Tomphil2

That Championship appearances stat is scary.

In a football sense it's probably not that hard to replace Trav but you can't buy instantly the other stuff he brings and with so many changes this summer it's more vital than ever to have someone pulling it all together on and off the park.

They come out the blocks at us i expect but that might suit big Vals Rovers if he's trying to recreate the Barnsley effect here although losing CB is a blow to that. If we get the defence/counter balance right we might get something although i do worry about the Hyam and new lad partnership. WBA 2 Rovers 2

The Derby lot running around giving it large on X have gone quiet recently. Especially the few that i had to point out to that Brittain begged for Boro over them, Dolan snubbed them for some warm weather, Travis was seeing out his contract and in reality all they'd got from us was two guys who never really got offered proper contracts here 🤣 Not as massive as they thought they were. Nothing against Derby, good club, big club and i like Eustace, Batth and Weimann but man i hope they flop next season they are followed by the biggest bunch of clowns since Coventry rose from the dead.

Reg without doubt is a club plant.

Hedges has been a good squad man you need honest grafters like him in this league and i don't think he was signed as anything other than that. So iv'e never really expected a great deal and he had some good performances when he first established himself but injuries and consistency went against him. In truth hes only been involved so much because of the year on year budget cuts. He's one who has probably benefited from that.

Yup a local journo recording the mins would make sense if it were possible to arrange.

Yeah if there was a complaint to be made towards JDT and Eustace it was they lacked flexibility, certainly JDT did and Eustace was often reluctant to change. Maybe Ismael will mix it up a bit more according to opposition.

And he's got rid of the other bloke who challenged him ! I suspect it's same as everything else down there, Gestede like Waggot will have license to negotiate a fee/wages up to a certain low level but the final say will still come from high command.

Ticket stubs, programmes etc Little souvenirs of a lifetimes dedication, adventures and commitment. Replaced by a virtual wallet that can disappear in one wrong swipe or drop of a phone.

It might have released room on the wage bill but Rudy Gestede said sales would make no difference to this transfer budget. That could mean they weren't relying on sales this time or it could mean there is a set amount then that is it regardless of sales.

Digital bollox. Now just think though if ST 's were reasonable for a town like Blackburn there'd be a late run now the incoming's have got interesting.

The real test of all these out of the country newbies even if they can match the physical stuff is the mental side of it. A goal down inside 10 mins at a place like a buzzing Hawthorns against a strong side or two down at home to a Birmingham side with an extra 4k tourists behind the goal they are attacking ! The Ewood jury will sniff out the men from the boys pretty quickly.

It seems the ones earmarked for development to sell are getting long contract but the caveat to this is no doubt their starting point wages here are low by British standards. At least there's a few here now beyond next summer though !

Next resheduling.

You stole my post i was just about to say that. He did turn into a bit of an arse those last 2 years but before that i think he was just fence sitting as they all do because he had no real idea what was going on. I get the impression from outside that this Suhail character plays lord almighty not to be questioned, don't ask him he'll ask you if he wants to speak to you type thing. I think Mowbray was probably as frustrated as anyone else but rather stupidly he started having digs at fans and reporters. He was the one though always fronting questions on behalf of the whole club whilst his CEO rarely spoke and the guy really running the show hid away. For half a million quid a year though anybody would probably just toe the line but some of the stuff he came out with was certainly a bit twatish and definitely soured what should arguably have been a decent legacy here.

The club is a vassal state to a far off lands set of accountants.

And a leg if we finish 6th ?

Yeah so just rebuilding a team for a new head coach. I think we need to differentiate here what we mean by 'plan' as in a club plan to reset, invest and aim for something over a 3 year period versus a head coach just planning his team for the next 12 months after being handed half a squad due to exits. There is one but there certainly isn't the other, who would bet against another coach doing the same thing here by next summer ?

That's exactly what it is and India isn't bothered as long as the hassle to them is limited to a couple of meetings per year and costs are kept to the bottom line. The malaise we had under Bowyer and a lot of TM's tenure backs this up where doing just enough was enough but that isn't ambitious enough for young head coaches hence the problems once they see how the club works. It's a complete gravy train though for a couple of directors and no doubt some advisers/agents.

Not defending Gestede as he was all over the shop in some of those interviews but perhaps he meant he'd been told look you've got 3.5 million to spend this summer regardless of who is sold or not. Wishful thinking obviously but we know the BS that flies around inside Rovers and the promises that are made to new gaffers etc plus they know there'd be future sales to plug that gap. IMO what we are seeing now is what we've always seen in terms of some backing for a new coach/manager that will all but disappear after this summer again and the well will be dry for Ismael even if he stays 3 years so he better make the most of it now. Invest a bit, grow a new squad, sell, pay down the overdraft, rinse and repeat.

That's not a long term plan is it it's just replacing players that are leaving which any and every club has to do unless they fill the spots with youth players. Clubs tend to work to 3 year plans not wing it summer to summer like these lot do.

Plan here ? It's about time you held your hand up and admitted the ONLY plan here is we have to sell players and let players who want better contracts go in order to pay the bills. That's it there is no other plan than that it's about keeping the lights on. The same can't be said of Derby who no doubt sold Eustace a project of building year on year for promotion and that's why he went there.

That's what managers do that's why they are called managers not head coaches. Do you see them selling their best players to pay their bills and fishing around for cheaper replacements to develop or do you see them putting in place a strong squad for this season then trying to add quality to take them to the next level ? Meanwhile here - so far - 4 of last seasons best players have left and nobody has signed a contract extension. Precisely what he knew was going to happen.

So they'll bring in some more he's laying a good platform for this season and they'll build on that how many times have we heard from a new manager or coach that they'll need 3/4/5 windows to 'build' their team. What i don't see them doing is selling their best players, do you ?