My stream was inconsistent but I didn't see him have to make a save. Did I miss some? Seems odd for him to jump from u-18s to first team involvement when Hilton has had good reviews and Fisher has been around so long. If he is that good why wasn't he put into the u-23s last season? Maybe because the others are too old to drop to u-18 and they needed a good keeper at that level?

Agreed, just ran into a blind alley on one occasion, but definitely looks one to watch. At the very least he was eager to impress.

When has anybody asked the club to name the exact amount we have for transfers though? I find the repeated claims by numerous posters more bizarre, as I've yet to see anybody ask for that. Some people want a general idea, which isn't outlandish, as we have been told in the past we have a healthy budget, small budget, or we have to sell to buy, we are mostly looking at frees or loans, etc. And some people just want to know the budget has been established, for a sense of security that things aren't dragging on or Venkys might pull the plug. You all might disagree with those sentiments but they're not unreasonable given things that have been disclosed in the past and the current climate. We were told when the budget hadn't been established, don't see the problem in being told when it is. And yes I know the keeper thing now indicates we now have one. But it hasn't happened yet and might just be funds freed up from elsewhere, like the expired contracts, leftover funds from January, etc. For what it's worth, I do suspect it's been decided, but I understand the worry about the general lack of communication from the club this summer on all fronts.

Not just the Riverside mate. BE too and presumably the rest.

Yes, but to Barrow, newly promoted to League Two. Undisclosed but probably not a fee that is going to put a dent in anything. Expect there would be a sell on too, but he doesn't strike me as a lad with a massively bright future. Good luck to him though.

Don't think he is hitting those numbers anymore. Pretty sure he didn't hit that last time he was down there with us either? Given his ageing legs and reduced ability to last 90 minutes, he will do well to hit more than half of that. His sole value isn't in assists and goals of course, he is a useful foil in general, and a good outlet for long ball proponents. Solid signing but I honestly don't think hes going to set the league alight there. Maybe if he is highly motivated by his failure there before.

Thought it was more the first third to be fair, at least come Christmas time onwards it sounded like they were mostly just very unlucky. I only said we should see about them. As in, take a look. I don't watch them closely enough to know why their defence improved. Could be they just gelled as a unit, which wouldn't help us when buying individuals, Marshall's form, or it could be some players just started fulfilling their potential. Or it could have simply been good management. I just know they shipped less than us over the season despite going down and we sorely need defenders. Probably without much money for them.

Jeez. If that were to another Championship side I'd be very frustrated but in fairness we can't compete with Fulham now they've been promoted. Good deal for them, clearly some lowball bids can attain Wigan players right now though...we should see about their other defenders as their defensive unit looked far better than ours in the last third of the season.

And I'm sure all of those people are very happy about it. Maybe except Mercer.

In my head that was more in the 1.5 - 3 mill bracket? Pretty sure it wasn't close to 5. Flowers didn't cost more than Shearer. Certainly wasn't near 5 million, which would have been a British, maybe world record at the time for any player let alone a keeper.

My memory must be playing tricks on me, when did we sign a keeper for 5 million quid?

You talk like a man who has seen a fair bit of him or is well aware of his reputation/game. If so, any info on his strengths and weaknesses?

Loving that google translate from 'fishing behind the net' onwards.

LT article on it is up. Sharpe says another keeper would only be backup. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18667197.blackburn-rovers-make-move-aa-gent-goalkeeper/

Looks like Kaminski cost Gent 2 million in January 2019. Selling him for a quarter of that (according to the Belgian report) a year and a half later, after he has just played all season in a successful year for them, seems odd. But we could be getting a huge bargain. Rather have spent a bit more for Phillips, who we know to have had a good season in this league, but funds are low and a lot needs doing (still rather have paid more and got him though). Good age. Old enough to have some experience under his belt, young enough to have many years left in him.

Aye not like Dixie Dean who played on with a ruptured testicle.

Or has a decent punt on him at least.

Bloody hell it was only last week? Wonder if that's why they're selling...I'd be wary working in front of the lad now if I were one of the other defenders! ?

Hah, that makes way more sense now ? Feel daft now but yeh the angle etc made me think it was a huge window with some weird leaning spot. Hey I don't know how the upper classes live, fine sitting on the economy class with the scum

Jeez, what a waste of space...doesnt look like that thing could be used for anything practical. Just for leaning on whilst you admire the view I assume.

My thoughts were that he is just returning to full training. The photo along with it was weird though. Looked sort of like a train, but no train I've ever been on.

It was fair he was afforded the last two seasons. He has put the squad in a very precarious position during them and demonstrated he can't balance it properly.

So you're saying you like him as a person and appreciate that he stabilised the club, but fully acknowledge that he needs to go?

All of which begs the question- why are you a fan of Mowbray's? You say it's not the manager's fault we have no money, but he is the one who wasted 12 million on two strikers that almost nobody thought we should be spending that much on, ignoring the defence and goalkeeper in the meantime, even after recouping 3 mill on the latter. The man who should take overall responsibility for our squad being threadbare is Tony Mowbray.

Money from the Platt transfer? Barrow just came up from non-league in the midst of the covid crisis. If they paid 50k for him, they've done well. That money doesn't need to have 'gone' anywhere, it just isn't going to buy much of anything. Be lucky if it pays for an agent fee.