Summer Transfer Window 2019

[DE.]

Just now, Swanson said:

Mowbray was not planning to loan out Sam Hart :

“It’s frustrating for him, he’s been great in pre-season,” Mowbray of Hart’s injury.

“I told him that he wasn’t going back out on loan. I thought he was genuine competition for Amari’i Bell and Derrick Williams.

Worryingly suggests that, as I suspected, TM does not consider LB a priority and is happy with Bell/Williams in that position. I think this is going to be a very weak link for us in the coming season. It's possible that Bell will improve, and I hope he does, but Williams simply isn't good enough to play LB in a team that's genuinely aiming for the top six. He showed far more capability at CB in his brief appearances last season than he ever has at LB, imo.

[arbitro]

Just now, Swanson said:

Mowbray was not planning to loan out Sam Hart :

“It’s frustrating for him, he’s been great in pre-season,” Mowbray of Hart’s injury.

“I told him that he wasn’t going back out on loan. I thought he was genuine competition for Amari’i Bell and Derrick Williams.

He didn't imply that in this article six days ago. He says he could go out on loan.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17781658.rovers-boss-tony-mowbray-plans-left-back-sam-hart/

[FGS5635]

Just now, DE. said:

Worryingly suggests that, as I suspected, TM does not consider LB a priority and is happy with Bell/Williams in that position. I think this is going to be a very weak link for us in the coming season. It's possible that Bell will improve, and I hope he does, but Williams simply isn't good enough to play LB in a team that's genuinely aiming for the top six. He showed far more capability at CB in his brief appearances last season than he ever has at LB, imo.

Silver lining and all that he makes no mention of Downing as a left back. So we can put that one to bed

[Bbrovers2288]

Just now, FGS5635 said:

Silver lining and all that he makes no mention of Downing as a left back. So we can put that one to bed

Lol, you haven’t been on a mowbray train of thought recently have you? This means nothing. What mowbray says and what mowbray does are two completely different things 

[RV Blue]

Just now, Bbrovers2288 said:

One in, one out today I believe 

Evans? ?

[Bbrovers2288]

Just now, RV Blue said:

Evans? ?

Nope, both loans 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Bbrovers2288 said:

One in, one out today I believe 

City guy in

Nuttall to Accrington Stanley 

[Roaming Rover]

Playing devils advocate a little, but didn’t we have the 5th best defence in the league at home. Better than Norwich and Villa? 

Granted away it was very poor and needs addressing but is it really as bad as some are making out? 

 

[FGS5635]

Just now, Roaming Rover said:

Playing devils advocate a little, but didn’t we have the 5th best defence in the league at home. Better than Norwich and Villa? 

Granted away it was very poor and needs addressing but is it really as bad as some are making out? 

 

Tin hat time

It is a really strange stat though when you think about it

Edited July 25, 2019 by FGS5635

[Ricky]

Mowbray has had a massive brain fart with his comments about our defence last season. Coming out and saying he would be signing defenders as our existing ones weren’t good enough has backed him into a corner. He thought Bauer was a done deal and it’s bitten him on the arse.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Roaming Rover said:

Playing devils advocate a little, but didn’t we have the 5th best defence in the league at home. Better than Norwich and Villa? 

Granted away it was very poor and needs addressing but is it really as bad as some are making out? 

 

Good God man, what have you done? 

Run, save yourself!!! 

[jim mk2]

7 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Offensively we are going to score plenty. Alas, that defence will be our downfall.

Style note:

"In attack" - British English please. 

Offensively is American. 

[DE.]

Just now, Roaming Rover said:

Playing devils advocate a little, but didn’t we have the 5th best defence in the league at home. Better than Norwich and Villa? 

Granted away it was very poor and needs addressing but is it really as bad as some are making out? 

Defensively at home we were pretty good, but away from home we were literally the worst in the entire football league. It would suggest our defenders struggle to deal with pressure, particularly when teams are attacking us. You could make an argument that our tactics away are wrong, too, so it either requires an experienced head at the back to help manage games where we're under pressure, or a significant change in tactics to avoid inviting unnecessary pressure when we're on our travels. 

[Roaming Rover]

Just now, FGS5635 said:

Tin hat time

It is a really strange stat though when you think about it

? I am currently sitting in my nuclear bunker as I type... 

is strange how it can be so extreme home and away...

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Just now, Roaming Rover said:

? I am currently sitting in my nuclear bunker as I type... 

is strange how it can be so extreme home and away...

Because at home we set out to negate the away team.  Often the away team will also try to negate us as well - Hence the number of 0-0 HT scores. 

Away we take the same approach but the home team will generally attack our porous defence and we find ourselves conceding and chasing a game.  

All ironic really because we are more likely to outscore a team with our attacking strength, than trying to nick a 1-0 through our defence.  

[tomphil]

Mostly sit deep at home and invite the other side on looking to hit long balls to DG or counter but most teams look to do similar so less pressure to deal with.

Similar approach away means inviting constant pressure from bold teams and getting caught forwards countering usually looking to get back into a game.

This is why i've always felt a core style with 2 defensive mids is counter productive and even if it works in the middle it's pretty pointless forcing them wide when you can't stop or defend crosses well.

Edited July 25, 2019 by tomphil

[bluebruce]

OK, I've been meaning to do this for a while. I'm going to estimate low-end and high-end possibilities for last summer's window and this one, for both fees and wages. Based on what's been reported, said, or seems the most logical extreme possibility. I don't necessarily believe the 'extreme' versions on any of them, but it should provide a range wherein the remaining budget should fall, beyond too much dispute.

Summer 2018

Brereton: 5-8 million fee. 5-15k p/w

Rothwell: 100-300k. 3-8k p/w

Davenport: 300-500k. 5-10k p/w

Armstrong: 1.7-3 million fee. 10-15k p/w

Rodwell: Free. 5-15k p/w

Lyons: 50k-200k. 1-3k p/w

Palmer: Loan fee 0-500k? Wage contribution 10-15k p/w

Reed: Loan fee 0-500k? Wage contribution 10-15k p/w

Candlin: Who cares.

(And since Chapman came in the Jan window, which may or may not be counted when referring to last year's budget, I'll only add the highest realistic figures for him, to the high-end estimate, not adding him to the lowest at all: 500k fee, 10k p/w).

Minimum budget: 7.15 million fees, 49k p/w. Total 9.7 million (1 year's worth of wages added)

Maximum budget: 13.5 million fees. 106k p/w. Total 19 million.

Summer 2019

Gallagher: 4-5 million. 15-20k p/w

Johnson: Free. 10-20k p/w

Downing: Free. 10-20k p/w

Walton: Loan fee 0-500k. 10-15k p/w

White: 10-90k (reported as 5-figure fee). 1-2k p/w

SOLD

Raya: 2.5-3.5 million. 5-10k p/w savings.

Minimum spend so far: 4 million fees. 56k p/w. Total: 6.9 million. (Or, assuming maximum recoup for Raya, 2.9 million)

Maximum spend so far: 5.5 million fees. 77k p/w. Total: 9.5 million. (Assuming minimum recoup for Raya, 6.75 million)

There are also wage savings on other players leaving on frees in each window, but I think I've done enough here for one morning. Obviously this year we've saved Downing, Conway and probably Rodwell's and Gladwin's wages. Last year, Ward, Caddis, Whittingham, Feeney, Ward, Tomlinson. But I'm assuming most or all of these happened or were accounted for before the budget was decided, so I'm leaving them all out for simplicity's sake. We also saved wages a bit on loaning players out through last season, but again this would have been after budgets were spent really. I think the above figures are enough for illustrative purposes.

So, in conclusion, our total budget last summer, with the 'flex', was at least 9.7 million. The most we've spent this summer, after Raya, is 6.75 million. This means we should have at least in the region of 2.95 million left to spend on fees and wages, worst case scenario.

The most we spent last summer was 19 million. The least we've spent this summer is 2.9 million. This would leave a whopping 16.1 million available to spend, which I think we would all agree is definitely not the case. The truth will be somewhere between these figures.

Obviously though, we were only told the budget was 'similar' to last summer, I'd guess it could be a couple million more, or a couple million less. It really is a minefield and a lot of guesswork from us (me in this case), so we probably shouldn't get too hung up on hearing that the budget is similar.

Disclaimer: Yes I know these figures are nowhere near definitive, and that there are a lot of other variables like agent fees, signing on fees, etc.

[Mattyblue]

11 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Style note:

"In attack" - British English please. 

Offensively is American. 

‘Offensively’ to note attacking prowess is perfectly acceptable, in contrast to ‘offense’, the opposite of ‘DEEfense’ as the Americans like to use, which certainly is not, thanks though.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Mattyblue

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, tomphil said:

Mostly sit deep at home and invite the other side on looking to hit long balls to DG or counter but most teams look to do similar so less pressure to deal with.

Similar approach away means inviting constant pressure from bold teams and getting caught forwards countering usually looking to get back into a game.

This is why i've always felt a core style with 2 defensive mids is counter productive and even if it works in the middle it's pretty pointless forcing them wide when you can stop or defend crosses well.

Ya, hopefully with better ballers in the middle than Richie and Evans we can actually get on the attack more and therefore push teams back home and away. Attack is the best form of defence as the fella says. 

I think it will come down to Mulgrew either improving drastically on last season and having a second wind/indian summer, or he won't and it will depend on how long it will take Mowbray to acknowledge/admit this. The issue is do we have a suitable replacement then...

Edited July 25, 2019 by Bigdoggsteel

[Exiled_Rover]

23 minutes ago, DE. said:

Worryingly suggests that, as I suspected, TM does not consider LB a priority and is happy with Bell/Williams in that position. I think this is going to be a very weak link for us in the coming season. It's possible that Bell will improve, and I hope he does, but Williams simply isn't good enough to play LB in a team that's genuinely aiming for the top six. He showed far more capability at CB in his brief appearances last season than he ever has at LB, imo.

I don't think LB is a priority. If we get a CB who is good in the air and and can read the game, that would improve is tremendously. 

I also agree, Williams is terrible at LB, but a decent option as over at CB.

[tomphil]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya, hopefully with better ballers in the middle than Richie and Evans we can actually get on the attack more and therefore push teams back home and away. Attack is the best form of defence as the fella says. 

I think it will come down to Mulgrew either improving drastically on last seasona nd having a second wind/indian summer, or he won't and it will depend on how long it will take Mowbray to acknowledge/admit this. The issue is do we have a suitable replacement then...

I'd like to think that's the idea with Johnson and maybe Downing able to pick out good passes from the middle something we haven't had in years.  Travis obviously adds some dynamic to it being able to operate further up the pitch but i still think he'll favour the defensive approach first as part of that is too protect the paceless centre defence.

Edited July 25, 2019 by tomphil

[bluebruce]

30 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

One in, one out today I believe 

City lad in, Nuttall out on loan is my guess.

[Lucimo]

1 hour ago, Ewood Ace said:

He's using the club's facilities but he is not under contract.

I was under the impression we'd offered him some kind of deal but I hope you're right. No issue with the guy using our facilities but don't want him stealing a wage 

[Vinjay]

13 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Nuttall to Accrington Stanley 

Insult Jack Walker and get loaned a player in return. ?

[bluebruce]

29 minutes ago, arbitro said:

He didn't imply that in this article six days ago. He says he could go out on loan.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17781658.rovers-boss-tony-mowbray-plans-left-back-sam-hart/

Could. He probably impressed him enough in the next two games to have made him decide to keep him here.