January transfer window 2020

[Lucimo]

If we have a sell on fee I don't care where he goes. Have a bidding war for all I care and may the best team win. 

[rigger]

1 hour ago, Vinjay said:

What did you say when Greer went back to Rovers? Yes the situation had changed considerably at Ewood (and has to an extent at United) but he must have felt somewhat smug about the whole thing. One of my mottos is "never humble yourself" and that's what the club did by letting Greer return. Same reason I was opposed to any Beattie links including when club was still in EPL.

King's not good enough (for what they aspire towards) so hopefully will return there. 

OK Uriah

[chaddyrovers]

Rovers under 18's player Luke Brennan linked with Liverpool. source is football365. 

I would be disappoint if we lost him as I think he is going to be very talent player for us in the future

[Vinjay]

Another reason why Academy is a waste of time.

[rigger]

44 minutes ago, Vinjay said:

Another reason why Academy is a waste of time.

A bit harsh, just because one of our players is linked to Liverpool. I would be more worried if we produced no-one of any interest.

 

[chaddyrovers]

51 minutes ago, Vinjay said:

Another reason why Academy is a waste of time.

No the academy isnt waste of time at all. Plenty of good young players coming through. 

Do you watch the under 23's or 18's? 

[Norbert Rassragr]

Lehinen, Nyambe, Travis and before the suspension of the competition Rankin-Costello and Buckley have all appeared. Scrap the academy and then what? Loans and free transfers like Wes Brown to complete the squad? 

[K-Hod]

2 hours ago, Vinjay said:

Another reason why Academy is a waste of time.

Apart from it producing roughly half of our first team.

[Stuart]

In slight defence of Vinjers, we do need to at least start seeing the lads with PL potential featuring in the first team before they go. We wouldn’t have got £16m for Jones if he’d left as early.

[rigger]

37 minutes ago, Stuart said:

In slight defence of Vinjers, we do need to at least start seeing the lads with PL potential featuring in the first team before they go. We wouldn’t have got £16m for Jones if he’d left as early.

Has anybody actually left?

[chaddyrovers]

59 minutes ago, Stuart said:

In slight defence of Vinjers, we do need to at least start seeing the lads with PL potential featuring in the first team before they go. We wouldn’t have got £16m for Jones if he’d left as early.

Go where? 

Rovers have some very good players coming through. Burns, Brennan, Whitehall, Pike, Gent..

Supposedly we have offered Dan Pike a new contract. We want to sign Wright-Phillips permanently. 

We are producing players from under 18's

[Guest]

On 22/05/2020 at 13:04, roversfan99 said:

 There is definitely the pressure of a big price tag but for example the booing at Birmingham was 18 months into his time following repeated poor and to be honest half arsed performances. And I don't think the Blackburn End or indeed Ewood in general is the fickle hotbed you imply at all, indeed you see the reaction when he scored v Bolton, I do think at times people overstate how supposedly demanding we can be.

I think the reaction against Bolton shows the exact opposite to what you suggest. That reaction is just a continuation of the fickle attitudes. One week its Booing, but if he finally scores one goal we'll Over The Top Cheer Him. That's exactly what being fickle means. I don't see how this example shows at all that we aren't a fickle fan base.

I also did note that a lot of other clubs have the same problems, mainly bigger clubs like ours, soaked in history and with pride on the line to a much greater extent than somebody punching above their weight in this division.

I like your point RE: his game against Arsenal though, and I'll concede that absolutely there's clear evidence through that example that he clearly can perfrorm in-front of a crowd, just a shame he never manages it for us.

[Guest]

On 24/05/2020 at 07:56, Mattyblue said:

Ewood a ‘very tough environment’?

It absolutely is.

I was careful that I didn't claim it was volatile, because it's not, not all the time especially. But we are one of the toughest sets of fans to win over. Many Rovers fans I know very well would admit they're not easily pleased, probably to a further extent than they'd be happy to admit. It's a part of being involved with a bigger club, with a much richer history and higher expectations. Playing at Burton Albion in the Championship in 16/17 would've been a breeze compared to playing for us for example. They got 52 points to our 51, but the expectations on a club that size, punching above in that league were minimal in that relegation fight compared to ours, punching well below our historical capabilities.

The Blackburn End especially can very quickly turn. If we go 2-0 down at home you'll hear an audible amount of booing. This is a carry over from tougher times at the beginning of the 10's decade, but still, it's there. Things are much brighter now, but there's an underlying tension at Ewood that has always lingered. I suspect that if you're unaware to this underlying tension you're probably a part of it? Which again is just a guess and not meant to be a dig.

I look back to 2016/17 and think of the Aston Villa home game. The club marketed that game really well. The weather was just right, things set into place in a great way. The fans, for whatever reason that day, backed the team more than they had most of the season. We as a supporter base had a huge hand in helping win that game 1-0. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't enough, but I think we've seen since then, in League One and the seasons since promotion, that there's clearly potential for a less tense atmosphere at Ewood. It's certainly not 100% there yet. 

[Mattyblue]

Ewood is not a tough place to play, for our players or the opposition, if you think it is, then you need to get around the country.

Ha, some excellent passive aggressiveness there, no, I’ve never booed the side or barracked a player in my life, but I’ve been to enough football grounds and spoken to enough fans to see that Rovers fans are no different than the supporters of any club of similar stature. Indeed I would go as far to say there is far less abuse of players by the collective than many of our rivals - BB would’ve been hounded by now at many Championship clubs.

Of course Ewood was toxic in the early 2010s, it had every right to be like that, but it was rarely aimed at players (likes of Orr/Murphy/Best aside), but at the ‘custodians’. 

Of course we have higher expectations than Burton Albion, they are a similar sized club to Accrington Stanley.
 

P.s daft example as Villa were on the beach that day.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Ewood is not a tough place to play, for our players (1) or the opposition, if you think it is, then you need to get around the country.

(2) Ha, some excellent passive aggressiveness there, no, I’ve never booed the side or barracked a player in my life, but I’ve been to enough football grounds and spoken to enough fans to see that (3) Rovers fans are no different than the supporters of any club of similar stature. Indeed I would go as far to say there is far less abuse of players by the collective than many of our rivals - BB would’ve been hounded by now at many Championship clubs.

Of course Ewood was toxic in the early 2010s, it had every right to be like that, but it was rarely aimed at players (likes of Orr/Murphy/Best aside), but at the ‘custodians’. 

Of course we have higher expectations than Burton Albion, they are a similar sized club to Accrington Stanley.
 

P.s daft example as Villa were on the beach that day.

1. I didn't claim it was a tough place to play for opposition players. Odd comment?

2. Come on dude, I literally prefixed it by saying "that's not a dig, I'm part of that atmosphere too", talk about taking things personally! It really wasn't supposed to be like that

3. Yup, no different to any club of our stature, as I quite clearly pointed out when I said "which comes as part of being a larger club, it's not just us". We literally agree on this too.

[Mattyblue]

1) in talking about what Ewood is like to play at, so a relevant comment.

2) I didn’t take it personally as I don’t do what you inferred

3) It wasn’t ‘clearly pointed out’ that Ewood is just like everywhere else as you talked about Rovers fans being ‘very fickle’ and they ‘turn on players quickly’. Just not true, we’ve been largely crap for a decade and the fans have been great considering what we’ve lost as a club, as has the fantastic support BB has received. I don’t get the point of your original post. You buy players for £7million, there will be expectations. It’s a failure of club recruitment that BB doesn’t have the mental strength, nothing to do with a ‘tough environment at Ewood’, that’s top level football and something BB would have to cope with wherever he went for that kind of fee.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Mattyblue said:

1) in talking about what Ewood is like to play at, so a relevant comment.

2) I didn’t take it personally as I don’t do what you inferred

3) It wasn’t ‘clearly pointed out’ that Ewood is just like everywhere else as you talked about Rovers fans being ‘very fickle’ and they ‘turn on players quickly’. Just not true, certainly not more than anywhere else, as the fantastic support BB has received proves. I don’t get the point of your original post. You buy players for £7million, there will be expectations. It’s a failure of club recruitment that BB doesn’t have the mental strength, nothing to do with a ‘tough environment at Ewood’, that’s top level football and something BB would have to cope with wherever he went for that kind of fee.

1) but not relevant at all to what I said, because I didn't reference at all players from other teams. Really don't understand the point.

2) Well you certainly seemed rather offended for someone who wasn't taking it personally....

3) I literally said "I'm not saying we're the only club that's like this but it is definitely prominent here. And again, it's not the only factor, I'm not only aware of that, but again, I pointed that out.

[Mattyblue]

1) I was making a general point about Ewood on a match day. You don’t seem to grasp it, fine.

2) Offended by what? I’ve already said I don’t get on players backs.

3) Your original post made no sense then, as it talked about Rovers fans being ‘very fickle’, Ewood a place that ‘turns quickly on players’. Firstly, that’s not true, so I disagree with the thrust of your post and said so, a pointless dig at the fanbase that have been great this past decade considering the shite we’ve been served up, an insinuation that his struggles are partly down to our fans (when he’s got cracking support).

Secondly, you say it’s the same elsewhere, so it’s a top level football issue that BB has and will continue to have then? Nothing to do with the mythical bear pit that is Ewood Park. The buck stops with TM and BB, ‘if you can’t stand the heat etc...’

Edited May 26, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Your original post made no sense then, as it talked about Rovers fans being ‘very fickle’, Ewood a place that ‘turns quickly on players’. Firstly, that’s not true, so I disagree with the thrust of your post and said so, a pointless dig at the fanbase that have been great this past decade considering the shite we’ve been served up, an insinuation that his struggles are partly down to our fans (when he’s got cracking support).

That's fine! What makes you think I don't allow for disagreement. I can absolutely see the points as to why you disagree... That's okay.

I'm not getting on anybodies back and it certainly wasn't a dig at the fan base. I think that's reaching, more than slightly. Disagreement with my point about our atmosphere is fine, but to say I'm somehow attacking the fan base for making the claim that we can be a bit fickle sometimes, whilst providing examples, is unfounded and a bit over the top.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Secondly, you say it’s the same elsewhere, so it’s a top level football issue that BB has and will continue to have then? Nothing to do with the mythical bear pit that is Ewood Park. The buck stops with TM and BB, ‘if you can’t stand the heat etc...’

Absolutely. I've said countless times, it's not the only issue, and as @roversfan99 pointed out to us, Brereton's best career performance came in a huge game against a lot of fans, on TV against a huge opponent. I'm happy to concede that there's clear evidence for a counter-argument.

I won't concede that I'm somehow attacking the fan base however. It's a bit OTT. 

[Mattyblue]

On 22/05/2020 at 09:33, JoeH said:

Ewood can be a very tough environment. As a fan base we're very fickle really. Whilst we've had a much more relaxed few seasons, the Blackburn End can turn on the players very VERY quickly.

 

‘We can be a bit fickle, sometimes’? Thought we were ‘very fickle’?⬆️

OTT? That was you I’m afraid. Ewood is not ‘very tough’, we are not ‘very fickle’ and the Blackburn End doesn’t turn on players ‘very quickly’

You’ve obviously realised you were OTT as you’ve now toned it down to a ‘bit fickle, sometimes’. Which is fine, as that’s football fans for you.

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Mattyblue

[rigger]

Proud to be a Rover.

Proud to be fickle.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

You’ve obviously realised you were OTT as you’ve now toned it down to a ‘bit fickle, sometimes’. Which is fine, as that’s football fans for you.

Again, I don't think I was attacking the fan base. If you want to continue to perpetuate that then sure, go ahead, but it's pretty clear to me that not unlike a lot of other clubs like ours, we have a fickle fan base, we can (and have shown often) turn on players quite quickly and again not unlike a lot of other clubs we can be very tough. This forum shows that every day. I am a part of that fan base, I'm not attacking myself. We have VERY high expectations, because of our stature, history and standing within English Football. 

That's not an attack, it's not a dig, it's just a viewpoint, and whilst you're welcome to disagree with me, I don't really think your current narrative is productive. 

[Guest]

Look at opinions based around Tony Mowbray for my favourite example of our fickleness, including my own fickleness. On three separate occasions over the last few years I've been so confident in my opinion that Mogga's time was coming to a close here, but on each of those occasions I ended up changing my mind, as have countless other members of our supporter base. Just listen to conversations on the way out of the stadium between friends and families, you hear that extreme end of opinion every week. One week we're shite and the next we're amazing.

We are fickle. It's not a dig, it simply means we change our minds a lot. It's not always a bad thing or something not to be proud of. If it wasn't for our higher expectations, we'd still have Gary Bowyer at the helm. We wanted more when he got us 8th, we wanted higher and that's great. It can be a very positive characteristic. I mean look at Leeds United. Christ, they fight at the top of this table every year because whenever they don't, the fans turn. If Bielsa doesn't get them up, they'll be calling for his head - in fact a significant portion of Leeds fans did call for his head at the end of the 18/19 season. 

Tom Lawrence: goal and an assist off the bench in a 3-0 win over Charlton at Ewood, "he's great", misses a sitter against Burnley, "he's shite". In REALITY he was average, but due to that trait which I keep banging on about, we as a fan base over react both positively and negatively to players, performances, managers, club choices etc...

We as a club have been hurt in the last decade, and we have every right to feel not only hard done by, but also to feel untrusting. 

[roversfan99]

Yeah I would definitely agree with @Mattyblue that it is disingenous to suggest that the Ewood crowd is difficult to play in front of or a particularly fickle one.

Regarding the player himself, I think its perhaps overanalysing it to put it down to his mental strength, to be honest, I just dont think hes particularly good. He must have a modicum of ability to have gotten this far, maybe he has riden the crest of a wave having had a good game on TV against an about to retire Per Mertesacker who he did get the better of but even then only scored a solitary penalty. If that was enough proof then what a player Brett Emerton would have been after that Wolves game.

I dont recall any booing really towards him, I didnt go to Birmingham in the cup though but sarcastic cheering and the odd boo is hardly a new phenomenon, to be pedantic wasnt at Ewood, and to be honest having watched both that and the Forest game, followed 2 really poor, limp and perhaps somewhat heartless performances from the player. I dont condone or endorse it but I do think it was made too much of a big deal of after it happened.

I also dont think the fans have particularly high expectations either. Rovers fans get overly excited when we are anywhere in the top half of the Championship these days.