4 minutes ago, miqaayil said:

Don't quote me on this ...

 

But on good authority i can confirm Venky's are doing Rovers...they doing it like it's never been done before ...doing BIG'ly for 150th year ... Gestede is screaming , Pasha is cheering and VI is guiding.....

Huh?

1 minute ago, BankEnd Rover said:

In what world Is Josh Coburn worth 5million? That must include some ridiculous clause if they get in the premier league. 

I might be in the minority here but I'd rather gamble on cheaper European players than spunk that amount on one average championship player.

I think there is a formula to be followed in targeting either European or lower league players with great physical attributes and hoping that they can make the step up or thrive at a higher level. It's not dissimilar to what Wenger did at Arsenal for years. 

There are few known quanitities in the Championship who would excite me at 5 million or above. 

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maybe we waiting for the player to decide? 

I think we are still waiting on Ronaldinho to decide. 

41 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Gestede specifically mentioned free agents when he talked about plans this summer. But especially with domestic based ones, I am guessing the financials have proved too much (signing on fees and wages) on our budget.

I think he was referring to all of the free agents that would be leaving Rovers...

17 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

what makes you so positive about that???

I think Ismael showed enough at the back-end of the season to believe that he has a clear sense of style and structure and the players are relatively bought in. 

We've lost a couple of important players, but we have still kept the core part of most of our team and can expect some improvement from some of them (I think a season of Toth will be worth a 6-9 point improvement over a season with Pears). 

I do think we will add some more players and basically end up with a squad that is of a similar quality to last year. I don't think the Championship is particularly strong. Birmingham and Wrexham are better-than-usual promoted sides, but the three sides that are dropping down are weaker than normal. 

I don't think we will be in the playoffs, but I'd be less surprised by a playoff appearance than I would be by relegation. 

6 minutes ago, USABlue said:

Sadly Rev much if what you say is gonna happen.  This upcoming season WILL see us return to the 3rd division where we will linger for quite sometime.  Mid table mediocrity in the third, right up Venkies alley.  Until the time they end us forever.

I'd be very surprised if we were relegated or even involved in a relegation battle at any stage this season.

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

I wouldn't consider them all to be first team players but as it stands you'll have Travis, Tronstad, Tavares, Montgomery and Forshaw all classed as 1st team players by the club, and the extra one you wanted to sign gives you 6.

By Centre mid, I mean players who will play as one of the two, in a 4-2-3-1 formation which we usually play. Of course, Ismael might try and adopt a different formation for the coming season.

Buckley & Garrett probably being moved on but currently they are part of the pre-season squad.

So, we've just gone from 8 to 5? One of those is a youth player who we can't expect to feature too heavily. 

One is an older player who is probably in the squad more for his experience than anything else (and, again, hopefully won't feature too heavily). 

Even an optimistic view of the non-Travis or Tronstad options would see that we need another central midfielder. 

Just now, DutchRover said:

It's not that people don't want good back-ups, it is a lack of faith in the owners/Suhail/Gestede to create a situation where we actually have the depth we need.

In an ideal world a sensible team would renew Trav and Tronstad, have De Keersmaecker as the 3rd 1st choice so to speak, Tavares as 4th option and I guess Forshaw as the 5th choice player-coach type.

But it is so against the evidence of Venky's entire reign that they would seek to achieve this.

Yeah, I get that and mentioned it in my post. But we need a MUCH larger squad. We need strength in depth in virtually every position, and I will not complain about any signing that is made. 

1 hour ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Travis and Tronstad, are the reason we got into the playoffs.

Yes, and we dropped out of the playoff places when they got injured. There's a solid chance that they be injured or suspended for a decent percentage of the upcoming season. We need more cover in central midifeld. 

51 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

That would give us 8 centre mids, you just can't keep that many players happy for 2 places.

Who are these 8 that we would consider real first team players? And are you throwing someone like Buckley in? Who is typically played further up the pitch? 'CM' can be a pretty broad category, but I don't think we have many viable options for players who can sit in front of the back four, break up play, turn, and get the ball moving forward. 

This messageboard sometimes confuses me. 

Most of the second half of last season:

'We don't have enough midfield options and injuries to Travis and Tronstad derailed our season'

This offseason

'We've already signed one extra CM, I don't understand why we would sign another unless either Travis or Tronstad are leaving.'

I have little faith our club to build out a complete squad, but we definitely need more central midfield options and I'd be delighted to see another one signed without anyone else leaving. 

3 hours ago, Tomphil2 said:

The situation with Travis just like one or two others is engineered a year or 18 months in advance by the club so they don't have to commit to bigger longer contracts, bonuses and signing fees it's rather obvious now.

I think this is stage 2. 

18 months ago we were offering contracts. They were to players we knew would leave or deals that were representative of their true market value, but we were at least holding talks and putting a contract on the table. I believe Broughton on that front. 

Now we are openly avoiding negotiations. In Travis and Tronstad we have two players who have publicly stated that they would like to stay and that they've yet to hear anything. That's insane. Does their willingness to stay guarantee a deal? No. But it does mean that talks should have been held. 

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Who would you rather have in your team ?

Wharton, although injuries are a slight concern, and that could easily change within 12 months. But, they're being sold for similar prices at a similar point in their careers. 

We're also talking about two players who were sold/being sold at 19 years old, so there are many unknowns and many possibilities for either one to surpass their current potential or never fulfill it. 

We could run through lists as long as our arms of players at 19/20 who were expected to be world class and never got close. We could also come up with long lists of players at 19/20 who were never expected to be particularly special and who went on to amazing careers. 

I'd be very happy with either one. 

16 hours ago, roverandout said:

Jobe Bellingham is on his way to dortmund for 23.5 million yet Adam Wharton is twice the player but we only got 18 million 

Yes, and Bellingham signed for Sunderland for a reported 2 million 6 months before Wharton left us. 

So...what's your point? 

He's just been promoted to the Premier League, he's the brother of one of the world's most famous current footballers, and he's played twice as many matches for Sunderland (his second club) as Wharton played for us. 

I don't think his transfer proves the point that you think it does. 

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

He provides goals and assists, the opposite of flattering to deceive.

His ultimate issue is his lack of pace. His style of play would require him to be significantly quicker if he were to be an impactful player at a higher level. He looks like he should be quick, but he just isn't. 

Stronger, faster, smarter defenders will have him in their back pocket. He could definitely join a more ambitious club in the Championship and find his way in the Premier League through promotion, or get a taste of European football by going to Rangers or Celtic, but if a Premier League team signs him, they will be making a mistake. 

On 27/05/2025 at 14:56, KentExile said:

 

I'm not sure if a comparison to Casemiro this season is all that flattering. 

21 minutes ago, G Somerset Rover said:

Have no doubt, Danny Batth’s replacement will be worse than Danny Batth. 

Very strong chance that it will be worse than Danny Batth last year. Decent chance that he will be on par with whatever Danny Batth produces next year. 

34 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm not sure I attach any importance to his age. He was a rock for us for most of last season, and deserves another year. 

'Time takes everybody out, time is undefeated.'

16 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I believe 'they' - chief Venky stooge and his dogsbody - never wanted the likes of Batth, McFadzean or Weimann. They were very much Eustace signings, he wanted experience and eventually demanded it last summer threatening to walk away if he didn't get it. 

I won't be overly critical of the club for hesitating to extend the contract of a player who will be 35 in September. 

That will go wrong more often than it goes right. Of all of the contract resignings we have messed up, the likes of Batth, Weimann, and a few others are at least understandable. 

3 hours ago, DutchRover said:

LT claims we are in advanced talks for Modibo Sagnan, a left-footed CB from Montpellier. I would've thought he would be out of our price range looking at past transfer and value, but I know nothing about him so who knows.

He's definitely on his way out of Montpellier and has been heavily linked with moves to Italy and the Championship (Leeds, Sunderland). 

Valued at around €3 million (he only signed for Montpellier 18 months ago for a fee in that region), that seems like an awfully big chunk of money to spend on a central defender if our budget is similar to years past. 

He's quite decent on the ball for a central defender. A big physical presence. We've been missing that type of player at the back for a while and he also offers a useful goalscoring threat from set pieces. 

He'd be a good signing, but not sure it's an absolute priority when our budget doesn't stretch very far. 

53 minutes ago, roverandout said:

France senior team called up their best under 21s player to miss this tournament rayan cherki.  He'll probably be on the bench

Cherki has been threatening to play for Algeria, so he rather forced France's hand into playing him in a competitive match to lock him in (even though it was likely an empty threat). 

50 minutes ago, RV Blue said:

It’s definitely not his preference.

How do you know? 

Plenty of players have turned down somewhat meaningless senior team inclusion in order to represent under-21s at international tournaments. 

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Tuchel said Livramento and Wharton are going to the under 21s euros 

Which is fair enough. That may even have been their preference. 

I'd rather have a shot at winning a tournament (even at u21 level) than be part of a squad for Andorra and a friendly against Cameroon. 

31 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

It begins.....

He's 34 this summer. Dealt with a fair number of injuries and isn't really the best fit for the current system. I'm sure he's nice to have around the squad and he's a useful impact sub, but I wouldn't be that sad to see him walk.

I'd rather be out one year too early than one year too late when it comes to players approaching their mid-30s.