[Archived] Transfer Talk Part 3

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

If this is true I am seriously beginning to think Bowyer has lost the plot. Why give O'Sullivan another 12 months recently? Has he regressed in that time and Bowyer now wants to get rid, is he a bad egg? I really don't know but Bowyer should certainly come out and explain this (if true).

Be interested what people who see him more regularly think - but wasn't over impressed by his performance on Tuesday - but in his defence this was a match few played well in.

Always sad when promising players aren't really given the opportunity - but GB will have seen in him training and playing while on loan - so must have made a judgement call on whether he is good enough to displace Conway, Marshall etc.

[JHRover]

So we give O'Sullivan a new contract this summer, which presumably he signs believing that he is going to be featuring for the first team this season.

We then play him regularly with the first team in pre-season games and he certainly doesn't let himself down in his performances.

If Bowyer has decided O'Sullivan isn't up to the required standard then why give him a new contract? If he is up to standard then why drop him from the squad and why trial the likes of Jobi McAnuff.

Remarkably if we were to let O'Sullivan go to Barnsley then he would be joining a club playing at a higher standard than McAnuff. So read into that what you will.

Even if McAnuff is deemed a better player than O'Sullivan at this stage, the fact that O'Sullivan is a product of our academy and under contract already and is only 22 tells me we should stick with him and show patience and give him an opportunity in the Championship this season rather than sell him off and bring in a 33 year old has been who is going to be here for 12 months maximum.

You could almost be forgiven for thinking that there's some sort of financial incentive involved

Sell O'Sullivan (fringe player) for £300,000 and replace with McAnuff or AN Other on a free transfer.

Another boost to the coffers.

However losing a highly rated kid from our academy who wants to be a success here and replacing with a 33 year old from Leyton Orient? Not for me I'm afraid.

I would like O'Sullivan to be given an opportunity this season to see what he can do. If he isn't up to it then let him go in January or next summer.

[laughatthedingles]

Seems bizarre but Bowyer obviously thinks he's not up to it. Found it crazy in pre season that Bowyer decided to give him a good run, presumably to see if he is good enough but rather than giving him a chance in his position - behind the front man, sticking him on the wing.

[tomphil]

O'Sullivan looked lively first half v Shrewsbury, things didn't come off for him but he was having a go. Probably not in his best position as is par for the course under this guy, doing his best to try and ruin the other lad by trying to make him a centre half when he clearly struggles. Would a couple of young lads in the centre have been any worse than those pair of dollopers Evans and Willo. My guess is no !

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

So O'sullivan is persuaded he will be part of the first string so he signs a new contract. Barnsley wanted him last season. Bowyer now has him under a longer contract and can demand a higher fee from Barnsley.

Straight out of the Dragon's Den handbook.

I wonde which agent stands to make a quid or two?

[Blueandwhitemike]

Predictable if O'Sullivan goes. He had his chance vs Shrewsbury and that's it. Never mind the nine changes he should have set the world alight.

To be fair I thought he was okay but not particularly good on Tuesday, but he was better than quite a few others who won't be let go.

Pre season he was played up front a few time wasn't he?

I didn't see him play at Barnsley but read reports and saw stuff on twitter, it was all very positive, and now they still want to buy him, means he must have something, I'd much prefer to have a decent, hungry, young lad here than a lot of the others.

[laughatthedingles]

So O'sullivan is persuaded he will be part of the first string so he signs a new contract. Barnsley wanted him last season. Bowyer now has him under a longer contract and can demand a higher fee from Barnsley.

Straight out of the Dragon's Den handbook.

I wonde which agent stands to make a quid or two?

Maybe just the club?

[blueboy3333]

I reaaly hoped O'Sullivan would get a chance. If Barnsley are the only ones in for him though it probably tells its own story... same with Cairney to Fulham.

The flip side is there's no obvious logic to bringing a 33 year old winger in. O'Sullivan could imrpve, McAnuff won't.

So O'sullivan is persuaded he will be part of the first string so he signs a new contract. Barnsley wanted him last season. Bowyer now has him under a longer contract and can demand a higher fee from Barnsley.

Straight out of the Dragon's Den handbook.

I wonde which agent stands to make a quid or two?

be interesting to see if we get more than the £250k Barnsley were rumoured to be buying O'Sullivan for last January. Can't see it myself.

[laughatthedingles]

I reaaly hoped O'Sullivan would get a chance. If Barnsley are the only ones in for him though it probably tells its own story... same with Cairney to Fulham.

The flip side is there's no obvious logic to bringing a 33 year old winger in. O'Sullivan could imrpve, McAnuff won't.

be interesting to see if we get more than the £250k Barnsley were rumoured to be buying O'Sullivan for last January. Can't see it myself.

I agree with your points, it isn't going to harm O'Sullivan's valuation to be given a few chances this season and I know damn well who I would rather see on the pitch.

[JBiz]

Have we signed Jobi or is it a trial?

[Swanson]

So the same for O'Sullivan this year as it was for O'Connell last year.

One chance and that's it!

[SamTheShrew]

To swap O'Sullivan for a 33 year old McAnuff would be ridiculous. The former can only improve - at least he wasn't afraid to have a go against Shrewsbury. Defies logic.

On another point, why do we have to have a full squad? Why not keep some space free, and keep the expenditure down. We do not need close to retiring journeymen who will add nothing.

[davulsukur]

O'Sullivan looked lively first half v Shrewsbury, things didn't come off for him but he was having a right good go. Probably not in his best position as is par for the course under this guy, doing his best to try and ruin the other lad by trying to make him a centre half when he clearly struggles. Would a couple of young lads in the centre have been any worse than those pair of dollopers Evans and Willo. My guess is no !

Corrected it for you.

You're right though, looked lively. He wanted the ball and went looking for it, had a turn of pace as well, although could have been that everyone else is so slow.

If Bowyer flogs him, i will be disappointed.

[tomphil]

Corrected it for you.

You're right though, looked lively. He wanted the ball and went looking for it, had a turn of pace as well, although could have been that everyone else is so slow.

If Bowyer flogs him, i will be disappointed.

It was the kind of thing that's missing (always) in the middle of the park you might say !

[mustard]

I've not said anything on here yet, but I did hear the other night that Rhodes and Marshall are on their way.

The chap I spoke to heard it from someone who works at Brockhall. I won't say exactly what I heard just yet as it's no use riling people up over nothing (feel free to PM).

Personally, I'm unconvinced. Especially since we played Marshall in the League Cup. But you never know.

With Bowyer's heavy interest in attackers/wingers and complete indifference toward bringing in defensive reinforcements, I do worry if anyone is going to go it's going to be Rhodes or someone.

Sounds like Jobi McAnuff is a strong possibility according to the ever reliable twitter.

Its beyond bizarre. If he was 4 years younger it would be an ok signing. But he's 33 and is playing at Leyton Orient, who have just been relegated to League Two.

If we've only 2 squad places left then it appears Bowyer is looking at a winger and another striker. Yet if he brings those in then his squad will be full to the limit and he won't be able to dip into the loan market when the window closes and won't be able to plug gaps if he gets injuries (inevitable given our recent run).

If we had let Chris Taylor go and were looking at McAnuff for a season to fill that gap then I could maybe understand it. But why give Taylor a new deal for the season?

I'm getting quite concerned by some of the names we are being linked with. Filling our squad with Chris Browns, Lee Williamsons, Nathan Delfounesos and Jobi McAnuffs has League One written all over it.

If we sign another winger then I can't see any reason other than either Conway or Marshall are departing, which if it happens, to a rival club, will be the final straw for some.

Think he was there for a season quite a while back. I remember him mainly from Reading and Palace.

I remember McAnuff from Champ Manager 4 I think. One of the old ones anyways. From his Wimbledon days. He and Reo-Coker were cracking signings.

[chaddyrovers]

I would defo keep O'Sullivan. I was disappointed he wasnt involved/on bench for the Huddersfield game

I would imagine he wants 1st team football.

Btw, he was given 18 months deal back in January

[JHRover]

I reaaly hoped O'Sullivan would get a chance. If Barnsley are the only ones in for him though it probably tells its own story... same with Cairney to Fulham.

The flip side is there's no obvious logic to bringing a 33 year old winger in. O'Sullivan could imrpve, McAnuff won't.

be interesting to see if we get more than the £250k Barnsley were rumoured to be buying O'Sullivan for last January. Can't see it myself.

Not the same with Cairney to Fulham.

Although I wouldn't personally sell O'Sullivan to Barnsley at this stage, there could be some logic to it. If the manager has decided he isn't up to the Championship and that £300,000 to sell him to a League One club could be considered decent business for someone who has played about 4 senior games for us.

Whilst I would like O'Sullivan to be given more time, ultimately there are question marks over his ability to play for us in the Championship, as he is untested at this level.

The situation with Cairney was completely different. Cairney was a regular and important first team player who was in our top 3 or 4 appearance makers in the last 2 seasons. He has proven that he is a very good player at Championship level and that is why a rival was prepared to pay such significant money for him.

Some lunatic at Rovers decided to sell our most creative midfielder to Fulham, in the process significantly weakening our team whilst under a transfer embargo and significantly strengthening a team that finished below us last season. Then there's also the message that selling him sends to our other decent players like Marshall and Rhodes.

[chaddyrovers]

I would be looking to bring in either Nick Powell or Jonny Williams not Jobi.

Also we not look to offload a centre midfielder like Evans instead of O'Sullivan

[K-Hod]

Jobi Wan Kanobi

[thenodrog]

I think we saw on Saturday with his performance that if he does stay at Rovers we will get a committed and dedicated Jordan Rhodes and not a sulker.

Judge his performances once the transfer window has closed if he is still here. Rhodes put in an eyebrow raising shift in against Wolves, a level of effort that we are not used to seeing from him. BUT..... A glance across from my seat to the Directors box revealed an unusual amount of scouts scribbling notes into their notepads.

[yoda's brother]

Jobi Wan Kanobi

one of my grandsons is kobie (wan kanobi)

[mustard]

Seems bizarre but Bowyer obviously thinks he's not up to it. Found it crazy in pre season that Bowyer decided to give him a good run, presumably to see if he is good enough but rather than giving him a chance in his position - behind the front man, sticking him on the wing.

Quite typical though, isn't it?

It seems Bowyer wants Jack of all trades', not specialists in any department. Watching the Shrewsbury game especially, the players look like they don't have a jeffing clue what their position/role/ethos is at all. They all looked like they'd never seen each other and just been chucked together.

The more versatile a player, the easier it is to chop and change. I imagine we will see some players all over the park this season. If Marshall stays, my bet is we will see him at right wing, left wing, in the hole, up front and right back at some point during the season. I'd rather see a settled 11 where the players know their duty, but even for the players that have been here longest, it's never been the case and likely never will be.

[JHRover]

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see Marshall leave in the coming weeks.

The prospect of cashing in on him is probably too much for certain individuals at the club to resist. Land £3 million+ for him when he only cost £1 million and its pats on the back all round.

Marshall won't have been best pleased that his mate Tom Cairney was sold off out of the blue to the likes of Fulham, and can probably get a better wage elsewhere.

Anyone know how long Marshall has left on his contract? 2 years or 1 year?

Rhodes I'm still not convinced by. Unless Middlesbrough are still up to dirty tricks despite being close to signing Nugent then it doesn't seem as though there are many other clubs queuing up.

The influx of trialists and the manager saying he still wants more firepower only really make sense if he is expecting departure(s). Otherwise his squad is going to be full too early.

[Mike E]

Sod McAnuff, should be trialling a cb between the ages of 25-30! We have 2 young'uns and an experienced one, need one inbetween now.

Can't remember the last time the club had only 3 registered centre backs.

[sharpysharps]

This is a jobs for the boys thing by the sounds of it. Guthrie comes in, then Akpan...now McAnuff?

Yakubu will be next, we might need him if Rhodes goes!