I find the opinions from fans who have seen players playing week in week out to be useful, of course taken with a pinch of salt, its never going to be an exact science regarding how they would do here, there could be various reasons, for example West Brom fans didn't rate Adarabioyo but that was playing in the wrong position. I thought with Douglas that they liked him as a person as he barely played due to injury.

No point torturing yourself.

All rather underwhelming. The further embargo would be of no surprise really, continued incompetence. The Chapman signing makes little sense and maybe @Miller11 hits the nail on the head that it is out of necessity due to the embargo? Either way, he obviously has talent but he quite clearly isnt fancied by Mowbray so is there any point? Reach has always come across as a highlights player, capable of occasional brilliance but usually does little. Obvious talent in there but also a lazy signing for Mowbray who has a European scouting network specifically in Teeside. Safe to say that Sheffield Wednesday fans wouldnt recommend him: https://www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/topic/300647-adam-reach-bristol-city/?tab=comments#comment-9800611

I suppose you are right in that it is neither here nor there. I also dont think that boycotts, protests or indeed anything we do make any difference whatsoever sadly. Him defending under performing mamagers or deluding himself into expecting proactive recruitment etc again as you say is irrelevant, and I cant argue with much of what you say in regards to the misery that Venkys have and will continue to inflict on us.

I do but I was speaking more generally, I dont think his overall statistics would make him one of our worst ever managers at all, specific runs of very poor form fall within that as do spurts or victories that all come together to equate to mediocrity and looking at last season, regression. I dont doubt that he should have been sacked long ago though.

100%. Plus we have no idea if Pickering will be good enough to be first choice, it makes sense to not get someone who we know isnt very good!

No doubt we will now be inundated with people saying how grateful we should be for what is essentially an accounting necessity rather than some great deed.

I suppose that being in an embargo and being literally unable to register players is somewhat of a decent excuse! Although I wouldn't fret, our signings will be late and predominantly shite as they have been for numerous summers. I thought you wanted us to sign a "back up left back" ie a squad player?

We have lost half of our squad to be fair.

Where is this from? We can't even register players at the moment so I suspect that West Brom may be a slightly more attractive prospect.

I want him out as much as you and have wanted him out for at least a year, but is this true?

You are correct, it is a great club. Excellent infrastructure including a stadium and a training ground left by Jack Walker, and history to be proud of. Sadly for over 10 years, it has been stained by those cunts in India and continues to be. Hence why a club like Barnsley is a brighter prospect at the moment than us. It makes your repeated acceptance of incompetence all the more curious though when you clearly know how great our club can be.

Dont hold your breath, we are under an embargo. Even if it has gone by the end of the week, do you really think that Venkys, Waggott and Mowbray between them are pro-active enough to have deals lined up?

I was being sarcastic. Give them a chance to supplement a senior squad and/or loan out.

Yes, because I am saying that we can not yet rely on players that have never kicked a ball for us, I must be saying that I would like the academy to be scrapped.

The Pike example is not as clear cut in that if Nyambe was to get injured, then Rankin Costello would play there. But assuming he wasnt, then yes, we would need a second option with senior experience. If Armstrong goes, would you be happy for McBride to take his place in the squad as back up to the remaining strikers?

By who? Bielsa is a footballing nut who watches every game but I doubt that Brereton is seriously on his recruitment radar.

How do you know? Seems far fetched to me, newspaper gossip. Because we havent the foggiest if they are anywhere near good enough. By all means give them a chance but only depend on them as part of the squad once they have proven their competence at this level. Dont refrain from signing players as a result. We shouldnt be signing crap players who dont make our team anyway, thats a given. The options arent between untested kids and rubbish squad players. Nothing is good about Venkys either. The academy was always producing, of course the standard required within the first team at our level is just much lower compared to when they joined.

Indeed, he isnt even worth half of his fee.

Chaddy uses it, so cant we assume that everyone does?

Take the fee out of it, assume it was 1m rather than 7m. He looked no better than dross such as Joe Nuttall and Dominic Samuel in his first 2 years and would have been a poor purchase even then. Much improved last season comparatively and was useful, but you take the novelty of the Chile call up away, do we really think that Leeds or Real Sociedad are genuinely interested in him, and does he stand out for a bottom half Championship side? No.

You clearly haven't read or understood my point. I am very happy for them to be given a chance should it be felt that it is warranted, I encourage it. But it should be seen as a bonus, and not just assumed that players who haven't kicked a ball in senior football can be considered as alternatives to signing new players to fill spaces in the squad.

I have watched him regularly for 3 years, so I feel like I am in a position to judge and critique. Possibly more than you if you have only seen him for Chile, although if that isnt the case, my apologies. The fee is of relevance and always will be from a club perspective, which on a Rovers forum rather than a Chile one, it very much is from the point of a club perspective. My primary criticism in regards to the fee was always spending 7m when we needed new signings across the team, rather than spending it on a player that didnt contribute at all for 2 years. 7m is a lot of money for us. I don't think that anyone has pulled a fast one, and I am pleased that Brereton is enjoying his international football. Objectively, and I appreciate the limitations of the World Rankings, but Bolivia are 81st, considerably lower than European nations such as North Macedonia, Albania, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Montenegro who I am familiar with, and most of the Bolivian squad plays in the Bolivian League. The links to Leeds are merely paper talk and speculation, we have no idea if Marcelo Bielsa is genuinely looking at him, I would suggest not. Same with the Sociedad links. You say that "Rovers have been a stone in his shoes" and that "he will thrive anywhere else." May I ask how much of Rovers you have seen to come to such conclusions? Last season, he played as left of a front 3 as he did when he scored for Chile, I actually felt that he was one of few players who benefitted from the system that Mowbray played. My main point was that it is easy to get caught up in "Brereton mania" and with the fairytale of the story, being found on Football Manager on the back of a Rovers programme interview, and indeed the general curiosity of him playing in the Copa America. I was absolutely buzzing for him when he scored v Bolivia and also watched the first half v Uruguay who are a very notable footballing country, where although he was quiet in the main, he made a very telling contribution towards the goal by Vargas. As a Rovers fan, I will still judge him on his performances for us, and I thought he did ok last season, nothing remarkable, on the back of 2 seasons in which he looked a million miles off. I am just keen not to make extreme conclusions as if he is this brilliant talent being supressed by Rovers or even Mowbray, he still at this point goes down as a very curious and ill judged signing. I hope he can continue his improvement this season.

The key is not to make out that Brereton suddenly and temporarily becomes a miles superior player when he goes away to Chile, working with a manager he can presumably not even understand! He scored v international minnows, held his own v a very strong team and then didnt do anything in a loss to an average side, fair play to him, but hes not suddenly a world beater. Last season, he did ok and Mowbray found a role and has to be considered somewhat responsible for any improvement, although overall, still an ill judged signing by him for a scandalous fee.

@bluebruce summed up my point perfectly. I am in no way discouraging the potential game time for youngsters who are ready. But it needs to be seen as a bonus rather than something we can be sure that we can rely upon, and we still need to sign players in the positions which we need, rather than assuming that a player without senior experience can plug the gap. A huge chance to test one or two was lost by our idiot of a manager at the end of last season in dead rubbers.