Agent trying to drive up wages offer from other interested parties probably.

3 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Big problem for Rovers.

Every club looking for a decent centre back for less than £1million knows where this is one!

If you are Kipre, you bide your time as he knows there will be other opportunities should Rovers get fed up of waiting and go for someone else.

Pity as would be a good vfm signing as a player who's only likely to get better. 

Hopefully there's been a better sales pitch to him than there was to Bauer at least he should know he isn't coming to play second fiddle to Williams.

9 hours ago, AdamRochina said:

A newcastle fan group on Facebook claiming they are trying to buy back Adam Armstrong for around 10 million. Says they have been talking to rovers for past couple days.  Anyone with a bit of inside info heard anything?

Didn't that come from something calling itself EFL transfers with about 13 followers ?

Similar popped up last window.

So much for covid killing prices looking at that QPR/Palace deal

I firmly believed Nixon to be another dancing to tantric tunes back in the day. 

I'd love WBA to spew their budget on Duffy and not just because that might land us Kipre.  Lets see the twohats dream move to Celtic go tits up in favor of a relegation battle.

2 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

I always thought it was unsustainable for us because we were also a selling club: we only partly reinvested monies from Duff, Bentley, RSC etc essentially to subsidise the ever-increasing wages of the Emertons, MGPs etc who no-one thought good enough to buy.

That's partly why it probably ended up for sale as it was sustainable whilst run correctly and having a player to sell every 3 years. It was getting to the point though it needed some proper reinvestment and Williams and co were at fault themselves not buying in a few decent young ones with potential now and again.

I think he became a bit complacent with wagers although the likes of Emerton & MGP were usually good value for them. However giving Keef Andrews a deal that ended with him on parity of 33k pwk was ridiculous. 

37 minutes ago, briansol said:

The point is valid as Peter Ridsdale once said 'Show me a club's annual wage bill and I will show you their final position in the league table.'

Of course you are right that there will upset to the balance, and especially relegated teams seems to struggle to adapt event with parachute money. Bielsa proved that a world-class manager can turn dust into gold. The large turnover of managers in Championship shows that most clubs are not able to find their Bielsa.

Wage wise I think we are mid-table which is quite good, considering the large decifit the club is running each year. We are going to punch above our weight it's either by being very good at player trading like Brentford or getting a top top manager like Bielsa. 

 

Williams used to say similar about us in the Prem to justify us paying big wages and he was more or less proven right. However every season in every division with possibly the exception of the top 6 Prem there is a few teams who disprove it.  It's called punching above your weight and being ambitious and that's the clutch of clubs we have to strive to be in. No point just turning out every season and just accepting where you are then using these facts as reason to justify not having a go.

Often the manager and his staff really are the difference, that's another fact.

50 minutes ago, Swanson said:

I am not too disappointed if we loose out on Kipre in particular, it's more the thing that we seemed to have gone far the line with this deal. Since the market seems a bit difficult these days. also it is a promising player with a fair price tag. Shame to lose out when it seems that we are close. And it is domestic transfer, so need to worry about quarantine because of Covid-19. Buuut I guess there are other fish in the sea..

It is good we are evidently genuinely in for these kind of players so they can't be accused of the usual window dressing. These are the kind of players we need to replace the ones moving or trying to be moved out.

Always a long shot, hopefully plan B is somebody worthwhile.

2 hours ago, unsall said:

No,TM has said we don’t have to sell Del Boy to fund a c/b but has to get others off the payroll to pay for others.

Just think for the first time in a while,and in difficult times, we are actually trying to address the defence,and paying fees,which JH has always said Venkys won’t do.

Just be careful with talk like that remember Tom Cairney not long ago ?

We need to get through the window before the boasts and i told you so's start otherwise Nyambe leaving for an undisclosed couple of mill or so at the death leaves egg on faces.

Can't be many Rovers fans left able to follow the Partick Handbag it's almost like he knows we have his number. Doesn't want his groupies realizing he's 90% billy bullshit.

Never mind most of them will work it out eventually, wonder what name he uses on here these days......

The less the budget the tighter the reigns the more sensible targets seem to emerge. 

A good whack for Williams might help to pay off Mulgrew !

Otherwise it's heavily subsidized wages to loan him i reckon.

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Wales Online article says we want a 7-figure fee for Williams! If Swansea are signing Lowe and can no longer afford him, we need to drop that valuation pronto...

Sounds like they don't want him to go if there's any truth in that.

13 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Yes but the wages of the players who departed won't just be added up and given to Mowbray so he can spend on this goalkeeper either, they would have been paid over the season.

Agree with the point you are making about people signing up just to make digs.

Of course not but if and as usual it's all ifs but if the football budget is similar to last season those not being retained added up might equate to a million quid. This keeper and his signing and wages for a season might add up to a similar amount so it's easy to get signed off.

All assumption obviously but that's how it gets done when you are on the breadline. Hopefully we aren't and further cash buys will show there is a bit of an extra pot to invest.

4 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Well to be fair we have had a poster trying to suggest that is what we will be doing ,selling everthing.Altho he does say the same thing every year 

Be more than 500k spent so far if we are bringing wages into it.

I still don't get why someone would bother signing up just to post sarcastic shit when we've no senior keepers and just spent a few hundred grand on one. It's a very welcome signing but at the same time it's an absolute necessity so the situation isn't to be laughed on.

Yes wages always come into it but are obviously spread over the contract and unlikely we are paying 500k in one go. I would think it's been pretty straightforwards to absorb this kind of signing so the next one will tell us far more about the finances.

1 hour ago, sandstorm said:

Well done without a budget! ?

There's always been a budget are you suggesting Rovers didn't have one ?   Think the club would be selling everything that wasn't nailed down if there wasn't one.

Question was how much room if any there was for signings and so far it's now officially about 500k. Similar to that has been shaved off last seasons with released players.  Not sure why there should be any crowing done at the min.

Spot on, a real goalkeeper at last hopefully.

15 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

That’s it, I don’t think Hart, Smallwood and Samuel do need replacing. The young lads can do that.

Davenport is a ready made replacement for Downing and we spent a lot of money on two lads bought to replace Danny Graham who need to have the chance to do this.

The only positions imo which have opened up because of the losses are Gk and cb. Which in fairness, we appear to be on the way to sorting.

Fair comment on the first point when you look at what they've brought to the table in the last 18 months which wasn't much or anything at all. Various reasons obviously but they certainly won't be missed whatsoever right now.

We are now almost freed of carrying players for sentimental reasons although i'm with JH on the point Mowbray would still have kept some of them if he was flush with spare cash.  Anyway it's done now so it's a positive step forward imo lets hope it can be used.

19 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

I agree it's bizarre we signed him considering deficiencies in other areas. But equally he does have quality so we need to figure out how to unlock that.

Could see him having a really good season this year now he's settled. 

Much prefer someone like him whose obviously a talented player who always gives you hope, rather than a plodder.

A centre 3 out of Travis, Holtby and one out of Evans/Johnson/Davenport is decent at this level. Strongest part of the team.

Question will be what happens when Dacks back?I guess he will be playing false 9? Which I just don't think works imo. And then you end up with the lunacy of Gallagher and Breo on the wing. Or you go "wingless wonders" 4312 which at least let's you play strikers as strikers. But leaves us very narrow and where does that leave Dolan and Chapman?

Have to say formation wise things look as uncertain as ever.

According to the LT Mowbray wants to focus on them getting fitter and playing a pressing game which goes right against everything else he's been trying to implement recently.

With an influx of youth and the players we have i think that's the best way to go but it remains to be seen what he really does. I think the rotation etc will hit new heights this season as he tries to integrate more whilst still figuring out what to do with some of his signings.

I think he'll play it slow with Dack which is the right thing to do.

Decent test this better to have a competitive game now rather than friendlies it should happen every season imo. Having said that there'll be even less interest in this comp this season than normal it probably should've been shelved or optional.

Ropey moments in the nets and some poor defending as usual but the fire power will see us through.

Rovers  3   Donny  2

Holtby is another knee jerk signing that kind of sums up the scattergun approach. Decent player but made of glass comes available because other clubs don't fancy taking the risk even though they might like him. We get wind of it, dive in sign him up then spend the next 12 months wondering how to use him.

We need to move away from this system to something a bit more balanced because we have the base of a decent squad now.  It's fair enough when you are throwing one together quickly but time for some smart thinking now.

9 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

He picked Rothwell far more last season than I would’ve done, he being the prime exponent of a running player who gives the ball away.

Seems clear to me it’s the lack of tracking back that’s Mowbray’s issue with him - on full display again tonight.

But he doesn't like more than one at a time on there normally unless we are chasing it.  My point with Chappers is even if he'd hit the ground running when he came permanently i doubt he was ever going to be a permanent starter.

Perhaps Chappers should be this seasons project and we should see less of Rothwell who imo is a league 1 player. With Chapman you know there's end product to his work if he's having a good day.

9 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Agreed, but as decent as Downing was considering his age, that type of signing is never going to propel you to promotion imo.

Yes they are plugging holes with guys costing big wages only to help get midtable mediocrity, kind of shows the wrong approach. In the longer run false economy.