McKays' scheming

[Spike]

Willie McKay is going to make a bundle from this.  Where will it leave us?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2051618/What-agent-Willie-McKay-doing-Doncaster-Rovers.html

[Chris Black come back]

You can take one of two views really.

1. This is an innovative and groundbreaking initiative which saves us from the ultimate reality which is that we don't have enough supporters to provide a manager with resources to compete in the fifth strongest league in Europe. The last few seasons in the Championship have shown that the admirable Rovers freak show has slowly ground to a halt and natural balance has been restored with our piddling gates dragging the club down. JR should be commended for his foresight.

2. McKay is a complete chancer and we are going to hell in a handcart. JR has taken complete leave of his senses to let this bizarre arrangement come within a million miles of the club. We will shortly be in a worse state of affairs than the 97/98 season.

Take your pick guys.

[Dr Fundlekrotch]

Call me naive, but we've been heading for relegation.  This is a gamble.  It might pay off and we'll do well.  It might not, and we end up where we would all have been expecting a month ago.  It doesn't cause me concern at all.

There are some cracking players at the French clubs mentioned in that article. Christian Gourcuff at Lorient (my second team) rebuilds his squad every year with loanees and short term contracts and, yet, he keeps a team that was part time as recently as the mid-90s in the top flight on crowds of no more than 12,000 before the last 2 seasons.  St Etienne have former players in the Premier League.  I certainly wouldn't turn down the likes of Robert and Monsoreau.  If we finish 4th from bottom then it's worked and was worthwhile.

The real question is...how much of that article is correct?  If half of those named players are coming, then exciting times may well lie ahead.

[Chris Black come back]

I suppose my immediate reaction (and anyone else around in the early 90s) is that this does smack a little of the snakeoil salesman that Richardson soon turned out to be. Clearly McKay is NOT running the club in any way, but we do seem to have placed all our hope of survival in the hands of a football agent.

[Chris]

f**k sake.

[Alex W]

If true, then this is an almighty gamble. I don't trust McKay at all, something about him rubs me up the wrong way, but if his plan gets you guys a few of the players that it promises to, then he may well save your season.

Not only that, but providing you have someone signing players that are of use to Donny, it could secure you survival in the league. Though with this comes a big issue of team morale i'd imagine.

Not so much the Donny players that're there on permanent contracts, though being usurped every other month by a new player may be annoying. Rather, if things are going badly and the foreign loan players lose interest. Relying on players who know they're leaving within 6 months is always a very big risk and comes down to different personalities I guess.

You'd have to be very careful about who you bring in, basically. There are alot of issues with this system, but if it saves your season and brings in revenue, it seems worth a go.

[Spankster]

I see your point regarding issuse this may bring such as team morale etc, etc

But you would hope that the loanee players will perform as they are putting themselves in the shop window
After all that is the reason they will be here, if they perform poorly it may do their careers more harm than good?

The current position we find ourselves in leaves little choice in this, so i think it is worth a shot, fingers crossed

RTID

[ditch_drfc]

If true, then this is an almighty gamble. I don't trust McKay at all, something about him rubs me up the wrong way, but if his plan gets you guys a few of the players that it promises to, then he may well save your season.

Not only that, but providing you have someone signing players that are of use to Donny, it could secure you survival in the league. Though with this comes a big issue of team morale i'd imagine.

Not so much the Donny players that're there on permanent contracts, though being usurped every other month by a new player may be annoying. Rather, if things are going badly and the foreign loan players lose interest. Relying on players who know they're leaving within 6 months is always a very big risk and comes down to different personalities I guess.

You'd have to be very careful about who you bring in, basically. There are alot of issues with this system, but if it saves your season and brings in revenue, it seems worth a go.

You don't sound like much of a Rover fan...

Sooo the question remains... Why are you looking at this forum at 5 in the morning?!

[The Red Baron]

It explains a lot, not least the departure of SO'D. Can't see him buying in to that kind of plan.

[SiBo]

From what I've been told SOD knew nothing about it, he was just told he was being put on gardening leave. Explains why that happened so quickly though. 'I can do this if you give my mate a job'.

Also raises question of how much did JR know what was going on as would he have been so public in support of SOD in days beforehand if knew this was on its way? The more and more I hear about this the less confident I am JR is pulling strings anymore.

Before I get shouted down for being a happy-clapping SOD lover, this isnt about SOD so much as it is this interview is the first time in a month that anyone at the club has been honest about what is going on. There has been so much speculation and conspiracy on here because people have heard different things but everything that has come out of the club has all been puff.

Am I happy SOD's gone? No but that's football. I can live with that. Am I inclined to believe a word that comes out of the football club anymore? No also and that is what bothers me the most.

This plan may be successful, and if it is that will be incredible. If it isn't and we end up getting relegated, as we would have also done at some point under SOD, will we be in a better or worse position to recover and come straight back up?

For now I'm going to be positive and hope for the best. But I've lost faith a bit and I never thought I'd say that.

[NorthNorfolkRover]

My view for what its worth is
1forget the morals . We know football is corrupt. We were hardly corinthians before.
2. Does it matter if mckay is makibg a packet ? If its not in his pocket it would be in players pockets or bigger clubs than us in terms of loan fees etc. A win win situation is possible.
3. I want to see british players but at least we are getting the finished article. I am fed up with watching kids like mason etc make their mistakes with us no matter how talented they are.
4. its a gamble but we were slowly dieing. At least its worth making the 250 mile round trip now.
5. Worried how our saleable assets billy,m woods,bennet,friend will react form wise.

[Berkshire Rover]

From what I've been told SOD knew nothing about it, he was just told he was being put on gardening leave. Explains why that happened so quickly though. 'I can do this if you give my mate a job'. Also raises question of how much did JR know what was going on as would he have been so public in support of SOD in days beforehand if knew this was on its way? The more and more I hear about this the less confident I am JR is pulling strings anymore.

We've been through this numerous times, JR is still very much the driving force, he was the first to hear this plan, he convinced Dick Watson it was the right thing to do, they acted and told Terry Bramhall after the event who gave his support.

The meetings in question took place after JR gave his backing to Sean and he never expected to make such a move  when he did the radio interview or prepared his notes for the Free Press.

[SiBo]

Berkshire read my edit.

[SiBo]

No disrespect Berkshire, but JR's hardly going to say to you 'All this was going on behind my back, I had it sprung on me and I was left with little choice but to go along with it' is he??????? Maybe I'm overly cyncial but I just don't believe a plan like this gets hatched overnight. I also don't believe that if JR knew anything about what was coming he would have said everything he did about SOD because there is no way he would have put himself in a position where he had to make that public U-turn. JR may have his story straight now and people will chose themselves whether to believe him or not but for me, it's going to take some time for the club to win back my trust.

[Berkshire Rover]

No disrespect Berkshire, but JR's hardly going to say to you 'All this was going on behind my back, I had it sprung on me and I was left with little choice but to go along with it' is he??????? Maybe I'm overly cyncial but I just don't believe a plan like this gets hatched overnight. I also don't believe that if JR knew anything about what was coming he would have said everything he did about SOD because there is no way he would have put himself in a position where he had to make that public U-turn. JR may have his story straight now and people will chose themselves whether to believe him or not but for me, it's going to take some time for the club to win back my trust.

SiBo,

I had the benefit of hearing it from JR first hand as did Gartom and Silent Majority, he convinced me.

He did say that he knew it. \"made me look a pillock\" , that making the decision to replace Sean was the hardest decision he had taken but he firmly believed it was in the best interests of the club.

Everyone  can and will make their own minds up.

[SiBo]

The order it all happened is almost irrelevant. It is the fact that the club have come out with all these reasons why SOD was sacked when in truth it was because they wanted to put this plan in place and DS came as part of that package. That is what bothers me. They have not been honest, and in that respect they definitely have not been fair on SOD.

[I-was-there1976]

players take time to gell into the team. When the seasons over and Rovers have gone through 70 players and \"are too good to go down \" we shall all see if its worked or not

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

My concern is as to why it's taken the Mail to publish this and not the club.

I can't say I'm overly comfortable with our club essentially being used as a job centre, but results on the pitch will judge how successful it is.  I wait for the \"why are we getting useless players in?\" and the \"board showed no ambition\" if either a player is crap or we can't keep him.  I just hope it doesn't put at risk the opportunity to develop a proper, permanent squad alongside some of these players.

[The Red Baron]

Two further points, having had a bit more time to digest the article:

1. Does McKay stand to benefit from the sale of existing assets. I'm thinking mainly of Billy Sharp but also of Kyle Bennett, who could have a lot of interest from top clubs by the end of the season if his development continues?

2. What happens if we go down at the end of the season? Somehow this business plan seems to me to depend on us retaining Championship status, as I can't see League One being enough of a shop window.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Another further point, if Ilunga is to move from West Ham for example for a fee, we get a percentage for putting him in the window.  That actually doesn't sound that bad a deal.  I think the key thing for me though is supplementing alongisde the likes of Stock, Woods, Friend, Sharp rather than replacing those key players.

[Donnybob]

And finally the fog begins to clear...

Why do I feel like we're the gambler in the last chance saloon having one last roll of the dice?

Two-thirds of the board clearly lost patience, didn't have faith and bought the snake oil. 'The sick will be healed, the lame will walk and I will bring great luck!' Promised Soundbite.

If we go up then its fair play all round. We've hit the jackpot. If we don't then what have we got? Another gamble for next season. The conveyor belt of loans will go on forever? But will it be enough to hold on to our existing, ahem, 'stars'. And where is the development policy in all this? What about permanent contracts? Are they to be a secondary concern, glossed over with another soundbite?

What really matters, a contract player who can be developed and sold or a fly-by-night lost cause trying to revive a career. These guys are out of favour for a good reason, surely? There seems to be a big risk of buying into trouble with them although many will dismiss that as speculation.

But what if we go down, which right now looks ominously likely? These galacticos ain't going to come and play in the third division, are they? That's not being in the shop window with a chance of promotion to the Prem. Relegation means losing the loanees and more than likely every worthwhile contract player, too.

So what will be left? Nothing. No structure, no system, no development and no Soundbite, because he'll be off with his mate, too.

This is the biggest knee-jerk gamble that the club has ever made. What's it to be folks? Prem in 2 years or League 2? Bloody scary if you ask me.

My guess is the fire sale begins on Boxing Day.

[Wellred]

Good old Bob as positive as ever. You are wrong on so many counts I'm afraid.

[DearneValleyRover]

I really don't see the problem. There was a lot of truth in the article. As things stand we cannot afford to be a Championship club on the size of our support. A proposition was made to JR and a few home truths also, JR has acted accordingly (forget your conspiracy theories) McKay has been open about his motives but wants the club to benefit. We will be seeing players in a Rovers shirt we could only have on a FIFA football game and when they leave we will get a small slice of the pie. The wage bill will reduce as we offload players who are not good enough and the sell on fees will go toward the rest. Our top players will have the benefit of playing alongside better quality than they have which should only improve their game and if it keeps us in the Championship this season and possibly challenging for the Prem next then it has worked, if not and we get relegated we will still be better off as none of those players will cost us. Without this deal we will be relegated at least with it we have a chance.

[Dare to dream!]

Tell him to do one! after reading that article about how he aims to get money from us and how he is going to do it has completley stripped my faith in the club and its because of him! At the end of the season if we are fighting for relegation and we have players coming and leaving how do we expect to build team spirit to fight to stay up, these 'quality' players whos careers have gone down the drain whos contracts run out at the end of season wont be fighting to keep us up they wont be botherd because they will probably have another club at the end of the season like Chimbonda has. Wrong move by JR imo.

[donnygreenjeans]

From what I've been told SOD knew nothing about it, he was just told he was being put on gardening leave. Explains why that happened so quickly though. 'I can do this if you give my mate a job'.

Also raises question of how much did JR know what was going on as would he have been so public in support of SOD in days beforehand if knew this was on its way? The more and more I hear about this the less confident I am JR is pulling strings anymore.

Before I get shouted down for being a happy-clapping SOD lover, this isnt about SOD so much as it is this interview is the first time in a month that anyone at the club has been honest about what is going on. There has been so much speculation and conspiracy on here because people have heard different things but everything that has come out of the club has all been puff.

Am I happy SOD's gone? No but that's football. I can live with that. Am I inclined to believe a word that comes out of the football club anymore? No also and that is what bothers me the most.

This plan may be successful, and if it is that will be incredible. If it isn't and we end up getting relegated, as we would have also done at some point under SOD, will we be in a better or worse position to recover and come straight back up?

For now I'm going to be positive and hope for the best. But I've lost faith a bit and I never thought I'd say that.

Agree with you mate 100%.

[donnygreenjeans]

Good old Bob as positive as ever. You are wrong on so many counts I'm afraid.

Not having a go at you mate but why is he wrong?

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

It's very much wait and see.  I suppose the concern over permanent players could be less cloudy when you think that Bennett and Sullivan have both been offered new contracts.  Time will tell if this works over the coming months, we can only hope that it does.  No doubt some will want this to fail but at the end of the day we want to win football games in whatever way possible.  Anyone who doubts the effort of these players look at Ilunga and Chimbonda on Tuesday they looked more gutted than some of our permanent players.  They're winners and if they have ambition they'll perform because at the end of the day if they don't perform they don't stay with us or get a better move.  As Saunders has said some of them might enjoy it and decide to stay and enjoy their football.  In reality given where we were heading it might be a better solution.

One thing's for sure no matter what it's bound to be exciting :D

[drfcsteve]

Good old Bob as positive as ever. You are wrong on so many counts I'm afraid.

Which points is he wrong on exactly?

[Al Riggall]

Ok, so a couple of things stand out.

The previous model was unsustainable, we needed to change.

To half the wage bill, without a similar plan would almost certainly resulted in relagation and a poorer player coming to the club.

We will now get to see top quality players at Rovers, at a sustainable cost.

These players are playing for there futures, no one will be interested in them if they do no perform, do not give there all, are part of a losing team or playing crap football.

The difficult part is gelling them together and getting results, we will see what happens, but we definitely had to try something.

Exciting and interesting times.

[Red Rover]

Very interesting article...its definatley worth a read.

Key points it picks out are...

- Rovers will become the first bring-and-buy style football club with fans never getting to know the players as they will only be here for 3 months! But they will be the best players we've ever had. (team spirit?!)

- Rovers have a wage bill of £8m a year which they are trying to cut to £4m a year, due to us only having a 10,000 fan base it isn't sustainable.

- We will soon be signing; Fabien Robert, Sylvain Monsoreau, Lamine Kone and Sebastian Dubarbier with El-Hadji Diouf and Mahamadou Diarra still on the radar.

- We will sign them in a bid to re-kickstart their careers, and Willie McKay will get a cut of any transfers they get.

- Rovers will only pay £2,000 wages for any one player. For instance Chimbonda is only recieving £2,000 a week in total, and Rovers are subsidising Ilunga's £28,000 wages to the sum of £2,000.

- Rovers will not make any signing not approved by Willie McKay, an FA agreement states. Although it does say Saunders has the final say (Hmmmmm!)

[attachment=847]IMG_0955.jpg[/attachment]

...whats everybody's thoughts on this? :dry: