That *was* the January Window

[Paul Mani]

6 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here’s where I stand.

22M guaranteed is a lot of money. It’s our record sale. 

Adam’s the best player we will produce in a long, long time. But the squad needs investment, we have three or four key positions which need strengthening and we don’t have the funds to do that without selling Adam. Selling a homegrown player for 22M means there cannot be any argument with FFP for years to come. Venkys and Waggott, your excuse is now null and void.

This is the “model” which we have been told the club will run by. Buy cheap — or develop internally — and sell at the best point for the club. 

So Gregg, here’s your chance. Your job is on the line. We need a goal scoring striker, a winger, a playmaker central midfielder and an experienced centre back. If you fail to get them, then you should be sacked for negligence. If the owners do not give you the money to do your job then you need to walk as it won’t get better than this. 

Jon, this is your chance too. If you get the four first team players needed and the problems we’ve been having continue then you’re not up to the job either. 

Adam, good luck and thank you for everything. I’m excited to watch you play in the Premier League, for England and one day finish your career back home.

The next 18 months are the most important in the clubs recent history. 

You just won the internet for today pal. Nailed it.

[Eddie]

1 minute ago, Paul Mani said:

I’d put good money right now that Adam Wharton will go further than David Dunn.

AW is raw and inconsistent but there’s elements of his game that are breathtaking. Like, much better than even just ‘Premier League’ standard.

There are moments in games where he gives me ‘peak’ Tugay vibes. No higher praise than that..imo Tugay would’ve been running City’s midfield if he were playing in this era.

 

I'll take that bet.

Peak Tugay vibes? Come on. That's an insult to Tugay. 

[J*B]

2 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The problem with the above is that if GB muffs up the recruitment again it's unlikely anyone will sack him and he definitely won't walk.

Then the fans should put pressure on him to be sacked. The reality is we can’t judge him if we don’t give him any tools to do his job. He’s currently trying to build a football team with an ongoing excuse of financial difficulties in the background. 

[Rover8T4]

Adam is a special talent no one will disagree. He only emerged late on last season and the only difference I see is our league position. One player doesn't make a team. Done well enough without him 

[Ghost7]

Wharton sold for more than it cost to buy the club. That's some left foot.

[Neal]

Edit

Edited January 30 by Neal

[Paul Mani]

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I'll take that bet.

Peak Tugay vibes? Come on. That's an insult to Tugay. 

Tugay. Vibes.

Yes, mate…that’s right!

[TugaysMarlboro]

11 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here’s where I stand.

22M guaranteed is a lot of money. It’s our record sale. 

Adam’s the best player we will produce in a long, long time. But the squad needs investment, we have three or four key positions which need strengthening and we don’t have the funds to do that without selling Adam. Selling a homegrown player for 22M means there cannot be any argument with FFP for years to come. Venkys and Waggott, your excuse is now null and void.

This is the “model” which we have been told the club will run by. Buy cheap — or develop internally — and sell at the best point for the club. 

So Gregg, here’s your chance. Your job is on the line. We need a goal scoring striker, a winger, a playmaker central midfielder and an experienced centre back. If you fail to get them, then you should be sacked for negligence. If the owners do not give you the money to do your job then you need to walk as it won’t get better than this. 

Jon, this is your chance too. If you get the four first team players needed and the problems we’ve been having continue then you’re not up to the job either. 

Adam, good luck and thank you for everything. I’m excited to watch you play in the Premier League, for England and one day finish your career back home.

The next 18 months are the most important in the clubs recent history. 

A much too logical post. Away with you!!

[lraC]

47 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Adam has become collateral damage in the circus that we have become. Just imagine a 19 year old kid being pressurised into leaving because of the mess we are in, a 19 year old local lad who loves the club and never, ever indicated he wanted to go.

I just don't believe we will see another Adam Wharton again and thanks to the idiots running this club we are being denied seeing him in a Rovers shirt for a bit longer.

I feel cheated by these charlatans once again.

I could honestly cry about this one, even though we saw it coming.

[JHRover]

7 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here’s where I stand.

22M guaranteed is a lot of money. It’s our record sale. 

Adam’s the best player we will produce in a long, long time. But the squad needs investment, we have three or four key positions which need strengthening and we don’t have the funds to do that without selling Adam. Selling a homegrown player for 22M means there cannot be any argument with FFP for years to come. Venkys and Waggott, your excuse is now null and void.

This is the “model” which we have been told the club will run by. Buy cheap — or develop internally — and sell at the best point for the club. 

So Gregg, here’s your chance. Your job is on the line. We need a goal scoring striker, a winger, a playmaker central midfielder and an experienced centre back. If you fail to get them, then you should be sacked for negligence. If the owners do not give you the money to do your job then you need to walk as it won’t get better than this. 

Jon, this is your chance too. If you get the four first team players needed and the problems we’ve been having continue then you’re not up to the job either. 

Adam, good luck and thank you for everything. I’m excited to watch you play in the Premier League, for England and one day finish your career back home.

The next 18 months are the most important in the clubs recent history. 

Our last big sale was Adam Armstrong in August 2021. £15 million by many accounts.

At the time we heard all the usual stuff about how this is the model we are operating in, how selling players for profit was our route to growth and development, the Brentford model, it would allow for much needed reinvestment into several key positions, that Armstrong was a sacrifice worth making to enable spending on other positions.

What happened in the days, weeks and months following that sale?

Well we spent nothing for the next 12 months and then the next claim was that it had funded our spend in summer 2022 when we signed Szmodics, Brittain and Hyam for a few million combined. Then the story was that the rest had gone to this new concept of a 'FFP cycle' and that we had no choice in this matter in order to avoid catastophe that never actually befalls anyone even when they don't sell players for such huge sums of money.

2.5 years on and we've spent at best 1/3 of the Armstrong dosh, sold Brockhall and are now going to sell Adam Wharton with all the same trademark talk about projects and models, but in the end it's all bullshit under this ownership.

 

[Paul Mellelieu]

Worth noting that Elliot Jackson says in today's LT podcast that JDT told him that if Wharton was to leave he would be loaned back to the club.  Seems that won't happen.  Surely JDT will now require an additional midfield player.

Edited January 30 by Paul Mellelieu

[Ghost7]

This is also what Bellingham sold for.

Albeit that money hasn't help Birmingham much! Expect similar things here.

[ruggles1995]

sounds like Duncan Mcguire from the MLS will potentially be the striker we get in.....Rumours of 2.3 mill to....

Defensively now sounds like hopes have turned to liam cooper at leeds. 

think we might need another full back in. CB, RB and winger or Striker keeps us up comfortably imo. Obviously they need to be good! lol!

[Miller11]

2 minutes ago, sparky12 said:

Why am i seeing so many people on here act as if Adam has been a game changer for us this season? His ability to find a pass is frighting but almost an unneeded luxury for us at the moment, Christ he was even compared to Bale at Spurs earlier. I would have like to wait until the summer but realistically his value isn't jumping that much between now and the end of the season anyway and we are always one unfortunate tackle away from a another Dack situation.

Being the only player capable of playing the most essential role in the system the manager is hell bent on playing is pretty important, certainly not an “unneeded luxury”. Hopefully JRC can stay fit cos he’s our best chance of survival right now. Most of our  “game changers” do so in a negative way. The one regular positive “game changer” has just lost the best supply line he has. Or is this just another round of the “he’s shit anyway” that tends to happen whenever we lose a player nowadays?

Have you deluded yourself into believing we could’ve sold Dack and built a promotion winning squad with the proceeds? If so, why didn’t we do it with the proceeds from Armstrong?

[RevidgeBlue]

1 minute ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

Worth noting that Elliot Jackson says in today's LT podcast that JDT told him that if Wharton was the leave he would be loaned back to the club.  Seems that wont't happen.  Surely JDT will require an additional midfield player.

JDT made a point of saying in his post match interview last night that he told the Club what he wanted in summer and they didn't provide it and we'd see if this window was any different.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

6 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

Tugay. Vibes.

Yes, mate…that’s right!

I agree. His passing ability is up there. How good was Tugay at 19 ? This lad could go all the way. Having said that I think Palace isn’t a good move for him.

[lraC]

13 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

I’d put good money right now that Adam Wharton will go further than David Dunn.

AW is raw and inconsistent but there’s elements of his game that are breathtaking. Like, much better than even just ‘Premier League’ standard.

There are moments in games where he gives me ‘peak’ Tugay vibes. No higher praise than that..imo Tugay would’ve been running City’s midfield if he were playing in this era.

 

Agree 100%

[RevidgeBlue]

11 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I'll take that bet.

Peak Tugay vibes? Come on. That's an insult to Tugay. 

Given Dunn didn't really fulfil his potential Wharton "should" far surpass what he achieved.

[Neal]

Now we have some money in our pocket, I'd have a look at a few lads from Peterborough.

 

Harrison Burrows supposed to be good. Came through their academy. 3 goals, 8 assists. 

 

Poku aswell. Looks a like a decent winger. Both a good age. 

 

Peterborough hard to deal with though. 

[rovers11]

20 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here’s where I stand.

22M guaranteed is a lot of money. It’s our record sale. 

Adam’s the best player we will produce in a long, long time. But the squad needs investment, we have three or four key positions which need strengthening and we don’t have the funds to do that without selling Adam. Selling a homegrown player for 22M means there cannot be any argument with FFP for years to come. Venkys and Waggott, your excuse is now null and void.

This is the “model” which we have been told the club will run by. Buy cheap — or develop internally — and sell at the best point for the club. 

So Gregg, here’s your chance. Your job is on the line. We need a goal scoring striker, a winger, a playmaker central midfielder and an experienced centre back. If you fail to get them, then you should be sacked for negligence. If the owners do not give you the money to do your job then you need to walk as it won’t get better than this. 

Jon, this is your chance too. If you get the four first team players needed and the problems we’ve been having continue then you’re not up to the job either. 

Adam, good luck and thank you for everything. I’m excited to watch you play in the Premier League, for England and one day finish your career back home.

The next 18 months are the most important in the clubs recent history. 

100% agree. If we get it right with how we invest the money then we could be looking back at today as a very pivotal today.

Whether I have faith in us spending the money well is a completely different matter. What I do know is that we are currently on an 18 month trajectory towards league one unless we change course and invest some money in the transfer market next summer. 

[rovers11]

22 minutes ago, J*B said:

Here’s where I stand.

22M guaranteed is a lot of money. It’s our record sale. 

Adam’s the best player we will produce in a long, long time. But the squad needs investment, we have three or four key positions which need strengthening and we don’t have the funds to do that without selling Adam. Selling a homegrown player for 22M means there cannot be any argument with FFP for years to come. Venkys and Waggott, your excuse is now null and void.

This is the “model” which we have been told the club will run by. Buy cheap — or develop internally — and sell at the best point for the club. 

So Gregg, here’s your chance. Your job is on the line. We need a goal scoring striker, a winger, a playmaker central midfielder and an experienced centre back. If you fail to get them, then you should be sacked for negligence. If the owners do not give you the money to do your job then you need to walk as it won’t get better than this. 

Jon, this is your chance too. If you get the four first team players needed and the problems we’ve been having continue then you’re not up to the job either. 

Adam, good luck and thank you for everything. I’m excited to watch you play in the Premier League, for England and one day finish your career back home.

The next 18 months are the most important in the clubs recent history. 

100% agree. If we get it right with how we invest the money then we could be looking back at today as a very pivotal today.

Whether I have faith in us spending the money well is a completely different matter. What I do know is that we are currently on an 18 month trajectory towards league one unless we change course and invest some money in the transfer market next summer. 

[booth]

1 hour ago, NeilInBristol said:

It's done

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68141875.amp

 

FFS

 

These clowns won't reinvest properly 

He'll be set for life so I'm happy for the lad, but on the other hand I have mixed feelings as I know for a fact he didn't want to go and wanted to get promoted with Rovers. It's such a shame a bigger club didn't come in for him.

Edited January 30 by booth

[KentExile]

12 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Our last big sale was Adam Armstrong in August 2021. £15 million by many accounts.

At the time we heard all the usual stuff about how this is the model we are operating in, how selling players for profit was our route to growth and development, the Brentford model, it would allow for much needed reinvestment into several key positions, that Armstrong was a sacrifice worth making to enable spending on other positions.

What happened in the days, weeks and months following that sale?

Well we spent nothing for the next 12 months and then the next claim was that it had funded our spend in summer 2022 when we signed Szmodics, Brittain and Hyam for a few million combined. Then the story was that the rest had gone to this new concept of a 'FFP cycle' and that we had no choice in this matter in order to avoid catastophe that never actually befalls anyone even when they don't sell players for such huge sums of money.

2.5 years on and we've spent at best 1/3 of the Armstrong dosh, sold Brockhall and are now going to sell Adam Wharton with all the same trademark talk about projects and models, but in the end it's all bullshit under this ownership.

 

60% of £15M 😉 

[RevidgeBlue]

2 minutes ago, rovers11 said:

we are currently on an 18 month trajectory towards league one 

That bit's right, and this deal (if it goes through) has only accelerated that likelihood.

[joey_big_nose]

16 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

I’d put good money right now that Adam Wharton will go further than David Dunn.

AW is raw and inconsistent but there’s elements of his game that are breathtaking. Like, much better than even just ‘Premier League’ standard.

There are moments in games where he gives me ‘peak’ Tugay vibes. No higher praise than that..imo Tugay would’ve been running City’s midfield if he were playing in this era.

 

He's a great talent. Definitely will get more England caps that Dunn's one. But not sure if he will go further than other good talents who never quite fully broke through like Ross Barkley say or Jon Jo Shelvey... I know some will find that an offensive thing to say, but to get up and compete with the likes of Bellingham or Rice is a big step up.

Main issue he has is whether he can mix it physically. Every Premier League team has elite 6ft+ strong pacy athletes in central midfield, it's one of the aspects of the game that has changed the most in the last 15 years. He's given away the ball quite frequently in dangerous central areas recently and that will ruthlessly punished. 

I think he'll do well and seem a good investment in the long run. But I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles initially.