https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1719419/Newcastle-transfer-news-Everton-Leeds-Championship-Ben-Brereton-Diaz-Premier-League

So it looks like nobody is buying Diaz for 15 million quid. 
They will all pick him up on a free at the end of the year when alt least one may be in the championship. 

At a time when strikers are being signed for 4 times the money minimum, why risk missing out? 
 

As for us, Venkys are trusting that 15 million is worth sacrificing if we make the playoffs with Diaz goals. Good for them. 

We supposedly have an army of crack operators in the recruitment area. We should have had options lined up by now. Transfer chat could be another 300 pager before the shoe drops. 

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

Khadra confirmed at Birmingham,

I wouldn't have minded him back here to be honest. He chipped in with a few goals and assists last year and I think we could do with someone this month who is going to contribute there. He would have been an easy and cheap one to do and knows the team already.

Sadly I suspect that even he is out of our price range these days. My belief is we only got him and Van Hecke at the 11th hour because Brighton were happy to send them here to play regularly and were content to subsidise it. The moment other Championship clubs start coming along they will offer more than we will which means we are waiting until the last week to see what happens. 

Guaranteed to play against us in the cup. Old Club syndrome.  

Ipswich seem to be getting deals done. Looks  a good buy. 
https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/ipswich/sport/ipswich-town-complete-signing-of-everton-striker-nathan-broa-9293028/

On 07/01/2023 at 08:19, bluebruce said:

I disagree, but if it were true, I would wonder how much of that would be them feeling pressure from loads of judgemental men listening. Kind of like how I'd feel if I were asked to talk about sex at an Anne Summers party.

Pull up a chair guys. This could be interesting. 

Looks like the BIG CLUB are underwhelmed at the prospect of playing us. Hope Forest Green do one on them for any number of reasons.
 https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-fa-cup-draw-25925421

3 hours ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

Great combination of pressing, awareness and cool heads - Glad to see it isn't only Rovers who piss about with the ball in suicidal positions!

Yeah. Lovely to see passing out from the back, as long as it is the opposition cocking it up,  not us. 

Captions please

My wife has lobbed one into the hopper. 
 

Players who stop, start and jink about as they take penalties.  She loves it when they miss. 

9 hours ago, tomphil said:

I certainly wouldn't let BBD go now for anything other than a big offer.

From his point of view though a move to Everton isn't as daft as it might sound to some given their current position. Huge club, just up the road, big contract and maybe signing on fee AND a chance to play in the Prem right away.

Struggling team or not it's a big draw and if they come down they'll be highly likely to bounce straight back and he'll have the prospect of scoring a bag full in this league then another crack at the Prem.

I wouldn't rule it out from his point of view but i expect the Vs will want 10 mill.

Struggling team, not exactly pulling up trees at the  moment, could end up like our Adam. 

42 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

This in any walk of life these days

You go to a concert, public procession, fireworks show, whatever - you name it and there will be people watching through their phone screen

I don't get it...be in the moment!

That’s my resolution for 2023. At least my wife’s resolution for me. Gotta lose the FOMO thang.

Mind you I missed the best moment when Jamie Rednapp scored against us in 1995.

I stonked out of the room and hid myself in the garden. My wife called out “you are missing the celebrations.  Man Utd drew with West Ham.”😳

Oh another couple.  
 

The routine shirt pulling and arms around each other at corners. A few bookings and penalties would sort that out.

My favourite is arguing with the ref. “I would l luv it” if some one introduced a law that pushed the play up ten yards every time it happened  as in Rugby. That would shut a few gobs up. 

On 05/01/2023 at 09:13, Mike E said:

Women enjoy men's footy too, nothing wrong with them being pundits.

I often find them more bearable than the men!

I have to say Rebecca Lowe Anchor on NBC with the two Robbies and Tim Howard in the U.S is infinitely better than the snoozefest that is Armchair Theatre aka  Match of The Day

On 05/01/2023 at 07:45, jim mk2 said:

I know what you mean - some are awful places. Try Northampton Town's Sixfields

Derby's Pride Park however I find to be  a very pleasant new build and not at all like the others

Coventry's was good too

All of them are better than the likes of Luton's stinking slum

Renaming Ewood is a red line for me. I wouldn't go

 

So Venky’s Ewood for 20 million isn’t tempting? 😂

On 05/01/2023 at 07:06, Nuttall is lost said:

anything post 90s really😂

 

 

1. Short corners

2. Generic box netting.  Where have all the individual stanchions gone such as Chelsea,, Southampton etc.

3. Every pitch is cut the same way.  No diamond patterns or interesting designs.

4.  More than 2 subs allowed.  Never see an outfield player going back in goals now.

5. Wages.  Players are no longer relatable and are primadonnas.

6. Social media. ''we go again Saturday'' followed by a fist bump or strong arm emoji.

7. Lack of toilet rolls being thrown onto the pitch.

8. LED pitchside advertising particularly the double decker type that MAn City use

9. Too many foreigners and too big squads.  Used to be able to name off most teams 1-11.  Now the players change so often and are taken from foreign leagues that I no longer can name more than a handful from each team.

10. Slim fitting shirts but baggy shorts.  Don't look right to me Jeff.

11. Generic bowl stadiums.  Boring.  The World Cup in Qatar all looked like they were being played in the same stadium.

12.  Lack of dug outs below pitch level like the old ones at Anfield.

More to come no doubt....

Scorching list don’t you think Jeff?

On 05/01/2023 at 06:45, Sweaty Gussets said:

Not celebrating a goal because you used to play for the opponents. Fuck. Off. 

Unless your name is Shearer against us. 

On 05/01/2023 at 06:33, riverholmes said:

Players putting their hands behind their backs when defending their box to reduce risk of giving away a penalty. This is a fairly new behaviour - is it connected with rule changes for hand ball?

I didn’t think there was a problem with the rules based on intentional/accidental hand ball, as they were before, even if there were debatable cases.

My other bug bear is how repressed player creativity is. I’d like players to express themselves but the modern elite game seems safety first, probably, at least partly connected to the financial stakes.

Agree. When was the last time you saw a player put his foot on the ball and look for options. Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw a player take on a defence single handedly from midfield rather get clapped for passing the ball sideways. 
 

Aaronson got punished for passing the ball back the other night against West Ham. 

On 05/01/2023 at 05:39, arbitro said:

Seeing grown men at football matches using their camera phones to film a corner (or whatever) being taken irritates me. I often wonder what they do with the footage.

A bit like all the hundreds of concerts i have been to and captured all the important moments. All currently residing patiently in the cloud waiting for me to retrieve them. Meanwhile Apple is charging me for the privilege of using bazillibytes of cloud storage with them. 

12 hours ago, neophox said:

Good player 

 

Make mine a dry cappuccino with oat milk guv. 

Unless I missed a change in the law. Tottenham corner and the linesman standing there. I see it all the time. 

Other contenders

”We will take each game as it comes.” Every manager asked if they have a chance of winning anything. 
 

“The club is on a journey.” Every manager after a run of losses to avoid any questions about the sack. 
 

Any other beefs as we wait for when Saturday comes. 

1 minute ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Take it! Makes my New years day a whole lot better. Now for beers.

7.00 am start after a late night. Needed the three points to kick start the day. Wouldn't fancy  the 3.30 am start for Cardiff fans. 

4 minutes ago, bigbrandjohn said:

Has Dack passed forward to a Rovers player yet? Shell of his former self. 

As I was saying, great player 😉🤣

Has Dack passed forward to a Rovers player yet? Shell of his former self. 

Looking at some of these Premier results, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone offered 10 million quid for Diaz. West Ham in particular need someone now. 

1 hour ago, M_B said:

I'm not keen on all this 3 transfer window talk. For a start, it isn't Tomasson's remit to buy success, even if there was any money to spend, supposedly he's here to maximise the academy and improve the players we have. 

Obviously, there will be transfers in, but to say any future success hinges on it contradicts the picture painted by himself and Broughton. 

We're in a great league position, the management should not be writing off this season already, they should be gearing up for a big push, not laying out the excuses. 

3 transfer window talk may be a more technical term for a “journey.” Just with Danish pastries not drizzle cake. 

17 minutes ago, rovers11 said:

Brilliant result. The starting 11 line up was a huge gamble but it paid off. We ditched the passing out from the back tactic and went more direct, it really suited us. Norwich were terrible though.

Much needed win. 

One of the reasons they were terrible was passing from the back 🤣

We chased everything. They were unsettled with that. Maybe we learned something from Burnley and Preston.