He might not be as bad as some state, but he still isn't good enough. Downgrading from Baker to him as our midfield cover was a factor in our plummeting down the table. He's also 34 and will only get worse. Absolutely shouldn't be re-signed, we can do better.

Montgomery is one of the lads sent on a short loan. He was recalled to play for us and is looking capable of making the step up next year. A couple of other players have had decent loans, but on the whole I don't think they've gone well and some (Garrett's) have been a disaster. I think a lot have been poorly chosen.

U18s drew 1-1 away to Everton. Our goal from Pates. The match stats skew heavily towards Everton (23 shots to 4, and 8 on target against 2, with 60% possession to them). We sit 6th in the 13-team North league.

Not to mention anyone we spend a decent fee on will want more wages than Dolan.

Not sure about that. Tronstad, Travis, Brittain, Batth. Beck if he hadn't gotten a bad injury from being overplayed. But he did, so I'll say 4 who had a strong claim, don't think anyone else touches them this season tbh. There have been some other good seasons played, but I think those 4 stand a cut above the rest for consistency and how key they've been for us. A hypothetically uninjured Beck aside, I can't make the case for any other player potentially finishing above any of them in the player of the season stakes.

Strange (and frustrating) that in the summer of 2023 we backed out of signing him because we only wanted the risk of a one year deal, not a two. Two years later, we are trying to tie him down for a third year and he's been one of our best players. Might not have been in that relegation scrap if we had signed him a year earlier.

Aye I know. Gives us a bit of protection for a year though (as long as his agent doesn't do what Phillips' did and put a fairly shit clause in) until we can get him on a longer one. Of course, hard to have faith we can handle the contract negotiations these days.

Then I hope we get him signed up to proper terms now he's turned 17!

I just meant they were the trio talked about as being our next big things, a golden batch. Batty was certainly being hyped by some as though he had future Premiership potential. The other two of course, were touted as 'generational talents', which Wharton has lived up to but Phillips has some way to go yet. A few years on, two are gone (both for less than we should have got) and one is no longer given much thought by most. Meanwhile we've lost one from the next clutch (Finneran) for peanuts, with top clubs allegedly showing interest in others like Higgins and Tyjon before we can secure them onto good terms. Nice that Montgomery has surprised many with his sudden rise to the first team squad though. Hope we can get Tyjon signed up to proper terms when he turns 17.

Even so, I think knowing their fans will be alright with them losing if it stops us getting a playoff spot probably takes a bit of pressure off them.

Seems strange to think Batty was once mentioned in the same breath as Wharton and Phillips. His star has certainly waned since, though I suppose it's not too late for him to make it yet as he's young.

I'm tempted to guess the opposite - there is one, but they're considering pretending there isn't so there is no pressure to spend any.

Weimann's Dingles goal is the best finish, and obviously the opposition gives it emotional weight. But I think the best goal overall, emotion taken out, was the lovely team move capped by a strong near post finish from a bit of a tight angle by Brittain, against Millwall. The team move for Dolan's goal (Plymouth?) was pretty sweet too. I expect Weimann to win it because of who it was against, and being the best strike.

I think @wilsdenrover is the most likely to be able to answer that question. What I do know is the clubs talk about mutually agreeing a deal first. If they can't agree it goes to tribunal. (This is also dependent on us having offered him a contract on equal or better terms than his current one...even with our useless lot, that's a given though)

I think it's just as easy to argue he kept Venkys around for longer. What is true is that he helped stabilise the club and detoxify the surface issues. Whether that has actually been a good thing overall in the long run is a matter of highly hypothetical debate. Not that it's his fault if it has slowed our freedom, he was just doing his job of improving things. But he should have gone a good couple of seasons before he did. And I don't think at all that the club wouldn't exist without him.

Wow, honestly, who makes these loan decisions?

My guess is probably 2 out of those 4 will get renewed before the expiry. Dunno which, probably whichever is prepared to accept the shittest terms or has the least external interest. So probably the 2 who are in the worst form at the time.

'Cheaper'. We surely are the masters of false economy.

Aye, he never scored more than 3 in a season (once, his first season). In fact I struggle to think of many CMs, especially those who are played a little deeper, who ever got 5 in a season for us, let alone 10 (no, the likes of Szmodics and Dack do not count as CMs). It's a really bizarre expectation.

Why do you think it's reasonable to expect 5-10 goals from central midfield, let alone from DM? Travis doesn't do that either, his record is 2 goals in a season. But for some reason you're not giving him the same criticism.

Are you expecting 5-10 goals from Travis next season? Both have scored 2 goals this season. I'm guessing you won't. You seem to have different expectations of Tronstad (and Hyam) to other players.

Good, I hate them. Most despicable fans in the country. You only have to spend a bit of time on their highly racist, bigoted messageboard to see that.

Snap.

If there's anything predictable about Rovers, it's that we were going to hit form as soon as there was nothing left to play for.

Just seen this on a billboard in Blackpool centre