RoverPedro

Ismael at the Q&A said he wanted players proven in the championship who don't need 3 or 4 weeks to get up to speed with fitness and the league. Neither of these signings fit that. £3.5m on a player who has been benched or come on as a late sub in Bodos biggest games in champs league this season doesnt seem right to me.

It was quieter than I expected it to be. But as we were walking in, we said it was such strange timing to hold this when we are so crap at the minute

Completely agree. I suppose it's something we can hold them to though in future as its obviously quite a while before Alebisou and Cantwell are out of contract and if they dont sign then it's obvious we were never serious about the offers

I never said I believed him. Im just relaying what was said.

Okay, so ill be a brave one and admit I went to this. I got a freebie so thought, why not. There was about 30 people there. No idea who was business club or paying punter. First part was talking about his career, family etc etc. His time at Rovers so far. He came across as very family oriented, and actually seemed a nice bloke. He was asked about transfers and broadly gave same answers as what he's given to Radio Lancs. We are trying to bring pkayers in, hard in Jan. Usual stuff. But categorically said there was budget. Spoke about how important academy is. Hes impressed with how well litherland and Pratt have done. Change of tactics. Data showed we played much better in 352, more attacks and better pressure. We are 8th in chances created apparently but obvs we don't have enough quality to convert. (My opinion) Home form, said needs to improve, again that's obvious, but we are again something like 8th in the away league table. Someone asked a question about the pitch. Is it fixed? Fans found it embarrassing. He said owners weren't happy, experts have been employed but can't do anything until end of season. Players were annoyed. Saw it points lost and we are talking in a more positive manner if they had finished as they were when game abandoned. I personally asked a question about player contracts, I said that we have lost too many players for far less than their market value due to club not getting on with offering contracts until it's too late. Have we offered contracts to Cantwell and even Alebiosu so we aren't in same position in future as this affects pur potential dealings in transfer windows with less mo ey than we should have. He said Hyam and Brittain situation was too far gone when he came in and so they needed to be sold so we could recoup. (I didn't get chance to ask why Hyam was so late a sale). Alebiosu and Cantwell have been offered contracts. So he says. And others but didn't name them. Said boycott talk doesn't affect players who are here and wouldn't affect players in terms of attracting them to club. There wasn't too many hard hitting questions on the whole, as expected. And you are never going to get the full picture from these things. But overall he came across well. However, results business and whilst we have been decimated by injuries it isnt good enough what we are seeing at the moment.

He hasn't though has he. If that money was there he would be through the door. Gestede has said that any sales don't add to the initial budget, so where is that money for a marquee coming from? From previous sales over the past 2 seasons the expenditure is pitiful. It is not sustainable to sell your best players constantly and not reinvest in similar.

Apart from the happy clappers on LET i think pretty much every other fan would absolutely detest the way our club is run.

At the kit launch yesterday Ismael spoke a lot about Montgomery. Heaped praise on him for his on and off the pitch attitude. Can see him being used a lot this season. Said Scott Wharton is unfit and needs to improve on this to play the way Ismael wants to play. So can see us really pushing for CB, ala Mcloughlin, as he clearly doesnt see Wharton as the answer to replace Batth. Said he has no interest in loan players when asked about using our relationships with Liverpool and Brighton. So can see the academy getting a lot of minutes this season. Also fits with Gestedes words. Think thats a mistake personally. Logic would dictate that lads at Liverpool academy are better than ours. I know most of this is common knowledge but interesting to hear direct from the horses mouth.

Not wanting to be one of those who knows a mate of a mate etc, but i will be Dolan is currently on £2k a week. His agent let's say isnt exactly quiet on the issue in private groups Got to remember he signed a new deal only 6 or so months after joining for 300 a week. He hasn't signed anything since. Personally would be offering 10/12k a week. His performances towards end of the season, whether putting himself out there for a move or not, he showed he can reach very good championship standards. You also know you are going to get 100% pretty much every single game.

Very rarely post on this forum. But thought I would share this from someone I know who has club connections. "There’s a woman I deal with down there and she was saying that he wasn’t first or second choice… and it’s got all the players backs up that they are 5th in the league and yet no one is prepared to come to a club that’s pushing for the play offs. What does it say about the club!!" Whether it's true or not I don't know. But if it is, to me it says the players coming out of contract in summer or next season have zero intention of staying on at Rovers.