2025 Summer Transfer Thread. 😂

[Forever Blue]

12 minutes ago, 47er said:

We haven't finished losing players yet.

Deary me. The clue was in AS OF TODAY. By the same token we haven’t finished signing then, but that was about as relevant  to my post as your response.  

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

31 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Squad/First Team strength compared with last season (as of today). Context is important and I’ve taken into consideration the change of manager Nd how he wants to play, and also how accustomed to the Championship the players are compared to last season.  

GK - stronger

RB - stronger

LB - no change

RCB - no change

LCB - no change

CM - stronger

RW - weaker 

LW - stronger

AM - stronger 

CF - stronger

 

Are you making assumptions that the 3 signed are accustomed to the championship when you state we are stronger on the left wing, attacking midfield and centre forward.  How are those positions stronger when we haven't signed anybody?

Where we can agree is that we have trimmed some dross fron the squad (last year loans). 

[Forever Blue]

8 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

We haven't signed a striker, and are seemingly hoping two will be adequate to see us through a 46 game season yet somehow we're "stronger" in that position than last season?

I've seen it all now. Not even chaddy would have the front to come out with that one. Lol.

Context dear boy. Read the beginning of my post and try to apply some critical thinking. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Forever Blue

[Hasta]

40 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Squad/First Team strength compared with last season (as of today)

Are you talking the squad on the 1/9/24 compared to today ?

Or the squad on the 28/7/24 compared to 28/7/25 ?

[Forever Blue]

20 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

That's ignoring the fact that we've lost 14 goals put of last season's squad from Dolan and Weimann which. with 12 days to go before the start of the season, haven't been replaced.

That doesn’t invalidate what I said, and I’ve repeatedly said we need improve our attack, specifically the RW position. 👍

[Exiled_Rover]

5 minutes ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Are you making assumptions that the 3 signed are accustomed to the championship when you state we are stronger on the left wing, attacking midfield and centre forward.  How are those positions stronger when we haven't signed anybody?

Where we can agree is that we have trimmed some dross fron the squad (last year loans). 

Asked and answered - Ohashi and Gueye have a season of Championship football under their belts now.

[Forever Blue]

2 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Are you talking the squad on the 1/9/24 compared to today ?

Or the squad on the 28/7/24 compared to 28/7/25 ?

The start of last season. 

[superniko]

13 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

current squad 

GK - Toth Pears Michalski

RB - Alebiosu 

CB - Carter Wharton McLoughlin 

LB - Pickering Ribeiro

CM - Tavares 

RW - 

AM - Cantwell 

LW - De Neve Karbgo 

CF - Gueye Ohashi

 

 

Updated the above to show the current contracted squad for the 2026 season. That is just 15 players in contract past this season, and we know the likelihood is zero to no chance that anyone worth their salt signs up in that time (see Dolan, Brereton, Lenihan etc. etc.)

Only De Neve, Tavares, Alebiosu are in contract for the 2027 season (we have just 3 players contracted after 2 seasons away!) - extra year option for Pickering, Gueye, Ohashi and McLoughlin but it's rinse and repeat if we get to that stage.

This is a very worrying time to be a Rovers fan.

Edited 8 hours ago by superniko

[RevidgeBlue]

2 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Context dear boy. Read the beginning of my post and try to apply some critical thinking. 

If you're going to try and hide behind the word "context" the actual context is we weren't exactly prolific last season and since then we've lost 14 goals out of the squad which haven't as yet been replaced.

The rationale for this seems to be that even though we've seen no signs of it whatsoever so far, once the season starts proper, we're going to play some glorious brand of "Vi ball" which will miraculously turn Ohashi into a 20 goal per season striker and have the rest of the team chipping in from all over the pitch which they've never done previously.

It might happen but it seems a bit pie in the sky to me. Or maybe to be be more accurate "Vi in the sky".

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

10 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Asked and answered - Ohashi and Gueye have a season of Championship football under their belts now.

You could also argue that both are no longer unknown players and defences will know how to play against them this year so they'll be less effective. 

You are just making assumptions, like we all are  based on your particular view point. 

edit: just read your more detailed reply. 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Wing Wizard Windy Miller

[Forever Blue]

6 minutes ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Are you making assumptions that the 3 signed are accustomed to the championship when you state we are stronger on the left wing, attacking midfield and centre forward.  How are those positions stronger when we haven't signed anybody?

Where we can agree is that we have trimmed some dross fron the squad (last year loans). 

LW - Kargbo has a full pre-season under his belt and experience in the Championship. De Neve is an unknown. Hedges was used there a lot last season and everybody agree he’s shit (including you) so we are clearly stronger right? 
 

AM - Nobody really nailed down that position last season, think we used 4 or 5 players in there over the course of the season. Cantwell is a No10 by his own admission. He also has a pre-season under his belt and will be a lot stronger physically this season. He’s the best footballer in the team on his day. Tyjon by all accounts is a good footballer who may be able to influence games from the bench. 
 

Striker- both Ohashi and Gueye are now accustomed to the physical and mental demands of the Championship. Ohashi has also now had a full pre-season. 
 

Like I said, context matters. 

[Hasta]

12 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

The start of last season. 

The GK is the same then surely?

Other than that, I don't disagree much. If we don't lose anyone we will be in a reasonably decent shape for the start of the season.

You explanation for AM and CF being stronger is a bit of a stretch.

Edited 8 hours ago by Hasta

[Forever Blue]

4 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If you're going to try and hide behind the word "context" the actual context is we weren't exactly prolific last season and since then we've lost 14 goals out of the squad which haven't as yet been replaced.

The rationale for this seems to be that even though we've seen no signs of it whatsoever so far, once the season starts proper, we're going to play some glorious brand of "Vi ball" which will miraculously turn Ohashi into a 20 goal per season striker and have the rest of the team chipping in from all over the pitch which they've never done previously.

It might happen but it seems a bit pie in the sky to me. Or maybe to be be more accurate "Vi in the sky".

Nope,  you’ve missed the context. Try again. 

[Forever Blue]

3 minutes ago, Hasta said:

The GK is the same then surely?

Other than that, I don't disagree much. If we don't lose anyone we will be in a reasonably decent shape for the start of the season.

The context being that Toth is generally accepted to be better than Pears and so will be first choice. Last season Pears played more games than Toth iirc. IMO Pears is a liability. If Toth is consistently competent then he will be an upgrade on Pears IMO. 

Toth has also had a season to acclimatise to a new league.

For that reason I think we’ll be stronger even if the personnel hasn’t changed. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Forever Blue

[Jimmy612]

1 hour ago, Forever Blue said:

I’m sorry I asked you to justify position/by-position where we are weaker. As suspected you hadn’t thought it through. 
 

And I’m in a ‘hoop’🤣

And who mentioned the season after next? That’s quite a bizarre deflection from the discussion about if we’re stronger or weaker this season. 
 

If you fancy naming the positions we are weaker than last season (outside of the ones I’d already referenced in my original post) I’m all ears?

Aside from losing regulars of Weimann, Batth, Dolan and Beck (and probably so far only replacing one of them), one crucial 'position' where I think we COULD be weaker is in the dugout, personally. Under VI we finished the season strongly, but I do think the last 5, 6, 7 games of the season can be really strange in terms of results.  Eustace did a brilliant job of getting results from the outset last season, particularly up until Christmas, when the schedule (and injuries) started to bite.  He made us defensively strong, and developed a great sense of unity in the group.

Pre-season has been really promising, but we'll have to wait and see if VI can get consistently good results out of what I believe is a really average (and increasingly inexperienced) championship squad.  

There are also quite a lot of unknowns in our current squad (see Chaddy's list above).  Brittain will most likely leave, Wharton hasn't played a competitive match for 18 months, Carter is struggling badly with injuries, Tyjon is 17 and barely played men's football, Kargbo is back from injury and promising but has very few champ minutes, De Neve, Tavares and Alebiosu are unknown quantities with pretty uninspiring careers to date.  McLoughlin on paper looks a steady replacement for Batth. 

With Weimann, Dolan, JRC and Batth we've lost a huge amount of Chamionship experience, not to mention 15 or so goals from last season. It's easy to say 'he's replaced him, he's replaced him', but the experience, know-how and reliability of the squad is undoubtedly a question mark, and in my opinion, a bit of a worry.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

29 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

LW - Kargbo has a full pre-season under his belt and experience in the Championship. De Neve is an unknown. Hedges was used there a lot last season and everybody agree he’s shit (including you) so we are clearly stronger right? 
 

AM - Nobody really nailed down that position last season, think we used 4 or 5 players in there over the course of the season. Cantwell is a No10 by his own admission. He also has a pre-season under his belt and will be a lot stronger physically this season. He’s the best footballer in the team on his day. Tyjon by all accounts is a good footballer who may be able to influence games from the bench. 
 

Striker- both Ohashi and Gueye are now accustomed to the physical and mental demands of the Championship. Ohashi has also now had a full pre-season. 
 

Like I said, context matters. 

Regarding the strikers. Both having played at this level is a double edged sword. OK they’ll be more experienced but teams will know a lot more about them now. They won’t be unknown quantities any more.

[Forever Blue]

18 minutes ago, Jimmy612 said:

Aside from losing regulars of Weimann, Batth, Dolan and Beck (and probably so far only replacing one of them), one crucial 'position' where I think we COULD be weaker is in the dugout, personally. Under VI we finished the season strongly, but I do think the last 5, 6, 7 games of the season can be really strange in terms of results.  Eustace did a brilliant job of getting results from the outset last season, particularly up until Christmas, when the schedule (and injuries) started to bite.  He made us defensively strong, and developed a great sense of unity in the group.

Pre-season has been really promising, but we'll have to wait and see if VI can get consistently good results out of what I believe is a really average (and increasingly inexperienced) championship squad.  

There are also quite a lot of unknowns in our current squad (see Chaddy's list above).  Brittain will most likely leave, Wharton hasn't played a competitive match for 18 months, Carter is struggling badly with injuries, Tyjon is 17 and barely played men's football, Kargbo is back from injury and promising but has very few champ minutes, De Neve, Tavares and Alebiosu are unknown quantities with pretty uninspiring careers to date.  McLoughlin on paper looks a steady replacement for Batth. 

With Weimann, Dolan, JRC and Batth we've lost a huge amount of Chamionship experience, not to mention 15 or so goals from last season. It's easy to say 'he's replaced him, he's replaced him', but the experience, know-how and reliability of the squad is undoubtedly a question mark, and in my opinion, a bit of a worry.

Don’t disagree with much of that, and there are a lot of unknowns. If we go back to the beginning of last season all the talk was we were fucked because we’d lost 30 goals from SS. That clearly wasn’t the case. What changed was that we improved massively in defence, which was mostly due to the way Eustace set up the team. We got a lot of points winning games 1-0 so SS didn’t need ‘replacing’ in a like-for-like sense.
 

In the pre-season predictions thread  this time last season I made the point we’d do a lot better than the doom mongers predicted simply because of the way Eustace was going to set up. I think Derby may do well this season for exactly the same reason.
 

This season is harder to predict as you rightly point out. VI is an unknown. There was no in between last season under him - we went on a relegation-esque run of form, and then on a promotion-esque run of form. 
 

I’m optimistic we will do well, but unlike under the very cautious Eustace I think that if it goes wrong under VI it will go dramatically wrong. 

 

 

[roversfan99]

41 minutes ago, superniko said:

Updated the above to show the current contracted squad for the 2026 season. That is just 15 players in contract past this season, and we know the likelihood is zero to no chance that anyone worth their salt signs up in that time (see Dolan, Brereton, Lenihan etc. etc.)

Only De Neve, Tavares, Alebiosu are in contract for the 2027 season (we have just 3 players contracted after 2 seasons away!) - extra year option for Pickering, Gueye, Ohashi and McLoughlin but it's rinse and repeat if we get to that stage.

This is a very worrying time to be a Rovers fan.

How is that worrying?

Looks like lots of exciting summers to me. Gestede said so.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Regarding the strikers. Both having played at this level is a double edged sword. OK they’ll be more experienced but teams will know a lot more about them now. They won’t be unknown quantities any more.

I think it's a massive stretch to automatically assume there's huge improvement in either of them just because it's their second season coming up.  They both performed quite creditably last season imo without absolutely ripping the Championship up, and the most likely scenario is they'll perform roughly the same again, maybe with a very slight improvement to reflect the season under their belts but again that's pure supposition.

Out of the two, I'd say Gueye has the most potential for major improvement, I'd say Ohashi has been playing at more or less his limit.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

do we need to go over this again RF99? No one is naming players for the sake of it. 

I will recap again

current squad 

Keepers - Toth Pears Michalski

RB - Brittain Alebiosu 

CB - Carter Hyam Wharton McLoughlin 

LB - Pickering Ribeiro

CM - Travis Tronstad Montgomery Tavares Forshaw 

RW - Hedges

AM - Cantwell Tyjon 

LW - De Neve Karbgo 

CF - Gueye Ohashi

That's 23 maybe 24 if Leonard is going to part of the first team squad under Ismael this season or loan out. Then its appears from Ismael wants another 2/3 more signings so that gives you around 25/26/27 players. 

So where have I named names just for the sake of it? please can you answer this simple question

 

I dont personally think that constantly typing out names sufficiently analyses whether we have enough QUALITY in any position.

Id like a new striker because I would like someone who can be an alternative to Ohashi without having to change style. 

I want another attacking midfielder because I wouldnt want too much reliance on Tyjon too soon. Ideally one that can also play on the right if possible so that if Tyjon does a Travis (who to be fair was older and more developed) and is ready now, then the signing can cover wide right and Hedges becomes further away from the first team.

Based on your linear naming of players, its just about having warm bodies. Not factoring in quality or readiness. I wouldnt want Forshaw to start any games for example. 

[Paul Mani]

Bearing in mind most of the players signed were / are unknowns (to us), I’m not sure how anyone can argue we’ve strengthened or weakened those positions. Add in the context of a managerial change and the fact that we’re clearly not done buying or selling, I think it’s virtually impossible. 

At this stage last season under Eustace, we were massively weaker (on paper) than the season before having lost Szmodics. The outlook appeared bleak and no one predicted the season we ended up having, the notion of finishing one place outside the playoffs would’ve been laughed and ridiculed out of here.

Now there are obvious gaps in the squad and the manger has said he wants a CB, RW and AM. To my mind, all we can do is see who we sign, review how they play when watching the matches and THEN judge if we’ve strengthened or weakened in any position? 

 

[Exiled_Rover]

54 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

The context being that Toth is generally accepted to be better than Pears and so will be first choice. Last season Pears played more games than Toth iirc. IMO Pears is a liability. If Toth is consistently competent then he will be an upgrade on Pears IMO. 

Toth has also had a season to acclimatise to a new league.

For that reason I think we’ll be stronger even if the personnel hasn’t changed. 

Toth is worth 10 goals a season over Pears - it's a huge upgrade (and I'm not even suggesting he's a special GK).

[Lucimo]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

you were told alot of story that doesn't happen does it? 

no new bids since Boro bid over 2 weeks ago which was rejected by us. 

have they? based on where given we turned down similar bid from Boro over 2 weeks ago. 

nothing reported anyone on social media so where is this story from

I thought you said yesterday you no longer responded to Mercer. That aged well.

[Exiled_Rover]

8 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont personally think that constantly typing out names sufficiently analyses whether we have enough QUALITY in any position.

Id like a new striker because I would like someone who can be an alternative to Ohashi without having to change style. 

I want another attacking midfielder because I wouldnt want too much reliance on Tyjon too soon. Ideally one that can also play on the right if possible so that if Tyjon does a Travis (who to be fair was older and more developed) and is ready now, then the signing can cover wide right and Hedges becomes further away from the first team.

Based on your linear naming of players, its just about having warm bodies. Not factoring in quality or readiness. I wouldnt want Forshaw to start any games for example. 

RW is much more important than a CF or an AMC.

Ohashi and Gueye struggled with service last year - they've certainly not going to get that from Hedges. 

[London blue]

1 hour ago, Forever Blue said:

Squad/First Team strength compared with last season (as of today). Context is important and I’ve taken into consideration the change of manager Nd how he wants to play, and also how accustomed to the Championship the players are compared to last season.  

GK - stronger

RB - stronger

LB - no change

RCB - no change

LCB - no change

CM - stronger

RW - weaker 

LW - stronger

AM - stronger 

CF - stronger

 

I'm struggling a little here. How are we stronger in areas we've made no additions? Are you accounting for player development?

Also at RB, our new signings being stronger than JRC is a claim. You must have seen something definitive?