Some big calls from Southgate which I didn't expect, so fair play to him for that. I'm slightly uneasy about leaving Rashford out. He's obviously been very poor this season and doesn't deserve his place, but nobody else offers the pace and power running in behind like he does. He's always been good for England too, so I'd have been tempted to find a place in the squad. Maybe Gordon can be that player coming off the bench. 

13 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Without seeing either player play, I think those last few words would sum it up...you can't prove much about your goalkeeping playing in the SPL with a few European games thrown in. Couldn't break into Palace or Manure's teams.

Take your point, playing for Celtic/Rangers is arguably better preparation for a keeper compared to a relegation fodder prem team. You're not expecting to make 7 or 8 saves a game, but you need to be mistake free under massive pressure. 

I've no idea how disappointed to be by this news - but there's no doubt whatsoever that he hasn't been given the tools to do his job. 

11 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Im not sure on renewing McFadzean's deal. I think hes very much helped in doing the job this season, amidst a very defensive set up trying to scrape over the line. That being said, I was hoping that wed move away from the back 5, backs to the walls, incapable of attacking style that weve seen as a short term stop gap. If McFadzean plays thats the only way we can play.

You can play with a back 3/5 and be more attacking, so I don't particularly mind if we stay like that. I think the issue with McFadzean is he forces us to defend really deep - be it a back 3 or a back 4 - because of his lack of pace. 

I'd be happy to keep him as back up on the cheap and I respect what he has done for us in his short time here, but if he starts more than a handful of games for us then it tells us a lot about the sort of season that we'll be having. And it isn't good. 

1 hour ago, M_B said:

I wouldn't be too hasty with Pears,he's young for a keeper, and this season might just stand him in good stead. 

Yes, he's dropped a couple of clangers, but if anyone thinks we'll sign a keeper who doesn't, they will be in for disappointment. 

The improved defensive displays have come with Pears in goal. It looks like we've a coach who can set up a defence,it'll be interesting if Eustace gives him his support going forward. 

Not for me. He's dropped more than a couple of clangers and it's not as though he compensates for them by making lots of unbelievable saves. 

He's 26 - so pretty young for a keeper but not to the point where he can use it as an excuse. There was probably a bit of an overreaction to the Sheffield Wednesday howler(s), and I'd happily have him on the bench. But at the same time his and Leo's errors were almost the difference between us going down or finishing comfortably safe.

There's a capable enough keeper in there, but he's too error prone to have as 1st choice.

Really tough to limit this to three. Partially because we need more, but also because we don't know how we're setting up and how we play has a really big impact on whether certain players are in the i) flawed but useful or ii) get rid completely categories. 

Looking at the reasons why we came within a hair's breadth of going down, the biggest factors by a distance were goalkeeping errors and Sammie having to be our sole decent attacking outlet. So GK and forward are absolute necessities, irrespective of how we want to play. 

After that, Trondstad playing alongside JRC/Trav is decent if not very creative. We'll 100% need another centre half if we play three at the back, but I'd say a second new forward is probably the most urgent.

But yeah, we definitely need more than three.

16 hours ago, Bethnal said:

Think he’s had some shockers this year, but he’s had a lot going on, I think someone has mentioned personal issues, off-field. I don’t think he’s someone we should be getting rid of, but he has ti hit the ground running and improve back to last season’s level, early doors.

Yeah, a lot of recency-bias going on with Hyam I think. A bad season for his standards and a particularly poor few games in the last couple of months, but on form he's still our best centre back. Carter's ceiling is higher, but he's not there yet.

Factor in that JDT's system is almost tailor made to expose centre-backs like Hyam who aren't that quick or pass the ball like Beckenbauer, we should expect much better from him next year.

18 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

How bad were our loans this season

moran? I thought he was meant to be the gem, miles off it, don’t see him making it at Brighton 

ayari- didn’t see anything 

chrisene- should probably have played more, might make it as a champ player 

our best one was hill and he scarpered back as soon as he could to escape the shit show 

I think they show how tricky it is to get players who are ready to do a full Championship season unless you're going for the most expensive loans. It's a seriously tough league, and a baptism of fire players with no experience of men's football.

Moran is a perfect case in point. He had a half dozen appearances under JDT where he looked like a very handy player. But We flogged him too much when too many of our other attackers were injured, and he never recovered. I think he'll probably be a decent player at some point, but this season was a real shock to the system for him.

I was worried that it would be too much too soon for Chrisene and Ayari too, but they both won me round to a point. I think our problem was that we were relying on loans to be too important to our squad.

3 minutes ago, danger19_80 said:

Plymouth aside Mcfadzean has been brilliant for us

His deficiencies are there for all to see, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that we go down this year without signing him.

It's panic stations if we go into next year with him being anything other than cover, but he's played a massive part. 

21 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Do we think Chrisene is available? I’d 100% take a punt on him (if cheap) as cover for LB.

Main Priorities for me is striker and some pace on the flanks.

On loan? I think he would be and I'd definitely take him so long as Villa aren't looking for silly money.

It remains to be seen how we set up next season - and that probably makes a big difference if we want to play with wing backs or not - but he's grown on me as the season has progressed. 

20 minutes ago, J*B said:

We didn’t mention it at the time - but this feels like the moment to, when Tony’s diagnosis was announced we sent him a card, some blue and white flowers and his favourite chocolates on behalf of BRFCS members…

Love that you did this, well done. 

1 hour ago, CambridgeRover said:

Did his job. No complaints. Passing grade. Dont think he is any great shakes but happy to see what he can do

I wouldn't go that far. He was brought in to fight fires, so you cut him some slack, but the results haven't been good enough all in all. 

Having said that though, his first task was just to keep us up and he's delivered. Give him a pre-season and a transfer window and see what he can do. I bet Birmingham fans are wishing they still had him in charge!

43 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Really, Admiral? Not my experience, at all. I don’t recall anybody around me ever singing JDT’s praises even when riding high.

Whereas Teflon Tony could do no wrong until the bitter end. Maybe I somehow ended up sat in the Saint Anthony fan club, but I doubt it.

 

We must sit in different parts of the ground! I think there was always a bit of suspicion that his style of football would end in tears, but I always got the sense that he was personally very popular. Compare him to Big Sam for instance, who I always got the sense was tolerated rather than liked.  

The trouble with Mowbray is that he didn't have a bitter end as much as a bitter middle, and that bitter middle was when we legally had to stay away from football grounds. He was never going to get stick when we were in a promotion/play off shout in his last season (at least until about April anyway). 

5 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Obviously I’m talking about match goers, Mowbray was anything but popular on here.

You think Ewood really took to JDT, especially when you consider how well he did last season? I don’t.

Lets not confuse this place, with IRL.

I think that's completely right, but again, nobody was a match goer when things were going badly for Mowbray. If we didn't do so well in the first season back post-covid, we would've heard much more discontent. I think you could tell in his interviews towards the end that he didn't exactly feel flavour of the month anymore, even if he still had his backers.

And I can only speak as I find, but I genuinely don't remember anything at Ewood towards Tomasson which wasn't praise until possibly right towards the end. In fact I'd say he was one of the most popular managers we've had in my time watching Rovers. It says something about the fans being behind him when goals are conceded and the crowd immediately turns on the CEO and not the manager.

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I’d say going into Sunday the match going fans seemed content enough with him… but I think there’s a fair few doubts creeping in now.

Not sure that makes him ‘unpopular’, but then this is Rovers fans, they loved Mogga, never took to JDT, so who knows!

I think both were a lot more complicated that that! Mowbray had spells where he was loved but he was fortunate the covid season was behind closed doors. Wasn't there a poll on here (highly unrepresentative, granted) around then that showed about 99% wanted him gone? I never got the sense that match going fans were anything other than very supportive of JDT either, although to be fair there were plenty that were never really convinced about playing out from the back.

On Eustace, I agree that there definitely seem to be some grumblings on the last few home games' evidence. Fair or not, it's probably to be expected when you're not winning. I'm a season ticket holder who does a few aways, and I've not seen us win since November, so nobody's going to be happy in those circumstances.

I think he'll get a clean(ish) slate from a lot of fans so long as we stay up. Everyone can see that the squad has issues and he came into a pretty grim situation, so whilst this hasn't exactly been a Hughes/Big Sam-esque rescue, if we can stumble over the line he can be judged a bit more fairly next season.

36 minutes ago, philipl said:

No matter how we approach this game, it is an absolutely must win for Wednesday.

That should make it very open.

I would stick with 3 at the back to counter the alehouse tactics from Wednesday freekicks, throwins and corners.

Agree - their results have improved but everything I've seen of them (including when we lost at Hillsborough) indicates that they are a very poor side. 

They were getting absolutely battered by Norwich until they scored from two corners, so I'd match them with three centre backs and back us to have more quality. 

Good to hear that Vale is impressing. He turns 24 next year, so I think it's best for all concerned that he goes elsewhere to play regular games. We won't get much for him, but maybe a couple of hundred grand and a decent sell on is better than we would've managed in January. 

4 minutes ago, Neal said:

Bacuna is pony. Flatters to deceive, looks a worldie when on it but it's few and far between. Sh*te mentality. There's probably a manager that can squeeze the talent out of him somewhere though. 

For some reason I expected him to be a sicknote, but I've looked again and he seems to have played near enough every game. 

I must've seen him on his good days, and his goals probably helps mask some of the weaker aspects to his game. I like how physical he is - it's really stood out comparing him to some of our midfielders when we've played them. 

7 minutes ago, B16Rover said:

Of those I think wages wise we are priced out of Stoke players, potentially Blues players too due to their new owners.  Just chucking names into the ether 

Some interesting ones there. As a rule I don't like going for players just relegated and used to losing every week, but that doesn't always work. 

I don't think they'll go down, but there are massive red flags around Chair and especially Willock from QPR. Talentwise they should both be amongst the best players in the league (and might be beyond our reach), but they've looked like they've downed tools for really long spells over the last few years. Risky. 

I'd definitely be interested in James and Bacuna from Big Club. There'll be loads of interest in James though with him being so young. 

Don't think I'd take anyone from Wednesday. Rathbone stands out because of his name and that he always seems to do well against us, but he's older than I thought he was. Wouldn't be against signing him for the right price. 

2 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

It is only a few times , I have seen him but the Rotherham keeper is better than anything we have ...

Granted a relegation keeper is always busy ..

Doesn't appear to make the howlers , ours do ..

I think he'll be in the Championship next year. No idea of what he'll cost (£1million?) or if we'll be interested, but he's a good keeper. 

1 hour ago, J*B said:

Priority List - 

Keeper: Pears & Leo both shown they're incapable at different periods. Leo will likely stay and develop as No2, can't see Pears ego letting him stay as No2. Sell Pears, buy a No1.

RB: We only have one right back. Brittain needs competition. 

CB: Don't want either Koumetio or McFadz and we need five CBs in the squad. Carter, Hyam, NEW, Wharton, ORoirdon. 

LB: Pickering is our only left back. If possible I'd sign Christene, I think he's significantly better than Pickering.

CM: Existing viable options are Tronstad, JRC, Buckley. Will Travis come back? Based on what we've seen it'll either be Tronstad or Travis, will Travis accept that? Will Buckley ever come good? I don't want: Fleck, Garrett or Ayari. That means I need at least one creative CM with another needed if Travis doesn't want to stay.

Wide Players: Unlike others, I've been really impressed with Sigurdsson. He didn't have a pre-season and clearly signed for JDT who was subsequently forced out. I like Dolan, he can be frustrating but he's capable. Hedges is a very good player to keep within the squad. I make that three players and ideally want four. Hopefully Markanday is sold, he's shown glimpses but in the most part has been terrible. 

Strikers: Szmodics is obviously vital to our club. Gallagher should be sold in the summer - he has his positives but his contract is running out, he clearly wanted the Ipswich move and he's never achieved stats to back up what we paid for him initially nor his high contract. Telalovic and Vale need to be sold, frankly I'd be fine seeing both released on a free. 

I therefore think across signings, loans and promotions we need to fill the below, colour coded as 'green = must be experienced and permanent, yellow = could be a short term loan with a buy option, red = could be a young player either purchased or promoted'.

I tried to think of how I'd look at our priorities in the summer, but I'm struggling because so much of it depends on if/how we decide we want to play.

We talk a lot on here about whether player X, Y or Z is good enough, but I think a bigger problem we have is that we have a squad that clearly haven't been assembled to fit a certain way of playing. Letting Travis go on loan was a shocking decision, but then there's no point keeping him if we want our midfielders to play like Wharton. Similarly, there's no point in keeping Gallagher if we're not going to play to his strengths (which then wouldn't really suit Dolan and Markanday, etc.). I don't especially care how we play, just so long as we start recruiting in a way which is a bit less scattergun and more strategic. 

Having said all that, I think you're completely right about needing a new keeper, and we're at least one full back short. I don't hate our midfield options if we're  going to be playing a more Travis-friendly game. We need another centre back if we're playing 3 there, but Hyam Wharton and Carter are all decent options in a standard set-up and I wouldn't be spending our limited resources on an upgrade. The big question marks are in attack. We definitely need more quality there to either help or replace Szmodics, but who we go for (and who we let go) for me is a function of how we want to play.

Must say that you rate Siggy more highly than I do. He has ability, but he lets far too many games pass him by. Beyond his fairly average goal return, I don't think he's contributed anything really. 

19 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Bit young to remember that but didn’t shay given go about that time. Does anyone remember what happened with that ?

To be fair I was only about 7 or 8 myself. I'm sure it didn't take long for those at the time to realise it was bad deal, but I think it's only with hindsight you realise *just* how bad it was. It's the equivalent now of spending well upwards of £50 million (probably more) on a dud whilst at the same time giving away a Rovers fan who ended up playing for England just a couple of years later. An absolute scandal.

Given I think was much more forgivable. It was a couple of years earlier and he couldn't get a game when Flowers was fit, so didn't sign a new deal. 

12 hours ago, 47er said:

James Beattie! What a fiasco that was!

I'm still angry about that. When you take inflation into consideration, it must be up there as one of the worst bits of business in the PL era. 

17 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

Let's not pretend the grounds with the biggest crowds are the easiest places to play. It might not work because Wednesday are shit but 7,000 fans should spur them on and Waggott couldn't care less. It's a bonus we didn't need to give them.

Cause and effect going on there though. Maybe the grounds with the biggest crowds are also the clubs that can afford to buy the best players?

I'm pretty sceptical of massive away followings making much of a difference. How many times have we brought 4 - 6k to PNE, Wigan and Bolton over the last ten years or so and still underperformed? I'm just looking forward to seeing Ewood a bit more full to honest. 

12 hours ago, rovers11 said:

There surely can be no excuses for not spending money this summer. We are told that Venkys can now send money across, barring some small "minor technical challenges"; we sold Wharton for £22m; are getting circa £4m for Raya; more TV money to the tune of around £2m; and Sammie will go for around £10-12m. That's £40m+ in revenue. I know most of that is paid in instalments but we can also pay transfer fees in instalments too.

I fully expect a summer of spending buttons, making administrative 'mistakes' on any transfer involving a fee, and signing non-entities like Telalovic, though. We are now purely all about developing young players and have been for some time. There's no ambition to get promoted. 

I wouldn't give a penny to Broughton anyway. I dread to think how much money he'd waste. His record in the transfer market is atrocious. Anyone who thinks we should pay a fee for Leo, our worst GK in history, clearly does not have an eye for a player. 

Hard to say that when he's not been given any serious money in the first place. Leo obviously wasn't ready, but the other significant fees paid for players since he's been here are Szmodics, Brittain and Hyam. The latter two have had their struggles this season, but it's hardly an atrocious record. 

There are a couple of dodgy loans and frees in there too I suppose, but that's to be expected when he isn't given any money to work with. And you'd set that against bringing in Tronstad on a free.