Miller11

Yes, Adam.

Loyalty was a word used several times by Waggott when discussing Lenihan.

Waggott’s exact words to me and @PeteJD13were “It’s not all about the money with Ryan, his academy in Namibia is very important to him…” This was after he’d talked about Lenihan’s demands being unrealistic and Rothwell fancying a move to Rangers who were looking at him that afternoon. The context was that he was most hopeful of Nyambe signing the deal that was in front of him, and his demands weren’t miles away from the offer. He put Nyambe across as very level headed and grounded, whereas he was pretty critical of Lenihan. I also got the feeling Waggott was well aware the offer wasn’t all that competitive. He spoke a lot about the difficulties the pandemic had caused and how there was a tightening of belts in all areas. This was obviously before our recent upturn in form.

Don’t really disagree with your assessment on Pickering, and I don’t think his or Nyambe’s “injury issues” are an issue at this point. I think those figures are about right to be honest, and I think Nyambe would’ve signed for less than that 18 months ago. We’ve left it too late though. Any of the three out of contract players would be daft to sign a deal with us at this point in time unless the existing contract offers are torn up and re-written to include appropriate and hefty promotion clauses. My preferred approach right now would be to put all negotiations to bed, and hopefully revisit them in May when we can discuss their salaries as Premier League players. None would be sold, unless there is a daft bid comes in. I don’t believe the Leeds Nyambe link one bit, but 3 million would be an amount I don’t think we could knock back, and we couldn’t stand in his way for a move to an established Prem team and a chance to increase his wage by at least 500%. This is from a post I put up a couple of weeks back… That’s funny, because Steve Waggott told me the following: ”It’s not all about the money with Ryan. There are other factors - his academy in Namibia is very important to him.” This was a few weeks ago, and things may have changed, but it doesn’t support the narrative he is either greedy or unrealistic. Besides that, people need to stop thinking of “wage structure” in such simple terms - it’s not just a one size fits all wage cap. One of the issues that has long been reported is that academy graduates get a raw deal compared to players we sign from elsewhere. Their wages are bound by a fairly rigid structure; each contract they sign is capped at an increasing amount. Nyambe has only played about 40 games less than Lenihan, but is 3 and a half years younger. Same age as Trav, but 60% more career appearances. He’s also younger than Harry Chapman, and has been paid less than Chapman over the course of their contracts. So Nyambe is likely hitting his fourth pro contract, and is currently in the same pay bracket as Wharton, who is a couple of months older. Our famed structure brackets Nyambe as an academy graduate rather than a full international with 170 first team appearances to his name. It’s not about breaking the structure, but being pragmatic with its application. What I really think ought to be happening now is Waggott and Mowbray need to be explaining to Venky’s that this is their opportunity to turn Rovers into an asset rather than a massive liability. Mowbray always says selling decisions are down to the owners, so persuading them not to “cash in” on any of these players is a must. They have chucked good money after bad for a decade, but if for once they can show some restraint and common sense, take a calculated gamble and some decent advice, there’s a chance we can start talking about what they have done for us rather than what they have done to us.

190 appearances for the club having just turned 24 isn’t bad for someone who is “very injury prone”. Rankin Costello would need to add 150 appearances to his career total by the end of next season to get near Nyambe’s games ratio. Pickering is out with a hamstring issue for the second time this season, and he’s already featured less than the very injury prone player… maybe hamstring issues are just an occupational hazard for a Mowbray fullback?

Sky Sports outlets throughout the world make millions of pounds peddling transfer rumours with little or no foundation. I might get a bit more excited about it if Rich Sharpe gets an inside track from the club.

Sounds like a lad who has had a good footballing education, won’t have been on much money at all at Groningen, but you think his Hertha wages might be a stumbling block. I’m no expert, but might there be possible work permit issues too? Good age, and much more positive about a signing like this than Cyrus Christie. Not giving it too much thought until something from a more reputable source appears though. I wasn’t sure about Pickering until our recent good run - I’m loath to say much that’s critical about any of our current starting 11, in the last few months they have really stepped up to the plate as a team. I do think Pickering was anointed by some last January as a wonder signing, and sometimes the praise has been a bit OTT. He looked defensively shaky at times during his early games. He had an utter horrorshow away at Huddersfield, though everyone is capable of one of them. I think he’s adapting pretty well to the step up and has been solid but unspectacular since. Another spell out though, yet his hamstrings aren’t questioned like Nyambe’s! I think he’s given far more of a pass due to not being Amari’i Bell.

The next published accounts will read very differently from the last. Bell, Mulgrew, Bennett, Downing, Evans, Holtby and Armstrong between them will have accounted for a massive percentage of our wage bill. The youngsters and loanees we have stopped paying will probably be similar to the amount in wages of those we have brought in. Added to the fact we now have match day revenue and ticket sales coming in again, the picture does look better - still far from perfect. From what both Waggott and Mowbray have said. They believe they have made “good offers”. There hasn’t been any talk of improved deals in the last 3 months or so, when the aforementioned changes have all really become apparent.

I actually think this is massively important. We have been told over the last few weeks that the deals for Nyambe, Lenihan and Rothwell have been on the table for 18 months and remains unsigned. 18 months ago Joe Rothwell was an inconsistent and often frustrating bit part player, nobody could decide what his best position was, and the opinion of many on here was “he can’t play central midfield in a 2”. 18 months ago Darragh Lenihan looked like he’d peaked with mid table championship his ceiling. He seemed prone to rash decisions and costly errors of judgement. While he sometimes wore the armband, he wasn’t our dedicated captain and there were many more senior players like Mulgrew, Bennett, Evans, Holtby and Downing around, presumably with more influence. 18 months ago Ryan Nyambe was a raw 22 year old, trying to nail down the right back spot as his own, with questions over his ability to remain injury free for sustained periods. 18 months ago Blackburn Rovers looked to be content with Championship mediocrity. Never in any real danger of relegation, but content to tread water in the lower mid-table area of the Championship. We were restricted to playing games behind closed doors, so revenues were down, and we had a bloated squad full of high earners in their 30s. Everything has changed over the last 18 months, apart from the terms on offer.

I’m hoping all the speculation around the soon to be out of contract players dies down and we crack on with the task in hand. Any of them would be stupid to sign a contract that we are led to believe has been on the table for 18 months. The situation has changed completely in that time, tying themselves to a Championship wage within our rigid structure (structure, not cap) when we look to have a decent chance of promotion would be daft. Potential last big contracts for Lenihan and Rothwell who would be the wrong side of 30 when these deals end, and a first big contract for Nyambe who Mowbray states has developed beyond a youth team player. Get promoted and revisit it in May!

If we are going by History, 10th - 12th in the country is our level.

. Pears Magloire Ayala Carter JRC Cirino Johnson Davenport Butterworth Dolan Gallagher Eastham Brown Phillips Garrett Harlock Brennan Baker Take this game out of the reckoning for the first team. Give them a weekend off. They can concentrate on the league.

If we go up, Pickering and JRC will get absolutely mauled off premier league opposition. Nyambe far less so.

I’m a fan of JRC, but think he’d be far better employed further forward. Interesting how Nyambe is often considered a sick note, and while hamstring injuries seem to be an issue at times, he’s clearly more robust than JRC. Pickering has also managed less games this season than Ryan, and could be out for another spell due to hamstring issues. We do ask a lot of our fullbacks/wing backs.

People wanting to spend money on 2 full/wing backs pushing 30, who will be earning substantially more than Nyambe is currently being offered. Strangely, Nyambe is the one current player who Chaddy refuses to steadfastly defend, quite the opposite, he’s never liked him. Poor way to treat a lad who has been with us since he was a kid and clocked up nearly 200 appearances for the club. Besides, if we get promoted, which we actually look capable of for the first time in a decade with Nyambe an integral part of the team, I think we will be bloody grateful of fullbacks who are primarily defensive minded.

So it appears you’re doubling down on your original claim that too many goals come from Nyambe’s side… you’re also blaming him for goals that come down the left side too judging by your inclusion of Fulham’s first. Weird agenda.

Yes it is. Why would I, or anyone with an ounce of sense trawl back over 2 years of goals conceded, particularly when we have only conceded one fluke goal in the last 10 hours or so of football? I’m not doing it to disprove your weird agenda, and I expect you know that, so you can continue claiming rubbish as fact.

Bollocks.

Tarkowski, Mee, Pope and Cornet would be good options for them this window!!

Just didn’t happen for us going forward today. I thought we defended impeccably throughout, but the final ball was lacking from everyone. Just one better decision, once, and we win the game. Thought the pitch nullified Buckley, and Rothwell to a lesser extent. Travis was quietly brilliant today though. Deliveries from set pieces were poor. Brereton operated very wide and dropped deep too often. You have to give Huddersfield credit for the way they defended… not many teams can figure out how to shut us out. Depressingly predictable some of the usual suspects are hammering Nyambe. A poor ball that was neither cross nor shot, and one bit of hesitation were his blips. Again people talking about how he should be crossing… who to exactly? Made several good runs where the pass needed to be quicker, or the decision better. However, I think they key point people need to realise is that if we’d had a “better attacking right wing back” or JRC playing instead, they would’ve scored that breakaway in the second half that Nyambe single handed lay turned into a nothing situation. No need for a post-mortem. Sometimes you just have those days when nothing really comes off. Major positive to take is once again how solid we looked. One fluke goal conceded in seven games, second in the league… there really isn’t much to be complaining about on the pitch. Best time being a Rovers fan in over a decade.

It’s definitely not as cut and dried as it was a couple of months ago. I expect the position of both the players and clubs has changed a bit considering how things are panning out… as ever agents have their own single agenda. Keeping the squad together seems a sensible gamble for the club, and staying now offers the players as decent a chance of prem football (and salary) next year than any move they are likely to get.

None of the so called “contract rebels” look like they want out. The way Nyambe and Lenihan celebrated with each other immediately after the final whistle last night suggests they are going nowhere.

Got a couple of quid on this at 50-1

I’m expecting us to continue to be solid defensively and hoping we are ruthless in attack. Take out the annoyance over the Hill debacle on this lot, get the bit between our teeth and it’s 3 more points and a significant improvement on our goal difference. I think we will better the Birmingham score with Diaz surpassing the 20 mark.

The EFL need to look at the current rules as the situation has become farcical. Have Hull really got 14 or 17 or however many positive cases, or are they unable to use certain players due to them being unvaccinated and in close contact, like us with Dack/Eastham last week? If the players haven’t had the vaccine, they should be taken out of any calculations.