January Transfer Window.

[sharpysharps86]

We go through this every year. Deadline day comes and there's talk of one or two players that would be genuinely great additions...followed by absolutely nothing transpiring and then the club comes out saying 'we tried to do this, that, the other, etc.'

There might be some different faces but the same shambolic incompetence behind the scenes. Hope they prove me wrong!

[Polky]

Sorba, O’Brien and Rhodes in by 11pm and we can re-create Huddersfield Town’s promotion push from last season. 

[CambridgeRover]

Just now, BRFC_Polky said:

Sorba, O’Brien and Rhodes in by 11pm and we can re-create Huddersfield Town’s promotion push from last season. 

I would take Rhodes in a heart beat

[den]

18 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

However having unexpectedly reached in January in the play off positions, you HAVE to give it a go. Otherwise, what is the point of the football Club existing in the first place? There is none.

 

Exactly Rev, as a football club, there is no other reason to exist.

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to meet with John Williams. Something he did with many fans. I remember him uttering those very words. In his opinion Rovers weren’t there to keep shareholders happy or any other outside interest happy, they were there simply to win football games.

A question for the club. If you don’t want promotion now - and the last manager didn’t particularly want it either, when WILL you want it?

[Atko's Engine]

41 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Couldn't disagree more with this either. Arbitro is quite right.

So the club should have a plan that looks no further than May which, by your own admission in a post above, could not guarantee promotion?

Ok, each to their own.

Arbitro is part-right.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Atko's Engine
My initial post inadvertently accused Arbitro of being far-right due to auto-correct, not part-right! Many apologies Arbitro if you read that, entirely unintentional!

[tomphil]

So the vibe is it's ok not to strengthen now and fall away again because it isn't quite our time the short term plans don't include play offs or promotion ?

What planet do some of our fans live on ?   Seriously come on how many pups do you need to be sold before any pennies drop ?

Last season and this IS our time it's the closest we've been to having a chance of anything since the lunacy began 12 years ago. Don't let it pass without giving it the best shot we can in favour of a shoulder shrug, i thought we'd got rid of that back to the North East.

The wheels of football for the average club are cyclical we are told well we are at the first up point in a decade so don't let it slip away. Because what follows will go the other way again quickly and on the model we now operate it is absolutely inevitable believe me.  Another rebuild needed in summer with another slew of departures on the horizon with NO Armstrong money or money for anybody else to reinvest.

For once get the foot on the gas.

[ben_the_beast]

What Sharpe has written is so contradictory. Playoffs isn't the aim yet Sorba Thomas loan deal wasn't cheap. As others have said, why not sell Brereton. 

If we're not aiming for the playoffs then why spend money on temporary deals. If we are aiming for the playoffs then spend some money, but you can't do it half arsed. Spending a little, enough to tread water without following that up with further quality signings just weakens us for next season. 

Almost strikes me as companies spending their yearly budget on something frivolous at the end of the financial year. 

[davulsukur]

14 minutes ago, sharpysharps86 said:

We go through this every year. Deadline day comes and there's talk of one or two players that would be genuinely great additions...followed by absolutely nothing transpiring and then the club comes out saying 'we tried to do this, that, the other, etc.'

There might be some different faces but the same shambolic incompetence behind the scenes. Hope they prove me wrong!

Yep, you can't let yourself get carried away with rumours about Rovers on tdd. 

A loan for a young Prem striker we've never heard of will be about all we get. 

[rover23]

There’s zero chance of us getting Cook, O’Brien and a striker today. 

 

We couldn’t even afford to compete for Porteous’ wages, never mind three new additions, two of which are on PL wages. 

[Danny O.Brien]

Yeah cook will be on say 25k a week after a promotion rise this season. The only way we get him is if other clubs won't pay his full wages either. But stoke have just sold their best defender so... 

[arbitro]

14 minutes ago, Atko's Engine said:

So the club should have a plan that looks no further than May which, by your own admission in a post above, could not guarantee promotion?

Ok, each to their own.

Arbitro is far-right.

When Steve Cooper took over bottom of the table Forest he set a target of taking each game as it comes and winning it to stay up. They went on a run, signed some decent players in the January window and got promoted. There was no plan for this. Once there the planning started for the Premier League and so far it's working. No mention of plans or projects, it's about the here and now. The rest can take care of itself. It's fantasy in my view to talk about three Summer windows as part of the timescale in the project.

[Gav]

Just imagine having the Brereton money burning a hole in JDT's pocket right now, like every well run club in the land would have done? We could bring in 3 well established players and push on for promotion.

Its inexcusable to have not let him leave for money, then slash the wage bills across the club.

Venkys out.

[Sparks Rover]

29 minutes ago, BRFC_Polky said:

You’d think he would be used to playing out from the back, when he played at Bournemouth for 10 years.

From what I've seen over the years he's not that comfy on the ball, but then I'm not complaining he's a good defender.  Just saying that the hierarchy contradict themselves daily.

[OldEwoodBlue]

Jon ?.... "Ask Gregg"

Gregg.... Gregg ?.... GREGGGG ?

 

[rovers11]

I may be cynical but it feels like a PR exercise from the club to release names of talented players to journos that we'd like to sign today but realistically won't sign.

At least then the club can say we tried to sign some good players but...

[Gav]

1 minute ago, arbitro said:

When Steve Cooper took over bottom of the table Forest he set a target of taking each game as it comes and winning it to stay up. They went on a run, signed some decent players in the January window and got promoted. There was no plan for this. Once there the planning started for the Premier League and so far it's working. No mention of plans or projects, it's about the here and now. The rest can take care of itself. It's fantasy in my view to talk about three Summer windows as part of the timescale in the project.

Forest had spent plenty on that team before Cooper arrived, but the wider point is spot on Tony. 

[Andy]

Of course promotion is the aim, the management team are just playing down expectations; this is how it almost always works.

Experience tells me to expect nothing today, in terms of transfers in.

But hope tells me there’s a chance of a decent midfielder and a forward, though it sounds like Undav doesn’t fancy the move, so pointless wasting time on him, if that’s the case.

I’d love for us to add a couple of quality additions today, mainly to strengthen us. But a little bit just to make those having a meltdown look a bit silly.

Plenty of time for meltdowns after the window shuts…

[Atko's Engine]

19 minutes ago, tomphil said:

So the vibe is it's ok not to strengthen now and fall away again because it isn't quite our time the short term plans don't include play offs or promotion ?

What planet do some of our fans live on ?   Seriously come on how many pups do you need to be sold before any pennies drop ?

I'm assuming this is directed at me as it follows my post?

If so, that's not what I said in response to Arbitro's post is it?  Did I say anything about it being a good thing not strengthening now?

[arbitro]

In what universe are we going to pay Steve Cook a comparable wage to what he is earning at Forest. He is contracted with them until July 2024 so that could perhaps require a few also. And what about blocking the pathway of our youngsters (© Gregg Broughton).

[pick32]

Just imagine we being in a couple temporary players on loans and sneak into the playoffs, up steps Diaz in the final and gets us promoted, the crowd goes wild and the BRFCS members remove Samaritans from speed dial  

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

7 minutes ago, Gav said:

Just imagine having the Brereton money burning a hole in JDT's pocket right now, like every well run club in the land would have done? We could bring in 3 well established players and push on for promotion.

Its inexcusable to have not let him leave for money, then slash the wage bills across the club.

Venkys out.

BBD's agent holds all the cards - even if we agreed a deal with another club - we can't force BBD to move. (unless we can come up with a deal with his pre-contract club)

[Atko's Engine]

7 minutes ago, arbitro said:

When Steve Cooper took over bottom of the table Forest he set a target of taking each game as it comes and winning it to stay up. They went on a run, signed some decent players in the January window and got promoted. There was no plan for this. Once there the planning started for the Premier League and so far it's working. No mention of plans or projects, it's about the here and now. The rest can take care of itself. It's fantasy in my view to talk about three Summer windows as part of the timescale in the project.

Yes true. But Forest were massively underperforming before he took over, which I don't think anyone can say we are given the shambles we were on the summer and the position we're now.

Plus he did that using the loan market very heavily (which is frowned upon by many on here but is the reality of modern football) and, most importantly, under an owner that actually cares for the club & wanted success.

Spot the difference and let's not make GB & JDT scapegoats for the real problem.

[Ghost7]

The unrealistic names are a concern and point towards no one coming in for me. I think we might even hear of a last minute bid for Akpom but Boro "weren't interested in selling" 😂

[deanives]

I don't understand how a cb is going for 15m to Leicester, yet we can't get a deal for around the same for striker that's been red hot (before the world cup) and has started promising on the international stage too, both around the same age. 

Shows how bad we're run

[Penwortham Blue]

1 hour ago, PeteJD13 said:

i'd heard close to one million quid 

One million loan and full wages.