JR would like me to tell you......

[gartom]

I spoke with JR yesterday.
He was disappointed that our bid for Billy was turned down – but does nt think its all over just yet. Softly softly etc....

He emphasises that they are actively looking at a lot of options to strengthen the squad – not that this rules out another approach for Billy – and that he hopes the fans can be patient and be assured that they have plan b / plan c  etc to make sure we have a really strong squad for the start of the season.

There is a lot of ‘twaddle’ on the forum – like the ‘fact’ that we offered £650K for Billy -we offered more than that I can tell you!... like he will sign for Leeds Utd....dont believe the rumours and the press hype – and try and be patient.

Its good to know for example that JR spoke with Billy recently to monitor his thoughts and options......so don’t jump to conclusions just yet!

Finally – yes SOD has the biggest budget ever to go secure a strong squad of players, and JR has worked hard behind the scenes to secure these funds for SOD.
I know its not easy in the close season – but from what JR has told me, we are in a good position with our negotiations, and altho’ it will be a bumpy ride – it will be an interesting close season!!

Hope this helps,
Cheers, Gareth

[MrFrost]

Thanks gartom.
Interesting to see it was more than 650k.

[graingrover]

It helps tremendously in my opinion .Thankyou Gartom.

[Filo]

A lot that`s spouted on here are instant reactions, yes I think we`ll all be disappointed if we don`t bag Billy, no one wants the club to go down the road to being skint and we know that we need to cut our cloth accordingly. JR needs to know that we are behind the board and management team whatever the outcome of any negotiations, I think all concerned need to take whats posted on here with a large pinch of salt, many a comment has been made in haste, and I include myself in that. Come what may, I`ll be there first game of season!

[Wellred]

ditto

[mushRTID]

A lot of the rubbish posted on here is to be expected and laughed off without taking it too seriously. Its the club we love and we are eager to speculate on whats going to happen, especially as there is no other football at the moment for us.

Encouraging news from JR. I think Billy will be ours.

[Drover]

I liked to say thank you Gartom/Sir JR for giving us a little info when it would be understandable for them to be prudent and say nothing at all.

[The_Rooky]

...I'd echo what's been said -the watch word for is 'patience'.

One of the main issues for me is, in this age of technology and instant access to information, we can all be a little impatient. The improved speed of communication doesn't affect the complex human interactions - such as negotiation!! Will we see fans heed the call for patience - maybe, maybe not - but I certainly feel we should all exercise a little more patience. At the end of the day, fans, the management team and the board (yes I include the board!!) all want to see the same thing - progression of this fantastic club of ours!!! Onwards and upwards!!!

[leedshayter]

sir johns the man  !!! dont you just love him to bits  

[not on facebook]

there you go bascially what i have been trying to say all along

[The Duke]

Wheres all the idiots mouthing of saying we have no ambition and all the rubbish they spout.

[topnotch_Donny]

The Duke wrote:

Wheres all the idiots mouthing of saying we have no ambition and all the rubbish they spout.

In fairness to the \"idiots\" some are too long in the tooth, and they see through spin. Not that I think it is spin. I am just answering your question, and I am behind the board, and I am a so called \"Happy clapper.\" or it could be said, \"idiot\" as I believe all the club say!

It goes both ways!

[Norfolk N Chance]

I do believe we as a club being very naive in our discussions and very easy pickings for clubs like Leeds / Derby who given their stature with a bigger wages bill structure.
Surely much better to keep negociations under the radar and sneek in on the blind side.... ?
Not sure sure why it was necessary to issue a press release to say we have a had a bid rejected as now it alerts all clubs.
This could have been engineered by the agent but because of it I dont expect BS to be a rover.

[The Red Baron]

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. If we didn't know that the club had bid for Billy then we'd have people on here complaining about a lack of activity in the transfer market.

It's a shame we can't go back to the good old days when everybody forgot about club football for a couple of months and started thinking about who their team had signed a week or so before the season started.

[Barmby Rover]

I'm with you all the way there RB! Let the businessmen get on with it, watch some cricket/World Cup and take notice only when a signing makes the news. More esoteric posting on OT please!