briansol

This is a valid and fair point. It's clear that Mowbray and Waggott has not been able to secure the deals in the timeframe they want for various reasons. Whether that is wage/transfer demands, bigger clubs not wanting to release players before they've done business themselves we don't know. It seems clear that there is some money available. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to secure a raft of new contracts as well as shelling out an estimated 800k on two midfield prospects. They would not not spend a major part of the budget on Davenport/Rothwell so that tells me there still money available. Mowbray also seems confident that things will get there in the end.

The inactions of owners? Waggott is handling the money by his own accounts. Read the interview after the India trip. “They are putting their faith in me to handle all the various budgets and hopefully with the knowledge and experience I have got then we will be able to deliver that this season.” “The first window I did with Tony, they gave us an exceptional transfer budget. We didn’t use it all because we brought in the players that we needed. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/may/steve-waggott-qa-part-two/

You are totally right, it wasn't Mowbray. It was Waggott being naive after India: https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/may/steve-waggott-qa-part-three/

Well I saw the Liverpool game and Rothwell is far more suited for a central role. Samuel did ok and created a couple of chances for himself. Not a fan of Samuel at all, but we have no pace going forward.

Agreed. I would swap Rothwell with Samuel and use Bennett as a left winger. Bennett can play anywhere, although not ideal he can at least come inside and unleash that sweet right foot.

There is no evidence that we have ever been after Maddison. It was a theory based on statements from the Chairman. On Friday it was revealed that the club in question was relegated from PL and most likely WBA. Regarding Armstrong a major stumbling block will be wages, he was given a 4 year deal in 2016 and it would take some serious compromise to get him into our wage structure, that is if we can afford 3 millions.

It is Maddison who has the release clause, not Marriott. Marriott is valued at 6 mill.

Mowbray's take on things. Intesting part for me is that it still seems that he is working with his first choice targets. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16371151.tony-mowbray-on-rovers-search-for-attacking-recruits/?ref=mac

No, he said he hadn't heard anything from Blackburn, when it was rumoured that we were interested. Rich Sharpe said we were never interested so that was probably fake news all along

Rhodes was a tremendous player for us. My point was at that point Gestede would've provided more value to the team than Rhodes, mostly because the rest of the team was poorer than when he first arrived. But you're right that the manager problem was much greater than any player.

Great point, I also think we are missing out on obtainable players, esp Edwards. Paul Hurst going from Shrewsbury to manage Ipswich is wasting no time picking up talent from League One. Seems like he is picking up Ellis Harrison (who we were linked with) from Bristol Rovers too. Suprised he hasn't picked up Jon Nolan from his former club yet.

Our downward spiral started in the summer 2015. After missing out on play-offs again event with Gestede/Rhodes due both scoring 20+, we had to sell one of them to balance the books. The club chose to keep Rhodes and sell Gestede. Gestede was a much better focal point for our attacks with his ability to keep the ball up. Rhodes is basicly a luxury that a dominiating team can have to stick in the net. Rhodes went anyhow in january 2016 and we unravelled with relegation the following season. That said, we might be in a better position now with a great manager and decent core of players you can relate too.

The rules has changed since then. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-xia-china-ffp-12408433

Yeah, stats is not everything. Gestede had probably the worst goal-ratio of any striker we bought and turned out great. The way we are set up we need a striker that brings more than just goals. If we had kept Gestede rather than Rhodes, we would probably never been relegated. We need to find a new Graham, someone who can keep the ball up and bring Dack into play, which is not easy. Graham himself is proof that it often takes years to bulk up and get experience enough to be really productive. He was a young talent at Boro, but needed multiple loans and dropping down to League One with Carlisle before climbing the ladder again. Think he was part of deadly duo with our Joe Garner at one time there.

Your statement about the market is correct. Going off the interviews from Waggott and Mowbray from the India trip, it seems that they've been granted their "responsible" budget they asked for. A major issue for us is FFP compliance. Waggott was clear that big spending will send us back to FFP penalty. If you want the club to run responsible you have to accept that spending wise (transfers/wages) will be mid/lower championship. We have a great manager, a decent core of young players with potential to improve and great team spirit. Somebody mentioned the Burnley/Huddersfield model which seems a good fit at the moment. For me it seems we have to gamble on lower league players making the step (Bradley Dacks of this world), rather than buying established Championship players. Will probably some duds along the way, but at least we won't go bankrupt on another Leon Best deal.

He didn't quite say that. He was asked whether the club was top half or bottom half and he answered "neither"

He would probably be allowed to discuss terms if the deal is close. I'm led to believe Maddison had a release clause and Derby hasn't offered enough upfront yet.

Ah, thanks. All our speculation for nothing I guess.

Where did you get Derby from? Derby would be a bit strange given that they've already signed or loaned Harry Wilson, that off mid from Chelsea and just bought that winger from Brentford.

Gallagher for me would be a no-brainer if possible. Got double digits last time here and there are very few if any other options that can say the same. He's got pace, is mobile and decent header. Had good time here, would fit the dressing room and knows the manager. I can see why people wants us to be more ambitious in our spending, but so does my wife. Sometimes you need to set the expectations to a realistic level of your resources.

I think a lot of people underestimate that our biggest problem might not be the transfer fee, but wages. A player like Armstrong is probably on double of our highest earner which won't work. We're not paying the Leon Best's of this world 30k a week anymore and need to keep a sustainable model which is also fair to the rest of the group. I think a major problem Mowbray is facing is that the agent's demands are too rich at the moment. Some of his comments are proof of that. Given that we probably have a wage structure that is at best mid championship it's not realistic to buy established higher earning players. Trying to find the next Bradley Dack is probably gambling on a League One/Two player or going abroad. You can probably buy almost anyone here in Norway for less than a million including seasoned internationals, although I reckon only a handful have the potential to make an impact.

Strange how different views can be. Rothwell looked quick to me and seemed to have good stamina. He wasn't much involved but most of our play revolved around the right side. But I agree he could be much more effective central. I forgot Nyambe in my match summary who was probably our best player. Fantastic defensively and good on the ball

How good was Keita? I can see why they call him a mix of Kante and Iniesta. Liverpool should challenge for the title now after addressing the goalkeeper problem and strengthening the midfield. Getting a full season of the man mountain Van Dijk should also help..

plus Fabinho 40 mill and Van Dijk 75 mill. We brought on Tomlinson, Whittingham and Downing

Mowbray was interviewed before the game and he was clear on addressing the lacking attacking area where we have lost the loan players.