion that this is down to Rovers. But the truth is none of us know what discussions have been had. There are rumours he has been offered £3m+ a year to work there, which is over 3x the amount a Rovers manager will be on. Could it not simply be that Carvalhal wanted a pay day as opposed to some breakdown in the appointment process? I want to reiterate again - he might be going to the UAE. We haven't lost him to a more proactive rival. It's money and money alone that makes professionals go there. I'm not overly bothered - if he'd rather compete for a pathetic league title like that as opposed to work in the most competitive leagues in the world then well done to him. He'll have his payday. We will move on.

Both Farke and Nuno have a promotion on their CV though! I’d much rather them two I think Carvahal is more likely but out of the three I’d have to say I’d want Nuno. Loved at Wolves and they walked the league. Farke is another exceptional coach but doesn’t seem to have it in him to manage a relegation fight. In any case if the three are the “candidates” then we are finally looking in the right pools. All three are good coaches.