I made a breakdown of the numbers earlier in this thread regarding wage cuts. My figures are based on a few assumptions but I think it's fair to say the wages were slashed in the region of 100K pounds per week at least. We don't know if the transfer fees were paid upfront in full or if they're made in instalments but nothing suggests that the entirety of these payments couldn't have been made directly as a result of said wage cuts. It's entirely possible that a player like McLoughlin commanded a decent sign-on fee but the other three are young players with less experience and coming from smaller clubs than ours relatively speaking. We are looking in the bargain basement for players on the cheap and desperate for a move. Hull are under a transfer embargo and Kortrijk got relegated. Baradji, who we are after, got relegated with Yverdon Sport as well. Don't think it's all a coincidence.

Brittain looks like he's gone then. Travis next? Wouldn't surprise me if the replacement is already here (Alebiosu). Gestede is surely delighted to have Montgomery as backup to increase those Academy playing minutes from last season: - Transfer fees received doesn't get reinvested into the squad as per Gestede's previous comments (i.e. transfer budget is not impacted by player sales) - Venky's have probably not put a single penny into the transfer budget. Pasha makes sure it stays that way to collect his yearly bonus (maybe he gets a bit more now that Waggott is gone?) - We are reliant on slashing wages and selling players first before we can add anyone to the squad. All the outgoings (ending of loans and contracts) are the reason why we were able to pay a fee for the likes of Tavares, De Neve, McLoughlin and Alebiosu. - Contracts are not sorted/extended because any salary increase will have a negative impact on whatever transfer budget we're currently operating with - Owners know their business model would be laughed at if the club somehow miraculously were to get promoted to the PL. Why? Because the sheer thought of having to spend in excess of 100 million pounds just to be competitive (like Sunderland or Nottingham) would send them into a panic mode They have no interest in the club. They're not willing to spend. They have no ambition. They have no knowledge. They won't sell the club at a fair price. And to top it all off: club has an internal debt of roughly 120 million pounds towards the owners that they will never be able to repay regardless of how many assets they sell.

Well, I took some time and made a few calculations on this. All figures below are fetched from Transfermarkt and Capology. Dolan's wage is unknown but I assumed it was around 3 K / week as reported by others on this forum. Other assumption(s) is that all figures fetched from these sources are somewhat accurate and that we covered 100 % of the wages for all five loans we had last season: Outgoings at the start of season: Weimann 17 500 / week Batth 10 000 / week JRC 8 500 / week Dolan 3 000 / week (?) Dennis 28 000 / week Woodrow 20 000 / week Sigurdsson 15 000 / week Sanderson 10 000 / week ACD 7 000 / week Beck 3 500 / week McFadzean 3 500 / week Gilsenan 1 500 / week Markanday 2 000 / week Total: £129 500 / week 129 500 x 52 = £6 734 000 per year to be spent on salaries and transfer fees I'm discounting the transfer fee received for JRC (£750 000) since 0 % of it is going into transfer budget as per Gestede's previous comment. Ingoings so far: Tavares - reported fee: £1,72 million (2 million euros), alleged salary: £10 000 / week (based on his previous salary at Moreirense) De Neve - reported fee: £650 000 (750 000 euros), alleged salary: £5 000 / week (based on his previous salary at Kortrijk) Alebiosu- reported fee: £500 000 (576 000 euros), alleged salary: £2 500 / week (based on his previous salary at Kortrijk) McLoughlin - reported fee: £500 000 (575 000 euros), alleged salary: £10 000 / week (based on his previous salary at Hull) Total: Transfer fees: £3 370 000 Salaries (per year, assuming all four signings have the same salary as last season): 27 500 x 52 = £1 430 000 £3 370 000 (fees) + £1 430 000 (salaries) = £4 800 000 Outgoings - Ingoings = £1 934 000 left to be spent on fees and salaries. This amount is equivalent to signing a player on a free for roughly £37 000 per week OR paying £1.5 million in transfer fee and offer a salary of roughly £8 300 per week (Baradji anyone?). So, not much left in the coffers i guess? EDIT: one caveat to all this could be, of course, that we're paying the transfer fees in instalments. But I don't think the owners would like taking on more debt for relatively 'insignificant' transfers (or maybe they are 'significant' just like with Kargbo?).

Decided to have a look at current free agents since transfer rumours have gone a bit quiet lately: Oli McBurnie (29) - proven at Championship level. We were supposedly after him in the last transfer window but not now? Would add much needed experience and competition for a starting spot up front. Would also allow Leonard to go out on loan to a L1 or L2 club. Grady Diangana (27) - also proven at Championship level. Lost his place to Tom Fellows last season, hence a dip in playing minutes. Would be more than an adequate replacement for Dolan on the right wing. Also fits into team's style since he's athletic and a decent dribbler. Fraser Forster (37) - bit of a gamble due to his age but feels like he's the perfect goalkeeper for Championship being 6'7 (201 cm). At least you won't have to worry about keeper punching the ball from incoming crosses with this one. Maybe Rovers can offer him their new 'favourite' kind of deal (pay as you play)? Whether these are realistic or not probably depends if they're willing to accept a salary in line with or below Rovers' alleged wage limit of 10K / week...

This whole Baradji story is a 'strange' one. My take on it: - Player wants the move - Rovers knows this and are trying with a low-ball offer (pay as you play) to get the player to sign for less than what was initially agreed upon (i.e. prior to his medical). - If player has a foot fracture, then surely his current club (Yverdon Sport) wouldn't allow him to play 70+ minutes in the first competitive game of the season and risk aggravating the injury (and lose transfer money in the process). - He played 27 matches averaging 80 minutes per game last season including five matches in the final month of May (on the 6th, 10th, 14th, 17th and 22nd). I find it quite unlikely that the injury is serious given the match congestion during the latter stages of the Swiss league last season and the fact that he played regularly for the club since December last year. -If he has a foot fracture, has he been playing with painkillers lately? If yes, for how long? How has he managed to not aggravate his injury during this period given his style of play and number of minutes he's been playing? Another theory could be that Rovers doesn't want to pay any fee up front and only smaller instalments/game until player reaches a certain limit (say something like £30 K per match until player reaches 50 matches in total since reported fee was in the region of £1.5 million). This could explain why Yverdon Sport doesn't feel like they're getting any value of a potential deal/ can't bring in an immediate replacement and thus allowed him to play yesterday until a better offer comes by. The medical issue seems more of an excuse from Rovers' side to try to renegotiate the terms of the deal rather than actual concern that the player might not stay fit for large parts of the season.

Goal was a bit of a fluke with their goalie choosing to jump when 1 v 1 with Gueye. Thought our pressing was quite bad in the first half with the team sitting deep. Second half was an improvement after the subs came on. Kargbo showed a great burst of pace and were perhaps robbed of a penalty late in the game. Mullarkey-Matthew looks interesting but this year is probably too soon for him as his decision-making is a bit off. Positives: team is looking more athletic and willing to make runs. Showed a bit of resilience despite being under pressure in first half. Negatives: build-up from the back is poor at times when we get pressed, with defenders or goalie ultimately going for the long ball. Works when you happen to score like Gueye did, but we often lost possession as a result of it. Still think we need an athletic striker to compete with Ohashi and Gueye. Ohashi is a good finisher and decent presser off possession but doesn't provide any real presence up front on his own as he's neither quick enough to make runs in behind defence or strong enough to hold up play and link with his teammates. Gueye do provide that presence with his physicality and cause a lot of trouble for defence but he's not the quickest and his pressing off possession isn't that good.

Good move for Dolan, wish him well at Espanyol. He's getting a nice sign-on bonus, salary raise and nice weather conditions to play in. People should be pointing finger at the owners rather than an individual player who decides to leave for more ambitious projects than ours. Club is losing significant transfer money by either neglecting contract situation(s) or fail to cash in when offers do come by (Brereton, Dolan etc.). We have, since a couple of years back, entered a rather dangerous (and unsustainable) territory of not being able to renew player contracts leading to a decreased squad value and inability to properly replace the outgoings or strengthen the squad. We also have a head coach who now openly admits that they're willing to gamble on Brittain this year and risk letting him leave for nothing next summer. In addition, no reports suggests that a renewal for either Travis or Tronstad are near as well. What will happen next year if all three were to leave on a free? We're currently being outspent by thirteen Championship clubs this summer, including all three promoted sides (yes, even Charlton). Out of the ten teams who have spent less than us, you can argue that some of them already have strong squads (Leicester, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Utd.). It leaves us (theoretically) to compete with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Preston, Portsmouth, Oxford and Hull to avoid being dragged in a relegation battle this season. Our signings so far are speculative at best, with two players arriving from a relegated Belgian team, one from a team currently under transfer embargo (Hull) and the last one not being a regular starter for a mid-table Portuguese team.

Brittain was a key player last season. To say it's not a big deal and then say Duru (who has played the sum total of 1 whole minute in the Championship) is ready to replace him is fantasy talk. Montgomery is currently ahead of him as are new signing Alebiosu. None of them are nowhere near Brittain's quality at the moment, though. I get the the feeling that some posters on here are deliberately trying to downplay every outgoing from the club, whether it's Dolan, Brittain, Batth or someone else...

You can at least tag the persons you're referring to in your post. And no, our opinions about the club regarding various topics are almost as diametrically opposed as one can be. But I'm sure @chaddyrovers wants the very best for the club like we all do on this forum.

Fair enough. We all have our opinions on Hyam. Given recent history though, I'm just hoping that we bring in an experienced defender with leadership qualities to help out the team. Not buying the club's official stance that Batth doesn't need to be replaced.

Clubs in the Championship rate Brittain. I'm sure they rate Tronstad as well. If we're lucky, he might still want to stay even if bids do come in for him. You should ask yourself why there was no urgency from the club to renew Brittain's contract given he was one of our best players last season. That alone is enough reason for a player to suddenly change his mind and wanting to explore other options once bids come in.

Haha, didn't know I was dealing with a 'smartass' here. RIght, so individual errors are to be expected because a manager plays a certain way? Player don't carry any responsibility whatsoever? You tell me if Hyam's performance during that infamous 5-0 defeat against Bristol City back in 23/24 can be excused for 'poor management' by Eustace. Ridiculous.

Of course not. Tronstad have also stated that he wants to stay which might detract others from bidding for him. I'm trying to make the case that Hyam won't be as expensive having a year left if he's now seen as a 'consistent and reliable' defender.

Right. Keep telling yourself that Hyam is a good, reliable player when played to his strengths or have a head coach/ manager that suits him. I don't see Derby and Eustace bidding for him if he's so highly regarded and only has a year left on his contract?

Same JDT that nearly got us into playoffs the season before? You know very well that JDT wasn't backed in the transfer windows, thus the inevitable collapse. Yes, he played an expansive football and perhaps was a bit naive in that as the squad got weaker. But at the same time, I don't think he would've gotten anywhere with our absent owners regardless of playstyle.

You're deflecting from my main point, which was that Hyam did indeed often partnered with experienced Ayala in defence during that season.

Really? I would argue that season 23/24, when he got the captain's armband for the second half of that season, was an absolute disaster with us shipping 74 goals and nearly got relegated.

Not true. Ayala played 20+ matches during season 22/23. Team collapsed during the second half of that season when Ayala was mostly injured.

At 29 years of age with more than 200 appearances in the Championship, you would think Hyam is more than capable of being consistent in his performances, able to provide leadership and help out the younger players like Carter with his experience. What I've seen of him is that he's not a leader, an inconsistent performer and thus becomes a liability in defence if he's partnered with a younger defender. At Coventry, he had McFadzean who provided that leadership. Can't carry a player like that until he retires; he's taking up (reportedly) a salary around 18K per week but is not showing enough to earn it.

Sure. What about my other points regarding a back three and partnering with an experienced player (Ayala/Batth); do they hold any merit regarding Hyam's performances?

We often played with a back three or with Hyam partnering with another experienced head (Ayala) back in season 22/23 so to say Hyam is a key player for us is an exaggeration if you ask me. Club awarded Garrett with young player of the season back in 23/24 (after A. Wharton got sold) only for him to not even hold down a starting spot at Bristol Rovers the season after. So club awards doesn't always reflect on how good a player is.

Our right hand side will look like absolute sh*t if Brittain gets sold with no proper winger and a downgrade replacement at right back (Alebiosu). Our central defence without experience (Batth) is going to concede plenty of goals; Hyam is a liability without guidance, Wharton trying to ease himself back from a long-term injury and Carter picking up an injury already in the first friendly. If any of Tronstad or Travis gets sold as well, there you're looking at a weakened defensive midfield who might not be able to shield central defence. This could go really bad very easily if these issues aren't addressed properly.

I bet it's the player's agent who has leaked to the press if contract negotiations now has stalled. Nobody flies in for a medical if there wasn't an agreement made beforehand. It looks bad from the club's viewpoint and puts pressure on them to reach a deal quickly or risk losing him to (reportedly) Sunderland.

Stated earlier in this thread that I thought Ismael would play with a back three this season. Still think this will be the case but let's see in the upcoming friendlies how they shape up. Stick with 4-2-3-1: Currently there are big gaps to fill on the wings as well as a need for backup for position behind the striker where Cantwell usually plays. Expect Travis, Buckley and maybe even Pickering to leave if that is to happen. Change to 3-4-2-1: No need to go for attacking wingers in the transfer market but central defence will need to be strengthened instead. Expect Buckley to leave nevertheless. Hedges will find it difficult to get game time as he's not suited for any of the midfield roles.