Hasta

Word was Halim Bangura.

Waffle, waffle waffle. Tin pot deflection . You make a comment and then are unable to explain what you mean.

I imagine @Tomphil2 will say a squad player and a backup player are practically the same thing. I agree. Someone who doesn’t expect to start many games unless there are injuries or people drop out of form. You say they are different. Therefore I’m asking you what the difference is.

Yeah but having the fourth best team in England win it, whilst the top two from last seasons Premier League sit it out, just about sums it up.

You must know what a backup player is as you said “who said Batth came here as a backup player”. Then you said Batth came as “not a backup player but a squad role” implying that they are different. To me they are the same. So I’m asking you to clarify why they think they are different, not the original poster. - What do you define as a backup player compared to a squad player? - If Batth came in as a squad player do you think this means he was told he was to be an important player for the first team? - Therefore does this apply to Forshaw if he is also a squad player?

Not watched a game, but I hope Chelsea win just to make a bit of a mockery of it.

So what’s a backup player? And if you said not to worry as Forshaw was only 5th choice, why did you keep telling us he had signed as a “squad player” if that’s not a backup player?

I’m a bit confused here. A squad player surely isn’t a first choice. Therefore he’s a backup player who plays now and again as cover. Or are you saying squad players are expected to start quite a few games and be key to the first team?

Gestede can’t comment on it in the next Fans Forum meeting. Doing it in a friendly is one thing, doing it in January when we are chasing promotion is something else.

Carter & Hyam started the season. Batth was on the bench. Brittain got injured so Carter went to right back. Batth played. Brittain got fit. Hyam & Carter started, Batth was on the bench. He was clearly 3rd choice for the first couple of months.

The problem for Championship clubs is it’s difficult to know what to offer salary wise if you don’t know what you will have to pay when it goes to a tribunal. It no good offering an extra £10k a week over 4 years which will cost you £2million if you then get stung for £2 million. If he went to a Premier League club it is peanuts and abroad it is irrelevant. In the league where there is most interest, he is not truly a free agent. This was told to me by a Baggie fan who is fairly close to their club who says they are interested.

Diego Jota. Show some respect remember.

Ah ok. Hyam is good enough. He wouldn’t be easy to replace with our current transfer policy. His positioning isn’t always the best ( Burnley’s goal away last year springs to mind where there was only 1 guy in the box in acres when the cross come in). I felt like his real dodgy spell was under JDT when we were less defensive-minded so he had more space to ‘defend’. Under JE we were a lot tighter so it suited him (and I suspect Batth) more.

I've skimmed the last few pages so not sure if you two are just being pedantic, but Bath was the best centre back we had last season by some distance.

Gestede was a change in personnel, and since his predecessor was sidelined became responsible for contracts. The refusal to engage with Travis, Tronstadt and Brittain when there was only 18 months left on their contracts was his responsibility. As regards to the strategy for keeping players until they are worth nothing, that remains to be seen. However it's irrelevant as RG has confirmed the budget for transfers is set and doesnt change regardless of the amount of money we bring in. There is no evidence the money will be reinvested in the squad budget. Therefore, as a fan, if we are not going to re-invest I would rather have one more season out of Travis, Tronstadt and Brittain. The Indian Goverment is clamping down on people who falsely declare what the money they are sending out was for. If they had spent the money they said was for Rovers on Rovers they wouldnt have had a problem. I am happy to give the new signings a chance. Brittain was in the squad or available for 34 out of 46 league games last season. 45 out of 46 the season before. 33 out of 46 before that. Thats 81% of games over the past 3 seasons. I have no idea where this "sicknote" tag is coming from.

It won’t be. Eustace wanted to renew contracts and the club wouldn’t (or couldn’t). I don’t believe Ismael suddenly has significant clout. Rudy has been in situ for 12 months so it’s already his fault anyway, although I suspect his hands are tied.

That’s what all our new employees say. If they want to know the common denominator, Ask Suhail.

Cos he won’t be here. Val basically says himself financially the club may need to do it. We know they do.

I got told towards the end of the season by someone close to the club that the senior players weren’t happy with staff departures (not just Eustace). I think they don’t like working for their current management and employers and know they can get a bigger salary elsewhere. They know there’s no ambition for promotion, and ultimately they all want to play in the PL. Therefore a club with ambition, such as Boro, will appeal more than Rovers.

They haven’t offered Travis a contract. They’ve only just offered Brittain one in the last couple of weeks when they could have renewed it at the start of the year. Tronstadt, who knows? So I want to keep them. Any money brought in doesn’t affect what we can spend and doesn’t get reinvested, so what good is 3 or 4 million if we just end up playing with kids or relegated Euro-fodder.

Eustace wanted the contracts sorted back in December. The players by all accounts wanted to discuss contracts. The club had no plan beyond this summer and therefore wouldn’t sanction what we all knew was the right thing to do. Ismael is now talking about learning from mistakes of the past (with regards to contract situation). Don’t bother pal. It happens regardless of who’s in the chair. The incumbents just blame their predecessors. The only constant is Suhail.

I said I expect 2 of Travis, Tronstadt and Brittain to be gone by September. This is number one incoming. The minute we signed a right back for a fee the writing was on the wall. I doubt a realistic contract for one of the better Champ players in his position has been offered.

He should play some games yes, but Jansen wasn’t playing for Carlisle in the bottom tier of the football league until he was turning 18. Ollie Watkins hardly made a senior appearance in league two until he was almost 20. There’s tons of quality players who just aren’t quite ready at 17.

If he’s genuinely good then the pathway is open.

There’s a spammy streaming company advertising it as on along with every other European friendly being played. It won’t be on.