1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

I see trevor sinclair has made a complete twat of himself and made himself unemployable. 

Yeah he's made an arse of himself but calls for him to be sacked for expressing an opinion are ludicrous. Should be sacked because he is a shite at his job

5 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I'm incredulous at this decision which achieves absolutely nothing. It will cost people money who have booked transport, hotels and other things. People who work in the stadiums will not be paid when many would have been relying on the money to help pay bills and the like. It's simple to me. Anybody who wasn't comfortable going to watch a match don't go but to postpone every single game in disproportionate to the feelings of, I would hazard a guess, the majority of fans.

It's this Nanny State we live in that treats us like kids and makes decisions for us.

Agreed its ludicrous. I get that it's a massive deal and people will be genuinely mourning but why do we have to force it upon everyone?  Will I be in mourning whether I like it or not? 

We'll only cancel recreational activities though - work can go ahead as planned. 

Just applied to be on countdown!!!

In my opinion VAR shouldn't get involved until someone on the pitch requests it - so either

1) A team requests a review of a particular decision - e.g. 1 appeal per team per half, if its unsuccessful you lose it and the team has to be clear what they're appealing so they couldn't speculatively review a goal they have to state what the offence was

Or

2) The referree requests it e.g  if he didn't have a clear view of an incident and needs another look at it. 

VAR was meant to stop howlers, not referee the game to an academic 100% of the rules

Most decisions are subjective and we therefore need to have a "referees call" where they stick with the on field decision. I guess we have that already as they often say "if he'd given it VAR wouldn't have overturned it" but it needs to be more explicit. 

59 minutes ago, arbitro said:

In my view Stockley Park should be staffed by ex players, managers or people who understand the game and not referees who all work together in the same group. Anybody can learn the Laws of the Game in a week and that, coupled with knowledge of the game and players will make the system much better and the nonsense decisions we have seen yesterday and in the past would mostly be made correctly.

Agreed. Decisions don't need to be re-refereed they just need someone to shout over the mic "I think there could have been a handball in there, do you want to take another look at it." Then they need someone with an understanding of the game but not an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules to just chat through it. 

When you hear some of the justifications behind VAR decisions it comes across so academic and divorced from the reality of the game 

7 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

How terrible were the corners again today?

Too many short corners. Can't stand them. If you take a short corner and the ball doesn't even make it into the box then you look a dick. 

22 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Trav agreed a deal in March just gone. Here til 2026.

I thought it was odd he was on the list and thought he'd recently signed a deal but my concept of time has been obliterated these past few months. 

Jumping the gun a bit but looking ahead to next summer the following are out of contract according to transfermarkt 

Morton - loan

Hirst - option to buy

Mola - option to buy

Ayala 

Dack - 1 year option 

Travis - shouldn't be too difficult to agree new deal

BBD - defo going

Vale - can only see him leaving if he does crap

So that will be 8 out of the door. I know it's been mentioned that you don't have time to build a squad in this league but I think JDT can be afforded a season to grow. There's 8 potentials leaving, if 3 of them do well we can retain them (dack and the options to buy), Travis and Vale I can't see being too difficult to persuade to stay so it's Morton, BBD and Ayala that are the ones that will need replacing (ayala could even stay). I think if we miss out on play offs this season then we've got a good shot at pushing for them next season. 

17 hours ago, bluebruce said:

He's fucking ridiculous! Absolute class, all in one match too. That's better than a lot of players highlights reels.

(Yeh I know it's been posted above, it plays better on the mobile with youtube though)

His slide tackle on Bowler around 1:18 is just majestic. 

55 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here's my end of year assessment now its all over, based on what I've seen so far and their current reputation within the game:

 

Successful recruitment

Lenihan replaced with Hyam

Nyambe replaced with Brittain

 

Unsuccessful recruitment

Rothwell replaced with Szmodics

Van Hecke replaced with Mola

 

Additional option based on last season, improvement to squad

George Hirst

Tyler Morton

Hayden Carter (loaned out last season, doesn't count as recruitment)

Dilian Markanday (injured last season, doesn't count as recruitment)

Adam Wharton (promoted, doesn't count as recruitment)

Ashley Phillips (promoted, doesn't count as recruitment)

 

Used last season, not replaced

Johnson used, not replaced

Zeefuik used, not replaced

Davenport unused, but an option, not replaced

 

Unused last season, didn't need to be replaced

Chapman unused, not replaced

Stergiakis unused, not replaced

Magloire unused, not replaced

Butterworth unused, loaned out

Brown unused, not replaced

What do I take from this? Well...

1) GB & JDT felt that we didn't need a replacement for Zeefuik and that Brown wasn't up to the standard. Brittain is clearly first choice, I would assume Carter is second and then we plan to use Buckley/Travis as cover if needed.

2) GB & JDT felt that despite Markanday coming back from injury, we needed another striker. A lot of pressure is on Hirst to deliver in that role, he's never played in this league. 

3) GB & JDT don't want two 'bruisers' in central midfielder. Travis fills this role and as captain will start every game. If he's injured I wonder what the plan would be. 

4) We have a lot of central defensive options - Ayala, Wharton, Hyam, Carter, Phillips, Mola - perhaps a signal of 3 at the back? 

5) GB & JDT thought the squad was slightly too big last season.

Good little summary. I'd say Dack is now an option we didn't really have last year. 

On point 5 - I'd say that's a fair assessment given you've got 6 outgoing players listed as "unused". It feels a slightly smaller squad but they'll all get used. 

13 minutes ago, superniko said:

How would people line-up at full fitness now then? (with the obvious caveat of unknown capabilities of some signings)

Kaminski

Brittain - Hyam - Wharton - Pickering

Wharton - Travis - Morton

Dack

Hedges - Brereton

 

Subs: Pears, Ayala, Mola, Buckley, Szmodics, Gallagher, Hirst

Backup: Carter, Philips, Edun, JRC, Garrett, Dolan, Vale

 

Perhaps I'd start Ayala, when fully fit he's one of the best in the leauge.

If Ayala, Hyam and Wharton are all fit it's a real head scratcher as to who starts for me. However I'd guess that situation will be a rarity to be honest. I like Ayala but for fitness reasons maybe Hyam for a settled back line

In midfield, Travis starts. Wharton if he can consistently produce like he did in the last game should be starting but that's a lot of pressure and expectation for a young lad but if he can handle it then great. If not i'm more than happy with Morton. 

Kaminski

Brittan - Hyam - Wharton - Pickering*

Travis Wharton 

Hedges Dack BBD

Hirst 

*or Mola if he can do a job there but I don't know much about him

32 minutes ago, JHRover said:

For example next summer as things stand (if not before) we will lose numerous players including Brereton and Ayala who have been key this season.

Out of interest, does anyone have a list of those who will be out of contract in the summer. 

Will ayala not have a year option as seems to be the norm these days? 

12 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Love this messageboard. Some really good well balanced commentary.

You clearly weren't paying attention when there was a big gap between transfers 🤣🤣

58 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

I knew Hirst was happening Saturday, but having been burnt before i was unsure if to post it but opted to do so, as its a discussion board.

Right or wrong I enjoy hearing rumours so my vote would be post what you hear and ignore the nobheads. As long as they're not total fabrication it's always interesting to hear. 

Happy with the window on the whole. Hoped we'd get another attacker with a bit of wow factor - bit like the elliot loan felt exciting but it wasn't to be. 

If we're judging the squad now vs this time last year we have to look beyond just the signings. Dack is back + Wharton and Phillips have emerged + other youth who may or may not prove useful. I'm happy with the squad, I think play offs will be a push but I thought that last year as well and we exceeded expectations massively. 

Keeping BBD till atleast January is massive as well. 

10 minutes ago, J*B said:

Big effort guys. You’re actually on 746 including hidden posts. We need 254 pages on nonsense in the next 48 hours before the thread gets locked. 

I'll help. 

Loan to buy? Wtf is that? Can someone explain it to me

4 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

No, we won't think it's worth giving Phillips and Wharton £10 k p.w.

We won't want to upset the rest of the lads and will be happy to watch another £115m worth of talent walk out of the door.

That's the thing. It's one thing losing Nyambe and Lenihan but we've got some serious talent on our hands in those two players. We need to be switched on with their contracts, from a business point of view its tens of millions that could walk on a free if not - rather than the 1m it took to upgrade Nyambe

Got away with that one!

Two people who should have been subbed at half time to make it back for their 9pm bed time are bossing the centre of the park

2 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

I’m flattered Jim, but I’ve got the figure of someone that can play, but likes crisps and bevs too much.

Dack?

5 month warning.....

11 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

In 3 and half seasons, last number half a season he scored.

28

25

21

11

 

If thats a busted flush i give up, only Shearer in the last 30 odd years returned those type of figures consistently 

It's no wonder this spot gets called the negative blackburn rovers forum is it?