[Archived] Wolves V Rovers Preview

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Watching O Hara in recent matches (albeit on TV highlights) it looks like his flame is flickering feebly.

And if you think BRFC under the current owners will stump up 5m + wages when a free transfer with a few dodgy 'clauses' will do you are deluding yourself.

I gree with that. He had a serious back injury previously and speaking as one who knows a bit about backs he's got a friend for life there. I played with a disc injury in later life, I'd be fine up to half time. Rapidly stiffening as the 2nd half went by. Traction immediately after the game for as long as I could stand it. Next day I could barely get out of bed. Gradually got better over the next few days, I'd be ready the following week to do it all again ! It certainly cramps your style.

Swansea have done well so far - but the season isn't over yet and there's usually one team that sinks from mid-table. Assuming they survive I also think Swansea are likely to suffer second-season syndrome next year. There's not many managers like Sam and Moyes who can keep low-spending clubs in this league consistently.

I think Swansea will be OK this season, but next season ? As you say they could be a prime candidate unless they can seriously strengthen the side. The other teams work out your system and how to counteract it.

[cesus]

Walking away from the ground Wolves fans were united in their disdain for O'Hara as a serial non-contributor, saying it is incredible he gets so much game time. Most were quite annoyed that the youngster Davis got taken off and not him. A prime example of a player we see scoring 2 or 3 spectacular goals every other season and think: "He looks decent."

Caveat emptor - remember Kevin Davies and the superb individual goals we bought him on the strength of!

I'd say people from the outside looking in on MOTD etc will probably view O'Hara as fans of other clubs view our very own Morten Gamst Pedersen. On MOTD you see the odd dangerous free kick or corner whipped in or a goal from distance and thats all people remember. The amount of fans from other teams who contribute to the previews on here saying Pedersen is the player they would take from us always surprises me. Talking of Pedersen I never thought I'd see us score a goal off one of his looping long throws, when that went in I really thought the gods were shining down on us!!

[Amo]

the way for Rovers is to sign Young Players under 24, the odd senior player, looking to out of contract players and loans. Clubs like Rovers can't be paying out Big Wages(40 k plus) because we don't have the money or the turnover to sustain that!!! we can't be paying silly money for players on silly money!!! That is a fact of football now thats clubs have to be finanicial sound or clubs will end up like Portsmouth and Rangers sadly!!!

Wrong, chaddy.

£40k+ is the going rate in this league. If we want to compete in the PL, we have to pay PL wages. Simple as that. The only problem is we have a habit of paying PL wages to players who aren't PL quality.

[Kelbo]

Wrong, chaddy.

£40k+ is the going rate in this league. If we want to compete in the PL, we have to pay PL wages. Simple as that. The only problem is we have a habit of paying PL wages to players who aren't PL quality.

And extortionate agents fees!!

Topman is correct, Burnley and Blackpool tried it with Championship wages, what happened to both of those, if you dont pay the going rate, you dont get the players you want and need, simple as that and with young players, you take huge gambles!!

[chaddyrovers]

Wrong, chaddy.

£40k+ is the going rate in this league. If we want to compete in the PL, we have to pay PL wages. Simple as that. The only problem is we have a habit of paying PL wages to players who aren't PL quality.

I surely clubs like Swansea, WBA and Norwich are not paying 40k a week to players!!!

I agree about we do waste wages/money on players like Grella, Riberio, Goulan.

Surely thats how clubs like Pompey and Rangers are paying silly wages cos the can't afford them!!!

we need to keep produce our own players through our Youth team aswell! some really good players coming through.

[roversfan99]

Wrong, chaddy.

£40k+ is the going rate in this league. If we want to compete in the PL, we have to pay PL wages. Simple as that. The only problem is we have a habit of paying PL wages to players who aren't PL quality.

You do need a strong core of more proven players who may command £25-40k. We need to accompany Robinson, Givet, Yakubu etc with a handful of other senior players who can become the backbone to our team.

However a mixture of bosmans, loans and most importantly young talent, whether brought through or bought cheap can then add the meat to the bones of the squad and add some different option, and we can then sell one or two assets if necessary and keep the process running.

However what you do require is

a)a manager who can find hidden gems and be as efficient as possible with the resources available. (Big Sam!)

b)a strong and transparent set of off the field staff.

We have neither and thats where any plans fail, both are which are down to the negligence of our owners.

[Mattyblue]

We have always paid competiVe wages, JW knew it was a necessity.

Venky's on the other hand, thInk different.

[RevidgeBlue]

We have always paid competiVe wages, JW knew it was a necessity.

Venky's on the other hand, thInk different.

Problem is/was that you need to pay competitive wages to players who are either on the up or at or near their peak. Not those who are very much on the decline.

We've been doing the latter in many cases recently.

[Amo]

I surely clubs like Swansea, WBA and Norwich are not paying 40k a week to players!!!

I agree about we do waste wages/money on players like Grella, Riberio, Goulan.

Those clubs aren't established PL teams. If they can remain in this league, their wage structure will be rescaled and they will need it in order to attract new players ahead of their rivals.

Surely thats how clubs like Pompey and Rangers are paying silly wages cos the can't afford them!!!

Pompey aren't paying stupid money anymore. They flogged all their high-earners the moment the vultures started circling. But you're using an extreme example there. Even the chief executive was bagging himself a win bonus at Fratton Park, such was the state of affairs.

We rely on competitive wages to entice players like Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Savage, etc. to the club. And for all your talk about the youth team, just remember those players will want improved contracts sooner or later. And if we want to protect our investment, we have to be prepared to pay them top dollar.

[Majiball]

Wrong, chaddy.

£40k+ is the going rate in this league. If we want to compete in the PL, we have to pay PL wages. Simple as that. The only problem is we have a habit of paying PL wages to players who aren't PL quality.

I'd love to know how many players signed new contracts or for us during that first window, whilst Jerome (by his own admission) was helping with transfers?

We've shown in the past we can pay decent wages provided we don't go mental. I hate to think what that period cost us financially, signing on fees, wage increases, agents fees, Transfer fees etc etc. Now with the cut-back mentality will we pay the kind of wages we know we need to? We have always had a core of players on good wages around the 35-50K mark, good players, proven at the top. We have to now hope the kids taking their places can step up to the mark. It's a risky business, risky indeed. But looking longer term (years) imagine what 1CB, 1RB, 1MC/RB of premier league quality and British descent could be worth, but that's a big if as potential is a tricky thing to read. IF, the other kids pay off as well then again the profit margins will be high. It's a massive gamble in footballing terms and we have to hope we can be the best of the worst this season. Even then we'll need investment in the summer and the chances of that seem slim given what has happened the previous windows. The Roa's gambling people who'd have guessed it.

[Pedro]

Hah, how embarrassing for them. Makes them sound totally moronic.

It's easy to say that from the outside looking in...but so many on here can't grasp why Rovers fans are perceived in the same light by the rest of the football world.

[adopted scouser]

We're never going to keep Hoilett

[Mattyblue]

Wolves, well run club, owner who engages with fans makes an error with the manager.

Compare and contrast with Rovers under Venky's.

We have been justified in our complaints, not our fault that the regular football fan fed by the ignorant media don't know the full story.

[RevidgeBlue]

Pompey aren't paying stupid money anymore. They flogged all their high-earners the moment the vultures started circling.

I think I overheard it said on the radio that Mokoena was still there on 30 -35k p.w. There were a couple of other insanely high earners for their situation quoted as well but I can't remember who they were.

[Pedro]

We have always paid competiVe wages, JW knew it was a necessity.

Venky's on the other hand, thInk different.

I don't see any problem paying decent wages to decent players but over the years our squad and finances have been clogged up with a squad full of average/sub-average players who are raking it in. I'm sure all of them have been brought in with the best intentions but with our turnover of managers we've ended up with punts such as Goulon, Grella, Liganzi and the Dutch striker who's name escapes me, who have had a very good living for very little input.

[Doug]

It's obvious we have a budget to work with. If we can't afford to pay players appearance money then that's how it is. I don't like it anymore than anyone else, but that seems to be the way we are being managed.

On a slight positive, it is quite satisfying to watch the 'young pretenders' giving so much more effort, playing with passion and cause. Dare I say, they seem like genuine Rovers players, as if they do care about the club. The way they celebrated at the end of the match was so good to see.

[Mattyblue]

I think I overheard it said on the radio that Mokoena was still there on 30 -35k p.w. There were a couple of other insanely high earners for their situation quoted as well but I can't remember who they were.

Sure Ben Haim is on something absolutely ridiculous.

[Majiball]

To be fair Mokoena's start to his career with us wasn't that bad. Once you hit a certain number of games, play a couple of season as first choice, players will want more money.

[Amo]

Sure, Pompey might have a few stragglers, but for the most part the stupid-earners have gone.

And even so, that only proves my point. Pompey are an exception.

Back on topic, call me a cynic, but I wonder if the growing campaign for more black managers will affect Wolves decision to back Terry Connor or not?

[chaddyrovers]

Pompey aren't paying stupid money anymore. They flogged all their high-earners the moment the vultures started circling. But you're using an extreme example there. Even the chief executive was bagging himself a win bonus at Fratton Park, such was the state of affairs.

Wrong Topman!

Portsmouth are/were paying 30k to Mokenna, Kitson, Lawrence, Ben Haim this season!!!

Fans have to now been realistic and realise that a Football club as to been run as business now!!!!

Clubs have to ONLY pay what they can afford and NO MORE!!!

Sure, Pompey might have a few stragglers, but for the most part the stupid-earners have gone.

And even so, that only proves my point. Pompey are an exception.

Back on topic, call me a cynic, but I wonder if the growing campaign for more black managers will affect Wolves decision to back Terry Connor or not?

I think many clubs are spending far too much on wages and they can't afford really!!!

Wolves fans wanted rid of McCarthy so they got their wish!!! Now don't like who they got!!!

I wouldn't be surprise if they got rid of TC this week(go back to being First Team Coach and go for young manager in like Freedman or Robinson!!! Then if they go down there got manager in place to come back up!

[Rovermatt]

We're never going to keep Hoilett

Kean's quote on Hoilett from The Observer's match report:

We are hopeful of getting the points tally we need to stay up, and if we do that we can go back to him and try to sign him on again.

As if we have any chance? The club bungled getting him renewed (in spite of Kean's laughable assurances) but now we're being spun the line that there's a chance we could re-sign a player we couldn't secure first time around.

Hoilett, like Samba before him, wants out of the asylum. Can't say I blame him.

[RevidgeBlue]

Hoilett, like Samba before him, wants out of the asylum. Can't say I blame him.

Hoillet's situation is quite a bit different to Samba's - he (or his father) is using his contractual situation to his own advantage and no-one can really blame him for that - although I can't really see that it would have harmed him that much if as a gesture of good will he'd signed an improved deal with a release clause in guaranteeing us a fairly nominal 5 or 6m rather than next to nothing.

Samba had relatively recently signed a long term deal and was trying to ignore that fact.

It's no use crying over spilt milk now but Allardyce should have secured Hoillet to a longer contract when he was here. However he didn't really fit into the Big Sam style of play, and was only a peripheral figure back then.

[Mattyblue]

Bloody hell Rev! It's Sam's fault? He left 15 months ago!

[RevidgeBlue]

Bloody hell Rev! It's Sam's fault? He left 15 months ago!

You have to say it is. If he'd given him a longer deal we wouldn't be in this situation with Hoillet this summer.

[LeChuck]

It's no use crying over spilt milk now but Allardyce should have secured Hoillet to a longer contract when he was here.

Come on Rev, I know that you know enough about football to understand that John Williams dealt with the fine details of contracts.