Just now, Sweaty Gussets said:

Why are Q's about transfer updates 'silly'?  Every footie journo in he land asks about them. The problem at Rovers is the dysfunctional set-up whereby the bloke who should be answering them has gone into hiding, leaving JDT to answer them.

I said silly because it’s clear that JDT can’t or doesn’t want to answer those questions yet they persist.

As for “gone into hiding”, I’ve seen pictures of Broughton at the training ground and he wasn’t wearing a balaclava.

2 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Running commentary? No, an update, so that Q's aren't constantly directed art JDT. Because if he doesn't give an update  Q's will keep on getting directed at JDT. And it's fairly clear JDT is getting annoyed by them. 

And JDT should not be accounting for Broughton's failures in the transfer window. 

To be honest I think they’d keep asking the silly questions anyway. It’s what generates those hits, much more so than who might not be available for selection.

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

It has been blatantly obvious since the start of the summer, and even before then given the loan status of Van Hecke and uncertainty on Lenihan, that signing a CB was essential. 

Yet here we are, 2 weeks from the window shutting, having not signed a CB, and seemingly the only significant progress on that front has been to try and get another loan from Liverpool and we now have to sit around waiting for them to decide what is happening.

Now if after all that time and opportunity we still can't or won't get a CB in - of critical importance - despite claims of a good budget regardless of the Brereton situation - then I don't think the omens are good for a Brereton replacement to be completed in a matter of days.

For all of Broughton's work - and I am impressed with what I have seen from him so far - it is clear that getting bodies in is still an issue here, with only 3 signings to date. The key of course is that ultimately he might be the best D of F around but if he's working on Venky time or with no money then he's not going to be able to get the job done. 

Anyhow - the media crew will be happy as they can divert the positivity of our excellent start away and turn it into panic stations about losing our key man. That's the way they like it around here.

I agree that 1 if not 2 CB’s are needed before the window shuts, but you fail to mention that we bid for both Anel and Ben Davies but both deals failed to come off.

Sharpe stated in the telegraph that a £3m bid had gone in but he opted for the higher wages on offer in Sheffield.

I will be with you to criticise the club if defenders aren’t brought in or any money from a hypothetical sale is not reinvested, but I’m keeping my powder dry for the moment.

Why are folk desperate for Broughton to give a running commentary on the transfer window? It’s quite clear that he will come out and talk after the window closes.

Not only that but he’s provided a small written explanation of each signing to date on the club website.

If I was him I’d prefer to be judged on concrete signings rather than lip service to the local media.

Just now, Sweaty Gussets said:

Around the 10-15% mark apparently. 

Of profit or total sale value?

1 minute ago, BRFC_Polky said:

Has to be minimum £15m before we look at accepting an offer. 
 

What is the sell on percentage that Forest are due?

Waggott negotiated it so no doubt the club had its pants pulled down.

If the offer from Nice gets up to £15 million and the player wants it, we would be silly to squander that amount of money on a player with 12 months left on their contract.

The most important thing though is what happens next. Have any contingency plans been put in place for a scenario that even the most silly of fans could have seen coming?

This is what we will judge Broughton and the club on at the end of the window.

8 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The money spent on those 2 isn't very much and is not the sort of serious money that funds serious promotion bids. Rovers desperately need more players - permanent ones,not loans - and that requires proper money to be spent. I don't see any sign of it so far

So you're just guessing that Brighton would need to find another centre back before letting Van Hecke go which is a bit different from your previous statement 

Surely the most important thing is the quality of player brought through the door, not the money spent on them.

Spending plenty of cash is no guarantee of success as seen with Sam Gallagher, but it has to be used properly.

Sad news. What a horrible disease to have to endure for the length of time he did. Rest in peace Lenny.

33 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

What’s the chances of Brittain playing there ?

I doubt that the priority when sourcing a new RB was to know if he could play well at CB in the unlikely event that 4 players in the position picked up an injury at the same time.

One metric that I don’t think is quoted often enough in these discussions would have to be expected goals against. People on social media tend to solely fixate on expected goals for.

When talking about sustainability of results over the long term and reverting back to the mean, surely both elements have to be factored in to that?

Joe is great at this stuff so can hopefully provide some more clarification on this point if needed.

At this point the club has to decide whether to hold its nerve to get the preferred targets late in the window or potentially panic if we get another injury.

The perfect scenario would of course involve bringing in our preferred targets this week.

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I suppose the problem with direct comparisons is that we are not playing the same formation.

The key with Brereton is making sure that we have targets very much lined up, hopefully of a decent fee and good calibre to instantly be signed. I am not convinced that will happen though.

I agree that direct comparisons are hard to make, particularly when choosing which areas of the squad to strengthen. I just outlined the number of bodies I think we need at a minimum.

I would bring in 2 CB’s and another striker, but I’m not in charge.

When you look at who left earlier this summer I think it provides a good indication of where the club should be looking to strengthen in the remaining days of the window:

Lenihan, Nyambe, Rothwell, Johnson, Van Hecke and Khadra for me are the only serious senior losses compared to last season.

Davenport and Poveda barely played and I don’t even need to mention the rest of them.

So really we should be looking at a minimum of 6 senior signings to plug the gaps in the squad, ideally 4 permanent signings and 2 loan deals.

3 more deals needed before the deadline, with the obvious caveat being the future of BBD, but I think we can only cross that bridge when we come to it.

The club have said that over 7.5k have been sold so far. Do we know why there is a 500 discrepancy @goozburger? Great work analysing this btw. 

Sounds a bit silly but I think a feasible last minute rescue plan for this embarrassment could be a promise for all current ST holders to get a 100 quid discount for the following season. Maybe that would help?

In all seriousness I’m very nervous about tonight’s game. Our record in these big games (Bournemouth aside) is very poor since relegation in 11/12. 
 

Boro are on a red hot streak of form themselves and you get the sense that it could continue through to may. With Rovers, it’s been a few consecutive sub standard performances leading into this. That, in combination with our inability to turn games around when we go a goal down and our lack of late winners, plus the absence of Diaz and some COVID issues I can’t see anything other than a Middlesbrough win.

Rovers 0 - 2 Boro

I hope it isn’t the start of an annual death spiral.

Our margin of defeat has improved by 5 goals each time we've played on sky.

3 - 0. Easy win.

Don't know if it's worth posting but that Stephens thing is a total non starter as I suspected....

I think people miss the point that Joe is trying to make.

He isn't saying that Venky's haven't made disastrous mistakes in the past. He also isn't saying that we should be immensely grateful for their financial support either.

I also find the dig about young fans not experiencing the Kean/Anderson days to be not very constructive whatsoever. Most of the fans of this club below the age of 20 can't remember anything other than Championship/league one football.

We should be grateful for their support.

4 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Why would the issue with Rothwell be getting his wages off the books? If there was financial motivation it would be surely to get value before his contract expires, his contract is the one he signed after signing from Oxford so I doubt it is hefty and Stephens will be on more in the Premier League.

As I said above, the person I got this info from does get bits. Some things come off and some don't. It's always tricky when trying to relay third hand information.

As I said above, it doesn't make much sense and sounds like nonsense. Let's hope it is.

4 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It would be a foolish move to basically exchange Rothwell for Stephens.

I hope the information is nonsense, but the person I've spoken to knows people at the club.

I don't post on here very often so don't shoot the messenger. Current state of play is as follows:

We've had a small cash bid go in for a Burnley midfielder. Possibly Dale Stephens. Tony wants to stiffen the midfield after the Hull game.

However, Pasha is insisting that Rothwell could go the other way to fund the deal as he sees it as the ideal chance to get his wages off the books before the summer.

Hedges could also arrive late on next week if we can make the money work.

I'd like to go if the date in question is Thursday the 13th.

Gareth Ainsworth would be a good shout for many reasons in my opinion:

- Relatively Young, hungry and desperate to succeed

- Has 380 games in management at unfashionable clubs, with a win rate of above 40%

- Has a promotion on his CV

- Is currently flying high in League One, not many places below us in the pyramid after spending no money and gets the most possible out of his resources

- A Blackburn lad and Rovers fan. He would be willing to come here.

Brentford took Dean Smith from Walsall so I don't know why this couldn't work also.