2 minutes ago, Atko's Engine said:

Does anyone know much about Mike van der Hoorn, who's just been released by Swansea?

He's a 27 y/o CB, signed from Ajax 4 years ago; been a regular for them in the last 2 seasons besides a spell out last season with a knee injury. Came back to start in their play off semis.

Seems a good age, and will probably have to accept a wage cut. Not sure why Swansea aren't renewing his deal though.

 

Looks like he's universally loved by Swansea fans, just had a quick look on twitter and can't find anything remotely negative about him, which is a rarity for that absolute cesspit! 

Sounds like he's rated as a player and a bloke, but reading between the lines it sounds as though he's hoping for better than the Championship.

Having said that, I thought the same about Daniel Ayala, and all seems to have gone quiet on that score. 

17 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The oracle speaks.

Made me chucke, that.

On a serious note though, whilst clearly the days of Nixon having the inside track on what goes on at Rovers are behind him, it's not like him to commit himself to anything which could make him look silly in the near future, much prefers to keep it vague or not answer questions when he really doesn't know. I suppose 'decent, but not mad' could mean anything, but at least it might rule out some of the doomsday scenarios that might've seemed possible towards the end of last season.

15 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

Good window - we can make the playoffs

Bad window - we may well get relegated

Mediocre window - another year of mediocrity

Think that's right, although it would need to be a shocker of a window to put us in the relegation frame in my view.

6 minutes ago, Tom said:

I also think Tosin will come back, he’s not likely to break through at City and if he’s shipped off to the championship on loan again then we’d be front of the line 

Davis at Villa when I’ve seen him is great at hold up play and does everything right until it comes to the finish that he often drags wide 

I increasingly think that this is possible - a few months ago I thought he'd be either City's fourth/fifth choice defender or going to a lower Prem club, but now I'm much less confident.

I can see him being a wanted man for other Championship clubs if he was available, and whilst you'd like to think that we'd be towards the front of the queue it wouldn't surprise me if Bournemouth see him as an affordable Ake replacement. 

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Not REALLY related, but Charlton seem to have a  recent knack of having underrated keepers moving on to better teams:

Phillips, Rudd, Pope, Etheridge, Alnwick, Elliott, Randolph in the last decade alone.

I think Carson came from them too, joining Pope as an obvious highlight.

Quite a list when you think that they've spent a good chunk of that time in L1. For his flaws, the only player at Ewood in the same bracket over the same period is Raya.

16 minutes ago, Swanson said:

Same guy that said we had bid for Jordan Jones..

 

Whilst I'm not at all convinced by the look of this fella's twitter account when it comes to reliability, this would be a very good signing I think. Good keeper, good age. Stood out in a struggling side last year. 

2 hours ago, RoverKyle said:

 Downing in centre midfield. Some of our worst football last season was played when Downing played there. It's a big reason why opinions on Downing and whether he should be given another contract changed drastically after Christmas.

2 hours ago, Ewood Ace said:

Downing is one of the worst culprits for slowing the play down.

 

Counter-theory: Downing is excellent at keeping the ball which is an integral part of a team doing well in the style we're (supposedly) moving towards, but becomes ineffective when he's there to be our main creative threat in midfield. 

So a fully fit team with Dack and others who can play a bit means that Downing plays an important role in making us tick. When he's playing a three in midfield with two ball-winners and there's no Dack in front of him, he isn't threatening enough to be our go-to creator and whilst he'll still likely find a Rovers shirt, it won't be in a way that threatens the opposition. 

I didn't see any obvious signs of Downing struggling massively from a physical point of view post lockdown, so I'd lean more towards the changes in the team not suiting him rather than a sign that he's not up to it anymore. I'd be wary of offering him big wages, but I'd still try to fit him within our budget if possible. 

6 minutes ago, Scotland1 said:

Apparently someone has offered Barnsley 2.5 million for Caley Woodrow. 

Good signing for someone - can't see it being us though

Just now, Paul Mani said:

The only money we’re getting from Raya is if they go up. Have you actually watched him play this season? Same shit...sublime to the ridiculous.

Will prob get him a lovely raise though. Beautifully timed with his award too ?

Brentford seem to be on Sky quite a bit, so I've noticed a couple. There was one at Hull which was an incredible error, worse than Walton ever conjured up (although appropriately I think he produced a worldie in the same game if I remember rightly, sublime to ridiculous indeed!)

I still think three million was a bit too cheap given that he's young for that position and there is still time for him to progress into being a very good keeper. But that's obviously not guaranteed by any stretch, so if they go up and we get an extra couple of million we might yet have got the better end of that detail, jury is still out. 

4 minutes ago, neophox said:

Selling Raya was a big mistake. All here knew it.

Certainly for the money - I liked Raya and £3 million wouldn't have been enough to tempt me to sell him. Having said that I think it's possible to over-egg how much he has progressed this season. I) He is playing in a better team who control games and have a defender in Jansson who'll head anything and help Raya out with crosses. II) He's still made a few howlers this year, even if they've come with plenty of clear sheets and the customary lightning reflex saves that he produced here. 

If the rumours are true that we get another couple of million if they go up, then that's not looking a million miles away from reasonable value in my opinion. It remains to be seen if he'll progress enough to be the prem-standard keeper who could expect to command much more than that. 

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Didn't we loan another centre back at that time that looked decent but appeared to be injured most of the time ?

Quite right, Tommie Hoban. His injury record at Rovers followed him elsewhere, released by Watford at the end of last year and currently without a club.

5 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I think the second choice Douglas at Leeds may be a better option. May be able to get him on a season loan like Cunningham was this year too. 

Douglas would be a quality option. I fear that there would be others ahead of us if he becomes available though. 

11 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

I really do think he was a little underrated here.

I think so too. I think we're all prone to exaggeration in one way or another, but I think a few of our players are too harshly judged as 'not championship players', where 'not good enough for a team wanting to get promoted' would be fairer.

Splitting hairs maybe, but Smallwood is definitely in that category for me. 

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

That's the problem, how many games could we realistically expect Evans to play? He always seems to get injured at crucial times when himself and the team are getting going. 

And he's a player whose performance really dips if he isn't fully fit in my view. To be fair to him he's won me over to a certain extent - a couple of years ago I'd have let his contract run out - but I think getting the best out of him means not trying to get him starting 3 games a week.

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

After seeing Lowe and Evans stroll around our midfield for what seemed like decades, this guy was a breath of fresh air in our league one campaign, finally someone flying into tackles and showing a bit of urgency in midfield.

Special mention for that winner at Fleetwood and that performance in goal at the hawthorns.

He isn't quite upto it at this level, and should have gone 12 months ago in my opinion to play some football, but his contribution to the league one promotion shouldn't be overlooked.

Don't really need to add anything to this, other than in the summer before he signed it was quite difficult to even like most of our players. Smallwood was one of the main figures in changing that in the L1 season.

The ceiling of his ability is towards the lower half of this division, so right for all parties that he goes, but's right to recognise his role in letting us enjoy going to the football again.

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I had a soft spot for Samuel I have to say. Looked a tidy enough player in his first couple of games for us, although it was in a different league. I can't say I will miss him as a player for Rovers but I am bit sorry he never cut the mustard here. 

Whilst Samuel isn't good enough and it's the right call to let him go, he can still count himself as very unlucky that injury took away his chance to prove that he could do it in this league, the way that the rest of the L1 team did. 

There were glimpses in his performances this season which showed that he has something to offer, travels with the ball well and will get the odd goal. Would be a good free signing for a L1 team. 

Just now, bluebruce said:

Well this has garnered surprisingly little attention compared to DG being misallocated the term 'legend'.

The profile you linked for Harthez shortly after doesn't look massively promising, but not a player I know. 'Aerial duels' and 'tackling' listed as his weaknesses. Well those are two of the main things I want from a LB. I don't care how good he is on the overlap if we remain porous at the back. It does say he is also a LW though. Plying his trade in the second tier in Germany at 27 isn't super promising either, but doesn't mean he isnt currently good enough.

Ripley seems an upgrade on Leuts and that'll do for now.

Devils advocate on the German lad, it might just be a style of play thing, without necessarily meaning he's weak defensively. You could look at a player like Leighton Baines and arguably describe him in a pretty similar way, but you wouldn't say that he was overly suspect defensively either. 

Equally, he might just be no good.

We were linked with Graham for some time before we actually got him. I suspected he was going to be a big downgrade on Rhodes who would wouldn't nearly be worth the wages we were supposedly shelling out for him. Couldn't have been more wrong, made a massive contribution in his time here, unlucky not to have been given the opportunity to contribute even more.

Comfortably Lambert's best decision in his time here. For the right team, he could still be a shrewd signing for this level. 

36 minutes ago, tomphil said:

When you look back just a few years to Bowyers time the legendary 'right good go' was born out of many frantic last ten mins at home with Marshall moved across to the left.  Rescued quite a few games like that and least gave the crowd a few mins entertainment after the usually tedious previous 80.

Chapman doing a cameo coming on the right if Armstrong is on and cutting inside could have a similar effect maybe. Anything to try and create a few chances or win a penalty or something. 

Funnily enough, I think Bowyer's time is a perfect microcosm of the benefits and drawbacks of playing with out and out wingers.

Our best spell by far was when we had King and Conway on both wings, with Rhodes and Gestede up front. We looked so dangerous that way and both strikers scored a bag-full of goals, but I'm not sure we ever really controlled a game, even with the likes of Cairney in the middle. I think with hindsight you can make a good argument that Bowyer sticking to his system of something which looked like two wingers (apart from when Cairney was cutting in) as a part of 442 was one of the main reasons why we didn't get the most out of that squad, even if it meant the front two were prolific. 

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

Secondly, we might have had half a dozen or so Academy / Development players on 'the grass' at some point over the last couple of games but like you, I would question if they really are good enough.  Most of them are 20 going on 21 and I think a couple or so are even older.  You look back over the years and the 'big players' broke through in their teens  Butch Wilkins captained Chelsea at 17, Rooney, Mbappe, Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice  and more recently Reece James at Chelsea.  And before anyone throws their toys out of their pram, let me make it clear, ability is relative to the level you are at.   I do not think for one moment our younger players should be playing in Champions League or World cup Finals but at their age, if they were good enough, they should have battered down the first team door and become regulars at Championship Level. I think Alexander-Arnold and Rice have already clocked up 100 first team appearances or so at just 21 years of age. 

Lenihan is no longer a youngster and at 26, I think he's found his level. 

Travis is a decent Championship player at the moment with room to go but the lad is almost 23 and still nowhere near 100 appearances,

Nyambe is 22 and as far as I'm concerned, his development is being held back by Mowbray's mismanagement. 

Rankin-Costello I think has just turned 21 and his first team appearances are still in single figures - could become a decent Championship player but no more, IMO.

Carter 20 is no Phil Jones and doesn't look good enough to be a first team regular

Buckley 20 is, IMO, as you say, ineffective and too weak

Have seen the rest of our younger at their respective levels and, IMO, there is only one who really excites me and who looks like he may have some star quality and that's Jack Vale.  

Like I've posted before, our Academy is NOT producing the 'big players' for us - the David Dunns, Damien Duffs and the Phil Jones's.  I think the rest, in the main, are much of a muchness ability wise - average.  IMO, it needs looking at. 

Plenty of players there, so I'm not going to argue that all of the young lads who are getting time are necessarily going to cut the mustard. Balance of probability at least a couple wont. 

Even so, players develop at different rates and I wouldn't be overly concerned about players not having bags of appearances at 20/21. Paul Scholes was only in and out of the team at 20/21, and only became a key player a number of years later. Others obviously make their mark earlier, but loads of good players only begin to mature in their early 20s.

I think it would be a problem, for example if Travis would not be in the team when he turns 23, but instead he's arguably our best player at 22. Lenihan too, even if he isn't going to improve much more is clearly amongst our best and most valuable players. Maybe that in itself is a problem! But should we make those available for other clubs there wouldn't be a shortage of suitors at the top end of the division, in the case of Travis possibly even the bottom end of the Prem.

13 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

You mean keeping them out the team?

Fair, but I think it's looking pretty likely that a long list of players at the start of their career are going to be asked to play significant roles for us next year, not all of them in Downing's position. There'll be times when they'll need the experienced heads with them, especially when we're losing others from the squad, and some of the others aren't going to be worth their place in the team.

Just now, Tugay-is-God said:

Downing not even on the bench.

Is that a signal that he's off then?

Probably, but I really hope not. Even if we're reducing the budget next season, Downing's wages might be well spent for his effect on the youngsters. 

Just now, pick32 said:

Downing’s birthday probably just have him night of with nothing to play for 

I can't decide if that sounds like the sort of thing which TM would do or not. Anyway, I hope you're right!

8 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

He captained England Under 21's you know.....

Just goes to show that the model here has always been to try and sell off the youngsters after adding value to them....Problem with Lowe is that he could never increase in value. I guess it all started with Phil Jones, they thought, 'wow, this is a moneymaker, who else we got coming through'. Thats why we had the likes of Hanley, Henley and Lowe pushed into the team before they were anywhere near ready...a big reason why we went down. 

 

 

I don't disagree, but you could argue that Henley had his best spell when he first found himself in the team! Certainly after Liverpool away, I thought he would end up being a brilliant player. Sadly the contract he was given off the back of those few weeks (I was told about 12k a week, not sure on the truth of it) ended up being a problem for us and the lad further down the line, but he was worth his place in the side after the club binned off the senior right-backs. 

Can't argue with that, really kicked on this season. Hope he can still be at least as productive next year with a fully fit Dack. Having the two of them on top form really does give another dimension to our attack. 

Just now, rigger said:

I am hoping it is a plan to lull defenders into a false sense of security. The way Tugay used to look like an old tramp. The opposition expect what they see.

Sure it will have been mentioned on here before, but there's a great interview with Mark Noble where he was asked about the best player he ever came up against & he waxed lyrical about Tugay.

I think he said that Scholes/Lampard/Gerrard were the best, but when he played against Rovers as a young player he took one look at Tugay and thought he could dominate this ageing 40-a-day smoker. In the end Tugay had him on a string for 45 minutes then he was dragged off at half time.