Had a busy day. Only been able to check in on here sporadically. Its half 5. Really expected to have a couple of players in the door by now. The longer it goes on the more pessimistic I become.

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.

He's got a contract here. We put a silly clause in Lamberts contract allowing him to leave at the end of the season. It would be highly, highly unlikely we'd have done similar with JDT. If he becomes unhappy, that's fair, but it wouldn't look good on him trying to force an exit. It doesn't reflect well when looking for other jobs. If he did want to leave he'd have to perform well and another club buy him out of his contract or perform miserably and get the sack, risking him getting a decent job elsewhere.

With all the doom and gloom on the transfer thread (rightly so unless the final 24 hours are magical) it's worth noting that Dacky is like a new signing. With BBD shockingly out of form he looks like our only player capable of hitting the back of the net. If we could actually add some quality around him I'd have some confidence for the remainder of the season.

It'd be the medical for me.

If Diaz has signed a pre-contract with Villareal I think it's unfair to say he will coast for the rest of the season. You can see he has a lot of love for the club. More importantly, there is a big difference between his situation and Rothwells. Diaz would have signed a pre-contract, ink dried etc, so his future is secured, regardless of injuries. Rothwell knew of the interest and knew a contract would be on the table. A big injury would derail this. Still not ideal, but its worth considering.

I am truly hoping that there are multiple irons in the fire. The news of multiple missed targets is worrying. Was Kone the main target we were looking to bring in or one option of many. It's entirely plausible that he was a back up option and that has now fallen through. Either way, we are desperate to get a couple of quality additions over the line, otherwise I really see this season fizzing out. I imagine JDT will be very unhappy if we fail to add anybody of quality.

I don't think it will affect us at all given our current set up. However it is ridiculous games are being played on deadline day. I seem to remember in years gone by deadline day was shifted if it fell on a game day. It will certainly effect some clubs. And who's to say there isn't a club we're looking to sign a player from and it becomes difficult for them to sanction a deal because they are playing.

Diaz should have been sold in the summer. The 4 players leaving on free transfers represent a grand restart for Rovers. We're starting from square one. We're fortunate to have some good academy players. But we're going to have to be shrewd. In my honest opinion if this 'journey' is ever going to bear fruit, we really need to strike lucky with a player who can be sold for big money. Whatever the plan is, its difficult to achieve anything without an influx of cash. Hopefully Raya moves for big money in the summer which would provide some wiggle room.

I'd imagine it highly unlikely. Has played a few first team games for Juve this season. Watched a couple of clips on YouTube simply because there's nobody to really get excited about at the moment. Lad has pace. Got me thinking. We must be one of the slowest teams in the top two tiers of English football. Probably the slowest Rovers team I've ever watched.

Even though bids were reportedly around £8m in the summer I'm sure we could have got £12m. Those £8m bids were testing the water, lowball offers. We come back and say we want over £20m. It's not worth the buying clubs time as valuations are so far apart. As the window drew to a close we really needed to be more realistic with our asking price and I'm sure a compromise could have been found. There were multiple clubs reportedly interested. It shows he's a good player but the step up is big and would have been a gamble for any club. From the buying clubs perspective, the fee paid needed to reflect the gamble.

Am I concerned yes. The Undav and Porteous deals falling through add to that. Especially Undav. But I like to live in hope. Even if Rovers have given me 12 years of testing that hope. Time to judge will be when the window closes. I'm hoping there are options bubbling away that the media haven't had a sniff of.

All my mates are Pompey fans. They rate Bishop far higher than they did Hirst. Not a player who will forge his own chances but has a very good conversion rate with a decent supply.

Seems to me that Thomas just doesn't want to be at Huddersfield. There has been a lot of upheaval there, another poster said he's been singled out by fans as a bit of a scapegoat. Doesn't scream good attitude, but some players just have a shorter fuse than others and can actually be great to have around the place when the going is good. On Huddersfields part, a loan makes sense. If he's disillusioned with the club and manager then it's not worth him being there, however they obviously know he's a good player. Loan him out and if the situation changes again at Huddersfield it may be a fresh start for him at the end of the season. If it doesn't then his stock may have risen and they can sell for more. Its not as plain and simple as he can't get in a struggling side. For us, he looks like he'll be an asset and offers qualities we simply don't have in our squad. It's frustrating there is no option to buy in the deal. I expect he's a player we would want to make permanent.

It's a miracle they've never been relegated. They're a relatively big club in my eyes but nothing special and that certainly doesn't merit the narrative amongst some of the media that they not only belong in the premier league, but should also be challenging for European places. In saying that I can understand fans frustrations. The owners have run the club like they are playing football manager. Without any kind of expertise to guide them.

Huge week. Saying other clubs are having the transfer window we can only dream of will only be true if they and not us get them over the line. I'm sure there are other clubs who would look at the players we've been linked with and say the same. It's the last week of January. Every player, especially those potentially going out on loan are going to be linked with a whole host of clubs. Personally I do think it's frustrating that we've not brought anyone in earlier. And it does bring anxiety that we'll end up with little or sub-par recruitment. But the time to judge will be when the window slams shut. Here's hoping for an exciting week and a stronger squad when it does.

The thing is Chaddy, every single person agrees that Everton lack leadership, have no plan and have wasted millions on ridiculous transfers. Repeating the point serves no purpose as everybody can see it. What other posters are saying is that Lampard has failed to get the squad at his disposal performing. A squad which should be able to compete to an extent as there are some solid players there. That's why people are advocating Lampard deserved the sack.

Regarding Porteous. Reading between the lines I suspect we've had a bid accepted but are offering lower wages than others whom are yet to pay either the transfer fee we have offered or reluctant to include the sell on clauses we are willing too (probably this). So Hibs want to sell to us and Porteous wants to move elsewhere, resulting in the possibility of him seeing out his contract. Could we offer him more, or is the gap in wages too big? Either his mind is truly made up and we move on or he is playing a waiting game and we're his insurance policy, which in my eyes we need to set a deadline for a decision or we move on.

Best post in here in ages. Perfectly sums up my feelings. Edit: to elaborate on this. I think for the first time under Venkys the word journey or project has meaning. I feel we are looking to constantly improve, not just for now but long term. Previously we've felt very reactive. The football played under Mowbray saw us get results in the first half of last season. However, it was no journey, as we switched from trying to dominate possession the year before to being a counter attacking side. I've no problem with a manager adapting to the players at their disposal. But considering the power Mowbray held over the club, the complete contrast in styles of play showed that there was no journey. Players weren't signed to fit a system. It was hap-hazard. Right now there are frustrations, but any players looking to be signed are with the view are with w term view

The only negative I can say about our current set up is our summer asking price. Though this is based on a lot of hearsay and nothing concrete. We know there were bids of 7-8million which I think we were right to reject. They were nowhere near our asking price. However in terms of negotiation it's pretty standard that the first bid will be a lowball offer to test the water. Had our asking price been more reasonable, say 15million I'm sure clubs would have made second bids and we'd have probably negotiated to the 12-13million mark. With us reportedly looking for a bigger fee than Armstrong, which I'd imagine would have been 20 million it's no wonder those negotiations never progressed. There's a lot of ifs, buts, presumptions and hindsight coming into play with this post. Say we get 8million now and it's reinvested, we've done pretty well. Needless to say, not getting a half decent fee for him in the summer has definitely left us in a bit of a pickle.

I like what he has to say when speaking publicly, however the proof is in the pudding and that is where he will be judged. If I'm looking for proof, there is very little to back up your narrative on him. Our position in the league is higher than most fans predicted. We have tied down multiple assets to long term contracts. We have hugely increased our back room teams to give the club a real structure. Those are all positives in my eyes. The time to judge will be if the staff he has employed deliver. So we can't say he's a resounding success yet, but I'm hopeful. To say he's failing miserably is baseless. The only stick he can be beaten with is our summer transfer dealings which I would rate as average, with a few big hits, a few cheap misses, then Szmodics who is OK, if somewhat over-priced. Personally I think you just enjoy a little wind up, whilst sipping on a nice glass of red.

The narrative that fans would have been kicking off if Brereton was offered a new deal 2 years ago needs to change because the timelines just don't add up. He looked a million miles away from a footballer when we first signed him. He then showed some glimpses pre-pandemic and actually showed really good form when the season restarted behind closed doors. Many said in that stint he was one of our best players. Chile don't have a great pool to choose from these days, but he didn't get called up to be an international purely based on the form he showed when he first signed for us. Obviously he then did well at the Copa America. He still wasn't a household name. He still hadn't banged in 20 goals in half a season. Throughout this timeline his deal should have been extended with a modest increase in salary. Once Armstrong was sold shortly after, Breretons renewal still should have been top of the agenda. Once he started the first few games in red hot form, renewing his contract still should have been top of the agenda. But we and our money pinching ways were still sitting on our hands saying there is an option to extend his contract by a year so we were comfortable. I was one who couldn't see a footballer in him when he first signed. But if it was obvious he was beginning to show his potential to a fan who had previously made up his mind, it was clearly obvious to the club. End of the day there was a solid 6 months where the club should have made it a priority. They didn't, all for the sake of saving a few thousand per week, which has ended up costing us up to £20 million. That's the real timeline. We shot ourselves in the foot through penny pinching and arrogance. Hiding behind these 1 year options in players contracts has cost the club enormously.

I imagine the offers Porteous has is us vs Udinese / Watford. And the message from our side is clear. We can't match the wages they are offering however this is how we see you fitting into our squad and selling him a vision of the future, for both him and the club. As a player I can imagine the Udinese / Watford set up isn't massively appealing with the possibility of being loaned wherever the owners see fit, within their multi-club model. It's one which suits clubs but not one which gives a clear career path. I can see why he'd sign with us, but can absolutely see why he would go elsewhere. From JDT's comments, I feel its likely we will miss out.

I imagine the club are in a state of serious limbo regarding our transfer strategy this window. Brereton leaving for a fee could totally change the complexion of the players we are looking at. And we're working with our hands tied behind our back due to his contract situation and apparent interest in moving abroad. Logically, the time to judge will be once the window closes. His situation can't be used as an excuse. However it can't be easy to navigate.

Raya to Chelsea would make sense if you consider their current transfer strategy. Look at players other clubs are linked too and sign all of them!