Admiral Nelsen

Everything I hear about Cooper is that he sounds exactly what we need. Some rumours around clubs with bigger budgets, but nothing from the Prem, so might be doable if we're patient. Failing that, I'd like to try for Liam Lindsay, but again we'll probably have to hope that doesn't turn into an auction. Not sure if the Freeman ship has sailed, but I think he'd be perfect if we're hoping to play more of a passing style. I'd be more than happy if we spent the bulk of our budget on one of those defenders and Freeman, with loans and more affordable players filling spots in goal, as Graham back up and perhaps as cover in attacking midfield/wing.

Imagine this is going to be a tough read in parts, but far more deserving of a book than 99% of other footballers who churn them out. Still can't believe Tord Gripp & Sven opted for Keown. A fifth centre back in a maximum 7 game tournament). Total madness.

Really find it surprising how he wasn't a megastar post-Rovers. An absolute colossus once he got used to the league and ironed out the odd concentration error. Even 70% of Samba at his pomp is what we're crying out for. Sadly he's not likely to be as good as that.

Is this just a nod in the direction to FFP though? I.e. that external investment in players & a top academy is vital, but if we don't see it back in kind with either a promotion or player trading then we're limited in how much we can spend?

It would be interesting to see how Dack would do at this level when there clear danger-men all over the park (hopefully this may be us next year with Rothwell playing a more prominent role). I recall in the better periods under Bowyer that Rudy, Conway, King and Cairney all had their best runs by far when other teams couldn't afford to just target one player. Marshall too played his best football by a mile when he wasn't our go-to creative outlet. Strangely Rhodes was better in my view when the rest of the team was awful, but that was probably an exception! Anyway, back on Dack, I think most teams have targeted him this year, but his goals & assists suggest that plenty didn't manage it! Totally accept that he has struggled at times though, and that better teams in the Prem would find this easier. I think my point is better made when looking at a player that our 6 fingered friends down the road had. If a pre-injury Jay Rodriguez was the star man in a top flight team, I'd say that he could be made to look like he wasn't all that special rather easily. Put him in a Southampton team with 4 or 5 other danger-men, then he flourishes to the extent that he gets an England jersey. I could see a similar sort of thing happening with Dack. Come to think of it, I think you could probably say the same about most attacking talent that comes up through the lower leagues (with the odd exception like Vardy). Some of them are definitely up to it in the right team, but if the rest of the squad are below that level, then not only does the team struggle, but it probably has a knock on effect on how well the player performs as an individual with too much responsibility on their shoulders.

There's something to be said for Dack being the main man in this league, he's clearly our dangerman and plenty of teams have taken the approach 'stop Dack, stop Blackburn'. For what it's worth, I think Dack's of the quality of a good (not CL) top fight team, but probably not to be talisman like he is for us now. Wouldn't put him in the same class as Le Tiss or Dunny (I'm still one of those who think under slightly different circumstances, Dunny would've played for one of the elite clubs with 50 caps for England). They could do it despite being marked men. But I see no reason whatsover if he was in Bournemouth's, Watford's, West Ham's teams, along with a few others, that he wouldn't slot right in there and do well. Playing with better players would do him the world of good in my opinion.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/5975839.rovers-deny-pirlo-swoop/ Not a bad foil for Keane. Wasn't Miranda (ex Atletico & Brazil CB) linked heavily with us in the £50 million warchest days?

Don't know why I'm actually putting myself through this, but I wonder what said XI would actually look like. Just the ones you mention are half way to being a world class side. To be fair, not that outlandish that we could've signed one or both if we had different priorities of spending the Bentley & Friedel money. Money paid for Robinson, Grella, Andrews & the money we found for Diouf would've been comfortably more than £6million

Can't argue with almost all of that. All I'd say that is that Hughes level of success in the transfer market (and even he was responsible for some turkeys; Rigters, Vogel, Berner to name 3) is an awfully high standard to judge everyone else towards. Fitness levels too for that matter, was it Mourinho who said that the Rovers team of that period were the fittest in the league? I'd look at his signings a bit more favourably too. Dack is the only player who'd go for megabucks, but we'd have to say that Rothwell & Armstrong would go down as good investments who would feasibly go for big sums in the future. Too early to say with Chapman or Davenport, but the odds are decent. You could even argue that BB is too early in his career to be confident one way or the other about he's going to develop, but that's not a hill I'm willing to die on.

It's one of four categories that countries can be assigned to after being given a score on various things, civil liberties, free elections, levels of corruption etc. i) Full Democracy, ii) Flawed Democracy iii) Hybrid Regime iv) Authoritarian The definition for flawed democracies are states in which "elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honoured but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement). These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance." Not perfect labels by any means (the US is classed as a flawed democracy too).

Feel similar about this than I do about Downing; could be astute if the rest of this summer's business is of the right calibre. I'd be disappointed if he's there to be a replacement for Reed with nobody else coming in, but a bit of experience probably wouldn't go amiss if we're looking for Travis & Davenport to make big contributions.

As much as this would be amazing, it's probably either: i) A story to try and put pressure on Leeds to sell ii) A story literally made up from nowhere to get a site which nobody has heard of a bit of attention. Having said all that, Nixon reckons that there's nothing in it, so expect the Quataris at Ewood holding Rovers scarves aloft within the month.

Couldn't really think of an appropriate thread to put this, but here's an unexpected link which has a vanishingly small probability of even having the slightest chance of being true http://sportsrecents.com/psg-president-nasser-al-khelaifi-wants-to-takeover-blackburn-rovers/?fbclid=IwAR0oagGPaKjO0WTgfxEv-XmUbSOQuC2D6YYTlJUOLnbupfXFjFUlemnqfoQ

I've only really seen him in the play off final, but he looked a quality above that level at least. Carried the ball excellently, looked unbelievably athletic. The sort of player you think TM may have had in mind when we signed Samuel

I actually quite like the first two, we've definitely had worse away kits. Can't say I'm overly fond of the third one though!

Would love this. I know no club treats its away shirts as particularly sacrosanct, but I've always thought that a club like ours which more than any other in the country is associated with a particular style of shirt, I don't know why we don't play on that more in our away kits and stick to halves. Colours could easily change; red & black halves, yellow & black halves, yellow & blue haves, whatever.

Can't speak about last year, but he played centre mid most weeks when he was at West Ham under Big Sam. Not sure how this would work in our system, he's not going to be number 10 so can he play as deep as he would need to play centrally? Probably not, but he's certainly more versatile than an out-and-out winger. I'm thinking Big Sam era Pedersen. This is the crux of it for me. If he's a Conway replacement, I'm completely okay with it, even pleased with it. If his wages are as high as 15k a week, suddenly that would put him amongst our higher earners and that would definitely be too much of an outlay for me. Waggott seems to be putting quite a lot of emphasis on the Mowbray and Venus links, so hopefully that would be more about convincing him with what we have on the football side rather than offering the biggest contract. My view in a nutshell

Can't say for a minute that the Downing link fills me with excitement. Some of the above comments are making me a little more optimistic that this could work out though, sensible wages permitting. Links with previous ageing flops are natural, but I think a big difference with Downing is that he won't be expected to be the main man. Murphy and Whittingham were both seen as a class above the leagues they found themselves in, and should dominate at that level, but clearly weren't up to it physically. This becomes all the worse when it turns out that the rest of the team aren't up to playing the sort of possession based football that they we're brought in for. Not saying for a minute that this is going to be a roaring success, but if Downing is brought in for one the three behind the striker, then you'd expect that defenders will be concerned enough about shutting down Dack & Rothwell that Downing would have a bit of room to work with. Might end up being a shrewd move as a Conway replacement with an eye on playing the ball on the deck a lot more. Ultimately, we'll be judging the success of the window on getting our defensive issues solved, getting good back up for DG, and probably getting a Reed replacement. So long as we get those bases covered, won't be losing too much sleep over Downing.

Great shout. Believe he can play all across the back four too? Could be a very shrewd signing.

Keep a player for 4-5 seasons, his value might end up going up substantially just through player inflation

This fella? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48471401 No matter what you think about the Scottish league, doing that as a 19 year old is impressive, especially when you're playing for one of the smaller sides. Even so, I think we're done spending big money on potential, this season has to be about investing funds who can definitely come in and do it now imo. £3million could get us near Luke Freeman, for instance.

Don't know enough about all the players you mention to say one way or another, but I agree entirely with where you see the squad. Definitely the bit about Bell. He for sure has some more improving to do, but I think one of the missed stories from our bad run from February was that he was getting steadily better, especially in defence. Cooper is a name that has cropped up a few times with various clubs, seems highly rate and potentially the dominant centre back that we need.

Elphick is a great shout. Not usually a fan of signing players over 30, but given we've got a young squad, a player with his pedigree as a foil for Darragh could be a master-stroke. Adomah could be quality, but seems to blow hot and cold too much for me. He'd probably expect to start at a club who finished mid table last year, and be on a decent whack, I'd be interested if his wages wouldn't be too high.

Think this is right, at games he's been backed to the hilt (bar the odd frustrated groan). The way everyone celebrated his goal and gave him support generally at Bolton was a really nice moment. There's still something to be said for people making their mind up a bit too quickly in my view, and social media & forums really put them under the microscope, but they're different issues that probably relate to 4 or 5 players at every club at any one time.

No reason to believe that this is actually on the cards, but how would people feel about a cheeky bid for Aiden McGeady now that Sunderland are spending another season in the third tier? If we're playing three behind a lone striker, currently we have Rothwell, Dack, Armstrong, Chapman and at a push Bennett. Seems to me like we're probably one short unless we're asking players to play away from their natural position. Never really been convinced by his character, but there's no doubt that he can do it at this level and he knows Mowbray from Celtic.