[Archived] Rovers V Reading

[AggyBlue]

I can picture Coyle and Cheston sat in a room all morning wondering what to do next with the Wharton situation. There's no way they'll let him play, so they're going to have to come up with an alternative plan to resolve the defensive crisis without calling in Wharton and without raising too much suspicion.

Wharton will probably pick up a niggle in training on Friday.

Spent the last forty years looking but I've never found a niggle yet.

[Stuart]

I can picture Coyle and Cheston sat in a room all morning wondering what to do next with the Wharton situation. There's no way they'll let him play, so they're going to have to come up with an alternative plan to resolve the defensive crisis without calling in Wharton and without raising too much suspicion.

Step forward Jason Lowe, who once played at CB at Wigan, to fill the void, and leave summer signing Wes Brown on the bench and then Coyle can sit on the bench with his fingers crossed that things will work themselves out and he won't need to use Brown.

How the hell can we not afford to play Wharton but can have Brown on the books drawing down a basic wage?

EVERYTHING that a football club does should be about the success of the first team. Anything else is just window dressing. I just don't see how Brown playing in the development squad is helping. First, he is physically taking up a spot in the team that could be occupied by another young lad. Second, any helping of the youngsters on the pitch in development games that he supposedly does is completely negated if we don't play them in the first team. Is he here to make U23s harder to beat? To make it look like we have a successful academy system because we win games? Who cares? The first team are in the bottom three. A good run in the FA Trophy or whatever it's called is immaterial.

If Wharton is the next Hanley, i.e. an academy product sold for millions then they are going the wrong way about it.

Incompetence, people out of their depth at all levels, no budget, no control. What a mess! But we're sticking in a few buses so all is well.

[philipl]

We need a win.

No idea how but we will get it but if we don't win, we will be well detached from safety after the holiday period.

[Hasta]

I have a cunning plan for this. Sky bet have Reading at 9/5 and the draw at 23/10. Using £5 as an example, back Reading to win which would return a profit of £9. cover that with £2.20 on the draw which would return a profit of £5.06 (Your stake back). So reading win means you are £6.80 up and a draw means we have a point and you break even. A Rovers win is worth £7.20 of any ones money. Multiply by 2, 10, 100 or 1,000 if you are brave or leave alone if you fancy a Rovers win and don't want to pay for it.

Or, to keep it simple, put your £7.20 on Reading at Evs in the "Draw no bet" market.

I would start Dunn in this game. He's on the books. Re-register him today cos he cannot possibly contribute less than Lowe and Evans did on Tuesday.

[RevidgeBlue]

How the hell can we not afford to play Wharton but can have Brown on the books drawing down a basic wage?

EVERYTHING that a football club does should be about the success of the first team. Anything else is just window dressing. I just don't see how Brown playing in the development squad is helping. First, he is physically taking up a spot in the team that could be occupied by another young lad. Second, any helping of the youngsters on the pitch in development games that he supposedly does is completely negated if we don't play them in the first team. Is he here to make U23s harder to beat? To make it look like we have a successful academy system because we win games? Who cares? The first team are in the bottom three. A good run in the FA Trophy or whatever it's called is immaterial.

If Wharton is the next Hanley, i.e. an academy product sold for millions then they are going the wrong way about it.

Incompetence, people out of their depth at all levels, no budget, no control. What a mess! But we're sticking in a few buses so all is well.

Have to agree. I thought Wharton did exceptionally well when called upon earlier in the season. The logical move would have been to promote him to first team duties and maybe bring in an experienced player as cover in case he needed a break at some point. Instead we bring in 4 or 5 crocks/desperado on loan ahead of him and he goes to the back of the queue never to be seen again. Madness.

On a similar note what's the point in bringing in players like Byrne and Samuels on in on loan and inflating the wage bill if you're not even going to give them a chance? Again it's completely pointless.

[JHRover]

Both Byrne and Samuelsen were brought in for one reason and one reason only, and that was because they were very cheap, possibly even free signings who could fill up a threadbare squad quickly without the need for any commitment financially from Rovers.

It wouldn't surprise me if both Man City and West Ham had agreed to send them here and pay 100% of their wages whilst doing so. The chance for one of their bright kids to get game time at a Championship club would have been seen as a big bonus for them in their development and their wages a price worth paying if it meant they got the experience of playing in the Championship. Samuelsen spent last season in League One and Byrne in Holland, so it would have been a big step for them to be getting a chance to play in the Championship.

Obviously no other Championship club would be so desperate as to fill their squad with kids on short term loans because as we saw early on this season it will end in disaster.

I reckon that the reason West Ham had such an unusual arrangement whereby they were able to play Samuelsen in their reserves whilst he was still a Rovers player and then recall him in November was because they were paying all his wages, and as such Rovers didn't have a leg to stand on. Obviously West Ham aren't going to pay all his wages for him to sit on Rovers bench every week so they might as well get him back playing for their reserves with a view to sending him out somewhere else in January.

This situation could have course have been avoided had the manager been given a proper transfer budget to work with, but that's another story.

[blue kiwi]

dreading the game.

[Stuart]

On a similar note what's the point in bringing in players like Byrne and Samuels on in on loan and inflating the wage bill if you're not even going to give them a chance? Again it's completely pointless.

The only logical conclusion I can think of is to grease the palms of agents. We can't afford to play them beyond a certain number of games or a certain number of minutes per match but we can probably afford some kind of arrangement fee to bolster squad numbers and keep up appearances.

I'm firmly convinced that agents run top flight football - and with the churn in recent years, 17 out of 24 teams in the Championship are former PL: half of which will have parachute payments to burn and the rest will be carcasses being picked at by those vultures at the bottom of the pecking order (if I can allow myself a very gratuitous metaphor).

[eddy11d]

The team I expect Coyle to pick

Steele Marshall Lenihan Wharton Williams Feeney Lowe Akpan Conway Gallagher

Playing only 10 men would arguably be Coyle's worst tactic yet.

[Athlete]

Playing only 10 men would arguably be Coyle's worst tactic yet.

Didn't you know that chaddyrovers is a football genius... 😁

[4000Holes]

Playing only 10 men would arguably be Coyle's worst tactic yet.

Anything is possible? Will also be interesting we we have enough for a full bench.

[Amo]

Playing only 10 men would arguably be Coyle's worst tactic yet.

Eight if you include Lowe and Feeney.

[Al]

One booking away i think which will surely come Sat

It's only one game though. He needs a straight red.

[OJRovers]

I think Wharton has actually been injured, rather than it being a contract thing.

Is Wes Brown anywhere near being fit? Someone like him IF FIT is badly needed at the back.

[JHRover]

I think Wharton has actually been injured, rather than it being a contract thing.

Is Wes Brown anywhere near being fit? Someone like him IF FIT is badly needed at the back.

Well he was playing for the u23s on Monday night and completed 90 minutes so unless something has happened to him during the week he should be fit for tomorrow.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Who did ? Wharton or Brown.

[had.e.nuff]

Both Byrne and Samuelsen were brought in for one reason and one reason only, and that was because they were very cheap, possibly even free signings who could fill up a threadbare squad quickly without the need for any commitment financially from Rovers.

It wouldn't surprise me if both Man City and West Ham had agreed to send them here and pay 100% of their wages whilst doing so. The chance for one of their bright kids to get game time at a Championship club would have been seen as a big bonus for them in their development and their wages a price worth paying if it meant they got the experience of playing in the Championship. Samuelsen spent last season in League One and Byrne in Holland, so it would have been a big step for them to be getting a chance to play in the Championship.

Obviously no other Championship club would be so desperate as to fill their squad with kids on short term loans because as we saw early on this season it will end in disaster.

I reckon that the reason West Ham had such an unusual arrangement whereby they were able to play Samuelsen in their reserves whilst he was still a Rovers player and then recall him in November was because they were paying all his wages, and as such Rovers didn't have a leg to stand on. Obviously West Ham aren't going to pay all his wages for him to sit on Rovers bench every week so they might as well get him back playing for their reserves with a view to sending him out somewhere else in January.

This situation could have course have been avoided had the manager been given a proper transfer budget to work with, but that's another story.

Standard loan contract as per rules

53.2 A Player registered on a Standard Loan may continue to play non-first team football for his Transferor Club, and The League shall disregard any non-first team appearance when assessing whether any application for registration of a Player would otherwise comply with the requirements of Article 5(3) of the FIFA Regulations. Clubs acknowledge that such non-first team appearances may still be considered by other leagues, national associations and/or FIFA when assessing compliance with Article 5(3) on any subsequent application by the Player to be registered with any other club

Read more at http://www.efl.com/global/section6.aspx#2GK4dGPsWVBJD53W.99

[1arC]

I think Wharton has actually been injured, rather than it being a contract thing.

Is Wes Brown anywhere near being fit? Someone like him IF FIT is badly needed at the back.

I am pretty sure Wharton played on Monday for the under 23's so if he doesn't feature tomorrow, questions need to be asked.

[tomphil]

I think Wharton has actually been injured, rather than it being a contract thing.

Is Wes Brown anywhere near being fit? Someone like him IF FIT is badly needed at the back.

He was playing for a while after he was dropped back into the U23's then questions started and he picked up a 'knock'. Maybe the knock is genuine but he was turning out for the 23's when he would have been needed in the first team squad and that is a fact !

Well he was playing for the u23s on Monday night and completed 90 minutes so unless something has happened to him during the week he should be fit for tomorrow.

It goes back ages with him and once he'd broken into the first team squad he should have stayed there under the circumstances. Fair enough turning out for the U23's if your on the first team bench and not getting on that's the way it should be but in his case it seems he stepped up did a job then got pushed back. Very odd considering we've needed him.

[JHRover]

It's been a familiar story of their tenure.

We go into a summer critically short on numbers in key areas and leave our main transfer activity until the very end of the transfer window when the season has already been underway for a number of weeks. The result then is that the squad doesn't bed in until late September and we're playing catch up all over the place.

In the meantime they use U23 players to fill gaps in the squad until new signings are brought in. This summer it was Scott Wharton who featured in pre-season games and we were led to believe would be getting a run in the first team. Hardcastle and Doyle to name two others who featured in pre-season games. The year before it was Mahoney and Tomlinson who got their chance.

Its just a patch up job until the 'list' of available transfers comes through from above along with approval from the 'directors' that some new recruits can be added. Presumably it is left until the 11th hour because the players on the list and their agents are waiting for a better offer and are only prepared to join Rovers when other options are exhausted.

Meanwhile the patch up job that is our first team squad makes its way through pre-season friendlies knowing full well they won't be the boys lining up over the course of the season.

[Lancaster Rover]

I think we could get pumped tomorrow, I dread to think who could end up starting at centre back. I wouldn't rule out Lowe playing in there and Akpan being recalled. If reports of an Evans injury are true then it could well be Akpan and Guthrie in the middle.

I think we could see

Steele; Marshall, Lenihan, Lowe, Williams; Conway, Akpan, Guthrie, Gallagher; Emnes, Graham.

Just reading that as being an option terrifies me, there isn't a tackle between the front 6.

[G Somerset Rover]

I think we could get pumped tomorrow, I dread to think who could end up starting at centre back. I wouldn't rule out Lowe playing in there and Akpan being recalled. If reports of an Evans injury are true then it could well be Akpan and Guthrie in the middle.

Oh, but this is where Coyle comes into his own. If we get a win/draw then he's a genius while if we lose it's because of our "rotten luck with injuries". No questions posed by the LET or the like on his recruitment strategy in dishing out 2-3 year deals to players who have proved over a number of years that they cannot put a string of games together.

[West Yorks Rover]

Reading have never won a league game at Ewood Park D4 L4.

Oh dear another record about to be broken.

[Mercer]

Does anyone know if the £tenner ticket has had any sort of impact on ticket sales?

Have decided to go tomorrow courtesy of a colleague who is a big Royals' fan. Sadly, I think we will lose by at least two goals; at least there will be some happy folk on Ewood tomorrow.

[tomphil]

All the tenner tickets will do is stop tomorrows gate being at a 30 year low i can't see it going up any unless they are issuing loads of corporate freebies as well or getting someone to buy a job lot of cheap tickets.