This is as much as we got Ex-Toffee Adam Forshaw, Aynsley Pears, Carter, Jake Garrett, Harry Leonard, Ryan Alebiosu and Sidnei Tavares all miss out on the squad, whilst new arrival Sean McLoughlin will watch on from the stand.

They have pretty much gone full strength Pickford aside

It was probably originally a 3 or 4 years (with an option) and a higher wage, and then once he had arrived here & done his medical, they changed the offer and did a deal, lower wage, but shorter contract, same as what happened with Kargbo

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if come opening day, Higgins is seen as back up for Ohashi & Gueye (& Leonard, unless he is loaned out), & Tyjon for Cantwell, with Kargbo, D Neve, Hedges and a new signing competing for spots out wide. It also would not surprise me to see Rover attempts to appease Tyjon & Higgins, mean that they forget about Joe Boggan (another promising forward but not likely to reach the same level as the other two... which ironically means Rovers may have a greater chance at keeping him for longer), and result in him departing next summer when his current contract expires

In terms of best position, his lack of physical presence or real speed, but being a clever player (his awareness & movement is very impressive for his age), probably mean that being a 10 (more in the mold of a Dack rather than a Cantwell) is where he will end up. Which is where he featured mainly last season, and also in the friendly last weekend Can see him being Cantwells deputy this season, as it will enable that 1st team route, and also means that they have an excuse for not signing someone In terms of his goalscoring, he had a start-stop season last time out due to a combination of injury and him "tagging along" with the first team instead of playing for the U21s, but still managed a ratio of 1 goal in 3 (1 in 1.5 if you look at minutes played) (reminder, he was 16 until March at this is at U21 level)

Nyambe was a useful one on one defender. However offered very little going forwards, and has had recurring injury issues. 3 separate injuries restricted him to just 17 league games last season. In fact, in the 2 years he has spent at Derby, he has played in only 40 games in all competitions, so he has genuinely missed more games than he has played

Those 2 teams may well be our saving grace this season given their transfer bans. However, the 3 promoted teams look stronger than their equivalents in most other seasons, so unless the transfers team bring in a lot more Ohashi's than Telalovic' s, (without our owners selling off too much more of the family silver to keep the lights on) we are still looking for at least one more team to have a terrible season

I think your mind is playing tricks on you. 2-2.5 years ago, he had ben a regular in rovers first team for a couple of years & had played over 3000 minutes for us in the Championship alone (probably closer to 4000)

yes If I remember correctly, the main purpose of this rule/law is to protect injured players during the off season, but the wording/ambiguous nature of it means that players can and do use it to mean they can shop around for a better deal for longer without being without pay

Yes, if players are not with a new club by the time their contracts expire on 30th June, their old club pays their wage until the end of July or until the player signs up with a new club, whichever comes sooner

If? 😉

They have just bought in a dutch midfielder for over £10M, have an Irish international, and a fairly highly rated youngster who had a decent spell in league 1 last season who they may think will be able to step up, but they will probably think that they need one more

Unfortunately that cunning plan will involve shipping out any proven quality and/or experience we have because of their "unrealistic wage demands", and replacing them with young players from overseas who will cost half the amount. Of course this doesn't necessarily mean that they will be worse, but it is certainly a distinct possibility that they will be. The whole "project", and certainly the "transition", resembles the downgrading that Huddersfield performed a couple of years ago that lead to them being relegated to League 1 where they didn't even manage to finish in the play offs If Rovers are not in trouble this season, then both the coaching and especially recruitment teams will have worked a miracle Transition? - translation, "current players wanted more than a bag of monster munch, so we need cheaper ones". New contracts will not be offered "I think you see clearly now on the transfer market, we are in the transition," Ismael explained. "We spoke after the last game in the season, we wanted to keep that stability in the squad to try to extend the players. We made offers but they chose another way. "So now, our strategy is to go into the transition. We didn't expect to have that this summer but now it's time. "We want to reduce of our players, we have a clear profile of player that we want. Young, very athletic, players who are very able to give us that intensity. Technically as well, to give us possibilities with the ball. "At some point, it's ok to say, what shall we do now? Should we be chasing (contracts) or are we going to start with a transition period? "That means new players in, new profiles of players. They need more time to adapt so the fans can enjoy the new players, our new signings. It takes time. "We are choosing to be proactive. We are in a transition period, clearly. We know that until September 1, anything can happen due to the contract situation of some of our players."

There is a 2 week gap between the Elche friendly, & the first day of the season, so you do wonder if something fell through https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/july/09/dates-for-your-diary-ahead-of-2025-26/

Maybe I am just cynical, and if so, then the passage of time will prove me wrong, but it does make you wonder if the person who registered on the site 7 hours ago for what seems to be the sole purpose of making one post about his wikipedia page, just might have been the person who edited his wikipedia page?

Confirmation Lowe has gone https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25311387.valerien-ismael-confirms-exit-blackburn-rovers-coach/

The business was originally started by their parents, The idiots who own Rovers inherited what was presumably a 20 odd year old successful business with an infrastructure in place to keep it ticking over, and in the time that they have been running it, they (at least look to - on account of the court case etc) have got themselves into hot water with their own government. They are also involved in pharmaceuticals, which is enough to turn us all into anti vaxers at the thought of it 😉

I would be amazed if that happens. Like Travis, Tronstad, Brittain & Dolan, Hyams wage demands will be more than the club are prepared to pay

U18s match report Interesting to note that Paul Butler is now namechecked as U18s head coach, Whatt has happened to Ryan Kidd & Darragh Tuffy?

I have fixed it for you 😉

U21s match report Batty & Garrett both started, and Mafoumbi is fit and still here, he came off the bench

U21s & U18s both with wins against Celtic

Duru in reserve... once he is fit again As per Gestede - "we need to increase the minutes on the pitch for our academy players"

free AI is still shit

Tyjon is more of a 10 than an out and out striker (although he is more of a goalscoring 10 than a creator), will be the perfect excuse to not sign back up for Cantwell