[Archived] Summer 2011 Transfer Window Part One

[Stuart]

Not going to try to spin this but taking the recent statements/rumours at face value:

- Jones is a Rovers fan

- Jones was concerned he was to be sold against his will

- Kean says we only sell if Jones wants to leave

One assumes then that Jones would want to stay. In which case it's simply more rabble-rousing?

[imy9]

What a joke that is. So suddenly if Jones would like to leave, we'll bring out the red carpet, call out the cab, and drive him on? Very nice.

Awaiting the local spin-doctors to make an entry.

Don't know about spin doctors but people with another perspective perhaps? I would be gutted to see Jones go whatever the price- however EVERY club in the world operates in the manner that if the bid is high enough you sell. If Jones leaves then we are left with Ryan, Givet, Samba and Hanley for two positions- pretty secure I'd say, take out Samba and it's another ball game.

What is looking likely is that ONE of Jones or Samba will leave- that money must be reinvested into the club and Junior signed onto a long term deal. This apparent link up with Kentaro needs to work in our favour by us signing some top young talent like Alex Wiesel this summer- the most important couple of months in our recent history coming up.

[patrickvalery]

Nice to see the hysterical reactions on here are still going strong.

Phil Jones is potentially a worldie, the kind of player who comes through an academy once in a generation. I'll be gutted to lose him but let's face it, it's been on the cards for a year now. You can say we should hold on to him or demand £30m but that's just not going to happen.

The only way we could keep Jones is if we spent City money becoming a top four outfit. The lad deserves to win medals and captain England, he won't get that with us no matter how much Venkys put in. £15-20m for Jones seems achievable and gives us a lot of cash to reinforce the team in the positions that need it. Needless to say, we CANNOT sell Jones AND Samba this summer, that'd be suicidal.

I don't think this is hysterical at all. The 1st opportunity for Venky's to show their mettle and (it seems) they are willing to bend over.

Jones is a 19 year old Rovers fan. It shouldn't be hard to persuade him to give us 2 more years. I don't think anyone would expect him to see out his career here, but 2 more years would benefit everyone concerned. At 21 he'd still have many good years ahead of him and he'd have 2 more years of not only premier league football, but being a leader, a top player for a premier league side. At this time, with Samba giving indications he's off and Hoilett's contract up for renewal, we need to keep Jones. Imagine if we lost them all!! If the story was the other way round, namely us saying Samba can go but Jones stays no matter what, i'd be OK with that. But Jones, and players of his ilk (fans) are the lifeblood of Rovers.

[chaddyrovers]

On Sky Sports news said during it's transfer talk that Spurs are in for Shawcross of stoke and are offering Bassong and cash.

so maybe they won't come in for Samba.

I agree that we cannot sell both.

[JAL]

I'm astounded and deeply disappointed at the surrender monkeys on here thinking Rovers will sell Jones and Samba, your not Rovers fans in my eyes, just dont know how any true Rovers fan can come out with such nonsense.

[imy9]

JAL- I've never recovered from Shearer departing- we are part of a messy business where loyalty rarely exists and money rules-that's not defeatism, that's realism.

[chaddyrovers]

Not going to try to spin this but taking the recent statements/rumours at face value:

- Jones is a Rovers fan

- Jones was concerned he was to be sold against his will

- Kean says we only sell if Jones wants to leave

One assumes then that Jones would want to stay. In which case it's simply more rabble-rousing?

Excellent points

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/884412/steve-kean:-new-phil-jones-deal-shows-blackburn-rovers-strength?cc=5739

[patrickvalery]

I'm astounded and deeply disappointed at the surrender monkeys on here thinking Rovers will sell Jones and Samba, your not Rovers fans in my eyes, just dont know how any true Rovers fan can come out with such nonsense.

JAL, the trouble is we don't know what Rovers we're dealing with. This is the first chance for us to learn something about the new regime. If they keep hold of Jones they will go up in everyones opinion. My worry is Samba has started his usual hints about leaving. If a huge bid comes in for Jones and it is accepted then it will give Samba all the reasons he needs to demand a move. His contract renewal last year was no coincidence. It'll likely be stacked with get out clauses. The simple answer is to keep Jones for a couple of years and let the whinging Samba leave. But will our shiny new owners be able to resist £15m - £20m waved under their nose?

[Stuart]

Wish you hadn't posted that link Chaddy. There is another link in it...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/883995/blackburn-rovers-target-kaka-for-summer-swoop?cc=5739

...which only serves to remind us how out of touch our owners are.

[JAL]

JAL- I've never recovered from Shearer departing- we are part of a messy business where loyalty rarely exists and money rules-that's not defeatism, that's realism.

Imy9 your tone is of a surrender monkey, I want to see our best team out there winning premiership football matches.

Shearer wanted to go imy9, Phil Jones doesn't, which part of that do you fail to comprehend.

Money certainly does rule, but you do realise that it will only be the owners and there advisors who will be profiting from this, whilst we, the fans, end up watching the weaker devalued product every week.

Now what did Philipl say from that very first moment that this Anderson fella became involved in Rovers affairs.

[Bobby G]

Shearer leaving was the beginning of the end, then so was Duff probably in some ways, having replaced him by a number of cheaper players.

[John]

IMO, in comparative terms to the Man City/Chelsea & other owners, Venky's are no where near as wealthy.

There has been rumours already they are surprised how much Rovers is costing them.

From their perspective, any large bids for any of our players would be very appealing/tempting - I doubt there is a fierce ambition to make Rovers a very strong football club, they stated themselves the primary reason for buying us was to promote their own brand. Also considering how much they bought the club for any sizeable incoming money would be very welcome.

[nicko]

It's going to be mental for the next few weeks...

Phil Jones's decision should be quick. You can't pretend that nothing is going on with this one. ALL of the big ones [with the current exception of Chelsea] want him. So it is only right that you put the question to the lad and take it from there. If he wants to stay it will be the biggest transfer success of the summer. If he doesn't then there is going to be some frantic bidding. Hopefully in a hurry as you need to know fast what is coming in and give yourselves the longest time to spend it.

Chris Samba is a different case. He will always be keen on another pay day. You don't want to lose both, but there is the danger he kicks off if Jones goes first.

On the incomings...Seb Larsson is a possible but he is taking offers from all sorts of clubs. Maybe he is not as important a signing as he seemed in January. The Adrian Mutu rumour is interesting.

But all attention is on the Jones boy right now and for the next few days.

[chaddyrovers]

what is Mutu rumour? are rovers interest in Sturridge or Ba?

[imy9]

Nicko- so will it be entirely dependent on Jones whether he stays or goes? I just wanted to know whether the owners are actively looking to cash in on him.

JAL- I am not surrendering anything. I want Jones to stay and if he wants to stay then it is simple- refuse to sell...unless of course the owners have other ideas and that would go against what they have said about selling Jones.

[xtp]

Imy9 your tone is of a surrender monkey, I want to see our best team out there winning premiership football matches.

Shearer wanted to go imy9, Phil Jones doesn't, which part of that do you fail to comprehend.

Money certainly does rule, but you do realise that it will only be the owners and there advisors who will be profiting from this, whilst we, the fans, end up watching the weaker devalued product every week.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Imy9 wants Jones to leave. He just doesn't fully trust the owners not to cash in. I agree with him on that. If it were Hughes and Williams in charge, for example, I'd be sitting back relaxing over this whole issue. But Venky's and Kean are much more of an unknown. Which is the worry. As you say yourself, they and their advisors can profit from the deal, so how can we be completely confident?

Chris Samba is a different case. He will always be keen on another pay day. You don't want to lose both, but there is the danger he kicks off if Jones goes first.

I was about to say that myself. Samba's hinted that one big part of his decision will be the transfers the club makes. If we let our brightest prospect go, he'll take that as a lack of ambition and it will reinforce his desire to leave.

[greco]

who could we get, that has the same quality as samba or jones, at a cheaper price.?

2 rock solid performers like those ,are going to be hard to replace.

Didnt samba say, that he would see the comings and goings, before making his mind up..? So selling our biggest talent, would probably put a nail in that coffin.

Kean shouldnt ask jones, he should tell him, that he wont be sold for a year and after that, they could work together on getting him to a big club. An arguemnt for him staying, would be easely presented.

[JAL]

Hearing noises that Venkys are awaiting the outcome of Keans drink driving conviction as they are not best pleased with him which if convicted could well mean Rovers will need to search for a new manager. So this summer could get very messy indeed for Rovers football club.

[Amo]

I'm astounded and deeply disappointed at the surrender monkeys on here thinking Rovers will sell Jones and Samba, your not Rovers fans in my eyes, just dont know how any true Rovers fan can come out with such nonsense.

Do you even know what you're typing these days?

So, people aren't true fans if they realistically accept that a club of our size cannot hold on to its best players?

Please provide proof to the contrary, JAL.

[chaddyrovers]

Hearing noises that Venkys are awaiting the outcome of Keans drink driving conviction as they are not best pleased with him which if convicted could well mean Rovers will need to search for a new manager. So this summer could get very messy indeed for Rovers football club.

hope this is from a good source JAL? But who would the owners wanted to come in? SMc, MJ, RB, CR.

[Kenwoo]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11676_6966067,00.html

The way Larsson's agent refers to Kentaro and Blackburn makes me uneasy.

[AggyBlue]

http://www.skysports...6966067,00.html

The way Larsson's agent refers to Kentaro and Blackburn makes me uneasy.

"Blackburn is one of them, absolutely. That's logical considering Kentaro, but Kentaro aside, the most important thing is that it feels right."

Am I reading that right. Does he mean Blackburn Rovers feel right?

[RibbleValleyRover]

I would rather lose Samba this window and keep Jones. Jones if he continues his development will end up being a far better player than Samba, I would say he's almost at his level already.

After seeing Rovers sell their star players over recent years and suffer as a result I can't really get that worked up about it as I have come to accept it's inevitable and will be until Rovers are challenging for top honours again.

[47er]

I would rather lose Samba this window and keep Jones. Jones if he continues his development will end up being a far better player than Samba, I would say he's almost at his level already.

After seeing Rovers sell their star players over recent years and suffer as a result I can't really get that worked up about it as I have come to accept it's inevitable and will be until Rovers are challenging for top honours again.

..... which we won't be if we keep selling our best players! Its called "Catch 22" i believe.

[nicko]

Nicko- so will it be entirely dependent on Jones whether he stays or goes? I just wanted to know whether the owners are actively looking to cash in on him.

If the lad wants to go, then the club will sell to the highest bidder.

If the lad doesn't want to, the clubs will be told to forget it.

Fortunately Jones seems a level-headed type, so he is capable of making the right decision.

I think he could play on for Rovers for one more season at least. But really that is HIS choice.

The consoaltion is that there are so many big hitters out there that you have one of the biggest legitimate auctions possible.

what is Mutu rumour? are rovers interest in Sturridge or Ba?

I understand some background checks have been made on Mutu. No more at this stage.

Sturridge will be at Chelsea for the short-term future, but that depends on who the next boss is and whether he fancies the lad...Coyley will be first in for him.

Ba is looking for silly money and would struggle to pass a medical. Avoid.