Admiral Nelsen

I wish Bolton well in resolving their off the pitch situation (there but for the grace of God etc.) but once they go into administration, is there anything stopping someone buying the presumably profit-making hotel once they're administration? Having a Rovers themed hotel permanently attached to their ground is making me smile for some reason.

Hit the bar a couple of times, as I recall. Didn't look all that dreadful as a free transfer, albeit with a very untidy first touch. Better option than Chris Brown anyway.

Suppose they'll still be allowed frees on low wages, but if that's the case, then you'd already be looking at them being favourites for back-to-back relegations.

I know it's obvious and been said by numerous people on numerous threads, but Damien Johnson is doing an absolutely sterling job.

It's because football runs on schadenfreude. I don't think most fans dislike Liverpool more than United as such, just that there (relative) lack of success has been going on for ages, and the longer it continues, the funnier it gets! I'm now totally convinced that Spurs are going through tonight, just because the funniest possible outcome is Liverpool having a night like yesterday, lose once in the league all season, and are still pipped at the post by Tottenham & City.

I'm a sucker for having Rovers fans in the side (especially proper ones like Dunny & Derbyshire, and I know that Fielding is one of those) but putting sentiment aside, I'm not sure if it would quite fit. The impression I've got from his career is that he's constantly in a battle to be no. 1 at either Derby or Bristol City. Great championship shot stopper, maybe not that well-rounded (like Raya, only not at an age to expect to improve). I might be being very unfair, and the stats might not back this up, but it's the impression I have of him. That said, if the idea is competition rather than a replacement, then I suppose we might not exactly have a host of quality established 'keepers queuing up to sign & wait for Raya to lose his jersey.

Funny one, Toney. Was meant to tear up L1 with Wigan last year, and their fans were pretty unanimous in thinking he was dire. Clearly improved dramatically since then, might be one of those who needed to get a run in a team without big expectations to flourish. Could be a good signing, but wouldn't expect him to be on the cheap given it's Peterborough & he'll have years left on his contract. Would be a bit risky to be on the top of my list.

Agree, I'd be happy to take a similar approach to the Bolton game. More or less the starting line up, with decent second half minutes for the youngsters. Canadian (I'd actually prefer Raya, but seems unlikely) Nyambe Lenihan Williams Bell Travis Rodwell Armstrong Dack Rothwell Brereton Raya, Magloire, Chapman, Davenport, Conway, Buckley, Butterworth

Domovchesky! Still remember Sky Sports News talking about him & how he could run 100 meters in under 10 seconds!

Recency bias being a thing here too, Bennett was very important in our early good form and wins. His energy in the game against Brentford still stands out. Still should never be near Graham or Dack for POTY, but he was performing to a really good level at the start of the season.

Sorry, afraid that's not right. Wilson's breakthrough Coventry season was 13/14, when he turned 22. Equivalent for BB would be in 2 seasons, and even then in the league below. Kane was still playing championship football at Brerton's age, and had scored a comparable number of goals to Ben's total here & at Forest. Granted he absolutely took off 12 months later. Totally agree that he needs plenty of developing to get to those standards! I'm just using them as extreme examples to show just how young he is. He may get to the top, he may not, but I don't think that it's fair to say that he's behind what we expect of a player of his age, when most good players are just making their first forays into the senior game at his age (if they've even done that). As a thought experiment, if a player from the academy came in and put the performance in like he did against Bolton, we would collectively be raving about it. I know we spent a lot of money on him, so it's a high risk investment. but he needs a bit more consistent game time and room to grow before we can start saying that he's behind where he needs to be in my view. On the basis of the only 90 minutes I've seen him play, I'm cautiously quite excited about what he could turn into.

Should they? There are plenty of top strikers who have barely had a look-in at a decent senior level at that age. 19/20 is an absolute baby as a footballer, I wouldn't have said that Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy or Callum Wilson were showing any better at that age, and that's just to name those who've recently been internationals. He needs development, to be sure, but I think he's definitely shown that he has raw talent in there.

Agree with almost all of this. One thing I'd add is that, even though the team generally has been on a pretty awful run, something that has been missed is that Bell has quietly improved pretty substantially in my view. I wasn't originally a fan for the same reasons as everyone else, but I haven't noticed him being as lose with his man and easy to attack as the start of the season. His delivery is still very hit and miss mind, but I've seen evidence that he's worth persevering with.

He'll have had most of those assists from set pieces. Wigan & Preston away come to mind, but pretty certain there were others

Knew Nyambe was still young, hadn't realised that he was still as young as 21! Easy to forget how well he started the season too. Rovers 25 & under XI looks pretty decent: Raya Nyambe Lenihan Wharton Bell Travis Davenport Armstrong Dack Rothwell Brereton Subs: Fisher, Grayson, Chapman, Nuttall, Buckley, Magloire, Butterworth

Not sure if this is the appropriate thread for this anymore, but Nyambe has signed a 12 month extension https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/april/new-deal-for-nyambe/

He's the one I'm worried about losing for less than he's worth. At least if Dack goes, as damaging as that would be, there's no reason why we shouldn't be asking for a bumper fee. How much can Lenihan realistically command? Probably a reasonable sum, but doubt it'll be enough to reinvest properly into the team. He seems like a good sort, so hopefully a potential top-half finish, and momentum going into next year means that he won't be wanting away just yet.

Has a lot of what we need, but I'd seriously worry about lack of pace at his age. Could have another Gordon Greer situation on our hands. What we need is Lenihan mk II. Only trouble we have is finding one!

Enjoyed today, playing the youngsters and starting Brereton will do the club more good in the long term than playing Graham and chasing a cricket score. Thought both youngsters were good. Buckley's issue seemed to be just getting to grips with the game physically, but as time went on he showed some nice touches. Butterworth too, although they both look about 4 stone wet through! Biggest plus today was the performance and finish from Brereton. Some may fairly point to how absolutely woeful Bolton were, but they were at least pretty effective in denying space to our attackers, which didn't stop Ben having a good game. Showed that he' got many of the raw materials you need as a good striker, they just need refining a bit, but hopefully today will be a turning point for him. Another positive was just how much support BB got from the terraces. There was never any hint of negativity or frustration when he missed a chance, just consistent and loud encouragement. Good to see given how divisive the cost of his move has been.

Fair enough. I'd expect DG to be on significanty less from when he first signed, given the negotiation at the end of last season, but again, I'm speculating. Again, fair enough. Can't argue this too strongly without actually having the balance sheet to hand I suppose, but I suspect that the reduction is significant. I think I'd be more inclined to give TM credit for increasing the value of the squad, rather than a particularly massive wage reduction. Something that got missed in our relegation season is how many of our more important players throughout that season didn't actually belong to us! Others on their way our after contracts running out. Seemed like we were becoming an empty shell, with probably only Lenihan who could have commanded a semi-decent fee and be courted by decent clubs at that point. Now, we can point throughout the squad at players of good ages, on good length contracts who could either command good fees now, or at the very least develop into players who could command good fees, like Rothwell. You'd have to say the good players from the youth team have fallen into his lap a bit, but he still had to go out and get the Dacks, Rothwells, Armstrongs, Chapmans and not take the easy option of flooding the team with free transfers in their late twenties and short-term loans like Coyle did.

I think the outgoings of Lowe, Feeney, Guthrie, Akpan, Stokes and Henley would have more substantial than people might think. Lowe and Henley in particular signed deals in the top flight, I'd be surprised if we're paying anyone (other than probably Mulgrew, feasibly Graham and Dack) as much as Henley even, who was on significantly north of £10,000 a week, if rumours are to be believed. This is before you get into the numerous loans of Emnes, Joao, Gally etc, and the probably cheap but nevertheless first team Brown and Greer. Accept that I'm speculating & that we've brought players in too, but I doubt players we brought in at L1 level, or players from other teams youth set-ups like Armstrong and Davenport would make up for those players that have been let go, and loan wise we haven't gone mad, only really Reed being likely to be on a decent wedge.

Graham probably edges out Dack for consistency, but both are miles in front of the competion if we're juding everyone equally. Travis would be in consideration had he played the full season at his post-xmas level. Lenihan too deserves credit for how important he's become to the side.

As much as Bolton are clearly abysmal, they have had games where breaking them down has been tricky, albeit before the floodgates open on occasion. Start with a full strength team and go for them for the off. If we get a cushion, then I'd like to see a combination of Brereton, Davenport, Buckley, Butterworth or even some other debutents like Rankin-Constello getting decent minutes. Whilst I don't want them to go bust off the back of dodgy owners, and this isn't the needle game that they imagine it is, I'd still enjoy really taking these to the cleaners given that they have been present for a lot of our more recent low points!

Really pleased that he's taking his chance. Hopefully should be able to take this into next year and hit the ground running.

Agree, think this was always going to be a consolidation season, even if we could have got a little closer to the top 6 than we have. Have some winnable games between now and the end of the season, so there's a chance we might still up there. I genuinely think that the right three players could make the world of difference to this team.