riverholmes

1. Winners of the Championship Burnley 2. Runners-up in the Championship Middlesbrough 3. Championship Play-off final winners Sheffield United 4. Where will Rovers finish the season? 22nd 5. Which 3 clubs will be relegated from the Championship? Rovers, Oxford, Millwall 6. Who will be the first club in the Championship to change manager? (For whatever reason) West Brom 7. Who will be the BRFCS Player of the Season? (As voted for in the Match Centre on BRFCS) Gueye 8. A wildcard prediction for something (possibly quite mad) that will happen to or at Rovers during this coming season Eustace will go and Gestede will be interim manager

Very convincing point and I had forgotten about the Wharton fee. It would appear that FFP wouldn't be a concern - though don't know what the outgoings are for this year. However, there is something going on financially, I think, given the odd loan moves for Buckley, in January, and Garrett now and the Gent sale. We're a relegation threatened club that needed Ben Chrisene to come in and help us over the line in the last match of the season, so the casual moving on of young squad players without replacements doesn't seem normal. (I haven't followed the club finances at all, so I may well be missing something obvious with Venkys situation). But, bringing in back on topic, I don't dismiss Maresca's complaint about the impact of FFP on academy graduates out of hand. The bigger question for me is whether the movement will give these players a better chances to play and breakthrough, or hinder them through instability and being treated as financial commodities rather than football players. The Omari Kellyman signing by Chelsea for 19 million is an interesting one. As far as I can tell, and please correct me if wrong but it was a mutually beneficial deal which helped both clubs with FFP, so Villa could sign Maatsen and Chelsea can go on with their crazy spending. Kellyman is now on a 6 year deal as, I guess, primarily a financial makeweight. Though, again, I could be wrong and Kellyman might happen to be a great prospect - a hadn't heard of him before.

Could this be part of the reason why Rovers sold George Gent? His fee would possibly cover most of this year's 'installment' for a Gueye in the accounts for the purposes of FFP, or whatever it's called now. As far as I can tell, the FFP requires clubs to cut their cloth and the intense short-termism of the game means that clubs are more willing to sacrifice young players than curtail their transfer signings. If Markanday was an academy graduate, I wonder if he would still be at the club now. Markanday signed, in Jan 2022, for a rumoured £500k, rising to £1m with add ons, and a sell-on clause. It's not verified but for argument's sake, I'll take the fee as £500k, with a 20% sell on clause. By my calculations (caveat!), therefore, if the club sold Markanday today for £200k, as Gent was sold for, the club could only add an FFP income to the books on the sale of around £45k, as they would deduct the amortised remaining transfer value and the sell on fee. Meanwhile, Gent enables the club to put £200k straight on the books to offset expenditure. That's as far as I understand it, and be wrong, as I've only dipped into the whole FFP situation. And, it's true, the real problem is expenditure and transfer fees for signings, especially, at a club like Chelsea. Moreover, it might benefit some of these young players to move elsewhere and get games.

If toughening up was the only order of the day, Premier League clubs would be sending their star youth players to National League North etc. They don’t because it’s generally understood that they want their players developing in a team whose style and standard is as similar to their own as possible. Carter and Lenihan cut their teeth in League One/Two. Scott Wharton in League Two, I believe, on numerous very successful loan deals. For whatever reason, these days our players can’t get experience at that level, though a SPL has been an occasional option. Usually, it’s been 6th tier - and the non-league experience has rarely been a springboard, least of all the strange 1 mth deals. Certain players have come back injured very quickly. That said, Jalil Saadi, has earned a new deal on the back of a loan spell at Marine, so who knows. At least half a season gives the players a chance to acclimatise. It’d be interesting to know why it seems that much harder to snag League One/Two loan spells these days. Even National League. Ethan Walker did go out on loan to Morecambe, so does happen. Perhaps, finances or a glut of players at that level are factors - and maybe the U21s revamp that replaced reserve football.

The Premier League have got it down to a fine art. They even use varying sell-on percentage clauses within a transfer to incentivise buying clubs not to later sell on to a rival.

Interesting story about Rovers former youth winger, Aaron Doran, who played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle for 13 years and suffered an ACL injury shortly before his contract expired this year. Scottish clubs don't include post-contract insurance for such scenarios, according to this Irish Mirror article, for players, so once Doran was out-of-contract, he needed to fund his own surgery - and required a crowd funding effort, including donations from former colleagues, to pay for it. https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/irish-wingers-scottish-plight-highlights-33129100

Had a quick look at how a few other clubs are going about pre-season and it struck me how much higher level of opposition some of the teams of our league have played. It is to be expected, to some degree, because some friendlies are planned well in advance and the higher finishing and stronger Championship teams can attract and (afford?) certain opponents. Luton Town have played a variety of continental/overseas teams, including AGF, Goztepe and Celta Vigo. Leeds United, for some reason, have only got two friendly results published, one against Harrogate and the other is Valencia. WBA have played Mallorca. Sheff Wed have finished pre-season against Salzburg and Leganes. I have no idea what makes for a good pre-season for a financially embattled and less than stable club and maybe low key is right for our somewhat chaotic situation. Plymouth seem to have also gone for a League 1/2 route. And, maybe, there's been helpful closed-door games as well. The proof will be in the season but I think it's fair to question if we have had sufficient standard in opposition in our preparation. It's notable that Premier League clubs don't seem to feature in any of the fixtures I've seen of other Championship clubs. I can't recall if this is normal or a sign of the ever shifting away of the Premier League towards the bigger markets, including in pre-season.

A Mowbray-era thread but jumping onboard to discuss the midfield. Eustace has joined the club narrative to say Jake Garrett is off on loan to further his experience for a Rovers return. It’s clearly a snub, given the weakness of the squad and, notably, the midfield. Garrett hinted as much when he told media that he ‘had a point to prove.” My guess is that we may have seen the last of him - he’ll do well at Bristol Rovers in less famous blue and white and feel worthy of a more competitive club by the end. It’ll suit the club too who are quite eager to cash in these days. I hope I’m wrong and he does well and returns to be a key player. It’s healthy to have academy players established in the team and performing. Garrett is no world beater but I do feel he has some promise and allowed to knuckle down in one midfield role, he could be decent at this level. He really starred in the Carabao Cup and, though only a sub in that tie v. Newcastle, I thought he woke the team up with a crunching tackle and we subsequently went on to get back in the game after being all but buried. He has the sort of spirit that Travis once had, though not yet shown that ability. He also has played CB and LB at U21s/U18s. We were already looking short in midfield, with the departure of Finneran. Now we have Tronstad, Travis, JRC and Buckley. Travis is, as far as I can tell, a fraction of the player he once was before injuries took their toll. JRC is injury-prone and might play wide. Buckley is in last chance saloon to mature and be the player his ability suggests - so Tronstad seems to be the one that might be relied on but offers little going forward. After them are, as far as I can remember, Saadi, Montgomery and, maybe, Caddick?

Young Player of the Season let go on loan. Unless there is a significant signing, this looks a poor move for the team. Whatever Garrett’s limitations he can play in a variety of positions and has done well, especially in the Carabao Cup last year, albeit mostly against lower league opposition. I would hope the plan is for him to develop with regular football and to bring him back into the fold, especially if he does well. However, I think letting him go now suggests that he is not really in the plans and he’ll now be in the shop window, as it were.

Last couple of seasons we had, I believe, Celtic and Girona in pre-season. It makes sense, as far as I can tell, to have at least one showcase test against higher levels, even if not season defining by any means. Maybe, there’s been something behind closed-doors or just not practical this year, who knows.

Will the players really be up to speed having played some league one/two teams in pre-season? (And Nurnberg). Time will tell but seems odd to me.

Looking at some of Makhtar 'Pape' Gueye's background, he is 26, 6"5 and around 90kg and has averaged around 10/11 goals a season playing for low-placed teams in the Belgian top flight. Before that, he was at St Ettiene, having moved from his birthplace, Dakar, Senegal. He struggled for goals as a young forward in France but had something of a breakthrough in Belgium. Reportedly, he was close to joining Burnley whilst Kompany was in charge, before he moved to Real Zaragoza, where he didn't, apparently, manage a goal during a loan season. He returned to Belgium and this summer he was linked with a move to Standard Liege, after 11 goals during the relegation season of RWD Molenbeek There's a report that suggests that he had some off-field disciplinary problems relating to frequent non-payment of traffic fines whilst at Oostende and Zaragoza. I also saw a report that he is with the Dutch-based SEG Agency, which also represents Jon Dahl Tomasson. So, the links might've originated there, possibly - though transfermarkt lists him with a different group. It's hard to tell how he'll fare but, overall, I think the core of the squad is so weak, signings like this cannot make a fundamental difference. These type of signings should really be considered the cherry on the top.

Reports emerging that Rovers approached Daniel Ayala to add to their centre back reserves but the deal was abandoned as he might be too athletic for the team. Excuse my cynicism. It seems to me that Eustace has a brief to avoid relegation and is determined to scrap his way there. However, without pace at the back or much further forward, the team being built worries me.

The George Gent loan to Barnsley surprised me. I was reading it’d be a transfer to recoup money before his contract expires. Anyone know what might be going on?

All very vulnerable to pace. It’s worrying they can’t see that. Unless the intention is to play extremely defensive.

Different situation, as outside UK, but, I think the Drogheda chairman expressed disappointment when Rovers signed James Brown without having to pay any compensation. The MacFadzean, and, potentially, Baath deals puzzle me. In the modern game, you really need pace at the back and neither add that. Pace also enables a defender to potentially cover at full back.

Very disappointing to hear that George Gent is being sold to Barnsley. One of the more promising young players and made much more of an impact at Motherwell than Vale last season. However, if Eustace decided that he wasn't up to it, at least a decision has been made and the player sold for a fee. Better to sell players than to let them go on a free. Time will tell if the club have made a mistake. Regardless, the club must address the lack of pace in the defence. A fast defender or two is essential.

Jalil Saadi is a French speaker, so may have another part to his utility role. Gueye's goal record isn't amazing as a target man striker and he's 26, so I'm cautious. I would hope we didn't over spend on him.

Do you know why the club like to rotate goalies at U21 level so much? There's one thing giving players experience but come the season, I firmly believe in establishing a selection order, so that the players know roughly where they stand and what their individual target is. From the outside, I see a lot of confusion and, in the treatment of Eastham, potential for demoralisation.

Mentioned elsewhere before but in case anyone missed it, Junior Nsangou, the 18 year old academy graduate forward from the U21s also left the club recently - to Albacete in La Liga 2. He turned down a professional contract to leave on a free, I believe (not clear if he was holding out to leave or club had been unsure on him, as many players sign a deal aged 17). Not sure if any compensation is payable in such a move. I don't know what his potential was, but he was a starter for Rovers U21 at the end of last season, and was a regular for Poland's U19, so a likely loss.

Gallagher would play best in a two, as in the old days when two forwards complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses. If Markanday is to play the no.10, or someone else, that would lift the demands on Gallagher. Whilst a sale makes sense, I am very nervous about the club’s ability to recruit well, especially, with Szmodics leaving. Vale, to me, makes the most sense to cash in on but looming is Gallagher walking away on a free. Fretful times. We could easily be looking back at Gallagher wistfully in a year or two, given the decline we are in.

Especially worrying how many serious injuries the youth players have gone through. A number left in the summer having barely played for over 12 months, eg. Sam Barnes. I’ve not heard anything of Isaac Whitehall this pre-season.

Vale was doing ok for Motherwell as a second forward on loan last season - not scoring much but doing enough in build up play to stay in their team. Really, now would be a good time to try and sell, as I do believe he will struggle at Rovers. But, we’re so short of players and there doesn’t seem to be much in place by the way of a transfers strategy, we will probably end up relying on him.

Selling Gallagher when his contract is down to a year and his abilities have seemingly peaked would make perfect sense for a club run properly. Especially as other clubs are still, seemingly, rating him highly - above, I think, what he’s capable of. However, there can be little confidence that the appropriate replacements will be brought in.

1-1 Vale scores in draw. Sounds like JRC played well, making the assist. And Jalil Saadi seems to have been kept on at the club as the utility player - at least until new players come in. With no striker on the limited bench, he comes on for Vale at the end. What a turnaround, from being well off the radar for the first team for years. A few notable absences - Szmodics, Gallagher, Gent, Scott Wharton