That *was* the January Window

[Paul Mani]

6 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I agree with that part. But did u say top 6? And a good transfer window?

In terms of short term, yes. I think the recruitment team have nailed the signings the manager has asked for on the budget they’ve been given. I also think this means we’ll stay up, potentially finish mid table and maybe flutter our eyelashes at the top 6….just my opinion.

But I am DREADING the summer. We’ve just made the problem bigger, stuck a plaster on it and booted it down the road in my eyes.

God knows what they’re planning but as @Ossydave mentioned…feels like a possible exit? Could get bumpy…

 

[Neal]

55 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

A failing business that's preparing for either a takeover or administration either stops spending completely or cuts right back to the bare minimum. We can only dream its the former. The 'plan' based on those transfers is clearly not one for the future, it's one that gets us through to May (with a bit of luck avoiding relegation).

 

One thing that's keeping spirits up this morning is the tiny bit of hope that they've shelved the singings in case they lose the court case and then plan to leave. 

[Waggy76]

8 minutes ago, Neal said:

 

One thing that's keeping spirits up this morning is the tiny bit of hope that they've shelved the singings in case they lose the court case and then plan to leave. 

 

[roverandout]

28 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

In terms of short term, yes. I think the recruitment team have nailed the signings the manager has asked for on the budget they’ve been given. I also think this means we’ll stay up, potentially finish mid table and maybe flutter our eyelashes at the top 6….just my opinion.

But I am DREADING the summer. We’ve just made the problem bigger, stuck a plaster on it and booted it down the road in my eyes.

God knows what they’re planning but as @Ossydave mentioned…feels like a possible exit? Could get bumpy…

 

If its because of an exit strategy then it's been a great window.  If not its been abysmal yet again.  No future planning.  Just cheap and not so cheerful.  We are in for a long hard season.  Bottom 6 is far more likely than top 6

[Bronzed A Donis]

We needed experiencd , we've at least got that. In isolation there is some rationale there. If McFadzean is a 6 month horrible , shouty, gouge your eyes at set pieces kind of guy that will spit a few verbals , then we've been missing that. Fleck I've no idea, came so out of the blue, it feels like us begging an agent to throw us a bone. I hope he can find 6 months and see us over the line.

The young loans , I don't see the need for and  i would love to ask the rationale on how these fit into the 'model' unless significantly better than what we have it undermines the 'model' and to coin a phrase blocks pathways. Feels to me like we just want to keep clubs sweet rather than what will be the best for Blackburn Rovers.

Maguire, hope he can get up to speed in the time we have him. Regardless,  we won't be signing him.

Our starting XI is weaker than on December 31st IMO.

On July 1st we have an even smaller squad,  without any assets to cash in on and without our best player.

It's a patch up job to limp to survival, this was always the aim. "The project has changed". Their is no intention to plan for a long term improvement of the club, its let's see what we can push on and sell without reinvestment above bare minimum, it's been this way since they walked in.

The venkys have pulled the plug on permanent transfer fees going out that came out around the Maguire deal should have alarm bells ringing in some of fanbase.

The nature of every single incoming transfer in this window,  absolutely confirms to me we sold Wharton to keep the lights on until the summer and that there is no guarantee of funds beyond this whilst our overlords are under investigation. This should be first question Andy Bayes et al ask.

Along with who or what the hell do we sell next time and the next time....until there is nothing left of any value we can borrow against or tout around??

2016/17 vibes.

 

Edited February 2 by Bronzed A Donis
Typos

[RoverDom]

6 hours ago, Silas said:

An abysmal spelling of yesterday. 

Inadvertently got it spot on - turd in deed. 

[roverblue]

I know they wont but Waggot or Broughton need to come out and explain exactly what the f is going on.

They cant hide from the fact with Raya and Wharton being sold that it’s roughly £25m coming into the club.

They can’t hide from the fact we have butchered the squad of experience and saleable assets meaning the wage bill must be massively lower than it was in the last few seasons.

What is the plan for £25m and will some or any of it be reinvested?

Until that becomes clear they can stick my season ticket up their ass for next year.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Mixed feelings over the window. Considering where we were yesterday morning, to pull three signings out of the bag isn’t bad going and at least we got McGuire over the line.

The Travis move makes less sense than all the others. Exactly the type of player we need but clearly off the pitch factors played a part.

Wharton hurts. The money is good but the timing clearly speaks to the dire financial situation we’re in. If Wharton going secures the club’s medium term financial future than so be it - but it’s going to need to be a big summer to fill all the gaps in the squad and justify the sale of our biggest asset.

Also, Elliott Jackson is completely out of the loop with what’s going on at the club. Declared everything was done after McGuire and was feeding off other journalists all day.

[Mattyblue]

1 hour ago, Ossydave said:

Clearly looking at quantity over quality for the window.

Can't wait for Greg to say how delighted he is to get 7 (I think) 'bodies through the door' with that creepy smirk on his face 🤮

 

‘These lads fit how Jon wants to play, certainly not just any available loans and frees’.

’We want to be an established and sustainable Championship club like I’ve always said… and Oceania has always been at war with East Asia.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

2 minutes ago, roverblue said:

I know they wont but Waggot or Broughton need to come out and explain exactly what the f is going on.

They cant hide from the fact with Raya and Wharton being sold that it’s roughly £25m coming into the club.

They can’t hide from the fact we have butchered the squad of experience and saleable assets meaning the wage bill must be massively lower than it was in the last few seasons.

What is the plan for £25m and will some or any of it be reinvested?

Until that becomes clear they can stick my season ticket up their ass for next year.

Raya hasn’t actually been sold yet has he?

Butchered the squad is a bit strong. Wharton obviously was first choice but Travis and Ennis barely featured. Hill wasn’t our decision. Wharton was the only (although a major) asset we sold unless you consider Ennis to be a significant loss (?).

[Ewood Bobbler]

Wow, the optimism for any signing can emphatically dissipate with a simple scroll through this forum.

So, to recap, on the last day our deals are.... 

Fleck.... Not long ago I'd argue he was a big upgrade on Travis. A guy with bite, who covered the ground and who undeniably had far more goals in his locker. Whether he can still hack it at this level remains to be seen but I'm not writing him off because he is 32. Jury out yet but surely a reason to be quietly optimistic, especially when there is an Adam Wharton sized hole to fill and a manager crying out for more experience.  

On top of this Travis is still our player. If he really is all that then he will be playing for a promotion pushing team and his value will only increase with good performances. He gets the chance to prove why he should play for us or gets us a bigger fee than we would get for him now. Win win. 

On top of this we manage to sign a USA International, certainly one of our top targets, who has scored 15 goals in 37 games at the tender age of 22. Raw prospect but hopefully plenty of growth in him and we get him on a try before you buy basis so if he turns out badly we aren't hugely out of pocket.

Backed this up with a young Liverpool kid who has the physicality to hopefully stop us conceding quite so many soft goals. Admittedly he hasn't had the best loans previously and I am honest enough to admit I have seen nothing of him to form a good basis but there must be a reason he is still at Liverpool.

I rate Ayari. I don't care what happened at Cov. There is a brilliant player there. McFazdean another vastly experienced player that has stood out when playing against him and has the physicality to outmuscle and bully if his legs are still there at 37. O'Riordan was beloved by Crewe fans and hopefully a real steal of a player with plenty of potential and Chrisene looks good when moving forward with the ball. All fairly positive, no? 

I remember years ago reading through the comments on here. They sounded out our decline and several posters were actively praying for relegation and hoping we got beat which I found bizarre. They wanted rid of the woeful manager at the helm, who at the time was Mowbray and called for us to bin the worst player they'd ever seen, that player was JRC. My response must have been quite inflammatory as it was immediately blocked. 

I was similarly angered at the tripe dished out when we signed Szmodics. He doesn't look too bad now does he? 

To my knowledge this is my first post since. I don't know if it will see the light of day either. I certainly expect more to disagree than agree. 

Yes, we have massively cut costs. Yes we aren't run well, (the on/off nature of the McGuire deal was a fiasco) but recruiting the kinds of players JDT asks for whilst not spending vast amounts highlights to me a job well done in the end. 

Our future may well be determined in the Indian courts. Venkys for all of their failings have never shirked putting money in. Hopefully they are allowed to continue to do so and in the summer we can finally begin a Brentford model of reinvestment based on selling players of the calibre of Adam rather than letting them walk for free. 

If this isn't the case then maybe I understand the doom and gloom of some posters but until then I'm fairly content with the job done by Broughton in this window despite him having both of his hands tied behind his back. 

Despite the soft underbelly and the injuries we have suffered this season some of our football has been fantastic to watch and I for one am optimistic if we can keep JDT and offer him better players in the summer then we really could turn around some of the pessimistic followers and look forward to a brighter future. 

[Waggy76]

I think that's me done , first went on in 1969 been a season ticket holder 41 of the last 43 years ...

We had no money in the 70s and 80s but everyone pulled together...

I said when we were deliberately relegated, from the Premier League 13 years ago , that we would never return..

Next season, I will not be going unless the Venkys have left ....

[Mattyblue]

‘Doom and gloom’. This place ay, right bunch of negative nellies, aren’t they. Wonder what’s happened over 13 years to bring that on?

[matt83]

I’ll have a pint of what he’s having please. 

[RTM08]

Fleck is a good player, but that's what, 5 out of 6 who could leave in the summer?

Absolutely zero long term strategy. 

[BigHoz]

I don’t do much taking I just like to read, the worrying thing is, if you go on Facebook/X fans think we’re going to win the league and have had an excellent window. You come in here and reality hits you. The fan base couldn’t be more apart. 

[Blue blood]

15 minutes ago, Ewood Bobbler said:

Wow, the optimism for any signing can emphatically dissipate with a simple scroll through this forum.

So, to recap, on the last day our deals are.... 

Fleck.... Not long ago I'd argue he was a big upgrade on Travis. A guy with bite, who covered the ground and who undeniably had far more goals in his locker. Whether he can still hack it at this level remains to be seen but I'm not writing him off because he is 32. Jury out yet but surely a reason to be quietly optimistic, especially when there is an Adam Wharton sized hole to fill and a manager crying out for more experience.  

On top of this Travis is still our player. If he really is all that then he will be playing for a promotion pushing team and his value will only increase with good performances. He gets the chance to prove why he should play for us or gets us a bigger fee than we would get for him now. Win win. 

On top of this we manage to sign a USA International, certainly one of our top targets, who has scored 15 goals in 37 games at the tender age of 22. Raw prospect but hopefully plenty of growth in him and we get him on a try before you buy basis so if he turns out badly we aren't hugely out of pocket.

Backed this up with a young Liverpool kid who has the physicality to hopefully stop us conceding quite so many soft goals. Admittedly he hasn't had the best loans previously and I am honest enough to admit I have seen nothing of him to form a good basis but there must be a reason he is still at Liverpool.

I rate Ayari. I don't care what happened at Cov. There is a brilliant player there. McFazdean another vastly experienced player that has stood out when playing against him and has the physicality to outmuscle and bully if his legs are still there at 37. O'Riordan was beloved by Crewe fans and hopefully a real steal of a player with plenty of potential and Chrisene looks good when moving forward with the ball. All fairly positive, no? 

I remember years ago reading through the comments on here. They sounded out our decline and several posters were actively praying for relegation and hoping we got beat which I found bizarre. They wanted rid of the woeful manager at the helm, who at the time was Mowbray and called for us to bin the worst player they'd ever seen, that player was JRC. My response must have been quite inflammatory as it was immediately blocked. 

I was similarly angered at the tripe dished out when we signed Szmodics. He doesn't look too bad now does he? 

To my knowledge this is my first post since. I don't know if it will see the light of day either. I certainly expect more to disagree than agree. 

Yes, we have massively cut costs. Yes we aren't run well, (the on/off nature of the McGuire deal was a fiasco) but recruiting the kinds of players JDT asks for whilst not spending vast amounts highlights to me a job well done in the end. 

Our future may well be determined in the Indian courts. Venkys for all of their failings have never shirked putting money in. Hopefully they are allowed to continue to do so and in the summer we can finally begin a Brentford model of reinvestment based on selling players of the calibre of Adam rather than letting them walk for free. 

If this isn't the case then maybe I understand the doom and gloom of some posters but until then I'm fairly content with the job done by Broughton in this window despite him having both of his hands tied behind his back. 

Despite the soft underbelly and the injuries we have suffered this season some of our football has been fantastic to watch and I for one am optimistic if we can keep JDT and offer him better players in the summer then we really could turn around some of the pessimistic followers and look forward to a brighter future. 

That's a barefaced lie. Couple of examples being the state of Ewood Park and the pitch. Both exempt from FFP, neither maintained appropriately. 

Even if it were true- which it isn't- that's like praising a mad axe murderer for not coming grannies out of their pensions. 

[Bronzed A Donis]

6 minutes ago, Ewood Bobbler said:

Wow, the optimism for any signing can emphatically dissipate with a simple scroll through this forum.

So, to recap, on the last day our deals are.... 

Fleck.... Not long ago I'd argue he was a big upgrade on Travis. A guy with bite, who covered the ground and who undeniably had far more goals in his locker. Whether he can still hack it at this level remains to be seen but I'm not writing him off because he is 32. Jury out yet but surely a reason to be quietly optimistic, especially when there is an Adam Wharton sized hole to fill and a manager crying out for more experience.  

On top of this Travis is still our player. If he really is all that then he will be playing for a promotion pushing team and his value will only increase with good performances. He gets the chance to prove why he should play for us or gets us a bigger fee than we would get for him now. Win win. 

On top of this we manage to sign a USA International, certainly one of our top targets, who has scored 15 goals in 37 games at the tender age of 22. Raw prospect but hopefully plenty of growth in him and we get him on a try before you buy basis so if he turns out badly we aren't hugely out of pocket.

Backed this up with a young Liverpool kid who has the physicality to hopefully stop us conceding quite so many soft goals. Admittedly he hasn't had the best loans previously and I am honest enough to admit I have seen nothing of him to form a good basis but there must be a reason he is still at Liverpool.

I rate Ayari. I don't care what happened at Cov. There is a brilliant player there. McFazdean another vastly experienced player that has stood out when playing against him and has the physicality to outmuscle and bully if his legs are still there at 37. O'Riordan was beloved by Crewe fans and hopefully a real steal of a player with plenty of potential and Chrisene looks good when moving forward with the ball. All fairly positive, no? 

I remember years ago reading through the comments on here. They sounded out our decline and several posters were actively praying for relegation and hoping we got beat which I found bizarre. They wanted rid of the woeful manager at the helm, who at the time was Mowbray and called for us to bin the worst player they'd ever seen, that player was JRC. My response must have been quite inflammatory as it was immediately blocked. 

I was similarly angered at the tripe dished out when we signed Szmodics. He doesn't look too bad now does he? 

To my knowledge this is my first post since. I don't know if it will see the light of day either. I certainly expect more to disagree than agree. 

Yes, we have massively cut costs. Yes we aren't run well, (the on/off nature of the McGuire deal was a fiasco) but recruiting the kinds of players JDT asks for whilst not spending vast amounts highlights to me a job well done in the end. 

Our future may well be determined in the Indian courts. Venkys for all of their failings have never shirked putting money in. Hopefully they are allowed to continue to do so and in the summer we can finally begin a Brentford model of reinvestment based on selling players of the calibre of Adam rather than letting them walk for free. 

If this isn't the case then maybe I understand the doom and gloom of some posters but until then I'm fairly content with the job done by Broughton in this window despite him having both of his hands tied behind his back. 

Despite the soft underbelly and the injuries we have suffered this season some of our football has been fantastic to watch and I for one am optimistic if we can keep JDT and offer him better players in the summer then we really could turn around some of the pessimistic followers and look forward to a brighter future. 

I absolutely respect your opinion and its good to read a different perspective on things. 

Some of the football at times has been good to watch agreed, but we are 18th and concede a bucketful. 

We all want the players to do well and wish them the best for the club.

The players aren't the issue, like all signings some will be good some not so, only way to judge is let it play out. 

I think what concerns myself is there is more evidence of a Reading/Portsmouth than a Brentford model. I personally agree that's the way to go, I just don't think we have the expertise,  long term planning,  scouting structures,  budgets or competence to achieve it based on the last 13 years.

It's always next year...next window. I'd be amazed and delighted if we reinvested into a coherent recruitment strategy with a plan to challenge. I just don't think we will.

By our own CEOs admission survival in the Championship and selling anyone decent is our aim, which doesn't really tally with a club looking to push on, of course just my opinion.

Buy yay we've got some players for 6 months...

 

[M_B]

2 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

That's a barefaced lie. Couple of examples being the state of Ewood Park and the pitch. Both exempt from FFP, neither maintained appropriately. 

Even if it were true- which it isn't- that's like praising a mad axe murderer for not coming grannies out of their pensions. 

Andy Bayes was gushing in his praise for the groundsman on radio Lancashire before the Wrexham game, saying what a good job he'd done. 

[martonrover]

4 minutes ago, RTM08 said:

Fleck is a good player, but that's what, 5 out of 6 who could leave in the summer?

Absolutely zero long term strategy. 

Spot on.

Not exactly the Brentford or Brighton model.

I can't believe there are people who actually believe the Wharton money will be spent in the Summer.

So we will start from scratch, begging and borrowing.

[RoverDom]

I won't pass any judgement on the players we've bought in until we've seen them play. I agree with the post above about players being written off too early. This liverpool lad for example could be Mola or he could be Hill.

However what we can pass judgement on is that our already threadbare squad has been plugged with 7-8 players who won't be here next season. We've kicked the can down the road but I don't think we'll see any of the Wharton money to bolster the squad. We've had to sell Wharton to keep the lights on and in the process we've kneecapped our manager, DoF and the whole recruitment team 

[Lancaster Rover]

I’m well chuffed with Fleck, the midfield has been crying out for more experience and protection. He brings both in spades and a bit of much needed bite to boot.

I’m interested to see how the shape looks over the next few games. 4-2-3-1 seems the most obvious with Fleck and Tronstad as the 2. Although I wonder if he seems Garret sitting with Tronstad and Fleck as the 3 giving extra protection in the advanced 3. 
 

With Dolan and Sam returning there is a lot of competition for forward places now, given that Sammie is a guaranteed starter. When Hedges comes back it could be really tight. Shame Leonard didn’t get a loan as I can now see him spending a lot of time in the 23’s or getting 5 mins at the end of a game which won’t aid his development 

[davulsukur]

A truly abysmal window. All we've done is paper over the cracks. 

IF we stay up, it's likely due to the players we already had prior to the window.

So, the plan all along was to sell Wharton and spend nothing. "The project" has been a smokescreen.

[roverblue]

32 minutes ago, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

Raya hasn’t actually been sold yet has he?

Butchered the squad is a bit strong. Wharton obviously was first choice but Travis and Ennis barely featured. Hill wasn’t our decision. Wharton was the only (although a major) asset we sold unless you consider Ennis to be a significant loss (?).

Sorry should have been clearer I’m talking over the last few seasons. Dack, Brereton, Ayala, Rothwell, Lenihan, Kaminski basically anyone with experience and a high wage. 

We would be lucky to name a first eleven and bench with players we actually own when all these loans and short term deals end.

[roversfan99]

30 minutes ago, Ewood Bobbler said:

Wow, the optimism for any signing can emphatically dissipate with a simple scroll through this forum.

So, to recap, on the last day our deals are.... 

Fleck.... Not long ago I'd argue he was a big upgrade on Travis. A guy with bite, who covered the ground and who undeniably had far more goals in his locker. Whether he can still hack it at this level remains to be seen but I'm not writing him off because he is 32. Jury out yet but surely a reason to be quietly optimistic, especially when there is an Adam Wharton sized hole to fill and a manager crying out for more experience.  

On top of this Travis is still our player. If he really is all that then he will be playing for a promotion pushing team and his value will only increase with good performances. He gets the chance to prove why he should play for us or gets us a bigger fee than we would get for him now. Win win. 

On top of this we manage to sign a USA International, certainly one of our top targets, who has scored 15 goals in 37 games at the tender age of 22. Raw prospect but hopefully plenty of growth in him and we get him on a try before you buy basis so if he turns out badly we aren't hugely out of pocket.

Backed this up with a young Liverpool kid who has the physicality to hopefully stop us conceding quite so many soft goals. Admittedly he hasn't had the best loans previously and I am honest enough to admit I have seen nothing of him to form a good basis but there must be a reason he is still at Liverpool.

I rate Ayari. I don't care what happened at Cov. There is a brilliant player there. McFazdean another vastly experienced player that has stood out when playing against him and has the physicality to outmuscle and bully if his legs are still there at 37. O'Riordan was beloved by Crewe fans and hopefully a real steal of a player with plenty of potential and Chrisene looks good when moving forward with the ball. All fairly positive, no? 

I remember years ago reading through the comments on here. They sounded out our decline and several posters were actively praying for relegation and hoping we got beat which I found bizarre. They wanted rid of the woeful manager at the helm, who at the time was Mowbray and called for us to bin the worst player they'd ever seen, that player was JRC. My response must have been quite inflammatory as it was immediately blocked. 

I was similarly angered at the tripe dished out when we signed Szmodics. He doesn't look too bad now does he? 

To my knowledge this is my first post since. I don't know if it will see the light of day either. I certainly expect more to disagree than agree. 

Yes, we have massively cut costs. Yes we aren't run well, (the on/off nature of the McGuire deal was a fiasco) but recruiting the kinds of players JDT asks for whilst not spending vast amounts highlights to me a job well done in the end. 

Our future may well be determined in the Indian courts. Venkys for all of their failings have never shirked putting money in. Hopefully they are allowed to continue to do so and in the summer we can finally begin a Brentford model of reinvestment based on selling players of the calibre of Adam rather than letting them walk for free. 

If this isn't the case then maybe I understand the doom and gloom of some posters but until then I'm fairly content with the job done by Broughton in this window despite him having both of his hands tied behind his back. 

Despite the soft underbelly and the injuries we have suffered this season some of our football has been fantastic to watch and I for one am optimistic if we can keep JDT and offer him better players in the summer then we really could turn around some of the pessimistic followers and look forward to a brighter future. 

Weve had to go on a spree of signing players on short term contracts in a season that is practically dead already because the owners have just stopped any funding at all despite receiving a club record fee.

This myth keeps being repeated that they never shirk putting money in. Theyve not spent more than 2m on a player in 5 years. They are the only owners in the league that get praised by some people that in a league where costs tend to be higher than income, they offset that by raising shares, the only alternative to this funding would be to not pay creditors and go into administation. 

All after 13 years of hell. Not one top 6 Championship finish. Weird how people are so run down by it all.