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. 

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Think people are confusing brfcs with real life again.

Not sure I’ve heard a single negative comment about him ‘IRL’. All this ‘folk are against him because they see him as a Swag, appointment, a yes man’ is pure brfcs stuff. He seems more popular with match goers than JDT ever was already.

 

Agree generally, but I wouldn't go as far as to say he's more popular that JDT ever was. There were more shouts of Euseless near where I am in the BB end at the Ipswich game than I thought was fair, albeit they seemed like lone voices!

It seems like most are giving him quite a lot of rope this season, so long as we stay up. I certainly haven't made my mind up on him yet and I get the sense that most are broadly in the same boat. 

3 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Pace, pace, pace, pace, pace.

That's the difference between a lot of teams - Plymouth had it in spades so caused us all sorts of problems on the break. It's why they beat Leicester last night too. 

Definitely, I'd add power and general hold up play to that. We have attackers who have got something to offer at this level, but none of them really are effective out-balls. A player like Danny Graham, admittedly not a quick player, would see us get so much more from the likes of Dolan, Markanday etc.

1 minute ago, joey_big_nose said:

I think Hedges is one of our few players who I can see stepping up a level like Szmodics and Diaz have in the past. But his injury record is horrendous and he can't settle a run of a games. 

In terms of all round ability he's got a lot going for him - great workrate, strong, a goal threat, reasonable pace. He rarely does less than a 7/10 performance and the odd one better than that. How we get him to play more than half a dozen games in a row is the problem. Similar to JRC in that regard.

Pointing to his injury record is fair enough. Perhaps If he could strong together 15-20 appearances then he could kick on. 

I think goal threat is stretching it a bit though. At Aberdeen yes, but how many has he got for us since being here? A few, but not enough to say that's really a feature of his game. 7/10 most weeks, with reasonable pace and decent strength sums him up really well I think, but I'm not as optimistic as you that he has another level in him. 

Compare that to JRC, who you could really see as being a key player in a promotion chasing team if he could stay on the pitch. 

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

His best position is on the right. He has a good shot too, so when he can turn inside he can be dangerous

At the moment, comfortably in our best 11 for me. Last season, maybe not, but we have such a void in attacking talent at the moment and Hedges stands out for me as one of the best options

He's a better footballer than Sigurdsson in my eyes

Agree that he currently gets in our best team. Sigurdsson has been very disappointing so far, although his best moments suggest he might have more ability than Hedges (Watford goal aside!). Quite different players, admittedly. 

He's solid at this level. If he starts 30+ games on the right of a front three he'd probably have a half decent goal return and he'd set up a few. But I don't think there's any particular aspect of his game that I'd say is outstanding, even at Championship level. In fact you'd probably say the best thing about him is that he's well rounded and adaptable enough to do a job in lots of positions. But I think that sums him up, he does a job. 

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Hedges is 100% in our best 11. He's probably the best footballer we have now. If he had Szmodics' natural fitness he'd be fantastic at this level

I don't think we'll have as much success this game as we did against Southampton. They aren't as slow on the ball, which allows us to get back in to shape. The way Eustace sets his team up suits the underdog more. In games where we should dominate the ball more, the lack of quality and attacking emphasis will show up more

Going to go for another bore draw

I'm lukewarm on Hedges. I don't think he really excels at anything in any position to be honest, but he's tidy enough on the ball and reasonably quick and broad shouldered. Lots of our other options are lacking either in size or ability, so he balances the team and doesn't go missing like others have the tendency to do.

I'm happy enough to have him in the squad, but if he's comfortably in our best XI then it doesn't say much about the rest of them to be honest. 

1 hour ago, benhben said:

How old is Buckley now? 23/24 with probably 100+ games at first team level. Hes no better than when he broke out of the U21s. Unfortunately I think we've got to realise hell never be an answer. Its telling that JDT and JE both dont seem to fancy him.

Might have a bit of transfer value that could be invested wisely....not that we can trust our lot to A. Give us the money and B. Invest it properly. 

He definitely is. We forget how raw Buckley looked until he had at least 50 or games under his belt. He's still flawed and inconsistent, but he was like a little boy when he was first in the team. 

You'd say that he hasn't really kicked on since Mowbray's last season when he started to look the business. Injuries and not being fancied by JDT didn't help, but he has to take responsibility too. Big season for him next time around, because you're right that he can't be considered a youngster anymore. 

2 hours ago, AJW said:

A win against Sheffield Wed and a point against Bristol City or Coventry will be enough 

I've found a situation where we go down with three draws - but I've had to be ultra generous to some of the other teams down there and even then we're only one point below where we need to be. 

Realistically I think 3 points vs Wednesday will do us, but 4 points however they come will be absolutely be enough bar a freakish set of results. 

2 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Think we need 4 more and we get 7 including a win midweek

bristol - win

leeds- loss

sheff we’d- win

Coventry- draw

leicester- loss 

I know Cov are on great form, but I'd be targeting a win there because of the week they'll have beforehand. Play United at Wembley on the Sunday and then play again midweek before playing us on the Saturday.