Just looking at the final tables from last season in the top 2 divisions of women's football is quite eye opening https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/womens-super-league/table https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/womens-super-league-two/table In the top Division, the top 6 were the big 6 men's clubs, and the rest of the top division were made up of clubs fairly established in the men's Premier league, with the exception of Bristol City who got 6 points and finished last by some distance Crystal Palace won promotion from The 2nd division, the rest of the division was made up of mainly men's Championship teams (including Rovers) Newcastle (another club with money) were this season promoted to the 2nd division, without knowing anything else about their players/team etc, I will hazard a guess that they will win the division at a canter. It is fairly obviously something that can only realistically be supported/funded to what the pundits and journalists would call an "acceptable level" by fairly established men's Premier League teams who do not have to worry about going bankrupt. Maybe if the journalists petitioned their bosses at various media companies, they could convince them to give better tv deals to women's football to make it more feasible. It irks me somewhat that Venkys haven't put a penny into any part of the club in some time, and nothing has been mentioned by pundits/journalists etc until something which is en vouge is affected Edit - If there is decent money available in the women's top division, then what appears to be a 1 up, 1 down system of promotion/relegation doesn't offer much incentive for many of the 2nd division teams to take a chance on promotion, without something like play offs to give them a helping hand

Ryan Nyambe to score the goal that knocks the Dingles out of the play off too! lol

or we already have a promising young left back who has done well at at lower level but is currently unproven at Championship level in Gent? Not much difference between League 2 and Scottish Prem for me

I do

I seem to have a blind spot in my memory when it comes to Fleck (its quite nice, others should try it too, at least one painful memory erased)

And then when injured they would be given an extension (Gladwin)

Wasn't the Telalovic fee just the cobbled together loose change from underneath Broughtons and JDTs sofas?

Welcome back Chaddy, I was genuinely worried about you for a minute there, don't think I have ever seen you go a day without posting before, and thought this week might have broken you. Glad to see you are still as positive as ever. In answer to your question, we would have known O'Brien's and McGuire's wage demands before making a move for them too, and it didn't help in either of those situations. Edit - I think you are right with the first point that Hyam became available so we pulled out of the Caulker deal (which sounds like a sensible choice)

An occasional jaunt to Italy or South Korea normally allows access if the game is not available in Spain

He signed for them last season, he signed a new deal today

For those of us who dont speak Danish Terrible debut for new AGF against FC Midtjylland Victor Risager Journalist AGF's new goalkeeper, Leopold Wahlstedt, made his unofficial debut in a test match against FC Midtjylland, and four times he had to retrieve the ball from his goal. AGF presented a new goalkeeper in Leopold Wahlstedt from Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday, and already on Thursday he was thrown into action for the Århusians in a test match of two times 60 minutes against FC Midtjylland. Without the great success of course. The first 60 minutes of the match was Jesper Hansen, and the first hour came and went without scores. But for the remaining 60 minutes, Leopold Wahlstedt had to guard the cage for AGF, and he had to retrieve the ball from his goal four times. FC Midtjylland opened the scoring after 68 minutes, and here the Swedish goalkeeper did not look too good. He couldn't control a long shot from Edward Chilufya, and then the rebound ended up at the feet of Alhaji Kamara, who was able to poke the ball into the goal. Right after, FC Midtjylland came close to doubling the lead via an own goal from Aarhus, but this time Wahlstedt was on the mark. A minute later, however, the lead was doubled. Mads Nybo tapped in from an acute angle, where Wahlstedt got a hand on the ball, but could not keep it out of the goal. In the 86th minute it was crazy again. Aral Simsir broke through on the left side of the mid-judges and sent the ball over, where Wahlstedt got his hands on it. Unfortunately for him, the rebound ended up in the small area where Alhaji Kamara could score his second goal of the match. The last goal of the match was scored after 88 minutes, when a cross from Central Jutland was sent into the box. Here Edward Chilufya was quite free and could easily head the ball past Wahlstedt in the goal. A terrible debut for Wahlstedt, who conceded four goals, but was not helped to that extent by his defense, which primarily consisted of new or young players in the second half of the match. Then the Mid-Jutland fans could sing, and no more were scored before the 120-minute long test match was blown. Among other things, AGF can thank the aforementioned Wahlstedt for that, because he also made some good saves while the Aarhusian defense had problems. Below you can see how the two teams started the 1st and 2nd half respectively*: FC Midtjylland in the 1st half: Elias Olafsson - Joel Andersson, Ousmane Diao, Juninho, Victor Bak - Charles, André Rømer, Denil Castillo, Mikel Gogorza - Ola Brynhildsen, Franculino Djú FC Midtjylland in the 2nd half: Jonas Lössl - Adam Gabriel, Lee Han-beom, Mads Bech, Mads Nybo - Valdemar Byskov, Oliver Sørensen, Andreas Nibe, Aral Simsir - Edward Chilufya, Alhaji Kamara AGF in the 1st half: Jesper Hansen - Jonas Jensen-Abbew, Frederik Tingager, Eric Kahl - Jacob Andersen, Frederik Brandhof, Nicolai Poulsen, Mads Emil Madsen, Gift Links - Patrick Mortensen, Sigurd Haugen AGF in the 2nd half: Leopold Wahlstedt - Aksel Halsgaard, Henrik Dalsgaard, Mikkel Kannegaard Kristensen - Jacob Andersen, Frederik Brandhof, Luka Callø, Mikael Anderson, Tobias Bach - Patrick Mortensen, Sigurd Haugen *Several were replaced along the way, especially in the second half.

I've heard circa £30K/week last season in the Prem, If that figure is vaguely correct then no doubt a relegation wage decrease will have by now taken that down to £15Kish/week. Still sounds well out of Rovers budget unless he is desperate for game time and has no other options

Bingo

Jay Haddow (former U21s player) doesn't seem too happy with how he was treated https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3269107/ex-blackburn-rovers-defender-ready-help-kitchee-return-top-hong-kong-pile “Any time I asked about my plan, I received no clear answers,” Haddow said. “If I tried to look for a loan move, Blackburn provided no support. I played more than 60 matches in Premier League under-21 competitions, but my playing position was constantly changed. “My coaches were fantastic, but some individuals were clearly hindering my development. I was relieved when I was allowed to leave at the end of my contract.”

There will probably not be any replacements for them (even inadequate ones) if/when they are sold

Depends upon the age groups we are looking at (I would guess "emerging talent" relates to players 18 and under, but I may be wrong) The guy in question (Paul Aladejare) joined Rovers in January 2023, so has had to operate when Venkys had the taps turned off. Off the top of my head, Tijon was brought in from Rochdale last summer, Doherty this summer. The failed move for Brierly (now at Brentford) was also in this time period. I suppose if Rovers have no funds, to complete many of these deals, then his wage is another that can be cut, as he can identify all the talent he likes, and if no money is available for fees/wages, then it is an exercise in futility.

Schrodinger's Finneran

Was he? 4 goals in 15 last season at U21 level and 1 in 8 at U18 level I know he is in the Poland U20s squad, and does seem to have something about him, but it may simply be that he doesn't fancy his chances of progressing with Tijon here? Or maybe he (his agent) is still in the process of negotiating a slightly higher wage than the others who did sign yesterday Of course it could also be that he has done a Finneran/Phillips and decided the grass is greener (and more lucrative) elsewhere

Out of interest, what is the standard of goalkeeping in Denmark? Dingle Peacock-Farrell was at AGF last season and has always struck me as not very good. How did he do in comparison to other GKs in the top division in Denmark?

Why? All signs pointed to more of the same

Do we know if that means he hasn't signed it yet or isn't signing it?. From the statement I saw, either could be the case. Communication from the club is as good as ever

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/july/03/rovers-youngsters-sign-pro-deals/ Another minor bit of good news to end the day (this may become a pattern in the coming days) Junior Nsangou is not one of those who has signed though, not sure if that means he is off or still negotiating

Agree with everything you have posted there, great post. I would add Duru to your list though, both in terms of his ability and likely lack of funds, and possibly James Edmondson & Atcheson. In the early season cup games (albeit against lower league teams) and in the away game against West Brom, Garrrett did look like he had the potential to be a future Szmodics replacement (as in hard working goal scoring midfielder... not saying he will get close to 30 goals this year)

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/24426947.newcastle-united-hope-sign-rory-finneran-blackburn-rovers/

I may be wrong here, but I was under the impression that the women's game is not (at least currently, or in the near future) financially sustainable, as crowds, tv coverage etc do not come close to even paying the low wages mentioned in recent days I think that without being subsidised by the clubs, there would be even less funding for the women's teams. As I said, I may be wrong, and am more than happy for someone to give me a steer.