[Archived] Sam's January Targets

[joey_big_nose]

Hmmm. Not great if we don't sign a striker. I suppose if you looked at it in the most positive way then we really have 6 forwards. Di Santo, Roberts and Kalinic as main strikers, with Pedersen, Dunn and Basturk as supporting forwards.

However the bottom line is none of them are scoring regularly. Pretty shocking that McCarthy has gone and we have not been able to get anyone in at all. You look at Wigan and have to say they have made us look amature.

[DeadlyDirk]

Never fear lads, at least we still have Rigters!!!

[RibbleValleyRover]

Could be wrong and i guess we will never know but it sounds like Sam couldn't buy a striker unless the Benni deal was finalised. With Benni's deal not going through until today it gave us a short amount of time to get someone in. Going off what the sky reporter said, Sam sounded disappointed as he wanted to bring a striker in before the deadline.

Pretty obvious the board knew that the deal was going to happen for Benni so why didn't they release some funds beforehand to get someone in?

[brian_gallagher85]

Keane to Celtic would be a very good deal for all concerned. Might also be worthwhile sticking a cheeky tenner on Celtic to win the title now. Tony has brought in some decent players for that level already today.

Glad we've sat on our hands today. No point in panic buying when what is available would not improve our league position tbh.

[martonrover]

What a Joke.......Sam has been saying for weeks Benni will be going, ive known, you've known he

was going so why the hell do we leave deals to this time? Sam also said he need more goals!

It was so blatantly obvious. Our forward line without Benni is now possibly the weakest in the league.

Whether its Sam or Williams it all looks to be very un-professional.....................

Surprise surprise - another high profile player sold and not replaced. Same old story.

[Alan75]

Still waiting for the doctors receptionist to make him an appointment.

Hate to say I told you

[Mr. E]

heh, well, not surprising. I guess we needed to "balance out more books".

The only problem with this is that it creates the possibility that the oaf Roberts might play again for us this season. Which would truly be a terrible, terrible thing. And I guess we're also stuck with 4-5-1, Kalinic's potential being stifled game in and game out.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Very glad we didn't sign Dindane or Benjani.

Gutted we couldn't shift Andrews or Roberts.

Very well said.

[nicko]

Nicko, Keane to Celtic.. Any truth in this?

Or just more SSN ######!?

As I broke that one in September I don't really want to argue with that one.

[imy9]

Have we not signed TWO new players till the end of the season, both of whom are attacking midfield players?

We have Kalinic upfront, with Di santo and Roberts too, its plenty to the end of the season. Id rather we saved £30K in wages and £2.5 in fees til the summer and purchased a better standard of player.

[RoverRich]

How they can say we simply ran out of time to get Dindane in is ridiculous!! Benni has been out of the door for ages now so we should have had plenty of time to work on getting someone in. Why did they mess about with Beattie, then Benjani then Dindane?? They should have picked 1 and focussed on getting them in. Sounds like they moved too late for Dindane but could have got him in if we acted sooner so question marks over why we didn't. I know Dindane is not the greatest striker out there but I would rather him than no-one! Even if he just sat on the bench for the rest of the season at least we would have a bit more strength in depth than we have now, just in case something happened to Di Santo or Kalinic. As it is we have to see the rest of the season out with 2 and a half strikers (Roberts is only worth a half - he is useless). Knowing our luck one of them will get injured now...

In reply to above, I don't think Basturk or Linganzi will be playing Premier League football anytime soon, but yes, they are attacking midfielders so hopefully they can do a job when required.

[Bennisfromheaven]

So is that it Nicko? Nobody new in today?

[1864roverite]

I am despondent that we still have Andrews amongst our ranks.

Cannot quite believe that we havent brought a Benni replacement in, even on loan, we are now weaker in the most important area of the park.

With Rigters, there is still hope. The Scottish window doesnt close until 12 midnight.

Rovers management have let the fans down me thinks.

[my_name_is_Earl]

Although I'm disappointed to lose one and not bring anybody else in as seems to happen all the time at Rovers, im not too fussed that Benni has gone. Sure, he was a great footballer at one point and had that little bit of magic but the truth is, he's past his best now, pushing 33, putting weight on and we've made 2 million plus on him. Not a bad deal at all.

To be fair, most of our goals have been coming from around the team anyway with Benni contributing very little, so nothing changes in that respect.

As long as the money helps move the club forward in any way then im pleased with what we've got.

[Hi Mack]

Could be wrong and i guess we will never know but it sounds like Sam couldn't buy a striker unless the Benni deal was finalised. With Benni's deal not going through until today it gave us a short amount of time to get someone in. Going off what the sky reporter said, Sam sounded disappointed as he wanted to bring a striker in before the deadline.

Pretty obvious the board knew that the deal was going to happen for Benni so why didn't they release some funds beforehand to get someone in?

That may be so, but you at very least have a deal in place ready for when the deal is finalised!

As said previously West Ham and Wigan were in a similar position to us yet they both signed 2 strikers to

boost their attack, granted Mido isnt exactly awesome but they already have Carlton Cole and Rodallega scoring

frequently!

[Hughesy]

Nicko warned us about his agents so hardly suprising if true!

[nicko]

Bit of a shambles really.

Dindane was always difficult because of the number of people involved and the tall stories being told.

Benjani should not have been considered.

Beattie is a narrow escape.

Does missing out on all of your targets ever get classified as a triumph?

I look forward to seeing the spin doctors get to work on this.

The plus is that so many others have made a pig of the job too. How can West Ham go for Keane and get Mido? How can Pompey know who is still there? Did anyone want the Hull rejects?

Bonus points to Wigan for the Bolivian and the young chap at Bolton for getting three players he wanted.

Elsewhere - is anybody better off?

[martonrover]

Have we not signed TWO new players till the end of the season, both of whom are attacking midfield players?

We have Kalinic upfront, with Di santo and Roberts too, its plenty to the end of the season. Id rather we saved £30K in wages and £2.5 in fees til the summer and purchased a better standard of player.

Basturk = not a direct replacement and high risk due to lack of match fitness.

The young lad from France = not a direct replacement and clearly one for the future.

The Summer = do you have the memory of a goldfish?

[unleaded]

Williams is losing his touch...........First the appointment of Ince,then handing Andrews a new improved contract and now this debarcle......Very unprofessional of BRFC.

[AJW]

surprised we didn't sign anyone ? - no

disappointed we didn'tanyone ? - mmmmm...... Beattie , Benjani or Dindane , never got my juices flowing

puzzled as to Sam's "Benni wont be going until we have a replacement" quotes in recent weeks - yes , Basturk as come in , but he's only our's until end of season - same as Di Santo , come june we'll have 2 maybe 3 (if Hoillet goes) forwards to find with £2m from West Ham

[The Rover of Finland]

Im not too disappointed we didn´t sign any of them three strikers. Andrews could have been offloaded. . We saved Benni money now and also a lot on wages. There is one problem though. The money will be gone by the summer and Sam won´t have it to spend on new players. Same old.

[BPF]

Hooray! We have three strikers and one isn't even ours!!! Roll on injuries and suspensions! Last six games are going to be fun!!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I'm delighted we didn't sign either of the 3 mentioned above and I'm also delighted that Kalinic will be featuring a lot more this seasont too because he's been impressive. I guess only having 3 strikers will mean we will stick with the 1 up front for the rest of the season. We can't complain though, we are in the top half of the table.

[Guest Kamy100]

Very very poor from Rovers. Benni should not have been sold without a replacement being signed. Upfront we are now weaker, any injury to Niko could lead to problems for us. What puzzles me the most is that Sam has being bleating on for at least 6 weeks that he would listen to offers for Benni, I assumed that a replacment had been lined up, appears not.

[BPF]

Survival (If it wasn't already) should be the only aim now.