Devon Rover

This is the bit that I'm most worried about. We had such a palpable increase in enthusiasm and energy with JDT's appointment. It is still there with every interview he gives, and every spot-on observation he makes. But he has not yet been backed at all in the transfer market and this is having effect, with the reduced squad size already exposed. That enthusiasm, hope, optimism, whatever you'd call it, is only going to survive so long before it fizzles out. The abject failure of the club so far this Summer in bringing in players to back up the coach's ideas and ambition, will cost us - and I can imagine JDT walking away from this in due course, as his energy burns out. With him would go a lot of supporters' positivity, which should have been (and still might be) built upon. I await any sign of the "healthy budget", but still believe this to be a statement with no real meaning behind it, whatsoever.

Phew! Good win, that. Especially when we clearly need a few more players in. Great to see the JDT enthusiasm being carried into the season. Stunning goal by our new captain, who will hopefully be being encouraged to have the confidence to be more dynamic now (like he looked to be when he broke through, and before his ambition was shackled). First three points on the board on day one. Well done, lads!

No Butterworth on the list. Have i missed something about him leaving?

By all accounts, Bowler would be a great addition. I would imagine IF he joins then it is a sign the wing-back system isn't our Plan A?

If we are going to be playing wing-backs, then I think we have to be spending money on someone of quality and pace to play that position. Pickering as back-up would be just about ok, but I can see a wing-back system being totally exposed down our left if Pickering starts there. If Styles would be as good a LWB as people are suggesting (I haven't seen him play there) then this would seem an ideal fit.

Phew! I feared a different word would be typed, there.

Totally agree.

Hi Chaddy. I agree with the first part I've highlighted in bold. But how do you define 'over paying wage wise'? I would suggest ALL high level professional footballers are overpaid, just as most houses are 'overpriced'. But, if you accept that costs are what they are then, if you can find a way to afford the best you can, surely you do - on an individual basis? Or just let someone else get the player/house and invest in it, whilst you fall behind, with a load of regrets. What I'm trying to say is 'overpaying' is completely subjective, based on what you are trying to achieve and based on the investment (financial/emotional etc) you have made in something? Sometimes stretching for that is better than the alternative, which is where we are now: Hoping something else comes up that might, possible, replace what we missed out on...

Agreed. But they will pay him (much) more money in a career that is relatively short. That talks, especially when you are at a club that appears to have a self-created financial obstacle to holding on to your more senior player colleagues - and a perennial lack of ambition. You have to be able to offer most young players something more than first team opportunities below the Premier League, or they will take the money/kudos on offer elsewhere.

Smoke and mirrors? Forthcoming club statement: "Weve actively tried to buy quality players... inflated transfer market... owners would never not sign a cheque... healthy budget... teams with bigger incomes... plenty of irons in the fire... we'll keep working hard... plenty of time until the window closes... players are coming... yadayadayada..."

I'm not panicking. But I am concerned at the lack of reinforcement of the squad with a few experienced players who can immediately come into the first team (RB, CB, CM priority, for me). This is, let's remember, with the aim of pushing Rovers on from a team that disappointingly missed out on the play-offs last season. We have not yet improved the squad from that point, we have seen it weakened by departures. We all know this. I don't subscribe to the idea that the end of the transfer window is when to judge. It is one of the points at which to judge but, inevitably, as the window begins to close, prices inflate and panic deals will be done simply to get some bodies (probably unwanted Prem youth players - when we have our own good ones) through the door. That always reminds me of the old last five minutes desperation-pull before a nightclub closed! Sensible clubs will use the period before the season starts to avoid that particular cattle market by identifying and securing targets and integrating them into the club. Everything our club has done this summer, in terms of process and pace, has worked against that and I fear we will pay for it. When I will really worry is if GB/JDT start trotting out the line: "Having Dacky, Dilan and Ryan available from the start of the season is like having three new signings." It really isn't, for several reasons. I'll keep trying not to panic but the enthusiasm I felt when JDT finally arrived is diminishing by the day. I'm glad that some posters are managing to stay more optimistic, I really do hope you are proved right.

Chaddy, I respect your optimistic view of the words that come out of Rovers officials' mouths. As I've said above, I really don't think statements along these lines constitute much more than "puff". In football, as in politics, there is now an art in saying things without really saying anything. This is evidenced in managers' (and DoFs') press conferences/media quotes being meaningless, beyond exercises in placating journalists and drumming up interest in ticket sales. What is "healthy budget"? Without knowing this then we really don't know what level of player the club can buy/pay in wages. That is the same for all clubs, but it does still mean the words are empty. I remain to see any hard evidence and until then I will suspect this is another screwed up close-season.

He definitely comes across as a complete master baiter.

"Healthy budget": For me, it is just one of those phrases that could be interpreted, or reflected on, in many different ways, depending on how things unfold. A "healthy budget" could be one that allows £5m to be spent on transfers, or £500,000. Or that covers a comparatively large wage bill. Or one that just enables a 'healthy' financial stability, or even supports savings to improve the club's fiscal "health". It could even actually be a negative budget, requiring further transfers out, to achieve a "healthier" position. Potentially. I don't know anything. Except that I hate these 'politician' lines that say nothing other than what one might want to hear. And I am bored...

If the info is sound, then I can't see it being Jones. He would surely be able to get a loan to a mid-lower Prem team, or relegated club with parachute payments, with likely higher % of wages covered for Utd?

Oh, that's harsh. I think we all (from birth) default to being above 'Nicko ITK' level.

I see what you did there. Whereas the idea of appointing Pardew IS warped.

Loving your confidence! Enjoy the new role. 🙂

Perhaps not journalists. But when @unleadedposts, I read.

Also, whilst I don't think he is the greatest of (totally hypothetical) candidates, why would he even want this job?!

Whilst my comment was obviously tongue-in-cheek, I would genuinely maintain that one can interview someone and demonstrate the desire/ambition of making them an offer that they will want to accept; or interview them and convey a lack of sufficient ambition/realism/control/investment/board-level acumen, to the extent that that candidate/s will inevitably end up somewhere else - and always would have done. Based only on a fan's observations over the last decade, I suspect our selection panel have become rather adept at the latter.

If the 'final three' is genuinely Warne, Ainsworth and Ferguson, then it can only be Ainsworth. That is the only appointment from that list that would mean I feel any kind of excitement for next season. But it's going to be Ferguson, isn't it?!

This is all getting more and more depressing by the day. Sounds like the shortlist has been whittled down through the clever tactical approach of waiting for other teams to recruit them. Last one standing after six weeks gets the gig. If you can get a phone call reference from an actual manager then you've perhaps got some meaningless credit in the bank. Its almost like the whole process/club is being run by a bunch of total incompetents, or something.

Did every one of those magazines reach their planned destinations, Pomster?! 😉 I may have strayed slightly from the topic, here. But the tenuous link is that I'm increasingly sure we will end up with some useless w*nker as our new manager!

In related, but vitally important, news: I've spent my life thinking it was "tidbits". I prefer yours. Reminds me of Topman's avatars...