A bit like yourself when Coyle was manager? If Armstrong is replaced permanently, that fact alone doesn't mean that people have to be content with the individual that comes in. If the Obafemi deal doesnt happen, then people are right to presume and expect that we will find someone else permanently. There are in the main 2 posters who seem particularly dismissive of Obafemi to perhaps an unfair degree, although the main 2 issues flagged up have been valid ones, injury record and attitude, and no matter what way you twist and turn those to be typical of the general response to a potential deal for Obafemi, neither are as outlandish are suggesting that Venkys will sign any cheque or that Buckley is worth 10m. If the forum was quite as perpetually angry as you suggest, then you wouldnt ever come on. No one here (with presumably occasional exceptions) properly knows footballers personally but the bad attitude is not something fabricated, it is something that his current manager has flagged up, and Obafemi himself has admitted, especially around his diet. Of course, it seems from afar that he has made a conscious effort to change.

Is it straight to penalties after 90 minutes if its a draw tonight?

Thanks for chasing these issues up @only2garners much appreciated. My worry on the concourse issue is that I think it needs a bit more out of the box thinking rather than putting it down to staff, especially as it is unlikely to cause much improvement going forward. Pre-preparing beers and also using the bottle bars could be huge helps however.

I think that the idea that Obafemi has been written off again by an angry mob insistent that he is forever injured and has an irreversible bad attitude and thus would be a terrible signing is disingenuous, it is 2 posters saying that, both of whom regularly have provocative viewpoints. More constructively, one of the main points to which any deal is being dismissed is to me an illogical one, that we should "give a chance" to the strikers that we already have. Its nonsensical in that if you look at the team on Saturday, just that first 11, the weakest area is 100% the front 3 in its sustainability. Armstrong leaves a massive hole and our attack is massively light both in depth and in quality in front of goals, Brereton contrary to popular belief is unproven and not even necessarily a central striker, so that just leaves Gallagher. If we do not sign a striker, we do not have enough goals within the current ranks. There is also seemingly many wary of FFP regulations, but we are bringing in a considerable fee, which is the whole process that we should be regularly undertaking, reinvesting only a small % of that is not going to jeopardising that, indeed it could lead to a future big sale in the future and if we dont sign a striker, we risk our own competitiveness. The idea of investing in January, equally illogical, both from a footballing perspective and also in that the January market is notoriously inflated. Back to the player, and I am mixed on it really, having seen him 2 or 3 times at Southampton. He has all the raw attributes, he could press high, he is really quick and powerful and he would supplement what we have. Obviously it would be a huge risk because he is injury prone (that is a fact) and there is no evidence that he can score regularly. So there are pros and cons but I would much prefer him than no permanent signing. I wonder if we will look at Rhys Healey at Toulouse who we have been linked with and has been banging in the goals in Ligue 2. Meanwhile on Khadra, annoying that he seemingly comes injured, we could have done with him in the squad at the weekend.

Without Armstrong we have nowhere near enough goals to sustain us and January is not a good time to do business. We need a permanent striker now whether its Obafemi or someone else.

I can just see the Obafemi deal not materialising and us signing solely loans, with the money set aside for that deal never being seen again.

The payment plan will surely be part of the contract whereas if there is a gentlemans agreement to knock a few million off both fees to reduce any sell on, that couldnt be a legal obligation otherwise surely it would cause issues with blatantly window dressing the fee to avoid paying as much to Newcastle.

How many times have you seen out of interest and were they for Southampton or the Ireland under ages groups? I have seen him a couple of times for Southampton including v Norwich post lockdown and he looks bright and his assets are obvious. Do you think that he would be a good signing? The one aspect that would please me would be the long term nature of the deal.

I dont get how the price can be affected by a potential Obafemi deal as Mowbray isnt even sure if he is interested and whether a deal will be agreed with him. Plus if Armstrong is at a favourable rate, what stops Southampton cancelling the deal?

I think about any loan signing with no/minimal senior experience is a stab in the dark, hence why I am against the idea of getting 5 of such players on top of an already young squad. It doesnt mean that he will be a poor signing, as Harwood Bellis and even Elliott proved, but there is no way that anyone can say that he is a good signing, I bet no one had heard of him this morning. Assuming that we are fishing in the loan market for flair players, I would have liked someone like Morgan Rodgers who at least as proven his ability to score and assist at League 1 level. Tatith Chong is also an interesting one who has had loan spells abroad who has gone to Birmingham.

Well no, I have just pointed out 2 positives from a cup, well I can think of 3. Most of our seasons just fade into mediocrity and have very little excitement. Why as a fan would you want to dismiss a potential bit of excitement, a game or 2 against big teams or getting quite far? Financially, people keep banging on about FFP, getting further especially if we end up on TV, have a couple of extra home games and/or play a bigger side might get some unexpected income in. There is also momentum, win tomorrow and we go into the weekend on the back of a couple of wins. By all means rest a few, no point playing Ayala for example, put in a couple of youngsters amidst mainly the first team. Mowbray has said that there wont be wholesale changes which I am pleased about as I havent paid a tenner to watch us forfeit with our under 23s. Are you attending, and if so why if a cup run is not what you want, surely a win would be an unwelcome distraction?

Have you seen much of him? I have seen him a few times for Southampton and he looked very raw, lots of good assets but big questions over whether he could get a decent number of goals over a full season. It would be good to sign a permanent player to develop though. I was looking on Southampton forums and there seemed to be a lot of insinuations suggesting that he has suffered numerous muscle injuries stemming from a lack of professionalism.

Potential extra income and the intrigue of a tie against a big club to get a bit of excitement in a season that if it is anything like the last 3 will spiral into mediocrity.

A bit underwhelmed with him having so little senior experience, it is a stab in the dark really. Goes without saying that I will judge on his performances in a Rovers shirt like anyone else.

Not that Dolan is a good finisher, but is this fella any better, where is the evidence? The video is worrying in that he looks like he can run at players but there is nothing at the end of it. A player with less than 10 minutes of senior football is always a bit of an uncalculated risk really, hard to not be underwhelmed when we have been linked with loanees like Rodgers who have had success at least at a lower level and when he is replacing Elliott.

A video of Khadra from friendlies and kids games. Everytime he runs with the ball he loses it at the end!

Says in the LT that Khadra has a slight injury too.

Being linked by a questionable source to a bigger side doesn't mean that anyone who has doubts over him is wrong.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/brentford-set-sights-on-signing-blackburn-rovers-26-yr-old/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1628503168-1

Only £15m for Armstrong is a very low fee, considering we have "held out." It is a myth that Venkys always hold out for the highest fee, look at Cairney, Gestede and Duffy for example. We HAVE to sign a permanent replacement, of course at a fraction of the fee we receive. This Khadra doesn't excite me, minimal first team exposure, a total unknown. Loans in general (as long as you dont sign too many) can be a very useful method of signing players better than what we have, seen with Harwood Bellis, Elliott, Reed and Adarabioyo.

Was he not? Aside from a few games in which he was rested, and the last 3 when thinking of this season, he was one of the first names of the team sheet. Definitely not coming back though.

Maybe that Broja on loan is their replacement for Ings and they have given up on Armstrong. Norwich seem never to have been interest but have also gone elsewhere so maybe it is Palace or nowhere.

He has been regularly starting for Liverpool through pre-season and impressing, I think in a slightly deeper role than he played here. I would be surprised if he got loaned out and if he does, I suspect it will be to a Premier League team or at a push a contender for promotion in this league.

I appreciate the need to rotate especially with a small squad but I always find quite how dismissive people are of the cups (especially the League cup) particularly strange. I totally get that the league is the bread and butter but a cup run can be a highlight of an otherwise drab season, more often than not we nestle in mediocrity so the buzz of a cup run, playing big teams and even generating some income could be a bit of otherwise absent excitement and a bonus to help our bleak financial situation.

I don't think that we should actively be aiming for someone not as good as those 4. We should aim to bring in first team quality, someone who in theory is better or at least as good as those, especially with the question marks over Buckley and Rothwell over a consistent basis. Of course, at this moment in time, that trio very much have those shirts to lose. Regarding Clarkson, I am unconvinced that a player with only a couple of senior appearances would provide that to be fair.