6 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Source?

A current member of coaching staff at Rotherham. ??

Rotherham don’t want Smallwood. Vaulks is a potential but more likely to go to Sheff Wed who are more keen.

@Sparks Rover how’s the Whitman thing going?

6 hours ago, tomphil said:

So we'd have 3 keepers of very similar stature and ability but one with more experience than others but who will be 2nd choice and not one big commanding keeper amongst them ?  You know the type we actually need and the type the manager said he wanted !

Might as well stick with the two we have instead of wasting another wage there's enough potential acts of generosity around.

 

We don’t know who we’re signing though...

5 hours ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Agreed.  If we bring in another keeper after the odd decision to keep Leutweiler, it has to be a Pantilimon size keeper.

Leutwiler is obv now lined up as 3rd choice keeper should / when we sign our keeper target. If he’s happy with that and we are then great. If he wants to move on and play 1st team football then we might pick up a small fee for him. 

31 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Building to get out of this league is fine but doesn't involve keeping people who have shown they aren't up to it or are so injury stricken that they haven't played a single minute in 18 months. Building to get promotion means you methodically replace and phase out the above with superior players whenever the opportunity arises.

Early days yet and I'm still hopeful Mowbray is playing games without seriously intending on keeping these players. But his comments especially on Gladwin are very strange for a club supposedly restricted on finances.

This is absolutely what I believe he’s doing. Rodwell and Conway have shown that they can come in and do a decent job. If he’s negotiating with them it’s to be back up players to matchday squad on less money from what I can see. This is why I fully expect at least one of those two to go elsewhere. 

Gladwin is an odd one from the outside. I’m not sure what the thought is on him. They must think there’s a player in there somewhere that is good enough to make an impact at the right price. Again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he left.

As for the contracted players, my feeling is that they will wait and force a move late on based on players who’ve been signed in their position. 

The key here surely is to improve quality, depth AND maintain the fighting spirit and morale that they have. I don’t think he’s done anything to the contrary in the last week.

It seems quite logical to me. He’s told the players where they stand in his mind. So they know where he’s looking to strengthen and whether they’re likely to play or not. 

He’s in no rush to have a ‘mass clearout’ because as Parsons said, he’s building to get out of this league and so for example, Leutweiler will now sit behind Raya and the new keeper to give us depth. Fisher will be allowed out on loan.

This approach is reasonable as long as you have the budget (which he’s asked for). Managers can force contracted players out by treating them unreasonably (making them train with the reserves, come in on their day off etc) but this causes animosity amongst the lads.

If he’s been transparent then the group will accept the changes. Maintaining the team spirit is as important as improving the players. 

My feeling is that 2/3 running out of contract will go elsewhere and a couple of the contracted players will seek moves too when they realise they aren’t going to play.

Just now, JHRover said:

Statements in the Telegraph are one thing. Actions another. Talk is cheap and easy, spending and recruiting well isn't. 

You’re talking about different things. This is not a discussion about whether or not we’ll actually sign the players. The point made was that TM is playing a game and ‘not rocking the boat’ in order to prolong his employment....my point is that anyone in that mould wouldn’t bring expectation and pressure on themselves by announcing that he wants more money for a promotion push next season! (This is what rocking the boat is).

2 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

I believe this is close to the truth.  Playing the game is Tony. Knows full well the happy clappers at ewood are a few years away from wanting him out no matter what happens next season. Why would he rock the boat ?

The ‘happy clappers’ (normal people) are genuinely a few years away from wanting him out because basically he’s done a bloody good job ???

It’s also pretty clear that when a manager finishes 15th and immediately states he wants more money and promotion the year after that he’s NOT afraid to rock the boat. I’d say that his statements since the end of the season are pretty much the epitome of rocking said boat!? 

8 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Err, Gladwin, Whittingham, Caddis, Hart, Harper on loan ?

They get some right and some wrong. But ultimately he’s achieving his goal and plenty of his signings have contributed heavily to our success and progression over the past couple of years.

1 hour ago, Lie_still_Rover said:

Dack, Rothwell, Chapman, Armstrong.. 

 

How much did those 4 cost vs current /potential value... 

Yup, not saying all his signings have been great but consider Bell plays every week, as did Reed. Not to mention Samuel, Payne, Antonsson and Downing who played regularly and contributed to our promotion. Davenport looks every bit a player...Gave several u23’s their debut over two seasons (11 in total I think).

Not bad for a guy who blindly sticks with the players he’s inherited, makes all bad signings and apparently never plays them huh? 

We do have a budget. They also always scout an option A, B, C etc in each position. In truth, the A’s are usually pretty unattainable because they’re expensive and usually scouted in case the club loses a Dack or Lenihan and suddenly has resources available. The budget is set in line with projected income etc. 

The difference this summer as oppose to last is that the manager is basically going to India to ask them to sanction his A targets without sales. Claiming that he can challenge for promotion if they do so whilst increasing the values of the developing players. (Highly rated Championship players sell for £15-25m) in theory.

It’s basically Tony’s moment. He’s putting his neck on the line.

9 hours ago, tomphil said:

The club also said they'd drawn up two budgets one for not much funding and one for if there is bigger funding so maybe they are just paying lip service to questions and not revealing their hand or they don't know yet but it's fair to assume they don't.

I'm still a bit dubious as we've been told there was good funding in the last two windows and we were priced out of better players than we had and the manager didn't see the need to spend on anything else. Personally I thought that was just covering the fact they'd invested what was available in Brereton and again i'm personally not expecting anything other than a similar tale this time.

To be fair though he'd be a bit daft to come back and say hey the owners have given me 20 million and suddenly add 50% to everyone he enquires about.

Amen to this logic ?

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

Just keeping you updated. 

Thanks pal. I for one like to hear real info as oppose to wild suggestion ??

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

Don't be silly. Of course we're after freebies AND contracted players. Keep up. ??

Yeah, sorry. You obviously know this. ???‍♂️

Just now, roversfan99 said:

Its not rocket science to suggest that the manager not having the foggiest as to the budget he is working on until a couple of weeks after the season has finished, a season in which we could have in theory prepared for with weeks of the season left due to our league position.

You say its an assumption to suggest that we are looking at frees, even the manager doesnt know!

How do you know he hasn’t got the foggiest? ??

How do you know he isn’t just going to India to increase the agreed budget in line with his ambition? There’s been a lot of chat (even on here) that we’ve been talking to this person or that person. If he hadn’t the foggiest then how would that be possible? 

I don’t know what his budget is but going back to abpoint made ealer that we were already behind because Derby had signed Shinnie is just pure banter. 

12 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

Because Mowbray can't do anything until he's flown out to India to agree the budget. He'll be doing that next week or the week after. It's not difficult ??

You’re assuming that we’re actually looking at free transfers? We’re not behind anything lads. We just probably didn’t want Shinnie or any other freebies right now It’s really THAT simple! ??

17 minutes ago, JHRover said:

How can we do that when Mowbray has said that he doesn't know his budget or the target for next season until he's been to India next week? Safe to assume nothing concrete can or will be done until he is back from his family holiday after India

Derby have already signed Shinnie from Aberdeen despite being in the play-offs. We're behind already.

How on earth can you deduce that we’re ‘behind’ already because Derby have signed Shinnie? ??

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

How long have you known Paul Chuckle? 

??

2 minutes ago, Butty said:

If they’d have him back that would be ideal really. Be a good sign of intent at the start of the window. 

Apparently don’t want him back. In spite of Smallwood still living in Rotherham. Slowed their forward play too much. Described as ‘the crab’

1 hour ago, JeffRover said:

You can all sh!t on this as a worthless twitter rumour but.......

A Sheff Wednesday fan has tweeted that he was in a bar with the Rotherham United squad and the midfielder Will Vaulks said he was in talks with Rovers. There is no reason for someone like that to spread bull but you never know i suppose. I suppose we will soon find out if that is true and if it materialises or not. Think the real fun and games will start properly in 4 to 5 weeks. Lets hope it's a productive summer.

Iv asked someone at Rotherham. Reckons it’s possible that we could be in for Vaulks. Shef Wed defo are...described as good (not great) technically, great athlete, leader and top lad.

Reckons Mowbray talked more about how much he liked Ajayi after the last game. 6ft 6 CB that lad...?

3 hours ago, Stuart said:

As long as we have dealings with that agency there will continue to be a smell that just won’t go away.

Trouble is, as Phil’s post illustrates, agents in general are a stench all of their own.

I agree that agencies aren’t great. But dealing with SEM was never the problem. It was the control that SEM once had over the club that was the real problem. That issue no longer exists, ergo...

Just now, philipl said:

SEM is not the only problem.

Although they are not supposed to, prominent agents in effect work as networks with affiliated smaller agents. 

One such agent has about 150 ostensibly independent agents tightly inside his network.

On the general point, agents cannot be avoided but it comes down to management and ownership as to whether the agents are de facto running the club.

On this basis, within the last two years, Rovers have again come to look like a proper football club business. Agents crossing boundaries thrive where there is no effective management to shoo them out of where they don't belong.

Being optimistic, Venky's have perhaps learned the very hard and expensive way.

I think Stuart pointing out that SEM represent Smallwood was an intimation that the stench of Anderson and Kean is still alive. I’m pretty sure that it isn’t. 

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

Richie Smallwood is a SEM client.

Ok, and? 

Just now, JacknOry said:

If we have to sell a Dack because we bought a Brereton, there is something very wrong with recruitment.

It is what it is...if we want to go up we have to spend some money. The only way that we can get back level if we don’t go up is to cash in on a player or two. If the fans got up and went to games then that would help too...

19 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

What Mowbray has said has to be taken with a pinch of salt as all managers tend to speak well at these things, talk is cheap, but i agree it is going to be interesting. The footballs been turgid in the main to watch this season really, there have been shoots of promise lately and lets see if he can carry it on through.

Its going to be incredibly difficult to move senior players like Mulgrew, Smallwood and Bennett on because they are all on flush new deals, thats Mowbrays doing.

But the bottom line is irrelevant as to whether anyone "deserves" more supporters, ultimately if Waggott puts the prices up again it will do nothing to tempt anyone back, and it will be him that has let Mowbray and the team down, no one else. Waggotts attitude is to put the onus on the supporters who are essentially floating fans, almost as if hes removed of any responsibility and control in terms of getting fans back to support the team.

The onus works both ways. The club have made some positive steps since appointing the manager. What V’s did to our club was horrendous but it’s clear to me that all of the rotten stench from Kean and Anderson has gone now....money isn’t the issue imo. People will find the money to pay for anything that is a priority in their lives.