Christ.

Is £100k/week playing staff reductions a hypothetical here or do you know something for definite?

Watching him yesterday, he looks a good professional with leadership ability and natural footballing intelligence but he’s just not quick enough. Was surprised to learn he was only 28, he moves like he’s lost a yard of pace over the years. Possibly why he hasn’t broken through the ceiling as everything else about his game is a good quality. Still, not for me.

Very late to this thread but it’s been a fascinating read, as so much resonates. First fell in love in ‘94, at 5 years old. Memories of my first game are a blur, I couldn’t really see the pitch or anything but it was warm and busy. My mum was there and that’s the only game I am aware she’s been to. Never looked back. First fell out of love 12/13 season. I was living in Berlin, so you kind of fall away from everything UK-centric unless you really try and it did not feel worth trying. I suppose even ten years ago, the world felt a bigger place. I also lived next door to a Dortmund pub (Intertank, on Manteuffelstr., directly opposite a very good Korean restaurant) which was both very rowdy and very welcoming. Watching Klopp manage Lewandowski, Götze, Gündogan et al was somewhat more compelling than watching what was happening at Ewood. I remember a few matches early that season, on weird foreign streams, but the transition to spending Saturday afternoons next door was swift, if a little hollow. Been in London for 9 years now and used to catch all the games down here, seeing familiar faces, but not having anyone to go with (friends move) means I don’t bother. I’ll come up for games now and again to see my brother and I’ll be up for Burnley in March. I do get a thrill still, stood outside the Blackburn End, noticing how much smaller it seems to me now. I also spend far too much time reading threads on this site at key moments (matches, transfer windows, etc). But I do have the nagging feeling that it’s all a bit of a waste of my own time. Really didn’t care about the World Cup. Normally, I am very much into the World Cup and everything around it but nothing engaged me, not even the final. Objectively an enormously significant event and some drama, but in prior years that would have had me climbing the walls. I think I managed one beer at home. If there’s going to be anything I love in football, it’s going to be Rovers. We have the best kit, best badge and nothing else will really make me feel the things we feel about the clubs we follow, as fans. But everything seems so much worse now. We’re an omnishambles as an organisation and the footballing output leaves a lot to be desired at times. Worse still, football and its fans. The Twitter fans, the sportswashing, the Americanisation of the sport, the money, the endlessness of it all and - the absolute worst - “Penaldo and Pessi” discourse. Still, as I said, I’ll be at the Burnley game, double cheeseburger from the death van and two-pinter in each hand, asking my pals “has the Blackburn End always been that small?”

Nor did Roque Santa Cruz, really.

May be alone in this, but I don’t rate Obafemi and don’t think he’s a good character from what’s been written about him. One or two things, fine, but he’s consistently got problems around him. Don’t think he’s invested enough to contribute when the chips are down. I cannot imagine that anyone wants to be leaving business late in a window/near to deadline. I’ve done some of my best work at the wire but I usually have a lot of factors under my control and I’m not relying on inaction/underperformance from competitors, so we have our work cut out. The more time I spend with this, the more apparent that the blame is squarely at boardroom level. With a proper corporate infrastructure and genuine custodians at the ownership level, we’d be much further along. I do personally believe that the footballing structure is one to stick with, both Broughton and Tomasson. Broughton’s job is a 5-year one and Tomasson probably 3-year. Major failures (relegation dogfight, probably) curtail both but probably little else, so long as progress is made. I think this season is one of growing pains and it’s disappointing viewing but I’m more accepting. I think I’m being generous, but I would say that the minimum standard is kicking the figurative and/or literal shit out of Burnley in March. Anything less on that day needs to be atoned for.

Every link I have tried so far has been for So’ton or had 10000000 pop ups, I hate the internet.

Not directly relevant, but my morning made me draw parallels with the frustration among some on the board. my company just lost its biggest active client at lunchtime. There’s nothing on our side that has gone wrong and we couldn’t really have done more. The client has just found better value for themselves elsewhere and gone there. That’s business. It’s enormously frustrating but it’s not an indictment on our abilities, our offering, our effort or who we are/what we’re building. It happens, we do it to competitors all the time. Following the sporting exploits of a privately-owned limited company means there’s very little scope for transparency on processes and ultimately, we only know what they want to tell us, when they want to. That’s frustrating for us, but it doesn’t mean the club is doing anything wrong, per se. We just have a very specific viewpoint on the successes of the club. I imagine our shareholders will be less than thrilled when we tell them, but they’ve got the contextual knowledge of business and they’ll back us to bounce back. Sometimes, as fans we don’t have that contextual knowledge and that’s okay. Anyway, this morning, I have a lot of sympathy for the recruitment setup, operating in difficult circumstances and even more difficult market conditions. It’s business and sometimes your best offering isn’t enough.

Not as I read it. Sign-off comes from India, I assume, so they’re likely hamstrung by having an approval process from the 1950s, i.e. “leave it with us while we deliberate.” I suspect more blame falls on Waggott for not conveying the need for a swift approval process to the owners, but if he pushes there/criticises, the next communication he receives is his P45. There’s very little wrong with the club that doesn’t start with the owners. They’re simultaneously keeping the club afloat with cash injections and causing it to need constant cash injections by being so bad at owning a football club.

That’s as may be and I wasn’t saying he’ll end up here, but I’m interested to see where he ends up. I suspect he’s not gonna be up there for long, given the Gelhardt signing, is all.

26, so not too old, not too young.

Apropos of absolutely nothing and with no knowledge other than they’re at some kind of impasse with him, but… if Mowbray has guaranteed playing time to Gelhardt and Leeds (as is being suggested “online”), what happens with Ross Stewart? I read they’ve offered £10k/week to him, which is three times his wage currently. Even with our limited wage structure, we could beat that. They’d want a lot of money and both Bournemouth and Brentford are supposed to be looking at him. Remote hope of this being incredibly under the radar? Fanciful, but I do fancy it.

How far down the option list was Thomas? Was Gelhardt ever on? Do we have a tough time landing targets? A bit nonplussed by it but obviously I hope he makes a huge contribution to the rest of the season. Recruitment is stat-driven and the stat shared above about crosses is very telling. Wonder if Sharpe dug that out himself or it was furnished to him by his source.

Lewis Travis to Millwall would be staggering. Named captain 6 months ago. Can understand being dropped for performance reasons, it’s not unprecedented. Being sold would be a real escalation. Not a good sign from the outside, looking in.

Bristol City’s home form is very patchy for the past couple of months and they tend to score late. Generally do well when they score early. We need to settle and keep it very tight when doing so, build into the game and aim to attack the goal in the second half of the first half (🤨). It wouldn’t be my starting lineup, but you’d think Vale alternating between coming deeper for flicks to Diaz and playing as a poacher, with Dack making occasional runs from deep and Hedges crossing from deep/playing diagonals to Diaz are the routes to goal. If that’s the plan, we have time to build into that over the 90, but we simply cannot concede early, it’ll totally kill the game for us.

Eh up, dad’s had a beer.

Naturally I’ve spent a good 20 mins or so watching the dreaded skills YT videos of Undav, some more insightful than others. Really hope this comes off as it indicates that coach and DoF have identified what we all probably feel we’re missing. He’s a goalhanger/poacher type with some obvious technical ability, but clearly not a world-beater (hence why we’re in with a shout). Passing facial similarity might be at play, but he reminds me a bit of Mitrovic, in that he always wants to find a position to score from but seems to have enough intelligence to see better-placed players. Part of me questions the motive, though, as everyone playing through the middle to date has been seen to press incessantly and come deep for the ball, which doesn’t appear to be this guys preferred style of play. He seems to sit on the shoulder of defenders. We’d also need to embrace cutbacks from the byline/drilled crosses a bit more than we do currently. Seems a drastic tactical shift, although we probably all would like to see it. This one is the only one of the three mooted so far that I see solves an immediate problem (goals), so it’s the one I’m keeping fingers crossed for.

You have to wonder what anyone who has actual insight into what’s happening at the club on the transfer front would make of how we discuss the windows in here. We’re a chaotic bunch.

Totally unacceptable performance. Gilt-edge opportunities first half should’ve had Rotherham at least two down, even with the sliced effort from their right winger. They’ve essentially scored three wonder goals as a normally abject side. They’ve had three games’ luck in one. We’ve missed three near-enough nailed-on goals. Those are fine margins for execution and if each go the other way, we’re 3-0 up at half time and coasting. The concerning bits here: Gallagher was a shambles, looked like he was coming back from a long lay-off. Hedges looks to have slipped back a gear after a promising start to the season. Morton is guaranteed a game when he makes too many small errors that cost us and he can’t seem to be dislodged. Needs time out and to earn his spot back. Buckley and Travis have been dropped for the same. Slight concern with JRC, as he’s had a poor game. Don’t want him slipping back. JDT at least responded to going 2 down, but it’s concerning that he and his tactical genius Remy aren’t able to look at opponents and see the opportunities. Markanday has caused all sorts of problems, how can they not see players that provide more within their own squad? We should all be livid with this (4-0 now) but I’m not shouting for change at the top just yet.

This is a great listen and appreciated insight into process. I know a lot are justifiably jaded by talk of “journey” or similar, but there’s no lack of ambition in what he’s talking about. It’s practical, realistic, cautious and responsible. It’s very much added weight to the argument in favour of patience, for me. Crucially, it’s geared towards success and sustainability. Who’s to say what level that was at with previous management, but it strikes me as novel for Rovers, certainly in the Venky’s era. He’s got my support through the foreseeable.

Each to their own, but I don’t watch for the outcome. The outcome is something to hope for.

With Cantwell: as I understand it, Rangers are free to agree a pre-contract with him from now, as foreign teams would be with BBD, because Scotland’s a different association/nation/not a domestic club, so that’s a free transfer, save any solidarity payments that a tribunal might decide (not sure how his age of 24 affects it, I think it depends on DOB), meaning more in the pot for the player and agent to extract. You have to assume this is what’s happening. Advantage of us offering money now is Norwich get something for a player they probably won’t renew with anyway, but Rangers could just as easily agree a contract and then haggle over the window to arrange a fee to bring the move forward. Rangers are objectively a better proposition in the here and now, but I actually think it’s riskier for him. If he doesn’t make the most of it, he’ll be viewed as finished and it’s unlikely the big move comes anyway. Look at Scott Sinclair who was on fire for Celtic, before moving to PNE(!) and now Bristol Rovers. Equally, the bright lights of Sauchiehall Street could be a road to ruin for him, if his off-field behavioural rumours are to be believed. Trying to look at it from JDT/GB perspective: he’d be a risk but GB must feel enough about him to get him focused on playing again and he’s not a direct replacement for BBD but he’s at least outperformed BBD (when at his previous best) with scope to improve at his age. It’s pretty sound logic, before you consider the subjectives, which probably outlines why we’ve gone with a bid of £2m. It’s a weirdly fair price for the player. If you sell BBD, you can look at bringing in a player to benefit from his creativity and if you keep him, you’ve a rotation option all across the front that beds in for integration by the beginning of next season. Club management don’t expect promotion this year. anyway, it’s moot, but it’s nice to game this kind of thing out. Wild and flawed speculation is what the transfer window is about for fans.

You might think that but the info making its way around is that he’s being kept out of the side for attitude reasons and - having heard the reasons - it’s poor on JDT’s part not to have perspective. Garrett and Travis were thoroughly ineffectual today. Dack having to drop as deep as he did throughout is down to having no quality for balls forward from the middle. We have someone - albeit raw - who has the natural ability in spades and needs to learn the rest. Not starting him is fair enough, it’s an away game against a generally strong team in our division on a new manager bounce. Bringing on the guy who’s ostensibly ahead of him in the pecking order is what makes it petty, to me.

I don’t think he is, though. Not a better tackler, anyway.

Morton on instead of Wharton seems like a pointed message to the latter. Weird thing to hold a grudge against a teenager when you’re JDT’s age.