If anything highlights just what is wrong with the game in terms of agents and pals moving players about for % it's the Jason Steele saga.

Not unusual players moving about but a piss poor one going for increasing transfer fees as he gets worse and is no 1 in successive  teams relegated is a joke, back handers flying everywhere no doubt.

It's not how good you are it's how good your agent is in this game.

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Rovers and Sunderland fans know what he is like. Why is a premier league signing him? A team with a good manager at that. Is there something he does that I don't see? 

He's probably got a very very good agent who's friendly with a few tame managers.

Thankfully TM doesn't look like he is one otherwise we'd have had Steele on a new 5 year deal as no 1 !

Williams is an average steady left back and if we had someone similar at right back I think the side would be more solid. Bell has the potential to maybe be better though because of his pace so it'll be interesting to see how that develops but on our budget can we do better than either of those at the min ?

No it's very doubtful so other areas of the team need looking at first and foremost, back to Derek I think if he could sort out his often woeful distribution he actually might rank in the 'good' category for left backs at mid champ level.

I'll be surprised if they are spending a wad of cash on a back up player these days and if so they are surely expecting a departure not far down the line. Having said that the signing of Bell so far seems to be just a back up/squad player so maybe times have changed.

The pitch used to get re-laid regularly or re-turfed to put it another way and I think that may have been part of Prem league rules but not 100% sure.

Since V's reign of terror began I doubt it's been re-turfed more than once if at all but just re-seeded every summer. No doubt it's a cost cutting exercise but as always with this lot in the long run it's probably cost more.

Plenty clubs probably reseed but the weather needs to be kind to get the best results otherwise it soon cuts up or goes bald and when there's been problems like at Ewood with the drainage etc in recent times you'd think a complete re-turf would be in order every few years.

Credit to the skill of our ground staff they tend to keep the pitch playable in a challenging climate weather wise.

Weren't we being told not long ago on here that ST money goes to the running costs of the ground and day to day stuff in Blackburn etc and the football side of it is separate ?

Staff cuts were being blamed almost soley on lower crowds & the fans at one point therefore can't see it having much bearing on any signings.

Can't have it both ways.

Marlon Broomes.

I can't se them signing him as back up with that kind of fee involved. He may well be to replace Lenihen IF big bid comes in and if so he sounds decent enough. Starting the season with someone like him in the ranks alongside what we already have would be a nice bonus though.

Given the difference in sizes of the places and fanbases I think Sunderland on 18k and Rovers on 8 for league 1 is pretty fair comparatively speaking.

Can't help but still think Rovers missed a big trick again though when you look at 26 thousand turning up at a tenner per ticket for the last game showing there is big interest still there but getting more to commit to a likely Championship struggle needed some thinking outside the box not an excuse to nudge prices up on the back of promotion.

As always in Blackburn a bit of success along with the general feel good factor combined with cheap tickets will pull them in.

No absolutely not.

About 500  more than last season i'd guess.

This is why the freebie market at Championship level is getting more and more serious and driving wages up.  Lucrative to be in if your not fortunate enough to have Prem clients on your books.

Also a very tricky market for managers and clubs as just because they are free doesn't mean you always get value for money.

Just now, dingles staying down 4ever said:

I know the majority of this squad was relegated last time but lets not get too doom and gloom yet.

Granted League One was poor but the Championship isn't great either. Two things we need to remember is that the points collected with Mowbray in the relegation season pro rota for the full season we'd have finished seventh. The 2nd is that momentum is positive this time around rather than the negative ones from recent times.

I'm not Mowbray's greatest fan but I accept that major surgery is not required to be a decent Championship side. The key is to keep the momentum going like Sheff Utd did last season and Bolton didn't.

Top half of the championship is a very tough league one of the toughest around it's becoming Premier league 2 as time goes on.  Agree the bottom end isn't that great and that's what we have  to better to finish far enough up however a lot of beatings from the top half teams depending how the fixtures pan out can have you in bother from the off and it's hard to recover and that's something that needs guarding against.

We've a decent little squad it just needs help in terms of a couple of quality additions and some raw pace. No squad fillers, use our own youth and put all the eggs into getting a few who can contribute to the first 11 basket.

Hopefully TM isn't about to learn the hard way how the V's operate - face to face meeting and promises followed by we'll get back to you when players ( and fees ) are put forwards. Then the phone in Pune is off the hook apart from the batphone marked outgoing which has only dial with offers of 3 million or over on it but gets answered after one ring.

There always seems a delay around this time and I think the key is catching the Vs before the go on their summer vacation as once gone they are gone.

Thing is this time we have a CEO and finance director so they should have the budget and be able to say yes or no unless it's an unexpected budget stretching player.

Still just think it might be down to us just waiting for the freebies to become officially available but I hope GB, Lambert and one or two others aren't on his phone saying, ah - get used to it this is the REAL BRFC of modern times !

He certainly got fortunate last summer let's hope it isn't revert to type.

It's going to be a long few weeks until the freebies are free from their contracts and can choose which offer they might accept.

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

"An hour of Craig Conway running up and down working hard .......will at times be a better option than those flying wingers."

It really won't Tony - scratching around a bit with those comments I fear. 

The major point here is he just hasn't got the legs for that anymore but I think anyone expecting him to hardly start a game is in for a shock.

13 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Are folk from Ormskirk Scouse these days? ?

Posh Scouse

If it's freebies we are mainly looking at that action doesn't usually get going until their contracts end then they pick from whatever is on the table ?

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

This. He may have a role to play for the odd away match (sparingly) but he should not be starting at home, full stop. We need to be taking the game to the opposition at Ewood and he doesn't allow us to do that.

Yep, the home form is likely what will keep us up next season so got to make the very best of it every game.

Be nice if they could use Conway a bit like Nobbers use Gallagher coming on late and busting a gut for 15 mins trying to set things up.  Granted he's not as talented as PG but if he can get a good 15 mins out of his legs he might be handy like that.

What I don't want to see is him starting every home game as a defensive winger !

Why is anyone worried about Bumley signing someone with a dodgy injury record surely it's to be celebrated it's about time they got some Murphy's and Etuhus foisted upon them !

Sad thing is though their manager will still rinse something resembling effort out of these types.

Wasn't there a lad called Chris Holland or something who had the Gazza tag as well ?

Just now, Ladyboys of Bank Top said:

Guess the time of the first signing. I'll go Friday @ 2.30pm

I'll go for 24 hrs before the early bird deadline is set to end ?

33 minutes ago, JHRover said:

That was the order of the day with Coyle's scattergun loan signing process. Fill up the numbers quickly, easily and on the cheap by taking whoever the Premier League clubs would let out for nothing to get game time.

I've said many a time I'm not a fan of loans, particularly not as a means of building a squad. By all means add a couple of quality loans to add options and layers to the squad but only to go on top of your own contracted players, not as a means of recruiting on the cheap.

Armstrong and Payne fell into that category - came in mid-season to complement those already here and to carry us over the line to promotion - made sense and they were tried and tested at this level - clearly quality players for the division given their exploits elsewhere - but when you're running around Premier League academies looking for favours I'm not keen. Not just because of Byrne and Samuelson etc. but because the vast majority don't seem to work out. You might get the odd one like Tammy Abraham at Bristol City, but not many.

 

Agree the one's who've done a bit of a stint somewhere and proved they have a bit of something are the one's to go after even if the wages are a bit more. Those mollycoddled through big club academies with maybe the odd sub appearance here and there rarely work out so it's all a bit pointless bothering with them especially in front of our own youth.

1 minute ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

How much do people reckon we will spend on transfer fees? I am going to go out on a limb here and say between 3-5 million. 

So, a minimum of 3 million. Anyone care to take that bet? 

I'll say 1.5 million on initial cash buys not including add ons I think they are following a plan now set out after that audit last year that allows a certain minimum yearly investment in buying players.

Of course you never know with this lot but as long as it's not a minus budget i'll take that as a positive compared to a few years ago !