briansol

No he didn't and neither did I claim it either. Reed was our best midfielder and I couldn't either understand the reason for not being played more.

They tried for him, but Fulham had a better offer. According to Rich Sharpe.

You have a point, but I think we need more leaders and stronger characters. The dressing room seems united and everybody gets on. I would worry that it is "too nice" if you don't have the characters that will not accept defeat and demand more from teammates. The championship team was filled with captains. Hendry, Berg, Sherwood, Shearer, Batty etc

Maddison has ability, but did poorly for Hull and only played 7 games (4 starts) with one goal to show for it. He's also rumoured to be a poor character. Might be worth a punt, but I think Mowbray will be reserved bringing in a player that might disrupt the dressing room.

Not Peacock or Dailly, but a proper defender and leader like Craig Short would do. Listened to Friedel on Roverschat podcast and he was very clear on how important it was to have a leader like him heading away balls in the Championship. He also said Gary Flitcroft was very undervalued for being a great leader put demand on the team as well as giving praise when needed. We've been missing a quality midfield enforcer for a long time. Maybe Travis can grow into the role, but the impression I get from the other players he might not be the brightest to have that respect from the others.

I thought Bell improved after new year and can be used as a backup. A first choice left-back of Cunningham standard would be great. Keeper, centre-back, left-back in that order would probably the most important ones. Probably needs someone to replace Graham and Whiteman might be a good option in midfield. He sounds a bit like Sherwood which we are missing. A proper box-to-box midfielder who can make the team tick. Travis is a very handy, but he's not going to control a game. I also think the most important factor if we are aiming for play-offs is getting more consistency out of the current bunch. We need at least 2-3 players to have a breakthrough season like Armstrong to have any chance regardless on who we bring in. We are not solid enough and too few players contribute with enough goals.

I think he is referring to Lucas Neill

In fairness we only got Lenihan and Williams. Mulgrew is expected to leave. I reckon Wharton is the best bet of the rest. At least as backup. Magloire couldn't get a game in League One on loan and is not good enough in the air even if he's quick. Carter and Grayson needs a loan to grow. Wharton has experience and is tougher now. Can head and has a decent left foot. There is also a raft of promising centre backs coming through in the U23/U18. Like Isac Whitehall, only 18. We need at least one more experienced centre back when injuries and suspensions kick in.

I agree, all those gave potential as good Championship players. JRC is an intelligent footballer who can play any where. Played right wing-back for the U-23 lately. Very involved forward and scored a few as well. Suprisingly good in the air. Butterworth is very sharp. Direct, Great left foot, flair, bit arrogant and greedy. Have struggled with a Long term back injury all season. Not sure what the status is. Would've been involved if not according to Mowbray. Massive fan of Buckley, think he has the most potential of the lot. Has a lot of fans among senior players and Staff. Can create, score, pass and go past People. Great work-rate too. However probably the one Who needs most time to adapt. Needs to fill out a bit, but more important 1 second quick er decision making and finding pocket of space. Good signs towards the end of season. Jack Vale is another favorite of mine. Good allround striker with a bit of everything. Led the line well for the U-23 although he's not the biggest. Good balance, decent pace and can go past a player. Appearantly the New nutmeg king in Dacks absense according to Bennett. Might need a loan.

Sorry you are very much misinformed. This virus is at least 10 times deadly as flu. A lot of carriers will not show symptoms and transmit it without knowing. If you get too many infected at the same time you hospital's system will be overloaded and over capacity. Hospitals will not be able to function as normal and you will see people dying from accident and all kinds of not virus related stuff because hospitals will not function properly...

Please stay away guys! If not for your own health, but for your parents and grandparents. You are just one week behind rest of Europe, and will regret the public gatherings in a few days. I live in Norway where the country went into lockdown mode today. All schools and kindergardens closed for 2 weeks and I'm going to stay home with my kids while the wife needs to go to work in a pharmacy where there currently is mayhem. We had the same attitude as some of the guys here. It started only 10 days ago when a few people brought the virus back from Italy during winter break. Now it's everywhere and we don't have enough capacity in hospitals to deal with a larger outbreak. As seen in Italy, if the outbreak overload the capacity you will see a death rate between 3-6%, while nations that has imposed strict bans will keep at 0.5-1%. Yes it will mostly be deadly to the elderly and people with underlying problems, but in Italy 8% of hospitalized people are between 20-40 years old. Their patient 1 was a 38 year old athletic male with no problems, who currently has been intubated for 2 weeks if still alive. I pray that I'm wrong and overreacting, but I would regret not saying something. Stay safe!

Duff was also part of the same batch as Dunn and Taylor but he was fast tracked to the Premier League at 17 Also worth mentioned James Beattie who was only a year older than Duff/Taylor.

I'd say Whitehall, Pike and Brennan, but very hard to tell. They are still developing and it's a big step up from U18. Whitehall is physically ready and have a good footballing brain, not sure what his best position is though, as there is a lot of good centre backs coming through. Pike could easily be Nyambe's understudy in the next couple of years. Brennan a bit more gamble as a winger. He has pace, two great feet but will have to adjust to the physical part. Very similar to Mahoney when he came through. U23 will be a good arena for many of them, and usually some fall through the cracks while others kick on like Buckley etc.

That was an exceptional performance. Totally battered one of the best clubs in the country filled with youth internationals. Could easily have been 7 or 8. Actually shown on a TV channel here in Norway. Commentators were very complimentary. On that evidence a lot of these could go on to have a career. So many good performances all over the pitch: - Eastham in goal, although not the biggest looked very composed with great distribution with both hands and throws. - Pike on right back looked a modern full back who could defend and attack. - Flavio as centre-back very similar to Magloire, big and powerful. - Whitehall, captain and just given a long professional looked the part. Built like a man, athletic, good allround footballer. Played midfielder today, but can see him ending up at centre back. - Harlock was the conductor in the centre. Great energy, effective passer and a lovely slide through to Brennan for his goal. - Wright-Phillips, just like his dad! Quick winger with great feet. Very composed and effective. Got a goal and setup another. Really hope we have something permanent lined up. - Luke Brennan, left winger, Mahoney v2! Could easily become a better player than Mahoney. Can see why he's been promoted to U23. Two great feet. He actually took freekicks with both right and left, and seemed equally good with either. Great crosser and great goal. Had workrate to go as well. - Sam Burns, probably got MOM for his two goals. A real livewire striker. Pace to burn, great movement and hard to shake off the ball. Stocky and strong. Some similarities to Aguero. Wonderful goal from outside the area and a poacher for the second. Really enjoyable and hope they show the City game as well

I think that's a good move for him. He's ready for senior football and a few months there will make him ready for another loan next season. Barrow is heading for League 2 so might another season there. I've praised him on several occasions and he's got a lot of attributes to become a good all-round striker. Next step for him now is senior football and this should do him the world of good. Championship is probably a step too far atm, but he could be ready in the next couple of seasons.

Good performance. The biggest difference from last year is that we don't crumble and general game management are a lot better. Solid keeper, a settled back four + Travis has been a massive improvement in that part.

I'm in the Pro-Mowbray camp, but I think it's fair to say the transfer window was a failure. The goal was to bring at least one or two reinforcements in. There is plenty of valid reasons why it didn't happen, many outside the control of the club, but objectively the goal wasn't met. A manager ultimately get judged by results, and currently you have to say they are good. We are still in the running for play-offs which was the goal set out.

You are correct. Last season we were in a decent position as well only to fall apart from February until April with only 4 points from 11 games.

Not gonna disagree with that. Consistency is lacking. There is an improvement from last season in results but we're still on track to finish 8-11 on current point haul. Pretty certain that we won't challenge for play-offs, my hope is that we can promote the likes of Rankin-Costello, Davenport etc to build a great core of young players for next season. Whether it's Mowbray or not next season, I'm really not that bothered.

It's 36.2%. This season it's 40%

Last 14 matches form table with the worst manager in the league.....

The upside is that the youngsters like Rankin-Costello will get plenty of chances

Appearantly Buckley turned down a 40 mill move to Newcastle

I for one love your info. Respect that you can't reveal details always, speculating is half the fun. Keep it coming!

A nice article on Jack Vale, who I rate highly and have mentioned on several occasions. Modern striker with a good brain who can do most things well. Links up well, can run the channels and is a decent finisher. Ran tings around Man City's 30 mill defender Mangala last season. Biggest question mark is how much time he needs to adapt from U23 to senior football as it is a big gap. Might be ready for a cameo or two this season, but would probably benefit from a loan at senior level. Still only 18, so will become powerful and effective with the years. https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-starlet-showing-signs-17631984