6 minutes ago, alexanders said:

THis post about the Brittain transfer stalling and right before Journo saying Boro could be willing to pay 2.5m while we want 3m. This reeks of lowballing. Hopefully Eustace tries to get Brittain as well. 

This is uncharacteristically churlish of me, but I wouldn't sell to Derby.  If it comes down to a few hundred thousand I'd rather take a bit less money and sell him to Boro, frankly. They've nicked our manager, nicked two of our out of contract lads, have been sniffing around Travis, linked to Dolan and now want Brittain.  If I was Rovers I think I'd try to make it known that he's available for £3m, unless Derby phone, then he's available for £4m. 

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

So how do young players come through to first team squad then? Good job Adam Wharton pathway wasn't blocked by senior player isn't it. 

Why can't you have 25 man with Michalski, Montgomery and Tyjon part of that squad? 

Wharton is a fantastic example... a generational talent who's already played for England and is recognised as one of the best young players in the PL.  But why didn't you use the examples of Jake Garrett, Adam Henley, Jake Kean, Jack Vale, Dan Butterworth, Tyler Magloire, Willem Tomlinson etc?  There's no doubt the academy has served us well, and the players that are good enough will break through (lots of examples of this).   What we cannot afford is an over-reliance on players that have in no way proven their capability in senior football.   

The success stories in recent years have invariably spent time out on loan or have been eased in to senior football.  Lenihan, Carter, Wharton, Travis, Buckley, Nyambe.  None of these were thrown in at the deep end.  They were nurtured either by going out on loan to lower leagues or were given sporadic opportunities until they were seen to be ready. 

There is a balance to be had, and if you tip the balance too far in favour of youngsters, you're going to get your fingers burnt. 

48 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

 

Don't know much about the guy, but on the face of it this seems sensible.  Decent age, plenty of champ experience, and by the sounds of it, £500k. Have to see how he does, like all players we sign, but it seems low risk and logical to me.   

3 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

It reminds me of the hi vis yellow and blue ASICS one that was horrendous at the time but has since grown on me in a cult status type way 

Do you mean the Uhlsport one?  We got relegated in that.  Central badge too, always a bad omen. 

5 hours ago, USABlue said:

That lopsided BS needs fixed.  I do not even know if it benefits Prem clubs since most of these young uns end up nowhere near the limelight.  It needs fixed, I think, because as it stands it hurts smaller clubs and young players.

I totally agree the system is a shambles, but clubs down the leagues suffer exactly the same way i.e. us taking Tyjon from Rochdale. It isn’t just PL clubs benefitting, although as they are the apex predator, they just get the more polished diamonds as they get older. 

I can’t believe there can’t be changes made to protect clubs’ considerable investment in young players.
I sometimes wonder what the point is in having an academy when the power just lies with the player and more usually, their agent. Invest in a player for 8-10 years, and then come out with a lousy tribunal which I would imagine if absolutely nowhere near their true valuation.  

Did the fee for Finneran ever get angreed and if so, communicated? If he ends up playing even 10-20 games for Newcastle they’d come away with at least a 7-figure sum as and when they decide to sell. 

24 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

According to the Scottish Sun, the offers have been booted out as being " nowhere near" the Club's valuation.

Whoever would have thunk it?

To be fair, his contract is up in May 2026 and he's playing in the SPL (not at Rangers or Celtic), so how much is he realistically worth?  They signed him for 350k Euros in 2022. 

I don't know much about the guy, but looking at it on paper I'd probably say this would make sense, certainly to the Rovers hierarchy.  Contract running out, good age, potential to improve, and in 2-3 years he's probably reaching his best years. Hibs just had a really good season, finishing 3rd and reaching Europe.

Of course, there will be very few of us that know anything about him, but that probably accounts for 90% of transfers that get done.  This one, I can see the logic. 

22 hours ago, only2garners said:

What I think does happen is that the words on the minutes do not and I don't think can ever convey the full understanding of the level of debate. They are minutes, not a drama.

Finally in the past we have sometimes been told some confidential things that I am not allowed to minute. John Williams in particular did it all the time. There was none of that last night.

Appreciate the time and effort everyone makes attending these meetings, but just on the above (and forgive my ignorance), why can't these meetings be recorded as a video so that fans can in fact see the full drama unfold?  Perhaps there would be some audio challenges, but I presume speakers are given a microphone to air their thoughts and grievances?    

Or is this not allowed? 

6 minutes ago, neophox said:

Kirsti Montgomery:

"I’ve been here for 10 or 11 years now and this is all I’ve ever wanted. I don’t want to ever go back to not playing for Rovers and I want to stay here for the rest of my life.”

Seems a nice kid actually, very grounded and speaks well, think he's got a bit over-excited there though.  Like any professional footballer, if he progresses well and there's interest (and more money) further up the pyramid he'll be gone. 

1 hour ago, Forever Blue said:

 

The pitch looks nice. I don't think there's anything else worthwhile in that tweet. 

7 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Brittain and Beck were head and shoulders the two best full backs in the Championship last season.  We should be celebrating re-signing Beck again on loan by now but instead we are forced to worry about losing Brittain instead!

Is there nothing to look forward to with this ownership? Every day something awful happens or is about to happen, is there no respite.

It grinds you down, it really does.  If the board has it's hands tied over funds why can't they at least better manage supporter expectations and just tell us what is or isn't going on. That doesn't cost anything!  WTF.

Now where did I put that season ticket money?!

 

To be fair, Rovers extremely limited funds probably aren't best directed at Left Back.  We've got two first team quality players there already. There's a decent argument neither are as good as Beck, but beggars can't be choosers sadly. 

I'd have been much happier re-signing Batth personally.

1 minute ago, MarkBRFC said:

If there is one club that isn't bothered what the fanbase thinks, it's this one.

No that's true.  But they can be very pig-headed, obtuse and stubborn - so I still think they won't sell to Derby. 

Can't wait for this to bite me on the arse as he puts the cross in for Weimann's second in a 0-4 defeat on anniversary day.

15 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

 

I can't see this happening... not this summer, anyway.  Surely even the clowns at Rovers know that this would go down disastrously with the fanbase, not to mention there'll be a fair amount of animosity towards Derby and Eustace in the Rovers boardroom.  If said clowns decide to sell him to keep the lights on then I'd imagine Derby would be bottom of the list of clubs they'd be accepting bids from, and you'd assume there would be plenty of interest in Brittain across the division. 

Next year might be a completely different story, when another of our better players walks away for sweet FA and can decide where he wants to move. 

6 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

I think you might now be on ignore.

But absolutely spot on

No chance is RF99 on ignore. They need each other 

54 minutes ago, danger19_80 said:

Only 4 of those I'd be anywhere near interested in retaining, and only two for definite 

Which is a fair comment, and most fans would probably agree.  It just showcases how very poor our recruitment was last season, cobbling together cheap loans or even cheaper freebees.

Nevertheless, they still need to be replaced, preferably with better quality players, on the same or probably even a further reduced budget. 

Consulting the squad list for the second half of last season (published 7th Feb), we have now lost 8 players (just under a third).  Taking in to account the additions of De Neve and Tavares we are net -6.  Wharton will come back in but hasn't played competitive football for 16 months. 

Net -6 headcount, pre-season underway, best centre half gone, 14 league goals (26% of last seasons total) out the door, and only Jake Batty signing a new contract since November 2023. 

Concerning. 

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I imagine a Cat B ticket in the JWU will be around £27.

But still, if the alternative is £500, when you know you’ll miss 4/5, and who knows that bitterly cold midwinter midweek too, maybe NYD, maybe one of the half dozen that will kick off at half 12 etc etc.

Getting to the stage for most fans now (unless you are the uber fan that has no other commitments, social occasions, holidays, weekends away and so on between August and May every year) that you need to think, putting to one side that you like ‘your seat’, is it worth my while shelling out?

 

At £27 I'd still be getting 18 games from my £500, so not a million miles off, frankly.  As for liking my seat, I don't think I've sat in the same one for about 5 years now.  We just wander up the steps and see what takes our fancy at that time, such is the sparsity of the crowd at most matches. 

Is there another price increase to come, or is this it?

I haven't renewed yet, and was discussing with a mate the other day.  My ST for this season will be £499.00.  Over 23 games that's just shy of £21.70 per match.  I already know I can't make the first game of the season due to holidays, so 22 games max = £22.70 per match. 

Unless I am mistaken, most home games in the JW upper are valued at what... £25.00 per game? Some will be more expensive, others presumably a bit cheaper (night matches etc).

Last season I probably missed 3, 4 or 5  games due to various commitments. Is there really any point in me buying an ST? I'm thinking of just shoving the £500.00 in to a spare account and chipping away at it to see how much of it I use. Be quite interesting to see how much is left (or not) at the end of the season.

Is someone able to explain how we can command £700k for a 13-year old, but have to beg England’s U-19s captain to sign a deal to include a release clause nowhere close to his actual value to avoid a totally miserly tribunal fee? 

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Royal mail service is shocking poor. We are lucky if we get mail once a week. Got letters last week from middle of May. 

Rovers fans would be willing to deliver some leaflets in their local area for free if the club has. 

Speak for yourself. I couldn't in all good conscience attempt to lure my blissfully unaware neighbours into the complete despair of supporting modern day BRFC. They don't deserve that. 

I said to my mates after 75 mins that something must have happened at half time. I couldn't believe the turnaround in the second half, just miles more energy, fight, aggression and even quality in the play. I honestly don't believe VI managed to galvanise them, he hasn't been able to since he walked through the door, so why the complete transformation within 15-minutes when the players looked shot to pieces? 

Of course we'll likely never know what was really said at HT, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was a team talk led by senior players.  

Perhaps I'm doing VI a huge disservice.... 

This should have joint protest written all over it. That would attract media attention. 

1 minute ago, superniko said:

Mental - so we’re talking £429 for a Blackburn End ticket in that scenario. 

Let say you can make 18 of the 23 games you’re talking £24 a match!

Long gone are the days of a ST being value for me and I’d be scratching my head at why anyone would buy one and not just pick individual matches.  

The exact sum I've just done in my head as a JW upper ST holder.  Young family and all those commitments, holidays, stuff the Mrs organises behind my back.... I'll probably make 17 or 18 games a season, and that probably includes all night matches which are always a pain in the arse.  Even at £25 a ticket which is fairly standard matchday pricing in the JW upper throughout the season, I'd only be paying £450.00.

Not sure I can justify it. 

17 minutes ago, Colt Seavers said:

Not an itk but I'm hearing Gerrard to be announced monday.

Don't shoot me, just passing something on...

I just can’t see this. He’s sat in Doha at the moment isn’t he? I’m quite sure if we’d interviewed him this week he wouldn’t have bothered flying back over there for a bloody tennis match or whatever it is…. In fact, if he is appointed I’d be a bit miffed. I’d expect him to be sat in Swansea tomorrow watching the game. It wouldn’t be a very good start IMO