So would you say you're overwhelmed by his two windows so far? Or simply whelmed?

No, you were being silly by saying the EFL's query about relegation was within reason. It totally isn't, so I just joined in and took it a bit further. It's really quite simple, I'm struggling to understand why you're struggling to understand it. We don't think it's relevant because: 1) We will have shitloads of money at that point and it will be a relative drop. 2) We clearly look short of promotion calibre right now. If we did get him and went up, it would likely have a lot to do with signing him, in which case again, what's 10 million compared to 170+ million? 3) Due to the shitloads of money, his high wage will, again, be a drop. We would also have a proven Championship performer with two promotions under his belt, whilst attempting another Championship promotion, not the worst thing. By the end of that season if we hadn't gone back up, 2 years of his new deal would be over, with likely only a year or two left, and parachute payments to fund it. 4) If it isn't in the rules for us to include it, they have no right to delay our transfer beyond the deadline to ask about it. If they chose to do that off their own bat, they should allow additional time to answer it, as it is outside of established rules and requirements. The authorities didn't show this sort of 'concern' for our welfare when they let Venkys buy and misrule us, and if anything they're probably getting in our way by asking it and damaging our promotion chances. All of this has essentially already been said in here though by myself and others, so if you're still confused I've nothing else for you.

Only if the notes are highly radioactive.

The LT, I believe it was, said a decision was expected last Thursday.

It's not 'within reason' though. It's a pointless and petty query. It's not reasonable that they plucked it out of their arse and we had no reason to expect it. Not sure how that can be considered our fault if that's the cause of problems. They could have sent it back to ask us what LOB's grandad is called or something, that would be our fault too would it?

I don't see how disclosing what lawyers are being hired would harm the legal challenge. I'm sure the EFL are aware of it, they'll more than likely be dealing with them.

It's no more bizarre than you convincing yourself the club is at fault. I'm not convinced of either yet, I'll wait for more details to emerge. We know. Bugger. All. About what has happened. I don't get why people have to jump to the extreme of a position all the time, instead of seeing nuance. Especially when the details of what has actually happened are scarce. It's a blight across society.

Not sure about that if there's a 5% chance they'll then receive similar actions in future transfer windows.

If it isn't just Nicko doing his favourite sit-on-the-fence trick, which it probably is, then reading between the lines it implies this. That we've lost the appeal but are taking legal action, or going to the court of arbitration for sport or somesuch. I'd be fine with that, if we do actually have a strong case when it gets put outside the self-serving decision-making of the EFL. Obviously it would be financial compensation only, but if we have a 70% upwards sort of chance, might be worth the legal fees to try and spin a bit of revenue for the club. Maybe it's embarrassing, maybe it's not - again, we still don't actually know the details of what has happened, only what the unreliable Nixon has 'leaked'. And even that, I'd say only the misspelling of the agent name reflects poorly on us and it's pretty minor. (The Rochdale lad is a fairly insignificant case, and it was alleged he was the one who didn't fill the form in fully...yes somebody should catch it really before it's sent, but late in the day with a much bigger transfer to worry about...I don't really care about that one) But the real story could be absolutely anything at this point, so I'm not going to rush to calling it embarrassing.

Yeh I've read about it before, thanks to this forum. Basically snatched the signing on fee for himself if I remember it right. Something like that anyway. When that was a lot of money to Cole at the time as he was new on the scene.

I just want good players. I don't care if they're off Kim Jong Un's list.

Not entirely in the past yet, sadly. I went to a bear sanctuary in Bulgaria a few years ago, where they look after bears that used to be subjected to this treatment. The mutilation wounds they still have from the chains, ropes etc are horrific and heartbreaking to see. At least other ill treatment of animals is usually for something more than just a cheap laugh and amusement for punters. It's banned in Bulgaria now, but some other countries still permit it. Ironically enough, India is one of those countries. We really are Venkys' dancing bear, as you say. It should have been stopped by the authorities a long time ago, but I'm sure our gaping wounds and scars will remain long after our owners and handlers have departed. I just hope subsequent conservation efforts will be as kind and considered as they were in that sanctuary I visited.

That was a whole lot of words to basically say, 'There have been a lot of different plans for the Ewood Park stadium area, so we've consulted with various parties and come up with a cohesive plan. Which we're not sharing with you here.'

Heaven forbid they accept they were wrong to criticise us for saying the fee was far too small. In fairness though, we would never have got all of the transfer (if the transfer is indeed anything like 40 million in the end) keeping him here, as Championship keepers (especially those developed by Ben Benson) don't sell for anything like that. Without the Premiership spotlight there is a much, much smaller ceiling on the fee. One wonders how much difference a good keeper would have made that season we had to put up with Walton though...I know we finished way, way off the mark so it's hard to see that it would have pushed us up that far, but do better in a few games and the team's form can start to snowball.

Lol good one

It's irrelevant what we came away with, the point was what clubs were willing to pay.

Nah it's pretty poor. We got £15 million for Armstrong a season earlier in the same situation, who wasn't an international or carried marketing value, and players with less goals have gone for a lot more money. We shouldn't have accepted it, and clubs rarely give their best offer first time around. The problem was it sounds like we pretty much went 'no, he will cost £20 million' and that put clubs off even negotiating. I think if we had said 'no, he costs £15 million', we would have had bids up to around £12 million, which still would have stuck in the throat a bit, but would have been best to accept and reinvest since it was clear he wouldn't renew with us.

Highlight didn't show how the freekick happened, so I can't comment on that. I'm not sure what you expected from Gally's header. There wasn't really a 'good' place to direct it, other than arguably to flick it behind him to give away a corner. He was also pushed in the back a bit as he went for it. Travis wasn't originally marking the scorer, he had eyes on the guy standing off from the line. The scorer pulled off as you say, and for me that's the point, when Trav turns around and can see him, that he should have got closer to him. I think he's possibly not sure whether to commit to it as the lad he originally had is unmarked behind him, but it looks more to me like ball watching. Somebody doesn't peel off with the scorer when he holds back, I think Wharton, but that's understandable as the ball was heading into a more urgently dangerous area where an extra body could be needed. By the time it lands back with Hoedt, it's too late. I don't see how Carter could reasonably be expected to stop it. Put yourself low and the shot could easily go high, plus it did take a bounce off the turf. Only Travis to blame for me, maybe I'd say Brereton too if I could see how the freekick was won. You can maybe say Gally could have flicked it behind him for a corner (which they could have scored from) or tried to direct it a bit wider (where there was another Watford player lurking in a danger area) if he wasn't being pushed, but I don't think any of his options were good, so it's splitting hairs a bit. The man shouldn't have been umarked.

Just watched the highlights on sky's website. Very composed indeed from Dack, the only player we have intelligent enough to realise that quickly that the first shooting option was closed down (that close to goal anyway, where many players would just think they have to shoot immediately before the chance is gone). The only person I put blame on for the Watford goal is Travis. The keeper doesn't have good enough eyes on that to be culpable, fired through too many bodies. Travis though, he was ball watching instead of sensing the danger and getting close to the goalscorer. It was a fairly small window to figure it out though, since he had started off by 'marking' the space between two unmarked players, so not tons of blame, but ideally he should be doing better for sure.

I keep seeing this and it's a bit harsh. Yes to post Christmas loss of form (a little earlier this year), but people are acting like he was useless in the first part of the season. He wasn't ripping the league apart like last season's first half, but he still had a good goal return until it dried up. Still our top scorer. We would probably be mid-table or worse right now without his goals in the first third or so of the season.

Given I also had relegation concerns in the summer (though these were eased a bit by the end of the window), I'm also seeing our current and likely end position as positives. But throwing away the position we were in with a very poor Jan window, for two seasons running, really sticks in the throat. Also, I'm very concerned about the summer ahead, as it's sounding like we won't have a pot to piss in but will desperately need a good striker, the most expensive position on the pitch.

Football is so weird. No league draws all season, then three in a row. With one in the cup even thrown in for good measure. 4 draws in 5 games after only one cup draw I think previously all season.

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/page/1 The articles 'Costly slip of the pen' and 'Box ticking exercise foils Rovers'

Brereton is naive if he thinks he's going there to play. There's a reason they wouldn't pay a fair fee and waited for him to be free. Players should be wiser to other clubs exploiting their contract situations, but he'll think of the short-term and the money instead.

Sickening on so many levels.