We should offer him a good wage on a long contract, £10-15k a week is nothing for a player of his potential.

This time next year he could be our star boy, and the envy of most clubs in the country. If we manage to tie him down long-term and the big PL teams get desperate for him, we could be looking at absolute mega bucks.

Do what needs to be done Rovers, he'll be worth 'Jude Bellingham money' by the time he's 20.

Think we'll have an unexpectedly tough first half, but will steady the ship in the second and grab a couple of goals.

Will go 2-0 Rovers. Szmodics and BBD to score, Hedges to assist both.

Ash Phillips is looking great so far, it's all quite bittersweet though.

I love how he's performing well for us, but with him not signing the contract yet and the big dogs lurking - it really puts a dampener on it.

Hopefully he shows some loyalty to the team that nurtured him and signs a long contract - then if he turns out to be as good as expected, a big PL team should have no issue paying the large fee for him.

Plus, he may end up playing PL football with us if he sticks about!

14 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I wouldn’t want to be running out at Reading with a back four of Buckley, Phillips, Pickering and Edun.

Brittain was only taken off due to heat exhaustion so he should feature on Wednesday, if we can get SVDB over the line in the next couple of days that should take the squeeze off a little.

We'd then potentially be able to line up with Brittain, Phillips, SVDB and Pickering. Ayala would be a huge bonus in that back-line of course, but he'll need a well-deserved rest after yesterday.

If we don't get SVDB this week, then things do become interesting.

5 minutes ago, Theaxe15 said:

Medical at Watford apparently. Would have loved him here. Proper handful 

Yeah would have been class - on the bright side, at least he won't be going Burnley!

28 minutes ago, Norn Iron Rover said:

Checked her account this morning to see if there had been any further updates and I note the original tweet has now been deleted. 🤷‍♂️

I guess she just piggy-backed on Nixon's update then.

Seems Big Al is still rolling with us though, even with the mention of other teams suddenly expressing an interest;

Close to completion according to this little minx.

6 minutes ago, BRFC_Polky said:

I know a few on here suggested Mawson as a centre-back signing…I’m surprised he’s dropped down to League One.

That's a great signing for Wycombe in L1 - only for 1 year though?

Seems similar to Nyambe's situation, guess there wasn't much interest elsewhere.

6 minutes ago, Dan said:

Might also be beneficial to Liverpool that we also have Morton here? They’d be able to play together and create an understanding? Still feels like we’d be getting the second choice Van though 🥺

Aye good shout!

True, there's only one 'van' that we all really want... but if that's not possible (which it starting to seem the case) then i'd take SVDB for sure, nobbers would be furious too so that'd be a nice bonus!

Nixon on Sepp van den Berg;

I bet we could offer him more game-time, not completely off the cards.

Same XI as we played against Swansea i'd say.

WBA are looking good, their attackers are going to be a handful without a doubt.

They have some quality players at this level, but I wouldn't write off JDT and Remy coming up with a masterplan for us to nab all 3 points here.

Would possibly take a goal-less draw if offered, another point and another clean sheet would be a good result...

But a win would be even better! I'll be optimistic and predict a tough 1-0 win. JDT's Rovers revolution!

43 minutes ago, Jimmy612 said:

Did you ask what this opinion is based on?  He's played in two competitive games for Chelsea (back in 2017) and has been on loan ever since.  How many times can your colleague have watched him?  Saying that, how much Championship football has he watched to come to the conclusion that Ampadu is now a League One or below standard player? 

He's always kept an eye on him since he was touted as a wonderkid at one point - but he's been unable to make much impact wherever he goes, no attributes that are anything above average. Apparently.

That being said, my pal aint exactly a scouting expert - he's just a Chelsea fan who's seen him play much more than myself, so thought i'd share.

He's a big football fan in general who will watch whatever match is on, like many of us probably are - so does find himself watching Championship matches quite a bit.

18 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Or they've tried to insert a clause into the loan that says he must start when fit.

Would always be a straight no from me with clauses like that, game-time must always be based on performance alone. Probably out of the question as to whether JDT would agree with that too.

I work with a Chelsea fan and asked him about Ampadu, he said he's absolutely shit and Chelsea need to get rid of him. Doubts he'd even do well in the Championship.

We've a tough run coming up;

14/08/2022 WBA (H)
17/08/2022 Reading (A)
20/08/2022 Sheffield United (A)

3 games in 6 days, 2 of which will be very challenging. A senior CB in the next 72 hours is a must, I have doubts that Ayala can get through all of those games unscathed.

We need someone to take his spot for that Reading game. If he takes a knock we're absolutely goosed.

JDT stated the urgency for players in his recent interview, and says Gregg is working extremely hard at it - let's hope we see a new sticker soon!

Not a lot going on transfer-wise is there? Really hoping we can bring in a CB this week.

I feel like JPVH is pretty much off the cards now, probably was never even on the cards in fact. Who would you all like to see us move for at CB?

I agree - can't see us getting Bowler, Styles or JPVH unfortunately.

However, I will fully back whoever JDT brings in - the man knows what he needs to make his vision a reality. Regardless of who comes in, JDT will remain our biggest coup this season.

12 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I could make up some interesting ones if you like.

Could be a laugh, stage is yours...

I'm feel confident that calls will have already been made to Brighton about JPVH - but decisions need to be made on that end first and foremost. A bit of patience will be required, as I doubt Brighton are in a rush. Regarding the fee I imagine 3-4m should be enough, with a reasonable sell-on clause.

In the meantime, we need some cover pronto - our defenders are in for a tough shift against WBA. Would be delighted if we could snip one of the experienced Free Agents (Barbet, Mawson, Hector etc.) by Wednesday.

This should encourage a huge push for CB's at the club, though I like to imagine they were already hard at it.

Would like to see us bring an experienced head in, there are a bunch available as free agents - Alfie Mawson, Michael Hector, Naby Sarr and Yoann Barbet to name a few. Any of those would provide solid cover and be great to have around our youngsters... and i'm sure our wages will do for them, since they're all currently set to earn £0 this season.

With a bit lot of luck, JPVH becomes our marquee signing of the window in the not-too-distant future, and we'll be comfortable.

For now, we just have to pray that Ayala doesn't take a knock. I'd imagine him and Wharton are only taking part in light training at the moment.

Best case scenario regarding BBD;

Brighton stick their name back in the hat, and have to battle it out with Wolves for him... we simply tell them to include JPVH as part of a deal and he's theirs.

"Wolves are right at the front of the queue to sign Ben Brereton Diaz after a report revealed they are ready to act after learning Blackburn Rovers’ asking price for the Chile international."

Seems like our boy could be on his way out, he'll be missed for sure - but if this is done within the next week then happy days.

Use the money to sign JPVH, Bowler and Birmancevic - would definitely put us in the mix.

If we're after a striker we need to be targeting a young prospect to loan from one of the PL teams - that's where most of the best young attackers seem to end up.

Keinan Davis makes a fine example, there will be a bunch of these about.

Sam Greenwood could be a good'un, just signed a new contract with Leeds maybe they'd be willing to send him over to get some more regular minutes?

The more I fantasize about us signing JPVH... the more unlikely it seems 😕

Sure, he'll probably be made available - but another little slimy team will trump us to him no doubt... I fear we'll all be left feeling bitterly disappointed, with a hint of betrayal.

Really hope i'm wrong though, would be ridiculously happy if we landed him - especially if on a permanent.

Anyone else fancying a double-whammy today?

I have a feeling, that tonight the club will also announce a certain someone who used to own a Range Rover...

Szmodics/Morton incoming!