I think what the last few days have shown is that the idea that we should wait for quality players, and that such players will become available closer to the deadline is a bit of a myth. Imagine if three weeks back, when posters were quick to tell a few of us to "wait and see" and "quality is coming, be patient", we were told that our final two signings closer to the deadline would be: Hirst - loan Mola - loan Not many would have been enthused by that at the time, I suspect. It's an underwhelming finish to a window, which sounded quite promising at first. That's not to say the two above aren't any good, I hope they do well, obviously. It's just when you go into deadline day hoping for two or three, even JDT thought there might be a couple coming in, and you come out with just Mola on loan, it's disappointing. For what it's worth, I rate Brittain and Hyam. Not sold on the rest so far, but will get behind them and hope they can pleasantly surprise us.

In the last hour, Rodgers has come out and said: "We haven't been given the help in the market" and "this isn't the club that it was 2 years ago". I think he's toast. Just like Parker, it's possible those comments result in him getting the sack soon.

I wonder how much of an impact the "pathways" belief has had on our transfer business? Seeing Styles possibly go to Millwall on loan is disappointing. There's no way, IMO, that we couldn't have competed with Millwall on that signing. It looks like we have gone with Mola instead, who is younger and more versatile. He's not as experienced as Styles, so wouldn't be blocking a pathway. I think it's similar upfront too. We possibly haven't gone out and bought a proper forward as that might hinder Vale's development. This way, he can compete with Hirst, another young forward. The latter might turn out to be decent, but at the moment he is unproven at this level. Underwhelming window, as I think we are short of quality in certain areas. However, based on last night, I like the look of Hyam. There is also some intrigue around Mola as he is a total unknown (to me, anyway), and I look forward to seeing what he can do. Shame that the Dembele rumour didn't come off as he would have offered a different threat and brought some excitement up top.

The two players that I would have liked from Everton, Nkounkou and Gbamin, have already been sent out on loan. In any case, they aren't attackers so wouldn't solve the BBD issue. Simms is out on loan. I can't see who they could offer us to at a late hour. There's nobody there, realistically.

An excellent win. I thought we were comfortable for most of the game. It only got a bit nervy in the last 10 minutes. Adam Wharton, what a player we could have here. Composed, always calling for the ball, rarely wasted a pass and made numerous key interceptions. This lad has got it and has to be a starter. I thought Hyam had a solid debut. Got his head to everything, exactly what we could do with back there. I'm looking forward to seeing Ayala play alongside him, in a 2 or as part of a 3. On our goal, superb through ball from Dack to cut them open and clinical from BBD. That's the kind of quality that decides games at this level. Really hope both of them are here beyond tomorrow. Dack surely will be, just hope nobody matches the valuation placed on BBD. Roll on the next game.

The owners, stubbornly, have a valuation in mind, which if nobody meets means he is staying. If we were going for promotion I could understand it, but we aren't. JDT and Co have said it themselves about needing a few windows. The only reason to keep BBD this season, IMO, is to save us from relegation. We are in danger of it with the squad looking piss poor.

After all the talk and excitement about: Anel, Davies, Van Hecke, Van Den Berg, Birmancevic, Bowler, Styles... None of them happened, and we're left arguing about the merits of signing an underwhelming kid from Leicester. Sounds about right for this regime. We've been had again.

I can see Dack to Sunderland happening at some point. If not this window, maybe in January. He hasn't been a part of JDT's plans so far, although admittedly he has featured a bit more recently. He enjoyed his football under Mowbray and he was the 'main man' under him. Doesn't quite feel like that under JDT though. Would Rovers take an opportunity to get his wages off the books? I think they would.

There isn't one anywhere, from what I can see. I think we need to create one as it would be interesting. There are probably loads of FPL players visiting/posting on this board. Mods, is it ok to have it here on the Rovers section?

Gary Croft is another I'll mention. I remember him being a capable LB for us following on from Le Saux. I think Croft went under the radar a bit. He was a good player, I thought. I was sat in the Riverside right behind the shot, when he scored a beauty against Chelsea, edge of the box, left foot, in off the bar. It turned out to be the winner too that day. Again, I can't remember what happened with him after the 97/98 season. I just remember Callum Davidson being the next LB in.

@mackemlad If you are happy with mid table in the Championship, then Mowbray is your man. That's his ceiling. His teams always have a second half of the season collapse from January onwards which tend to ruin decent patches of early form. It happened at Boro, Coventry and numerous times at Rovers. He's a steady eddie who will see you comfortably float around those mid table spots, but put any pressure or expectation on him about the play offs or promotion and he will crack. Rovers went on a run of 2 wins in 17 under him in one of those collapses I mentioned, which ruined any play off hopes we had that year. Instead of holding his hands up, he responded to fan pressure by saying "it's not 1995 anymore". He will never accept anything as being his fault and you will notice him become bitty and snarly when things aren't going well and he is being questioned on that. In order for him to have a crack at promotion, he needs a big budget and even then there's no guarantee of him delivering. He can spot a player though, to be fair. Dack, Armstrong, Tosin, Elliott and Brereton (eventually) are examples of that, so he may make some shrewd buys. However, it's how they are used that could be a problem. Please do not buy into the myth of Mowbray's teams playing good football or playing "the right way". There was barely any evidence of that at Rovers in the five years he was here. He flip flopped between a direct game at first with Dack and Graham up top, then tried to play a tippy tappy game with the likes of Holtby, Rothwell and Harvey Elliott in the side, then tried to go with a silly false nine approach last season. None of those approaches led to success in the Championship. No doubt if given money at Sunderland, he will try to implement the tippy tappy stuff, as that seems to be his preferred style. However, be prepared for baffling team selections and square pegs in round holes as he tries to act clever and outsmart opponents. Ryan Giles, a left back, was played as a right sided attacker in a front three by Mowbray. Mowbray thought he could be like Mahrez for us by cutting in on to his left foot. Ridiculous, I know. Oh and one last thing. When things are desperate in a game, he will throw every attacker you have onto the pitch in the hope that something clicks. Fans will be left confused as to who is playing where and what the plan is. It happened at Celtic, it happened here and will likely happen at Sunderland too. All the best.

Seeing the 03/04 season being talked about reminded me of Dino Baggio. How the heck did we get him here and why wasn't he any good for us? 😁. Another name, it might have been mentioned earlier, is the Turkish player, Basturk. I remember him being a creative player and looking good for Turkey. I was excited when we got him, but oddly we didn't see much of him. Whatever happened to him?

I agree. Along with the gulf in finances between the Premier League and the Championship, there is a massive gulf in quality on the pitch too. Even the 'lesser' sides have upped their games and are playing some excellent football. I've watched Palace, Brighton, Southampton and Newcastle all give opponents tough games so far, whilst genuinely looking like they can win games. Forest and Fulham have also had some encouraging performances. The only teams struggling are those who haven't invested enough e.g Leicester, Bournemouth. The top Division is getting stronger and unfortunately, we are a million miles away. Every year we stay in this Division, the further away it gets. It's a pipe dream, IMO, to think we can build a team to get us there and keep us there on the cheap. It needs significant investment and if we ever make it back, I doubt very much that these owners will spend what is required.

Kevin Gallacher's goal at Highbury that day remains to be one of my favourites. Long goal kick, flick on from Sutton and a left foot half volley from Gallacher over Seaman. Stunning. We looked the real deal for a chunk of that season and the Highbury game was an example of it. A shame we fell away from February onwards as it could have been so much more than a 6th place finish.

It looks like the Chelsea owner is trying to make his mark and as a result, he is ready to throw crazy money around. He's spent £60m on Cucurella which is far too much, IMO. Now he's after Gordon for a similar price. I wouldn't be surprised to see a last ditch move for Ronaldo before the window shuts. They've let Werner and Lukaku go. They don't have much height up there. Can somebody please point him in the direction of Sam Gallagher? That will be £20m notes for you, thank you, Mr Boehly.

No, the Invincibles season came later in 03/04. It was the Arsenal double winning team from that season, 97/98, that blew us away. I agree, they were superb. They had Petit, Vieira, Overmars, Bergkamp and Anelka, plus that famous backline playing that day. Heck of a team that was. We beat them 1-0 in the second half when it was snowing though 😁.

That instantly reminds me of a game against Arsenal at Ewood in 1998. Bad memories of us being 4-0 down after 20 minutes. It was as if every Arsenal attempt on goal either went through or under him. An awful display it was. Him and Steele are two of the worst I've seen.

I've got to give the mysterious Dario Marcolin a mention. It feels like he only played one game for us, at Old Trafford, scoring in a 3-2 defeat. Only to be never seen or heard from again. He must have played a few more times for us, I haven't looked it up, but that goal is the only thing I can remember about him.

Thanks for the update, Chaddy. Glad to hear they are nice.

We just don't look like scoring. We're struggling to create chances and that is a concern. There's also a possibility BBD has played his last game for us and may not feature on Wednesday night. I think Blackpool will want it more than us. We were outfought and out enthused in our last two away games. A Lancashire derby as our next game isn't ideal in our current state. 1-0 home win.

I'm baffled by some of the blase and nonchalant reactions on here to some of these transfer deals not happening. Caulker not signing..."I'm not fussed anyway" Van Hecke not signing (as it seems right now)..."I'm not that fussed, I'd prefer SVDB". SVDB not signing..."I'm not that fussed, we've got Carter and Phillips. Let's move on". We've had weeks of posts saying it would be great if we could get the 'two Van's' in, or at least one of them. Now neither look to be happening and it doesn't matter? It's also noticeable how some are trying to push this idea that the club might have withdrawn their offers and turned the players down. Sure. I hope there is another defender lined up as I'm not confident about our backup options at the minute.

If those wages are being put to better use, then fair enough. We'll have an idea by Thursday night.

Looks like one conversation was enough for Caulker to say no thanks to the project. Can't blame him for wanting to go and play under Pirlo, I suppose. Let's hope there are other options lined up. I think if it is a case of SVDB or Van Hecke it's likely to be the former due to his versatility.

Another kid. Part of the thinking behind going for Hirst will be so as not to discourage Vale, IMO. To keep the pathway open for him. Would be a poor signing, looking at his record.

Maybe you should take a look at the incompetent tossers at the club as to why Farke and Styles didn't happen, before trying to aim a cheap shot at Glen, who shared information he had in good faith. They had Farke and Carvalhal infront of them but bottled it because they would actually have to show some ambition and spend some money by appointing one of them. Much easier and cheaper to sell a youth project to somebody else. They then appoint a nobody as DoF, who has no experience in that role. He opts for Morton on loan as he doesn't want to block pathways for the youth, yet you wonder why Styles or no other experienced CM is coming in? Forget all that though, Glen is to blame and he doesn't know what he's on about. Yeah.