January transfer window 2020

[Blue blood]

31 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I agree he seems a sound lad and when he first came after a bad start he settled a bit under keeper coach John Keeley. Soon as he left he seemed to go backwards rapidly. In truth he fit the GB stereotype, nice lad, possibly a bit of potential but in the end too many weaknesses and needed feeding a bit more red meat.

Bad time to go to Sunderland though but very poor signing from Graysons point of view but did us a favour. I'm sure Steele would be more comfortable at a plodding lge 1 club as no 1 regular.

Yeah. Agree it was a terrible time to go to Sunderland. Mentally he seems to be spectacularly weak (as well as looking pretty useless on the documentary) and these two factors combined were a recipe for disaster. 

The fact is he has been dropped from first choice at his 3 previous championship clubs (twice to 3rd choice) which really suggests he isn't good enough for that level whatsoever. It's too much of a pattern for it being a case of just not working out 

[chaddyrovers]

Rovers want to tie up a contract Sunderland Keeper Jon McLaughlin

His contract ends next month and Rovers are keen to take him immediately. 

Mowbray sees the 32 year old shot stopper as number 1 next season and would like the deal done fast

article in the Sun today

 

[roversfan99]

If there is any chance of that being true, then it would show I think the way expectations may change due to the current situation.

In normal circumstances, the signing of a soon to be 33 year old goalkeeper who was dropped earlier in the season by Sunderland and who was released by Burton following his only season at Championship level would be seen maybe as a downgrade on Walton and a very underwhelming signing to be number 1 for a club supposedly with promotion aspirations.

As it is, you cant imagine that we will sign any more than maybe a couple of low key free signings such as this to cover the losses of the loan players who will leave, so you would somewhat understand the signing. I suspect that much of if not all of next season will be behind closed doors so it is hard to be enthusiastic about any signing anyway!

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

If there is any chance of that being true, then it would show I think the way expectations may change due to the current situation.

In normal circumstances, the signing of a soon to be 33 year old goalkeeper who was dropped earlier in the season by Sunderland and who was released by Burton following his only season at Championship level would be seen maybe as a downgrade on Walton and a very underwhelming signing to be number 1 for a club supposedly with promotion aspirations.

As it is, you cant imagine that we will sign any more than maybe a couple of low key free signings such as this to cover the losses of the loan players who will leave, so you would somewhat understand the signing. I suspect that much of if not all of next season will be behind closed doors so it is hard to be enthusiastic about any signing anyway!

Well we have been chasing him for months. 

We want an experience keeper and he fits the bill IMO. We have been through this before with about his performances already so I don't see the point in getting another debate with yourself again. 

Who knows who we will sign in the summer, Mowbray will have his plans and targets already. We don't know what Venkys intentions are. Imagine alot of the teams will be looking free transfers and loans. 

Suggest you look at today's comments that a Vaccine could be ready in September. Clearly you haven't seen those comments. So we might be able to get back to watching football in a stadium and normal life

[roversfan99]

32 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Well we have been chasing him for months. 

We want an experience keeper and he fits the bill IMO. We have been through this before with about his performances already so I don't see the point in getting another debate with yourself again. 

Who knows who we will sign in the summer, Mowbray will have his plans and targets already. We don't know what Venkys intentions are. Imagine alot of the teams will be looking free transfers and loans. 

Suggest you look at today's comments that a Vaccine could be ready in September. Clearly you haven't seen those comments. So we might be able to get back to watching football in a stadium and normal life

According to gossip we have yes.

Experience may be preferable but amongst many other key criteria, notably quality. If you want an experienced keeper, surely David Seaman would be a good addition? Or less jokingly, someone like Lee Camp, Jason Steele or Adam Federeci, all experienced but all shite? Just because he is experienced doesnt mean he is the one.

Interestingly, even during last season when he was supposed to have impressed most for Sunderland, he missed out on the League team of the season to Adam Davies who has since collected dust as third choice at struggling Stoke. I am just pointing out that his calibre is hardly one that in normal circumstances, would have a promotion chasing side jumping for joy. That doesnt mean that he isnt up to it, players that I have been skeptical about in the past who I have had more knowledge about have flourished for Rovers, and conversely players that I have been excited about have underwhelmed or crashed and burned.

As it is, my main point that we could be signing anyone and it would be difficult to be overly excited simply because there is a good chance we wont see them play for a long while. With income very limited for the forseeable and money presumably scarce, being pro-active and agreeing to sign a freebie such as this to fill a void considering that we dont have any contracted goalkeepers signed up for next season may be a shrewd move.

My main opinion was not a negative one regarding the player, it was about the overall situation and how it may make the signing a better one than expected. In regards to your fanciful ideas about vaccines, this isnt really the thread but it remains to be seen whether a vaccine will ever be created and indeed whether it isnt a judgement call regarding the current rate of infection rather than the full closure of a vaccine as to when the players no longer need to go through the motions behind closed doors. No matter how many speculative and optimistic articles you post about vaccine progress at this stage, I suspect that before the turn of the year, never mind September, for the vaccine to have been created, trialled and tested and then mass produced would be an incredibly welcome but unexpected pleasant surprise.

 

[chaddyrovers]

4 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

According to gossip we have yes.

Experience may be preferable but amongst many other key criteria, notably quality. If you want an experienced keeper, surely David Seaman would be a good addition? Or less jokingly, someone like Lee Camp, Jason Steele or Adam Federeci, all experienced but all shite? Just because he is experienced doesnt mean he is the one.

Interestingly, even during last season when he was supposed to have impressed most for Sunderland, he missed out on the League team of the season to Adam Davies who has since collected dust as third choice at struggling Stoke. I am just pointing out that his calibre is hardly one that in normal circumstances, would have a promotion chasing side jumping for joy. That doesnt mean that he isnt up to it, players that I have been skeptical about in the past who I have had more knowledge about have flourished for Rovers, and conversely players that I have been excited about have underwhelmed or crashed and burned.

As it is, my main point that we could be signing anyone and it would be difficult to be overly excited simply because there is a good chance we wont see them play for a long while. With income very limited for the forseeable and money presumably scarce, being pro-active and agreeing to sign a freebie such as this to fill a void considering that we dont have any contracted goalkeepers signed up for next season may be a shrewd move.

My main opinion was not a negative one regarding the player, it was about the overall situation and how it may make the signing a better one than expected. In regards to your fanciful ideas about vaccines, this isnt really the thread but it remains to be seen whether a vaccine will ever be created and indeed whether it isnt a judgement call regarding the current rate of infection rather than the full closure of a vaccine as to when the players no longer need to go through the motions behind closed doors. No matter how many speculative and optimistic articles you post about vaccine progress at this stage, I suspect that before the turn of the year, never mind September, for the vaccine to have been created, trialled and tested and then mass produced would be an incredibly welcome but unexpected pleasant surprise.

 

Well do you have any info that says we haven't been after McLaughlin for months?

This is exactly why I don't want to get into any sort of debate with you about his experience and quality cos of those comments. I wonder how often you seen him live. Probably not many. Like Myself. I seen a few games of him. 

You were suggest Adam Davies was a good signing for Stoke and we should have sign him. 

Well we don't know when we will be attending another football game. It could be September or October time. It could be December time. Who knows. 

 

[Prelude]

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a Sunderland season ticket holder about the Sunderland keeper and he said the following.

 I heard the rumours hes Class I love him hes tall great shot stopper commands the box comes and wins corners everytime hes made 2 miskates in the 2 seasons that's it , if you get him ull get a great keeper I'll be gutted if he goes

[RevidgeBlue]

13 hours ago, Prelude said:

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a Sunderland season ticket holder about the Sunderland keeper and he said the following.

 I heard the rumours hes Class I love him hes tall great shot stopper commands the box comes and wins corners everytime hes made 2 miskates in the 2 seasons that's it , if you get him ull get a great keeper I'll be gutted if he goes

Anything would be an upgrade on Walton but how can any Club even consider signing new players in the current climate?

I'll settle for us still being here by the time fans are allowed back into stadiums.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

14 hours ago, Prelude said:

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a Sunderland season ticket holder about the Sunderland keeper and he said the following.

 I heard the rumours hes Class I love him hes tall great shot stopper commands the box comes and wins corners everytime hes made 2 miskates in the 2 seasons that's it , if you get him ull get a great keeper I'll be gutted if he goes

I've only seen him in the flesh once but I liked what I saw. He pulled off a world class save when a defender theepenny bit headed a clearance right under his cross bar. He'd not seen the ball for 15 minutes before that and he was well out of his goals but he anticipated the cock up and scrambled back to claw the ball out from under the bar ! He ended up tangled in the back of the net. It showed he was wide awake and on his toes.

He looked calm and collected at all times and seemed to be very assured.

[chaddyrovers]

3 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Anything would be an upgrade on Walton but how can any Club even consider signing new players in the current climate?

I'll settle for us still being here by the time fans are allowed back into stadiums.

Clubs have to carry on as normal best they can. 

We dont know what will happen in the future

[Mattyblue]

‘Class’?

He’ll be 33 by next season and he’s spent his English career at Harrogate, Burton, Bradford and third division Sunderland.

Looks like the expectations of Sunderland fans have fallen even more than ours.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Mattyblue

[chaddyrovers]

32 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

‘Class’?

He’ll be 33 by next season and he’s spent his English career at Harrogate, Burton, Bradford and third division Sunderland.

Looks like the expectations of Sunderland fans have fallen even more than ours.

have you seen him play much?

[islander200]

8 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

have you seen him play much?

To be fair chaddy if he has or hadn't seen him much isn't really relevant he was commenting on his career so far.

If he was class he wouldn't be playing in league 1 at 33 and his career up to joining Sunderland doesn't portray him as a class player

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, islander200 said:

To be fair chaddy if he has or hadn't seen him much isn't really relevant he was commenting on his career so far.

If he was class he wouldn't be playing in league 1 at 33 and his career up to joining Sunderland doesn't portray him as a class player

Only asking if Matty had seen him play much? That's was all. 

I seen a few games but only 1 this season. 

[Mattyblue]

Seen him on Sky. 

A run of the mill stopper that didn’t particularly stand out in League 1.

Certainly shouldn’t be first choice at a Championship club with aspirations.
 

 

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

‘Class’?

He’ll be 33 by next season and he’s spent his English career at Harrogate, Burton, Bradford and third division Sunderland.

Looks like the expectations of Sunderland fans have fallen even more than ours.

It's amazing how different it looks when you look past hyperbole and put some actual meat on the bones. Coming to Rovers and hopefully upper end Championship football week in week out is a big step up at the later end of his career.

Underwhelming it has to be said, there must be something a bit better out there with a bit more potential for a decent number of years in them. Changing keeper ever year or two just like changing centre backs every season isn't the way to build a team with promotion as the ultimate aim. 

Trying to keep the likes of Walton makes more sense.

[bluebruce]

14 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Looks like the expectations of Sunderland fans have fallen even more than ours.

In fairness, so they should. They're a league lower than us, and have been for two years now.

13 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Seen him on Sky. 

A run of the mill stopper that didn’t particularly stand out in League 1.

Certainly shouldn’t be first choice at a Championship club with aspirations.

One game, or a few? It can be hard to stand out as a goalie in one game if not tested properly. I agree he doesn't have the CV of someone who should be our first choice, but he sounds like a significant upgrade on Leutwiler as backup, and may be able to challenge for the jersey with someone higher calibre. Sounds like his agent is a lil greedy though and that could make him expensive for backup.

13 hours ago, islander200 said:

If he was class he wouldn't be playing in league 1 at 33 and his career up to joining Sunderland doesn't portray him as a class player

Not 33 yet, may be by the time next season starts though. 32/33 is pretty much the peak time for a goalkeeper. You could expect probably 2-3 more decent years (by whatever standard his 'decent' is...I'm talking about at or near peak). 

I wouldn't say joining Sunderland in League One constitutes his career highlight. He played 43 games in the Champs for Burton. Scottish Prem is arguably a better level than League One too (at least, a fair few of the clubs are). He has 2 caps for Scotland, one of which was in October gone, in a qualifier. He has been on the bench for them for the last 10 games (except for the one he played). So he has become Scotland's second choice goalkeeper in the last year despite being in League One. Is that hugely impressive? No, but it does suggest he is on an upwards trajectory reaching his peak. They don't regard him as not worth bothering with due to his age.

If it's as first choice it will be underwhelming for sure. If it's as backup, with an eye on possibly being able to mount a serious challenge for the shirt, and the wages are low enough, I'd happily swap Leuts out for him.

[Mattyblue]

Of course, The Canadian isn’t even close to being back up quality. I’d have no issue with him as second choice, but just knowing how this club operates if Walton leaves and he does comes in that will in all likelihood be that.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Mattyblue

[bluebruce]

A question I've not seen being asked, with everyone focused instead on the contract situations for those expiring, and how/when/if to restart the season... is the transfer window going to just open again when it usually does, even if the season restarts late enough that clubs could buy or lose, even loan players in the closing stages of the season with everything on the line?

(Obviously I know nobody here has the answer to whether it actually will or not)

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

19 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

‘Class’?

He’ll be 33 by next season and he’s spent his English career at Harrogate, Burton, Bradford and third division Sunderland.

Looks like the expectations of Sunderland fans have fallen even more than ours.

Yeah, Jim Arnold hadn't even played a game in the football league at 29 - he turned out crap didn't he. Same with Sir Roger Jones, we signed him from 3rd Division Bournemouth, how bad was he ?

Here's one for you, Llandudno Swifts, Llandudno Town, Bangor City, Conwy Utd, Winsford Utd, Bury   - name that goalkeeper ?

[Guest]

On 18/05/2020 at 10:13, RevidgeBlue said:

Anything would be an upgrade on Walton

Harsh in my opinion.

[Mattyblue]

14 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Yeah, Jim Arnold hadn't even played a game in the football league at 29 - he turned out crap didn't he. Same with Sir Roger Jones, we signed him from 3rd Division Bournemouth, how bad was he ?

Here's one for you, Llandudno Swifts, Llandudno Town, Bangor City, Conwy Utd, Winsford Utd, Bury   - name that goalkeeper ?

Of course keepers mature later. But in the modern game it is increasingly rare for footballers to come from the lower leagues well into their 30s to become a regular at a much higher standard.

‘Class’ I’m fairly confident, he ain’t.

 

Neville Southall to answer your question  - who was playing for a top side like 1980s Everton at 23. Not still in the third division at 33.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Guest]

On 15/04/2020 at 14:02, simongarnerisgod said:

i don`t want to even think about next season,it needs a complete squad rebuild and i don`t think mowbray is up to it

Sadly, given the current climate, we're not going to get that rebuild.

Luckily so many other clubs will be in the same boat, and the likes of Wigan, Hull City, Millwall, QPR & Birmingham will struggle massively. Not to mention the three league one clubs that will get promoted (presumedly?)

We have the benefit of a good youth system if things go pear shaped to an even greater extent too, but things certainly look bleak transfer wise for most EFL sides. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Of course keepers mature later. But in the modern game it is increasingly rare for footballers to come from the lower leagues well into their 30s to become a regular at a much higher standard.

‘Class’ I’m fairly confident, he ain’t.

I look at it like this - is he better than what we've already got ? I think he is. We're not talking " class ", we don't sign " class " any more.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Mattyblue]

Indeed we don’t which is why I was lamenting the fall of two grand clubs in Rovers and Sunderland.