Even then, would leave us very short in midfield and defence.

Poku is a winger.

Even if we signed a good keeper, we would struggle to compete over 46 games with the current outfield players. Nowhere near enough before you come to issues with quality.

Im sure New York Rover is right on the pulse with their cryptic transfer insights.

And thats worked out well.

Dembele is more of the profile and type of player that we need, a quick winger. Just not the quality. Its all based on speculation but I am not fond of the idea of Eustace just going for former players. One thing I am sure of is that we have no time for disagreements, we need players in ASAP. Time is running out and I also dont see how we can afford to lose Travis.

I take rumours of the manager wanting one player and us signing another with a pinch of salt. But in general, we are the most dysfunctional club in terms of potential for disagreements like this by using such a structure.

Eustace doesnt appear happy as it is. Selling Travis against his will might tip him over the edge.

I think Travis and Tronstad can compliment each other well. Whilst I appreciate that we could with a more technical alternative, Tronstad sitting back allows Travis to go box to box as he did against Derby.

Rover Insider is just seeking attention with often cryptic or at least unprovable rubbish

Theres absolutely no reason to sell Travis. Shouldnt be any pressure whatsoever for further sales, we are already short in midfield and Travis has been very good since returning. As ever, it would be the owners fucking us over.

Not the same Josh King.

To be fair, there are so many examples of successful managers and coaches with at best very poor playing historys, and vice versa. Brightons new manager just played B team and lower league football and is only 31. He won his first game 3 nil. Benson may be poor at his job but its not necessarily because of not having a glittering playing career.

I dont think that Liam Delap is worth the money paid, let me be clear. I think with that amount of money and a bit of creativity, you could spend it far more efficiently. The point is that you simply cannot directly compare the price of a 21 year old striker to a 29 year old attacking midfielder. It cannot be used as a benchmark.

It is pretty self explanatory. Delap is clearly not as good as Szmodics and we dont know if he ever will be. But he is far, far earlier in his development and he has become far better in the last year. There is much more of a chance that Delap could earn them a substantial amount in the future due to his age. Szmodics is at his peak so even if he has a stormer and proves to be Premier League quality, aged 30 no one will be putting massive money. Its not comparing like for like. They are paying what they are for Szmodics for the very immediate future. They are paying for Delap knowing that he has plenty of progression left in him. Comparing the price to a keeper is even more stupid.

Surely if Ipswich have got a bargain for Szmodics them they were correct to hold off.

Wahlstedt was doing that from the very beginning.

Whilst obviously the key to recruitment is identifying the best possible players over a wider spread of countries, it is a considerable advantage to have more money available in the first place. There is a strong (not absolute obviously) correlation between the money spent on players and how well that team is likely to do. The issue with say signing Jerry Yates for £2.5m is not anything to do with the fact that they had £2.5m as opposed to say £1m. Its lazy recruitment. (Im guessing that is Swansea who have since loaned him to Derby) Had they spent £1m but had the same scouting and recruitment and the same close mindedness, they likely would have got someone domestic with even less of a track record. The more money available to us, the better. It is as simple as that, budget plays a huge part. It will all come down to recruitment from that part, but our recruitment team will have a much better chance of finding quality if they have more money. Because we signed Ohashi and Gueye for cheaper than Yates, that doesnt prove that its sometimes better to have less money, although it is very premature to assume them as successes yet anyway. It perhaps proves that casting your net further and looking across the world can help you to fins better value for whatever budget you have available.

Im not saying it will be easy but it has to be a game where anything less than 3 points is a big disappointment. Another promoted side at home.

These "special cases" are massively overstated. That summer when we signed Brereton and Armstrong for £10m is very much a special case. Other than that, we bought Gallagher in 2019 in a summer when our net spend was around £1m. Since, its been freebies, loans and low 6 figure fees almost exclusively. The biggest flurry since was the £4m spent in 2022. We also had a number of frugal summers prior to that. These multimillion deals that fell through are again a mistruth, Maguire had to be turned into a loan because they wouldnt reinvest a slither of the Wharton money and the O'Brien deal was a loan that would have only led to a fee if we had got an unlikely promotion. Not that either matter as they didnt happen. They dont need to find the money down the side of the couch, we have made £40m in sales. Venkys have a track record of not reinvesting sales. Rhodes, Armstrong, Wharton, Gestede etc. Its not about positivity and negativity and you dont need to know more than what is in the public domain. History shows that it would be very unlikely. Granted the fees in dwarf those but equally they have been really relentless on the cutbacks in the last 12 months for other self inflicted issues. There is also questions regarding whether he is even available, whether he would come, whether we would outbid others if he was available and whether he plays in a position that is of critical need. So the widespread doubt is understandable and logical.

I feel like Rankin Costello is at risk of becoming a victim of his own versatility. There is a really good player in there but he seems to be shunted around perhaps to fill in where we are short. I dont think playing him wide suits him at all, he isnt very quick and he struggles to cause full backs problems. He wasnt as ineffective in the middle but I still wasnt totally convinced by him there either. By far his best spell in a Rovers shirt was at right back where he became a real asset on the ball and was surprisingly competent defensively. A primary position should be chosen for him and we should build and recruit around that, and that shouldnt be out wide. If its judged that hes best at right back, we look fine there. If hes seen as a midfielder, I still think we could do with another but its less of a pressing matter.

Based on transfer rumours so with a heap of salt, it feels like Eustace's heart is still in Birmingham and hes trying to get the gang back together.

Not too sure what to make about Germain. Positionally, we already have 2 new strikers fighting for one spot (Ohashi seems to want to run in behind so not sure he is as suited playing in attacking midfield) so this would be a third out and out striker, regardless of he can "do a job" elsewhere. Ohashi also seemingly was a bit of a late bloomer but he had a more prolonged spell of a couple of years of regular goalscoring, and is a year younger. So there is perhaps more chance of Germain being just enjoying a (very) good spell of form. I think the key is whether this deal is aswell as rather than instead of a winger or two. If its the former then perhaps he could be a very useful and cheap pickup as we look to spread the goals around.

Strange to give my opinion on a messageboard?

So Ruddy is actively first choice and we would revert to a far superior and younger option as a back up? Bizarre.