KentExile

Probably the case, basically says as much in the interview "“Hopefully I can be in and around the first team here, but if not I’d be keen to go out on loan and play some men’s football and improve myself further."

Left footed centre back signed Come to think of it, by that logic, Rovers also signed up a right back last month too Gestede getting his targets sorted early lol Just a box to box midfielder, right winger & striker left and that's the business sorted 😉

George Pratt has signed a new contract until 2026 with a years option Wonder if he is is the left footed centre back that Gestede wanted, given that does not qualify for the U21s next season https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/may/09/pratt-pens-new-deal/

I would say that such a windfall (which is not used to fund the squad) wakes a few more people up So it does still have its uses

None have been announced by the club yet (but we shouldn't be surprised about that), Bloxham posted on his instagram He has also been injured for the past 6 months

Funny game innit, I see Pickering & Ribeiro as being of fairly equal ability

Lewis Bell & Stephen Edmondson also seem to have confirmed they have been let go

I think you misread that Small is a left-back but has been playing on the right side of defence this season with Kayne Ramsey suffering a knee injury in October. Although Transfermarkt seems to think he has been playing right wing mostly this season

4 times, all as sub, released this week

ok, I will rephrase, worst realistic scenario Do you honestly believe that given his first half season this year, a club towards the top of League 2 doesn't want to take him on a free and half his wages?

I genuinely do not think so. He will be on £5K/week (at most), Which equates to a maximum of about £250K over the course on next season. Even if as worst case scenario, we ended up giving him a free transfer (with a hefty sell on %) to Chesterfield pr similar and covering half of his wage for the remainder of his contract, I would fancy being able to recoup more than a few hundred K with a sell on which would still more than pay for itself And that would we worst case scenario. He has more than proved himself at League 2 level, so I would be pretty confident that someone at league 1 level would be willing to take a punt, and cover most/all of his wage, and even pay a small up front fee. again with a sell on % Personally though, I expect his option will be triggered and he will be a squad player next season, whilst being talked up as Dolans ready made replacement all through the summer

In all fairness, it was announced by Jackson, not the club. So Gilsenan would already have been advised prior to his birthday... should that worry you in the slightest

Even in that situation, it would be better to activate the renewal, if a club is interested (ie Chesterfield) allow him to move on a free but with a sell on clause, just in case he has a stellar half season at some point and he moves for a fee in the future Everybody wins that way

Maybe we should take the Indian court system to court to petition them to release the results like the football classifieds? Indian Government 1, Chicken Chokers nil Then we may find out the outcome by June in 2029

I don't think that he is. at youth level he played mainly as either a left sided attacking midfielder, or as a right wing back. He was also poor as a right sided attacking midfielder at the start of this season. Personally see him as probably being best suited to playing as a box to box midfielder in a 4-3-3 Definitely prefer him in the squad to Forshaw

Apparently his contract has a 1 year option clause, so he wont be on a free this summer

Has now missed Malmos last 4 games Knee injury apparently

The stats don't show that to be the case. Was a starter early on at both loan clubs, at Bristol, it seems he fell out of favour with the manager who was later sacked, at Tranmere, he was a regular starter until the manager who signed him was sacked, and then he was a bench player under the new guy

Real shame for him, wasn't even fit enough for the bench until late February, (think he still had the injury he had at Rovers when he signed for them, and then had a new issue when he was meant to make his comeback before Christmas) and in the end only made 4 sub appearances this season. As you say, hopefully he gets sorted with a club and manages to kick start his career Some quotes from the Barrow forum of him below "Wonder if Sam Barnes has been asked back for a trail pre season Andy Whing spoke warmly of him the other day" "Only players I'm surprised with is Barnes (thought he played well after coming back in to the squad and had a good game against colchester) and Vassell thought he would be kept but maybe he's off higher, apart from that looks like a full rebuild in the works." "Looks like we have cut ties with Barnes, he will probably go on to play a couple of seasons relatively injury free somewhere and boy does he deserve that bit of luck, but that’s the gamble and lessons will have been learned going forward." "The club obviously think Barnes isn’t going to achieve the level of fitness to be worth his wage , at the end of the day we aren’t a charity and have lost enough money on players like that over the recent years. Despite that I hope he proves us all wrong."

Am I right in thinking that there are (or were) in essence 2 different cases? One (the original) which the Indian Government has brought against the Venkys And another where Venkys are/were appealing to send money overseas (the one which Waggott seems to think is no longer an issue?) If so, I presume tomorrows case is regarding the original case?

For a club with funds, that may not be a bad idea. And it is a very similar system that Ismael tried to implement when at Watford. Although he preferred his "wingers" on their "wrong foot" (a preference he stresses in the linked article) However for a club with absent owners who have turned the taps off, it is simply not going to happen. Also doesn't leave much room for the apparent 7 or 8 academy players to make up the rest of the squad (as per Gestede) Personally I do not think Rovers will sign another left back this summer, and I do not think that the overlapping full back role particularly suits either Ribeiro or Pickering. But I could see him try try transition to a midfield 3, rather than the double pivot with 2 sitting players. Probably because we lose one or both of Travis & Tronstad during the summer

What's the betting that the Judge decides to have an early lunch after case 2 and never returns 😉

"Low 6 figures" according to Elliott Jackson I had always taken it as meaning somewhere between £100K & £200K, but that's my interpretation. I suppose technically that could mean anywhere from £100K to £500K? But whatever it is, he was certainly great value for money

Norwich can't afford to keep him as he is on "mega wages" with somebody quoting £35K/week on their forum Don't think he will get that much with his next contract (unless it is to sit on the bench in the Premier League), but would imagine he will be very much out of Rovers wage structure

Was a regular for them when they got promoted from League 2, then had a knee injury in 2023 that kept him from playing for over a year and then has had issues getting fit since, When he did return this season, he was in a higher division in a relegation battle with not much time to adapt From memory, he also had fitness issues when he was at Rovers also, Suspect a move to League 2 or National League