January Transfer Window.

[Sparks Rover]

4 minutes ago, Gamst said:

Brexit has made it very difficult to replicate the Brentford model. We are competing for a smaller pool of players with teams who have superior resources. This transfer window has really shown that we can’t compete. 

All about the scouting mate....we have shit ones 

[Butty]

28 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Know he has long been mentioned here but I’d enquire about Rhys healey, good with his head and crosses into the box, apparently available for 2-4 million. 

Injured, may even be out for the season 

[simongarnerisgod]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

All about the scouting mate....we have shit ones 

they are either non existant or f*****g useless,if the club is skint then get down to the lower divisions and try to find someone you can improve and sell on,ollie watkins started at exeter,jamie vardy at fleetwood

[R0verb0y]

48 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Agreed. We will see x 1 Striker come in next week, probably the last day of trading and it will be a desperate loan.

I’m holding on just a little to see what happens in summer…. However my patience is wearing thin. Will be interesting to see who leaves and who we bring in for sure, but we’ve been here so many times and it’s getting really fustrating.

 

Would you accept "bloody annoying", rather than "really frustrating", @BankEnd Rover?

It feels like the club is diffusing all the optimism that was going around at the time JDT was appointed.

[Bbrovers2288]

3 minutes ago, Butty said:

Injured, may even be out for the season 

Ahh ok, didn’t know 

[Jimmy612]

26 minutes ago, Gamst said:

Brexit has made it very difficult to replicate the Brentford model. We are competing for a smaller pool of players with teams who have superior resources. This transfer window has really shown that we can’t compete. 

Not sure what this is based on really. 

Watkins - Exeter

Scott Hogan - Rochdale

Ezra Konsa - Charlton 

Andre Gray - Luton

Tarkowski - Oldham 

Chris Mepham - Chelsea Youth

Ryan Woods - Shrewsbury 

Maupay - St Etienne 

Benrahma - OCG Nice

These are their bigger sales in the last 6 or 7 years. As you can see, it's basic, good scouting mostly in the lower tiers of English football.  

EDIT - I know what you mean by a smaller pool but we seem to be aiming for quite established players. Hyam, Brittan, Smodics - now Gelhardt and Undav... None of that is particularly inspiring scouting work is it.  That's like me on football manager 2005 scrolling through Man United reserves trying to loan David Bellion. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Jimmy612

[Andy]

13 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

they are either non existant or f*****g useless,if the club is skint then get down to the lower divisions and try to find someone you can improve and sell on,ollie watkins started at exeter,jamie vardy at fleetwood

I think this is a good point.

Based on the likes of Vardy and Watkins (to name 2), there are clearly unpolished / undiscovered gems down in the non-league or lower divisions.

Surely it's worth extensively scouting these areas and taking a punt here and there, rather than chase (seemingly) unobtainable targets.

[joey_big_nose]

33 minutes ago, Hi Mack said:

Does anyone genuinely believe that this current squad will end up in the play offs? We need to add quality and again it’s looking like GB and SW are failing! 
 

it is so frustrating seeing the blatantly obvious seemingly being ignored. Our scouts honestly must be shocking. There is no imagination with any player we get linked with, the only players that weren’t previously known were Mola and  Zeefuik and they are shite.

Of course its possible. Weve played over half the season and we're fourth....!

[superniko]

1 hour ago, Ossydave said:

Off topic a bit bit who remembers when Nixon posted on here and tried to get us to sign up to his daughters website to buy handbags? 🤣

Sadly blocked me when I said they were shite 😔 

They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. 
What a bizarre place it was then!

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

25 minutes ago, Gamst said:

Brexit has made it very difficult to replicate the Brentford model. We are competing for a smaller pool of players with teams who have superior resources. This transfer window has really shown that we can’t compete. 

Then the current venky model needs scrapping.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, superniko said:

They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. 
What a bizarre place it was then!

Oh for a sniff of a juicy 11 o'clocker 🙂

Now all we can sniff is the acrid smoke of reverse gear around the club's outlook for the season.

Sad.

[superniko]

4 minutes ago, Andy said:

I think this is a good point.

Based on the likes of Vardy and Watkins (to name 2), there are clearly unpolished / undiscovered gems down in the non-league or lower divisions.

Surely it's worth extensively scouting these areas and taking a punt here and there, rather than chase (seemingly) unobtainable targets.

Ironically this loan lad could be one example (albeit not spotted by us). Huddersfield got him from Boreham Wood didn’t they.

[yeti-dog]

2 minutes ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

Oh for a sniff of a juicy 11 o'clocker 🙂

Now all we can sniff is the acrid smoke of reverse gear around the club's outlook for the season.

Sad.

...or the stench of shattered dreams and suffocating disappointment.

[Andy]

4 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Of course its possible. Weve played over half the season and we're fourth....!

Some were (legitimately) predicting that we'd be in a relegation scrap this season, so to be sitting 4th a few days before February is a pretty fantastic achievement.

So, I'd agree - we're no longer in the TM days, so we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

[Silas]

1 minute ago, Andy said:

So, I'd agree - we're no longer in the TM days, so we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

Am I still allowed to be scared that February is only a few days away. 

[simongarnerisgod]

1 minute ago, Andy said:

Some were (legitimately) predicting that we'd be in a relegation scrap this season, so to be sitting 4th a few days before February is a pretty fantastic achievement.

So, I'd agree - we're no longer in the TM days, so we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

other sides around us will get reinforcements in ,likely that we won`t

[jim mk2]

2 minutes ago, Andy said:

we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

Hasn't it already started?

 

[den]

Next time the club tell you there’s a long term plan for promotion in place, throw this (any) transfer window at them.

[simongarnerisgod]

i think all the scouting we do is by watching mp4`s and you tube clips sent by agents,we used to have really good contacts in scandanavia and all over britain and ireland

[roversfan99]

6 minutes ago, Andy said:

Some were (legitimately) predicting that we'd be in a relegation scrap this season, so to be sitting 4th a few days before February is a pretty fantastic achievement.

So, I'd agree - we're no longer in the TM days, so we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

Legitimately? Kaminski, Ayala, Wharton, Pickering, Travis, Buckley, Brereton, Gallagher, Dolan. The majority of a team that finished 8th, with Dack returning and 3 permanent additions bought as direct replacements for the 3 leavers.

37 minutes ago, Gamst said:

Brexit has made it very difficult to replicate the Brentford model. We are competing for a smaller pool of players with teams who have superior resources. This transfer window has really shown that we can’t compete. 

The main difficulty is our owners allowing key assets to run their contracts down.

[Ossydave]

We had a couple of spells winning 4 games in a row which if most other teams in the league had done they'd be around 4th too, can anyone genuinely imagine us doing that now?

Teams were still sussing JDT out back in August, hence we won the first 4. If managers can't work out to play against us by now they're probably in the wrong job I'm afraid.

A solid transfer window allowing us to bring different styles of play in would be the only way we'd make top 6, it'd not looking likely is it...

[bluebruce]

26 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Of course its possible. Weve played over half the season and we're fourth....!

It's possible. It's unlikely, without good reinforcements. We had a purple patch where we often got results we didn't look good value for, but we are currently in a bit of a freefall, something a lot of the current squad have form for, whether it was the manager's fault or not.

Reinforcements aside, we would probably need BBD (and perhaps some others) to return to his earlier season form. Which looks unlikely given his head has been turned more than the girl from The Exorcist.

Currently, I'm expecting we will finish somewhere from about 8th to 10th.

[bigbrandjohn]

23 minutes ago, den said:

Next time the club tell you there’s a long term plan for promotion in place, throw this (any) transfer window at them.

There is a long term plan in place. Just not a short term plan in place. 

[simongarnerisgod]

Just now, bigbrandjohn said:

There is a long term plan in place. Just not a short term plan in place. 

the journey and now the project,the arabs and israelis will have signed a peace treaty  by the time our long term plans come to fruition😆

[RevidgeBlue]

34 minutes ago, Andy said:

So, I'd agree - we're no longer in the TM days, so we shouldn't fear a second half collapse.

For me we're already in the midst of it. Started when we played Burnley imo. Barring something unexpected happening in the last few days of the transfer window I'd be surprised if we finish much better than about 14th.