Ben Brereton?

[Old Darwen Blue]

Theres none so blind as those that cannot see.

 

[Drog]

View attachment 5151
"On the move, Brereton Diaz said: "It’s an unbelievable, massive honour of mine. Such a great club with a great history - so I'm really excited and I can’t wait to meet all the players and the staff. When I knew about the opportunity it was a no-brainer for me. It was an unbelievable club who play great football and I can’t wait to get started.
"I can't wait for the opportunity. It's a great challenge; a level above where I’ve been playing in England. I can’t wait for the new challenge, it's going to be amazing. I just want to work as hard as I can for the team, score goals and play as much as I can. I like to run with the ball, get in the box and score goals. I can't wait to see you all in the friendlies and first games... thanks for everything!"

Villareal's very own Grabbi!

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

Villareal's very own Grabbi!

If Grabbis goal at Old Trafford hadn’t been disallowed I reckon he would have been a good player for us.

 

[steve w]

If Grabbis goal at Old Trafford hadn’t been disallowed I reckon he would have been a good player for us.

Agree
He was nowhere near as bad as people made out.

 

[Drog]

Grabbi was blood awful. Static on the pitch just standing around putting his hair behind his ears and with no defensive work or team spirit in him. Cole replaced him and despite being an odd bugger was different gravy on the pitch.

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

Personally I think there's an argument that he's one of the worst £7m players in the history of football (adjusting for inflation). Rovers paid that on the back of 2 decent (but not amazing) seasons in Serie B, a level I'd have thought wouldn't be much above League 1. And after bombing here he had one more half-decent season in Serie B, barely played a game after the age of 30 and retired at 32.

Nice hair, but that's about it if you ask me.

 

[tonygreenbank]

Not even on the bench for Villarreal tonight. Has his move to Spain turned into a nightmare?
I’d have him back here in a shot but I think once again his agent has got his ear and is badly advising him.

 

[Drog]

He should change agent then. He might try Ryan nyambe's man.

 

[Drog]

If he comes back I'd have him shot Tony!

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

It would be interesting to see if he was available how many clubs would take him though. I’d have him back here.

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

I'd definitely have him back.

The way I see it there's 2 ways of looking at Brereton:

Positive - In his first 3 seasons at Rovers he was too young (aged 19-21) and needed time to develop. Once he'd matured, he was great for the first half of 2 seasons running, with his head being turned in both during the January window.

Negative - He's always been rubbish but had a fluke 4-5 months at the start of the 2021/22 season.

Personally I think the former is more credible. I gave the stats earlier in this thread, and his league goal tally of 20 in the first 23 games in 2021/22 is a ridiculous return. I mean there's lucky and then there's a strike rate only Mitrovic has managed in the Championship in recent years.

And also if it was lucky, does him scoring 9 in the first 18 games last season not seem weird? Appreciate that's not the blistering pace of 2021/22, but its not far off Szmodics this season, who is rightly receiving great plaudits.

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

Drog doesn’t listen to facts.

 

[Drog]

Why should I when I've got my own two eyes?

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

Why should I when I've got my own two eyes?

 

[Peter quill]

I always liked the lad and wanted his move to Spain to go well. Unfortunately it’s turned into a disaster particularly for a confidence player. I suspect he’ll be shipped out in January. It wouldn’t surprise me if he appeared at Sunderland

 

[davebirch]

Peter, I always support all those that play in the blue and white.
Unfortunately, a lot of those that play in blue and white don't care and don't put in a shift.
All they want is the almighty dollar, and look for those mythical "greener pastures". How many times have we seen good players at Ewood leave to make zero impact elsewhere.
Wherever he ends up will be a loss for whoever he plays for. He needs to be in a system that feeds him, and there's not too many clubs that can afford that kind of luxury

 

[Barmitzvah Boy]

Peter, I always support all those that play in the blue and white.
Unfortunately, a lot of those that play in blue and white don't care and don't put in a shift.
All they want is the almighty dollar, and look for those mythical "greener pastures". How many times have we seen good players at Ewood leave to make zero impact elsewhere.
Wherever he ends up will be a loss for whoever he plays for. He needs to be in a system that feeds him, and there's not too many clubs that can afford that kind of luxury

David Bentley, Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz immediately come to mind. There will be many more.

 

[Drog]

Craig Bellamy. btw As far as Benni Mac is concerned he'd already made his name before he came here.

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

Personally I never have any problem with players leaving for bigger clubs. Not doing so because it might not work out for them makes no sense to me. By that reckoning Dack should have stayed at Gillingham because it might not have worked out for him here. Brittain should have stayed at Barnsley, Pickering at Crewe, Szmodics at Peterborough, Ennis at Plymouth etc.

There's no reason why a footballer's career journey should end before they get to Rovers, and no reason why it should end at Rovers. They're not Rovers fans, and even on the extremely rare occasion when they are, I still don't think that should hold them back from aiming as high as they can. My only concern is that we play the contract game well enough to get a decent price for them.

 

[Drog]

Correct bwh. Supporters have tunnel vision about their club's and their players. Lets be honest if Spurs cannot persuade Kane to stay when Bayern come a calling what chance have we got of hanging on to anyone? One thing Spurs managed was to get a ridiculous fee for a player in the last few seasons of his career whilst we have been stiffed by the agents of Rothwell, Lenihan, Brereton etc.