3 hours ago, Rogerb said:

Went to watch Bamber Bridge yesterday against Stafford Rangers and came across Tre Pemberton playing no7 for Stafford he had a lively game and scored. Surprised to see on looking back it is 4 and 1/2 years since he left for Stoke looking at his cohorts at that time there are four who are playing at league level Wharton JRC with us Andy Fisher now at Swansea and Platt with Barrow.

Isn't Buckley also from that group? 

51 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Bit of a silly example Bruce.  Relatively we might get half a million for the lad.  That would be a good result if he does want to go.

Never in a million years he'll go for 500k, which is not a good result at all. Even in League One we had a similar case with Callum Wright to Leicester which went for 1 mill. 

Jude Bellingham was on a pre-contract being only 16 and got sold for 20-30 mill. Granted Phillips will not be as much, but given his England credentials, pre-contract, U23 captaincy the club should have no problem arguing a case.

7 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We could have done with them staying in the FA Cup.

Can't be helpful for the confidence being knocked out at home vs non-league. 

Bmout with a truly awful first half againt Non-league Boreham in the FA Cup. Trailing 0-1 and had their first attempt in the 45th minute (pot shot outside goal). Looks like money can't buy confidence. Wonder how long Parker will last if this continues.

20 minutes ago, rigger said:

It could have been double figures had it not been for their keeper pulling off a string of good saves. Wharton for the second match in a row had a quiet game. Sam Durrant had a good game. some of the passing moves were a joy to see. Lets hope the first team play the same tomorrow.

Thought Wharton was a lot better tonight. It was more that the team played so well and the ball was moved around by everybody.

Agree with Durrant (Dolan junior), also think Brennan had his best game for a long time at the other flank. 

Another great performance by the U23 today, winning 6-0 and moving them outside the relegation zone. Hard to single out anybody since everybody played well. All eyes were on Dack who enjoyed himself for 60 minutes. Showed his class with a well-taken goal and some good approach play. However some caution needed as he still looks well short of physical condition to play high intensity Championship football. As Mowbray has suggested it sounds wise to take a bit slowly and have him on the bench as an impact sub. Probably going to be a pre-season and next season that he'll be back to his old fitness. Probably expected given that he's been out for more or less two years. 

It's also a clear trend that the U18 players are starting to impact the games more at this level. 3 of the back four was made up of U18 and passmaster Wharton was gliding around the midfield with his rolled-down socks and keeping the ball ticking. 

Hard not to hype up Ash Phillips. A 16-year old kid in a man's body. Given the captain's armband again and looks like a leader. Had a chuckle when he patted Dack on the back of the head after one of the goals. You have to be a bit caution considering his age, but very hard to not see him making it to the top level. The club's going to have a fight when the top clubs are going to throw money around to get him. 

1 hour ago, because of boxing day said:

Surprised to see Vale in team tonight given the short number of strikers for tomorrow and the cocerns that BBD  may succumb to his recent exertions.

Game over so give him the early hook and a fast car to South Wales for a bench spot tomorrow,

Probably means that both Breo and Khadra are fit and have travelled. With Hedges being able to play as a forward there is probably enough bodies. 

43 minutes ago, mr bishi said:

Does he look capable of handling his own at a higher level. Brown that is.

Looked decent last game, and impressed tonight. Even though not biggest, he was a man playing against kids. Bombed down the flank from his right-back and got another assist. Looks fit and can handle the ball. Think he could do a job if called upon. Suddenly the right-back is well covered.

34 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

So back to back hattys for Vale now, surely jes knocking on the door of the first team bench at least? 

Always been a fan of Vale. Not many better strikers at this level when he is on form. Really is a well-rounded striker with pace, good feet, great link-up play. Can finish with both feet and gets some headers as well. He's a decent size and looks a little more bulked up now as well. 

I think his only downside is that he's not natural confident, and it shows in his body language at times. Needs to be built up and could be really decent player. At this form he could easily be on the bench and be a useful squad player. A better prospect than Butterworth and couple of years younger as well.  

23 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

I'd have certainly taken that swap at the start of the season and I'd probably even take it now (despite the fact Mowbray has definitely done a better job this season). The job he did at Barnsley was incredible.

Last 5 permanent managers at Barnsley and their win percentage:

Stendel - 47%
Struber - 35.9%
Ismael - 56.8%
Schopp - 6.3%
Asbaghi - 8.3%

Not for me. Excellent manager for Barnsley and maximized their potential with his direct playing style. However failed to adapt use West Brom's strength with better players. Persisted with long throws and direct football, which the fans hated. 

Would be a bad fit here. Imagine watching a game where half the time is spent drying the ball with a towel and trying to hurl a ball onto Gallagher's head in the box. Don't even think we have somebody who can hurl the ball into the box.

The one thing you'd give Mowbray credit for this season is applying a formation and style that suits the players we have.  

52 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I particularly agree with this bit. If Venky's are prepared to continue to back us to the hilt by ploughing in the maximum permissible under FFP rules then I can't for the life of me see why we can't offer competitive deals to key players. That input plus our normal revenue must give us more to go at than practically any other Club apart from those with parachute payments.

As I've said countless times previously it's the manager's job to manage  and that includes prioritising which players are key and those who aren't quite as important and looking after the key ones.

Also not running a bloated squad padded out with overpaid squad fillers. We lost eleven players in summer, bought five in and have done far better.

Very much agree, especially with the bloated squad point.

I think outside the parachut teams, I think the wage level is quite similar. Can't compete with the parachute teams though, who can offer 30-40k wages.

18 minutes ago, BRFC_Polky said:

 

Phillips will have many admirers. Probably the biggest talent for this club at that age in decades.

Only 16, capped at England u17, singled out by Mowbray on multiple occasions. Thinks he's training with seniors on permanent basis as well. Was captain for the U23! last match. Has height, power, pace and composure which is everything you need in a centre-back. 

It's reported that he has a "pre-contract" or what you call it, similar to what Bellingham had at Bham, since you can't sign professional terms untill 17. However if he continues his development I suspect he's not long for this club, even on a contract. 

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

Two major issues I have with the FFP 'obstacle'.

1) Lets look at the income and savings made over the last 6 months. We have sold Adam Armstrong for a fee of between £15 and 20 million, perhaps spent £1 million on Edun, Markandy and signing on fees and the rest has gone. Even with Newcastle's slice we are looking at £10 million. Then there is the massive savings made on the wages since the summer. Getting rid of Armstrong, Williams, Mulgrew,  Bell, Bennett, Evans, Holtby and the loans from last season must represent a saving of going £100,000 per week. Stretch that across 7-8 months and we must be looking at savings of £3-4 million. Lumped together there is no way we could not find scope in there to pay these players more whilst still achieving substantial savings.

The way it works is that you pay Rothwell, Nyambe, Lenihan, Kaminski, Travis more and then when you sell Brereton in the summer a portion of that fee immediately covers the total cost of those pay rises.

2) It is ridiculous to use FFP as a reason - suggesting the club is willing and able to pay the players what is required but is being prevented from doing so by the rules - when we have seen the best way of quickly dealing with FFP is to have a big player sale from time to time. We are meant to believe that Armstrong was the sale that 'dealt' with FFP last summer and no doubt Brereton will be the next one. The only way that production line continues is by having players under contract.

It is a complete contradiction of itself. You can't use FFP as a reason for not keeping your best players, miss out on their value and then complain about FFP rules stopping you doing business. You have to get ahead of the curve - which to be fair is what we did with Armstrong - and ensure the asset is under contract for a sale which addresses FFP. What we have at present is going to ensure we are always playing catch up with it.

I was probably poor at expressing my opinion. Agree with FFP cannot be used as an excuse if the players demands are somewhat reasonable.

And yes, even under financial restrictions it seems like the contract situation has been handled poorly.

9 minutes ago, JHRover said:

How about a different theory on this. What if Steve Waggott is paid or bonused on how much he saves?

If he is then why would he make any serious effort to pay these players more? Keep on driving the wage bill down = better figures on his performance.

Just a possibility which wouldn't surprise me.

While it's not uncommon for a CEO to have bonus tied into cost-saving measures, I'm not sure if that is the case here. The contracts is about protecting your assets, and no company likes to loose their investments for free. 

At the same time it's clear that FFP is a major obstacle, and this club does not run in a healty economicly way. The solution to all is of course promotion which would solve all problems...

14 hours ago, riverholmes said:

Billy Barr's U23 side that did so well last year, outdoing Mowbray, in a way, by successfully playing 4-3-3 to compete with the Premiership U23s is in danger of sinking without trace, as it were. It's as if they did too well last year.

Star man from that year, McBride, with 12 goals, I think, and nominated for player of the year, alongside players like Cole Palmer of City, was in demand for loans last summer and now finds himself on loan at Queen's Park. His contract is said to expire this summer, so it's not clear the club will keep him.

When the first team needed a forward in the midst of our injury crisis, Mowbray turned to our new full back, Zeefuik, to play as a forward. Ayala did a stint there too.

I think Mowbray is making a mistake by not giving some of these young players chances, especially, when others are injured. Surely, Zeefuik shouldn't be starting as a forward ahead of our young U23 forwards who have been playing at that level for a few years?

It raises, again, the point of having an U23 side, if there isn't meaningful opportunities for promotion. I feel that it'll be a mistake to let McBride go this summer without having tried to integrate him with the firsts but time will tell.

Should Hedges have a recurrence of his early season hamstring injury and a few others be unavailable, we will be scratching around again.

 

 

You make a good case regarding the obvious success of the U23 last term and progressing them to senior football. I did watch quite a few games, and I would probably say that team was a better then the individual parts. Unlike Buckley, who was a standout player in each game, it was more team effort with some good individual performances. 

McBride did well, but has regressed a bit this season, although finding some form lately. He need some senior experience, but doesn't look ready for the Championship yet. Jack Vale is in a similar situation. Equally with Sam Burns who is on loan at Scunthorpe. 

Jake Garrett is the obvious candidate from last season who I think we'll see more of this season.

Mowbray recently mentioned that there was no point in bloating the squad when he Phillips, Garrett and Adam Wharton he could fill the bench with and save 5 mill quid. 

9 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Good summary, although as far as we can tell from reports at the time, it turned out there either was no extension in his contract or we hadn't met the conditions for extending it. We in fact got him to sign a new 1-year contract.

Lad does seem to have an attitude problem, although to a degree it's been understandable as I do agree he has been mismanaged. At some points I'd even say messed around. We will never know whether the deal could have worked great with a different manager in charge. But we do know the deal as it happened was a waste of money for BRFC.

Not sure it would've been so different around another manager. He was a big talent for Boro, but they had no problem getting rid of him either. Naturally gifted, but there seems to be something lacking when it comes to application and attitude.  Those personality traits are hard to improve. If you've ever played football at any level, you'd met a Harry Chapman type, lot's of ability but no desire.

Jon Nolan is now a free agent. Worth a punt on a short term deal? Was brilliant for Shrewsbury when we were in League One

2 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

wheres this foreign striker that was imminent?

This deadline day is ABSOLUTELY DEAD.

Someone make me happy and make up a rumour.

Here is some lightheartened banter from Viking FK regarding their 3 mill pound-rated star striker Berisha who has drawn interest lately.

https://twitter.com/vikingfotball/status/1488114306252218368?s=20&t=L_vbG0q4FNYbRBqbpB6pQw

7 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

11k a week? Are we mental, what a fucking joke, that is rothwell plus nyambe salaries together. Who the hell sanctioned that.  

That stat show the players salary of their "mother" club. When on loan, there is no indication on how much of it we are paying. E.g Drinkwater on loan at Reading at 120k a week (Chelsea contract).

2 minutes ago, Tormund said:

Rothwell on 4K really?!

He's still on the initial contract when he was signed from League One, which probably explains it. 

3 minutes ago, booth said:

Blimey, Danny Drinkwater at Reading on £6m+ a year and they are 4th from bottom.

He's on loan, so don't imagine they are fielding that bill. They got deducted 6 points for failing FFP and have restricted transfers to avoid another 6 points deduction.

7 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Yep. Think it's been done for a day or two.

I'm a bit relieved that the transfer department works a bit better in this window. 3 deals completed before the dreaded last day of the window.

Hedges was really needed given the lack of options upfront at the moment. Fingers crossed that Breo comes back in one piece.

I'm worried about Gally being out for some time. Coughing blood is not good sign, could mean that his lung was damaged by a rib or something.

11 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Footballers regularly make moves that appear nonsensical… often easily led by agents.

Sure, but those are often money-related. In this case you'd reckon an agent would get much more money out of a free agent move, rather than a January move to another Championship club.

5 hours ago, JoeH said:

Most of the lads pretty disappointed with the way they played. But it was always going to be a different type of test against a team they have never played before who have never really done this well in the FAYC. You could see how gutted the Sheff Wed players were at the end. I thought Charlie Weston was fantastic in the middle, Batty & Phillips did what they always do and also a special mention for Jay Haddow who made some great runs from RB in the 1st half especially.

Totally agree, Weston was by far the best player on the pitch. Seems to have all the tools to be a complete all-round midfielder. 

6 minutes ago, david brent said:

Not at all. I’ve been posting on here on & off for 20 years and wouldn’t do that. Someone claimed on Facebook this morning that they know one of Rothwell’s family and he has asked to leave. Not beyond the realms of possibility that he knows someone given Rothwell is a Manchester lad. 
 

Then a good friend (who also used to post on here) said he’d been told same thing by someone who has contacts at Rovers, and that apparently it’s his wife who is pushing it. 
 

Latest one on FB is that Rothwell hasn’t travelled to Luton and has been told to have the weekend off. 
 

I reiterate that I hope it’s a load of nonsense…… but just passing on what my mate told me and also what’s flying around on FB.

That doesn't make any sense. He's out of contract in the summer and can move wherever he wants. The wife can start looking at houses now if she wants. Pushing for a move now when there is a much more lucrative sign-on-fee later in the summer when he is a free agent. He doesn't even know what league Bmouth would be in next season either.

Outside that, according too Mowbray, they have rejected offer from other clubs that double of what Bmouth were bidding.