Miller11

Isn’t it nice to be in a window where we aren’t all hoping that glaring holes in the starting 11 are filled? Any new signings, or players returning from injury are coming in to supplement a strong first 11, and they will have to do the business if/when they get a chance if they want to have a hope of dislodging the first choice players. Exactly as it should be. Having Dack, Dolan, Gallagher and Markanday as options off the bench should put us in a really strong position for a promotion push.

Spurs fans not happy at the prospect of losing Markanday.

Nah, Burnley have money to service their leveraged takeover debt after flogging wood to the Saudis.

Good to hear, and agreed! Said it before, but the most important job Waggott and Mowbray have right now is explaining the current situation to Venky’s. They have to communicate the position we are in and emphasise this is their best chance of turning Rovers from a massive liability for them to an asset.

By powers that be, do you mean the owners, Waggott, the manager, or all of the above? Absolutely agree with your sentiments though. We just need to enjoy the ride and hope it continues.

Yeah, I expect so. Personally I wouldn’t be signing any player who took that stance.

Big sister probably gives him his pocket money.

He’s probably already missed one. Can’t see him playing in less than 48 hours. Get him down to the Cathedral as soon as it’s signed.

I reckon Nyambe could do a good job on the right hand side of the three. Ayala and Van Hecke both look like they can only play in the middle. Fingers crossed we can keep the established back 5 together as much as possible though.

There isn’t any! Anyone know what the hold up with Zeefuik is? Apparently he has been over here for a good few days but nothing announced. Why do our dealings always seem to drag, apart from a frenzied last couple of hours on deadline day?

Why is Nyambe the only one considered a contract rebel, and why is he the only one whose commitment is questioned? What differentiates Nyambe from Rothwell and Lenihan? Nevermind the fact that we are again using loanees heavily, and the fact the bloody manager will be gone before these players as things stand.

Oh it’s definitely still a factor. Maturation is a big buzzword. Kids scouted on the back of scoring bucketloads for junior teams having their adult height predicted and being converted to a goalkeeper because of it. Frightening really.

I don’t actually disagree with this, but I think that’s more of an indictment on where the game is going. I think we will see more and more young defenders released by academy sides over the coming years for not being as technically proficient who will go on to establish themselves in the lower leagues before moving back up the pyramid. It’s already quite frequent. Another discussion for another thread on another day, but there is a real danger technical proficiency is being valued over being able to influence games.

Well he needs a job more suited to his talents and experience. Him and Benson should be in each other’s roles.

I’m basing mine on how horrific he was when called upon last season, as well as Saturdays debacle. In the previous games this season there were some worrying moments caused by his poor positioning. Fortunately he was very well protected by our superb first choice back 5.

I’m fairly confident he’d still be better than Pears.

Bobby Mimms did great when he was here. He’s currently out of work.

I don’t think Nyambe’s would look as flashy as the Dutch lads. Most of Nyambe’s game is solid but unspectacular. This is certainly no bad thing, and a Gary Neville highlights package would probably be quite boring for a YouTube video. Much of the criticism levelled at Nyambe comes from people who only see 3 minutes of highlights on Quest every week. He’s certainly more loved in Ewood than on social media.

Thinking in a bit more depth about the soon to be out of contract players and their offers… These figures are a mixture of reports, guesswork and conjecture, but theoretically, let’s imagine the “contact rebels” deals look something like this: Nyambe on 4k, offered 6k, wants 10k Rothwell on 5k, offered 10k, wants 15k Lenihan on 12k, offered 15k, wants 20k The wages we have offered would equate to an extra half million a year. The wages they are requesting would equate to an extra 1.2 million a year. It’s no secret that the club have been very much watching the pennies since the Covid outbreak (yes, I know there is an argument about wasted money on Hart, Smallwood etc), but Waggott has obviously been instructed to slash costs wherever possible. A pay freeze across club staff was implemented. None of this is really surprising as the latest accounts made horrific reading. I can’t remember if each of these had the extension triggered in the summer, but by taking up a year option on each player, wherein they are paid at the same rate for another 12 months, the club saves half a million quid. If they had upped their offers and met the theoretical demands outlined above, they have added 1.2 million to the wage bill “unnecessarily”. Obviously it’s a lot more nuanced than that, but you can see why it might actually be appealing for the club to let their deals run right down, and why any offer on the table may have been a lowball. If this is the case you might think the players may be a little bit aggrieved, but this certainly doesn’t show in their performances or their reactions on the pitch. They are obviously all committed to the cause. The stick that one and only one is getting is an absolute disgrace, but I digress… If we were in our usual new year position, somewhere around mid-table, no danger of relegation but not troubling the playoff spots, then we’d probably look at negotiating with these players at somewhere in between our original offer and their demands. However, while there is the possibility of promotion the players would be mad to sign new terms, unless eventual promotion clauses were specifically written in. So, it probably suited the club for them not to sign extensions during the summer. It suits the players not to sign them now. A definitive statement from the club stating that no players are currently for sale, and no further contract discussion will take place until the season finishes would be ideal. The only minimal risk there comes from a potential approach from a foreign team.

The next week or so should be a good sign of our intent. If we’ve got players in and around Brockhall worth a view to signing, let’s get them done quick. For the last few windows we’ve seemed to procrastinate and let things drag before frantically scrabbling round for the last couple of hours. We have ended up missing out on targets for whatever reason, and not had enough time to find alternatives. Another example, it seemed to take weeks to get the Tosin loan over the line. The owners, board and management team all need to recognise the opportunity we currently have, and not let poor decisions and convoluted processes nause up all the hard work so far.

It’s nothing to do with a salary CAP, its to do with our wage structure. Academy graduates are on a rigid structure. Players we sign are on a different one. This is why Davenport has earned more than Nyambe since he first signed. Unless we have some flexibility in the current framework we will have the exact same issues with Travis in a year.

We have to ensure that we deviate as little as possible from our tried and tested back 6 for the remainder of the season. We have little option but to use Edun over the next few games, and Ayala and Van Hecke can both only play in the middle. The Nyambe speculation needs putting to bed, and he needs to be playing. And some of our fans, particularly those on social media, need to stop being dicks. Horrible showing against a poor, lower league team. Even on a real off day like today we’d have dispatched them with relative ease were it not for the worst goalkeeping display I have ever seen from a Rovers player.

Yet we’ve still looked shaky at the back, got two of them on yellows, and aren’t attacking out from the back with our usual threat.

Today is a hell of an advert for a settled back 5! Missing Wharton and Nyambe big time Don’t think Van Hecke and Ayala are suited to playing together. One or the other.

Big worry today is an injury happening. Seems like it happens frequently against Wigan. I worry for our midfield three.