Well considering they supposedly turned down double this figure about three weeks ago... https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/sport/football/aberdeen-fc/donsnews/rejecting-a-500000-bid-for-ryan-hedges-was-a-show-of-strength-from-aberdeen-insists-boss-stephen-glass/ ...one of the two claims is wrong, or we really don't have a clue about what people cost, even players we've had tabs on for a while. (Or we are taking the piss with bids we know won't pan out so we can claim we tried again)

I see Van Hecke was talking to Duffy, who urged him to sign for us. I hope he didn't advise him on how to behave when you're not getting your own way...

I was gonna say, looking him up shows me he is also billed as a midfielder. What kind though? I don't think we need to be bringing in Poveda, Khadra and Edun all to play on the wings. Especially when we like to gallivant huge strikers on the wing and already have Dolan too. A central mid, or one of the three we like to play in midfield, and I guess it might be shrewd enough. Bit of a utility player with room to grow? If that's the case perhaps it's not the worst move, especially if it means we won't sign Khadra. And as long as we still think we can sign a proper striker and have money for contract renewals...but if any of that isn't the case, or if he is seen purely as an LB, I have to question our strategy. Again.

From how I read the discussion you joined, neither of them was advocating throwing those players in right now. They're just touting the ones most likely to succeed at some point. Not guaranteed, and not immediately. I'm sure they'll correct me if that's not right. I'd imagine most fans are aware that good prospects fail more frequently than they make it.

He better be perfectly competent at RB too, because it will be bizarre even for us if our only spending this summer, the only place we permanently recruit, is twice at left back. A backup LB (or potential first choice if Pickering doesn't deliver) is one of the areas I'd have been fine with us only loaning a player whilst we see if Pickering finds his feet.

Total disagree on Cairney. We weren't getting the best out of him by playing him wide (clearly we have learnt from that since...Jesus...) but it was still abundantly obvious he was a key player for us and worth considerably more than the pittance we sold him for. I was fuming about the deal. At the time, not with hindsight nor a crystal ball. I wasn't alone. We were in full fire sale mode and got well under his worth. King I wanted to keep, we saw potential in him but for various reasons (including not getting consistent runs in the side) never hit it with us. I definitely wanted him to sign a new deal instead of leaving, though I'll agree I was surprised by how well and how quickly he took to the Prem.

Looks like we are going to sign him, and I've got to be honest, the clips don't excite me about him that much. In particular, the first clip, where literally every single run he makes on it results in a loss of possession (or is cut off before we see what happens with the ball, as presumably it's a loss of possession). It's great that he can run with the ball like that, but if the end product is frequently a loss of possession I'm happier with Rothwell and Dolan. Or since we are talking 'wide' players, BB. We also brought in Poveda already, another player said to be similar to Dolan. I don't see the need for us to loan two similar players to Dolan and continue to hold his development back at a critical stage. I'd rather we didn't bother with Khadra. Maybe he will turn out to be a corker, and obviously I want him to, but it seems like the stupidest area of the pitch to make another loan.

And of course, we are short of owning many players, with that situation looking likely to worsen next summer as it's hard to see us keeping all the out of contract assets. We can rest assured there won't be a budget next summer unless we sell again, the Armstrong money will just vanish into the legendary black hole.

Christ...I think our transfer strategy is abysmal, but that statement is a stretch. We let two LBs go (I'm not going to seriously count Downing there, he was a midfielder who could be forced in there when necessary) and we brought one in. It's immaterial that we technically signed him in January, he has only just rocked up.

Me then? I want to be here. I scored 5 goals last Tuesday in a 7-a-side too, although tbf it doesn't sound like my CV matters, only how much I want to be a Rovers player. Genuinely a lifelong dream for me, can't ask for more than that.

I'd argue he's more like a pound short of a pound.

You can pay pork too much respect.

Did he know someone had been sent off?

All subs made by the 60-minute mark, meaning we are goosed if anyone gets injured? That's So Mowbray

Who just hit that pathetically weak shot at the end of the half?

Fantastic strike from Gally

Basically you haven't seen him and have decided he is better than a player you don't like. Thanks for that contribution.

It's not Brereton wide that bothers me really. I actually don't think he is too bad there, though would probably be better in the middle. It's Gallagher. Probably need to forget about that happening too but it just doesn't make sense to put him wide and never will.

This Poveda better be bloody good. I can't take another tiny man in the middle with two huge strikers out wide, nor Dolan being held back for a second year to develop some other club's youngster, if it's not the case.

Honestly, I'm struggling not to be pissed off by our supposed plans in the market. Clarkson seems a solid signing based on our needs. But two young largely untested wingers who don't convince me from what I've seen and read so far, with one of them being seen as a number 10 for some unbefuckingknown reason, whilst we send our own asset in Chapman out on loan again, meanwhile developing some Brighton defender and possibly sending Carter, who has been looking decent so far and filled two positions, out on loan again (presumably to a level he has already smashed) is just fucking bananas to me. More of Mowbray's scattergun, scatterbrained approach filling me with absolute dread for this and next season. These kids had better all turn out to be great if we are holding our own back.

I can't see the logic in doing zero long term planning because the manager is out of contract next season. A new manager may or may not want any given player next season, it's true, but I doubt he wants to inherit an absolute shell of a squad with no budget either. By the same thinking, we wouldn't bother renewing the contracts of Lenihan, BB, etc either. Why bother when the new manager might not want them?

It's not even just rumours, TM has publicly said he is considering sending him on loan. Just bizarre. All I can think is we signed him on for another year cos it was cheap and we didn't know if we were gonna be able to get someone else that Tony actually rates.

If I were RN or JR's agent and I wasn't a Rovers fan, I would also be trying to move them on. They're wasted here frankly.

Even the LT comments thread is full of criticism for giving Chapman a one year deal then considering loaning him out. Fucking bizarre decision.

I hope you're wrong, because that would be a terrible mistake by us. With our current financial situation we shouldn't be paying any kind of loan fee for ANYONE. We are desperately in need of tying down some players so we aren't repeating this 5 loans cycle again every summer. If we can pay a loan fee we can pay a transfer fee, or renew a contract on an asset. We are doing these parent clubs a favour as much as they're doing us one, possibly more.