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Well first of all, I have to say I am rather ‘hurt’ by some unkind comments on the forum today. It seems I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t let you know about the Rovers’ plans.Lets be honest – last season, John rang me as excited as I’d never heard him– and we thought we had some brilliant signings in the bag. Then at the 11th hour, events overtook us and these players went elsewhere. At the time I did nt see anyone asking me not to post – quite the opposite - people were asking for as much info, as soon as possible. We are fans, and its natural we want info – and I was trying to respond to this need !!!In the end we got some good players – maybe even better players....I thought Sharp did OK – didn’t you…??....but it just went to show that maybe no information was better….I got shot down in flames – and OK – I deserved it – but it did seem really newsworthy and more importantly, realistic news at the time.Now back to the present…We’ve had loads of posts complaining about the lack of info. Well, see above!!We could post every day saying – there are ‘ongoing negotiations’ / ‘behind the scenes’ activity – that kind of no news ‘spin’ – I’m happy to tell you this every day if you want – but really – would you want that ?Our media team feel the same way – and it should be obvious that we are not sat back hoping the best players come knocking at our door and begging to sign for us…..we are doing ‘stuff’ – but we wont go public until the deal is done, and we don’t want to alert other clubs (as we’ve said many times before)…but they could post this ‘non–info’ if you’d like!I spoke to John this lunchtime.....and,as to the signings we’ve tried to sort out recently – OK they did nt happen – but we wont be held to ransom, we have budgets to work with, and we are trying to run a tight ship. With Kennedy, Leicester came in with a late, silly offer – we decided not to enter in to an auction – and so decided not to pursue him any further.Stating the obvious – we are looking at other targets – in fact we have already sorted out an offer for another left back – so just be patient!.....As some have rightly pointed out on the forum, defenders are not such a problem….and JR and SOD are quite relaxed about us progressing this - and reckon we have some really good targets to go at. A similar situation exists regarding us securing a good central defender too….yes we have sorted out a target there as well…..so rest assured we have a few plan A / B / C etc. for these eventualities.Oster is away on hols at the moment – and yes he has a niggling injury – which we want to look at – but again don’t read anything into this…..we will resolve it all when he gets back…We still have about 8 weeks to sort out our team…JR / SOD / ROK are on the case, and JR is confident we will have a great line up come kick-off time. We won’t spill the beans, we won’t name our targets, we want to keep our powder dry …so please take a ‘chill pill’ folk and believe in our team. They will deliver- just like they have in the past…but there will be plenty of inaction on the media /news release front as regards new players…..OK?...well maybe not…Cheers, Gareth
Thanks for the kind words guys.....it is appreciated!!JR and the team are on the case - so we will have to be patient....as mentionned above - lets get the World Cup started to deflect the aggro elsewhere....Cheers, Gareth
I'd like to echo the gratitude expressed by others to Gartom for taking the time to type out such a comprehensive response to the concerns, it is above and beyond the call of duty.Once again my major problem surrounds why the supposed media team (I saw a reference in there somewhere?) are unable to produce something of comparable (not necessarily as passionate or comprehensive) relevance on the official website.There is a world of difference between asking for \"day to day updates\" and some updates. The responsibility should not continually fall on the shoulders of an unpaid fans representative, nor should that person feel the wrath of the fans frustrations for situations way outside his control.There are people in the football club that are paid salaries to speak to JR and SO'D and put together news items that are relevant, useful, interesting and accessible to the supporters, without compromising any private negotiations. Once again they fail to do this and the pieces have to be picked up by a volunteer. Andy Liney was taken for granted in such a way and it seems that so is Gareth, while those on paid salaries sit back and contemplate how \"we can't update people every day.\"Please Gareth, feedback to JR that the club needs an acceptable minimum level of communication from the official channels, not least to take the pressure and duty off yourself.That update is appreciated, and it's refreshing to read but will reach a proportionally small number of people on this fans forum.
Please don't JR get the wrong impression Gareth. The vast majority feel well served by the club but have a life so don't post in the summer. We know JR and SOD will do the right thing even if it drags past the start of the season eg getting Billy last August.As for the marketing gripes unfortunatley media studies has replaced many practical subjects in our great education system so its just a load of \"wannabe\" kids who think they could do better.
Jonathan wrote:QuoteI'd like to echo the gratitude expressed by others to Gartom for taking the time to type out such a comprehensive response to the concerns, it is above and beyond the call of duty.Once again my major problem surrounds why the supposed media team (I saw a reference in there somewhere?) are unable to produce something of comparable (not necessarily as passionate or comprehensive) relevance on the official website.There is a world of difference between asking for \"day to day updates\" and some updates. The responsibility should not continually fall on the shoulders of an unpaid fans representative, nor should that person feel the wrath of the fans frustrations for situations way outside his control.There are people in the football club that are paid salaries to speak to JR and SO'D and put together news items that are relevant, useful, interesting and accessible to the supporters, without compromising any private negotiations. Once again they fail to do this and the pieces have to be picked up by a volunteer. Andy Liney was taken for granted in such a way and it seems that so is Gareth, while those on paid salaries sit back and contemplate how \"we can't update people every day.\"Please Gareth, feedback to JR that the club needs an acceptable minimum level of communication from the official channels, not least to take the pressure and duty off yourself.That update is appreciated, and it's refreshing to read but will reach a proportionally small number of people on this fans forum.Is Steve Uttley still the media manager? What does he do every day?DROS is a shambles, and has been for years. Again its poor marketing, and I will keep banging on about it til i'm blue in the face.
gartom wrote:QuoteThanks for the kind words guys.....it is appreciated!!JR and the team are on the case - so we will have to be patient....as mentionned above - lets get the World Cup started to deflect the aggro elsewhere....Cheers, GarethThat won't apply to the majority of people on here who prefer Rovers to do well over England or those who support Argentina or USA and hope our 'overpaid' superstars fail, because Messi is short of a bob or two As for Rovers, I've now lost complete faith regarding signings I'm afraid and will not believe they are actually ours until they have the shirt on their backs and we're past the 31st August when the transfer window shuts (are we aware it's opened?)It does make you wonder how the hell we managed to sign the likes of McIndoe, Gareth, Neil and Steve Roberts. I want us to bust a gut and throw the whole Rovers brochure at them!