harryhealless1928

Expect another defeat. The real issue is confidence, other than lack of quality. Szmodics, Brereton-Diaz were really confidence players. The current squad is having all "confidence" knocked out of them by a manager determined to follow the Venkys playbook. Lets just hope some of the Academy lads are good enough for League I. The main positive is NOT having to(probably)play the Dingles next season. Grim times indeed- Charles Dickens "Bleak House",anyone?

We could easily create more space in the squad by buying up the contracts of Tavares & Kargbo and giving them free transfers. Not gonna happen, but it should. At least(according to what I see) de Neve & Henriksson are putting the effort in, albeit not good enough at this level. Any spare spaces go to the best performing academy lads. BTW where is Jake Garrett?

I just mentioned this, because Cashin`s main attribute appeared to be his distribution not his defending. McFadz had decent distribution when here for example.

If we HAVE to play Cashin(to avoid a financial penalty)why not play him in "defensive midfield" in front of a back 3? Sort of a 3-1-4-2 formation. With nine,yes nine central defenders we have serious defensive overload(Litherland,Carter & Wharton all injured plus the 6 of Atcheson, Miller, McLoughlin, O`Riordan, Pratt & Cashin) so can`t use half the squad otherwise! Perhaps we asked/begged Brighton for a loan player dirt cheap, but forgot to mention it should be a striker/winger and asked for a defender instead?

It might be we have to keep Brighton happy(on good terms),as without them we can`t afford loans at all. By and large, its worked well for us!

On the positive side, Derby Rovers were clouted 1-3 at home by Leeds. Diaz did score, but Travis looked like the game passed him by. A bit disrespectful to the Rovers fans who have travelled to Hull, and also to our glorious history in the FA Cup to put that team out. Toth done no favours with the team in front of him, lets hope one or two of the kids show what they can do!

Gotta hold my hand up. I was fairly critical of Cantwell, but he certainly made me eat my words today(like Revidge). Showed why we signed him up on tub-thumping wages(at least by Venkys standards). Looked every inch a Premier League player. I have never called Hedges out though, and he does score great, unexpected goals! It`s just a pity its only one a season! Good structure to the team I thought(maybe Hull were just poor?) and shades of early JDT creativity, with more physicality thrown in. Enjoy tonight, boys. Long overdue.

First home game of the season and VI is already short of options. Tavares only played for 60 minutes most of the games last season in Portugal ,so why was he left on when his legs had gone? We only seem to want players that can`t compete for 90 minutes +(cause they cost less?). Only good thing today Eustace`s Derby conceding 5. That`s taken the sting away somewhat!!

How can Cantwell be fit but not ready? Maybe its just me ,but he seems to get mollycoddled more than anyone else at Ewood. P.S .That`s "footballers only "I`m alluding to.

Maybe the "transfer thread" should be replaced by the "exiting strategy" and the "non-renewable" contract" thread? What`s the point if anyone of any value is not given an acceptable contract renewal? Agree, get shut of Cantwell and use the proceeds to get renewal contracts over the line for Travis & Hyam. In fact re-appoint Broughton. It`s not gonna happen,of course.

Agree with most of the comments made. Whilst many are worried about the lack of firepower up front,I actually thought the defence was even worse. At least chances were being created(even if not taken,especially the Gueye miss). Toth aside(who looked fairly competent and composed given the lack of protection afforded) the Dutch team should have scored more. In fact,our defence deteriorated significantly after Hyam was substituted i thought. Scott Wharton can`t even pass the ball across the back and is at best a League I player. Blame Hedges all you want,he was nothing like the worst performer today. Travis and Tronstad have probably had enough of our "exiting summer transfer activity". Only Kargbo and Toth looked decent. Fortunately its only a friendly ,and no one seriously injured.That1s the main benefit.

According to the BBC,Callum Brittain`s move to Middlesborough is going through. If so,I wish the lad the very best(as I do with Dolan). He has my respect for NOT signing for John"sabotage"Eustace.

Well Gueye has a poor goal-scoring record(fewer than Dolan or Weimann last season I think). Decent in the air and hold-up play good. Defensive attributes better than forward ones for me. The idea that VI doesn`t fancy him to start I have no idea about that. Not the worst non-scoring centre-forward that`s rocked up at Ewood. But we would still need another player to finish the moves off if Ohasi was injured. Of course he might improve. Then again he might not.

If they offer anything remotely reasonable for Gueye (£2 million?),I think we have to snap their hands off. Leaves us desperate up front, though. Leonard is injury-prone and not up to Championship standard. He needs a loan. Anyone think Buckley could do a job as a "false nine". Maybe a "very false nine". Lets be honest, he isn`t going to make the grade in any other position, even after years of potential promise. Takes a decent penalty, though! Maybe we would just have to play without a striker if Ohashi unavailable. Worked for Arsenal!

Interesting how this has morphed from the transfer thread to the Dolan thread to the "exiting " thread to now...the Wrexham thread. At least it isn`t the Derby(or Eustace)thread. That really is a bridge too far!!

You are bang on, Mercer! Cannot fault anyone for severe ambition(especially a footballer). No one covered the hard yards better than Dolan. The best back-tracking winger we have seen at Ewood since Ripley(IMHO). Not great going forward,but NEVER went missing which is easy for a wide player. His ambition far outweighs his quality,but that is to his credit he makes the most out of what he has got!

Shows we need two(as a bare minimum)extra central defenders as Carter & Wharton are always injured or unavailable. Lets hope McLoughlin takes one of the slots. What happens if Hyam gets injured or sent-off?(Sent-off somewhat unlikely I know!!) He is rather a unique players for Rovers in completing so many games!

The only positive I can take is that you don`t want a scenario like at Man Ure where they have 5 players(Garnacho,Malacia,Rashford,Antony & Sancho)collecting approx.£1 million a week in wages(according to the BBC) and the manager doesn`t want them. Don`t train with the first team squad. There are done for him. Also weakens the club`s bargaining position to sell at a high price. So the low cost ,low wages ,young player model is dependant on very good scouting and a lot of luck to work! Very high risk and interesting. It won`t look so good and interesting if we are bottom of the League. The idea: don`t get promoted(way too much financial outlay will then be required) but don`t get relegated either(not enough revenue coming in ). Due acknowledgement to Tomphil2 that looks like the strategy(if you can call it that)!

Like Booth,I`m not a Brittain fan. I have no problem with us selling him for what we can get. He is very good going forward,but always strikes me as soft defensively. My issue is that some of those funds won`t be used to offer decent contracts to Travis & Tronstad who are probably vastly superior to their replacements(if even replacements by obscure foreign League footballers are contemplated). Difficult times indeed, !

If you didn`t say "Pathetic" Chaddy how come you have edited your own comments?

Don`t you mean patience Chaddy? I agree the transfer dealings so far are "Pathetic"☺️

Must be difficult to drum up positivity in the players left when VI sees his decimated squad. No way under Earth`s starry firmanent they can replace Dolan(worth only £1 million apparently) at that level for the money saved including wages without extraordinary luck! Must be his re-sale value isn`t high so they don`t care! I know the lad has his limitations,but he`s far superior to Hedges or anyone else we have as a wide forward plus isn`t permanently injured and does get involved. The absolute reversal of Buckley or Corey Evans, Guthrie etc etc The only contract renewals aka Hedges, Forshaw are players who have no other takers. VI will seriously earn his corn if he stays(and keeps us up).

The most positive thing I can come up with for the forthcoming season is that we won`t have to play the Dingles. At least not in the League, and I sincerely hope not in either Cup competitions !!

Yes,right on. De Keersmaecker would be more than positive. Rather have Garrett, even(dare I say it) Buckley than Gore. Makes the Forshaw re-signing more positive by the day!

I guess it comes down to whether there are three teams worse than Rovers next season. Don`t think Birmingham or Wrexham are two of them. Its not just the lack of a proper budget,its the failure to tie decent Championship players down to any reasonable contracts post Broughton. This neurotic obsession with cutting the wage bill! Whatever VI certainly has his work cut out.