January transfer window 2020

[tomphil]

5 minutes ago, Doug said:

And Chorley 

But not Wheelton......

Edited January 24, 2020 by tomphil

[geedog13]

Why would he tweet this then......  just saying 

 

[MarkBRFC]

2 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Mowbray said he had a good chance of starting and if they lad backed himself he could have had a good year in League 1 with the team he supports ,as opposed to playing under 23s football. 

So he chose money and I would say he isn't really that big a fan. If he was he would have stayed and helped the club get back to the Championship. 

Surely by now you have learned that Mowbray says a lot of things ?

I think most players would choose money to be honest over the club they support, it's a short career to make your millions after all.

He might end up back here one day who knows.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, RoverCanada said:

Bit of a tangent, but I was thinking about that Smallwood contract. It is an odd case if he's still around at the end of the window. He's obviously keen to see out his current contract (which is fair), but if it's been made clear to him he's out of the squad picture, it's hard to see why we couldn't at least loan him out for a portion of his wages to cut costs a bit and get him some lower league game-time. I'd imagine Smallwood would have to push for such a move himself too, so it is curious if he's not keen on it given a whole year with only 2 appearances hardly looks good on the footballing CV!

Perhaps Rovers are playing hardball with lower league clubs hoping to take him on loan at zero cost (Mowbray briefly alluded to that about potential loans out) or Smallwood only wants to move for a guaranteed contract for next year. That would potentially mean sacrificing some of his current contract, but even then, Rovers could maybe subsidise his wage a bit for the rest of this year as long as it's still cutting our wage this year, effectively making it a subsidised loan for the rest of this year and then a professional deal lined up for next year... No signs at all that he's a 'bad egg' in the dressing room and I can't imagine he's on prohibitive wages, so not a big deal in the end, but very curious from Smallwood's POV.

In terms of Smallwood being wrongly handed an extension, 1) he did do a hell of a job for us in L1. There is some sense/honour in rewarding him accordingly (and I don't recall many complaints about it at the time). 2) If you look back, there is evidence that we did hold the line on his extension. Smallwood hinted that the negotiations dragged a bit and  that he wanted a longer-term deal (who could blame him): https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16354537.signed-lifetime-contract-rovers---smallwood/ 

Perhaps in retrospect a regrettable extension, but having said that, I took a glance at Smallwood's games last year, and our results were surprisingly effective with him in the lineup at first. Up to, and including, 10 Nov, over 15 games with Smallwood in the lineup, our record was 6-6-3, a 74 point pace. However, for his last 17 games in the lineup, our record was 2-5-10, a 30 point pace...

Now, obviously can't attribute all those results to Smallwood, but as a quick control, compare that to our season split: front 23 games, 62 point pace; back 23 games, 58 point pace. Perhaps those results were more in spite of him instead of because of him, but there appears to have been an initial delay in Smallwood being 'found out' at the Championship level (again) and, then eventually (probably too long), by Mowbray.

 

I think it's clear to him at this stage.

Maybe he is happy to be the senior guy with the under 23s and the manager probably is as well. At the end of the day, if he is happy doing that, so be it. No point dragging his family over the country if he is happy doing what he is doing. 

[tomphil]

2 minutes ago, geedog13 said:

Why would he tweet this then......  just saying 

 

One of those modern day multiclub fans !

[MarkBRFC]

3 minutes ago, geedog13 said:

Why would he tweet this then......  just saying 

 

Are we getting some confusion between JRC and Buckley here?

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, MarkBRFC said:

Surely by now you have learned that Mowbray says a lot of things ?

I think most players would choose money to be honest over the club they support, it's a short career to make your millions after all.

He might end up back here one day who knows.

Ya, he does say a lot of things and I reckon it's massively exaggerated on here that he is disingenuous. Really unfair.

If he really loved the club, he would have stayed. He had a long career ahead of him. 

Not sure people would be that excited about that to be honest. 

[Tom]

45 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

How did I forget Derbyshire and Gally. Both went to my alma mater.

Always thought Gallagher was a Rangers fan, assume he had one English and one Scottish team

[bluebruce]

5 hours ago, Blue blood said:

I wouldn't disagree with any of that and would add in a second keeper and another striker if Bereton goes on loan. 

My main thrust was that these are 6 players who have to be replaced regardless of ability levels, as they are either a) not here or b) might as well not be as they physically cannot do what is required to do that role. Forget improvements needed (of which there are a lot) the first problem is we have half a dozen places where by absence or physical limitations the players can't do what is needed.

Don't get me wrong Bell is useless but he is physically able to actually play left back. An exceptional manager may even get him to be ok (although that's a stretch and warrants the manager of the year award.) However contrast this with physical limitations and the manager can't get a player's legs back. 

So before we do any improvements imo there are six enforced changes on us...

 

Those six enforced changes can also be improvements if done wisely. Walton, Johnson and Mulgrew shouldn't be too hard to improve on, and Mulgrew has only even played once this season.

[Vilesinner]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont doubt that we need to give them chances from time to time, as I said I would play Rankin Costello for example every day over sticking Gallagher out wide. But it is not prudent to expect a whole batch of young players to all come through and become first teamers together, there are plenty of "promising" youth groups in the past that havent really amounted to much so its a case of wait and see. You have to give them encouragement and chances but if the plan is that this time in a year the side will be full of young players and we carry on with our top 6 push as normal then that would be a very naive prediction.

The main 2 that get mentions are Rankin Costello and Buckley it seems, and the former has only made one sub League appearance (and made a promising start) and the latter looks absolutely miles off being able to play a part at this level and needs to go down the leagues. If any youth players come through it is a massive bonus and money saved, but history suggests that most of your list wont make it here.

I do remember someone saying "you don't win anything with kids".

[Mattyblue]

5 minutes ago, Tom said:

Always thought Gallagher was a Rangers fan, assume he had one English and one Scottish team

Celtic! 
 

(It was a Catholic school, after all )

[tomphil]

I remember Mahonney playing in one of Mowbrays early games here and really struggling to get to grips with it. V Barnsley at home a shocking performance all round and i might be wrong but seen to recall them starting him on one side one half and the other side second half !

Whether that had anything to do with him not fancying it here anymore i don't know but i'm sure he got the standard TM young player treatment at the time which didn't go down too well.

I wouldn't be adverse to him coming back to be honest because he has a bit of flair and runs with the ball something badly missing here at times. I would however hold out no hope at all he'd be used correctly regularly.

[roversfan99]

1 minute ago, Vilesinner said:

I do remember someone saying "you don't win anything with kids".

That was the exception rather than the rule. Like I said, if a few come through at once, brilliant, but dont plan depending on that to happen.

[Vilesinner]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

Not really, Mowbray probably wouldn't have started him until Christmas, and I'm guessing he got a pretty good offer to go and further his development at a well respected top flight club, for a lot more money too.

No brainer for the lad.

Tony played him all the time, we have Coyle to blame for not playing him.

[Doug]

30 minutes ago, tomphil said:

But not Wheelton......

Yes, including Wheelton......

[oldjamfan1]

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Celtic! 
 

(It was a Catholic school, after all )

Yes I played footie against his dad and always thought he (the dad) was a Celtic/Rovers fan (though I don't know that for an actual fact)

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Makes Mahoneys decision to jump ship rather than play in League 1 even more bizzare 

Not bizarre when he was dumped by Coyle and then had to make a decision about whether to work with the wingless wonder. He made the right choice as he’d have been wasted here.

[Blue blood]

21 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Those six enforced changes can also be improvements if done wisely. Walton, Johnson and Mulgrew shouldn't be too hard to improve on, and Mulgrew has only even played once this season.

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. Its a damning indictment that when Mulgrew left we somehow didn't improve as we didn't replace him! 

That said my reservations are twofold. Firstly the enforced nature means that there is a lot to do before we can even tackle issues such as squad depth and quality. 2 replacements in defence and we are still paper thin even if the quality has improved. A better striker thank Graham is great but bar Armstrong the rest of them are still pretty duff. We've a hell of a lot of work to do - and we struggle to do much in the transfer window anyway - before we tackle the squad depth issues. Will we even get all of this done is a big worry leaving us even more stretched. 

Secondly I've little confidence we will improve on these players. We knew Raya was going for ages yet his replacement is worse. We've tried twice to replace Graham at great expense and failed. Given at best TM has a 50:50 transfer success record that is a rather scary prospect of us not improving the squad. 

So yeah for me 6 needed changes is a terrifying prospect. It could be an opportunity for a new man though. 

[Scotland1]

54 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Pretty standard for anyone from Bolton.

Thought JRC is from Stockport. Stockport side are very much Man City fans.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Scotland1

[SkipDonoghue]

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Makes Mahoneys decision to jump ship rather than play in League 1 even more bizzare 

I wonder if the £14k/week may have played a part?

[Bigdoggsteel]

7 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Not bizarre when he was dumped by Coyle and then had to make a decision about whether to work with the wingless wonder. He made the right choice as he’d have been wasted here.

Players aren't fancied by certain managers all the time, rightly or wrongly. If he supported the club, I would expect him to suck it up and try and help out. Mowbray said he would feature, now it seems that when fans give the evidence that he says something, those who disagree just blanket dismiss it by saying "oh he says lots of things". It's a great out for people who don't have anything else to come back with.

He left for the money instead of helping the team get out of League 1. From a fan of the club, that's poor in my opinion. 

I don't think it was the best move for him from a personal point of view either. A solid season playing mens football in League 1, would have set him up nicely.   

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 minute ago, SkipDonoghue said:

I wonder if the £14k/week may have played a part?

Well that's it, it was a financial choice over helping the club he supports get back to the Championship. Not a huge fan I would wager. 

[SkipDonoghue]

1 minute ago, Scotland1 said:

Thought JRC is from Stockport. 

He is and is a Man City fan he had a season ticket from being 6 and up to signing his scholarship with Rovers, he gave it up then as he had to ball boy at Rovers home games when Bowyer was in charge

[SkipDonoghue]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Well that's it, it was a financial choice over helping the club he supports get back to the Championship. Not a huge fan I would wager. 

They all have their price mate

[Vilesinner]

1 minute ago, SkipDonoghue said:

They all have their price mate

No, they don't. We had better players than him remain to help us out of League 1.