January Transfer Window.

[arbitro]

4 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

Agree, but at the start of the season, which is where I guess these comments came from.

I didn't expect us to be in a playoff position or anywhere near them. But we are and it's a poor league in which a few key signings can make all the difference. That's my real source of frustration. 

[Gav]

1 hour ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

BBD's agent holds all the cards - even if we agreed a deal with another club - we can't force BBD to move. (unless we can come up with a deal with his pre-contract club)

If Blackburn Rovers had put Diaz up from sale in the summer he would have been sold, its as simple as that DMTP. We wouldn't have got £20m, but even half that amount would be most welcome about now!

 

[Penwortham Blue]

3 minutes ago, Torgeir said:

Please no. Way too injury prone, he's done.

But they could put him on the coach back from B’ham tonight and save a cab fare 😞

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, AllRoverAsia said:

There is no medium or long term plan towards becoming "a sustainable PL" club

Both have to be made up of continuous and successful short term plans, which it is plainly obvious we do not have.

Mere words for the gullible, naive and happy clappers.

[nbdrovers]

1 hour ago, Penwortham Blue said:

One million loan and full wages.

for a full season, fair enough, but i think that alone proves rich's claim today is wide of the mark, or is perhaps being misconstrued. you don't pay 1 mill plus full wages for a lad you're gonna have for less than 6 months of the season if you don't care about promotion, the play-offs, or doing well full-stop

[Dreams of 1995]

On Football Manager right now you’re scared to press continue in case too many hours pass by 

It’s a hit of the continue button and immediately you browse. Did they return my bid in 30 mins? 2 hours is too long - only gives me 5 to negotiate, agree, sell a player, adjust budget and sign. It’ll never happen 

We will sign three players today. I have faith 

[SBlue]

22 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

But now we are in them, we don’t fancy it? Must be the only club in the country that thinks that way and it’s pathetic.

It's an aside by Rich Sharpe isn't it? Not a club statement! Looks like we've failed with some money bids (say what you want about that), so why is everyone taking this as gospel?

[Penwortham Blue]

Will we beat Stanley to Cole Stockton !

[Atko's Engine]

42 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I don't disagree about the Academy but let's not forget that had the STC sale gone through and moved to the Academy site there would have been a strong likelihood that the Academy would have been downgraded. There wasn't a long term strategy behind that.

But wasn't it Mowbray, Venus & Waggot who were the driving forces behind that? 

That's in the past, before any of us had heard of Greg Broughton or JDT in the context of a young manager. Since they arrived the focus has been very much on longer term stability, regeneration & sustainability. That was something that in the summer most of us craved at a time when relegation was considered more likely than promotion.

Rebuilding this club is analogous to building a team. Starting from the back with a solid defensive platform is the equivalent of building the club from the academy upwards, the rest then follows over a period of time.

I want success as much as you, but not at the cost of throwing longer term sustainability under the bus. I think there's room for both.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

12 minutes ago, Gav said:

If Blackburn Rovers had put Diaz up from sale in the summer he would have been sold, its as simple as that DMTP. We wouldn't have got £20m, but even half that amount would be most welcome about now!

 

If rumours are true - nobody offered £10m. 

Did we not get £15m for Armstrong in the final year of his contract ? Not unreasonable to expect similar for BBD.

Though the same argument holds - he only moves if he/agent wants to.

[bluebruce]

10 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

On Football Manager right now you’re scared to press continue in case too many hours pass by 

It’s a hit of the continue button and immediately you browse. Did they return my bid in 30 mins? 2 hours is too long - only gives me 5 to negotiate, agree, sell a player, adjust budget and sign. It’ll never happen 

We will sign three players today. I have faith 

Actually on Football Manager by now, I've usually done all of my core business. Fancy that...

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Atko's Engine said:

I'm assuming this is directed at me as it follows my post?

If so, that's not what I said in response to Arbitro's post is it?  Did I say anything about it being a good thing not strengthening now?

I would've quoted you if it was directed at you.

However yours is just one of a number iv'e seen along similar lines though mostly as usual facebook and twitter.  The accepting where we are, what we have etc i get that and have no problem with it. The ones who've bought the project talk on top of the journey talk to the extremes iv'e seen as in this season doesn't matter type stuff just boils my blood.

You'd have to be beamed down from Mars if all of a sudden we think this is just the start of a genuine solid ambitious plan to build a Prem team in a year or two.

It has every hallmark of down scaling again whilst leaving enough in place to tread water on a lower wage low spend model. To pass up the opportunities we have by having zero immediate ambition is plain crazy to the point of utter stupidity (again). You don't need millions to be ambitious you just need a bit more leeway and some genuine drive for it. We saw that this time last season and exactly the things i mentioned were missing. The whole idea of change was to try and find those things with a different attitude and voice in the building.

Seems not.

[BankEnd Rover]

Come on rovers get him in!!!

[Atko's Engine]

10 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Mere words for the gullible, naive and happy clappers.

Wise words from someone who thinks the club is a shambles from top to bottom yet week in week out predicts that we should beat practically every opponent we face in pre match threads.

It's gullible and naive to think "we're Blackburn Rovers, 6 time FA Cup winners, 3 times English Champs, League Cup winners". The last of those was 20 years ago & as much as we have fond memories of the 1990s & 2000s, it means nothing now to young English players, their agents or to potential foreign talent. Thanks to Venkys we're irrelevant to most youngsters nowadays and don't have the reputational or financial pulling power we once did.

Supporting a different way of doing things to what hasn't worked in a decade isn't happy clapping, it's being realistic. That doesn't have to mean giving up on playoff hopes, but that's too nuanced for some to grasp I guess.

[BankEnd Rover]

[smiller14]

2 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Come on rovers get him in!!!

Guessing this is a wind up!

A centre midfielder would be lovely, but please Rovers - someone who can put the ball in the net. Or at least lead the line. 

[TheRevAshton]

1 minute ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Just saw that, get it done!

Surprised Middlesbrough haven't chucked their name in the hat - they do it with every player we target, pricks.

[BankEnd Rover]

Just now, smiller14 said:

Guessing this is a wind up!

A centre midfielder would be lovely, but please Rovers - someone who can put the ball in the net. Or at least lead the line. 

Why would wanting probably the best midfielder in the league be a wind up. Striker is a must also but O’brien would be huge as long as the T&Cs arnt daft. We’re crying out for control in the middle aswell as a CF.

[SuperBrfc]

2 hours ago, tomphil said:

So the vibe is it's ok not to strengthen now and fall away again because it isn't quite our time the short term plans don't include play offs or promotion ?

What planet do some of our fans live on ?   Seriously come on how many pups do you need to be sold before any pennies drop ?

Last season and this IS our time it's the closest we've been to having a chance of anything since the lunacy began 12 years ago. Don't let it pass without giving it the best shot we can in favour of a shoulder shrug, i thought we'd got rid of that back to the North East.

The wheels of football for the average club are cyclical we are told well we are at the first up point in a decade so don't let it slip away. Because what follows will go the other way again quickly and on the model we now operate it is absolutely inevitable believe me.  Another rebuild needed in summer with another slew of departures on the horizon with NO Armstrong money or money for anybody else to reinvest.

For once get the foot on the gas.

Spot on, particularly the bit about cycles. I fear we are going to look back on these last two January windows with deep regret in years to come. This and last January were the best placed, to really have a go, we have ever been under these owners. I don't think we'll find ourselves in such a position again.

It's like Den and others have said, if the owners won't show intent with us well placed for two January's in a row, when are they ever going to?

The path that we are currently on, the lack of backing this month, talk about cost cutting, another summer overhaul to come, having to rebuild with little money, an over reliance on the Academy...none of that points to a club that seriously wants promotion. It will all likely lead to the opposite, a relegation battle and a possible return to L1 in the near future.

Broughton talks a good game and probably means what he says regarding the plan. However, the way we operate, the way these owners treat the club, means they face an uphill struggle. That doesn't excuse Broughton and Co for matters that come under their responsibility though.

The Championship has been more average than normal these last couple of years. That won't be the case forever and it will likely become tougher for us over the next 3 years. Therefore, it was imperative we took one of these chances before us. Just like Bellamy said, you can't pick and choose when to go up. If it's there, you bloody go for it.

Unless we pull off some surprise moves between now and 11 pm, it looks like we have blown it. Two great chances which may never come around again under this ownership.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Obviously there must be some money available as the recruitment team of which GB is a key component have been scurrying around failing to land their chosen targets. It's not been a case of "we're not even looking to add anyone because we've  no money."

Secondly, money was really badly spent In summer imo. £1.8m plus add ons for Szmodics to sit in the treatment room? £10k p.w. in wages for Hirst to never feature? Mola? God knows how much it's costing to loan Morton out. Won't be cheap if the estimates of £1m for HALF a season plus full wages for Sorba Thomas are correct which in itself doesn't strike me as particularly good value either.

So yeah, let's not let GB off the hook for not doing his job and revert back to the default position of automatically blaming everything on the owners. There's little doubt in my mind that if we were going down the DOF route we should have picked an actual experienced DOF rather than a recently out of work Academy Director but nevertheless you'd expect GB to have an actual working knowledge of the market and where there are gems to be unearthed and bargains to be found.

You regularly push the narrative that there are decent funds available and just not spent due to incompetence underneath, without then also questioning the owners on retaining staff you deem to be incompetent.

I do think there is certainly scope to criticise and doubt Broughton and I was underwhelmed by the first transfer window. But in this window like last winter in a good position rather than make any push at promotion we have to only sign loans and potentially signings for nominal fees. Not that you cant sign players that improve you, but you have previously admitted that suggests a lack of ambition but any willingness to criticse them is fleeting.

I dont even expect massive investment, but we are massively handicapped by their pig ignorance and stubbornness to allow players to be sold for reinvestment purposes.

 

[Atko's Engine]

6 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I would've quoted you if it was directed at you.

However yours is just one of a number iv'e seen along similar lines though mostly as usual facebook and twitter.  The accepting where we are, what we have etc i get that and have no problem with it. The ones who've bought the project talk on top of the journey talk to the extremes iv'e seen as in this season doesn't matter type stuff just boils my blood.

You'd have to be beamed down from Mars if all of a sudden we think this is just the start of a genuine solid ambitious plan to build a Prem team in a year or two.

It has every hallmark of down scaling again whilst leaving enough in place to tread water on a lower wage low spend model. To pass up the opportunities we have by having zero immediate ambition is plain crazy to the point of utter stupidity (again). You don't need millions to be ambitious you just need a bit more leeway and some genuine drive for it. We saw that this time last season and exactly the things i mentioned were missing. The whole idea of change was to try and find those things with a different attitude and voice in the building.

Seems not.

Fair enough, others haven't quoted in the past when they should have & we've gone down rabbit holes as a result!

I've just posted a reply to Mercer above which adds more to what I feel. I get the frustration, but surely the journey talk has to be discounted as that's from the previous management team. I can't be bothered going back to the GB and JDT threads but seem to remember most were happy to accept this season as being a transitional one. It can still be successful AND transitional, and clearly GB has tried within the financial constraints he's under but we cannot compete with parachute payments, the lure of Italy, or players changing their minds and deciding to take their chances at forcing their way into a prem team.

[Penwortham Blue]

32 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

But they could put him on the coach back from B’ham tonight and save a cab fare 😞

At this point, I would take him, big and quick unit and Danish so probably happy to sign for JDT.

[BigBar]

Looks like the Lewis O'Brien loan is going to happen, I know we tend to be cautious on here about getting carried away but it appears to be looking good. Be delighted with it if it comes off.

[RoversClitheroe]

Bristol City set to sign Harry Cornick, you'd assume we are silently working away on a better Striker than him?

[ItsRoverZ]

Kinda worried we haven't been linked to a ST on deadline day, no sniff of a rumour, unless we are waiting on Brighton to sign that ST so they can loan us undav (bit risky though)