8 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

A few other pages are saying similar…could all be nonsense. 

I've done some checking, seems like all are referring to the same article, which claims Ismael want Styles and Besiktas is about to submit a 2.5 mill Euro bid this week.

14 minutes ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

I can't say I've noticed markanday to be that quick

Same here. Markandy has quick feet and accelration on short bursts. Not sure if he has the speed over 40 yards as Armstrong. 

In fact I think Gally and Breo might beat him over longer distances. 

6 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Dolan and Vale have pace ?

Vale is pretty quick. Not electric like Armstrong, but faster than most centre halfs. He's a well rounded Striker with good balance, awareness and skill. I've liked him for years. 

His downfall has been that he is not natural confident, and his form has suffered in spells. However reported to have matured a lot from his Last loan spell. Came back in January as a new man and his Great form for U23 has translated into pre season. 

Carter was my MOM. Looks more poweful after his loan. A couple excellent cross field balls as well. Dolan still lacks awareness. 

29 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Surely GB can get us a better player than SG with 7m...probably get 3 better than Gallagher for that.

Any suggestions yourself? 

The whole Championship is looking for strikers, and the good ones are already taken.

11 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Yep, start the car

Whatever anybody think of Gallagher, we need a replacement in before thinking of selling him. 

Our big problem is being able to get a decent replacement for strikers. We didn't manage it with Armstrong and with Breo possible leaving it will very hard.

The only decent option I can think that is realistic of is Adebayo of Luton. Would be expensive, but we probably can afford wages since Luton pays a lot less than us.

5 minutes ago, Madon said:

I bet the Welsh FA are starting to get excited too. 

Probably time to extend his contract. Only has 1 year left. 

1 minute ago, bluebruce said:

Sounds like Hartlepool coming into it now and putting us under some pressure. Pool commentators feel they look like the Championship side right now. Not sure they realise how few of our starters are out there.

Bit tired of hearing them call Markanday 'McAndre'

They seemed impressed by this "McAndree".  Saying he's been our best player and someone rovers fan can be excited about.

3 minutes ago, lraC said:

Big seasons coming up for Wharton & Buckley. I hope to see both do well and become valuable assets to the club. If I was making decisions, I would be speculating and offering them extended and more lucrative contracts now.

They both signed new contracts last year untill 2024 (plus one-year option) so effectively have 3 years left.

5 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Let's say it's costing us £3m. There's a bit of a debate about the true cost because of funding within the EPPP guidelines, but for the sake of the discussion let's just go with £3m. 

Cat 1 established in 2013, so 9 years, but let's again call it 10 for the sake of ease.

So it's cost us £30m. The question is have we received £30m in benefit for the 1st team over that decade. 

Darragh Lenihan
Lewis Travis
Ryan Nyambe
David Raya
Scott Wharton
Connor Mahoney
John Buckley

are the main ones who've broken through in that time really...

There are few others that haven't made an impact but sold like (just the top of my head)

Jack O'Connell

Andy Fisher

Callum Wright

1 hour ago, Sparks Rover said:

Talking to utd and spurs actually

Only those two? I'd imagine the full set of top clubs to be all over this.

4 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

So not only are the players we’ve developed leaving for free; the good ones with potential are leaving before we have chance to even get  some games out of them or a fee. 
 

Which model are we following now , bury ?

We would get a fee for Phillips, but it would be laughable compared to his value under contract. 

7 minutes ago, Tom said:

They want to point out the likes of Callum Wright, went to Leicester and since has only been loaned to Cheltenham, opportunities may have arisen here 

Think Phillips agent is Gareth Seddon, which might not be the worst thing. Think he's representing several of our players like Dolan and should have decent relationship with the club.

6 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

In fairness, he cant sign a professional contract until he is 17, so bar offer better terms now, i don't think anything more could of been done.

Rovers biggest issue was publically talking him up 12 months ago, which puts him out there even more as vultures were already circling 

Not sure if I agree. The only advantage we have is a clearer path to first team football. The manager praising the player publicly would serve as a sign that you'll be progressed. Would also serve as proof in a tribunal if Phillips chooses money and goes.

The big boys have full control over the talent pool at that level anyway, so can't imagine it having any great impact.

27 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Ash Phillips hasn't sign a professional contract. Same with Jake Butty

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/20285417.ash-phillips-yet-sign-professional-blackburn-rovers-contract/

It explains why he hasn't sign once yet

Think Phillips agent is Gareth Seddon, who also seem to represent Dolan. 

Hopefully just looking for a better deal than was originally agreed given Phillips status has been raised.

7 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Problem with that, in terms of this season at least, is that we will probably buy an RB who will be expected to be the starter, then have JRC and James Brown ahead of him in the pecking order. I'm not a fan of JRC and Brown is pretty untested, but the friendlies do suggest they're ahead of him for now. Then there's...is Batty an RB? Some posters on here rate him very highly indeed.

Batty is a left-back and pretty left-footed 🙂

This is also Celtic's 4 pre-season game, while most of our players has 60 min from Accrington.

On 05/07/2022 at 22:54, bluebruce said:

Let me put it this way, even though I really shouldn't have to. Last season, the top scorer in the National League was Paul Mullin. He scored 28 goals, nice! I guess he must be good enough for the Premier League. After all, if you're good enough, you'll stand out, the level of opposition is apparently irrelevant. We should sign him. Although I'm sure City, Liverpool and Chelsea are circling...

Oh and National League is a considerably higher level than AFC Darwen, so it's actually a more realistic comparison.

(Note before anyone wades in, I'm not saying Burns isn't good enough, only that 5 goals against shite teams don't demonstrate he is)

Your point is valid, but not sure your example was the best 🙂

We were actually linked with Mullin last summer as replacement for Armstrong. He was League 2 player of the season last season as well as topscorer with 30+ goals for Cambridge. You'll probably find his name mentioned in one of the earlier transfer threads.

Bit of shocker that he chose money and went to non-league and Wrexham.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/sources-blackburn-rovers-eye-transfer-move-for-promotion-winner-as-armstrong-speculation-continues/

1 hour ago, RoversClitheroe said:

So appears like Burns will get his chance tomorrow.

Interestingly Leonard not with the first team tomorrow so Burns preferred.

Appears they made a mistake not taking him to Portugal IMO.

Wouldn't call it a mistake, think it was giving Leonard a learning experience. I would think Leonard is seen as the better prospect for the future, he's a wonderful footballer with real football intelligence. A bit like Sheringham. However needs more experience and to bulk up before Championship football. I'd reckon another year of U23 will do him good as he was still U18 last year.

59 minutes ago, rigger said:

If I was a defender who had to mark him, I would discribe him as, an irritable little git.

46 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

a la paul dickov,the wasp as i used to call him

Dickov is a fair comparison. He's not as physical as Dickov was, but probably quicker. Scored a lot of goals for U23 running in behind. 100% effort.

Watched a few games to see how he went on at Scunthorpe. They were so desperatly poor that he struggled a bit with their long balls and physical battle against centre-backs 30 cm taller and 20 kg heavier. Expect he would done a lot better in more ball-playing team.

9 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

This season, at least pre-World Cup, was always going to be a struggle because they spent 5 weeks faffing around appointing a manager (or Head Coach, whatever).

The only reason we have a manager is because Broughton took that shitshow by the reigns and headhunted JDT. 

All of our deals should have been lined up weeks ago. Instead our manager took training with the players for the first time about 10 days ago.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride, it's going to be bumpy.

 

Great post, summed up my thoughts as well. 

We're well behind the other teams because of the late appointments. They've had little time to asses what we have, as well as needing to reestablish the scouting team. It's going to be a bumby ride for sure, the comfort is that at least the new DOF seems a whole lot more competent the previous structure. Just hope he has enough mandate to push things through.

4 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

well if you don't want to explain then what the point of reply to my post. 

3 or more clubs linked = rumour is false

Not sure if Alan Nixon came up with the rule, but he refers to it frequently

21 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont recall reading that but may have missed it. Where did he say it?

The main disagreement was the difference in numbers that we believe we need to sign on the assumption that all of these kids are good enough now.

Specific to Vale, you cant really judge against kids. He struggled earlier in the season in non league. I would personally look to loan him to League 1 or 2 and see if he can get regular goals, but either way, my point was more that if any of these kids break through, it should be seen as a bonus, not just assumed instead of signing players as the likelihood of a clutch of kids all breaking through at once with a 100% record is minimal. So if Vale is kept around, we still need an out an out striker as you say. Same with Garrett, Wharton, Phillips and Brown.

Yes, totally agree on the numbers and that we can't rely on all these youngsters breaking through. Vale for me deserves now a chance to a squad players, making the bench and see if he can have an impact. Can send him on loan after Christmas. We definetly need another striker, a couple of midfielder and probably a couple of defenders.

Brown is 24 and physical ready, if he is good enough is left to be seen, though his outing against Bham showed some promise. Wharton for me is not ready physically, needs another year at U23 or maybe a loan. Has all the ability in the world, and are able to control a game against opposition in his age group. Still some development to do when it comes to the physical battle and working out possesion. 

Garrett for me is ready for senior football, he is on par with Davenport. Excellent passing, good competitor and positional sense is good. Needs to curb some of his rash tackles, but someone I expect to get some games this season.

Phillips is a bit hard to judge. Best centre-back talent I've seen at U23 level and still only 17. However U23 are very hard to judge a centre-back at because there is no physcal battles with a striker. Magloire was totally dominant with his pace and muscles at that level, only to be found out at senior level. Phillips is of course a different animal, but it's a big ask for someone who's not even 17 to step up at that age. 

There is also the likes of Pike, Leonard, Batty and Whitehall (if he ever get fits again) that might get considered for blooding this season.

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

If you have come to such a firm conclusion that Vale is "more than good enough" following about an hour of senior football spread across 3 or 4 cameos to the extent that you would assume that he is ready and sign a player less as a result then fair enough. Just respect that I wouldn't assume that yet, I am not saying that he isn't good enough but simply that we don't know either way. 

Based on Vale's performances since January I'd agree with Chaddy that he deserves to be part of the senior squad this season. Not a starter, but someone who can do a job. We should definetly look for someone who can challenge as a main striker, Vale for now is a squad player. There is very options in League 1/2 of strikers with potential currently. If you look at the scoring charts you'll find mostly experienced know-how players who do well at that level, but doesn't translate to Championship.

Scott Twine is the obvious forward target you'd want, but can't be classified as a striker and competition is huge. Also a bit of problem fitting him with both Dack and Markanday already options playing of a striker.