SuperBrfc

Hourihane turning us down has been backed up by an 'ITK' elsewhere. Mercer wasn't talking rubbish. It says a lot about our so called project and how 'enticing' it is, for me. Cantwell's wages are way out of our league, but it's a nice link to raise a bit of false hope.

True. I don't even want to attempt to put that 11 together. We didn't really want Zidane, is what I keep telling myself 😂.

Missed Out FC is coming along nicely. GK RB Anel Davies LB CM Hourihane AM RW Colak Cantwell Keep up the good work, Swag, Middleman, Barry and Co. We're going to have a belting 11 put together before the window is up. What might have been, eh?

Him not doing interviews until after the window closes, might suggest as much. (Said to Sharpe, I think). I don't think anybody is asking for Broughton to give us weekly updates, I certainly don't expect that. However, given how enthusiastic he was in that initial interview, our urgent need of signings and the new season drawing ever closer, it's fair to ask that he comes out and addresses our concerns. Even if it's just the once. Tell us where we are at. I'm a bit concerned that his enthusiasm might have gone already, now that he has realised how much he has on his plate. Those who are saying "chill, there's no need to panic", I say good luck to you, because that has been this ownership's motto for the past 12 years, and look what state that has reduced the club to. No signings come in and we are going down, IMO.

Personally, it feels like Broughton is starting to feel the heat. If it is a case of a lack of sufficient communication from Barry and his assistant, which I suspect it to be, what else can you do? It's either waffle to buy yourself some time or keep your head down. No more interviews, thank you. (And no more signings either)

PR. Make it look like we are after quality players, when, in my opinion, there is no intention of shelling out on them. £3m on Anel? Give over. We'll be lucky if they spend £300k on a CB. Which of the following are we likely to hear when these deals inevitably don't happen? "We tried everything we could, but..." "We want to bring in the best players we can in order to grow this football club, but..." "Sadly, FFP restraints meant that we weren't able to stretch to the finances that were being asked of us in the end..." "Unfortunately, it proved difficult to match the offers made by clubs who have the benefit of parachute payments". Linked to better names. Looks ambitious on paper. In reality, nothing has changed. If anything, the bar is being lowered even further (like that was possible) by dressing up a lack of funds as some sort of youth project to be excited about.

Like many in our squad, he is not as good as is made out on here. Many of them are not suitable backups, let alone starters.

Pickering being run ragged. He will be a target all season. They've got in behind numerous times down his side. 1-1 now.

Are we already writing this season off then? Surely, the aim of bringing in a new manager was to improve on last season's 8th place finish. Instead, we're back to starting from scratch again, only with an even cheaper route in mind (as if that was possible). The squad looks frightening when written out like that. Frighteningly poor, IMO. The full backs are shocking for a start. I don't think we'll even be in with a chance of 'having a go next season' if that is what we go into this season with. I agree that there are some poor teams in this Division, but right now I wouldn't be too confident of us beating those teams in bold. The kids that are being talked up will be eaten up for breakfast, IMO. I'm still waiting for McBride and Butterworth to step up for us, as I was told by a few on here last season. There's too much emphasis on youth, romantic notions clouding reality, IMO, and I fear we are all about to get a sharp reality check.

Definitely! He has a soft spot for Rovers too, as he used to post on an old Rovers forum with me and a few others. Think he did a course at UCLAN, but is from the Midlands, I think, as he is a big Villa fan. Quality player and one we should be trying to bring in.

By people higher up the chain who are happy for certain things to be shared with the press. I agree with you on Broughton and JDT. It's not on them and they are more likely to walk if this goes as feared, I.e no backing. It's not those two that I was referring to as doing the 'playing'.

That defence has relegation all over it, IMO, particularly if Ayala misses parts of the season through injury. Powderpuff in midfield, no goals upfront without Brereton, and mainly kids as backups. It's going to be a long season. In terms of recruitment, why does a club that spends so little on signings need to add all of these layers to bring players in? JHR was on the nose with his post, IMO. Make it look like things are going to happen now that a Head of Recruitment is coming in. It's always a case of "wait until x, y or z is back/arrives/appointed. We are being strung along, once again. Things are likely to move at even more of a snail's pace now, with seemingly nothing more than buttons to play with. I feel for Broughton and JDT as they are not to blame for this mess. Before we know it though, it'll be a case of "we've still got the January window, be patient" and "wait until next summer when they have enough time to sit down together and get it right" from some of our fans. We are being played.

It will be the same down the left hand side too with Pickering, IMO. He's slow, was targeted a number of times last season and left acres of space for the opposition to attack, while struggling to get back. Not good enough. Brown/JRC on the right, Pickering on the left is a frightening thought. Then I look at a potential Carter-Wharton pairing in the middle and shudder at the prospect. Wharton was very good at times last season, particularly during that run, but I'm wondering how good he will be without Van Hecke and Lenihan alongside him. I have zero confidence in a Carter-Wharton pairing, but that's just me. I purposely haven't mentioned Ayala as he can't be relied upon. If fit, however, he should be starting every game. We could really do with Davies and another coming in back there. The entire backline needs rebuilding, for me, but there's not much chance of that happening. I'm looking at the rest of the squad and I'm quite concerned. Powderpuff, little quality and we are currently relying on this romantic idea that the youngsters are going to step in and rescue the situation. Got a bad feeling reality is going to bite big time shortly into the QPR game. We need serious additions, but it looks the like the club is pissing about, and JDT is getting frustrated. Without those additions, I genuinely can't see us winning a game in August.

I was thinking the same. I think they got £15m for Nat Phillips, even though he featured a lot more for them compared to Davies. It probably won't be £15m, but I think they'll still ask for an amount which we will struggle to afford. Would be a good signing though, if we can pull it off.

The bar has been set low, Sparks, very low, unfortunately. We know where the blame for that ultimately lies. The underlying theme is "forget promotion" and you can see it among some of our fans. Relying on these kids will see us relegated. "Forget promotion". Indeed.

Reads eerily familiar to what the previous manager used to do at times, I.e send reminders to the owners via the press. The good thing is, it seems like he isn't going to take any crap and will ask questions if they don't deliver what he wants.

It's a damn shame to think, that at a time when we could pay big wages, they were wasted on someone like him.

Based on information shared by a poster here, it was apparently the conduit who said no to that sale. If that's the case, it suggests this notion of following Brentford's model is nothing but fantasy. An empty idea to make it look they have a plan. There is no plan in Venkyland.

I don't think he has said anything wrong there, personally. There's always a concern that an appointment could 'go to shit' due to those above the manager. Right now, it's looking like going that way. Not because of JDT. Nobody is having a go at him. He is too good for Venky's. They don't deserve him and are lucky he came here. It's also true that JDT has to prove himself here. That's not calling him shit or a shit appointment.

This is entertaining and bizarre. Bassini comes on to talkSPORT to argue with Simon Jordan. Asks him for a boxing match, then claims he'll prove all of them wrong by winning the league with Birmingham.

It's all about opinions, so here goes. The underlying reason is experience. Hourihane - A step above anybody we have in that area, for me. Has the creativity and experience, class player. A steal on a free and to let a player like him go to Derby in their current state is galling. Mendez-Laing - A proper winger, strong, quick and an upgrade on Dolan. Can also play on the left too. Has done it in the Championship before and even looked decent in the Premier League, scoring at OT one time. Nothing against Dolan, but NML would have been an experienced upgrade. Barkhuizen - Showed during his time at Preston that he was a good player. Knows the league and can play out wide and down the middle. We could do worse on a free. James Chester - experienced centre back, on a par with Lenihan in terms of ability, imo. I'd certainly have Chester ahead of Carter, Phillips, Magloire or any other kid we want to throw in. McGoldrick - Wily, clever forward at this level and scores goals in this league. Good hold up play too. Might not start every game but would be good to have around and we'd actually have a central striker when he's on the pitch. Him or Burns/Vale? It's not even a question, for me. Might be a very unpopular opinion, but I think Burns and Vale are more likely to be the next Butterworth and McBride, than the next Armstrong and Brereton. Give them a chance to see what they can do, fine, but I'm not expecting much. I fear we're over egging how good some of these kids are and the reality of the Championship will slap us in the face if we don't bring some established players in. It's an unforgiving league and we're in danger of being lost in romanticism. We've lost key players, the loanees have gone, the squad is in a right state and if we don't bring in the required quality I think some will be shocked by how poor we look. A backline of Brown (or JRC), Carter, Wharton, Pickering will take us down! There is no criticism labelled at JDT or Broughton here. It's the bastards above them. Trying to flog us a youth project because they don't want to spend. "We're going to develop the kids", just bloody come out and say "we won't be spending much". I hate that the positivity and enthusiasm that Broughton and JDT brought with them is being drained away due to the same old, dithering crap from people above them who don't know what they are doing.

If you read Hourihane's quote upon joining Derby, he mentions how he wanted to go somewhere where he was excited by the project. I think him choosing Derby over Rovers says a heck of a lot. Also, it's quite something to look at Derby's signings, considering the turmoil they have been in, and to think those would have been good additions for us. That's how I feel, personally: Hourihane, Mendez-Laing, Barkhuizen, McGoldrick, James Chester. Derby are getting their house in order now after everything they have been through. We have no excuse to be in the mess we are in.

The latter. I see no reason why he would just pluck Hourihane's name out of thin air and say he was being shown around Brockhall. I believe it happened, some might not, which is fair enough. Based on the quote below, Hourihane has had one look at the so called project at Rovers and seen it for what it is. No thanks, just like Farke, Carvalhal, Anel and probably more to follow. This is what Hourihane had to say about his move to Derby: "I am 31 and I was looking for something that was going to excite me, something that I can be a big part of. "I've played all the way from League Two up to the Premier League but having analysed it as a free agent I was thinking what do I want next, what do I want to achieve and what do I want to be a part of? Derby ticked all of the boxes really".

Madness. Liverpool don't half get ridiculous fees for their unwanted players. They sold Solanke for £20m to Bournemouth. They sold Ibe for £15m. They got £23m for Brewster and now £17m for Williams. I don't know what any of those had/have done to warrant those fees.

Fair enough. I think he could have offered us something. Good passer, experienced, has done it in this league before. There's time to be proven wrong yet, but the way things are looking so far, we could struggle to find better than Hourihane on this meagre budget. I hope JDT has other ideas, obviously, and pulls one or two out of the bag.