Admiral Nelsen

£10 million plus which would be substantially improved upon if all of those players were sold though. Even if we treat Dack as a very successful anomaly which does a lot of the heavy lifting, we still have Rothwell & Armstrong who would go for substantially more than what we got them for. The long term value of BB is going to be a moot point for a while longer, but's not hard to see how the buttons that we apparently paid for Davenport & Chapman could be multiplied in future sales. Take the points that he's had some misses too. We'll de well to get the half a million or whatever it was for Samuel back, Whittingham was a massive disappointment and the less said about Gladwin the better. But even Hughes had Berner, Jeffers, Rigters & Vogel who didn't work out for whatever. I think the test of his record should be in the quality of the team and the value of the squad, and you'd have to say that there's been a big improvement on both since he arrived, even accounting for what he's spent.

I agree that he has some pretty good aspects to his game. He'll never make a winger, but he does travel with the ball quite well. Above average pace & power, can finish when he's having a good day. Could feasibly by a championship starter one day, but not there yet sadly. Definitely needs a year or so playing consistently and staying injury free. Funnily enough, I wouldn't be in a hurry to show most of our soon-to-be-squaddies the door unless they actively wanted to go, but I think Samuel is probably one that should be let go for his sake and ours. If we're playing one out and out striker, we have Graham, BB, Nutall,Samuel, Butterworth, almost certainly at least one addition going for one starting spot, and Armstrong has said that he wants to move there down the line too. Having samuel around will mean that either he literally won't get a kick, or would get in the place of one of the younger lads. Either way, I think it's the wrong call for both parties for him to stay, and would be damaging in a way that keeping Smallwood/Williams etc. wouldn't be in my view.

I think his chance to show that he could step up was with the rest of the league one squad this year. Desperately unlucky that he picked up such a bad injury, and I wish him every success in future, but I don't think that he's shown enough to be a part of our plans going forward.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48230034 Parker given the Fulham job. If Rovers are looking to compete at the top end next season, I think this has to be seen as good news. This is such a difficult league to cut your teeth in. There are some qualified successes of first time managers, but not getting someone with a bit more experience is an early mistake imo for a team that will be looking to go straight back up.

Yes, but Spurs winning also pisses off Liverpool fans by leaving them potless despite having probably their best side in decades. Sadly it'll mean that United fans will have a brief smile on their faces, but that'll fade soon enough once they remember the state of their own team. Spurs winning means the optimum number of Sky clubs fans are left gloomy over the summer! Totally with you on Chelsea getting beat, such a dislikeable club.

If he was offered buttons then I wouldn't be dead against it. He seems a good influence on a young squad, and not a bad option to have as a reserve in case of an injury crisis. Biggest issue for me is that Conway as back up might mean more limited game time for Rankin-Costello or others, which can't be allowed to happen, but as a cheap reserve who may get a handful of run-outs over the season, we could do worse imo.

If that's what we're going for, then Ruddy's CV would suggest he's exactly that. Raya's a real conundrum for me. I fully expect him to have a really good career, but how patient can a club like us afford to be with a goalkeeper?

Would be a good signing, perhaps slightly too good to expect Raya to start off as number 1 if that's still Tony's plan,

Don't want to turn this into a pile on, but this argument is such a non-starter. We have the youngest Rovers squad in aeons. Mowbray has given debuts to at least half a dozen academy graduates over the last 2 years. Others have been given key roles when they were on the periphery. Almost all of his signings have been 24 or under, several significantly under. How many other managers have we had who have got anywhere near these sorts of stats? Some of the youngsters don't play every week, but that happens with almost all players who get near the first team at 18, 19, 20. Saying Mowbray isn't prioritising youth is absolutely bizarre. The evidence almost entirely points in the opposite direction.

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/