briansol

I agree that I would like to see a few more youngster now, but there are several others with more potential. Players like Pike, Whitehall, McBride. Those three are probably those who are ready. For the rest might be more damaging throwing them in and let them sink. Players like JRC, Buckley, HB and Brathwaite has at least proven too good for U23 level whether to you don't rate them as Championship level.

As a Norwegian, great credits to Gibraltar for the effort. They played with big hearts and commitment. Great goalkeeper! Was interested to see how Annesly would cope, but hard to judge since the quality gap is so large. Gibraltar played two banks of defensive lines with an energetic striker who tried to chase the ball the few times it crossed the oppo half.

Sorry mate, has nothing to do with Mowbray. Annesly is nowhere ready for Championship football. He's now established himself as a decent U23 player, but is far off the Carter, Magloire level shown at U23 football. Needs a loan to Non-league or League 2 given his age. Gibraltar is no yard-stick. Watched them last night, and despite their heroics, they are probably League 2 at best.

Nice little video summary of his performance last night

Not sure what you mean by consistent runs. He has never been a starter at any clubs. Before Shrewsbury, all his career appereances has been from the bench.

I think working hard has been Harry's biggest weakness. He obviously has talent, but doesn't seem to have had the right application nor attitude. Hopefully he can rebuild his career now, and the pressure of having to earn a contract might be the kick he needs. Might be a maturity thing also, probably had it a bit too easy relying on his talent.

I agree. To be fair I think he's left footed and usually plays on the left side. Might explain why he was a bit off with his end product. His crossing from left is usually pretty good.

I really like Jack Vale as a player. Made his debut for the senior team towards in end of the last season, and was expected to be more involved this season. Very unfortunate to pick up an injury in pre-season which kept him out for months.Is just back and has played the last two games for the U23. Still only 19, he is a well rounded forward/striker who is intelligent, pretty quick, can take on players, run with the ball and decent hold-up play as well. Weakness is probably that he is not prolific enough. Probably more of a Brereton type than Armstrong, but has a lot more awareness than Brereton. I'd also like to see how adapt physically in senior football. Good hold-up play in U23 games against 5'11 boys, are not the same as seniors. Another candidate for loan, who have or soon will have outgrow U23 level. The impressing thing with the current U23 is that almost any of them could become a player. Unlike earlier batches, there are very few who just makes up the numbers. Hayden Carter is an example that never stood out, but was always solid and dependable in a number of positions. Suddenly he is playing for the first team and now a regular starter in League One for Burton. Buckley was another who was a bit part player who kicked on and became a midfield maestro and outgrew that level within a season. Loved watching him in the U23, and a bit suprised that he has struggled that much physically to impose himself, but probably evidence of the difference. Butterworth is such a sad case with his injuries. Far too good for U23 and would've been regularly involved for the senior team, but sounds now that there some reoccurence of the back injury that kept him out for the whole of last season.

I think Whitehall has a very good chance. Could feature next season, or probably benefit greatly on a loan. Quite similar as a player to Ben Godfrey who had a great season on loan at Shrewsbury when we were in League One, and kicked on from there. I really like Pike who has all the tools for a right back. Can defend and get forward. Commited and energetic. Mowbray has praised him already and made the bench recently. One who I'm certain will have a have a professional career.

Not sure if he has played left-back. Are you thinking of Jake Garrett? He is quite similar but has played a lot of left back, and in the centre. Very highly rated and I think he has captained England as well, which is quite rare for a Blackburn player. Still only 17, has featured for the U23 but will probably be a regular feature next season. There is a raft on talent when it comes to centre-backs, which makes it important to get the likes of Carter and Magloire out on loan so the younger ones can progress on U23 level.

Agreed, he has a hint of a young Gerrard. Mobile, powerful, good decision-making. Was also very impressed when he played right back, powerful runs and looked pretty fast as well.

Their goal was just poor from Nyambe. He was tasked with marking Powell. As a defender you either get the ball, or at least put enough pressure on the man you are tracking. He was first a yard behind Powell, then he overran crashing into Johnson while trying to see where the ball was going. Powell watched the ball, slowed his run and could head unmarked. Somebody pointed out that the defence play ourselves into trouble with high risk passes, and I agree. When the pitch is unplayable in the middle, then we have to play into the channels and move the team further upfront. Also Lenighan need to learn when to challenge and when to fall off, especially when his partner are going for the ball. So many players were off their game. Travis looks nowhere fit to be in the engine room. He also gets a yellow card within 20 mins, so he can't even tackle afterward. Davenport looks a far better option there. Was well impressed with Mikel, always been good on the ball, but also looked pretty fit for a 33-year-old. Nobody could get near him. On paper the lineup was decent and balanced, but seems that most of the players didn't turn up. Only positive was probably Brathwaite who had a good debut and a decent cameo from Buckley who scored a Dack-equesque goal.

Magloire was given a chance directly from U23 football. Played two matches and came up against Joe Garner (Wigan) and Steven Fletcher (Sheff W). Both are experienced operators similar to Graham and gave him a difficult time in the air. I've seen a fair amount of U23 football and for centre backs there is a massive difference from senior football. U23 football are very technical and to the feet. The strikers they face are usual quick and nimble. Magloire was coasting being quicker and more powerful than most. Timing, positional and tactical development was probably underdeveloped. Went to loan to Rochdale last season, think he was right back a couple of games, before benched and then getting a serious injury. Came back in the summer and showed against Vardy that he has potential. However you'd really like him to get an education like Wharton by competing in league football to take the rough edges off. I think Nyambe was a bit similar, and he is a proof how experience and match time can improve a player.

According to Calvert-Lewin he is fast as well. When asked who was fastest at the club, he said it would be between himself, Godfrey and Branthwaite in a 100 metre race.

Not the prettiest win, but felt good to win a bit ugly again. Today we did the dirty stuff which has been missing. Travis and Davenport gave that energy and balance you need when you play with so many offensive players. For me Davenport was MOM with a "Reed-esque" performance. Broke up play, tackled and good distribution. Should keep his place for me. Douglas did a suprinsingly good job as a right back, but his lack of pace and strength is very nerving to watch. Thought Gallagher did a good job helping him out defensively. Armstrong was back to his best with a goal and general movement.

Not sure if there was any offers him? Totally agree that it was the right call for him to go play against men, rather than being a 5/6 choice here. Williams might be back for Wednesday anyway. Carter can fill in for a game. Johnson could also be brought back and start Davenport in midfield. Other options are Nyambe and maybe give Pike his debut?

I think Armstrong probably has more Premiership potential than Dack. Dack can obviously do a job in the Premiership with his quality, but they are far better to close the space he operates in that the Championship. Armstrong's pace and movement will cause problems at that level too and his allround game has improved greatly. He's a bit of Aguero light in that respect.

Seen him on several occasions and always liked him. Energetic, solid and dependable. Always a 7 of 10. Can tackle, head and has good distribution. Hard to judge U23 level, but one of a handful I'm certain will have a professional career. Could probably do a job in an emergency, but would probably benefit from a loan before chucking him in. Some players like Buckley, Rankin-Costello and Butterworth are easier to identify at U23 level because they were obviously a level above. Others are more solid but can turn into great players with experience. Pike is one of them. Others would be Whitehall, Barnes, Vale and young Garrett. Hayden Carter was solid but never eye-catching at U23 level, but did a decent job for the first team. On the other side, Magloire was very dominant at U23 and probably found it too easy with his pace and physique against small techincal forwards. Found it much harder at senior level when positioning, tactical and heading is much more important. Still think he might come good after loan experience, proved his potential against Vardy in pre-season.

Played at highest Norwegian 3 div (4 th tier, not high level then, only 2 highest divisions are national, this was regional) Biggest moment was playing Viking in a cup game. Roy Hodgson was manager and Hangeland played. Big moment for our little village of 3000 people to have them visit. A fun rule in that cup is that the lower division club get one penalty for each division in difference before the start of the game. We scored 4 of 5 and ended up losing 5-4 in the end.

That was a strong win with basicly the U-18 side that went to the semi-final in the FA Youth. Even more impressive considering Brennan is away on loan, and there is not so much creativity in that lineup. There is raft of good centre-back prospects in Barnes, Whitehall(plays midfield, but reckon centre-back is his best position) and Garrett. I'm sure Pike will have a career as a professional footballer. Maybe with us.

Great topic! Kaminski, Rothwell and Armstrong based on the season so far (might change). All are very important for the team dynamic and we don't have any replacements close to what they bring. Johnson, Breo and Holtby as the second wave. Haven't considered Dack and Travis yet. Travis can replace Johnson as the anchor, but on Johnson's current form might not be a big improvement. Johnson brings aerial strength in a team that is low on that as well as more of a goal threat. Will be interesting to see where Dack is deployed and how that will change the dynamic.

Having Kaminski back was a big reason for the win. You could clearly see how much more confident the defence was with him behind him. He's very vocal and Wharton described it has having comfort blanket with him there. Looks a steal so far. I think it was around 500k for a keeper with quality, the right age, experience and good cultural fit. Also telling that he is part of the Belgium national team that has been ranked number 1 in the world the last couple of years.

I think the "flat track bully" comparision really relevant. Really enjoy watching Rovers this season dominating teams this season and certainly can be placed as a"happy camper". Mounting a promotion push you need to be able to handle all aspects of game handling: 1. Putting lesser teams to the sword. We are certainly doing that this season, which is refreshing after Charlton and Luton came to Ewood last season. 2. Grafting out a win against decent teams that get behind the ball. Cardiff and Forest was a struggle to create enough chances. It's one of the hardest thing in football but probably were our biggest challenge lies this season. Promotion teams will carve out that 1-0 win in the majority of games. 3. Strike the right balance against "better teams". Bmouth and Watford show how they can hurt you even if we have possesion and have more chances. They are far mor clinical and hits you on the break. We need to be a bit more tactical when choosing to overload esp with fullbacks and midfield, so the centre-backs are not so exposed. Right now we might be a Brentford over the last seasons, who scores a lot of goals, play well, but also been loses to many matches. Norwich manages to outscore the opposition when they went up, even if they conceeded a lot. Leeds last year did both parts very well, kept a great shape even when they were on the front foot.

Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time to back your argument with a good factual case. I'll concede we had a greater net spend in transfer fees. But I would be very worried having Paul Cook at the helmet. Looking at his transfers over the last 3 seasons it's very poor. He's brought in 24 players, and I don't think one of them has increased in value. You'll have to give him credit for the run Wigan had after Covid, but I think there must be so many better candidates out there if the aim is promotion to PL

Well in 18/19 they bought Joe Garner for 1,25m + McManaman, Kipre, Windass, Lee Evans, Daniel Fox + 5 or 6 free transfers They finished 18, we finished 15. in 19/20 they bought highly rated Jamal Lowe, Kieffer Moore, Joe Williams and Tom Pearce. + 2 free transfers. They finished 23 (would've been 13 if not points deducted), we finished 11. Paul Cook brought in 18 players in his 2 championship seasons. I think the transfer sums might not be that different, the wage budget is certainly similar. They had a large decifit like us, the difference being their owners didn't want the bill.