IF what Nicko says is true and they are the only snags then Rovers should sue the EFL and a good lawyer would be scrutinising all previous deals ratified by the EFL to look for similar minute errors (there will be some). I’m guessing we only know part of the story. Another option would be to ask the agent chap to change his name to Sharpe by deed poll! 

34 minutes ago, goozburger said:

It's like an air crash investigation. There appear to have been multiple faults and events. It starts with doing a deal on deadline day, which is leaving it until the last minute in anyone's book, to proof-reading the paperwork before it is submitted.

Having the medicals done in Manchester is yet another thing - a detour, and by the sounds of it, a dining distraction. Why can't the medicals be done at Brockhall or nearby? If you take just one of the many elements in play on the day - preparation, complacency, logistics, checking papers, etc. - then we would be sat here talking about a decent window instead of a poor one and, worse, amateurs in positions of responsibility.

The old Swiss cheese model 

I’m intrigued to know why the only successful deal completed on the night was an outgoing at 10.59. Did we prioritise this over a marquee signing? It doesn’t add up and I wonder if we’ll ever find out what really happened. 

24 minutes ago, lraC said:

It’s set up nicely for a protest, as the next game is on Sky. Maybe some sort of fan lead protest, such as everyone wearing bright orange or empty the ground at 40 mins, by all heading my for the concourse. Sky being told what it’s all about, so that the commentary team announce I and shame the culprits 

I think fans turning up late would be more symbolic. 

I don’t recall people (myself included) being this riled since the Kean days. If it results in the board all being sacked then maybe we can reframe it as a positive. Surely something has to change. 

I never like calling for people to be sacked but this is so ridiculous I think it’s necessary. I honestly feel despondent about this. To have a player of his ilk signed but for sending some paper work and then to mess it up is the administrative equivalent of a hat trick or own goals. Quadruple check it for God’s sake it’s our biggest signing in years! Don’t know where we go from here. 

I’m assuming given the length of time this has taken that we are appealing a rejection. I guess it will probably be upheld as they usually are. This is a monumental mess. To have a player of his quality wanting to sign and not being able to file the paperwork in time is a phenomenal own goal. 

I’m no longer that bothered about the outcome, I’m just appalled at the way the fans have been treated by the club really. What an absolute farce. 

10 hours ago, Jimmy612 said:

Not sure what this is based on really. 

Watkins - Exeter

Scott Hogan - Rochdale

Ezra Konsa - Charlton 

Andre Gray - Luton

Tarkowski - Oldham 

Chris Mepham - Chelsea Youth

Ryan Woods - Shrewsbury 

Maupay - St Etienne 

Benrahma - OCG Nice

These are their bigger sales in the last 6 or 7 years. As you can see, it's basic, good scouting mostly in the lower tiers of English football.  

EDIT - I know what you mean by a smaller pool but we seem to be aiming for quite established players. Hyam, Brittan, Smodics - now Gelhardt and Undav... None of that is particularly inspiring scouting work is it.  That's like me on football manager 2005 scrolling through Man United reserves trying to loan David Bellion. 

The scouting is uninspiring to say the least. We are quite good at nurturing our own young players though thank God! When the pool is smaller the quality of scouting matters even more I suppose. We have a first team coach and DoF with expertise in Dutch and Scandinavian leagues and many of those players are ineligible to play for us which is a massive shame. 

Brexit has made it very difficult to replicate the Brentford model. We are competing for a smaller pool of players with teams who have superior resources. This transfer window has really shown that we can’t compete. 

I’m so glad we were more prepared for the window this time around! 

I’m glad we were much better prepared for this window…. 

JDT has done tremendously so far, but he got it totally wrong today. It’s easy to over react, but it happens. Even the best managers get it wrong sometimes. It hurts to lose any match and even more so a derby, but when the dust settles we can reflect on an excellent league position with a promising young squad of homegrown talent and we can look forward to what’s to come. Chins up all! 

I think JDT is being very smart in the way he is rotating the team during this very busy spell. Admittedly we are benefiting from a decent run without too many injuries. Some sensible use of the U21 squad for match sharpness and resting fatigued players like Pickering. Should help prevent injuries and it seems to be working so far! 

Besiktas have signed Arthur Masuaku on loan from West Ham which may suggest they are out of the race to sign Styles. 

Waggot has obviously really sold the club during the interviews. Pathetic. 

I’m more angry about the inaction from the owners/board than our rather predictable collapse. We should have acted 4 or 5 games ago when we still had a decent shout of making the play offs. They predictably slept at the wheel instead. Just like they did in January when we should have used our position to strengthen or at least brought in a striker. Maybe they don’t care or have no idea about our predicament?? Either way, we’ve blown an excellent opportunity.  I suppose when the chairman is your friend who you got the job for, your job ends up being pretty secure. Laughable situation. 

I checked the score at 17:00 thinking it was over. What a sickening goal to concede. I’m not sure how many points we’ve thrown away at the death this season but it’s happened twice in 3 games which is criminal. It doesn’t really matter though in reality as we aren’t good enough to win the playoffs…it would just lead to more heartbreak. It’s better this way. 

This team seem to thrive on adversity! Rothwell's departure could galvanise the team like the 7-0 defeat did! We do certainly need more players though...

This couldn’t have happened in a better game. The fewer matches we have the better!  See how the respond next week. 

I can think of few clearer examples of when a management tenure has been so stale. He needs to leave now. 

Mowbray clearly got it wrong with the late subs. They were attacking changes though and he had previously been criticised for being defensive in similar situations. Injuries cost us today and the lack of squad depth was apparent. We will have to remain very lucky on the injury front to have a decent season.  It didn’t work out today but I enjoyed this defeat far more than many of our defeats playing aimless passing football last season. 

Have no idea how Mowbray plans to shoehorn all these diminutive false 9’s into the starting 11. I’m assuming we have promised game time to the parent clubs? Maybe he has a master plan or more likely there will be multiple spins of the famous tombola with limited success.