riverholmes

John Buckley makes move to Saudi Pro League club, Al Kholood, for an undisclosed fee and subject to international clearance and approval from governing bodies. It ends a 20 year association with Rovers. A clearly gifted midfield player who never could quite get his game together. We kept waiting for the penny to drop, as we waited for Joe Rothwell, for example, fruitfully, in that case. But for Buckley, who was shifted around to right back, wing, false 9, the vision and passing ability was not matched by, it seems to me, confidence to take the lead. I thought we were looking at a Premier League player when he first started to breakthrough, in the mould of, perhaps, Adam Wharton. Buckley had moments, for example, when Mowbray fielded him as a false 9, with Reda Khadra offering a pacy distraction, Rovers made a charge to top spot in the league at Christmas. Then, there was a end of season run, when nothing was on the line, Buckley played regularly in central midfield and I'm sure I didn't hallucinate at least one 20 yard screamer. To go to desperate Sheff Wed and get shunted onto the wing and on the bench and then to fall behind Kristi Montgomery, fresh from his Chorley loan spell, were the final nails in the coffin. It seems a great move for Buckley for a few different reasons (though Continental Europe, maybe, Spain, would've been ideal) and his time at Rovers was fading away. But the biggest question is, where is the next Buckley coming through? The next Wharton? The Rovers U21 are in the doldrums, fielding teams that struggle to beat non-league second strings. Players that show promise seem to fade away, disappear on loan or get injured and never quite recover. With Travis on his way out, JRC gone, now Buckley, it is an end of an era of academy/U21 graduates but the future pipeline is a major concern.

John Buckley's agent should, in my opinion, be sounding out a move like that. He maybe could do something in a slower and more technical league. Albeit, it would seem that technically he has regressed, on the occasions he appears. Personally, I feel at one stage he was near Adam Wharton's level of technicality, though not, it has proven, the mental side.

That makes him sound like Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets rolled into one! Looking at Forest's equaliser, I believe it is Wharton who is one of two Palace players that get somewhat done in the middle of the park before the Forest player plays an exceptional through pass for their goal. I might be being harsh, but to my mind those scenarios show that he is a little weak defensively. It wasn't the fact he got beat but how far off he was. Maybe I am being harsh, but either way, I think at this stage he needs a Will Hughes alongside him to do a lot of the physical work.

Does Dunn look like a prospect? It seems he’s struggling to stand-out in a poor team.

Match report from Brighton's website - Rovers 0 BHA 4 https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/media-article/mu21-match-report-blackburn-rovers-bha-pl2-august-2025 Am puzzled a bit by the formation. Wood and Stritch, as far as I know, are forwards/attacking midfielders. So it looks like Dunn is the only real all-round central midfielder in the team.

Seems like a very difficult game given their signings and start to their season - and Rovers relative weakness. Last season we added a few new faces (albeit, they turned out to have very disappointing seasons and Mafoumbi was cut eventually). This season, no new additions, save for possible U18 graduates. I suppose Rovers are fortunate that they're in this PL2 Super League, with no relegation or promotion. Edit: That said, there's some promise in the Rovers squad - the major weakness lies in the depth and in the forward areas, with too much expected too soon of Tyjon.

Busquets like? I agree and, perhaps, therefore, the Spanish league would be ideal. Watching Palace highlights against Chelsea, Wharton seemed to be getting forward and even running a little with the ball. Possibly a sign of what Palace want from him.

If I remember correctly, Tugay wasn't always a regular in the Rangers team at the time. We were able to sign him for that reason. Similar, I believe, to how we got Eyal Berkovic on loan from Celtic, who was the prequel to Tugay. Souness didn't take up a permanent deal for Berkovic, who played a part in our promotion, and then Tugay came in.

Buckley’s been a major disappointment but unless there’s an injury can see no justification having Montgomery on the bench over him.

Worrying for Rovers future - if there wasn't enough to be concerned about. That's our strong line-up; wait 'til players head out on the injury/loan carousel. Is Valentin Jospeh still around - he might improve the forward line?

It was always wishful thinking to expect a player who was doing fairly well at Chorley to suddenly become a first team player. Montgomery wasn't even seen as being the best CM or RB in the U21s, I think, before his unexpected ascent. I won't write him off yet, but the management have let him down by throwing him in like this.

The National League teams play second strings, if the cup was not odd enough. With no relegation from PL2 and other dubious cup competitions (there's the European one Rovers entered where the U21s seem to play U18s from Spain etc) the whole system looks a mess.

That's a Damien Duff-esque goal if there ever was one. Will be interesting to see if Doherty progresses this year. Last campaign was a pretty poor one for the whole team, low scoring, disjointed by constant loan comings and goings and injuries. And, frankly, dearth of quality in some key areas. If players like Doherty do go on loan, it'll be an even bigger struggle, which is why I think the club really need some (wise) additions for that level.

Thanks - Vale released passed me by and mean our striker options are even weaker than I thought. I had him down as a possible saleable asset but I guess injuries wiped that out.

Beaten by a team containing England's Gennaro Gattuso, Jason Lowe, is no shame....

Nice to see Litherland come in and play. He comes highly recommended by regular U21 watchers for his ball-playing abilities. I would also like to see Edmondson given a chance but looks like a loan move might be his best bet at the moment. No Garrett, Duru, Leonard or Vale. Presume, the latter three are injured still? Garrett looks like he's heading out, which I think is a shame as I think he could be a useful utility man. I'm not sure about Montgomery as a defender, though he may well surprise me. Throwing him into an unfamiliar RB role and assuming he can cover the first team brings back memories of Tyler Magloire's right back exploits. That said, Montgomery has done ok so far.

Palace made sure of that, and may've kept hold of him for another year, by delaying groin surgery and playing him through pain, despite having plenty of CMs on the books. He's not looked quite the same player since returning, I would suggest, as an occasional watcher.

Unhealthy reliance would, I would guess as an occasional observer, be correctly used to describe Rovers U21 use of Tyjon last season. He played as a lone forward for much of the season, ploughing a thankless furrow in a poor team. He got injured a number of times and didn't score much. He's no teenage Rooney, physically speaking, and obviously needs help as a striker. Unfortunately, without support, I see something similar happening to him and Boggan this campaign.

Before his loan move to Ipswich, if I remember rightly, there were rumours that he fell out with the manager. I have no idea what went on but in the end Travis didn’t make the cut at Ipswich and all was forgiven, it seems, when he came back.

I think he would be delighted by the move. A four-year contract for someone who has struggled with injuries is a coup. Unless he surprises us, he'll have one more contract in him after that before he has to pack it in.

Notable absences today, Matty Litherland (RB/CB), Duru (RB) (but believe he may be recovering from injury) and James Edmondson (our best U21 central midfield option?). Instead Mullarkey-Matthews gets a game having been out for most of last season. A forward is probably needed, as I don't think Tyjon is ready (he wasn't prolific for the U21s last season. albeit in a poor team) and Leonard is injury-prone.

Joe Rankin-Costello still only 25 but injury-hindered, over the years, leaves for Charlton. My overriding thought is where is the next JRC coming through the ranks? In his early days, he was a real prospect and contributed 100+appearances having some decent runs in the team. He came through with likes of Travis and Buckley, so an end of a cycle may be arriving. He had some tremendous moments, as well as falling away badly. One game sticking in the mind was the Newcastle tie in a cup when he played in a back three, if I remember rightly, and looked impressive on the ball, albeit, his lack of pace wasn’t tested.

I think this is part of the bigger issue that has been described here as a managed or intentional decline. Letting so many players of value go for free is hurting the club. Dolan would've been an ideal candidate for a sale, assuming someone was interested a year or so ago. Not integral but catches the eye in highlights.

Not sure about Rothwell. It took him so long to find his feet at Rovers. Not sure how he's done since but he strikes me as someone who requires a lot of patience and I don't know if Rangers will give him that time. His best form, ironically, as a fairly deep central midfielder, in a pivot. His passing was as impressive as his ball running.

A rather irrelevant point given the tragedy, but the modern game means players lack something of their game identity. Will we remember Diogo as a great winger or striker or an amalgam?