Were those clubs going to match the 70k per week contract he was on?

Welcome to the boards. I dont have the time to read all the links as about to hit the sack but i keep reading about this losing streak. 37 starts in 2.5 years is hardly great as it is but were all those defeats down to Rodwell? I just don't really get the correlation here. Bemoan an injury record or attitude but his record is like he played in one third of the games during that period and it was not a great period for your team as a whole. Not sure this stat really means anything to be honest. Anyhow, as you can see, our boards are quite split on this signing and even the most optimistic have their doubts. We don't know the full ins and outs of his time with you guys and appreciate you coming here to try and give the opposite side. He has obviously become something of a hate figure for you guys and we have had a fair few in recent times too - mainly owners and managers mind. We will see, he will not be first choice anyway and he has it all to prove on a low-cost contract for a season.

My prediction, we gonna nick it 2-1 after going a goal behind int he first half.

Paul Robinson Also - David Bentley back on loan. And Bradley Dack - I wonder what the odds would be for me to put a bet on him one day playing for England.

Maupay is indeed banned. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11748/11480281/brentfords-neal-maupay-banned-for-three-games-after-accepting-violent-conduct-charge

Cheap apparently, Mogga has said on numerous occasions that he wont be bringing people in on wages that would eclipse the top players already at the club. I wouldnt be paying him close to what i would be paying Dack, Mulgrew or Graham and would have him have to earn the chance of a decent contract.

Ok, so Rodwell is the CB cover, Reed is the CM - can we now get a striker perhaps (loan to perm) and possibly a winger? Think we would not need too much after that.

Big blow to them and good news for us - what is it 5 goals he has got already this season?

Except they paid money for Steele and Rodwell was a free agent. Like I said in other thread, would be great if he does regain his previous quality.

Could be a coup, could be a bad decision, if the latter its a cheap one. Ball is in the lads court as he will find it even harder to get a contract ever again if he balls this up.

If he refused to play like their fans have said, surely the club would be able to get rid of him via a breach of contract too.

Surely interesting reading. I would say who in their right mind is going to allow the club to rip up their multi-million pound contract? They gave him that contract, they forgot to put a relegation clause in the contract. I certainly wouldn't throw that money away. The refusing to play aspect of this drama is what i do not know much about. Was this true that he refused to play or did they just stick him in the reserves to rot because he wouldnt rip up his contract?

Well, I said my opinion would depend on the length of contract - so just for this season on cheap wages, it is not a bad deal. Former England international, Premier League winner (not sure on that but thats what it says on Rovers homepage), still only 27. Admittedly he has had some well-documented problems at Sunderland but if anyone can get him on the right path its TM. Sunderland fans are laughing at us in much the same we did over Steele but it would be hilarious if Rodwell did buck his ideas up and we sold him for 5+ million in a season or two.

Yeah I know - surprised me too. TM does like to have players that can play a number of positions though. Strikers that can play wing, wingers that can play strikers, Bennetts that can play anywhere, CB's that can play midfield, Rb's that can play CM.

In his younger days apparently. " At youth level Rodwell often played as a centre back but in stepping up to the senior team began to play in midfield." "Although Rodwell is primarily deployed as a defensive midfielder, he was regarded as having the potential to become a top centre back early in his professional career"

You will change that opinion as soon as TM puts him at CB.

About his level, good pace but not much else.

Would love to know what some of our players are on - Dacks new contract, DG etc.

Cant see it lasting but good effort from them so far.

We wont really know though with those - we just have to hope that TM is right that this will be a cheap deal for us. Considering he already said he didnt want players coming in on anything bigger than our top players, I would hope the deal is structured in such a way that he gets average wages for a seasons contract with the option for another on some a little better should he prove worth it.

The length of said deal will determine my opinion on this one.

Even the river I was watching which was obviously two Reading fans admitted that both were stone-wall pens. They were actually quite balanced and quite complimentary about us apart from one having a dig at our attendance being very low for a team just promoted from League 1 - ironic considering they only brought 200.

You make some good points but are a bit off with the Bellamy situation. He was not highly sought-after until he had played for us - he had basically been kicked out of Newcastle and was on loan at Celtic when we bought him. He was shipped off to Celtic after the below happened for a season before we came in for him. He apparently shunned a move to Brum to go to Celtic - not what I would call highly sought-after. "Before the match against Arsenal, Souness said that Bellamy had been left out due to a hamstring problem, but contradicted himself in a post-match interview, claiming that Bellamy was benched for being unwilling to play as a right-sided midfielder.[26] Minutes later, Bellamy gave an interview saying he was prepared to play in any position for his club. However, with his Newcastle career hanging in the balance, he later admitted that he had threatened to fake injury ahead of the Arsenal match, though in a later interview accused Souness of lying about him and his commitment to the club.[27] Souness responded by stating that Bellamy would never play in a Newcastle United shirt again while he was manager and consequently the club fined Bellamy two weeks' wages (about £80,000). Bellamy's last goal for the club came in a UEFA Cup group stage match against Sporting CP in December, in a 1–1 draw at St. James Park, his 10th goal for Newcastle that season. Bellamy ended his Newcastle career with a total of 42 goals from 128 appearances.[28] Bellamy made himself further unwelcome at St James' Park when some abusive text messages were allegedly sent from his phone to club captain Alan Shearer after Newcastle's FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United in April 2005, while the player was still on-loan to Celtic for the remainder of that season. At the time, Bellamy was with the Celtic squad in Ireland for Jackie McNamara's testimonial golf day. Bellamy's agent insisted his mobile had been lost at the time and that he was not responsible for the texts.[citation needed] Kenneth Shepherd, son of Newcastle chairman Freddy, also claimed he received gloating text messages. Shearer was alleged to have threatened to "knock his block off" should the player have returned to Newcastle United."[29]

Admit it would seem to be a 'D' list target - more of a gamble type.

Abso-bloody-lutely