This transfer window...

[Campsall rover]

I’m sorry Campsall, but wasn’t Marquis under contract? Didn’t stop us from letting him go, but at the same time we didn’t see fit to replace him. None of us would be discussing this right now, IF we’d done what we should have done and got someone lined up before letting him go.

Players that are coming to the end of their contracts are there for the taking, if you make a realistic bid AND offer the right wages. It really is that simple. I know about as much as you as to who is or isn’t available, in January, but there are plenty of people better qualified, and have the resources, to come up with a list of potential, good quality, players.

We didn’t sell him in January and blow are season apart Alan. He went in the close season and only because he wanted to go. We made him an approved offer to keep him didn’t we?

If it was that easy to get someone now don’t you think we would?
Please Alan let it drop it’s seriously boring, whether we were right or wrong in August not replacing JM is gone, History.
It’s so easy for us to criticise the Board and Club without all the facts in front of us.
Lets all move on and give DM our full backing on whoever he brings in over the next 4 weeks. Loan, permanent, week by week contract, whatever it is let’s get behind the team and let’s see where we are in the 1st week in May.

You might be surprised Alan.

[silent majority]

But all the evidence isn’t in front of you, or me..

Unless the club discloses all its discussions we will never know.. not signing enough players - in our opinion - doesn’t mean we didn’t try to.

Some fans conclude we mustn’t have tried, which I find annoying.

That's exactly right IDM.

And to correct WC I'm not apportioning blame, nor do I want to. What I am suggesting is that as simple as Alan wants this to appear it's never clear cut , nor in this case as simple as it seemed.

For me to disclose more I would need to betray a few confidences and I have no intention of doing that. What I can say is that, urged on by every supporter who posted in the summer about JM the club did try to keep him. They had no indication that he was going anywhere, no firm bids etc. They also had players lined up to replace him, but you can't keep them on hold forever, at some point those players need to get fixed up and sign contracts with somebody. It's a balancing act, and one that didn't work for us in the end.

[redarmy82]

But all the evidence isn’t in front of you, or me..

Unless the club discloses all its discussions we will never know.. not signing enough players - in our opinion - doesn’t mean we didn’t try to.

Some fans conclude we mustn’t have tried, which I find annoying.

That's exactly right IDM.

And to correct WC I'm not apportioning blame, nor do I want to. What I am suggesting is that as simple as Alan wants this to appear it's never clear cut , nor in this case as simple as it seemed.

For me to disclose more I would need to betray a few confidences and I have no intention of doing that. What I can say is that, urged on by every supporter who posted in the summer about JM the club did try to keep him. They had no indication that he was going anywhere, no firm bids etc. They also had players lined up to replace him, but you can't keep them on hold forever, at some point those players need to get fixed up and sign contracts with somebody. It's a balancing act, and one that didn't work for us in the end.

So the players we had lined up with better records than Marquis were kept waiting too long?

[steve@dcfd]

I don’t believe we don’t try IDM but it’s whether we can succeed. As Martin said it’s difficult when dealing with transfers but for supporters saying its easier in the summer well last summer shows it’s not. More competition in the summer especially for  strikers.

[wing commander]

You misunderstood me SM,I wasn't accusing anybody of proportioning blame..It doesn't really matter now as far as I'm concerned..The whole window left us in a much worse position than where we started as a team,as the owner of our own talent etc etc...Nobody can argue that really..

I'm more interested in the future.I don't want to see loan after loan,making us work hard to improve other teams talent and let them reap the awards,then leaving us with nothing every close season...They have their place and we need loan players to be competitive,but the balance has gone way to far the wrong way..I'm hoping this window starts to address that with signing our own talent,and if not doing it in the summer...

[IDM]

Steve, it would help if we have a summer without a managerial change, where the outgoing manager has let players go, or not wanted to offer them what they wanted, yet hadn’t signed replacements..

You hit the nail on the head saying “it’s difficult” yet (some) fans want to know what’s going for on yesterday..

[idler]

Swindon are top of league 2 and have scored 45 goals but both of their strikers are on loan. They are paying only a quarter of Doyle's wages between £1,500 and £2,000 a week.
I think that they are more than happy with the loan market.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

But all the evidence isn’t in front of you, or me..

Unless the club discloses all its discussions we will never know.. not signing enough players - in our opinion - doesn’t mean we didn’t try to.

Some fans conclude we mustn’t have tried, which I find annoying.

That's exactly right IDM.

And to correct WC I'm not apportioning blame, nor do I want to. What I am suggesting is that as simple as Alan wants this to appear it's never clear cut , nor in this case as simple as it seemed.

For me to disclose more I would need to betray a few confidences and I have no intention of doing that. What I can say is that, urged on by every supporter who posted in the summer about JM the club did try to keep him. They had no indication that he was going anywhere, no firm bids etc. They also had players lined up to replace him, but you can't keep them on hold forever, at some point those players need to get fixed up and sign contracts with somebody. It's a balancing act, and one that didn't work for us in the end.

So the players we had lined up with better records than Marquis were kept waiting too long?

I wouldn't take that as literal as that. It's also feasible DM didn't want said players and thought he could get the players he wanted. It's always a gamble.

[redarmy82]

But all the evidence isn’t in front of you, or me..

Unless the club discloses all its discussions we will never know.. not signing enough players - in our opinion - doesn’t mean we didn’t try to.

Some fans conclude we mustn’t have tried, which I find annoying.

That's exactly right IDM.

And to correct WC I'm not apportioning blame, nor do I want to. What I am suggesting is that as simple as Alan wants this to appear it's never clear cut , nor in this case as simple as it seemed.

For me to disclose more I would need to betray a few confidences and I have no intention of doing that. What I can say is that, urged on by every supporter who posted in the summer about JM the club did try to keep him. They had no indication that he was going anywhere, no firm bids etc. They also had players lined up to replace him, but you can't keep them on hold forever, at some point those players need to get fixed up and sign contracts with somebody. It's a balancing act, and one that didn't work for us in the end.

So the players we had lined up with better records than Marquis were kept waiting too long?

I wouldn't take that as literal as that. It's also feasible DM didn't want said players and thought he could get the players he wanted. It's always a gamble.

It was Moore that said we had the players lined up, and that they had better records.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

But all the evidence isn’t in front of you, or me..

Unless the club discloses all its discussions we will never know.. not signing enough players - in our opinion - doesn’t mean we didn’t try to.

Some fans conclude we mustn’t have tried, which I find annoying.

That's exactly right IDM.

And to correct WC I'm not apportioning blame, nor do I want to. What I am suggesting is that as simple as Alan wants this to appear it's never clear cut , nor in this case as simple as it seemed.

For me to disclose more I would need to betray a few confidences and I have no intention of doing that. What I can say is that, urged on by every supporter who posted in the summer about JM the club did try to keep him. They had no indication that he was going anywhere, no firm bids etc. They also had players lined up to replace him, but you can't keep them on hold forever, at some point those players need to get fixed up and sign contracts with somebody. It's a balancing act, and one that didn't work for us in the end.

So the players we had lined up with better records than Marquis were kept waiting too long?

I wouldn't take that as literal as that. It's also feasible DM didn't want said players and thought he could get the players he wanted. It's always a gamble.

It was Moore that said we had the players lined up, and that they had better records.

Which could mean they were different players to the ones that were already lined up. Middleton for example was rumoured to be lined up before DM arrived.

[dickos1]

The ones being mentioned were offers out in after Moore was appointed and after marquis left

[RoversAlias]

I'm still not understanding people's disdain for the loan system either. For years and years it has operated to the benefit of clubs up and down the EFL. Talents the likes of Herbie Kane and Cameron John would not be playing for us at any stage without it, we would have more limited players being paid a full wage by Rovers instead if there were no loans. In my time supporting the club loanees such as Chris Brown, Billy Sharp, Herbie Kane and Mallik Wilks have all had a big impact on successful seasons, what's the problem? Idler's Swindon example is a good one too, I'm not sure anyone there is moaning that they're developing other team's players when Doyle and Yates have fired them into promotion contention.

Obviously we don't want a team full of loan players but circumstances have forced us to go down a more loan-heavy route this season. It is what it is, and we have to believe Gavin Baldwin's commitment to redressing that balance in the squad over the coming transfer windows providing we have a settled infrastructure in place after several years of upheaval.

[dickos1]

I think some seem to missing the point that we already have our quota of loan players for a match day squad.
So signing more loan players is pointless

[IDM]

Not all are fit at the same time though.

I would rather we didn’t have so many but it is what it is. If a loanee to replace Sterling strengthens our (weak) squad, that’s ok isn’t it.?

[steve@dcfd]

Signing a striker is not easy yet now we haven’t got to wait for a striker to go. In the summer we appear to have lost out on strikers waiting for JM to leave. We didn’t bite the bullet to sign another striker while JM was still here. Now it’s about sorting out terms and a fee if necessary to get the striker we need. We might have competition for said striker but he would be guaranteed a starting place by coming here. So if we can be competitive with terms there should be no problem.

We could bring in more loans but we have 5 already bringing in more does not strengthen the match day squad. So choices have to be made sign Dieng permanently or let Daniels go back if we want bring more loans.

[IDM]

Dieng has just re signed on loan.

[steve@dcfd]

Dieng has just re signed on loan.

Well that options gone.

[dickos1]

Not all are fit at the same time though.

I would rather we didn’t have so many but it is what it is. If a loanee to replace Sterling strengthens our (weak) squad, that’s ok isn’t it.?

Replacing Stirling with another is fine but after that we need some experienced signings coming in

[IDM]

I don’t disagree..

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Where we're at with loans at the mo.

Dieng. Nailed on starter.
Sheaf. Probable starter, certainly in match day squad.
Ennis. Nailed on starter at the mo.
John. Deffo in match day squad as Wright and Anderson have the shirt.
Daniels. Cover only, expendable.

So there is some wriggle room to maybe bring in two further loans if they will improve on the above given we can only have 5 in the matchday squad.

Obviously the concern is the balance of the squad going forward and not being left with a threadbare squad once the loans end.

Matty Blair will be like a new signing once he's back too.

[dickos1]

I worry a bit about Blair
He’s similar to Crawford and may who Moore got rid of

[IDM]

In what way similar.?

[dickos1]

Lightweight players who aren’t really first team regulars.

[steve@dcfd]

I worry a bit about Blair
He’s similar to Crawford and may who Moore got rid of

I believe a fit Blair offers more versatility than either Crawford or May.
Although his goal scoring record is no better than both really.

[IDM]

Blair can play in several positions and I would expect most if not all of us would happily have him on the bench, if not starting..

[vaya]

I worry a bit about Blair
He’s similar to Crawford and may who Moore got rid of

I believe a fit Blair offers more versatility than either Crawford or May.
Although his goal scoring record is no better than both really.

I'd agree with Blair's versatility - there's the defensive element to his game Crawford/May didn't necessarily possess.

[dickos1]

In my opinion I’d have kept all three I’m just worrying because he doesn’t seem the type of player Moore likes, that’s all

Only time will tell

[Campsall rover]

You know what dickos could walk into a church choir practice and turn it into a mass brawl in 5 mins flat.

Unbelievable Jeff.

I have never seen one person start so many pointless argumentative posts in my 4 years on this forum.

Going round in circles but having to have the final say. Never ever admitting he is wrong.

What’s it all about Alfie ( as the song goes ) 

[dickos1]

I must be built of the same mould as you then.

Is 9 points from 10 games relegation form or not?
Less than a point a game

I get involved in arguments because there’s 3 people who jump on everything I post, I don’t argue with anyone else just the same 3 people who also don’t like admitting they’re wrong

[Campsall rover]

Yes I am keeping well away.
Someone tell me next time i stray please.

New Years resolution.
Come on folks we are ALL ROVERS. PEACE AND GOODWILL TO ALL MEN.

We have some great times ahead watching our beloved team. ENJOY.