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bluebruce

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Everything posted by bluebruce

  1. Has Arteta come out and said he wasn't in for him? Unless that's the case, there isn't any evidence that he wasn't willing to pay more than 3m for him. There is some evidence (not proof, evidence) that they were though.
  2. Maybe but a penalty isn't really any further vindication of that...
  3. None of that sounds like a reason for Raya to sign a new deal with Brentford. Another interpretation could easily be, based on what we've heard, Brentford were refusing to sell for less than £15 million, which is a lot for a Championship keeper who cost £3 million last summer, and also having him loaned back to them, Arsenal were understandably reluctant to do business on those terms but still lurking, so Raya's agent took the opportunity to pressure Brentford into a big wage bump to put the matter to bed and get their top keeper playing again without this spectre over his head to distract him. Brentford had the choices then of selling him for less than they see his worth to them, which is clearly far far higher than we saw his worth to us, having an unhappy keeper all season and probably losing him for less in future as a result as his value dropped, or paying him a lot more money. They've gone with a lot more money, to protect what they see as a valuable asset. A whole range of interpretations inbetween yours and the one I just suggested are possible of course, but ultimately there's no point discussing them at length, as we simply don't know what has gone on. Using it as a stick to beat Raya with again is daft. He just had a summer were there was clear interest in him from a massive club, his existing club fought hard against that interest and put a huge price tag on him, and he came away with a pay rise to settle the matter (maybe a min fee release clause in there too, but Brentford might be too savvy for that). None of this reflects badly on him. If you don't rate him that's fine, the only undeniable fact from all this though is that his market value is, one year on, a lot higher than we got, and quite a few of us saw that coming, even if a club as big as Arsenal going in for him so soon is probably a surprise to most of us. We need to be more shrewd with sales in future. Tony seems to want to buy at what he thinks players are worth, and sell at what he thinks they're worth, and that's fine except he or whoever is doing the negotiating seems to be a few years behind in understanding the going rates.
  4. The way things tend to work, if he was playing for them he would play a blinder and score. Didn't Cardiff's Bennett score against us last season or the one before or am I making that up? I'm sure I remember thinking we own a Bennett, but more goals have been scored against us than for us by a Bennett. Much like there was a game where we didn't even have the best goalkeeper named Walton on the pitch.
  5. Merlot on you, or you're on the merlot?
  6. Dack isn't though, not really. People should stop saying that, as we have an option to extend a year which we will obviously take up if he doesn't sign a new deal.
  7. Any lingering enthusiasm I had for the window just evaporated. I hoped a King sale might be added (just a little, not all of it) to the budget and allow us to sign either a better standard or an extra cover player. But nope. Think TM will be talking about 'hopefully getting one more in on loan', soon enough, in total from now that is. We pretty much wee with the willy we've got now. We had better hope we get promoted this season. Next season, any loanee we have will be gone (again), Bell and Nyambe stand to be out of contract, Dack in his last year after we extend it, so not worth as much to cover the bills(if he comes back from his injury well). JRC, Rothwell, Holtby, Johnson, Chapman, Williams. Even Evans, Bennett, Fisher, all out of contract in the summer. Some will have extension options we haven't heard about, some aren't great and soaking up large wages, some might renew, but the point is it will be a HELL of a lot of rebuilding required unless most of them do renew (and we don't sound like we are in a great position to offer terms). We can probably expect somebody to be sold to raise funds for the huge rebuilding job and to cover covid costs, but that will just be another key player needs replacing. And we thought this summer needed a lot of new faces (which haven't arrived in any real numbers). Oh the current remaining gaps will still be there too. And we have already shown we aren't great at getting a lot of deals over the line. Think we actually need to go up this season to avoid going several steps back.
  8. They can in order to stop us going into admin or anything like that. Anything above the amount they already put in every year won't be counted towards helping beat FFP though.
  9. Like I said, not bothered about other clubs. I'm comparing him to previous Rovers bosses, who yes, did this sometimes but not as much. If I did go looking at other clubs' forums, which I'm not going to, I reckon most of them the manager only does it with one player, in the opinion of the majority. That's been the trend through Rovers' history in my time watching. I'd be surprised if we have just been lucky in that regard.
  10. Don't agree with that, I don't pay much attention to other sides but I think he does it more than any other Rovers manager I can remember. Others usually have one player they do it for, TM has had several and sometimes two at once.
  11. So if I have it right, the window for non-domestic signings closes on Monday? If the vaunted European scouting network is going to deliver us more than one player this year (or in other words, ever...so far) it is quickly running out of time. Like others, I find it very hard to believe a cheap left back who is better than Bell can't be sourced on the continent. Scandinavian, Eastern European and French markets tend to be pretty cheap for the level of player we'd need. Holland? Belgium? I really don't see how Amari'i Bell from Fleetwood can be the best we could have done in the last few years in the few hundred k price range he cost. Even though he has been a bit better recently and actually had a good game against Derby. (The full window, aka domestic window closing too, doesn't happen til 16th October btw, before anyone panics too much...just think Europe must be our best bet at filling this key position on our apparently limited budget)
  12. I'm unsure of, and disturbed by, what you're implying....
  13. Thing is, Nuttall and Brereton smashed in loads of goals at that level too...McBride scored 1 goal in 14 matches for Stenhousemuir last season, in the Scottish League Two (fourth tier in the pretty poor Scottish leagues). Not that I'm writing him off because of that, and when I've looked up his minutes, he pretty much only played 6.84 full games worth. I'd just expect him to be able to break into, and regularly score, at such a piss poor level, if he really has a future at a decent level in the game. He's 19 btw, not 18. But players can learn and develop quickly. If people who have seen him are saying positive things about him, and he is smashing them in at the level he's playing for now, I'll certainly reserve judgement. I just really hope we don't suddenly have to rely on him, as things stand.
  14. That did make me laugh. But I've messaged the mods to have you banned ? Seems like he's making more than he did as a 17 year old to me...from what little I watch or hear about Prem football these days.
  15. Yeh I didn't mean to imply he wasn't a fan, in name anyway, growing up. More that what he said gets his fan card revoked for me.
  16. Yeh I really don't think he does. Described losing to us as his worst moment as a professional or something like that. Even though we needed the points desperately as we were in a relegation scrap. Even though he had been part of that team that got hammered by Manure (7-1 was it?) which should have been far more embarrassing, especially since he was supposedly a boyhood Rovers fan. I thought Jones was terrific when he was here, I could kinda understand him moving, even though it was to them, even though I thought he moved too soon, and even though we were shafted out of a few million by him not picking Liverpool. But after those comments he is eternally persona non gratis to me.
  17. Doesn't seem to have been posted here (understandably) but we have signed a goalie... a 16 year old one released from City. Obviously for the under 18s, but after Dolan, who knows ? https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18754452.rovers-sign-teenage-goalkeeper-manchester-city-release/ (Apologies, hadn't read the bottom half of the previous page, it was mentioned)
  18. If he isn't good at catching then yes it's understandable if he punches. It's not ideal though. Ideal is a keeper who can and does catch effectively. Punching the ball frequently will eventually lead to trouble.
  19. He looks composed and confident, and so far has been solid. My main concern with him so far is I'm suspecting his catching may be poor. The type of saves he made on his show reel and the way he usually punches instead of catching...I feel like he might not be good at keeping the ball in his hands, and knows it, so doesn't tend to catch it. That said, he did pluck one decently enough out of the air against Derby at one point. Time will tell whether he is a little iffy at catching, but so far I'm happy with him overall. Of course, Walton was an easy act to follow!
  20. Not like we didn't have defensive debacles, at our lower level, with him in the side though.
  21. As much as I really want us to get the funds and spend, because we really can get the job done with a decent defence... It would actually be irresponsible to overspend on the assumption FFP will be lifted. And I suspect they're not going to announce any changes to it until after the window shuts, to scare clubs into avoiding spending in an uncertain climate. Personally I'd still want to take the gamble, we may fail FFP anyway and the riches on offer for the gamble succeeding are immense. This is on the assumption that Waggot's talk implying the club is on the edge of disaster if we don't be careful is just bluster. It isn't worth risking oblivion otherwise.
  22. Is he a free agent at the mo?
  23. Why is that? What they saying?
  24. It's possible, I do agree he keeps saying different things (the picture might be changing though). Personally I suspect it's more down to him not really knowing/fully understanding the situation regarding the budget. He is a football man, not a finances man. With the changing picture due to grounds staying closed too, makes sense he would say wrong and contradictory things at times, as he does like to tall and talk. Some comments may be affected by his frustrations over the difficulties too. Waggott, however, should have a good grasp on the finances and he claims we are at a precarious point in the club's history. He, however, is a man I don't trust, so it certainly could be spin to sell tickets and get other clubs to drop prices. Which in the case of the latter, I can actually get behind. Sometimes you can't just be honest, sadly.
  25. Mowbray has made it clear there won't be a pitch to them. 'Not the right time' to ask them for more funds apparently. Real shame as I think a leaky defence is the only thing that could derail us this year.
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