roversfan99

We are probably going to end the transfer window in midfield having lost Baker, having lost Tronstad maybe long term but having gained a past it Plymouth reserve. I cant see us getting one but we badly need one.

It feels like such a big opportunity, the league is particularly poor but there are 2 play off places up for grabs. Especially if Boro lose Latte Lath. We have such an average side with a poor attack but we have a good manager who has the knack of digging out results built on solidity and discipline. We have to have a go in this window and its so frustrating that we inevitably wont. It doesnt bode well that weve signed an aging Plymouth reserve who stunk the place out today. The reasoning was clearly budgetary but even there it should have been a case where at least a more reasonable wage contribution was available to get decent cover in. Not cutting corners and now we will need a player who wont be up to it.

But...he was smiling?

Yeah hes really done well there. Hes a 1 good game 5 bad game type, lacks end product. Still better than our sorry set of wide men though which is why really we need 2 and to get rid of some of our crap.

Cantwell is not a central midfielder. That midfield would be eaten alive. We need Cantwell further forward, not further back.

Hes never shown any sort of real quality in that position. He had a spell under your mate Mowbray further forward when he did well then has struggled ever since. Its the word "rely" that I cant get my head around.

Is that really a midfield that sustains a play off push? Buckley's first decent game in years, Forshaw not up to it and JRC is also needed as right back cover and hasnt really convinced in midfield. If its just warm bodies, why do we need a winger when we have Sigurdsson, Hedges, Dolan, ACD and Weimann? Why do we need a striker when we have Gueye, Leonard and Ohashi.

Dembele isnt a miss, he threatened at times but he isnt particularly good. Still, not hard to be better than our "wide men."

Happy to "rely" on him after a decent performance for the first time in years?

How can anyone know so soon?

No.

Feels a bit like the Millwall defeat. Poor performance, loss and injury issues that could easily lead to a poor run. @RevidgeBlue may see it as a blessing.

We surely need to wait until the end of the window which is only when good signings can possibly happen. Im not convinced from that reaction, we need 4 in, maybe 5. Striker, winger, left back, central midfielder for sure. We really could do with 2 wingers as none of the current lot are up to it. If anyones comes for Sigurdsson, Hedges or Dolan, welcome and take it.

Same answers. Nothing imminent, I hope so, we need it. Didnt seem different to any other time hes been asked.

Definitely need a midfielder with Tronstad now injured. Forshaw isnt the answer. And im guessing if Thomas Asante was the main target, its time to look elsewhere.

In fees, yes. Gueye was £1m and the others were 6 figure fees. This installment nonsense, are our incoming transfers not also in installments? We sold Wharton for £18m rising to £22m, the Szmodics for £9m, then Gallagher for £1m then the Raya £4-5m. Over £30m. And spent about £2m in fees. Incoming and outgoing all in installments.

Absolutely terrible performance and result to continue an embarassing record away at promoted sides. The attack again misfiring, just feels like a roulette of constanly changing players who arent good enough. Gueye did a couple of bits of hold up but in the main ineffective starting a game yet again and always on his heels, Cozier Duberry kept giving it away and Weimann bar a half chance looked like he was running in quick sand. The 3 subs that came on, a total waste of time and did we expect anything different from those individuals. Cantwell will be in net if he drops any deeper, a couple of nice bits of play here and there but again not good enough. Tronstad's injury a huge concern and we need to sign another midfielder. Buckley had a spell where he was much better but not for long enough and Forshaw as expected was not up to it, really poor. Pears has started looking shaky again and shouldnt be conceding at that side from the free kick.

I have never said we should invest ALL transfer income. Its a strawman argument, no one has. The whole purpose of being a trading club is buying assets, selling them at a profit, reinvesting SOME of the proceeds and continuing. The objective cant be to not need ANY money invested by the owners. Its practically impossible. Point being, reinvesting a reasonable % of proceeds allows you to continue to trade, make profit on sales and reduce losses while benefitting from a better team in the meantime. And you will sign duds along the way, And again, no one is asking to sign anyone to smash our wage ceiling. And on timings of payments. We would similarly be paying fees in installments. And we did not spend 25%-50% of fees. Around £2m of £10m would have us at 20% but thats ignoring the Wharton sale.

If those 3 are now worth more than we paid, which Im not convinced about but I suppose the combined fees were very low to begin with. Surely that only strengthens the argument that investing in fees can REDUCE the amount of investment needed.

Im guessing you wanted Coyle and Kean sacked. Did you boycott games until they left? Not only a ridiculous argument, but a hypocritical one.

Even those defending him at the time wouldnt have predicted what happened, especially as he hadnt done anything like that before. When you spend a decent fee for the first time in ages for someone mainly sat on the bench and once or twice out of the squad for the first half season, it doesnt warrant this mockery out of hindsight, they were valid concerns.

Has absolutely no relevance whatsoever.

Whether I rate Gueye and Ohashi or not, as has been touched on, one success and youve more than covered those. The 2 combined cost just over £1m, Ohashi in particular didnt scream potential future asset, hes 28 and cost a nominal fee. And obviously its not an exact science. But spend reasonable money and not only are we stronger now but theres likely a chance we can reduce our losses whilst benefitting in the mean time. Last time we spent anything reasonable, it was £4m on 3 players. For that, we have made a good profit on one player who scored lots of goals while here and covered the expenditure on 2 current and important first team players.

You mention about bickering about not making £17m losses into £37m losses by signing 10 more players, obviously an exaggerated comment. But he thing is, if they reinvested more, that doesnt just equate to more losses. Quite the opposite. The primary way that a football club can reduce losses is by player trading. If you invest in fees, you have assets, it only takes maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 to really come good (when we have spent fees we have seen this ourselves) and you make a profit on all fees invested. So quite the contrary to investing money equalling higher losses, it not only improves us on the pitch, it more than likely leads to SMALLER losses. Football as a business is a financial shit storm, basically if you are an owner you will have to subsidise losses. Our owners dont deserve praise for that. 19 of the 20 Premier League clubs are even doing it at the top level and the exception only doesnt due to government funding.

Well dont watch then. A really mature response knowing full well that the point I and others raise is correct. Constantly increasing TV deals inconvenience the matchgoing fans, the prices of tickets arent going down, basically all clubs are constantly making losses and running unsustainable business models, and the players are the ones that get more money. Its impossible to justify.