That *was* the January Window

[RV Blue]

Fleck hasn’t started a game all season, played 89 minutes in total, how anyone can say he’s a genuine Wharton replacement with a straight face is beyond me.

McFadzean hasn’t even played a single game since early November.

McGuire is in the middle of his preseason.

Don’t even get me started on the Liverpool kid.

I’m not even particularly bothered about ‘the model’ that Greg’s been banging on about at this point, which these signings completely go against, we needed players who could make an immediate impact.

SHITE.

[Torgeir]

2 minutes ago, RV Blue said:

Fleck hasn’t started a game all season, played 89 minutes in total, how anyone can say he’s a genuine Wharton replacement with a straight face is beyond me.

McFadzean hasn’t even played a single game since early November.

McGuire is in the middle of his preseason.

Don’t even get me started on the Liverpool kid.

I’m not even particularly bothered about ‘the model’ that Greg’s been banging on about at this point, which these signings completely go against, we needed players who could make an immediate impact.

SHITE.

McFadzean hasn't played since November, but he has at least trained. Fleck I'm a little more concerned about and probably was an option presented to us late last night as we couldn't pull off someone a bit safer, and with more promise.

 

JDT has expressed a need for experience and Gregg has delivered both that and some promising players (O'Riordan and McGuire), and some short-term back up from Villa and Pool.

[arbitro]

Fleck I subject to EFL approval? Has this been officially confirmed yet?

 

[Upside Down]

10 minutes ago, pick32 said:

Got enough body’s in and decent experience to keep us in the division, hopefully we can then see some of that £25-£30million reinvested in the summer window, squad needs an overhaul don’t mind a mass exodus at the end of this season

None of that money will be reinvested in the squad and come summer when we're all asking 'what about the Wharton money?' we'll get some lecture from a brainless cretin saying "U need two lurn about ffp get behind Ur teem FFS!"

[Norbert Rassragr]

I think we're trying to reconstruct some sort of hybrid Coventry City team. Hyam, McFadzean, Fleck all played for them. Next we will get Strachan as manager should JDT resign, and sign Cyrus Christie, Jordan Shipley and Tyler Walker.

[Beanie01289]

21 minutes ago, rob_of_the_rovers said:

What's to stop some other team buying him instead if he does well enough?

because we have the option to make it permanent 

[Miller11]

8 minutes ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

I think we're trying to reconstruct some sort of hybrid Coventry City team. Hyam, McFadzean, Fleck all played for them. Next we will get Strachan as manager should JDT resign, and sign Cyrus Christie, Jordan Shipley and Tyler Walker.

Fleck didn’t cross over with Hyam and McFadzean. He was there at the same time as Waggott though.

With the new age profile approach I’d be keeping an eye out for Peter Ndlovu.

Edited February 2 by Miller11

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

I honestly can't say I'm too disappointed simply because I've learned over the past thirteen years that getting my hopes up only leads to anger and frustration. The objective to me was simple - raise some money to keep the lights on at Ewood and Adam Wharton was the collateral damage here. We have sold the family silver and in that respect have played our last ace as there really isn't another Adam in the pipeline right now. This 'project' that Broughton babbled on about has gone into reverse as we have signed aging players albeit on short of loan deals and our best Academy player arguably ever has gone, gone too early in my view. No doubt we will hear about how we are planning for the summer now, how January is a difficult market etc. The recruitment department has failed massively here as the panic signings of the last few days have proved.

Im not sure you can pin this on the recruitment department, as much as (with Broughton as the figurehead) I dont think that our recruitment has improved pound for pound since their arrival.

The short termism of our January window is squarely on the owners. When youve got no money to reinvest, mid season with no players out of contract, the only real option is the loan market, and even then we seem to have been going for the cheapest loans.

The project is the right idea but will never happen under these owners. Broughton, Tomasson, Mowbray, they all said the same and correct things but we never get any sales proceeds to reinvest.

2 hours ago, Andy said:

Agree with this.

It was far from a 10/10 window, but there are some obviously exaggerated reactions.

But you have to bear in mind that this community seems to have a disproportionate negative outlook as opposed to the wider fan base (rightly or wrongly).

The lad from Crewe does look a prospect and the American boy is intriguing as well.

As for the rest, well we certainly added experience and some numbers, so let’s see how it all pans out.

Nothing has changed my mind that we’ll be closer to the top 6 than the bottom 6 in May (10 points and a game in hand on 6th at the time of writing - even after a horror run of form).

The worry will be what happens in the summer, with owners/funding/etc, but we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

"Disproportionate negative outlook."

Behave. Weve just received a club record fee and none of it has been reinvested. It cant even be put down to not having targets lined up because we had McGuire all agreed permanently, the owners have seemingly not allowrd it and we had to grovel for a loan so if we do sign him we are worse off.

Being frustrated and angry is surely logical when you see no money made available and weve taken such a short term approach to a season which is practically dead already.

[Exiled_Rover]

58 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Went to bed last night after the McGuire signing very disillusioned and actually was going to come on here and ask for Waggots and Broughtons e mail addresses to let them know what I thought of their transfer window.

Woke up to find we had signed John Fleck (on another short term deal admittedly) and after some thought I am hoping this is the case :

Certainly we lacked leaders and experience as admitted by JDT and these two certainly bring both of those qualities without doubt.

I should know better after all this time with these owners , but I am prepared to accept that the Wharton money may have come to late to do any major deals and to possibly make some mistakes by panic signings

IF that money is made available in the Summer (and it won't be £18m) then it gives the recruitment team breathing space to identify targets.

Let's see if Broughton confirms that in his post window assessment. If not I'll be back on asking for those e mail addresses 

A. Wharton knew he was going on Monday night. He's been in London since at least Wednesday.

The money was there to be spent they've clearly simply been told they're not allowed to spend it.

[Exiled_Rover]

50 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

It’s vital we get some assurance from GB about summer. Unlike Waggot he’s not a cold lier.

As a temporary fix this squad is okay, really think Fleck will make a difference and for me he’s the signing of the window along with the Crewe lad.

We just need confidence that replacements will be made in summer.

Why is it vital?

He thought he'd be allowed to buy McGuire outright before Waggot / the owners pulled the plug on all permanent transfers.

He's as much in the dark as we are.

[Rover8T4]

These short term deals and players who have contract ending unless we activate the extra year in the summer, suggests a summer overhaul with the squad. Wether money is invested or not swag needs to address the fans with the plan going forward. I for one can't trust anything he says, He needs to fulfil his promises and vision for the club and he has the funds and opportunity to do so

[tugayislegend]

38 minutes ago, rob_of_the_rovers said:

What's to stop some other team buying him instead if he does well enough?

We will have first dibs

[Torgeir]

25 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Fleck I subject to EFL approval? Has this been officially confirmed yet?

 

Must be because they left it so late?

[47er]

42 minutes ago, Torgeir said:

make sense

If only!

[Armchair supporter supremo]

I just cant get my head around the official rovers Facebook comments of the signings! 

Particularly with Flecks! You'd think we'd have signed messi(seriously!) what planet are these people from!? You'd assume they were just naive kids posting or somat... But no they're bloody mostly adults. 

And the even slightly pessimistic/realistic comment that gets made causes a wich hunt against you! 

Just pathetic. 

 

I mean dont get me wrong I'd obviously love For Fleck to find his past form and for all the new signings to come good. But Flecks injury record and form in the past few years strongly suggests he's pretty much done as a footballer at this level 

 

And that's not even getting into the fact the clubs just received nearly 20 mill from whartons deal and not a penny of it was reinvested, if it wasn't for the Ellis sale i seriously doubt we'd have signed anybody yesterday 

Edited February 2 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Eddie]

Overall, I don't think it was the worst window that we've seen in recent years, but the real test will be what money is available in the summer and how it is used. We can only hope that the funding issues will have been resolved, the coffers will have been topped up, and, with no FFP excuses, that we have a good shortlist of players to go after in the summer.

Hope springs eternal, but I won't hold my breath. 

We made a couple of sensible additions and added a potential goalscoring threat who will have to be judged in the next 6-18 months. It's not like we're knocking on the door of the playoffs, so I take no real issue with saving some of the spending power for the summer.

Losing Wharton is a real shame, but we all knew it would happen eventually. It happened sooner than we may have hoped, but I do think we got a good fee for him (assuming that there's a decent sell-on clause in there).

It's impossible to not feel saddened by losing a talented player who clearly cared for the club. That is a rare thing these days. We've lost more talented players, but it's been long time since we lost talent who actually had an affinity for Blackburn Rovers and who probably didn't want to jump ship quite as quickly as he did. 

All that being said, last night's performance from Kobbie Mainoo also provided a timely reminder. There's lots of talent out there and those thinking that we've just sold a future England international who will grace multiple Champions League knock-out stages may find that we've overestimated how unique his ability is.

Wharton is replaceable in terms of the actual impact he was having on our squad and performances. He may not be replaceable in terms of a player with that much upside and room for development.

Over to the owners and our CEO to prove that a sensible business model can be achieved at this club. Over to GB and the scouting department to prove that they can make good use of money when it is available.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

Oh! And I've a sneaky suspicion Gallagher will sign a new deal in the coming weeks

[Lancaster Rover]

2 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Oh! And I've a sneaky suspicion Gallagher will sign a new deal in the coming weeks

Ditto

[superniko]

9 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I just cant get my head around the official rovers Facebook comments of the signings! 

Particularly with Flecks! You'd think we'd have signed messi(seriously!) what planet are these people from!? You'd assume they were just naive kids posting or somat... But no they're bloody mostly adults. 

And the even slightly pessimistic/realistic comment that gets made causes a wich hunt against you! 

Just pathetic

Should be expected by now, but I’m pretty much speechless. £22m starlet gone and replaced with 6 month loan or retiree deals. 

It’s just full of this shite……outside chance of playoffs, yeah 250/1 lads - fill your boots

 

[sharpysharps86]

It definitely has a temporary and quantity over quality feel to the window. We've been severely lacking in numbers all season, so its nice for JDT to have a bit more choice. I do have concerns over some of the incomings though. Has a feel of the 2012/13 season, we had so many loans and short term signings that season, and most of them were bang average.

• O'Riordan - Good signing, promising young player that I can see the logic of bringing in as it actually makes sense with what we've been told in regards to 'the model'. Happy with this one but not expecting him to immediately start matches.
• Ayari - Seems to be just a squad player to pad the bench out a bit more. Not seen enough of him to judge but the obvious concern is that he is a bit lightweight and I'm not convinced he's good enough to be starting matches for us.
• Chrisene - Similar to Ayari. I don't see this lad being a regular starter here. Squad player.
• McFadzean - Anything more than a short term deal till the end of the season would be poor business, but I'm ok with it as it is. Will only play if its a back 3 though I imagine, so you have to think that's where we are headed.
• Koumetio - Not a clue. His career so far suggests he's nowhere near good enough and likely to be this seasons Clinton Mola....but hey, Hertha Berlin didn't rate Chris Samba. Clearly another squad player but one that can potentially slot in on the left side of a back 3 if needed.
• McGuire - Would've preferred a permanent deal. I just have a feeling that this lad will be decent for us and be the focal point we've been missing.
• Fleck - On paper a good short term deal but I'm not expecting him to start much at all. An experienced head to come on and help see games out perhaps. Concerned over his recent injury record.

All of the above points towards another summer rebuild, which we've become used to by now. Of the loan or short term players we've signed, I only see McGuire staying on if Rovers can somehow do a deal with Orlando....that's obviously if he does well over here first and foremost. I expect Gallagher to also go in the summer. Does anyone know if Dolan has a 12 month extension clause? If he does then I expect that to be activated.

On paper the squad looks alright at this moment, and when I say alright...I mean good enough to stay in the league.

[KentExile]

16 minutes ago, sharpysharps86 said:

All of the above points towards another summer rebuild, which we've become used to by now. Of the loan or short term players we've signed, I only see McGuire staying on if Rovers can somehow do a deal with Orlando....that's obviously if he does well over here first and foremost. I expect Gallagher to also go in the summer. Does anyone know if Dolan has a 12 month extension clause? If he does then I expect that to be activated.

On paper the squad looks alright at this moment, and when I say alright...I mean good enough to stay in the league.

He does.  So does Gally, but Dolan will be on a much more manageable wage so it is more likely Dolans extension will be triggered than Gallys

[DE.]

Considering the club has in many respects been in consistent decline for the past 13 years, and has at best stagnated in other areas, I'm not really sure how the supposed 'extreme negativity' or pessimism of the wider forum is asynchronous with reality. I can understand wanting to take positives and if you'd rather focus on that then the bigger picture then sure, go for it, but I struggle to understand the need to have outbursts against a supposedly negative outlook that has ultimately been almost always proven right for over a decade. 

[jim mk2]

30 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Oh! And I've a sneaky suspicion Gallagher will sign a new deal in the coming weeks

With money on the table we should have let him go to Ipswich. He had a good game against Wrexham by his standards but just doesn't offer enough at Championship level and I don't see the point in keep picking him with this new US lad on the books. Did Leonard go out on loan anywhere? He certainly needs to because he's another who struggles in the Championship

[Tugayisgod]

50 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

A. Wharton knew he was going on Monday night. He's been in London since at least Wednesday.

The money was there to be spent they've clearly simply been told they're not allowed to spend it.

The deal almost collapsed late Wednesday so he may have been down there, but the money certainly won't have been.

Like I say, after calming down slightly,maybe, just maybe I can now seen some sort of plan.

Short term fixes hopefully get us through to the summer and then have a real go.

I'm hoping the LT are asking the same question of G B when he pops up.

If Fleck is fit I'd give the window 5/10, before that 3/10 at best.

McGuire obviously an unknown quantity, thr other loans don't see making a huge contribution, especially the Liverpool lad

[jny]

28 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I just cant get my head around the official rovers Facebook comments of the signings! 

Particularly with Flecks! You'd think we'd have signed messi(seriously!) what planet are these people from!? You'd assume they were just naive kids posting or somat... But no they're bloody mostly adults. 

And the even slightly pessimistic/realistic comment that gets made causes a wich hunt against you! 

Just pathetic. 

The majority seem to think that ANYONE expressing even slight disapproval of the club's running is down to that person actively hating the club and that if we just "get behind the team" and "stop the moaning" and let everything continue as it is, it'll all be fine.

They don't seem to realise that criticism and drumming up support for protest is pretty much the only recourse we as long-paying (and suffering) supporters have to actually influence how the club is run.

Anyway, welcome to Blackburn, East Lancashire... 🤪