Admiral Nelsen

Completely agree, and to be fair he admits himself that he was garbage. I'm just saying that even when players are not targeted by fans at the ground (although I guess Brown got a bit of stick at Ewood too) it's amazingly difficult for them to escape stick from other quarters. Also, if anyone is stuck for Christmas present ideas in a few months time, you could do worse than to get one of these.

Interesting point this, I was thinking about something similar after Amari'i Bells tweet yesterday. I one hundred percent agree that Rovers fans have not been a difficult bunch to play in front of since L1, and Brereton has for the most part had nothing but encouragement from the terraces. But like you allude to, unlike players of even 10 years ago, unless you're that rare footballer with no social media presence, there's simply no getting away from the torrent of comments about you if you have a bad game. You're right that the abusive direct messages are from a minority of idiots, but a minority of 15,000 fans at Ewood and tens of thousands more away from the ground is a lot of people telling you that you're no good, and if you're one of the ones who gets picked in then it can be particularly grim. I remember David Goodwillie, admittedly not a man who deserves too much sympathy, once giving away a last minute penalty in an evening game against (I think) Brighton, and the amount of abuse he got on twitter after full-time directed at him really took me aback. And that's just the abuse, the amount of posts which might not be as direct but still give stick to players is far greater, and Brereton will have been getting plenty of that for almost two years. Take Chris Brown. He was explaining on his podcast that he was palpably aware of how much Rovers fans thought he was a waste of space. He mentioned the 'Has Chris Brown Scored Yet?' twitter account, which was just a bit of fun and hardly in the abuse category, but clearly he saw it and it got to him. I agree that part of being a high-profile sportsman is about being mentally strong enough to deal with pressure and fans questioning you, and with any luck Brereton will be the sort that will come through it and still be a good player for us. But there's no getting away that Rovers fans being patient with Ben at games will only have been part of the story, and having to deal with the thousands upon thousands of less patient comments from being a 19 year old boy will have taken huge mental strength.

Perhaps, perhaps not. I think as number 10s go he already gets through quite a lot of work, and if he's the most attacking player in a midfield three then at least he wouldn't have the same defensive demands, but let's see. I think there's a chance of him playing deeper and him still having a real impact with his goals anyway, but time will tell if that's the road we go down.

Nothing to get too excited about just yet I don't think, one of their young players being signed for the U23s.

I share the worries about how not playing him as a 10 might mean that we don't see Dack at his best, but if we're playing a standard 4-3-3 then in theory it could work out like you say. Like a Championship Frank Lampard.

Was just saying exactly the same to my dad. No idea what sort of career the boy will have, and one thing which is definitely coming across (other than that the lad can play) is that he's bursting at the seams seems with enthusiasm. Great, but he won't be making his debut every week so you would imagine that we'll be seeing a fairer representation of his ability after abut 10-15 games rather than now. Even so, if I was a PNE fan, I'd be frothing at the mouth about letting him leave to another Lancashire club after seeing his performances so far.

I know that's an away, but I've always been impressed how Bolton manage to take such an inoffensive concept like a plain white shirt and every year find a way to make it look disgusting.

Am I missing something about Nyambe? The way that we're talking it's like he's been kept out the side like Harry Chapman. He played more than 30 league games last year, a similar number the year previous and this is a player who has missed a lot of football through injury, not just not being picked. I don't know why his contract situation is what it is, but if he doesn't sign I doubt it's because he doesn't think he plays enough.

Whilst I don't blame Mulgrew for feeling frustrated, this is ultimately just evidence of Mowbray doing his job. The weird thing is why he came back from Wigan last year when he could have carried on playing at this level.

I would have taken Elliot in front of some of the other names mentioned as our first choice at the start of the summer, so whilst I'd question the attitude of someone who gets to his stage of his career with so few appearances, as a back up that's a great option.

No info at all, but the same fake account on twitter who said that we bid for Dillon Phillips has come out with that one I think, nothing to worry about I suspect.

Not relevant to our situation, but Paul Merson went to the Championship when he was offered a new contract at Arsenal. Admittedly, that was because Boro were paying him more than Dennis Bergkamp was getting at Highbury, which I don't think is the case with us and Kipre! On Kipre, if his fee is 900k, then surely any prem club that wants him just goes ahead and gets him. I think one way or another, he'll be holding up a Rovers shirt or a WBA shirt by Saturday evening, all depending on whether they actually fancy him or not.

Yes, must admit it jars seeing full backs playing on the wrong side. Having said that, I seem to remember one game where it worked out quite well for Chimbonda!

Agree with the sentiment, but I think it's an enormous risk to not get at least one more centre back in for me. I'm more than happy to get Wharton in and let him compete for a place, but we have to plan for the possbility that neither him nor Carter are up to it for this season, and that just leaves Lenihan & Williams who are both injury prone.

Those who are watching, any other stand outs apart from Brereton?

BB with his second!

1 - 0 Rovers, Brereton header!

To be fair to him, I don't think that was a Venkys reference - I think he's done that plenty of times before.

Purely speculatively, if we were getting several hundred thousand for him then I think that we could probably put that to better use - not least because he picks up injuries a bit too often for me. Otherwise, perfectly decent back up option.

Swansea are supposedly after Ayala. Supposedly they aren't awash with money & even with the lad from Wolves, they need to replace some of their attacking loans from last year. If they're after Williams they've either got a few more quid than they're letting on, or they've abandoned getting Ayala in my view.

This is exactly where I'm at with him. If we could go back, there's no way I'd have spent that sort of fee on him, even if the money couldn't have been spent elsewhere. Even so, if a 21 year old Brereton came out of the academy and gave the performances that he did post lockdown, we would all be saying that he looks a clumsy player, but one with plenty to offer. Graham & Samuel clocked up about 40-50 appearances between them last year and have been let go without a replacement, so whether he merits it or not, BB is going to be getting a decent run of games if he stays fit. Quite simply, he has to take this year to step up, we can't wait forever.

Whilst I think we'll miss Downing more than some are saying, you're undoubtedly right. Fortunately it looks as though this is how Mowbray sees it too.

Fair enough, wouldn't disagree that he has made his fair share of mistakes at both left back & centre half. In retrospect, it's easy to see why his best form came in a back three at Bristol City. Ultimately though, he'll need replacing and that won't be all that straightforward at present. You could still argue that he is our best left back (admittedly not saying very much) and even allowing for a new centre back, Williams is second choice. He's one of a group of players that we have who you definitely wouldn't want to see making 20-30 appearances a season, but is a good player to have to fill in when necessary. I still think that if we've got a semi-decent offer for him, or if he actively wants to go, there's no point in keeping him, but I wouldn't be rushing him out the door either.

Seem to remember that there were some rumblings about Williams going to the MLS a while back, maybe they've resurfaced? Agree with those who're saying he's perfectly serviceable backup, but if he wants to go then there's nothing gained in standing in his way.

Not quite! Him & Gally are stretching it slightly with being in their mid-30s, but how many teams can say that they have produced a full starting XI of players who were/are good level Championship players at the very least over a 10-12 year period? Suppose Mahoney might be an exception to that, but I forgot Pilkington so we could just play him there instead.