"Serious lack of intent" - The Venky's blasted as Blackburn Rovers star linked with Derby County switch | OneFootball

Blackburn finished just two points adrift of the top six last season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After once again falling short of the play-offs, this summer should be all about improvement at Ewood Park, as Blackburn Rovers strive to finish in the Championship's top six for the first time since relegation from the Premier League.

Blackburn finished seventh again this past season, two seasons on from missing out on the play-offs on goal difference.

The expectation was for Rovers to kick on in 2023/24 after being pipped to the post by Sunderland the season before, but the club dropped drastically and found themselves battling towards the bottom end of the division.

Now, after a season akin to the one two years ago, and one where they occupied a play-off spot for the large majority of the campaign, the focus is on ensuring that the club doesn't suffer a repeat of 2023/24, and can kick on from this past season.

However, exclusive reports from Football League World suggest that captain Lewis Travis may be on the way out, as he is linked with Championship new boys Wrexham, or perhaps even reuniting with John Eustace at Derby County.

FLW's Blackburn fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, believes that this represents a step in the wrong direction, and it would anger the fanbase if a move were to be sanctioned.

Losing Lewis Travis to a rival Championship side would be a "massive blow," according to fan pundit

When questioned how big of a miss Lewis Travis would be if he were to be sold by Blackburn Rovers this summer, Middlehurst said: "Obviously, he's the club captain, he was massive for us last season and has been a key part of the club in the past three years, so to sell him would be a massive blow."

Losing a player who came up through the academy to captain the club, making over 250 appearances along the way, to another Championship side would be frustrating. Losing him to Derby County would be seen as an even bigger blow.

John Eustace departed Ewood Park in February with the club in the top six to join a Rams side 16 places below Blackburn at the time, and now it seems like he's got eyes on his former captain following him to his new club.

Middlehurst continued: "The club need to keep fans onside, so to sell him to Derby would be a massive blow in doing that, given what happened last season with Eustace."

On the links with Wrexham, he said: "Obviously, their story is well-known, but to sell Travis at all just shows the wrong direction the club is going in.

"I personally think it shows a serious lack of intent, and it wouldn't go down well with the fans whatsoever."

Losing Travis would be a terrible start to an anniversary year

Blackburn Rovers turn 150 years old on November 5, and the Rovers fans would love nothing more than to celebrate a big milestone by having yet another crack at the top six in the Championship.

But with rumours surrounding their captain being sold on, negativity may be filling the air at Ewood Park before a ball is even kicked this season.

"This season is a massive one for us. It's the 150th anniversary of the club and we want to follow on from last season and make the play-offs," Middlehurst said.

"I just think that it shows a massive lack of direction to sell him."

Travis' time at Blackburn looked to be coming to an end at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, when he was loaned out to Ipswich Town for the second half of the season in search of more game time. However, he's come back this season and re-established himself as a key part of the midfield alongside Sondre Tronstad.

His reemergence into the squad did come under John Eustace, though. The current Derby boss is a big fan of the 27-year-old, and if last season has anything to show for it, Blackburn's superior league position may not be enough to keep him from leaving.

And if he does depart for Eustace's Rams, or for a hefty paycheck at Wrexham, perhaps it won't be long until Blackburn's status as a play-off-chasing side starts to fade away.