Oh no, this site is starting to glitch under the pressure!

Tense? Nervous? Headache??

Neither are starting, but other than that top marks!!

Fair enough, others haven't quoted in the past when they should have & we've gone down rabbit holes as a result! I've just posted a reply to Mercer above which adds more to what I feel. I get the frustration, but surely the journey talk has to be discounted as that's from the previous management team. I can't be bothered going back to the GB and JDT threads but seem to remember most were happy to accept this season as being a transitional one. It can still be successful AND transitional, and clearly GB has tried within the financial constraints he's under but we cannot compete with parachute payments, the lure of Italy, or players changing their minds and deciding to take their chances at forcing their way into a prem team.

Wise words from someone who thinks the club is a shambles from top to bottom yet week in week out predicts that we should beat practically every opponent we face in pre match threads. It's gullible and naive to think "we're Blackburn Rovers, 6 time FA Cup winners, 3 times English Champs, League Cup winners". The last of those was 20 years ago & as much as we have fond memories of the 1990s & 2000s, it means nothing now to young English players, their agents or to potential foreign talent. Thanks to Venkys we're irrelevant to most youngsters nowadays and don't have the reputational or financial pulling power we once did. Supporting a different way of doing things to what hasn't worked in a decade isn't happy clapping, it's being realistic. That doesn't have to mean giving up on playoff hopes, but that's too nuanced for some to grasp I guess.

But wasn't it Mowbray, Venus & Waggot who were the driving forces behind that? That's in the past, before any of us had heard of Greg Broughton or JDT in the context of a young manager. Since they arrived the focus has been very much on longer term stability, regeneration & sustainability. That was something that in the summer most of us craved at a time when relegation was considered more likely than promotion. Rebuilding this club is analogous to building a team. Starting from the back with a solid defensive platform is the equivalent of building the club from the academy upwards, the rest then follows over a period of time. I want success as much as you, but not at the cost of throwing longer term sustainability under the bus. I think there's room for both.

But Venkys have spent a decade decimating us & have undone everything Jack built, besides the academy. That being the case, and with the academy being a long term project by definition, then any return to growth has to have that as it's bedrock & therefore must be central to the longer term. The club has to balance short term potential for promotion against long term regeneration, especially as an unfashionable club in a poor economic area with new sustainability rules coming in and with a hardcore fanbase of 8 or 9 thousand fans, half of whom wonder why they bother as it is. Yes show ambition this season & aim to go up, but don't risk the longer overall strategy of growing with firm foundations, which is what was written on the tin when GB& JDT arrived in the summer. Here's hoping we can get some good deals over the line today. 👍

Yes true. But Forest were massively underperforming before he took over, which I don't think anyone can say we are given the shambles we were on the summer and the position we're now. Plus he did that using the loan market very heavily (which is frowned upon by many on here but is the reality of modern football) and, most importantly, under an owner that actually cares for the club & wanted success. Spot the difference and let's not make GB & JDT scapegoats for the real problem.

I'm assuming this is directed at me as it follows my post? If so, that's not what I said in response to Arbitro's post is it? Did I say anything about it being a good thing not strengthening now?

So the club should have a plan that looks no further than May which, by your own admission in a post above, could not guarantee promotion? Ok, each to their own. Arbitro is part-right.

I get the general sentiment but I can't agree with this in bold. We need short, medium & long term plans, that's why a DoF is here. They're all as important as each other but the medium & long term plans need to be fixed with defined goals at various stages. The short term plan needs to dovetail with those, whilst being flexible enough to take advantage of promising situations, or indeed to mitigate threatening ones. That's where the club fell down last January and seems to be doing so again. And the common denominator there is not GB or JDT.

I'd be really pleased if they forget to turn up at Wigan, PROVIDED they remember to turn up at Ewood instead.

I was being conservative in my figures but yes that's right, that's where the problem lies and has been for 11 years in various different guises, from ditching Sam & putting SK in his place, allowing Anderson free reign to line his pockets at the club's expense, to hiring & firing managers in weeks, to appointing Coyle instead of Warnock, to leaving TM in charge for too long then not supporting him 12 months ago, then allowing those 4 players to all leave for not a penny in return, all whilst never being closer than half way across the glove whilst the club rots. It's quite a charge sheet, and I know there's stuff I've not included that goes beyond. JDT and GB are not the problem; their difficulties are just another symptom of it. We need to support them as IMO they're the best chance we've had in years of returning to something like an actual football club that wants to progress on and off the pitch.

And why don't we have money to spend? It's because someone near the top of the tree dropped the ball in allowing 4 first teamers worth a combined £15-£20m to leave for £0 in a 12 month period, rather than realising in good time that they weren't signing new deals so ought to be sold to realise a return on investment that could reinvested in the squad. That same person / persons have also alienated 50% of the club's fanbase in the last decade through showing no understanding of how to run a football club in this country. It goes back to our esteemed owners, let's not pretend that GB & JDT are the real bad guys here, they're just trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. To expect them to do that in 6 months is entirely unrealistic, yet we're still in a playoff spot & the draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup. Give them some bloody credit people!!

Hang on, didn't we want our recruitment team to be creative in their scouting, to use European networks, to cast the net to find unpolished gems, in a world where bringing someone in from abroad is harder than ever for us both financially and administratively?? Here they are, doing exactly that, and are now being accused of being underwhelming and alarm bells ringing!! Can anyone really say he would be any better or worse for us than Geldhart or Undav?? Expectations of some on here need to be reeled in, unfortunately. What was it Souness said that is often quoted on here? "We have to wee with the willy we've got". It's not GB or JDT's fault that it's got rather cold in the last decade...

I didn't see Rotherham so can't specifically comment, though it seems from what I've read that no-one covered themselves in glory there. I think he's the type of player though where a lot of his good work goes unseen whereas his errors are glaring. Take your point re Johnson, but he certainly flattered to deceive more often than not & failed to live up to his promise. The others you mention, Graham & Conway I grant, but most will be happy see to let Ayala leave in 3 months as generally having been underwhelming, and Downing was as good in his first season as he was bad in his second. Anyway Wharton has been injured last few weeks, and with Buckley suspended there's been little option for JDT but to persist with him. As I've said elsewhere, hopefully the succession plan includes giving Wharton more game time 2nd half of the season.

I'm pretty sure that no-one from Ewood or Liverpool has ever built him up like another Harvey Elliott. Judging every loanee against Elliott is like judging every striker against Kane. See my comment above as to why he's here & starting ahead of Morton. Wharton & Garrett both got their debuts in the EFL this season, Morton had played in the Prem & Champs League. He's clearly further on in his development. All this said, I would like to see us play Wharton played more this 2nd half of the season, so he can hit the ground running more next season.

I actually think Morton would start for most teams in this division, and don't think that overall he is as bad as is being made out. Besides, we've tried the experienced route before with the likes of Murphy, Etuhu, Best, Goodwillie, Guthrie, Wes Brown, Stokes, even Johnson himself) but they've hardly worked out as hoped, so if you're looking at a season-long bridge why not try someone fresh, young, with good pedigree who has something to prove to his parent club? And if it was Wharton who had been making the mistakes Morton has, he'd hardly be getting an easier ride for it from the critics. Look at the criticism Vale is getting for example; if wharton comes into the team too soon & performs like Morton he'd be crucified on here and would hardly be greeted with, "at least he's one of our own". What would that do for his development?? Money is undoubtedly part of the reason behind it Morton over Choudary / Hendrick etc,, but Broughton has hardly been quiet about those limitations since he arrived has he?

Accepting the fact that Morton has made some individual errors that have proved costly (yesterday chief amongst them, it was right in front of my temp seat in the JW Upper & was suicidal), he's not alone in that. Can I suggest to those criticising why we signed Morton that they listen to GB"s interview with the Assoc of Sporting Directors that is posted elsewhere on this forum? It explains exactly why he was signed, which was to bridge the gap between experienced midfielders leaving at the end of last season & the likes of Wharton & Garrett coming through. He's 12 months ahead of both in his overa development & age, so a 12 month loan made sense given the budget & timescales GB & JDT had to work to, but next season will likely be founded on Wharton, Garrett, Travis& Buckley plus 1 other. To me that's rational, common sense, forward / succession planning which has been missing from this club for a decade. Additionally, Morton himself has said on record that he wasn't expecting this many appearances, so it can hardly have been written into his deal that he gets them! The main reason for that has been the drop off-in form of Buckley & Travis, which proves that reliance on just your own (younger) players isn't always successful so loans are required to supplement that, like all other clubs at our level given the fact that established Prem clubs have about 40 senior players in their books at any one time Why does everything have to be a conspiracy theory about penalties for lack of minutes, jobs for the boys, stats over eyes etc?? Edit: that post wasn't directed at you Exiled by the way, I realise on re-reading that it could've come across that way!!

I'm all for discussion & debate, but the bare facts are that we're paupers, with rich owners who can't or won't write blank cheques. They've spunked £180m+ away in a decade whilst reducing the club's value, but don't feel obliged to throw good money after bad to right their wrongs. So they've gone down the sustainability & self sufficiency route. On one level that's to be applauded as we all want the club to survive & grow for next generations. Whether we like it or not, that's where we are. So GB & JDT are working in very tight parameters. They have some budget, but have to wheel & deal to get the right blend of ins & outs, youth & experience, for now & for succession planning. That means having to be patient and wait on other clubs, and / or on the next round of cup games to pass before prem clubs release fringe players. Folk are impatient due to the stalling under TM. Fair enough I get it, but GB & JDT are a new broom. I listened to the interview GB gave to the ASD today, he clearly knows his onions and understands how important our proud, historic club is to its town. I'm 100% certain he's doing his damndest to bring sustainable success to us. It's unlikely to be immediate, and it might not succeed at all, but I think he and JDT are the best chance we've had since 2012 to get back to being a force at the top table again.

Sorry JH but can't agree. Yes some were first time loanees but many weren't, probably like any other team at our level. Tosin played a season on loan at W Brom the season before he joined us (& was excellent for us). Van Hecke played a season at Heerenveen before us (and again was excellent for us). Giles - was on loan at Cardiff before us. Then going further back there's the likes of Tom Trybull, Barry Douglas, Greg Cunningham, Harrison Reed, Kasey Palmer. All of whom were experienced pros or had prior loans at our level before. And the best one of all was Harvey Elliott, who admittedly was a first time loanee but boy (literally!) was he worth it! So I'd say there's nothing to see here, just appears to be a bit of mischievous stirring on your part, if not a lack of research...

All this talk of the project, the longer term, forward planning etc. being criticised, for me brings to mind something Jack said when we won the title. Through tears of joy, he said that we'd achieved his goal of winning the title a year earlier than planned. Great, we all thought, and it was a truly fantastic 4 years. But then what happened? We finished 7th, then mid table for a couple of seasons, then went down. We were rubbish in 99/2000, then found Souness and lucked out with the likes of Dunn, Duff & Jansen coming through. Hughes also benefitted from that, but was also able to buy in decent talent. We competed really well over a decade in the Prem under Williams' guidance before Venky's came along & threw it all away. My point, in this context, is that we grew too fast, faster than expected, such that we fell away almost as fast, faster than any other title winner. We didn't have the foundations to be sustainable in the longer term. Jack knew this and admitted as much, hence the funding of the academy. After his death, that academy, plus good club management from Williams, kept us up, but it only took 1 bad appointment by know-nothing new owners to ruin it all and since then.... well, we all know what's happened since then. This summer, for whatever reason and at whoever's behest, the club took a new turn by opting for the DoF & Head Coach model. It happened at a time when 3 senior pros left for free, 2 first team loanees left, and half a dozen squad players moved on. The club was riddled with holes, not just on the squad but in the backroom team too. On arrival, GB made no bones about this being a project, the brief being to make the club sustainable in its own right, to build a solid foundation over a period of time which would stand the test of time and the vagaries of the modern game. It was to be (re)built from the bottom up, relying heavily on the academy, good scouting & shrewd investment. JDT then arrived. He perhaps didn't know the recent history, the antipathy of the owners, the mistrust between the club & fans, the false dawns, the promises, the journey. But he did know we had a shoestring budget, he knew we had a strong academy, he knew we had a team shorn of experience & numbers, with 1 star player who was only likely to be around for one season, the other still recovering from 2 seasons out injured. "I was looking for a project, the project found me". He nor JDT couldn't have been clearer about their remit. He then had what, 6 weeks to get to know the players he inherited, in a pre season he said wouldn't have been his choice, plus contribute to identifying incomings. One of his backroom team died within days of his arrival. Then the season started in earnest, 24 games crammed into 3 and a half months. He had to rely on blooding youth to get through that, giving 5 players their senior debuts. It's not surprising that some things didn't come off (Hirst being the standout flop) or that results have been inconsistent. Despite all that, the team clearly over achieved in that spell, to the point where now, even after 3 wins in 10 matches, we're still in 4th, which none of us predicted, expected or demanded in June. All to play for. There's 1 week left of the January transfer window. We clearly have targets, some known, most probably unknown. JDT and GB will be trying to push for the best deals for now, whilst also planning for the future as per their remit, which they knew when they arrived. Every manager hates the January window, good deals are tough to get at the best of times, even for non-dysfunctional clubs like Rovers. I've rambled on a bit, but looking through the prism of history GB & JDT just cannot be judged harshly now, or at the end of this season, on the back of faults of others before or above them. The Prem winning year was built on weak foundations which crumbled just as quickly, & Venky's ruined the stability of the Williams era. If it takes JDT & GB 2-3 seasons of rebuilding, of trading, of instilling a togetherness & an identity back into a broken club then great, 'cos it was a shambles when they arrived. And that's not giving up on promotion this year by the way.

I think you should change your name to "No Merc-y", 'cos that's what you show to anyone at Ewood who fails to smell of roses (or should that be rosé?)! 😉

Be careful what you predict, many on here were lamenting Raya as being unlikely to do much in his career - too small / rash / error-prone / lightweight etc, but he's turned out alright.

Whether your opinion is correct or not (I think TK is as good a keeper as any in this division) how on earth does it make sense to sell Kaminski just because he isn't Raya? We're not going to get Raya back so we should only be considering selling TK if we can identify a better replacement. Let's not compound one decision by making another unnecessarily.