Bethnal

I think if he’s not quite there, half a season in League One doesn’t do him any harm at all. We have four back there currently (albeit two older ones) and if we want him to be part of the side going forward, he’ll need to bridge the gap that exists, which won’t happen in the U21s and a couple of Carabao Cup games. At least in League One, he’ll be regularly testing himself against a high standard than he’s regularly played against. Hope he makes it with us, I suspect he has something about him.

Remember, guys… they never refuse to sign a check.

Late to the uproar, but I don’t think we should be letting Szmodics away on the cheap. Ipswich have wasted £15m + £5m in add-ons bringing in Liam Delap. I think the reasonable point would be, “if that’s what you’re spending on 12 goals in two seasons in the Championship, you can get to £10m + £2m for 27 goals last season/top goalscorer.” That’s a fair price. Before the “he’s only 21, we was at City” shouts: it’s a market. An asset is worth what it’s worth and proven goalscorers at any level, as Sammie was last year, are valuable. If Ipswich don’t want to pay that, I’d be telling him that they’re cheaping out on him and he’s worth too much to us to let that happen. Truth is, I reckon he’s the kind to use that as fuel, bang a few in then go for considerably more around Christmas to whichever of the usual Premier League suspects and new arrivals are misfiring. FWIW - I reckon he will go up there and score goals. I think if Calvert-Lewin is still hardballing a new deal, Everton would be tempted. If Brentford lose Toney, he’d do well there. Would like it to be West Ham for his sake, although don’t see Lopetegui wanting him.

Yeah, I think he’s not cut out for Championship football, which there’s no shame in. Has the ability, but neither the intelligence nor the consistency for it. Agreed. He did well playing that role and moving into midfield occasionally as part of it but I don’t think he has the command of that position to make it his own. If Duru impresses, I’d look to move on Brittain, put JRC there and have Duru as understudy. If not, keep Brittain as the relief pitcher to try to maintain fitness for JRC through recovery.

We could of course be especially critical of this position, given how poor our options were last season. He did seem to get lucky a few times and if that can be described as a trait, I’d take a lucky keeper over any other type.

Hmmm… seems to spill a lot of shots directly in front of him in this highlight reel. Almost a shame that there’s no such thing as a “lowlight reel” to understand if that’s a common problem.

Newcastle currently have five first team squad GKs, three of whom are English. Ruddy could well be fifth-choice there. If - speculation ahead - Eustace wants an experienced head in the building on loan, while that experienced head helps out with coaching and maybe is even working towards their badges, then I don’t think Ruddy on loan is a bad move. I’d rather have a new first-choice, Pears second-choice and then Ruddy, ahead of Hilton or Eastham (neither of whom have shown enough in training, U21s or the limited first team appearances of Hilton to dislodge either Pears or Leo) than just a new guy, then Pears, then Hilton and Eastham.

Real lack of imagination in that move, anyway. I think Fraser Read has done well on the kits and I suspect this is the first year where stock management won’t be an issue, likely because demand not quite as high as last season (pitch performances tail end of last year, combined with sustained impact of inflation). Clearly our consumer offering is still not of a high enough standard. I find it odd that the consumer offering is generally so poor and yet so much effort goes into the hospitality tickets and lounges. Am I wrong in thinking that should be the other way round? Is the hospitality offer really such a money spinner?

Yeah, where’s Neil?

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

Clearly the recruitment department has been putting the graft in and some financial circumstance has changed but it’s something to see us getting worked up over Andi Weimann on a free from Bristol City. All the new lads get a fair shake until they don’t deserve it anymore, but I’m not particularly enthused by anything I’m seeing. Waggott clearly in his element pulling a fast one on players. I hope an horrendous fate befalls him and not before too long, ideally.

Third transfer window in a row that I’ve put my OoO notice on for deadline day. We’ll be busy throwing smokescreens up right til midnight on 30th August, I think. I happen to believe the recruitment department are probably working as hard as Eustace has said, it’s just that all they are allowed to do is scout, analyse, sound out and recommend players. Unfortunately, we’ve got a senior management team more befitting a non-league club. Waggott has demonstrated no nous when dealing with the owners, no ability to manage upwards. We’ve got a notional COO whose major qualifications for his post at Rovers are being Balaji’s mate and being an orange juice salesman in a previous life. Rudy Gestede is on work experience, cosplaying a DoF, likely spending most of his time trying to get the most nutritionally dense potato smilies for Brockhall. Yasir Sufi has been promoted from engaging a previously under-engaged community to negotiating front of shirt sponsors with all the imagination of “what if we put the women’s sponsors on the men’s shirts?” Meanwhile, fans can’t agree on how to demonstrate discontent or - indeed - if there’s anything to be discontented by. Those who do engage directly with the club via fan groups are stifled by suckups at the top of those groups, more concerned with cordial relations in the hospitality suites than taking the club to task. And owners that don’t want the club but don’t want anyone else to have it and also need the fans to suffer a disproportionately worse indignity than being on the receiving end of a few snowballs, as they deservedly were the only time they visited Ewood as a whole. I believe the owners will be throwing a lot at winning on 20th August. They won’t want the embarrassment of a loss and I think they’re intentionally running the club down. I believe the club staff at all levels are planning for a loss because it’s a prudent thing to do and because the owners are so hands-off, nobody could know what’s going on. An undeniable mess, but for all of the above, we are surely close to seeing the backs of Venkys and - hopefully - the charlatans they’ve appointed.

Call it pessimism, if you like, but sudden uptick in some activity smacks of an impending cash departure (likely Szmodics). Delays are clearly to do with availability of cash/budget as some has been freed up. McFadzean being rekindled after months of talks inactivity especially so. I reckon the Ohashi deal is being delayed to coincide with Szmodics’ expected departure. We’re away at Morecambe tonight - Szmods being left out again as a precaution?

Pleased that there’s evidently some kind of budget, although aware it’s probably Szmodics money being spent ahead of time. Signing someone from the J-League is a very fun bit of business to do, hope he gets up to speed with the Championship quickly.

If this is at all in reference to comments I made last night, then I’m happy to apologise for offence that was caused but I did couch that it’s clearly not all who participate that I feel that about. A select few and based on what’s made publicly available. I recognise that it’s a somewhat thankless task. I also recognise you’ve offered your seat to anyone on here who wants to represent the site. I feel someone representing the site should be of long-standing and fairly deep integration with BRFCS, which would definitely preclude me.

Yeah, I think they’re trying to lock that off. Will be a good signing for them, I’d expect him to score goals for fun down there and continue in the championship. I’d like him here (transfer fee obviously precludes it) but he’d probably struggle here, with what we’re walking into next season with. I think there’s every chance we’re the lowest scorers, by a distance.

Needs to be many confrontations with him and Suhail. They need to be put firmly in the spotlight. After that, concerted leafleting campaigns around Ewood, targeting the people running the club, not just the owners. Outline the failures in bullet points, distribute to fans, update and amend as needed, but every weekend home game until there’s movement.

Yeah, I fully understand the point you make, which is why I couched it to not say all. The Chair of the Trust was bigging up Gestede’s appointment, while speculating that he was a “strong candidate for our next CEO” (meaning club CEO, I assume, rather than… Trust CEO?) while not long after mentioning details of the Wharton transfer on Twitter (not - as far as I know - publicly known before that point). I do think - for whatever an online forum member’s opinion about a club’s fans forum matters - that you actually only really need to look at the outcomes to see if either of us is right or wrong. Supporter takeover days coordination is a positive. Asset of Community Value status for Ewood is a positive. In terms of actually engagement with the club - they really can’t get much done, on either side and come to the club’s defence more often than not. I concede that I could be entirely wrong and truly Steve Waggott, his exec team and the owners are truly performing miracles down at Ewood and Brockhall, with the owners’ finance in particular not to be looked in the mouth. But I don’t think I am wrong and I suspect you don’t think that either. So if it’s clear to you and I, why do both groups dodge it? I do think our main point of agreement is that both, but especially the Trust, want the board seat and will bide their time and basically swallow anything in that time to ensure it happens for them. Crucially “them.”

This is an incredible idea for a stag do…

We all knew Szmodics was going, from the Leeds post-match interview. Not a shred of negative sentiment from me, he’s a great advert for the football league and I hope he goes to the Premiership and has a great rest of his career. Heroic performances and return last year, which kept us up (almost single-handedly). In his own way, he’s a cult hero at Rovers now and for the future (as long as the only claret and blue we see him in is of West Ham). The reason people are losing it about him going is because we are 2.5 weeks away and are selling (again) our best player for (probably) a good fee while apparently having no pot to piss in even after it happens. We should really have been shelling out to replace him and strengthen the team and squad already and we both haven’t and are not going to. We’re losing it about this deal because we know what it means.

No doubt whoever we do hoodwink into joining us will need a few weeks to “bed in” so scant hope of that. Our opponents on the Friday opening night have added 6 new players already.

I could not tell you what the two teams were instructed to do today, if there was anything. 3 weeks yesterday to season start and it looks like we need another three after that to get ourselves together. Only upside is the away kit looks cracking. Best kitted team to get relegated from the Championship? (Got to find the positives somewhere).

You’ve just confirmed something that someone told me and I laughed aloud at (specifically that the Duncan Ferguson deal was “basically done” I didn’t know it was Broughton that had approval/changed course). Staggering that Duncan Ferguson nearly became our manager and I chuckled that no such madness could ever occur.

This is just about the only thing we have going for us and would explain where we are. They don’t want to put a penny more in until August is decided. So they’re likely to fully shaft us of further investment during a protracted sale process, meaning whoever comes in either ploughs in huge sums in January (if we’re lucky) to save the season or starts planning for League One. Waggott and Suhail shouldn’t be able to walk freely in or around Ewood.

I am increasingly thinking we’ve not got a new first team player in before the season starts. Vale and Gent returns are not counting towards that, neither is Travis. Unless I was a fan of the club, I’d be getting my agent onto any kind of move away. Some embarrassing results incoming if we lose Szmodics and don’t bring anyone in.