Seems Goddard is having a decent debut

Starts this evening for

Eastham - won 1-0 vs top of the table Macclesfield

Goddard - lost 2-1 but he had a good game, saved a penalty and made a few decent saves (see next post),  Looks like he will get the man of the match award too.   Todd Kane & Dominic Samuel also starting for Ebbsfleet. 

Edmondson not named in the Macclesfield squad v Eastham's Ashton, so maybe he is being recalled and sent elsewhere?

Play tomorrow

Vale 

Saadi

Looks like Atcheson, Wood and Montgomery are back after loans, & Tyjon and Duru after injury

Preston start Evans, Bauer & Best from their first team squad

Score/Update in case Rovers twitter account doesn't keep us updated

1 hour ago, RoverCanada said:

My tally of our current loans by level:

Scottish Prem: Vale (Motherwell) - recently returned from a long injury with a couple subs.

League One (3): O'Riordan (Cambridge) - Odd he wasn't immediately recalled like Garrett given he hasn't even made the bench in recent games. Perhaps lining up another loan first.

League Two (4): Batty (Accrington), Markanday (Chesterfield)

National League (5): Gamble (Fylde), Goddard (Ebbsfleet), Olson (Altrincham)

National League North (6): Powell (Chorley)

Northern Premier League (7): Eastham (Ashton), Edmondson (Macclesfield) (possible this loan has now ended after being extend to 'January'; will see if he's in tonight's line-up)

Northern Premier League Div One (8): Honor (Atherton Collieries)

Cyprus First Division: Saadi (Ethnikos Achna)

Atcheson was on the bench for 6th tier Marine on 1 Jan but his loan was due to end that day. Had made 13 starts + 1 sub for them. Montgomery's loan there also due to end on 1 Jan, but he hasn't been in their lineup for over a month. Not as if he was totally frozen out though as he did manage 17 starts on his loan there.

Loans that were also originally due to end in January were Mullarkey-Matthews at 7th tier Bamber Bridge (seems he only made 4 apps there, and hasn't shown up there since Sept) and Harrison Wood at Scottish 3rd tier Annan (5 league apps + 1 cup app, but hasn't shown up there since Oct).

Montgomery has been injured, Atcheson has also had a couple of injuries as well as missing other games due to International call ups (no international break at that level so he just misses club games when he gets called up),

Both have done well in their loans, with at least one man of the match performance each, and Montgomery has scored also.  Both named in Rovers U21 line up tonight (along with Harrison Wood) but still possible both of those loans may either be extended, or they may be sent to a higher level

Edmondson's loan was extended until the 8th Jan (last line of the page the link takes you to), so should in theory be available tonight

34 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I came here to post this, knowing in my heart of hearts that you'd already posted it.

Strangely the article doesn't mention when the extension now takes him to, but a linked article says 2027 so he must have been due to expire before this. A bit surprising since he only signed his pro deal in March. So it was only just over a one year deal. He seems very promising, I'd say he's the only one of our glut of young keepers I'm a bit excited about, given how young he is for what he's achieved (England u18 caps, two loans, appearances on the first team bench, at just 17 is pretty impressive for a keeper). So it's very odd to me we are only giving him such short deals. We could easily bin off one of the several young keepers we clearly don't need and give him a longer deal (unless there is a limit on under 18s contract lengths...it definitely isn't one year though).

Tbh, makes me suspect it's the player who doesn't want to sign a very long term deal. Could he be fancying himself to follow the Finneran/Phillips route now he has England youth caps?

His previous contract was until 2026, so was a 2 (and a bit) year contract

A player cannot sign for more than 3 years until they turn 18 (FIFA regs), which will be late this season, it may be a case of rewarding him for progressing/keeping him sweet so that he is amenable (and until he is able) to signing a longer contract during the summer.

I think a deal until 2028 at this point would have not been allowed as it would essentially be seen as a 3.5 year deal

Contract extension for Michalski

Interview

21 minutes ago, Rover1984 said:

Here’s one for you Dolan to Sheffield Utd and Brewster in return……….

18 minutes ago, TheRevAshton said:

Funnily enough, i'd actually be on board with that if Brewster wasn't on silly wages 😂

Apart from one purple patch 6 years ago for Swansea, Brewster makes Dolan look like prime Messi in terms of his goal return

6 goals in 95 games for Sheffield United since then

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhian_Brewster

Goddard loaned to Ebbsfleet (5th tier) & Eastham loan extended at Ashford Utd (7th tier), both until the end of the season

If anyone is interested, Goddard may feature tonight v West Ham U21 in the National League Cup, free stream here, kick off at 7pm

https://www.nationalleaguetv.com/

3 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Cantwell is reportedly on 25k - 30k p.w?

Not sure he is on that much here, he was apparently on that amount at Rangers but would imagine he would be on circa £20K/week here.  He wanted out and to rehabilitate his career

Sigurdsson on £18K ish per week sounds about right, he had a decent reputation and moved to Rovers on a free (which normally means the lack of a fee benefits the player in either signing on fee or wages)

In case anyone was planning to go to Chorley tonight

And Doherty shortlisted for PL2 player of the month

https://www.premierleague.com/news/4215343?sf275990073=1

5 minutes ago, TheRevAshton said:

I think this exact same thing every time the chant starts, almost makes me feel sorry for the lad.

He's better off leaving to get some regular football, if we're pushing for play-offs he simply isn't of the level required - and Eustace clearly isn't a fan.

The most bizarre thing about Buckleys place in the squad for me is that he seems to be third in line for the captaincy under Eustace.  In recent weeks, in the absence of Travis, Tronstad has been giving him the armband when he has been replaced late on .  Which given how few minutes Buckley gets, seems a strange choice

23 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

"We can give the lads a break, get players back and in the recruitment side, get good players to come in."

Oh John. Seems like he's more hopeful than he should be.

You cant blame him too much

He hasn't experienced a January transfer window in the same way as Rovers fans... yet

I am only half joking.  I hate Januarys and their seemingly now annual humiliations

31 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

If Atcheson is on loan to a NLN side, and Olson on loan to a NL side, surely Olson is ahead of Atcheson in the pecking order (on present ability, not on potential).

Personally think Olson "got lucky" to some extent, rather than being ahead of Atcheson on current ability.  I think Altrincham had a bit of an injury crisis in defence and Olson got a loan because he was available, and he then took his chance.  And fair play to him, it may well be a sliding doors moment in his career.

Gamble on the other hand was playing in pre season for Rovers first team (albeit as part of the 2nd string 2nd half side before Fadz & Batth joined), but is struggling to make an impact at Fylde, also in the NL

Atchesons loan is only until January, so who knows, he may end up in a higher tier also.  Although it does feel as though Rovers are happy enough to have them playing regularly in mens football and are not too bothered about moving them up that extra division

24 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

 

So he's a bit behind both those players in his development I'd say, but if he lands a professional loan next season, which might be possible if he keeps playing well in the National League, I guess you can't rule him out if we keep him for a few more years (dunno his contract situation) and get him more development loans. Like you say though, in the short term his obstacles are Litherland and Atcheson.

His current contract is until the end of next season, with an option to extend in the clubs favour until June 2027 (by which time he will be a few months away from turning 23 and we should know one way or another how he is progressing)

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/july/12/charlie-signs-new-deal/

I would guess, the fact he got a 2 year + an option deal in the summer (when most of a similar age range got 1 year + an option) would indicate that he is rated to some extent by the club.  Although Atcheson, was more recently tied up until potentially 2029

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/november/15/tom-pens-new-deal-/

19 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Interesting, at 20 I wondered if they might try to find him a League Two loan, as time is running out to convince he can break into our first team squad...tbf maybe we already think he won't, or maybe there just wasn't any interest to drum up.

For me, he is behind both Atcheson & Litherland (who are both still teenagers) in terms of potentially making a future first team breakthrough.  But it sounds like he is having a great loan, which can only be good for him and Rovers in terms of  further progressing for either our own team, or a future sale/add ons/sell on

That being said, he only turned 20 in October, were Scott Wharton and Hayden Carter not both 22 or 23 before they broke through after several loans?

Just checked,

Wharton turned 24 during his first real break through in 21/22 season

Carter turned 22 during his break through season in 22/23

Elliott Jackson piece about loans in the LT

Blackburn Rovers are expected to loan Leo Duru this month with interest gathering in the English Football League and abroad, The Lancashire Telegraph can reveal.

Olson's loan extended until end of season

25 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Presume Garrett & O'Riordan haven't already played in the FA Cup this season?

You presume correctly, same applies to Markanday

Garrett

O'Riordan

Markanday

Batty is cup tied though

58 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

Haven't WBA made similar budget cuts to Rovers?

 

Cuts, yes, but they had a much higher budget than Rovers before the cuts (as they were still receiving parachute payments at that time), and still have a higher budget than Rovers now.  As their cuts have basically brought them in line with "normal" larger * (average attendance circa 25K) Championship clubs

I would think that West Broms budget after their cuts is still higher than what Rovers budget was before any cuts were made

* Larger in terms of current attendance, not based on history etc

3 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Dunno, I could be misremembering. I can't find anything about whether he was a freebie or cost a fee, having searched several articles. Transfermarkt had his fee down as '?' which usually means an undisclosed fee, but may mean they don't know either way. In theory you're right, if he was out of contract it shouldn't have cost us anything, and I do see he turned down a contract.

Regardless though, he seems to have been shit here so far. Though I did see that he scored 30 goals in 39 appearances overall for Nantes U19s, including 3 goals and an assist in the UEFA Youth League last season, so maybe he just needs time to settle.

I've just added to my original post, apparently 80K euros

Scoring goals in U19s is like the kids Rovers have had who tore up the U18s and then struggled to make the step up to U21s.  Like Nsangou who left in the summer

25 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Just thinking about our recruitment for the U21s this summer.

Mafoumbi seems to be a failed signing thus far. We spent a fee, not sure what it was but I think I remember hearing something like 200k? For that I'd think he was expected to be a U21 regular, contributing a good amount of goals, and occasionally sit the bench for the first team, with the possibility of breaking through. He was maybe even seen as a bit of a Telalovic replacement, a young striker who may come off the senior bench occasionally. He has scored 0 goals and has 0 assists for the U21s in 6 appearances totalling 339 minutes (equivalent to 3.7 full games). He didn't make the U21 bench for the last 3 matches, although I'm not sure if this was down to injury. We have lost every single game he has played in. Admittedly we have lost most games, but in the league when he hasn't played we have played 4, won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1. I'm not saying that's all down to him, but there's a clear pattern there. Didn't we use an ESC slot for him too? If so I'd be looking to jettison him and free it up. If not I guess we can afford a bit more time to see if he settles.

Aodhan Doherty seems to have fared better. Apparently we paid about 100k for him. A winger rather than a striker like Mafoumbi, but he has still scored 3 goals in 10 games, and added 2 assists. 565 minutes played, equivalent to 6.2 full matches, so 5 goal contributions is a pretty good return. Seems to be finding form too - the 3 goals came in the last 2 matches, and take them out we'd be 3 points lighter...we only have 7 points in total. Doherty is only 18, Mafoumbi is 19.

Thoughts from those who have actually watched games?

Pretty sure I saw Mafoumbi was a free (although the link I posted below says he was €80K), I thought he was out of contract in France and so wouldn't have needed compensation as he moved countries.  Similar to how Rovers wouldn't get any compensation for Dolan if he moves overseas despite his age.

Thank being said, Mafoumbi looks lost as a central striker, even at U21 level, but looked better on the left cutting inside on his right, like Brereton.

He does seem to have disappeared in the past couple of months though, possibly injured, as Rovers do not report much on injuries for U21s & U18s unless they are long term 

edit -  He has scored one in the cup competitions, and yes I think he does take up an ESC spot

https://www.playmakerstats.com/player/exaucee-mafoumbi/1009406

12 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

I read that bit as if they were in Trumpton 😁😁

I always think that Dewsbury-Hall has a name that sounds like he should have been in Trumpton,  Although he missed the cut off point by 30 odd years

18 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m not sure what the story is with Duru. He seems to have gone off the radar. If he’s fit I’d go with that 11.

Duru (and Tyjon) have both been out with injury

Todays games

Vale came off the bench for the last 20 odd minutes for Motherwell as they won 2-0

Chesterfields game (Markanday) postponed