Rodwell signs

[roversfan99]

Dont agree with this signing at all. Obviously I will back him etc but hes been rotting away for a couple of years and has both attitude and fitness issues.

The strangest thing about it all is not only his awful recent history but its his alledged potential position.

We "have the money" and obviously the freeddom of the market so why we are resorting to someone who as far as I know hasnt played as a centre back professionally, with his success, albeit a long time ago coming in midfield, as a centre back signing (if true) shows for me a flawed recruitment for that position. Surely just sign a centre back, even if Bauer isnt available. Hate signing square pegs for round holes.

I just hope hes one of a few but hes certainly not "win win" and I hope the in my opinion cheap and desperate nature of the deal is a one off and we sign some better players. 

[Fraserkirky]

Go on ursel Jack the Lad!!

Fully getting behind this lad. Could be a miraculous signing and if not then oh well. Doesn’t sound like we have spent a lot of resources on him. I am very intrigued by the prospect of him playing Centre back, seems to be very much like a Lenihan, defensive midfield who’s attributes transfer well into a defender. I have two question:

Has he trained with us at all?

Does the club have the option of a second year?

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

1 hour ago, MackemInPeace said:

That is a fair point.  We weren't having the best of times for the majority of those seasons, but he was the one with the record, so he became the "Jonah" as far as a lot of the fans were concerned.  A dead albatross around our necks.

Whenever his name appeared on the teamsheet, the reaction from a lot of fans was always "oh, we've lost this one then".  There's obviously a chicken-egg-snowball debate that could be had about that situation. 

 

 

Ha ha we've had a few albatrosses here over the last few years.  You've had a lean few years as well.  As others have alluded to, the drop into league one could be a god send for you.  Brilliant chance to get rid of your high earning deadwood and sign a few grafters that actually give a shit and aren't on silly money

For us, last season was great. We got to watch the team win plenty (nice change) visit new grounds but most of all, we ended up with a team that fought for the shirt  and cared. Something that had been missing for a good few years.

Rodwell is an odd one as we have a very tight nit/positive dressing room.  If he doesn't graft here, I doubt he will be here long.

Anyway, I am sure your lads will bounce back this season and that winning mentality will return to the club and support.  Good luck for the season.

Incidentally, we have a top quality right back available if you guys are missing your albatrosses.  You can have him for a pint and a pack of bacon fries.  

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Dont agree with this signing at all. Obviously I will back him etc but hes been rotting away for a couple of years and has both attitude and fitness issues.

The strangest thing about it all is not only his awful recent history but its his alledged potential position.

We "have the money" and obviously the freeddom of the market so why we are resorting to someone who as far as I know hasnt played as a centre back professionally, with his success, albeit a long time ago coming in midfield, as a centre back signing (if true) shows for me a flawed recruitment for that position. Surely just sign a centre back, even if Bauer isnt available. Hate signing square pegs for round holes.

I just hope hes one of a few but hes certainly not "win win" and I hope the in my opinion cheap and desperate nature of the deal is a one off and we sign some better players. 

...Or keep the young centre back we have loaned out...

[Norbert Rassragr]

A risk, at worst another Bradley Orr, but Mowbray could be the right manager to unlock the talent. Think Hughes and Bellamy.

[RevidgeBlue]

Horrendous signing for me, whatever the sound of the bottom of an extremely deep barrel being scraped sounds like, I think We've just heard it with this deal.

Maybe the deal has to be put into context in a week's time when all our other business has been done. However at the moment it smacks of sheer desperation and trying to get a body in through the door for the sake of it having missed out on all our legitimate targets.

I don't buy all this "it's a cheap low risk option" nonsense. What he is being paid is largely irrelevant. If players are brought in who don't perform that can send you down and that's a massive risk.

Some players come in with a proven track record and /or massive potential and you are excited when they sign. The majority you don't really know too much about and they come with a clean slate. This lad unfortunately has it all to prove both in terms of fitness and character.

[Speedie's Gonna Get Ya]

5 hours ago, Neal said:

Typically after a new signing announced you want to believe they're going to be a good signing but that review from the Mackem is sobering to say the least. I hope this one doesn't do more damage than good. This one is all on Mowbray now, I know he can pass it off as "cheap" punt but it's down to him to show off his man management skills and get something back in return. 

 

Uneasy about this one but hopefully the mood here, the manager will inspire him. Good luck to him. 

 

Good luck to Sunderland. Good fans, deserve better. 

 

 

The vast majority of these posts seem fair and reasonable.

it appears we are concerned about ‘taking a punt’ and the impact it may have on team spirit and the dressing room.

i would argue the quality of our manager now is quite different. We don’t know the non-financial terms Mowbray has agreed and we shouldn’t under-estimate the power of s strong dressing room either to pull him round, or spit him out.

Strukee me the person with everything to prove is Rodwell and if he doesn’t, Mowbray will know how to deal with him.

Whilst it’s fair to be concerned, as supporters we need to set him up to succeed and just see what happens!

[neophox]

Cant see how to find a better player available on a free that would come to us. Give the lad a chance. Only a one year deal. Its not a random fella, its England international Jack Rodwell!!

[Stuart]

6 hours ago, Neal said:

Typically after a new signing announced you want to believe they're going to be a good signing but that review from the Mackem is sobering to say the least. I hope this one doesn't do more damage than good. This one is all on Mowbray now, I know he can pass it off as "cheap" punt but it's down to him to show off his man management skills and get something back in return. 

Uneasy about this one but hopefully the mood here, the manager will inspire him. Good luck to him. 

Good luck to Sunderland. Good fans, deserve better. 

After promotion and, by most expectations, a decent start to the new campaign we really did not need a signing to divide fan opinion. From @MackemInPeace comments we have just brought back Jason Lowe.

The difference with Lowe was that he was made captain and the first name on the team sheet by clown shoes (although Bowyer was also seduced by his ‘work rate’). I’m clinging to the hope that Mowbray will only use him as cover for CB and sees him as an improvement on Downing. However, if he displaces anyone - especially Rothwell - to shoehorn him into CM then I will be very disappointed. Equally if Travis has to go out on loan to make way.

We started the window needing improvements to the first team - we still do. Mowbray wanted to keep the faith with his League One side and bring in reinforcements.

This one smacks of a huge gamble on a has-been just because the numbers are right. Although he will not be on peanuts by any stretch.

[Rover_Shaun]

27 minutes ago, neophox said:

Cant see how to find a better player available on a free that would come to us. Give the lad a chance. Only a one year deal. Its not a random fella, its England international Jack Rodwell!!

Means nothing. Apart from some gargantuan over hype when he appeared at Everton he's done sweat FA.

He's wasted his 20's so oobviouslyits natural to expect him to carry on in that vein. At least we can send him packing in May.

[Stuart]

England international? Three call ups and we all laughed when Bumley signed Joe Hart!

The deed is done now. Nobody is going to get on his back during a game - not immediately anyway - but he has it all to prove.

[islander200]

6 hours ago, Fraserkirky said:

Go on ursel Jack the Lad!!

Fully getting behind this lad. Could be a miraculous signing and if not then oh well. Doesn’t sound like we have spent a lot of resources on him. I am very intrigued by the prospect of him playing Centre back, seems to be very much like a Lenihan, defensive midfield who’s attributes transfer well into a defender. I have two question:

Has he trained with us at all?

Does the club have the option of a second year?

Not sure about the option of the second year but a few weeks back one of the posters on here SkipDonoghue who seems pretty clued up  said he had been at Brockhall 

Edited August 24, 2018 by islander200

[Neal]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

After promotion and, by most expectations, a decent start to the new campaign we really did not need a signing to divide fan opinion. From @MackemInPeace comments we have just brought back Jason Lowe.

The difference with Lowe was that he was made captain and the first name on the team sheet by clown shoes (although Bowyer was also seduced by his ‘work rate’). I’m clinging to the hope that Mowbray will only use him as cover for CB and sees him as an improvement on Downing. However, if he displaces anyone - especially Rothwell - to shoehorn him into CM then I will be very disappointed. Equally if Travis has to go out on loan to make way.

We started the window needing improvements to the first team - we still do. Mowbray wanted to keep the faith with his League One side and bring in reinforcements.

This one smacks of a huge gamble on a has-been just because the numbers are right. Although he will not be on peanuts by any stretch.

By sounds of it, he is CB cover. 

[RV Blue]

4 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I don't buy all this "it's a cheap low risk option" nonsense. What he is being paid is largely irrelevant. If players are brought in who don't perform that can send you down and that's a massive risk.

If he isn’t performing in training/reserves, he won’t be playing for us. If he doesn’t play for us, we’ve lost out on the cheap wages that we paid him. It’s worth the risk.

[Neal]

OK so I'm going to try and stay optimistic... (I can almost hear the Mackems laughing) 

 

If Rodwell has been brought in as cover for CB then it could turn out OK. Given the length and possible terms of his contract it's possible he could be out the door before he can blink if he messes around. Also, if he tries to act the big one around this group of players, he'll get put in his place. 

 

Best case scenario, he comes in, gets his head down, learns from Mulgrew, does the simple things well and becomes a decent option for us. Considering his age, the fact that he's 6.2, can use both feet and is decent in the air... As a CB option he could turn out alright. 

 

If people think we're going to get Rodwell of Everton then I'd recommend adjusting your expectations, years have passed and much water under the bridge since then. Best to lower your expectations to hoping he'll be good CB cover and if he turns out to be better than that then happy days. After all, he has no option other than to give everything he has in these next 9 months to earn a place and a better deal or its pretty much career over. 

 

We hold all the cards on this one... So prove us wrong Jack!

 

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by Neal

[JacknOry]

8 hours ago, MackemInPeace said:

Haha, I've seen a few comments about this Rodwell signing being karma for selling us Steele.  Funnily enough, he was actually starting to look like a decent goalkeeper at the very end of the season after a horrendous start with us.  I was actually quite disappointed he left as I thought he'd be a good keeper in League 1.  The new feller Jon McLaughlin's been quality though.  No regrets now. ?

We couldnt believe you paid us $500k for Steele - it was surreal. You guys paid 2/3 of the fee for Bradley Dack for us. 

Anyway, you guys have had a tough few seasons so I hope you enjoy league 1 and come back in better shape for the championship next season. We know what it feels like to go from PL to Championship and then to L1 but at least there were a few years in between, a double relegation must have felt terrible. 

It does give you a chance to rebuild though as another poster said. All the high earning dross can be shipped out and you can start adding young and hungry players like we did on sensible wages. This type of player wants to succeed and perfrom at a higher level so they are hungry and will give more for the shirt. 

On Rodwell, the jury is well and truly out and this is probably his last chance saloon - so lets see how it goes.

[K-Hod]

I think it's totally reasonable to say that the lad has it all to prove, let's just hope that he does. I can't see him displacing anyone in the team yet, to be honest. 

I think it was Revidge (apologies if not) that said if this was the only signing until the end of the window, then we should be disappointed. I think that's also a fair comment. We certainly need plenty of players in other positions as a priority over either of the positions that Jack Rodwell can play in, in any event.

[SBlue]

15 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

We couldnt believe you paid us $500k for Steele - it was surreal. You guys paid 2/3 of the fee for Bradley Dack for us. 

Anyway, you guys have had a tough few seasons so I hope you enjoy league 1 and come back in better shape for the championship next season. We know what it feels like to go from PL to Championship and then to L1 but at least there were a few years in between, a double relegation must have felt terrible. 

It does give you a chance to rebuild though as another poster said. All the high earning dross can be shipped out and you can start adding young and hungry players like we did on sensible wages. This type of player wants to succeed and perfrom at a higher level so they are hungry and will give more for the shirt. 

On Rodwell, the jury is well and truly out and this is probably his last chance saloon - so lets see how it goes.

And we’ll help with that!

?

Solidarity with the mackems!

[blueboy3333]

5 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

However at the moment it smacks of sheer desperation and trying to get a body in through the door for the sake of it having missed out on all our legitimate targets.

He sounds like he's cover at CB. Bauer was our first choice there but I don't think it's fair to say we've 'missed out on all our legitimate targets'. He hasn't gone anywhere, it's just Charlton won't sell him unless we bid £2m for a player will probably be available in January for much less. In that sense giving a 27 year old who has spent the vast majority of his career in the Prem on a free a 10 month contract as a stop gap makes sense, especially if he gets anywhere near back to his best. My only concern is we are paying someone for 10 months who appears to be a piss-taking lazy arse and bringing him into a group that works really hard for each other. 

[blueboy3333]

6 hours ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

Think Hughes and Bellamy.

Two of the most committed and professional footballers we've had at our club. Does that describe Rodwell's career to date?

[blueboy3333]

Rodders see's himself as playing 'week in week out' acc to the article in the LT. He's not come here to sit on the bench. 

[Dreams of 1995]

9 hours ago, Tom said:

By the way Mackem, enjoy league one it can be truly bonkers but fun if you are doing well in it. Seen a few Sunderland fans on twitter enjoying it already.

As long as you end up getting out of it you’ll look back with fond memories!

Some of the best away days of my time supporting Rovers were done last season. Walsall away will always stick in the memory.

There was character to them clubs - some of the more sterile away days in the Championship can't compare. I felt this during the Hull game even with our good support!

Back to Rodwell though @MackemInPeace provided a pretty good post but it's wise to remember that Rodwell won't be the first player not to perform at a club when given a similar huge contract. There could also be a case that Sunderland in recent years has had a culture of losing - and I mean no disrespect in that. A lot of players would have struggled to justify 70k a week there in the past 4 years. The toxicity of the club, in particularly last season, was all too close to home for us. We bought big players on long contracts and then suffered the consequences.

Couple the fact that Sunderland had a few rotten apples in the years Rodwell was there. We can't forget Darren Gibson's pissed up rant. The whole place stunk of unprofessionalism and that is ultimately going to impact on the willingness of players to fight tooth and nail for the shirt.

I am in no way trying to excuse some of the behaviour of Jack Rodwell but rather don't believe that that type of behaviour will be allowed in a modern day Rovers dressing room. We have characters in that room like Conway who openly dish out fines for lateness; we have Graham & Mulgrew keeping lads in line and Elliott Bennett making sure each players understands and appreciates the fan base. We honestly have a togetherness now that I haven't seen in years. If anything this dressing room is set up for Rodwell to succeed and, if he doesn't, then he's shown his true colours. He doesn't have anything to hide behind here. Our managers, players and, remarkably, even fans are now all on the same wavelength.

I wish him luck

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Rodwell has everything to prove. He won’t be on big wages and he’ll know what everyone thinks of him. It’s an underwhelming signing at best but I can see the logic. I’d like to think this is one of 2/3 deals between now and the end of Aug and if that’s the case then I’m ok with it. Down to him to prove himself now.

[JacknOry]

15 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

Two of the most committed and professional footballers we've had at our club. Does that describe Rodwell's career to date?

I think he meant think Hughes and Bellamy with regards to Hughes revitalising the career of Bellamy. He hopes TM can do the same for Rodwell.

[JacknOry]

4 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

Rodders see's himself as playing 'week in week out' acc to the article in the LT. He's not come here to sit on the bench. 

Then he has to force his way in then - which it will be tough to dislodge our captain and future captain from the back.