Paul Mani

I haven’t judged Trav once….either way. He’s a good player. Not a great one. The end.

I don’t think either are world beaters tbh. But both were EXTREMELY important to John Eustace’s team. It’s horses for courses.

I’d say based on previous experiences, I’d be happy to say Mclouughlin is good enough. Alebiosu is defo an unknown. The real interesting part of that post and why many of us are now Intrigued is because now most of our squad are in the middle ‘not sure yet’ band…which is both exciting and fucking terrifying in equal measure!

Would it not be more prudent to understand what Travis might have done, before casting said judgement? Here’s my take - VI doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He also seems quite straight talking. To publicly ‘out’ Trav, he must’ve done something he really doesn’t like. And for him to say he’s let the lads down is HUGE! If he hasn’t done anything wrong, then Ismael is finished with that group, they’ll never trust him again. Which makes me think there’s potentially something in it. That Trav has overstepped the mark…probably come out at some point.

I like Trav, he’s been a good player for us. But if he was ‘That’ good, he wouldn’t be signing for Derby at the cost of an average weekend on one of Balaji’s yacht parties. I don’t think losing Trav will be end of Blackburn Rovers, put it that way. 🙈🤣

Poor to write Montgomery, Kargbo and De Neve off imo. Haven’t had nearly enough time to prove themselves. Personally, I wouldn’t write Forshaw, Hedges or Gueye off either in the new regime, but I can see why you would do.

100%

That’s because of two things… 1) A striker was not in the plan. Honestly, it feels like an impassioned purchase. Like VI and RG have twisted Pasha’s arm. 2) The striker will cost much bigger money and was not originally budgeted for.

All fair points. To be clear, I’m not advocating or necessarily in support of the new regime / idea. I’m just intrigued by what’s unfolding. I wouldn’t put my money on Tavares and Baradji being better than Travis and Sonny either, but I do think they’re probably better suited to what this manager wants. For clarity, I think they probably planned to clear the deck in stages with VI. First waive out , Bucko, JRC, Pears etc…extend the others (Trav, Dolan, Brittain etc) and add a couple of the foreign lads, then phase the remaining players out. This has been accelerated by those players not extending. In terms of Dolan, I think they probably tried to extend him, but never offered anything like what he wanted. But I don’t think he had a long term future in this regime either….not enough pace or power. This is aside from my personal opinion as I would’ve gladly just waived him down the road. The vibe I’m referring to is what changed. It was enough of a change to dislodge JRC and Bucko who have been coasting on nice contracts for years. As I’ve said, lots have been rocked out of their lifeboats and the band of brothers has been disbanded.

I appreciate that’s how you see it. But I genuinely don’t think that’s how they’ve sold this to him. I think, they genuinely believe that they can use / manipulate these esc slots to find diamonds in the rough, for less money and that they can do well in the Championship, sell them for multiple and effectively fund the club, thus reducing the financial burden on their bosses. They think they’re clever. To be fair there’s been a few reports suggesting they are using these Esc slots better than most. Only time will tell…

100% - I’ve heard the same about Pasha. Bit of an egotistical knobhead. However, I’m always wary about judging based on the opinions of those who have been rocked out of their safety boat. Ultimately, this regime will be judged, as have the others on their successes and failures. If we end up in a relegation battle, then Pasha and Rudy are clueless, if by some miracle these foreign diamonds in the rough begin to twinkle and we get promoted to the promise land on a reduced budget then Rudy will be lauded and likely enjoy a very lucrative future in Football leadership. I was chatting to a mate earlier in the gym and weirdly I’m excited to see how the team performs. So many unknowns, that you wouldn’t be surprised if we were fighting relegation, or for the playoffs.

The two I think would have thrived under VI are Brittain and Travis. From a technical and physical standpoint, they look aligned and VI has shown most displeasure in losing them. That said, I think Tavares can / will be a better player than Travis and has a much higher ceiling in this regime. The point I’m making about ‘them’ leaving refers to a player choice rather the club. Picture this…please allow for some colour and humour (It’s my style). Rovers squad sat round the camp fire under the leadership of Big Johnny Eustace and his merry men! Lots of backslapping and a strong and clear understanding that, if you “do it my way, you’ll get that contract you always wanted.” This starts to break down as the club won’t give those juicy contracts out and John packs up and leaves the pack, now feeling rudderless and vulnerable… In steps Valerian Ismael, who seems nice, but he’s different. Firstly he’s physically chiselled from what looks like granite (No more cosy nights round the fire with pot bellied John). But there’s more….Big Val is cut from a different cloth. He’s singing from a new hymn sheet, and the players he’s bringing in are like cyborgs in comparison to what’s gone before them. Suddenly that nucleus, that strength of the group held together by John and his lieutenants Travis, Brittain, Buckley, JrC etc is smashed and one by one, they all look for a way out. Eustace, like Mowbray relies on that English style model of camaraderie and an understanding that “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours…” Once he was gone then that would never last under Suhail and Rudy. It’s not about whether Travis and Brittain and Batth are good players, they are VERY good championship players. But the writing was on the wall as soon as Eustace left and Val came in. We couldn’t see it because, we’re not on the inside but the profile of the players signed are proof enough that club has moved on from the old guard. The club knew this was going to happen too, and Val has intimated on more than one occasion that he was hoping for a slower transition into the model but they’ve been forced to rip the plaster off and just go for it. This is why I don’t think the direct comparisons work. If this were still Johns gig, then we could be like, “How will Tavares, do what Trav did before him?” But it’s not….Val wants a different profile of player. Watching Tavares, and reading the raving about Baradji then I’m not even sure Sonny or Trav really stood a chance!? Trav was the most likely fit but they want high octane, ball carrying, progressive passing ‘8’s’… This is what the manager is talking about in terms of us being in full transition mode. I just don’t see the point in the comparisons anymore. Is Travis better than Tavares? Well in John Eustaces Rovers, yes. But in Valerian Ismaels Rovers, it’s much closer. Kargbo, Alebiosu, Henriksson, Morishita, Miller etc represent the T2000’s in this model. The T1000’s need to move on…and that’s what’s happening!

You’re doing that direct comparison thing again mate, I get it because you’re a logical thinker but it’s not that straight forward. You could probably apply it more if JE had stayed and then we’d lost Dolan, Travis, Brittain, Batth, Buckley and Weimann. But with VI coming in and having watched us at the back end of last season and early this season, I’m genuinely glad most of them didn’t sign and I can understand why others have left. Its a new world now and rightly or wrongly the profile - in particular the physical attributes of the signings we’ve made are like night and day to what we had. So, the ‘glaring holes’ you refer to are really hard to justify. Tavares would’ve replaced one of Travis or Sonny in Val’s new midfield. Not because they’re not good players, because he wants bigger, stronger athletic types. It’s done now, this is the biggest shift we’ve had in years.

If it does work, I will be surprised. But either way you look at it, with Waggott and JE gone, replaced by RG and VI - we now have a fully ‘aligned’ team. Pasha is at the wheel! Weirdly, I think we will end up spending more money than we have done recently because this system plays to Pasha and Rudys ego. Lets see.

Arghhh…I was so interested in this post. Smart thinking! And then you washed Kargbo and Henriksson out vs Dolan and Weimann! Ffs mate, how on EARTH have you decided they are a downgrade based on next to no evidence? Great post - In January, I’d be delighted to run through this comparison. 👍🏼

I don’t think you’ve worked Suhail out at all, if you don’t think he lives to be seen as ‘clever’. He is Mr Ego personified, so I believe. No one will convince me that he’s not flexing. It’s not JUST about reducing costs. If it were then why bother funding the academy? Why bother scouting the lower Belgian leagues? He’s selling his employers the dream…best case scenario he gets promoted in their ecosystem and gets moved on. I reckon he’s sold a dream that he can cut costs, buy cheap and sell high, whilst keeping us in the league.

Yup, almost feels like ‘we’ leak a name to create some noise and then go hard at the actual target. Afolayan - Mori // Drameh - Miller // kapaudi - McLoughlin // Soumano -…..

IF we sell Hyam, I reckon we’ll go with Carter and Miller until January before we reasses. Just a hunch.

Venkys don’t care and Pasha (bless him) thinks him and his mate RG can beat the system by scouring the market for cheap foreign imports. It 10000% is a strategy, and VI is ok with it, where JE wasn’t. The mission of that leadership team is to retain Championship status while reducing the burden on their masters. The theory here is to make the club sustainable by utilising esc slots, buying cheap and selling high. They’ve washed their hands of the British golden handshake brigade and as far as they’re concerned, Eustace, Travis, Batth, Weimann et al can toddle off, on their big money contracts because they think they’ve got this thing nailed. I’m not even entertaining the sabotage narrative, because honestly, I don’t think Venkys care enough to bother.

Here’s my take… Comparing Eustace and Ismael is irrelevant. Theres arguments both sides, but under our currebt regime, and the focus on scouting lower European leagues for diamonds in the rough. Then developing them on a fraction of the wage of their English counterparts and no doubts selling them for a profit where possible. - It’s Ismael over Eustace every single time. The player downgrade argument is also moot, because a) we don’t actually know if these players are better than what we had, because we haven’t seen enough of them. And b) either way, the manager wants a different type of player. Eg Baradji and Tavares are completely different to Trav and Bucko, so we’re not comparing apples with apples. All we can do is see who we finish up with, get down to the matches and make our own mind up. Right?

The direct comparison stuff is a little odd. Truth is we’ve completely changed tact. The profile of player we want is like chalk and cheese to what we had.

Funny in here…when totting up the sales, the highest number reported is taken as gospel, and everything is rounded up. Then when we’re talking about purchases, every reported fee we pay is rubbished, rounded down and haggled to a fraction of whatever is reported! 🤣🤣 Venkys have brought every bit of this on themselves, but imagine being £200m+ in the red on a deal and having us lot call you “Tight” 🤬🤣

Tbh, this makes it feel more believable because I don’t think Rovers give anything away and it’s often the players side in the country of origin who give the game away and then it’s a case of Elliott trying to get a comment from the club.

Completely agree. Fwiw I think there’s a potentially very good player in Henriksson. Needs a bit of time to bed in but I think he’ll come good. I think Eustace is very popular amongst ‘the lads’ and I mean the English lads who have a code of conduct. Ie - if someone plays well they get a new deal at this point. The old boys code. Fwiw, old John must’ve been having kittens last summer with this lot throwing random Belgian lower division players at him! 🙈🤣

I saw this get corrected to 13 and 13 somewhere….