That *was* the January Window

[alcd]

11 hours ago, JHRover said:

JRC, Gallagher and Pears like new signings though. Dolan and Hedges too.

There's no doubt they'll play that old chestnut when deadline day comes with no business done. Unless Brighton or someone send us a kid for nothing for us to develop in our relegation scrap.

 

The other side of that view is that Pickering and Carter injuries are like sending them out on loan - and Hill's already gone. None of the players highlighted are defenders.

[wilsdenrover]

53 minutes ago, KentExile said:

Possibly because we only have one player who can attack the ball in the air (Scott Wharton as you mentioned), and he has missed a few due to being left on the bench or injury

As much as the short corner routines depress me, there is little point in putting in high crosses/corners for our team of midgets,

I would love to see the stats on the average height of Championship teams fielded this season (they have stats for everything these days).  I would be genuinely amazed if any team runs Rovers close to being the shortest

https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost444

Select Championship from the drop down menu then click the left hand column to list in average height by team order.

Edited January 24 by wilsdenrover

[KentExile]

1 minute ago, wilsdenrover said:

Indeed they do…

https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost444

Thanks for that, so Southampton a little shorter but they have had the benefit of spending a few million £s more than Rovers

[wilsdenrover]

2 minutes ago, KentExile said:

Thanks for that, so Southampton a little shorter but they have had the benefit of spending a few million £s more than Rovers

We have the fewest minutes by players over 186cm though.

That table would seem to indicate Southampton’s team has a mix  of very short and very tall players.🤔

[toogs]

1 hour ago, KentExile said:

Possibly because we only have one player who can attack the ball in the air (Scott Wharton as you mentioned), and he has missed a few due to being left on the bench or injury

As much as the short corner routines depress me, there is little point in putting in high crosses/corners for our team of midgets,

I would love to see the stats on the average height of Championship teams fielded this season (they have stats for everything these days).  I would be genuinely amazed if any team runs Rovers close to being the shortest

Put the ball in, header out, pick up the bits.

It worked for more than 100 years pre Pep but now the coaching manual and teams of stats nerds declare "computer says no".

What coaching and stats nerds can't cope with is throwing in some unpredictability into your tactics.

But no, those in charge know best.

 

[TheRevAshton]

Just read that Hearts won't entertain bids of less that £2m for Alex Cochrane... safe to say that we are completely out of that 'race' now.

Edited January 24 by TheRevAshton

[BankEnd Rover]

1 minute ago, TheRevAshton said:

Just read that Hearts won't entertain bids of less that £2m for Alex Cochrane... safe to say that we are completely out of that 'race' now.

We were out of the race since Ipswich and Burnley were interested sadly.

[rigger]

11 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

We explicitly said he was our number 1 target too. Leo obviously wasnt signed to sit on the bench.

I think generally the recruitment has been pretty good in defence and midfield, but up front and in goal it's been disastrous and those are the two most important positions.

Still I wouldn't write Leo off long term. The way its been at Rovers with keepers is we'll all slag him off on here and then he'll be playing in the prem getting highlight reels on his stella performances on MOTD in a couple of seasons.

Just maybe, it isn't down to the standard of the keepers, but what this Rovers do with them.

[pick32]

9 minutes ago, rigger said:

Just maybe, it isn't down to the standard of the keepers, but what this Rovers do with them.

No Leo is terrible in everyway 

[alex l]

11 minutes ago, rigger said:

Just maybe, it isn't down to the standard of the keepers, but what this Rovers do with them.

Turned a Belgian that nobody on here had probably heard of into a Prem keeper whilst getting call ups to his national team? Took a young Spaniard and helped develop him so that a premier league bound team wanted him and he has played for his country and a title challenger? Jason steele is also now a Prem first choice keeper for a top half team. 

If we did this with every single keeper we signed it'd be a miracle. 

[Tom]

The lad from Crewe is a little infuriating, we could have got him day one but instead have struggled through games performing pathetically in defence whilst we’ve messed around unless it really is all down to the fact we have these limitations imposed 

[rigger]

12 minutes ago, alex l said:

Turned a Belgian that nobody on here had probably heard of into a Prem keeper whilst getting call ups to his national team? Took a young Spaniard and helped develop him so that a premier league bound team wanted him and he has played for his country and a title challenger? Jason steele is also now a Prem first choice keeper for a top half team. 

If we did this with every single keeper we signed it'd be a miracle. 

Weren't all three that you mentioned, dropped before they left?

[tomphil]

6 minutes ago, alex l said:

Turned a Belgian that nobody on here had probably heard of into a Prem keeper whilst getting call ups to his national team? Took a young Spaniard and helped develop him so that a premier league bound team wanted him and he has played for his country and a title challenger? Jason steele is also now a Prem first choice keeper for a top half team. 

If we did this with every single keeper we signed it'd be a miracle. 

Except all we did was give them games and two of them improved immediately after leaving here despite stepping up a level.

Steele was awful at Sunderland and shunted off to be Brightons second third choice to fill home grown criteria for several years. Steele was average at best here then went backwards, Kaminski was going backwards last season after being good and Raya ended up being dropped forcing him to want out.

And in the case of TK he was always decent that's why we got him and if we hadn't he'd have gone somewhere else at a good level anyway.

There is too much history being re-written here in regards to past keepers and the real question is had any of them stayed would they be as good as they are now ?

I think we know the answer to that, all this club is now is a shop window for anyone with potential if someone else gets hold of them.

[SuperBrfc]

2 hours ago, tomphil said:

Good luck to him but yet another signing that will make zero impact or difference to the problems we currently face.

The 'one for the future' column is busting at the seams, the here and now reality is as thin as rice paper and not even as strong.

Not even blinking at that signing. A League Two defender for £500k. Sounds about right for the recruitment team down there.

As a side note, the Crewe lad has the same agent as: Hedges, Brittain, Bloxham, Gilsenan, Jacob Davenport, Dom Samuel and Shane Duffy.

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, TheRevAshton said:

Although he's more for the future, i'm happy with the signing of O'Riordan.

I've read some of the Crewe fan's reactions, and they pretty much all seem to think we've had their pants down getting him for 500k - pricing him more in the 2m region.

On the other hand, we still desperately need experience... if they're spending that much on a kid, they'd better have more to spend on the more pressing matters - and can expect pelters if not!

I dunno what makes them think a 20 yr old League Two CB who has question marks over his defensive ability even at that level should be going for 2 million. I'm not even convinced it's a profile we should be spending 500k on.

[B16Rover]

3 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

Not even blinking at that signing. A League Two defender for £500k. Sounds about right for the recruitment team down there.

As a side note, the Crewe lad has the same agent as: Hedges, Brittain, Bloxham, Gilsenan, Jacob Davenport, Dom Samuel and Shane Duffy.

They also have Varane and Kingsley Coman so wouldn't read into it in the same way we have previously with the Scottish/Middlesbrough mafia 

[Bethnal]

O’Riordan movement (if happening) has clearly been provoked by Carter’s injury. They’ve found money in the budget for it, so expect a cut somewhere else or for the Raya money to be partially advanced by Brentford or a third party (seem to recall financing options against future transfer fees available for clubs from lenders).

Fine by me, I - as many of us on here - do not have the time to comprehensively scout players and the recruitment team do, so I’m happy to see how he gets on, if it happens.

All the more an indictment of the idea we’re being left to make do with what we have out of spite/stubbornness, though, it feels. Manoeuvres and chicanery only possible in a pinch. We should be trying every possible avenue at all times to progress. If I ever do meet Waggott, he’ll be left in no doubt as to what I make of his efforts.

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, Mercer said:

Not confirmed by 'finger NOT on the pulse' LT's Elliott Jackson, though no surprise there.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24070847.blackburn-talks-advance-hope-third-january-transfer/

[windymiller7]

8 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Except all we did was give them games and two of them improved immediately after leaving here despite stepping up a level.

Steele was awful at Sunderland and shunted off to be Brightons second third choice to fill home grown criteria for several years. Steele was average at best here then went backwards, Kaminski was going backwards last season after being good and Raya ended up being dropped forcing him to want out.

And in the case of TK he was always decent that's why we got him and if we hadn't he'd have gone somewhere else at a good level anyway.

There is too much history being re-written here in regards to past keepers and the real question is had any of them stayed would they be as good as they are now ?

I think we know the answer to that, all this club is now is a shop window for anyone with potential if someone else gets hold of them.

Interestingly, I've just noticed that Bobby Mimms is actively looking for work on his LinkedIn. States "Open to new opportunities". Even at 60, surely he's still got a hell of a lot to offer our goalkeeping dept?

Not that I expect anything like like that to even cross the minds of the cockwombles in charge at Ewood.

[Dreams of 1995]

3 minutes ago, windymiller7 said:

Interestingly, I've just noticed that Bobby Mimms is actively looking for work on his LinkedIn. States "Open to new opportunities". Even at 60, surely he's still got a hell of a lot to offer our goalkeeping dept?

Not that I expect anything like like that to even cross the minds of the cockwombles in charge at Ewood.

I don't quite know whether Football Manager is a good indication of coaching abilities, but Bobby Mimms was always very highly rated on there

They get their player ratings right (mostly...) so maybe they get their coaches too

[rovers11]

53 minutes ago, Tom said:

The lad from Crewe is a little infuriating, we could have got him day one but instead have struggled through games performing pathetically in defence whilst we’ve messed around unless it really is all down to the fact we have these limitations imposed 

He wouldn't have got in ahead of Hyam, Carter, Hill (before he got recalled), Wharton anyway so it wouldn't have made any difference.

I'm firmly of the opinion that personnel is not the problem anyway, the coaching is the problem. Hyam, Carter, Hill are all very good players at this level but they look like very poor players at the moment who can't do the basics well.

Edited January 24 by rovers11

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24070847.blackburn-talks-advance-hope-third-january-transfer/

Think Jackson reads this MB and the post embarrassed him into publishing - think a reactive journo with no nose for any type of 'scoop'.  I wonder if he's sat down with Waggott yet!?

Edited January 24 by Mercer

[RoversClitheroe]

3 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Think Jackson reads this MB and the post embarrassed him into publishing - think a reactive journo with no nose for ant type of 'scoop'.  I wonder if he's sat down with Waggott yet!?

Doubt it "not managed to sit down with Waggot yet" will be the going response surely.

[Mattyblue]

After the craven Twitter post when he said it would be ‘sensationalising’ to publish the winding up story he needs to ‘sit down’ with his NCTJ training books to understand ‘public interest’.

Edited January 24 by Mattyblue

[Rover8T4]

Nixon saying palace in for wharton