JCRovers

4 maybe is bit harsh but he definitely underperformed together with McLoughlin. Had they equalised from that big chance in second half it would've brought momentum to their side and a completely different game all of a sudden. Main problem is that he's slow to react in many situations. Need to raise his standard, simple as that.

Bit late but here's my ratings: Starting XI: Toth (8) - pulled off a fantastic save to deny Mavididi in second half. Has been a vital factor in securing our last two wins. Has the potential to become a top-end Championship goalie if he improves his left foot and distribution. De Neve (6) - did OK before getting substituted at half-time for tactical reasons. Provides athleticism on the left hand side but still struggles with the physical aspect of the game. McLoughlin (5) - thought he was quite poor and struggled to contain Fatawu at times. Doesn't look assured on the ball. Wharton (4) - played poorly in my opinion. Was caught on the wrong side and didn't put his body behind the ball which gave Mavididi a great chance to score early in the second half. Later lost out on pace to Daka during a transition moment and had to be saved by Miller. Sorry to say this but he has become worse since the lengthy spell on the sidelines last season due to the serious injury. Winning a couple of headers isn't enough. We need to sign a center back in January if Carter can't be trusted to come back into full fitness and play regularly. Miller (8) - has improved vastly over the past few weeks and stood for a commanding performance with his battling attitude. Tackled, intercepted, tracked back and even helped his teammates to recover the ball when they struggled. Alebiosu (9) - man of the match for me. Signing of the season so far and an absolute steal for £500K. Not only does he have pace but his ability to read defensive situations and block/screen opposing players from getting to the ball inside the box is impressive to see. The run he made to skip past two Leicester players, bombing down to the byline inside the box and finally square it to Gudjohnsen for 2-0 was the icing on the cake. Will be a Premier League player by next season or so if he keeps this up. Tronstad (5) - have no idea what has happened to him other than the contract situation. So wasteful in possession. TGH (4) - really poor performance from a technical standpoint. Provides a bit of athleticism in the middle of the park but is causing problems for his teammates with his poor passing decisions. Squandered a great chance early in the second by skying it with his weaker left foot. Also has problems in the defensive department as he fails to track his runner at times. Henriksson (5) - likes to press but is overly aggressive trying to win the ball with sliding tackles. Right decision to pull him off at half-time as he was already booked. Ohashi (7) - really good at pressing and forcing the opponent to make mistakes and win the ball high up the pitch, especially in the first half. Gudjohnsen (8) - the goal against Southampton last week gave a real confidence boost. Poacher's instinct to be on the end of the first one and resolutely fired home the second from close range. Has also improved somewhat in keeping hold of the ball and link play, albeit looking a bit weak in the challenges at times. Subs: Montgomery (6), Morishita (5 - wasteful in front of goal/ final third, needs to improve his decision-making), Hedges (6), Forshaw (N/A), Gueye (N/A) Coach: Ismael (7) - got it right with pressing high up the pitch and making it difficult for Leicester to play out from the back. Correct substitutions at half time as well. Match summary: thought we did really well at times by creating some momentum whenever we won back the ball high up on the pitch. Our right hand side in defence looks really strong at the moment with Miller and Alebiosu. The problems we faced came mainly from the left side and Fatawu in particular. Have to say that our central midfield is shockingly bad when in possession and is often the main cause to attacks/transitions breaking down early. Hopefully Baradji can make a real difference here when he gets fit because the current level of our midfield is sub-standard for Championship. Thought otherwise that our running capacity and willingness to press was impressive to see. Leicester didn't really manage put any substantial pressure on our goal after our second.

Seen the game now; have to say that this Rovers team is some the worst sides I've seen for many years when it comes to technique and game intelligence. The amount of misplaced passes and poor first touches are off the charts to be honest. First XI: Toth (6) - nothing to say here really. neither good nor bad. Opted to play long at almost every occasion, many towards Ohashi who doesn't exactly win many of those aerial challenges. McLoughlin (4) - displayed poor technique on several instances in this game. Caught out of position when Sheffield Utd scored their second. Wharton (5) - failed to win the header for their equaliser. Never looked confident on the ball. Miller (4) - don't know whether he played with pain in this match. Looked rather clumsy on the ball. Didn't track the runner for their third. De Neve (5) - willing runner down the left flank but had several misplaced passes and crosses. poor first touch/shot attempt that luckily led to an assist for the opening goal. Missed a great chance to put Ohashi through on goal in a 3 v 1 situation but opted to drift out wide and put an awful cross straight towards the keeper. Alebiosu (7) - only one who had a good game. ran up and down the right flank but no one was on the end of his crosses. Tronstad (4) - didn't track his runner for their second; gave up in an uncharacteristic manner and decided to make a little jump instead before stopping. Several misplaced passes as well. Hasn't been up to his usual standard this season. TGH (5) - had a bit of a tussle with Peck in second half which led to a booking. didn't show much otherwise. Henriksson (6) - had brief spells in the first half where he made some good runs into the box as well as finding space with his passes. Was directly at fault however for their equaliser as he had his back towards the ball and was more interested in wrestling with Soumare instead of clearing the ball away from the box. Ohashi (5) - not good enough technically. was in the right place to slot in the opening goal but had several instances where he didn't connect with the ball inside the box. Gudjohnsen (5) - For me, this guy is a bit of an enigma. I barely saw him being involved at all in the game, winning any challenges or making any runs. He did however put in a good cross that De Neve missed completely and ultimately fell for Ohashi to score. Subs: Montgomery (N/A) Kargbo (5) - managed to put himself offside once or twice and that's about it Gueye (5) - looks bereft of confidence. probably wants to leave. Ismael's comments earlier this week wasn't exactly motivating either. Hedges (4) - Rovers' own Pirlo with a fantastic volley strike when switching play to the other side. Too bad Alebiosu didn't stand a chance as it landed outside the sidelines some 30 yards ahead of him for a throw-in. Suited to perfection in a number 10 role from now on, right? Morishita (4) - Had a brilliant start by immediately failing to track Burrows' run at the far end of the box for their second goal. didn't show anything after that besides a hopeful attempt with his weaker foot that went well outside the post. Head coach: Ismael (1) - braindead second-half substitutions that flipped the game in a negative fashion for Rovers. Dragged both Ohashi and Gudjohnsen off but didn't sub Gueye on until three minutes left of normal time, leaving the team with no recognized striker for some ten minutes despite trailing by a goal. This is also the second time in a row where opposition manager has found a weakness / tweaked their tactics during half-time talks and capitalised on it in second half without us even finding a response or a way back into the game. Poor game management, poor motivator, poor tactician. Needs to go but won't get sacked anytime soon.

Fair point. But then again, it was the owners who started "bragging" how they were gonna sign players like Ronaldinho and Beckham and made a ridiculous bid for Raúl when he was at Schalke. They were the ones trying to show "ambition" at first but for any supporter, it was embarrasing to see. They had three transfer windows during the stint in PL to demonstrate their financial muscles yet their biggest signing was Scott Dann for a measly £5.5 million. Only after relegation was confirmed and the realization of sudden loss of revenue did they panic and bought Jordan Rhodes for £8 million in an attempt to go straight back up. First visible crack of their vision of the club and lack of knowledge was the sacking of Sam Allardyce and somehow appointing Steve Kean of all people as replacement. They thought owning an English football club was "easy" (no relegation), good for expanding their brand to a new audience and make a couple of high-profile signings to boost revenue. Scummy advisors and agents operating behind the scenes (SEM/Kentaro/Jerome Anderson etc.) were rubbing their hands at the prospect of using the club for their own ends, banking ridiculous agent fees for mediocre/ low level players coming in. It's fair to say that Venky's didn't do their due dilligence before buying the club and they don't really have any business operating within the football world if they don't have any knowledge of it. It's their fault entirely that they've made such a big loss over the past 15 years and the refusal to own up to it and just sell is only going to make it worse.

This one is brutal but could be a very powerful message: boycott the 150th anniversary game vs. Derby on November 8 and have season ticket holders/supporters, livestreaming on social media, a protest outside of Ewood for an hour or so before kickoff. Here are some suggestions/ protest ideas: - Make a copy of a season ticket and rip it in half in front of the camera/mobile phone. - Use protest signs like '15 years of mismanagement', 'Venky's are killing our club', '150 years old but last 15 has been stolen from us', 'We want our club back', 'Venky's are stealing our club's future', 'Venky's don't care about us', 'Venky's out', 'Venky's + Rovers = Failure by design', 'We ain't celebrating with you Venky's', 'Own up and sell up' etc. - Stand beside the Jack Walker statue with a sign that says: 'This is what a real owner looks like. Shame on you Venky's'. - Interview people from perhaps the coalition and have them summarize what has gone wrong for the past 15 years, name Venky's biggest mistakes or misjudgements, and post it on social media as well before this fixture. Can imagine that would generate significant media attention nationwide...

When taken last season's results into account as well, his record is crap: 22 matches - 6 wins, 4 draws 12 losses, goal difference: 22-30, total points: 22 Points per game (PPG): 1,00 Win percentage: 27 % Home record (total): 11 matches - 2 wins, 3 draws, 6 losses, goal difference: 14-19, total points: 9 Sidenotes: two of the wins from last season came against teams with nothing to play for at that stage (Sunderland and Watford). It took him five matches last season before first home win came against Millwall. This season, we're still without a win in five. This is definitely relegation-type stats at display here. I feel his game management is really poor as well making some rather strange second-half substitutions and having lost three home games already this season from a winning position. That combined with players coming into the squad lacking in Championship experience and you will probably see the team drop even more points from winning positions as the season carries on. Also, being poor at home is often devastating for teams, especially when you're fighting at the bottom end of the table. Does he deserve to get sacked? Yes Will he get sacked any time soon? No, because he accepted being brought into the club's "mission" of managing a team that's in a "transitional" period and taking a salary to become the club's new PR guy in front of the cameras.

Ismael is a f*ing a**hole and deserves to get sacked after this one. Piss poor game management, team have now lost three(!) home matches after scoring the first goal. Still looking for a first home win after five matches. Miller is not 100% fit yet he decides to take McLoughlin off instead when gambling with Gueye for the final few minutes. Not only that but he also takes off both our strikers and replaces them with midfielders when trailing 2-1. Bunch of overseas players coming in with no Championship experience; suffice to say by now that the gamble didn't pay off. Sh*tty manager, sh*tty owners, sh*tty recruitment team. Club is heading towards relegation. We never invest during the winter transfer window; once players get injured in December-January and we're forced to start players like Montgomery, we'll be absolutely done for it.

Wouldn't surprise me if they ask Miller to play with painkillers for this game, having a back three seem to suit the team better. Sheffield Utd has played with a 3-4-2-1 system in the last three matches, I say we match them and try to hit them on the break whenever possible: In possession (3-4-2-1) Out of possession (4-4-2) Toth Toth Miller Wharton McLoughlin Miller Wharton McLoughlin Hedges Alebiosu TGH Tronstad Hedges Alebiosu TGH Tronstad De Neve Kargbo De Neve Kargbo Ohashi Ohashi Our attack is utter crap at the moment with Cantwell injured so might as well go for directness and pace in Kargbo and De Neve as the two "number 10s" that can attack the flanks or half spaces during transitions. We had a bit of success getting forward on the flanks vs Coventry (especially with Alebiosu) so hopefully that can continue and we manage to put in better crosses and attack the box with more players.

7 goals from 9 matches is a big concern: Morishita - seen as a marquee signing yet didn't play a single minute today for whatever reason. Gueye - fallen out of favour Ohashi - hasn't improved/ stepped up since last season Gudjohnsen - his quality can be questioned at this point. Need a goal to get going. Cantwell - only one who has shown quality attacking-wise and are behind most of our goals (3 goals, 2 assists). Him getting injured at this stage with big matches coming up is a huge blow. Playing three at the back today worked decently up until around the 60-minute mark. However, it was a risky move knowing that we didn't have Carter as backup on the bench and Miller ended up getting injured. Funny how we played with Tronstad as a sitting midfielder in front of the back three yet failed to close down opposition players twice from shooting right outside the box? In both instances, you have 6-7 of our own players getting back defending the box vs 2 or 3 Coventry players? Why? What are our midfielders doing at that point? We're in trouble if we can't even do basic defending. And please, someone tell Rhodes to get down to the training ground and teach our strikers how to score goals just like what JDT did with Szmodics...

Swedish media now reporting that he's been sacked. His stats for the Swedish national team were: 9 wins, 2 draws, 7 losses. Eerily similar to what he had with us in terms of not getting many draws: Season 1: 20 wins, 9 draws, 17 losses Season 2: 10 wins, 4 draws, 16 losses Some of the main issues with his style of play when coaching the Swedish national team has been: - Pressing with a very high defensive line even though the three at the back aren't very quick. - Team often gets exposed on the counter-attack/transition as a direct result of the high defensive line when counter-pressing fails. Defensively, they've been very naive at times. - Team selection has been questionable, often benching good players like Anthony Elanga and Hugo Larsson (Frankfurt) and using players from the lower-ranked domestic league (Allsvenskan) instead. - This generation of Swedish players are described by many as a 'golden' one having players like Kulusevski, Isak, Gyökeres, Elanga, Bergvall, Ayari and Hugo Larsson. More than capable of qualifying into big tournaments and challenge some of the bigger nations on a good day. JDT has failed to make the team competitive in that sense.

JDT is an idealist, not a very pragmatic coach or tactician who can adapt his approach during games. Would probably have gotten us into playoffs had he been backed during his first season. Second season was a disaster because he wanted out early and he refused to change tactics when it was obviously not working given the squad at hand. But you kinda see in his way of approaching games that he used to play as a striker - Sweden showed some great attacking moves against Switzerland the other day (Bergvall somewhat unlucky not to score twice) but he gets exposed for his lack of defensive thinking / tactical knowledge / experience when he's facing teams playing on the counter (e.g. the defeat vs Kosovo away). Which could also explain the strange pattern of rarely ever drawing a game when he was coaching us. Think he will be successful in the future if he finds an assistant coach that complements him a bit better than what Reijnierse does at the moment.

I call BS on the club's latest statement regarding the cancellation; a lot of excuses but no solutions. Same thing will happen again in the following season(s) if no investment is made. 1. River was a problem in the match vs Portsmouth last year - then why don't they contact city council and express that it's an issue that needs resolving a.s.a.p.? What have the club done/ invested into in the meantime to mitigate the risk themselves regarding an overflowing river? 2. The pitch is 36 years old ad so the drainage system couldn't manage to handle the heavy rainfall (75 ml) against Ipswich - tell the owners to put money in to upgrade it then? I'm no expert on this but were pitch covers used at halftime for example to stop some of it and to lessen the pressure on the drainage? Again, no other club in the area had their game called off on that day (Bolton, B*rnley, Man Utd etc.). B*rnley supposedly handled 55 ml with a new pitch/drainage system but we can't handle 75 ml? Is it really that much of a difference? Are we really that far behind in terms of 'drainage system technologies' as ridiculous as it sounds? New instalment takes anywhere between 6-8 weeks according to web sources and are preferably being done during off season/ summer when conditions are usually dry, so the time aspect shouldn't be a factor here. 3. The groundsman happily shows off his latest 40K equipment as if that shows intent and willingness from the owners when we've had games cancelled due to waterlogged pitch for the past 4-5 seasons and we nearly had to call off the game vs Stoke as well. But I guess he'll work for another few years without any complaints until his retirement while traveling supporters are getting robbed from seeing their beloved team.

Watched a couple of highlights from Coventry's last matches; main threat are their transitions/counter-attacks and secondary threat comes from set pieces. Read some general stats the other day showing that 50 percent of all goals scored in top divisions/higher levels comes from transitions and around 20 percent from set pieces. In order words, Coventry have been highly effective by playing a quick/direct style of football and not putting much emphasis on possession. We need to frustrate them by being organised in defence, play a low- or midblock and try to be effective on the transition/counter ourselves. Some takeaways from our last two home matches; - Ribeiro looks way off and needs to be dropped. Lost his marker for Swansea's first goal and was caught on the wrong side of Manhoef for Stoke's goal. He also slows down tempo in final third by taking too many touches and his deliveries into the box are often poor. - Miller has improved greatly playing as a centre back. - Morishita looks isolated/lost playing on the right hand side as he's not being involved enough in the attacks. Would benefit playing in a more central position. - Hedges works hard but his crosses are consistently poor. Doesn't have enough pace or dribbling skill to beat his man on the wing, making him limited in attack. - Bit of a redemption for Kargbo getting a goal after his mistake/lack of effort for not tracking back in the lead-up to Swansea's winner. The mistake might serve as a bit of a wake-up call as he looked more energetic against Stoke. - Gudjohnsen wasted two goalscoring opportunities (one in each game) because of a poor first touch. Needs to understand that the game is quicker in the Championship and that he has to be more alert in certain situations. Has struggled to be involved or winning challenges/aerial duels at times. - We seriously need to work on our set pieces. Many of our corners doesn't even get past the first man standing at near post. Only thing that works well are Miller's throw-ins. I would be tempted to play a back three against Coventry if Carter recovers from injury in time (to act as cover on the bench). Firstly, it would help the team defend against set pieces a bit better. Secondly, it would free up Alebiosu somewhat from his defensive duties and allow him to attack the right hand side more frequently. Thirdly, Morishita would be able to play in a more central position together with Cantwell. Toth Miller McLoughlin Wharton Alebiosu Tronstad TGH De Neve Morishita Cantwell Ohashi Coventry often play in a 4-2-3-1 so if we were to switch to a back three, one of the center backs would have to 'step out' of the defensive line to stop either one of the wingers or the central attacking midfielder when defending.

You loan a player because you're taking a bit of a gamble, be it an experienced player who is lacking match fitness or a young talent from a bigger team/ higher division. You don't loan a player to replace a regular, let alone someone who was captain last season. Why didn't Baradji's parent club let him have a surgery during the summer? Why did we accept loaning him in, pay for his surgery and have him ruled out until November-December when basically half of the season is already gone? Either you play him straight away like Yverdon Sport did or you move on to another target. Sorry to say it but the club has reached a new level of "naivety" (correct phrase is 'cost cutting'). Tavares is struggling, Forshaw and Montgomery aren't good enough for this level, Gardner-Hickman is being asked to cover two positions simultaneously because we're low on numbers and/or quality (central midfield and right back) and Tronstad hasn't reached the levels from last season. No wonder we have lost five matches already with a midfield looking as weak as ours.

I would say relegation is definitely on now for several reasons: - We have a thin squad and are starting to pick up some injuries (Alebiosu, Carter). Our cover for centre back, right back and central midfield is looking really bad right now. - Our schedule after International break looks tough (Coventry, Sheffield Utd, Leicester, Southampton). We'll probably have to play Ipswich being sandwiched between any of the weekend matches before the end of year as well. If we're sitting at the bottom end of table come December, then the chances for relegation will be fairly high given our lack of investment during previous winter transfer windows. - We lost against Charlton making it 13 consecutive away defeats in a row against newly promoted sides which will probably put a dent in their confidence. Chances are it will extend to 15 when we play Wrexham and Birmingham later this season. - They are banning local press for basically exercising freedom of speech, meaning they're not likely to cope well with any type of pressure or scrutiny from the outside. - Self-inflicted negativity is surrounding the club at the moment given how poorly they've handled the aftermath of the Ipswich game as well as the banning of LT from Ewood Park. Weak mentality traits: susceptible to pressure, overreacting and shifting blame onto others. Don't think it will take much more negativity/ poor results before it completely collapses to be honest.

For anyone being mad at the referee calling off the game due to an unplayable pitch, why don't you redirect that anger towards the owners instead? The drainage problem has known for years and we are pretty much the only team in the first four tiers of English football getting at least one game called off due to a waterlogged pitch every season. Bolton, B*rnley and Man Utd all played their matches in full yesterday. It's embarrassing for a club in second tier being forced to abandon a game because they can't handle a bit of rain. The maintenance and supporting infrastructure of the pitch is more on the level with non-league AFC Fylde at the moment who got their game abandoned yesterday for same reason. The owners are literally costing us points every season due to lack of investment.

Remains to be seen at the end of the season whether the squad has gotten stronger or weaker given the quality of the players coming in are unknown until they have proven themselves over a number of matches. On paper, it looks weaker due to the loss of Championship experience. Main problem is that the owners and board are treating the club solely as a business and completely disregarding the footballing side of it. We saw in the transfer window that there's no commitment to spend on top of what we recovered in transfer fees (club made roughly £3.5 million in profit instead). There's no real ambition to compete, only to maintain status quo. Stay in the Championship, cut wages, and collect transfer fees for players refusing to sign new contracts or are entering their final year. We keep changing direction and projects because head coaches/ managers walk away when they truly realise the lack of ambition coming from the top. How many times during the past few seasons have we been in or around play-off spots come December only to see it all collapse due to injuries and lack of investment in the following January window? Mowbray (3rd place, season 2021-22), Tomasson (3rd place, season 2022-23) and Eustace (5th place, season 2024-25) all having done a remarkable job to put the club in a very favorable position after matchday 23. What permanent January transfers did the owners and board sanction to push the club to compete for promotion during those three seasons? Markanday, Hedges (season 2021-22), none (season 2022-23) and Kargbo (season 2024-25) for less than £2 million in total. What was the impact of those three players during the remaining half of their respective seasons? Markanday (2 matches, 46 minutes, zero goals/assists), Hedges (11 matches, 396 minutes, zero goals, 1 assist), Kargbo (8 matches, 182 minutes, zero goals, 1 assist). Think it's fair to say that all three managers/head coaches were let down heavily and left on their own to fight an uphill battle. The owners want the club to become self-sustainable so that they can forget about it. They don't know anything about football and have no passion for the sport or the club. They received bad advice when they bought it and are now stuck with their pride and foolish naivety, refusing to sell because they don't want to cut their losses and admit that they made a mistake.

Starting Carter feels very risky given he broke down after 40 minutes in the first pre-season friendly vs Accrington, was subsequently ruled out for over a month and hasn't played any minutes in the league yet. Another note is that our cover in central midfield on the bench looks like a joke; a kid who's not ready for Championship football and a last-minute loan from a league rival who has played one minute this season.

Transfer history over the past five seasons: Summer transfer window 25/26 Net profit: £ 3.4 million Winter transfer window 24/25 Net expenditure: £ 1 million Summer transfer window 24/25 Net profit: £ 8 million Winter transfer window 23/24 Net profit: £ 17.6 million Summer transfer window 23/24 Net profit: £ 3.5 million Winter transfer window 22/23 Net profit/expenditure: £ 0 Summer transfer window 22/23 Net expenditure: £ 5 million Winter transfer window 21/22 Net expenditure: £ 650 K Summer transfer window 21/22 Net profit: £ 14.2 million Winter transfer window 20/21 Net expenditure: £ 600 K Summer transfer window 20/21 Net expenditure: £ 900 K Net profit over the past five seasons (including this year's summer transfer window): £ 38.55 million Biggest signing during this period: Sammie Szmodics (£ 2.5 million) Biggest sale during this period: Adam Wharton (£ 17.5 million) Total transfer expenditure during this period (year over year): 1.5 + 1.1 + 5 + 1.7 + 4.5 + 8.5 = £ 22.3 million Total transfer income during this period (year over year): 0 + 14.65 + 0 + 22.8 + 11.5 + 11.9 = £ 60.85 million Percentage of player sales reinvested back into the squad during this period: 36,6 % Reported player wage bill for season 2024-25: £ 12 million (17th in the Championship) Some important notes to make from all of this: - We seem to have been cutting wages for some time now, making it harder to attract good players. - We no longer have any 'high-profile' players in the club that the team can rely on for goalscoring purposes (Brereton Diaz, Armstrong, Szmodics etc.). - We seem to have 'burnt bridges' (i.e. damaged our reputation) among domestic players (including some of our own) after the Eustace debacle last season. I see this as one of the main reasons as to why players like Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Travis and Dolan never extended their contracts (apart from any salary demands). Could also be a reason as to why our recruitment focus has shifted lately to mainly look at foreign players. We also seem to no longer be able to attract high-quality loans from PL clubs (the likes of van Hecke, Adarabioyo, Elliott etc.) even though the club will never admit it. - Club will always be in a 'transition' mode if we're not able to renew contracts or convincing key players to stay. Natural consequences of not being able to renew contracts will be high player turnover every other season, lack of consistency in terms of performances on the pitch and lack of team cohesion. - We don't make any statements on the transfer market by spending 'big money' on a single player. Nine other clubs in the Championship have spent more than £ 5 million on a single player this summer transfer window alone. Thirteen clubs have outspent us this summer as well despite our income from player sales. - We've been relegated on the last two occasions when our centerback pairing has been sold (Jones/Samba back in season 11/12, Hanley/Duffy back in season 16/17). During this summer, we've lost Hyam/Batth. Hopefully, history won't repeat itself for a third time...

With transfer window now closed, I decided to summarize our activities this 'exciting' summer: Ins: Gudjohnsen - £ 1.9 million Morishita - £ 1.8 million Tavares - £ 1.7 million Henriksson - £ 750 K Miller - £ 750 K De Neve - £ 650 K Alebiosu - £ 500 K McLoughlin - £ 500 K Baradji - Loan Gardner-Hickman - Loan Total transfer expenditure: £ 8.55 million Outs: Hyam - £ 2.7 million Buckley - £ 1 million JRC - £ 750 K Travis - £ 3 million (reportedly) Brittain - £ 3.5 million (reportedly) Leonard - £ 1 million (reportedly) Dolan, Batth, Weimann, Markanday - all free transfers Total transfer income: £ 11.95 million Balance: + £ 3.4 million As usual, the owners refuse to put any money into the transfer budget, hence our dependency on selling players for a fee and getting rid of wages before making any purchases. Number of minutes in Championship from season 2024-25 added to the squad: 3 215 (1 player) Number of minutes in Championship from season 2024-25 removed from the squad: 19 870 (9 players) Stats comparison on incomings from season 2024-25 (sources: fotmob.com, globalfootballrankings.com). Anything below 6.5 is considered below average for the league: Gudjohnsen: 6.5 (32 matches / 1 515 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 6 Morishita: 7.0 (31 matches / 2 371 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 9 Tavares: 6.4 (29 matches / 1293 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 8 Henriksson (2024): 7.1 (26 matches / 1 574 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 14 Miller: 7.2 (32 matches / 2 057 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 21 De Neve: 6.6 (30 matches / 1 936 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 6 Alebiosu; with St Mirren: 7.0 (13 matches / 993 minutes), with Kortrijk: 6.5 (13 matches / 612 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 21 / 6 McLoughlin: 7.0 (37 matches / 3 215 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 7 Baradji: 7.4 (27 matches / 2 104 minutes). League ranking (UEFA): 18 Stats comparison on outgoings from season 2024-25 (source: fotmob.com): Hyam: 7.0 (46 matches / 4 140 minutes). Note: played every single minute last season Buckley: 6.7 (23 matches / 847 minutes) JRC: 6.6 (29 matches / 1 237 minutes) Travis: 7.0 (38 matches / 3 225 minutes) Brittain: 7.2 (33 matches / 2 659 minutes) Leonard: 6.1 (9 matches / 140 minutes) Dolan: 7.0 (44 matches / 3 202 minutes) Batth: 7.0 (37 matches / 3 011 minutes) Weimann: 6.7 (30 matches / 1 409 minutes) Notable players who performed mostly well last season and contributed to our seventh-placed finish: Hyam, Travis, Brittain, Dolan and Batth. Regarding the incomings, one could argue that based on above stats, players like McLoughlin and Morishita are most likely to perform well given their relative high ratings (7.0) while playing in a top ten league in Europe. Players like Gudjohnsen, Tavares and De Neve are gambles given they didn't show anything last season. Baradji, Henriksson, Alebiosu and Miller performed well but in lower-ranked leagues and are thus question marks as to whether they can make the step up to Championship. Alebiosu looks good so far at least despite lacking a bit of an end product when compared to Brittain. Summary: club is taking a gamble on foreign players to replace a vast amount of Championship experience. We have lost our entire back four from last season (Beck included) which poses a big risk defensively. Team will probably struggle to find any rhythm at the beginning and it will take some time to integrate all players, getting them accustomed to the tactics and adapt to the league. By the looks of it, we're gonna need to win some matches the 'ugly' way to make sure we aren't dragged into a relegation fight this season.

Toth (6) - couldn't do much about any of the goals. Ribeiro (6) - did ok. doesn't offer much in possession. McLoughlin (4) - stupid challenge for the red. Ended up on the wrong side after long ball from keeper and flick-on to send Sargent clear on goal. Hyam (5) - struggled with Sargent's movement in and around the box. Alebiosu (6) - made some decent forward runs, couldn't find any with his crosses. Tronstad (5) - struggled with the intensity of the game, especially in the first half. Tavares (5) - had a couple of misplaced passes. Never really got going. Hedges (6) - looks sharper than in previous games and even displayed a bit of pace over longer distances. bit unlucky not to get an assist. Kargbo (5) - has plenty of pace but lacks game intelligence. wasted a double-chance in second half. first touch and movement was at times poor. needs to improve. Cantwell (6) - didn't have much to work with in first half as Rovers were put under pressure. bit more involved in the second. Ohashi (5) - doesn't provide a focal point on top. Drifted around to make connections but was rarely a threat inside the penalty box. Match review: thought Norwich dominated the proceedings in the first half with better passing, tempo and movement. Sargent was rather wasteful in front of goal and could've gotten a hat-trick during first 45 minutes. We managed however to get some momentum 70 minutes in and had a good spell for 10-15 minutes which culminated in a missed chance for Hedges. Game over once Sargent fired in his second with barely no time left. Morishita looked interesting when entering the second half, displayed some nice touches.

Fair enough, maybe my ratings were a bit too high but I also considered the following factors: - We nearly got a result. The goal from Cantwell came pretty much out of nowhere but we dealt well with their attacking threat up until the 90th minute. - I felt many of the players put in max performances in relation to their limited abilities, hence the (perhaps) somewhat inflated ratings. - Defence was better organised today than against WBA, mainly because we sat back and played less risky passes. - There were individual errors in the game (De Neve, Tavares) but didn't think any of the players starting the game underperformed. - Hedges was way more effective hugging the touchline on the left compared to his non-existing performance against WBA. - Kargbo also benefitted from playing on the right as opposed to cutting inside from the left flank. At least there seems to be a gameplan that could work when we face 'better' sides in the league. Upcoming game against Hull and similar opponents that are expected to be in the bottom half will be completely different, though.

Seen the game now, my ratings: Toth (6,5) - did OK, can't be blamed for any of the goals conceded. Mostly opted for safety when in possession by booting long balls up the field. Ribeiro (7) - up against Gray and Osayi-Samuel but thought he handled it well together with Hedges. Apparently has a good shot as he powered one towards the bar in the first half (offside in the lead-up). McLoughlin & Hyam (both 7) - won a lot of aerial challenges together. Played it safe when on the ball. Alebiosu (7,5) - won the ball back quite a few times, tough in the challenges. Had a chance in the first half (foul in the lead-up?) where he displayed lack of vision for not squaring it to either Ohashi or Cantwell. Showed great work rate and athleticism throughout the game until his injury. Got left isolated a few times in second half when Kargbo didn't track back. Hopefully the rib(?) injury isn't too serious. Tronstad (6,5) - protected back four fairly well. Rarely seen having possession as we played more directly. Tavares (6) - surprised that he played full game (lack of options?) given he played 70 minutes in the cup a few days ago and having just returned from injury. Involved in the penalty conceded when he tripped Laird inside the box. Poor corner which resulted in a last-minute winning goal for Brum. Cantwell (8) - showed his quality and technical skill when scoring with a great strike from just outside the box. Delivered some good crosses from set pieces as well. Worrying that he seemed to have sustained an injury (groin?) and was substituted with five minutes left of normal time. Hedges (7) - put in a good shift. Better suited when we sit back and play more direct as he has the work rate to track back and provide a decent outlet out wide on the left during transitions. Kargbo (7) - good going forward with his threatening runs on the right hand side. Won the corner which led to the goal. Tired in the second and didn't have the energy to track back after 60 minutes. Will become more consistent if he can improve his work rate. Ohashi (7) - ran tirelessly throughout 90 minutes. Didn't get much to work with but battled well against the centre backs and did the pressing off the ball as usual. Subs: Miller (6) - once again showing his prowess with the long throws. Nearly got an assist in the end when finding Gueye inside the box. Wharton (N/A) - missed closing down Dykes in the last minute for their winning goal. Gueye (N/A) - nearly became match-winner when meeting Miller's long throw in stoppage time but keeper made a good save. De Neve (N/A) - was at fault for allowing Laird to turn and attack the box with pace, leading to a penalty. Henriksson (N/A) - had the chance to make a professional foul by stopping the counter-attack at the end but didn't get a connection/directional change on the ball. Overall tactics (8) - thought the team was disciplined by often sitting back in a mid block, frustrating the opponent, and taking no risks in possession by playing direct. This playstyle benefits many of our players as they're not particularly comfortable on the ball or playing out from the back. Negative aspects are that we didn't create a lot of chances and we (apparently) didn't prepare our routines regarding set pieces. Also felt substituting Hedges for Miller after 60 minutes was a bad call as we lost 'defensive control' after that. Would've been more natural to sub Kargbo off as well at that point instead of shifting him to the left hand side as he was tired and bring both De Neve and Miller on. Summary: restricted the opposition to few chances but need to improve our game during transitions as well as setting up better set piece routines.

Only seen the highlights so far, will have a look at the game later: - Great strike and goal from Cantwell, displaying his technique when hitting the ball from just outside the box. - De Neve is at fault for the equaliser/penalty conceded; way too eager trying to win possession from Laird, allowing him to turn on the other side and attack the box. Should've just closed him down, hold his back and force him to play a backwards pass. - I blame the corner setup more than any individual player for their winning goal. Why are there six players standing in the middle of the box, one standing next to the keeper, one at the near post but we have ZERO players outside the box ready to shoot/finish the attack should there be a clearance??? We only had ONE player standing relatively close to the corner taker being nowhere near the action and who had to make a panic run back to the goal facing FOUR Brum players. I don't care that the corner was poorly taken, you simply don't take risks like that deep into stoppage time having a draw in your hand. Yes, Henriksson should've made a professional foul at the beginning of the transition and Wharton should've been closer to Dykes inside the box but all of that mess could've been easily avoided.

Our transfer strategy is nothing more than a pile of garbage. Would argue that we have missed out on tons of good players from mainly the domestic market because we only look at foreign teams with relatively low status compared to ours: - Failure to sign anyone from Luton. This one is for me the biggest mistake. You're talking about a team who played in the PL only two seasons ago. The likes of Doughty, Morris and Adebayo (still at the club) could've been picked up for below market value prices. - Failure to sign anyone from Plymouth. The likes of Bundu and Mumba (still at the club) would've been cheap but good, Championship-proven acquisitions. - Failure to sign Gassama from Sheffield Wednesday for a cheap price before Rangers swooped in for him. - We haven't explored the free transfer market. We have missed out on McBurnie (Hull) who would've been a decent signing for us. The likes of Diangana is still available but rumoured to have now been offered a contract from another club. - We haven't explored players who did well at L1 last season (Kone - QPR, Poku - QPR, Barry - Sheffield Utd etc.). - We haven't explored the loan market, especially PL talents. Many of them have already gone out on loan to other Championship clubs instead (Doyle, Cashin, Rushworth, Lankshear, Devine, Barry, Collyer etc.) All these opportunities yet the club still hasn't signed a striker or, more alarmingly, a right winger knowing full well that Dolan was never gonna sign a new contract and we only have Hedges as senior player on that position. Instead, we cry foul because we no longer have any ESC slots left (see: Miyoshi). Disgusting.