He was on the bench sometimes. 17 times to 26 starts. They had 2 left footed centre backs, 32 year old journeyman Jason Pearce was seemingly a more conservative option, and Sarr a more cultured but defensively mistake prone option. Sometimes they played in a back 3 together with right sided Lockyer who has today joined Luton.

Greg Cunningham played for Cardiff earlier today in a friendly. Sarr might be a decent option ideally as one of 2 if it is him. Badly need a left back ASAP too. Sarr was not fully trusted I dont think by Bowyer at Charlton.

Them transfer values are fairly meaningless. Sarr has a value of 0 because he doesnt have a club. Kipre is a far better defender but ultimately is worth 900k.

Isnt blatant teasing against forum rules ?

He was all over the place on Saturday but he is so important to us because he has been our only defender under Mowbray who can lead the defence and head a ball. He missed 9 games last season in which we picked up 5 points and lost 6 games. He isnt perfect but he is so important to us. We need more defenders who can actually defend. Kipre would be perfect but seemingly it wont be happening. Sarr is possibly the opposite of what we need.

But some people clearly will. I am happy to take the small risk and get one, many others clearly are, its a nonsensical argument at this stage. Obviously there might be a percentage of people unwilling to take the health risk, a percentage of people who cannot afford it due to being furloughed or made redundant, and some people who normally go who are unwilling to take the risk, fine, they wont buy one but others will and not only cant, but havent the foggiest what is going on because the club cant be arsed to even communicate.

We surely are looking for more than just a solitary centre back, we want 2 plus other positions especially left back. I get that there is an element of balance in terms of allocating the budget and I also get that Kipre is likely better than any alternative but even if we left that contract on the table, we could be getting in a left back and another centre back but it all seems to be one in at a time. If we go to Bournemouth with a defence with Bell and Wharton in, we will struggle. Imagine if Lenihan picks up a knock for Ireland!

Fairly random suggestion. Dont think he would need to quarantine coming from Denmark but no idea on availability. Read an article last week from Lewis Morgan who was at Sunderland with him, who claimed that he regularly feigned injury when he couldnt be arsed: https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-afc-news/sunderland-lewis-morgan-slams-bryan-oviedo/

With a loan, I think it would only even potentially be acceptable if it was with a permanent signing aswell, and also if it was a player at a bigger side who ultimately would be better than what else we could afford. For example, Lindsay is 5th or 6th choice at Stoke, we dont want to be loaning players like that. Conversely, if Adarabioyo became available, or someone similar, then as 1 of 2, sure.

The thing is, unless we sign a Kipre, an Ayala or a Van Der Hoorn, all of which seem unlikely, I fear that we are very unlikely to get someone as good as Adarabioyo, who himself was part of a defence that conceded 63 goals. So I think it will take far more than a centre back replacement to fix our defensive problems. We need 2 centre backs really, at least one of whom has to be dominant in the air. I know Mowbray wants players who can play it out from back but that may be a luxury we cannot afford. When Lenihan misses games, we lose games because none of our other centre backs could head and lead, so we need to avoid that being a risk, especially considering Lenihans injury record. Naby Sarr seems to have been mentioned but he seems to be one who brings the ball out but often has concentration problems, if we signed him in addition to another more conservative defender, then that could be better. We need Kaminski to be a success, he cant afford to make loads of mistakes like Walton. We could do with an experienced number 2 who can step in should Kaminski be struggling, which will be difficult to find. We need to prioritise signing a left back, Bell has shown time and time again that he is miles away from the standard we need and any improvement is a myth. We need to sign a left back of quality ASAP. The importance of competent full backs shouldnt be underestimated, our points per game with and without Nyambe and with and without Cunningham last season shows that. Downing also had a decent spell at LB too. Bennett and Bell at full back will lead to us conceding goals and losing games and Rankin Costello is not a full back either. The important thing is full backs that are good defensively, again, ones flying forward setting up goals too are a bonus. As an aside, Naby Sarr seems to have progressed at Charlton but even at the end Bowyer seemed to trust an ageing journeyman in Jason Pearce more to start games.

I was unsure which of the 2 you meant but my point was just in general about Lindsay to be fair. Would be very much inferior to Kipre but that always would have been an excellent bit of business at the price quoted.

There is also the issue about the price. Stoke paid over 2m only a year ago so I doubt theyd accept a 6 figure fee so presumably it would be a loan. Kipre had a really impressive season at Wigan and would come highly recommended. I remember last year when we were linked, the common consensus from the Barnsley fans was that it was Pinnock that would go on and excel in the Championship out of the 2 and so it has proven. Lindsay made quite a few errors and slipped down to 5th or 6th in the pecking order at Stoke and is slow so that may hinder any prospect of us pressing high in the same way that Mulgrew did. I cant say that I have seen enough of him to write him off and for under a million in England we are going to struggle to get someone of real quality so maybe Lindsay in a new environment at a more settled club would flourish. If we had a deal lined up for Kipre and now he has gone elsewhere or is going elsewhere, of course thats a blow. But we shouldnt just be working on that deal. We supposedly want 2 CBs and a left back, yet there is no sign that we are actively working on other deals unless the club has been pulling a blinder in terms of hiding it from the press! Its typical though. We signed Cunningham on the last day of the transfer window and of course the Adarabioyo deal took ages to conclude last season. We started the season with Mulgrew, Bell and Bennett in defence and already its about playing catch up.

Where is this from? Lindsay would be a far cry from Kipre and is not a player that I would be particularly excited about but at least I suppose that would involve not putting all of our eggs into one basket when we have numerous positions to sign.

If Kipre is holding on for a Premier League move, and of course the much higher wage that goes with it, I totally understand that and would do the same if I was Kipre and dont feel like there is any scope for resentment, I also think that there would be a good chance that Kipre could have got plentt of first team football there. Ultimately we will need to move on to other targets with the clock ticking. Mowbrays said that we are close to making a signing and I would be very dissapointed if it was just the Kipre deal and nothing else is close. We need more than one player and whilst it is a blow if the Kipre deal was lined up and has since broken down, we are also just as desperate for a left back and the plan was to sign 2 centre backs. Thats before we mention a sub keeper and an attacking player. If Mowbray and Waggott are putting in the late nights, we surely are down the road than more than just the Kipre deal.

We potentially (but now seemingly wont) would have spent less than a million on a very competent, domestic centre back. Plus less than half a million on a goalkeeper who granted is from Europe but whom we havent seen play, and surely only if he is a success and followed by further successes is this vaunted European scouting network considered a success?! And 1.4m would have been sensible and measured spending in the circumstances but hardly throwing the money around. Antagonistic posts aside. I did fear somewhat when I saw the side we put out for the first competitive game of the season on Saturday, you would not have wanted to take that squad down to a League game. Obviously, we can deduct Fisher (who couldnt look any further away) and throw in Kaminski, and also Nyambe has to be a shoe in at right back, as Rankin Costello is not a full back. Even then, we look so threadbare at the moment. First things first, if Bell never plays again, it'll be too soon. Why he was given a new deal, I have no idea, even as back up he isnt up to it, and I am amazed that many seem to think that he improved last year. He had that one decent game amidst a good (much changed) team performance at Bristol City, but otherwise, it is the same old things, he cannot defend one on one, he is technically lacking hence clearances as we saw on Saturday, and he may be fast but it is totally worthless, he usually dithers rather than running forward and even on the rare occasions that he does run forward, you tend to get crosses as per the one that ended high in the Blackburn end. We have to sign a competent left back. I would be happy to let Williams go, but if he doesnt, he should be back up over Bell. Then obviously at centre back, we badly and obviously need to sort that with a couple of new faces. Wharton was actually better than Lenihan on Saturday but we know that the latter is usually the best we have. Wharton might be ok as 4th choice but whilst he looks decent on the ball, we need someone a bit stronger. The bench really was indicative of how weak we are in attacking areas. Also factor in that Chapman, a player even in League 1 and prior to his injuries that Mowbray didnt trust, has suddenly gone from 'cant get a start in dead rubbers' to starting the first competitive game of the season and you really start to ask questions. Gallagher will be back fit but we know how he is out wide. The only attacking player on the bench was Dolan but the fact that a player with no senior League experience may be top of the pile in terms of taking that third attacking spot shows how we need more quality and options. And the fact that we are now so dependant on Brereton, now that is a worry. I would personally probably go for a front 3 of Rankin Costello, Armstrong and Brereton at the moment but that is not really going to inflict too much fear. We really need a centre back, a left back and a player across that front 3 in as soon as possible, this week really, because at the moment we would struggle to have any chance down at Bournemouth. I am unsure whether playing them early is a blessing or a curse, there is a good chance that they may have key players that they will eventually sell.

I dont think there are other players of Kipre's standard for a 6 figure fee that we could attract here. Kipre has been excellent for Wigan and was key in them keeping 10 clean sheets in 11 games during which time we kept 0. The only reason that he is available for such a low fee is because his club are in administration.

Darryl Horgan struggled to have an impact at Preston. Not sure he is good enough to do much at this level.

There is no reason why he wouldnt be in with a shout of playing in the first team at West Brom.

https://mol.im/a/8679291 Looks like Kipre has made his choice. Presume the deal Mowbray mentioned was not one for Kipre.

I get that to an extent but we could do with a senior option ahead of him to place less of a burden and reliance on him because we havent got a clue if hes ready to be productive for a Championship side with ambitions of being towards the top end of the league.

That points per game stat highlights his importance, such a stark difference. Cunningham had a similar record when he played albeit a shorter sample size. It shows how important it is to us to have 2 full backs who can actually defend. Ultimately, Nyambe isnt good going forward but its not his primary job.

Agreed. My worry is an over reliance and as a result dependence on kids stepping up for whom we have no proof that they are ready. Some of the younger players, obviously Nyambe, Travis etc, they are key players. Then we have a few, Rankin Costello, Davenport, maybe Buckley and Wharton who have senior experience and can justifiably be considered as first team players. But we dont have enough senior players across the team. Lenihan at a push defensively. Evans, Johnson and Holtby in midfield. Theres not much though. You look across the front 3 positions, we have Dack (currently injured and perhaps not best suited to playing there anyway) we have Armstrong and then Brereton and Gallagher for whom we can count but the jury is out. Beyond that, we have no real senior options. It was the correct decision to let Graham and Samuel go but, especially now we play 3 across the front line, we need at least one more "ready made" option as a minimum, natural out wide right ideally, who can come in and feature immediately. With the first league game 2 weeks away, we have Armstrong, Brereton and Gallagher as senior players for 3 positions and then just kids. Dolan is exciting but the fact that a player who has never kicked a ball in senior football is possibly right up there in terms of the first team picture says as much about our threadbare squad. The likes of Dolan, Vale, Butterworth etc might well be very well thought on and (assuming some dont go out on loan which may be beneficial) then of course they should be given chances as and when possible. But we have no idea if they are ready yet.

Exciting and very direct, but he is very much a raw kid who hasnt played a minute of League football. Would like to seen him in and around the first team but am not expecting anything too much yet and am wary that we lack senior options across that front line.

I agree with @Ewood Ace regarding what has been a patient fan base within the ground, I remember how happy Ewood was when he scored v Bolton for example. Ultimately, a messageboard is a perfect platform for people to judge players. If he is coming on here, a player with 2 goals in 2 years, and is upset by the criticism. Firstly I dont know why a player would come on such a platform, and secondly, surely he would expect fans to not be overly pleased that as a forward he has contributed so little and often looked so out of place. One thing I certainly do not approve of is people, well a minority of idiots, directly messaging players on social media to call them. That being said, I dont know if Brereton has received that. As a seperate argument, players do need to be able to have a thick enough skin to deal with pressure.

Yeah I certainly dont feel any obligation to buy a shirt. Ive never bought a Rovers shirt as an adult, I wouldnt wear it and im not going to pay 50 quid just to feel like I am helping. I have the money waiting for a season ticket, which is far more expensive and for which there is no reason that like many other clubs they couldnt have put them on sale by now, and simply no excuse not to even communicate with the fans.