ben_the_beast

If that did prove to be the case hopefully we don't go and get put trousers pulled down by whacking a massive 40% sell on clause in there this time

I saw a couple of Crewe games last year simply to check Pickering out. That and some online clips so I'd say no. I'm not in a position to judge. My comment was based on the limited amount I've seen of him. Wide forward, shoots with both feet, runs at players. Like Arma though he looks to me like he more knocks it past someone to make space for a shot, rather than, dropping a shoulder, changes of pace, Rothwell style. Which like Armw when wide can result in blind alleys, especially if an opposition defender backs off has a bit of intelligence and doesn't overly commit. Those are the similarities I've seen in snippets but I've not seen enough to form an opinion on whether he'd have the potential to develop further, or switch positions. To be honest there's a decent wedge of guesswork and assumptions in the above. And I'm only really commenting on him based on the fact his mum has suddenly had a social media splurge and followed a couple of accounts.

Dale doesn't look a bad player in the snippets online. Hints of Arma's style prior to moving centrally. His stats suggest to me though that he's a player who could disappear for long periods. Obviously it is very easy to cherry pick the best bits for a compilation video. Rumours of 500k bids as he only has a year remaining on his contract, plus apparently he is unhappy at the club holding out for more money whilst paying him very low wages. For that price he'd represent a good gamble in my eyes. I'd far prefer that than spanking the same kind of money for a player on loan. Big question is though. Is he an Arma replacement in Mowbrays eyes or a calculated gamble on an up and coming player. If its the latter and there are other more established incomings I'm all for it. The former and it is clear where our level now is financially.

Tell that to our full backs. Our players were a long way up the pitch. Standing like statues. Worst of both worlds. Positional play was gung-ho whilst the style was gung-slow

Personally I'm pleased Obafemi being a no go has been announced now. Better than playing delusions right up until deadline day. No excuses now. New targets to be pursued with a greater intensity. Not that I have any great confidence in this happening

Put me down for Qpr 19/10/21

At the same time, although yes we have conceded in all our games this season it has only been by one goal. Endless possession leads us to over committing players forwards and we looked so vulnerable. Goals from set pieces have seen us take points in games because we're not having to score 3 goals to win.

Takes some doing to face up to your own troubles privately, let alone publicly. Good to have you back.

If there were some way of totting up the cumulative wages of that group when with us in comparison to what they will be on now I'm sure the contrast would be enormous, truly highlighting the financial mismanagement of the current regime.

From the bits I've seen online he looks like a tidy passer who most importantly looks like he tries to always play the ball forwards. By the looks of things though he is going to need to have a telepathic reading of the game and a great first touch as he looks absolutely tiny. You can be that small as a footballer, but you have to be very, very good. That's my biggest worry. No way of telling until he's had a run of games though

My view is a very cynical view but my concern is the amount of time remaining on Mowbrays contract. I firmly believe he thought he could get us promoted last year. Spent every penny we had on a hugely inflated squad to the point whereby we were right on the edge of Ffp. So much so that it seemed there was no money even for extensions. Now we have a little cash and flex from the Arma sale. Mowbray has 1 year remaining on his contract. What is more important to him. Seeing us scrapping against relegation with a thin squad but assets tied down to long term contracts. Or bringing a number of players some temporary, some permanent and us finishing around midtable. If he leaves at the end of his contract there is clearly one option which benefits him and his reputation, but harms the club.

Another year loan would do Magloire and Carter some good. I wouldn't mind loaning in a centre half so long as they were decent quality. We can essentially tell our two going out on loan there is a spot available for next season. Let them fight it out. Who can put in the best performance in league 1. Bit of incentive and hopefully we see them step up. Centre halves of Lenihan, Ayala, Wharton and a top quality loan should be enough to see us through. There was negligence last year but the Wharton injury completely screwed us over. Ayala was predicted though.

I've not kept up with the Arma deal so am a little confused. Are we thinking that Arma has gone to Saints for £15million and that deal is officially one on its own. But we've been a little sly by Southampton agreeing to sell us Obafemi for cheaper than their true valuation in a completely separate deal to prevent us paying as much to Newcastle?

Thing is we are all debating whether Arma is top level quality and his worth. But on this occasion Mowbray is right. If he had 3 years left on his deal no club would have a sniff under £20million and we would probably be trying to milk them for closer to £25million. Whether somebody would pay it is another question. If Southampton are after a striker to replace Ings who they are 100% confident in and represents very little risk then they simply don't exist at the prices they are willing to pay. £8million was insulting. I'm sure in their heads they value Obafemi who's done nothing in his career at that price. If they want him. They need to pay up and do it now.

I think Mowbray just truly believes his own waffle. He wasn't trying to elevate expectations last season. He genuinely believed he was going to take us up and with 5 subs possible he decided to spunk our money on a hugely inflated squad size with nothing left over for contracts. So nothing untoward, but putting his own career first as he wanted another promotion on his Cv. That and cushy contracts for the boys. Regardless of anything this situation is of his own making.

Without doing this we are in an absolute hole and back in the position of close to zero assets

I constantly question whether some of the posters on there are real people or just fake profiles to give a false perception of positivity to those with stakes in the club.

They continue to stick their heads in the sand. The small step forwards we need to see are experienced directors with the power to make local decisions at Rovers. Their is zero future until this point. And I genuinely believe there is zero future under Venkys because they've not done it in a decade so I can't see them doing it now. Your post was a good one. But without that step there is nothing.

Who'd have thought Manchester City signing Jack Grealish could have an impact on us selling Arma. Grealish from villa to city Ings from Southampton to villa Arma from us to Southampton They'd best be willing to stump up a decent bit of cash now though considering they've just got £30million for a 29 year old in the last year of his contract.

And come 12 months most of them would be leaving for nothing when their contracts expire. That's the level of positivity I'm at with the current regime.

It's the whole set up and philosophy that doesn't suit Travis. Get him in a battle and he's an excellent player. I agree he needs to be box to box as his biggest asset is his physicality and drive. Both when pressurising the opposition and when he's carrying the ball. As it stands Mowbray has had him holding which takes away his drive. I don't think he has the positional discipline either. And then when we're in possession we're trying to dominate games and he's playing short passes sideways and he can be very sloppy in that regard. It also again takes away his ability to drive forwards. In short I don't think he was over rated. He's just being asked to do things which take away from the things he's best at.

Consider yourself lucky. It seems the targeted ads are for me to click on chaddys avatar

I for one would like to say a huge thank you. Having moved 'down south' aged 10 this site has been a huge part of me staying true to my roots and feeling involved as a Rovers fan. The club are part of me as a person and this site is part of me feeling connected to that part of me. As I've sod all other people to talk to about anything Rovers related. So a big thank you. I can't overstate what this site has meant to me over the years. Without it there would be a hole in my life, so I can say for me your graft has been genuinely appreciated. Edit: I'd also like to extend that thanks to the new team taking over the reigns

Genuinely, if it were an option, yes. I have noticed over the last 12 months there has been a significant increase in ads and noticeably more as of the relaunch today. Its not a criticism, as I for one fully appreciate all the work that goes into this site and as has clearly been stated, the site is 'not for profit'. So in terms of the upkeep I know it's a necessary evil. As an end user though, I log onto this site virtually every day and the amount of them are annoying, so providing the monthly fee wasn't too high, if it were an option I'd be happy to pay it.

Brentford paid Peterborough 10m quid not Newcastle. Quick Google says Peterborough bought him for about 500,000 plus 30% sell on fee.