roversfan99

We should have sold him last summer when we still would have made a profit on him. Venkys intervening predictably messed us up not only then but going forward.

Has your view that Venkys are amongst the top 10% of owners changed following this summer? Have we made a head start on this? If indeed it goes ahead, a huge if. Most of our players are not contracted beyond 2026 anyway, and the aggressive slashing of the budget prevented us signing players like Batth and a loan signing, neither who would be contracted up until then.

No doubt that money was the main factor throughout the summer. But Pears was given the number 1, must have been given assurances that he would be the first choice and has been pretty consistent in interviews about not being willing to be number 2, obviously nobody would say otherwise, but also has reiterated that him and Kaminski at the club was not viable. There has also been talk about Walstedt being a prospect, although one strange aspect about his signing is a 3 year deal without an option. But I think Pears will be number 1 at least for the near future. He made 2 howlers against Plymouth and that mistake v Hull, it should be now that he is dropped. Fingers crossed. I do think that Wahlstedt's solitary Sweden cap doesnt necessarily prove much in isolation. I saw they played the other day and they had Villa sub Olsen in net who is crap, and Johansson (admittedly very good at our level) as one of the subs. He hopefully will prove to be a very shrewd aquisition nonetheless.

I found it strange that Pears and Kaminski couldnt co exist especially as it was partially driven by Pears wanting to be a number 1. I fear we will all be disappointed by the goalkeeper choice in the coming weeks.

I disagree with that, 5 for 2 spots over 46 games and cup games seems reasonable. Do you know when the minutes are out and did Waggott touch on the stupid decision to close the Darwen End for the Cardiff game.

Deary me.

Ultimately as good as it is to come out and speak like this, and it certainly is. I have always felt that the ire has been disproportionately aimed closer to home than it should. Broughton seems like a decent appointment, his transfer record at the moment probably isn't noticeably any better than Mowbray's but I don't necessarily think even over the last 5 or 6 years that recruitment has been that bad, its had some big successes and some duds. Broughton has had his success in the permanent market with 2 good signings and an average one last summer, really poor use of loans, and hopefully that success rate will improve with the flexibility of the work permit changes. I found the interview to be deeply worrying because as much as good as Broughton does, its small fry to the damage caused out in India. A mid summer slashing of 15% of the wage budget is massive, as well as a demand to get £5m in. Also seemingly no real understanding of what the problems are, and if and when they will be resolved. Wharton will likely be off in a year or two, add in the Raya money, we SHOULD then have some to reinvest but I take zero confidence that we will. It's just not a sustainable way to run the football club. Hopefully the business done this summer will turn out to boost the team, but we couldn't get what we needed and wanted because of the further slashing of budgets.

The thing is, its all well and good saying hes the most successful manager this side of 1966. The problem with that is that it assumes that every manager since has had equal standards of squads to utilise. I also think that what he has been best at as England manager is creating a harmony and team spirit which was particularly evident as the team developed in the early years. The current squad is right up there because not only is it packed full of great players but it is well balanced. The team of the early 2000s had some special players but it had no balance, a lot of the better players wanted to do the same things and we had players like Vassell on the bench. This squad isnt perfect either (I think its short of holding midfielders, beyond Stones the centre backs arent at the very top level either) but no international side is perfectly balanced. And going back to that harmony point, key figures in those early days have created blind spots in Southgates judgement; Maguire, Phillips, Henderson and to a lesser extent Pickford all are being out performed yet repeatedly not only are in squads but regularly feature. When Southgate finally does leave, he wont go into a big club job which says a lot. We may very well look back at these years with such a good pack of talent (especially as Kane hasnt got THAT long at the top left and beyond that there is no natural successor) and be left frustrated that such a conveyor belt underperforms due to the managers tactical naivety and the blind spots that have come with being manager for so long.

Bottom of the league at home. They wont finish there but anything other than a win would be a huge disappointment. Not overly confident though. Mercer's predictions are not far off in inaccuracy compared to his "ITK" bits.

He really is shocking.

Jesus, Maguire gets abuse on here? A few people calling him crap on a random anonymous Blackburn Rovers forum. He isnt good enough and he is not on his own in being undeservedly selected repeatedly by a poor manager. This England squad has plenty of real top quality but a few weak spots especially in the dug out will see us go from swatting away inferior sides in the build up to likely falling short against the very best next summer. Why are we playing Scotland in a friendly tonight? Waste of time.

The common consensus based on what I saw from your fans was that Ennis was better than Hardie, would you agree or do you think thats a misconception? He has looked good when he has featured but I suppose thats of limited use when he will spend lots of time on the treatment table. He featured in 38 League games for you last season which caused some questions as to how injury prone he actually was but having only started half of those, it seems like you had the luxury to manage him knowing you had 2 stand out League 1 strikers fighting for one position. I do think there is a big gap between League 1 and the Championship and I am the first to say that the actual quality of this league isnt as good as people like to suggest. I dont see Ipswich as top 6 quality personally, the 2 of you will be very comfortable but you didnt get promoted from League 1, you breezed it with ridiculous points tallies.

Id be amazed if either were involved this weekend. Both were pictured in the training video from the other day but neither in actual full training and Tomasson said pre match before Plymouth that Sigurdsson wasnt ready to play any minutes yet, albeit that was before mentioning 3 or 4 days off after that game.

His previous best goal tally was 11 in a side that finished on over 100 points at a considerably lower standard.

Brereton scored 37 in 2 seasons from a wide position. Hes a very good player at Championship level, albeit I dont think he will do well in La Liga.

4 year deal too.

He started the last 2 games I think prior to moving. Obviously his problem is that he is in the one area of real strength. We do have some areas where the options are nothing like as well stocked, probably part of the reason behind including Phillips, Henderson and Maguire, although still, none should be in there.

Its the owners that are the cause, theyve cut the budget to such a drastic degree that it threatens our competitiveness. Waggott is a popular fall guy, he doesnt add value in general and should have long since been let go but he doesnt warrant the criticism for this, nor does Broughton. The blame lies squarely in India, no ifs or buts.

Ive noticed on social media with the lack of football this week to talk about that Tomasson's post match comments from after the Plymouth game are being regurgitated and theres a growing narrative of "stop moaning" and "what will it do to the confidence of the players."

The timeline makes no sense, nor do Tomasson's surprise that another body didnt come in despite what Broughton had said, which was 3 players in talks. But either way, both of our opinions are seemingly resulting in no scope for any freebies.

Has he been playing football there?

That doesnt make any sense. Otherwise Tomasson would have never been under the impression that we would sign anyone else which Broughton publically expected with 24 hours to go. Moran was the 5th of 7 signings and Buckley left in the last hours.

How can you possibly know his current fitness levels?

Apparently a 46 game season does NOT result in a table showing teams in order of how they have played over a season. This seems to be a weird growing narrative as if results are almost an irrrlevant by product. What does playing well even mean in that case? One for the stat nerds I suppose.

Probably none are realistic, seeing as deals individually need the green light from the owners and Buckley went without bringing someone in so the massive wage budget slashing has left no room for manouevre. Even if we could afford a freebie, it would be difficult to find a good one, free for a reason at this stage and miles away from match fitness. Whilst we do need experience, most on that list are too far gone and havent played much football in years, players like Dann, Grabban, Lyle Taylor, Martin etc, some of whom that have been mentioned who would be beyond desperate. The most obvious gaps in the squad are perhaps left back, central midfield now Buckley has gone and wide right. You are going to struggle to find a freebie to improve the squad especially on that list. Fosu is the most obvious winger but usually plays on the left, wouldnt give us the pace we need and wouldnt really get many goals or assists. Josh Onomah is a decent player and somewhat impressed at PNE (and has had part of a pre season at Stoke) but has had big questions about his attitude and fitness. Bertrand would be ideal but would be unobtainable Id suggest. If there was any worthwhile freebies and in the unlikely scenario that the owners let us have another body on the wage bill. I suspect the value would be on players we have never heard of or at least seen ourselves that have been released by foreign clubs.