KentExile

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/1029821.fergie-lauds-veteran-tugay/ Sir Alex Ferguson is the latest manager to sing Tugay's praises as the veteran Blackburn Rovers star continues to defy the ageing process. The midfield maestro delivered another virtuoso performance in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last week, which prompted Mark Hughes to hail him as the best player amongst a galaxy of stars'. However, Hughes wasn't the only man drooling over the 36-year-old's talents - Fergie also admitted to being blown away by the former Galatasaray star, too. Hughes revealed: "I spoke to Sir Alex after the game last week and he commented on what a good player Tugay is. "I told him if he was ten years younger he'd be playing for United, and Sir Alex agreed! "He's an exceptional player and, given his ability, he could play for anyone in the Premiership, or even the world for that matter." Although in the twilight of his career, Tugay remains a talisman for Rovers. He firmly believes he can play on at this level until he's 40, and Hughes doesn't disagree. ""Given his performances this year, I wouldn't doubt him on that," said the Rovers boss. "Given his position and where he plays, it might be a possibility. "He has a real love of the game, he still enjoys coming in to work every day, and he has a great enthusiasm for the game. "Once you lose that, you retire, and he shows no sign of losing that yet. "At times, I'll try and take him out of the frame to protect him, but we haven't really been able to do that lately (because of injuries). "But he keeps stepping up to the mark and he's been excellent."

He can fill up a couple more slots by registering George Pratt & Jack Barrett Only 2 slots left, nearly full 😉

Rovers 0 - 2 Cheadle Town Stingers Cheadle Town Stingers? ffs

My tongue was firmly in cheek with that comment

Suppose the running costs are quite low then Who needs a training ground when you have no players? Why bother with a ground even 😉

I suppose that's why XG was invented

He always looked a similar level (maybe slightly better than) to Adam Caddick (who we released this summer) to me Neat & tidy, but nothing more

Only reason I can think of is a complete lack of competition out wide in the first team, and he is a bit of an athlete (which Ismael seems to like) which puts him ahead of Doherty, Wood etc in Ismael's thinking

I suppose they could in theory reduce wage to turnover based on that. Depends on how much some of those others (Pashas salary, Waggots gardening leave etc) are being paid, and what else they decide to cut costs on. Half time tombola for head coach position maybe? But if we are looking to have a wage to turnover of less than 100%, then not without increasing turnover significantly

Minimum That sort of wage scale would put Rovers on a level playing field with other Championship clubs (excluding those in receipt of parachute payments, or Birmingham/Wrexham), but is obviously not compatible with reducing wages to turnover (unless we double or treble turnover at the same time I suppose? But that sounds rather fanciful)

It has been 3 years since Rovers finished above Bristol City, and the season before last, Rovers were at the bottom end of the table below both. At the very least, their spending shows their ambition to progress, whilst Rovers cuts show the exact opposite. Being above them for a season is one thing, We can see a general trajectory for clubs over more than a season though. What are the odds on Rovers finishing above them (or Coventry, Or Millwall, or Norwich?, who also reinvest to a similar degree) this season? Obviously yes, there is a chance, but if you had to stake your family home on it, which way would you bet?

Match report from last night https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/august/18/report--everton-under-21s-1-0-rovers-under-21s/

Rovers are not unique in this regard In most, if not all cases, if a club wants to remain in the Championship (let alone aim to compete for promotion), then wages have to be higher than turnover The below is based on the most recent accounts of all Championship clubs: https://www.matchdayfinance.com/post/championship-financial-results-season-2023-24 Championship clubs are generally unprofitable, primarily because their staff costs significantly exceed the revenue they generate. Staff costs before player sales totaled £1.12 billion, which amounted to 122% of total turnover—£161 million more than revenue. In such a scenario, financial losses are unavoidable. However, in order to progress, other clubs such as Middlesbrough, Bristol City, Coventry, Millwall etc, reinvest upwards of 70% of transfer fees received into transfer fees for new signings to improve their squad.

That sounds unfortunate, but typical for this week

Does whoever is updating the Rovers twitter account not know who our own players are?

Eustace seemed to do ok with that in the first half of last season.

self inflicted & self imposed though

Both Hull and Sheffield Wednesday are now under a "fee restriction" rather than a full embargo, Pretty sure "fee restrictions" only impact transfer/compensation/loan fees, not what wages they can offer https://www.efl.com/governance/embargoes/

U21s are away at Everton this eve, 7pm kick off Preview score/update New convoluted rules for PL2 Participating clubs are divided into six seeding pots of five teams, based on performances over the previous three seasons. Fixtures are then determined by a draw made according to clubs’ positions in the six seeded pots. Across the 20 matchweeks, teams play each club in their own seeding pot once, as well as three or four teams from all other pots, either home or away. Results generate a combined table ranking the 29 teams, with the top 16 teams qualifying for the elimination play-offs, where teams are drawn against each other based on their final league positions. In a change for 2025-26, the eight Premier League 2 teams finishing in positions from 17th to 24th will go into a new, cross-category play-off competition, along with the top eight teams from the Professional Development League (Category 2).

Wilcox 😉 I actually just spent 5 minutes wondering if I had selective memory loss and couldn't remember one of our title winning side

has he waved his hands & pointed yet?

but we got a great deal... nobody would have paid more etc etc

That's who works on set piece coaching (I think) , so would have been who decided who picked up who "Some members of the staff got the responsibility for the set pieces, why they picked the player, the positioning has to be right. We have to move on and learn from that for the next game." Maybe having removed David Lowe from the coaching set up (although he may be on gardening leave). Ben Benson is next in Ismael's sights?

Yep, and standard across all transfers. It genuinely does seem to be an attempt to wind people up

Its definitely a FIFA regulation/law/rule. Although it is not restricted to international transfers only, or to players under a certain age (which applies to "training compensation". Also does not apply if no fee is paid (which is self explanatory as the rule itself relates to a a % of any fee paid) https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/item/a-guide-to-training-compensation-and-solidarity-payments-in-football#:~:text=Article 21 RSTP is entitled,former club (solidarity contribution). Article 20 RSTP is entitled “Training compensation” and provides as follows: “Training compensation shall be paid to a player’s training club(s): (1) when a player signs his first contract as a professional, and (2) each time a professional is transferred until the end of the season of his 23rd birthday. The obligation to pay training compensation arises whether the transfer takes place during or at the end of the player’s contract. The provisions concerning training compensation are set out in Annexe 4 of these regulations.” Article 21 RSTP is entitled “Solidarity mechanism” and provides as follows: “If a professional is transferred before the expiry of his contract, any club that has contributed to his education and training shall receive a proportion of the compensation paid to his former club (solidarity contribution). The provisions concerning solidarity contributions are set out in Annexe 5 of these regulations.” PS - Sometimes I wonder if we should have a separate forum corner for discussing laws around transfers in autistic detail... so that we don't bore the rest of the forum 😉