One saving grace. Some attempt to at least make it 'halved'.

This is not a good kit

Looks like Chapman got 45 minutes in the behind closed doors game earlier today. Hopefully putting worries that he's still injuted to bed

1 hour ago, philipl said:

I hear a lot of clubs had noticed the job Damian Johnson had done with the Under-23s.

Rovers have done extremely well to keep him.

If Mowbray were Machiavellian, Johnson would no longer be employed with Rovers.

Exactly!

Good managers want to surround themselves with talented people. Insecure ones want colleagues and employees who won't answer back.

Just now, davulsukur said:

I hope we get the keeper deal wrapped up this week.

The first game of the season is closing in fast and we could do with the keeper coming in as soon as.

Agree. Can't have unrealistic expectations of reserve keepers at this level, but I think we've seen enough of Leutwiler to see that whilst he has good points, we want to keep him on the bench as much as we can.

I'd be absolutely delighted with Ruddy, but I think all the names mentioned would be entirely acceptable. Can't quite believe that so many are dead against Hart either. I know he's not at the same level as he has been, but look at how players like Pantilimon who are accident prone in the top flight look a different class in this league.

Just now, Angry_Pirate said:

John Ruddy. (Not my opinion).

Would be the best of the names mentioned for me.

Just now, rickard said:

Just a random though, what do you guys think we could have gotten for Alan Shearer in today's market? I mean, clubs buy 4th choice keepers for more than we got for him back in the day.

Under the same circumstances? I.e. we have recently been champions of England & had Shearer in his prime?

Basically as much as Kane would cost in the current market, comfortably in the hundreds of millions, 

Just now, starscascade said:

Just noticed Marshall hasn't received a squad number at Norwich. Would you have him back? I quite liked him down the flank but we have so many midfielders now why would we?

Has wonderful talent, but no.

1 - we're well stocked for players in is position, like you say

2 - I don't think he's reliable. Not saying that this is necessarily down to a bad attitude, he may have just been a confidence player, but for whatever reason he goes for long spells playing within himself. In the latter months under Bowyer he should've been our main creative outlet, and he consistently under delivered.

Wish him well, but not for me. 

Just now, Paul Mani said:

Brentford now back in for Sam Gallagher apparently...

Sounds like someone's trying to get us to commit to a higher fee. Be patient at that price, if Brentford want to pay it then good luck to them. 

Just now, S8 & Blue said:

Even the kits were shite then.

Appropriately, the one Nuno is wearing actually looks pretty good to me.

Less said about the other two the better

3 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Another defender who can head the ball and a keeper that can catch a cross and I really don't see Nyambe/Bell as obvious weaknesses. I think they will both improve next season.

Nyambe certainly not and I agree with those who say that Bell is improving.

Someone said in another thread that if we go three at the back with wing backs, then it does change things because all of a sudden they become much more important players and need to have good delivery. If we stay with a back four, no major issues for me. 

Just now, Crimpshrine said:

Feels to me like the budget is much lower this year compared to last summer.

I think a deal for Gallagher would eat up virtually all the cash.

So the choices are 

1) Gallagher + cheap goalie + loan defender(s)

2) Decent goalie + money spent on defender(s) ( No Gallagher )

3) Sell someone (Travis ?) allowing us to afford Gallagher + decent goalie and maybe a defender.

Loan market not really active yet so it may all happen approaching deadline day. 

Just me thinking aloud. I'd go for option 2.

Option two, with a loan option for a back up striker would be my preference by far, assuming that this is a fair reflection of the budget. 

Just now, FGS5635 said:

For whats is worth, which is usually very little. Nixon just tweeted this

 

Alan Nixon‏ @reluctantnicko 42s42 seconds ago

Wigan. Backing away from Sam Gallagher deal. Wages and fee too rich for them in end. Blackburn clear run for him as it stands.

Hopefully the lack of competition means that we can get them down to a more reasonable fee. Looks like the consensus on here is that he'd be a useful enough addition, just that you can do more with £5million

33 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Not much in that either. Bielsa seems to want total control. Sounds like stuff strong players who want the best do in teams. 

Interesting that Jannsen wanted a move to the premier league, which didn't happen. Maybe he isn't as good as he thinks. 

saw something on twitter the other day, showed Jansson to be amongst the top 2 or 3 defenders in the division for a bunch of different measures, but amongst the lowest 5 or 6 too, including aerial duels, which seems incredible given his status as a dominant centre back. I can see why at this point no prem teams wanted to take the risk on him, and probably quite a few championship clubs (us included) would think that he can't be trusted for that price. 

I think you could probably say the same about Duffy when he was here in that he was brilliant at certain things and woeful at others, and he's made a good top flight career albeit playing in a team which plays exactly to his strengths. 

Just now, FGS5635 said:

You many be right, it may rise to 3 mil eventually. Even at 1.5 mil its a lot for us these days for a striker that will probably start more games on the bench than in the starting 11.

 

It will be interesting to see if he is considered a starter next season. I would like to see him there and for him to kick on, but bringing in Downing (which I'm not against, in principle) could mean it's him on one side and Rothwell on the other.

Something which stood out to me last season was how many times AA hit the post/bar when cutting in from the left. Seems like he ad the same curse as Kalinic had when he was here! Still managed a healthy goal/assist return though, I think there are certain deals which can definitely be debated, BB being the obvious one, but I'm very confident that when we all come to judge TM's time at Rovers, bringing Armstrong in will be seen as a good move for the money we paid. 

Just now, BankEnd Rover said:

We could buy a whole new defence & keeper with that kind of money. GK & 2 defenders before we should even be thinking of anyone upfront.

I think we could get away with just the one extra centre back of the right quality but other than that I agree completely. Much easier to get a promising forward on loan from a top-flight club than a reliable defender. 

Just now, FGS5635 said:

Danny Graham is still going to be the main man up top.

If we sign gallagher our 3 big recent singings have been 7mil, 5 mil and 3 mil for arma. All 3 will be riding the bench or at best played out of position on the wing

Im usually a glass half full type of guy, but its hard to put any kind of positive spin on dealings like that

 

 

I thought AA was cheaper than that? £1.odd million guaranteed was what I have in my head, could be wrong though. To be fair I still think £3million will turn out to be good business, can have quiet games but he contributed well last year imo. Will only get better too. 

Just now, BankEnd Rover said:

I would be more than okay with not getting Gallagher. 5million is not the money we want to be spending on a striker who won't be a guaranteed starter.

 

That's where I am.

Reading between the lines he'd like to be here and we'd like to have him, but the boy will be 24 in a couple of months. If we had a bottomless pit of money he could well develop to be worth more than that in a couple of years, but the odds don't seem great to me. 

Totally natural that Travis will be on the radar of plenty of top-flight teams. Part and parcel with having such a top young talent.

Anything less than an 8 figure bid shouldn't be even considered

Like Gally. All things being equal I'd be happy signing him.

I can't see £5milion being good business though, amazed that Wigan are going that high.

Just now, Oldgregg86 said:

IVE been highly critical of Mowbray so I’m going to give him credit where it’s due. I think downing, Johnson and gallagher (if he comes) will improve or squad And first team. Going forward we will be a threat to anybody with a nice mix of youth and experience.

however , if he doesn’t get at least a CB and an experienced keeper we are still going to struggle. If by the end of the window he has addressed this issue then we should have a lot to look forward to.

if Gallagher comes then were does this leave Ben . I like to loan him out the way gallagher has And Be ready for next season when Danny may be struggling. 

I don’t want Raya to leave but he is replaceable and their are better options out there  for our immediate future. Starting with leutwiler is an absolute no no. He has to make a keeper his number 1 priority the second Raya signs his contract.

so, so far so good. Now address the issues that need addressing and clear out some deadwood and all is well

Totally agree. I'm in a different place about TM, but I think those of us in the /sun shines out of his arse' brigade recognise that bringing in a good centre back (and now a good keeper) is absolutely massive. 

I'm comfortable with Ben and Gally, if that's who it turns out to be, fighting out to be second/third choice. Plenty of three game weeks in this division, and whilst Graham is having an indian summer, wouldn't bank on him staying fit throughout. They'll both get gametime imo. 

Just now, JacknOry said:

Shay Given

Mame Deouf

Nzonzi

Phil Jones (monetarily and trophy wise)

Rochina

 

Just a few off the top of my head.

Scott Dann too, recently

I hadn't realised that Ruddy was in the form that he was for Wolves in their promotion year - it seemed to me as if he was going through a Robinson-esque premature decline in fitness and form. 

The he got into the team of the year as recently as the season before last makes him an absolute no brainer if he's within our budget. 

5 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Still work to do. The keeper and CB signings need to be good, but I think anyone who says we haven't progressed under Mowbray needs to compare that backbone to the one which lined out in Mowbrays first game. How many were frees loans and out of contract that summer? It was basically renford rejects 

I've said this a few times over recent weeks, so I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I really think this is a massively important point which can't be overstated. 

I don't like using the language of assets/liabilities - we're a football club who exists to win games, not post profits. But there's no getting away from the fact that if you were to look at that team in financial terms, we were littered with toxic assets that were unsellable due to age/form/size of contract, or loans. We managed to get a fee for Steele somehow, other than that there was only really Lenihan who could have realistically fetched a fee into the millions, even then perhaps £2million.

Fast-forward to where we are now; a squad that definitely needs improving significantly, but one where we can actually operate as a trading club, where we own our best players and where they're of a good age. Obviously we want to keep the good ones, but at least it gives us options and a platform which was a million miles away from where we were. 

Just now, BankEnd Rover said:

Like that alot. Must admit, i wasn't keen on Downing. But seeing him in that team just looks right - Hopefully we see that for the Charlton game.

Good thing about Downing is that he fits just as nicely across all of those three positions behind the striker. In most games, I'd be looking to get Armstrong in there, but as a part of the squad I agree that he looks like a good option.

Just now, RoverKyle said:

Looks a good team on paper. There's something about Bell I really don't like. He can look lazy on the ball and that led to errors last season. Have to admit that going forward, he does look dangerous. He carries the ball really well.

That's the think which stands out to me too. Control of the ball is very good, just abysmal when it comes to crossing!