v Preston North End (a) - 21/11/25, 8:00pm ko Sky TV

[roversfan99]

Carter needs to retire. An absolute waste of space. Absolutely unforgivable that we pushed Hyam out, didnt bother getting at least one defender in and then tried to pretend it was all part of a plan.

Hard to see past a home win tomorrow especially with Hedges and a jet lagged Miller at the back.

[Tomphil2]

2 hours ago, islander200 said:

I'm not saying it couldn't be the reason but seems unlikely in this instance to me.

Why would Cantwell and his agent be keeping quiet about this?

When he left Rangers there wasn't a queue of clubs waiting to sign him and that's why he ended up here.

Last season was his form any better than when he was at Rangers?Not really imo .He started this season well but I still don't think he would have a massive amount of interest currently 

Cantwell is with Player1st agency i think but last summer another agent became involved and was hawking him around.

This came to light when he DM'd a fan by mistake.

So it's not clear who did the Rovers deal but i think if you throw everything into the mix including our end of Suhail the penny grabber and Rudy the clown it's fair to assume it isn't very straightforwards.

 

[...]

23 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

FFS. No surprise on Carter but I thought we might get at least a handful of games out of him as he made the bench for the Derby game. Managed to pick up what must be at least a reasonably serious injury, as he has no return timeframe, during the 2 week international break. The lad is made of glass.

We are constantly reminded of why every Rovers fan though the last minute sale of Hyam was a disaster wating to happen and here we are with just 2 fit centre backs vying for 3 places. 

Abysmal planning. Truly abysmal. 

He'd better not be sticking Hedges at fucking centre back again, blokes a clown (Ismeal)

Hedges is in goal for us v Preston. 

Pears is up front with David May.

[davulsukur]

2 minutes ago, ... said:

Hedges is in goal for us v Preston. 

Pears is up front with David May.

You've just reminded me that Pears will be in goal for us tomorrow.

Thanks for that.

[Tomphil2]

I feel for Carter but i think this level of football and its demands are beyond what his body can cope with.

Yet another of our academy products whose body breaks down constantly and i'll say it again, academy football from such a young age ruins as many kids as it makes.

I also don't think modern training methods help were high level stats have to be hit all the time often over actual ability and what they can bring on match day.

They get too many miles on the clock by the time they are 25, when they should be peaking they are creaking.

Edited 5 hours ago by Tomphil2

[Dreams of 1995]

7 minutes ago, Tomphil2 said:

I feel for Carter but i think this level of football and its demands are beyond what his body can cope with.

Yet another of our academy products whose body breaks down constantly and i'll say it again, academy football from such a young age ruins as many kids as it makes.

I also don't think modern training methods help were high level stats have to be hit all the time often over actual ability and what they can bring on match day.

They get too many miles on the clock by the time they are 25, when they should be peaking they are creaking.

Think I agree with academy football, although the other side is for those lads who can take the workload it turns them into absolute machines

Plenty of lads break down throughout their late teenage / early 20s. Unfortunately appears like Carter is one of them. Such a shame, he's a good defender and looked like he was going to be a real talent for us at one time. Maybe a step down to a lower level of football and a less onerous training regime is on the cards for him 

Calls of him being a waste of space are wide of the mark and frankly insulting for a chap who has worked at the club for over 10 years. Pathetic really

[RevidgeBlue]

18 hours ago, islander200 said:

Why give him the captaincy in the first place if he was x amount of games away from hitting some target where his money goes up?

Why sell Hyam in the last few hours of the transfer window without any sort of replacement?

In the general scheme of things I'd say that's a lot crazier than deciding you needed to move your top earner out despite having given him the Captaincy (if indeed that's what's happened with Cantwell)

[roversfan99]

2 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Think I agree with academy football, although the other side is for those lads who can take the workload it turns them into absolute machines

Plenty of lads break down throughout their late teenage / early 20s. Unfortunately appears like Carter is one of them. Such a shame, he's a good defender and looked like he was going to be a real talent for us at one time. Maybe a step down to a lower level of football and a less onerous training regime is on the cards for him 

Calls of him being a waste of space are wide of the mark and frankly insulting for a chap who has worked at the club for over 10 years. Pathetic really

Its very unfortunate for him, he doesnt want to be injured. But he is the very definition of a waste of space to us. He is never fit to contribute, he cant go a week of a training post one injury before breaking down again.

[Leonard Venkhater]

30 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why sell Hyam in the last few hours of the transfer window without any sort of replacement?

In the general scheme of things I'd say that's a lot crazier than deciding you needed to move your top earner out despite having given him the Captaincy (if indeed that's what's happened with Cantwell)

Foolhardy, neglectful, kamikaze...and which of us did not see this coming?

No wonder people see them, as taking us down by design ( and not for the first time)

Fuck off, Suhail the snake and Gaslight Gestede! I see you...

Edited 5 hours ago by Leonard Venkhater

[cesus]

We must be the only club that has a worse injury forecast after two weeks of not playing. It is a joke.

[islander200]

30 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why sell Hyam in the last few hours of the transfer window without any sort of replacement?

In the general scheme of things I'd say that's a lot crazier than deciding you needed to move your top earner out despite having given him the Captaincy (if indeed that's what's happened with Cantwell)

Like I said why ain't Cantwell and his agent kicking up a fuss If he is being left out due to financial reasons?

He was available for a modest fee from Rangers yet he ended up here.

I think he started the season well but last season he was average not enough goal involvements and I just see a queue of clubs would be in for him,when they would have to pay us a fee and take on his wages.

Like I also Said I'm not totally ruling it out, but I think its more likely he actually is injured.

 

[...]

35 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why sell Hyam in the last few hours of the transfer window without any sort of replacement?

In the general scheme of things I'd say that's a lot crazier than deciding you needed to move your top earner out despite having given him the Captaincy (if indeed that's what's happened with Cantwell)

I think he made his mind up before his captaincy and it was an attempt to keep him. 

Plausible 

Edited 5 hours ago by ...

[Elrovers]

I think it’s pretty much an instant loss tomorrow. Not a chance we even get something. Story of our season unfortunately.

[Tomphil2]

49 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Think I agree with academy football, although the other side is for those lads who can take the workload it turns them into absolute machines

Plenty of lads break down throughout their late teenage / early 20s. Unfortunately appears like Carter is one of them. Such a shame, he's a good defender and looked like he was going to be a real talent for us at one time. Maybe a step down to a lower level of football and a less onerous training regime is on the cards for him 

Calls of him being a waste of space are wide of the mark and frankly insulting for a chap who has worked at the club for over 10 years. Pathetic really

Yeah he's a human being he ain't doing it purpose this is his career and life and its never really got going so insults are needless.

For balance though i think most of it is frustration because anyone with any sense could've predicted this and to not strengthen the centre defence pool after selling Hyam is pathetic.

Absolute schoolboy stuff and i lost count of the clowns who said it's fine we have Carter and Wharton coming back....

This is what we are up against at this club now though and all they were likely bothered about is the pennies again. Replacing two good defenders in Batth and Hyam who commanded 10k plus per week with a lad who they thought they'd be selling next summer for good money and a cheap wage local lad.

Clowns.

Edited 4 hours ago by Tomphil2

[StHelensRover]

5000 away fans turning up on a cold Friday night, many paying more than thirty quid a pop. We deserve better than this. We all knew this would happen sooner or later and we pointed out in the summer. Why couldn't our manager and recruitment see how lightweight the squad was? I think they probably could see, and don't really give a toss.

Who knows what the lineup is gonna be, might as well draw the remaining fit players out of a hat. Disaster waiting to happen.

I said the other day I would take a point, that was when I expected at least Carter OR Cantwell to play, now we're without both, I don't know what to think. 

Edited 4 hours ago by StHelensRover

[Hasta]

If we are playing 3 at the back, I still think Pickering is your best bet. He's done it before. 

However as I heard he was one of the players unhappy with Rudy & Co. back when Eustace left (along with Leonard, Hyam, Travis, Weimann), I think his absence is less suspicious than that of Cantwell.

Edited 4 hours ago by Hasta

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Like I said why ain't Cantwell and his agent kicking up a fuss If he is being left out due to financial reasons?

Possibly because the Club notified them they wanted Cantwell off the wage bill, so they secured a move elsewhere for him in Jan.

Both parties agree he won't play in the meantime so from their point of view he avoids injury and in return we avoid having to pay some sort of appearance related bonus and/or an additional payment to Rangers.

I can't see it's that far fetched a possibility  - especially given our track record

[davulsukur]

------------------Pears

-------Miller---McLoughlin---Pickering

Alebiosu------------------------------Hedges

-----------Tronstad------Forshaw

------------------Morishita

----------Gudjohnson----Ohashi

I think that's what we are looking at. If he's feeling brave he might start Montgomery in place of Forshaw but I don't think he will.

If he's wearing his clown shoes, he'll start Hedges at CB and play De Neve at LWB.

3-0 loss and as comfortable as you like for PNE.

Picks has made 2 appearances all season (one of those was a last minute sub against Watford) and Miller probably won't be in a good place to actually play but will be forced too now.

[MarkBRFC]

32 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

5000 away fans turning up on a cold Friday night, many paying more than thirty quid a pop. We deserve better than this. We all knew this would happen sooner or later and we pointed out in the summer. Why couldn't our manager and recruitment see how lightweight the squad was? I think they probably could see, and don't really give a toss.

Think this is exactly right.

They aren't as daft as they appear, of course they could see it and knew how light we are at centre half.

Savings and cash in the bank trump all football related decisions here though, always has and always will.

Anything that happens on the pitch is irrelevant to this regime.

[Miller11]

Eustace and Waggott wanted Cantwell. Gestede didn’t. Waggott and Eustace met with him early in the window but it didn’t progress due to finances - probably Suhail putting a block on it.

It became apparent towards the end of the window that he was available on the cheap - 250-500k - so Waggott went rogue and had talks with Rangers - whoever he was dealing with up there said something along the lines of “Thank god, we’re desperate to get rid of him” so Waggott revised the offer to zero. After about 2 days of wrangling they agreed that it would be zero upfront with a big sell on clause and various appearance/promotion payments. Announced as undisclosed to appease both sets of fans. Getting him on a free allowed Waggott to make the case to Gandhi Babu (circumventing Suhail) to pay the required wages and get the deal signed off by Venky’s, as did claiming he would be worth 7 million if he could rediscover his form.

It’s certainly plausible that an appearance trigger is approaching. It’s also plausible that the man who never wanted him in the first place and thinks paying any player more than £10k per week is unnecessary might want rid of him.

 

[...]

Honestly though, we've done OK without Cantwell so time to see if what we have can get at them. Stranger things have happened 

[...]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Carter needs to retire. An absolute waste of space. Absolutely unforgivable that we pushed Hyam out, didnt bother getting at least one defender in and then tried to pretend it was all part of a plan.

Hard to see past a home win tomorrow especially with Hedges and a jet lagged Miller at the back.

Bit harsh the lads injured mate. 

[because of boxing day]

Miller played the full 90 mins of both Australia matches during the international break with the second match apparently only kicking of in New York at 1.30am UK time on Wednesday.

Jet lag and general need to recover indicates to me that an evening kick off tomorrow would be too soon for him to play any part let alone be a first choice. 

Pratt and Litherland I assume may be called up to the matchday squad/team. 

It would be beyond any sense at all if Gueye was to be drafted in as a makeshift CB......wouldn't it??

[Tomphil2]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

Eustace and Waggott wanted Cantwell. Gestede didn’t. Waggott and Eustace met with him early in the window but it didn’t progress due to finances - probably Suhail putting a block on it.

It became apparent towards the end of the window that he was available on the cheap - 250-500k - so Waggott went rogue and had talks with Rangers - whoever he was dealing with up there said something along the lines of “Thank god, we’re desperate to get rid of him” so Waggott revised the offer to zero. After about 2 days of wrangling they agreed that it would be zero upfront with a big sell on clause and various appearance/promotion payments. Announced as undisclosed to appease both sets of fans. Getting him on a free allowed Waggott to make the case to Gandhi Babu (circumventing Suhail) to pay the required wages and get the deal signed off by Venky’s, as did claiming he would be worth 7 million if he could rediscover his form.

It’s certainly plausible that an appearance trigger is approaching. It’s also plausible that the man who never wanted him in the first place and thinks paying any player more than £10k per week is unnecessary might want rid of him.

 

So he gets a knock and is out and they take that opportunity to see how they cope without him and use a player or two signed to replace him.

Then think yeah fine we'll be ok so leave him out to save money as long as they can.

Also doubt Ismael would be pleased about that but he's here to do as he's told.

[yankfan]

My son asked me the other day, “Why do we like Rovers?”  I really struggled to provide a convincing argument.