Owners unwilling to pay 2m for a new pitch due to the pandemic. I suspect we may pay for that with the pitch likely to only get worse over winter. Picture is blurry but from the May fans forum.

The owners reneged on their offer to re-do the pitch in the summer, how that could even remotely be put down to Waggott is beyond me. And also shows up the idea that Venkys will invest as much as they can amidst FFP rules as if I am not mistaken, infrastructure expenditure is exempt.

Im not sure that the Dack bid amounted to anything more than gossip that I have seen.

I dont think Rankin Costello is anything special even before you consider that hes made of glass. Poor defensively and I think its a bit of a myth that he is a huge upgrade going forward, ive not seen much to suggest that so far. Hes ok but he isnt a first 11 player for me.

Nyambe is not suited to being a wing back, no. Definitely better as a right back, his main asset is his power and his one on one defending which even as a wing back is still important. That being said, even though that is the case and putting aside any question marks over the back 3/5. Nyambe would still start at wing back every game as he is definitely better than Rankin Costello, obviously as a full back but I would say even as a wing back, and that assumes that Rankin Costello is ever fit enough to play. We are a poorer side without Nyambe, 100%. He has somewhat improved going forward in the last year or so, not really with his end product, but I think that his assist for Gallagher v Swansea in the last home game before lockdown was his first ever, or at least one of. He got a few assists last season through using his brain to isolate full backs, and then get further forward and pulling the ball back rather than crossing from deep like Alexander Arnold or James for example may do.

The thing with Nyambe is that he is a very good one on one defender yet everyone seems more focused on how good full backs are going forward. Nyambe does offer a threat going forward albeit a bit of a compromised one as he knows that his final ball is poor so it is often through facing defenders up almost like a winger and pulling the ball back. I have no doubt that when we goes, that any replacement will not be equal to him.

Do you have a name or is it just an oversimplified assumption?

Definitely an article having looked on here and at the LT first.

It would be a fair question to wonder, repeated Mols debate aside, whether Hearts would mind you talking about the pros and cons of an employee on a Rovers messageboard, that the club are trying to keep him and that he is a "shithouse" of a defender? Not a criticism, what are the do's and do not's associated with working for the analysis side of a football club?

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19748971.hes-coming---bradley-dack-nears-blackburn-rovers-return/ Something to really look forward to early next year, especially if we can keep all of the others. Dack is our best player and 100% gets into the team so there is no way that this is anything other than really exciting.

They are not reasonable to them which is all that matters as they have remained unsigned. That being said, each to their own, you seem keen for us to sell numerous key players mid season when we are currently 4th in the league. Even if the replacements were of the same quality which considering a likely small fee and it being the January window I severely doubt, there would be a period of time in which the new players need to adapt which could potentially cost us points which could be fatal when we are doing well. These players may well be happy to see what is out there at the end of the season rather than be pushed into whatever's available mid season when they are still under contract, and they won't attract normal bids because their deal is about to expire.

Mowbray has himself admitted that the squad isn't particularly deep. I'm guessing that your 24 includes the likes of Clarkson, Butterworth, Carter, Magloire, Rankin Costello who is made of glass etc. But I mean more in terms of massively reducing the quality of our team rather than the squad when we are in such a good league position. The point is more that to lose any if not numerous of Lenihan, Nyambe, Rothwell and Brereton in January would massively deplete us as individual bits of business, I don't think that can be argued against. As I said, do I think that teams will offer decent money (that we can't turn down regardless of league position) knowing that they can have those players for free (beside Brereton, slightly different situation but we still shouldn't sell in January unless we get an extortionate bid) in the summer? Almost certainly not. And the cost to us of losing those key players in January means that to justify a sale, we have to charge a premium. Ideally, we can offer reasonable terms to get them to sign, that is what we want. The wage guesses are purely speculative, we don't know what those players are on or how much they have been offered. Also, I presume that any purchases would have to be funded by those sales so could not be brought in prior to our players leaving. But if we cannot afford them, with seemingly the taps in India having been turned off. Then I do get that we may need to be slightly open minded towards a sale. But should we actively court interest? No and if we don't get bids above the going rate, then I know it isnt ideal but they will have to run. I think your idea that we can in January receive suitable bids for those 3 players, that our club is organised enough and players are willing to be lined up waiting to sign, that those players coming in are of equal quality and that changing 3 key players mid season will not cause any disruption to an up to now successful season is living in a fairytale.

The thing is that I cannot see teams offering reasonable amounts for players that they know will be out of contract in 6 time and available for free. We would IMO need to be offered massively over their current valuations in order to justify selling and leaving a huge hole in an already small squad at such a critical time of a season that has started well. The fact that there has been negotiations with all of these players suggest that there is at least some willingness and some consideration in regards to them being willing to stay. Ultimately Nyambe signed his last contract prior to making himself an established and key member of our starting 11, Rothwell signed his last contract signing from League 1 Oxford initially as a squad player, and Lenihan has become captain and critical to us since his last contract. The first 2 should be near the top of our wage bill, and our captain should be paid as much as anyone really. The idea that they are all expecting to "smash our wage structure" seems to be the easy go to assumption but I am very sceptical that it is the case. But even if its assumed that they wont sign a new deal, they should only be allowed to leave in January if we get really high bids due to the gaps they will leave mid season.

These players linked will mainly just be newspaper gossip that will never materialise. I don't doubt that there are good players in League 1 but selling key players in January would be massively counterproductive and send out totally the wrong message considering our current league position, I would be very unhappy if that was to happen. I also think that the idea that we could easily replace Nyambe by signing a player for a couple of hundred grand from League 1 seems a naive and over simplistic suggestion. And no name was specified as to who this mystery player is/could be. Pickering and Nyambe are both 2 good and totally different full backs who ideally would both stay at the club.

Possible of course, Edun less so as he is yet to convince or establish himself at Championship level. Pickering is a different player to Nyambe but seems a shrewd addition, but there will be far more examples of players unable to make that step up. Also Pickering did have to acclimatise which any replacement would have to do. To suggest that we could replace Nyambe for a couple of hundred grand from the League 1 seems a hell of an oversimplification especially without a name of someone if there is someone specific. Also, if it was that easy, anyone interested in Nyambe would surely cut out the middle man and do that themselves!

Yep, it doesn't make sense to rip apart a team when we are 4th in the League. Brereton in particular has another season after this so if needs must and we cant give him a big wage suiting the second top scorer in the league, then sell him then. Not sure how much demand there would be to pay anything other than a nominal fee for the other 3 with less than 6 months on their deals. @Paul Mani (if im not blocked) which League 1 right back do you have in mind that is of equivalent quality to Nyambe for a couple of hundred grand? Or is it an oversimplification based on Pickering? Surely we should also go and get a Dack quality attacking midfielder for a 6 figure fee from the same league if its that easy?

The standard of football in the Championship is poor, watching some of the best players in the world and Rovers competing against the best surely would be the biggest thrill. I have never understood why it is anything but desirable to want the best. Im not sure why Premier League players are "mercenary journeyman" anymore than Championship players either. VAR has become far less subject to criticism because the teething problems in the main have been ironed out and ultimately it means that decisions are invariably made correctly. How often do we bemoan the standard of referees at this level, who get no help? I also dont get the lifeless stadiums, if anything they are bigger and more full, and our own stadium would likely be fuller.

Imagine having such an empty life that you create a fake twitter profile for John Souttar.

Brilliant win today and a comfortable performance against a depleted Stoke who offered next to nothing. Buckley had by far his best player in a Rovers shirt, and the back 3 were all superb, as were Rothwell and Travis. Poorest players were Brereton and Khadra, with the former looking shattered and like the player we saw 2 or 3 years ago, and Khadra lost the ball everytime but then scored the winner from nowhere so certainly has a reason to pat himself on the back, Dolan offered energy when he came on. Fair play to Mowbray too, he is doing an excellent job this season and he deserves the credit for that. Such a shame that the owners are going to allow the core of this side to depart very soon.

Absolutely no chance he comes here to a club who cant afford to keep inferior players.

We have done well with forwards in general but it wont work like that every season otherwise every team would have a prolific goalscorer.

Bradley Dack is the best footballer at the club.

I didnt say he was, you need to read it again.

I conversely think that such is your steadfast desire to pin everything on to the manager, that you are implying that even the things that he has done well have happened "grudgingly" or purely through luck and circumstance. You cannot acknowledge that Mowbray has done some things both well and on purpose. Both have been dealt with well by the manager and have progressed as important first team players as a result. Both players also prove that Mowbray will stick with a young player over experienced alternatives if when they come into the team, they play well. You do surprise me. If they all wanted to leave solely because of those 2, which in itself would be bizarre, then no negotiations would have taken place in the first place surely, it would be a case of will you sign for us, they would say no, end of negotiations. And in your scenario, they wouldn't have signed 18 months ago anyway! If these players could have been signed up long term a year or 18 months ago, we still should be able to offer that same wage now, but it seems that Venkys are not keen to invest at the moment.

And even in Breretons case, we could still get a sizeable fee in the summer with a year left after that. Also love the fact that Waggott can be blamed for not agreeing new contracts with players when he has publically said that he has offered them as much as we can, therefore the issue clearly is not being given enough in the first place.