26 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Gestede said in the interview with Elliott Jackson that we would be targeting a left side centre back and these 2 players fit that bill.

We need another centre back signing. Yes we have Hyam, Carter and Wharton plus Batth if he signs but lets look at this really, It has been reported that Wharton won't be back for the start of pre season, so surely we can't count too much on him or put pressure on him, he will need to ease back into the fold and slowly. Carter was injured last season and only played 16 games last season and then Batth is yet to sign. So overall, its a signing we need to make this summer. Lets hope Batth re-sign for next season and Can I say that O'Riordan or Litherhand is ready to be 4th choice back, no I can't sadly. 

So I don't know how people can say this signing isn't need this summer. 

Firstly, who knows what our budget unless you know something we don't. If you have inside information please could you post it for the messageboard

Secondly, how is random target? why wouldn't we be looking at French market for signings? 

Thirdly, Brittain is a key player for this Rovers team and getting him a new contract would be good smart move

If Batth re-sign that only given you 3 centre backs and so surely you need another centre back signing this summer? 

Seems a bit rich to be pulling me up on an expectation that our budget will be low considering the fact that you keep saying that the budget is an exact amount (£5m) based on the words of a fraud in Suhail saying that we apparently spent £4-5m last season, then taking that as fact without questioning it and assuming we will have the higher end of that to spend on fees this summer.

I have said before that the majority of any budget we do have needs to be spent on the attack. I would be happy with Hyam, Batth, Carter and Wharton as a choice of 4. If Wharton is miles off fitness wise then a cheap 5th option would make sense. This player seems to have been sold for a decent fee not long ago so it would presumably take a decent chunk of any budget to bring him here. The priority obviously goes up if Batth goes but still.

Our defence was good last season, our attack was poor. Added to that, it will start off even worse when Dolan leaves.

Signing Brittain on an extended deal would obviously be good deal. Wouldnt be a "big statement" though to give a player we should have tied down before now a contract extension.

17 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Strange criticism. They told us they wanted a LCB, and it looks like they’re going to get one. 

Ive always said (obviously based on the assumption that Batth stays) that a centre back should be well down the priority list.

Just because they told us that they wanted someone doesnt mean I have to see it as the same priority as them.

If Batth goes then obviously it becomes more of a priority. But we still need to spend the majority of our low resources on overhauling the attacking areas.

6 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

"Short bursts of doing ok" describes Hyam to a tee.

Ironically alongside Wharton and later Batth.

He won player of the season in his first season, and much of that was alongside Carter. He was also really good the season just gone and was an ever present in us I think getting our most clean sheets since these terrible owners darkened our doors. That poor season in between has proven to be the exception.

A more experienced partner does seem to take his game to a higher level, but he is a good Championship centre back either way. I also dont remember a prolonged period of him playing alongside Wharton, so any idea of Wharton being someone who made him look competent is unfair.

Youve never liked Hyam and youve never liked Tronstad and both were signed by Broughton who was another person who you used as a deflection to pile the blame on and away from Venkys. 

Hyam is our most underrated player. He was one of our best players last season yet is often seen as amongst the rubbish we can do without.

All that really matters is that the owners again were unwilling to fund it, either themselves or externally.

A very random target, if we had Hyam, Carter, Batth and Wharton then centre back would not be an area we would be best served spending a reasonable chunk of our tiny budget on, but it seems like Batth might be leaving and who can blame him. I remain unconvinced until hes here holding up the shirt and the paperwork is all done.

Why is a potential new contract for Brittain a "big statement?" Im not sure it would be at any other football club, getting a player to sign a new deal. It would of course be good news but im sick of hearing that players are close to new deals or that we are trying. Again, only matters when signed.

And that line on Drameh sums up the standard of Jackson's journalism. Spelling and grammar errors leading in this case to misleading or confusing stories.

If they had sense they would rectify their mistake and sack him. Thankfully they dont have any.

Hes a pretty shoddy manager then. As we have seen.

Im sure we have tried to get Dolan to sign a new deal but it doesnt mean we were offering a market rate wage. 

How it makes sense to come into a club and refuse to even consider playing anything other than a pre conveived and very specific tactic rather than actually considering the squad at his disposal is beyond me.

One of the most recent policies that did work was spending as much as Forest did. The gap is getting bigger.

Sancho is terrible. And Rashford is bad news.

With the financial inequalities in this country, its hard to make a strong case for any of the promoted sides to stay up. They all have to essentially sign a new teams worth of players to stand a chance, Sunderland in particular.

I dont see which current Premier League team will face much jeopardy. If West Ham dont sack Potter then they are probably the most likely.

Was great to see Sheff United not go up purely because of how much of a dickhead Wilder is. 

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Agree but tbf ghuei really stepped up at the euros. He was probably our best player and konsa has proven to be a good champions league defender 

But Walker and Stones when at their peak were key components of a side that were winning multiple league titles and various other honours.

46 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I'm agreeing it's not our best position but we've always done well defensively at tournaments with the right set up especially under Southgate 

I think we have often set up quite defensively but even individually, we are much worse now because we had the likes of Stones, Walker and even Shaw who are all a shadow of their former self.

He may have said the right things, I have never disagreed. So what? Hes not a pundit.

The football team he is managing has become far worse and shown no signs of progress with him in charge, showing no signs of any promise and resulting in some abysmal results.

And long may it continue.

3 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Argentina didn't have any top class defenders when they won the World cup

Absolutely, but equally people would have said that about their team. You can win it without brilliant players in every position, but theres no harm in admitting that we are weak in that position.

If Rovers decided to sell the stadium, chaddy would simply demand a video explaining the decision to the stakeholders.

Centre backs ranging from good to average to totally out of the picture to well past their best.

So no top level centre backs that a team with supposed aspirations of winning major tournaments would expect to have.

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

He did say it, I posted the link where he said it. 

He has confirmed that he is staying for next season and will be backed with £100m plus other money from sales like Rashford, Garnacho(who it has been reported by well trusted Journalists that he is up for sale) and Mainoo. 

I know he said it. My point was that its irrelevant. I dont get why you become so fixated over what people say rather than results/actions.

Thats good news though if he carries on being as bad as he has been. Hes made them far worse since he joined.

5 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I still say konsa and ghuei are quality centrebacks. Stones could return too

They are good Premier League centre backs, certainly not top level. 

Stones is done.

Based on his initial squads, there seems very little likelihood that the above will the midfield at the World Cup.

Although even if it is, I dont know if it is sufficiently defensive to protect a below par defence. To think at one point, we had 6 or 7 centre backs all a world away from the current dearth in quality there.

16 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Yeah... I mean if Venkys are really committed to balancing the books through player sales Brittain is one of the most likely sources to even begin to do that.

With Waggott getting potted I wonder of part of it was him letting probably around 26M of talent (BBD 15M, Dolan 5M, Rothwell 3M, Lenihan 3M?) leaving on a free in the last 5 years.

Maybe a bit harsh as the root cause is the Raos not funding new contracts but I guess Suhail could have thrown him under the bus. 

16 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Yeah... I mean if Venkys are really committed to balancing the books through player sales Brittain is one of the most likely sources to even begin to do that.

With Waggott getting potted I wonder of part of it was him letting probably around 26M of talent (BBD 15M, Dolan 5M, Rothwell 3M, Lenihan 3M?) leaving on a free in the last 5 years.

Maybe a bit harsh as the root cause is the Raos not funding new contracts but I guess Suhail could have thrown him under the bus. 

Brereton and Rothwell were down to the owners not allowing bids for those players to be accepted and reinvested.

His squads in general are enough to make people mourn the departure of Southgate and that is saying something.

It doesnt really matter though as its a non entity of a qualifier against Andorra and a totally pointless friendly. Any players playing in the stupid club world cup should have been left out to have a break and I suspect a few may pull out beforehand.

If that is true then surely it reflects well on Waggott and terribly on the owners?

You are just continuing to deflect away from the real problem. 

He may have said things that were right. But they have made absolutely no progression under him in terms of actual football, regressing badly further with no signs of positivity.

Well, except for us as its funny.