I am starting this a bit early, but only because this is already being discussed on another thread.
Here is my understanding of whose contract is up in June:
Scott Davies, Luke Pilling, Partick Wharton, Steve McNulty, Eddie Clarke, Jay McEveley, Jay Harris, Jake Kirby, Jeff Hughes, James Wallace, Mitch Duggan, Jack Dunn, Elliot Rokka, Devarn Green, Darnell Cole, Drissa Traore, Andy Cook, Connor Jennings and Andy Mangan.
The following are tied up for another year:
Evan Gumbs, Liam Ridehalgh, Richie Sutton, Adam Buxton, Ben Tollitt, Oliver Norburn, James Norwood, George Waring and James Alabi.
I would imagine most of the first list have already been approached for an extension but have either decided to leave (like Hughes) or are waiting for better terms or to find out which league we are in next year. As far as I know, only Evan Gumbs has extended his contract during the season.
483 comments on “The Squad for 2018/19”
Ryan Williams signs until January. He is a winger, which suggests that MM is unhappy with our current wide options, something that was discussed on here earlier in the week.
It is difficult to know what to make of his career as he has been half way around the globe, but he has played at a decent level.
I’m pleased about this as I think we need to freshen up in that area, at least it puts some pressure on the wide men to deliver.
Not sure what level hes was playing abroad in Brazil/States?
He was playing in the second division in Brazil. Apparently he is good technically and good at set pieces, but a bit lightweight.
Interesting interview with him here.
[URL]https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11454969/ryan-williams-says-brazil-was-the-craziest-time-of-his-life[/URL]
An interesting signing. Obviously another local looking for a game so may be a cheap option. The official site describes him as a midfielder?
He described himself as an attacking midfielder, no shortage of set piece skill from what I’ve heard.
The name sounded familiar and google reminded me that we had another Ryan Williams who played a few times in the mid 1990s. Hope this one has a greater positive impact!
I thought he was a winger rather than a central midfielder. Can anyone confirm ?
Either way, our final ball could do with improvement.
[QUOTE=”Mal, post: 49495, member: 185″][URL]https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11454969/ryan-williams-says-brazil-was-the-craziest-time-of-his-life[/URL]
Someone posted that elsewhere. He will cope with Hamilton Square area no problem.[/QUOTE]
You can enjoy reading it twice then.
Love your unashamed prejudice by the way.
[QUOTE=”Mal, post: 49497, member: 185″]Prejudice?!look the word up[/QUOTE]
I don’t need to, thanks.
That’s a really interesting interview RLC. Three things that grab my attention: Firstly his niaivety of life in Brazil, secondly his learned experience from this which has seemingly created a very laid back demeanour judging by his interview that could result in exuding a ‘man of the world’ calmness/confidence on the pitch. & finally, his adeptness in conversation about the advanced training techniques etc. I wonder if MM is open to such opinions from players? Maybe so bearing in mind he’s a futsal product which is obviously close to our hearts.
I could be wrong but I get the impression he’s an Andy Robinson type player. Can play wide but not a winger like say Tollit, but can play centrally too.
Whichever it is, we have an abundance of attacking midfielders and Micky is spoilt for choice. Some would have argued we’re more in need for players up top as Nors in my view is still missing a proper target man to play alongside.
You do wonder whether someone like Tollit will go out on loan as he may not even make the bench now.
So attacking midfielders we have:
Larnell Cole
Jennings
Tollit
DMH
Williams
Williams can put a good ball in if yutub is eneything to go bye and he has been scoring a few as well . Think ben needs to get away from the club on loan and just play . Jennings i think it could be he is not abl to play in the wide roll now we are back in the league he looks lost there at The moment. Dmh not getting mutch game time . So can see why he’s been brought in . Lets hope he can get going . And we need to see the Italian lad . All quiet on him i know he was injured but has to be playing soon one thinks
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 48204, member: 911″]George green who had a loan spell a while ago rumoured to be joining chester[/QUOTE]
[URL]https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45476430[/URL]
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 49556, member: 1″][URL]https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45476430[/URL][/QUOTE]
George has indeed joined chester I don’t think he,s played yet because of an injury
Hopefully green can overcome his issues.
Not the cause but as an 18/19 year old he was earning over £100k a year. Madness
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 49558, member: 211″]Hopefully green can overcome his issues.
Not the cause but as an 18/19 year old he was earning over £100k a year. Madness[/QUOTE]
great article on the chester forum were he talks honestly about his addictions and the depths he fell, he could have been some player
Agree Sparky. You wonder how much parental guidance/advice he ever received. Still people have to take some personal responsibility sometime. You hope that the fact that he is now a father might give him reason to stay on the straight and narrow. His partner must be a brave woman.
Nice to see James Wallace sent off for Fleetwood today!
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 49577, member: 211″]Nice to see James Wallace sent off for Fleetwood today![/QUOTE]
What? He’s actually playing again ! 😳
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 49586, member: 1″]What? He’s actually playing again ! :oops:[/QUOTE]
He came off the bench Ian. What an idiot after so long out to get 2 bookings.
He’s been joined today by Ryan taylor who has signed after a trial so with Eddie Clarke as well Barton is building a rovers old boys side
Dont like the fact connor jennings is taking grief for not bei g i. Form . Mey be league 2 is beyond him but he set the goal up that got us promoted . So he can have a bad few months . And lets not forget he was realy sick just a few months ago .
Oops in form sorry
The lad deserves a bloody chance knowing connor he will get 8 in 5 games and all lomg range as well just get off the mark man
I think he needs to play in his best position to start with. I think he’ll just drift if MM keeps him on the wing.
Agree re CJ, doesn’t deserve the stick he’s been getting and with Ian that he should get a chance in his proper position.
I think we’re best sticking to wing backs now. Our traditional wingers aren’t doing the job. Smith has gone off the boil, Jennings isn’t a winger, DMH has been quite poor since his return. Zoum and Caprice are perfect for this role although it’s difficult to exclude Buxton who is excellent on the ball and can put in a decent cross.
Have to agree but the wingers need a kick up the arses
we cant afford to have passengers. And we need em to add goals to .
Jennings is definitely good enough for League Two if he is played centrally. Most Football League players would struggle if they were constantly played out of position; we are not in the Tinpot League any more.
Regarding the wingers, there is a suggestion that Smith and DMH have to get time on the pitch or we are forced to pay a substantial additional percentage of their wages. In the case of Smith I am not too concerned as I think he is a quality player, but DMH has not done anything to justify his involvement since he returned.
Good to hear willians ans the lad from Italy got 90 mins play on tuesday in a 1-1 harris got injured buxton was due to play as well hoping ben t got a game
Cookie on the bench for Walsall again.
Come back Andy..
Interesting that Dale Jennings is playing again with Runcorn. Another career that ran aground. Let us hope that he can rebuild a career.
I’m glad hes playing again because I thought he was finished. He’s only 25, so if he can get himself fit physically and mentally, there’s still plenty of life left as a footballer.
Hearing that Harvey Gilmour has made such a breakthrough into the first team, the thought struck me that in fairness to Micky this summer’s recruitment has been very good. Most of the incomers and loanees have been regular first teamers or challenging to be. We need to be more patient with George, Akammadu and DMH, but the rest are earning their corn. No-one has been written off yet, in contrast to twelve months ago. OK, we are still worse off upfront than last season, but that’s not Micky’s or the club’s fault. I’m sure we did everything possible to keep Cook and then to replace him, but the players and/or funds were just not there. The fact that even so we are in the play-off positions just 12 games in shows what a good job everyone at the club has been doing.
Yes, the idea that Mellon can’t recruit players has been disproved this season. Of the players brought in as first team regulars, all have been a success. The only doubts surround Cole Stockton, but even his critics would have to admit he has been better than some of last season’s disasters (Waring, Alabi). At least he has been able to hold down a first team place and put in reasonable performances.
Mellon built a successful side from scratch at Fleetwood, and completely reshaped the Shrewsbury squad to win promotion in his first season. His last few months in Shropshire and his first summer here are the only real blemishes on his record.
I would guess he has been more comfortable recruiting in the Football League, where his knowledge of players is better and he has more recent experience, than in the National League.
George Waring joins Kidderminster on loan until January. An odd signing for us when u consider how it’s worked out and Micky had worked with him before. Let’s hope he does ok and we let him go permanently as Seyni NDiaye has more chance of featuring in a white shirt!
In other news Sol Campbell takes over at Macc. Will be interesting how he gets on.
Would have thought Micky aware of any ‘issues’ with Waring from previous time working with him, so a surprise he got so little chance in the NL on the back of a 2 year deal. One day the full picture may become clear, but agree with Sparky that best for all parties if he moves on.
I have not heard the full interview yet, but apparently Palios has stated on Radio Merseyside that Norwood will [B]not[/B] be sold in January.
Palios also said we have already lined up targets we will try to sign in January. Going OT, he also commented that 6,000 seats at PP have been repaired since he arrived.
Thanks RLC. That’s some positive news indeed!
I think that’s the benefit of the Cup run, we can afford to lose any Norwood transfer money, whereas fail to get past Southport and we might have had no option but to sell.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51109, member: 19″]I think that’s the benefit of the Cup run, we can afford to lose any Norwood transfer money, whereas fail to get past Southport and we might have had no option but to sell.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely, which is why a number of us thought the Southport match was much more important than the Notts County game. We lost three points at Meadow Lane, but how many points would we have lost without Norwood for the second half of the season ?
Very true. Who do we bring in what do we need . Think a forward . And a strong middle man . Williams I think will go no point keeping him . Will they go again for row. It’s gonna be a interesting month think a centre back will come in as well.
[QUOTE=”aldoes mustache, post: 51114, member: 6141″]Very true. Who do we bring in what do we need . Think a forward . And a strong middle man . Williams I think will go no point keeping him . Will they go again for row. It’s gonna be a interesting month think a centre back will come in as well.[/QUOTE]
I cant see us signing another centre back when we have five already, think a centre midfielder, striker and a winger
We have the quality and quantity in defence and also on the wings. (Our defenders are OK at this level but are often let down by a lack of protection in front of them.) An extra striker would be useful, but we have three experienced in League Two already. Where we have struggled with injuries, suspensions and loss of form is central midfield. Currently, we have only Banks (fine but occasionally loses form), Harris (a good worker but poor discipline and arguably not up to L2 standard), McCullough (very good and consistent at this level) and Gilmour (talented and promising). As things stand, the last two go back to their parent clubs in January. For me, the priority should be extending their loans or signing McCullough on contract and bringing in another holding midfielder. The cup money could pay for these signings.
Think McCulloch’s loan has been extended for the rest of the season? If we could have another midfielder in the Banks mould, who’s creative but prepared to get stuck in a bit that would be good. Would also look at getting in another winger.
Yes mcCullock loan has been extended to the end of the season
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51121, member: 19″]Think McCulloch’s loan has been extended for the rest of the season? If we could have another midfielder in the Banks mould, who’s creative but prepared to get stuck in a bit that would be good. Would also look at getting in another winger.[/QUOTE]
I’d heard a rumour about McCullough, but there’s been no official announcement. Re an extra winger, we already have Tollitt, Cole, Jennings and Smith but another to replace DMH (assuming he leaves us soon), might be handy. However, they he would be unlikely to see much action.
The official site isn’t the best source of information or the easiest to navigate. Think the message that McCullough was staying came from Grant McCann his manager at Doncaster.
While Jennings and Cole can play out wide, neither are true wingers and Connor’s performance at Southport fuels the argument he should regularly play in his best position.
DMH has gone back to his club injured, doubt he’ll return when fit. Tollitt is nowhere near the first team at present. Throw in Smith’s lack of stamina and there’s definitely a case for another winger.
I think it is easier to state the area where we [I][B]don’t[/B][/I] need to strengthen, which to me is the centre of defence. Everywhere else, I think we could do with more quality.
Definitely need another winger. I’m still a big of Tollit but you wonder whether his rovers career is peetering out sadly.
Another centre mid too as of Banks or McCullough are missing I don’t think Harris and Gilmour are good enough. Plus Banks hasn’t been in great form before his injury.
Technically we have 4 strikers on the books but Cole won’t score many. Akmanndu doesn’t seem to be good enough to make the bench most games so we need a strike to give some real competition.
Palios says Nors won’t go in January but if a silly offer comes in that may change.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51128, member: 211″]Palios says Nors won’t go in January but if a silly offer comes in that may change.[/QUOTE]
I think it’s going to be really hard to keep hold of him.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51128, member: 211″]. I’m still a big of Tollit but you wonder whether his rovers career is peetering out sadly.[/QUOTE]
Sadly (for Ben) I have to agree. He’s had the stuffing well and truly knocked out of him and I can’t see the club earmarking funds for another contract.
Such a shame because he electrified games before his first injury.
As was once said about Ian Botham, he was someone a bloke would put his pint down to watch. In my view as good a compliment as you can get.
Defensively we can cover every position twice over with decent players, not just makeshifts, so our priority has to be further up the field.
It’s interesting about Nors. We fans still see the same, give it all player but the goal graph is gradually heading south. Might hopefully put off a few suitors.
After Monday, thank f*** CJ is tied in!!
Ben should have been allowed to go out on loan . To get his confidence back . Can see him going in Jan as there’s no point him being at pp if we ant gonna help the poor lad . It’s a shame he was terrific when he first arrived
[QUOTE=”aldoes mustache, post: 51132, member: 6141″]Ben should have been allowed to go out on loan . To get his confidence back . Can see him going in Jan as there’s no point him being at pp if we ant gonna help the poor lad . It’s a shame he was terrific when he first arrived[/QUOTE]
You got your wish AM. Ben joins Wrexham on loan
Best news he could have had now let’s see a young man get the Welsh is going .and come back with tons of confidence
Probably the best deal Ben could have got. Hopefully he’ll be a part of their promotion fight, if only for a month. It’s probably now or never for him.
BTW, did anyone else have a double-take when seeing the caption on the TRFC home page? The player above the caption is Franklyn Akammadu, who looks nothing like Ben Tollitt. 😉
Really hope he does what he did for us and comes back revitalised confident and raring to get his career back on track. Look at Connor his loan a few years back did him the world of good . Gonna follow him there with interest
Hope that it works out for Ben. Slightly different to Connor Jennings, who just required game time to get into the groove, it is important for Ben to re-build his confidence.
4 or five games back to back will do him the world of good . Some times a change can be said good as a rest. Getting away from pp for a few weeks will be good for him
A good move for Ben, I hope it goes well for him.
Regarding Norwood, after Palios’s interview this week, I think we would only sell him if he was allowed to stay on loan with us until the end of the season. Or if we were offered 500,000 or more for him, which is possible but unlikely.
In terms of the squad, I would say the centre of midfield is the most urgent area where we need to strengthen.
Some people above have said we are ok defensively, but I think our away record suggests that is not the case. We have a lot of bodies in the full back areas, but I think we are weak in those positions: Zoum has been very poor since his injury; Caprice is very good as an attacking wing back but is vulnerable defensively; and while Buxton is a good footballer, I think he is also vulnerable at this level when he comes up against pace. He was absolutely skinned by Andrade earlier in the season and has had a few difficult games since then as well. Although he is not popular with all of our supporters, I would say Ridehalgh is our most reliable full back at the moment.
Elsewhere, we need a target man who is an improvement on Stockton, and another genuine wide player.
Ben has still got all of the tools of the trade, it was crying out for a loan move but I suspect we were waiting for the right opportunity to present itself which this probably is. That carefulness suggests he’s very much in our future plans which I wholeheartedly agree with. I feel this has the same vibe as the CJ loan to Macc.
In an ideal world, we would recognise that as McNulty appears the only central defender capable of organising a defence and he isn’t going on forever, perhaps another central defender with organisational skills should be on the shopping list.
I think Buxton, for all his failings is probably a better defender than Ridehalgh, who doesn’t always show enough resilience in defending.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51128, member: 211″]
Palios says Nors won’t go in January but if a silly offer comes in that may change.[/QUOTE]
Which in my book means quite simply any offer needs to be a very good one…
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51143, member: 19″]In an ideal world, we would recognise that as McNulty appears the only central defender capable of organising a defence and he isn’t going on forever, perhaps another central defender with organisational skills should be on the shopping list.
I think Buxton, for all his failings is probably a better defender than Ridehalgh, who doesn’t always show enough resilience in defending.[/QUOTE]
Re Buxton, I think he is probably more suited to playing in a back 3 at this level. His lack of pace is a problem playing right back in a back 4 plus Adam does have his fair share of injuries too. He’s a big unit and whilst he has good delivery, you do wonder why he’s never really played more than 20-25 games in a season during his career.
With only a few days to go before the transfer window opens, has anyone heard any rumours? All I’ve heard is that McCullough might be staying and we are likely to hold on to Nors.
McCullough is staying as I understand it. Same with Nors but if a daft bid came in surely Palios would consider it – especially if James wanted to go.
Otherwise Micky will strengthen but I’m not aware of any actual names.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 48652, member: 1″]If Stockton gets more than 10 goals this season, I’ll buy you all a pint in the tent! and hang my head in shame for ever doubting him.[/QUOTE]
Getting nervous, Ian? 😉
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51212, member: 20″]Getting nervous, Ian? ;)[/QUOTE]
No, although I’m actually pleased Stockton scored today. After talking to a few people at the club today the abuse he’s been getting from some supporters is out of order and seems to have affected him.
seems cole & nors are great friends off the pitch
Yeah Nors and Cookie used to go to training together and Cole does the same with james.
Nice to see Aaron creswell captaining West Ham tonight
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51224, member: 911″]seems cole & nors are great friends off the pitch[/QUOTE]
From what I hear, they linked up well yesterday, and of course they both scored. I’ve a feeling they will be MM’s number one strike force for the rest of the season, provided Cole keeps scoring.
Going back to Ian’s offer of pints all round if Cole scores ten this season, I would bet that if he does then TRFC will be in the play-offs – at least.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51232, member: 20″]From what I hear, they linked up well yesterday, and of course they both scored. [B]I’ve a feeling they will be MM’s number one strike force for the rest of the season, provided Cole keeps scoring.[/B]
Going back to Ian’s offer of pints all round if Cole scores ten this season, I would bet that if he does then TRFC will be in the play-offs – at least.[/QUOTE]
Would seem a bit unfair on Mullin, whose strike rate is better and Norwood may not be around if an irresistible offer comes in.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51233, member: 19″]Would seem a bit unfair on Mullin, whose strike rate is better and Norwood may not be around if an irresistible offer comes in.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I agree. Stockton does a decent job for us, but Mullin is a better player and will still have a big part to play in the season. We are not going to use the current formation in every game.
When Banks is fit, I am sure we will revert to the 4411 with Cole behind Norwood at some stage.
It will be interesting to see. At least Micky now has options. I don’t expect any of our strikers to feature in every game. Even Nors is likely to miss one or two through injury or suspension.
Do we know when Banks will be back? Sooner rather than later I hope!
Apparently he had keyhole surgery so hopefully in a few weeks.
We are being linked with Motherwell’s Ryan Bowman. He is a target man, and is probably being lined up as a superior version of Stockton. Apparently we have offered a fee, but Exeter are also interested.
Cole is not as bad as his critics make out, and I hate the constant sniping about him. However, in the long term I don’t think he is good enough and we will need an upgrade if we are serious about promotion.
According to BBC Scotland, Exeter and ourselves have both had bids accepted and it is up to Bowman to decide where he wants to go. He hails from Carlisle, so hopefully he will want to stay closer to home.
I’ve seen quite a bit of Bowman as I have a soft spot for Motherwell.
He’s a real tough guy and very physical. Certainly no quicker than Stockton but he knows where the goals is from his time at Gateshead albeit at national league level. Not scores many in Scotland. Whether he’s the type of target man who relies on wingers remains to be seen but I’d be pleased if he came.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 51245, member: 1″]Apparently he had keyhole surgery so hopefully in a few weeks.[/QUOTE]
The sooner he is fully fit and back the better. An on form Banks adds so much class to the team and improves us immeasurably!
On a related point, Exeter are going to sell Stockley to Preston for 750,000. I believe he only had six months left on his contract like Nors, so that is the kind of offer we can expect to receive for James next month…….
[QUOTE=”ONIGP, post: 51249, member: 6172″]The sooner he is fully fit and back the better. An on form Banks adds so much class to the team and improves us immeasurably![/QUOTE]
It would be good if he could play sixty minutes of the Spurs game. We have not retained the ball very well in the last couple of matches and we will need to pass through midfield much better against Tottenham.
having spoken to Norwood the other day he is just keeping saying he is hear till the end of the season . he says his girlfreind is happy and so is he . he just said he wants it sorted
Bowman is certainly not a Norwood replacement, so I expect we would be spending the cup money on him. If we were selling Norwood, we’d be after a genuine goalscorer. Ryan has spent most of his career in tier five, scoring about one goal in three games, but he has been less successful when playing at a higher level. I expect he will be the physical presence we had in Andy Cook, being able to hold the ball and relieve pressure. He has played 86 times for Motherwell, scoring 14 goals and providing 13 assists, but only one goal and two assists this season. He will be out of contract in the summer, so this should mean a lower fee.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51247, member: 292″]According to BBC Scotland, Exeter and ourselves have both had bids accepted and it is up to Bowman to decide where he wants to go. He hails from Carlisle, so hopefully he will want to stay closer to home.[/QUOTE]
I hope you are right, RLC, but he has played for Hereford and Torquay, so may not be averse to moving south again. Assuming the wages we are offering are similar, you would hope we had the edge. Both sides are in the promotion race but Exeter are selling their prize asset while we are hoping to hang onto ours. Also, I would think any lower league player would be impressed by the fan base and infrastructure of our club, not to mention MP’s ambition.
I think Exeter will be able to offer better wages than us, particularly now they have the Stockley money, and I would expect him to go there to be honest.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51256, member: 292″]I think Exeter will be able to offer better wages than us, particularly now they have the Stockley money, and I would expect him to go there to be honest.[/QUOTE]
Possibly, but we will have the cup money. They lost in the first round.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51257, member: 20″]Possibly, but we will have the cup money. They lost in the first round.[/QUOTE]
The cup games have not made us 750,000 (yet).
In any case, Exeter’s wage budget will almost certainly have been higher than ours to begin with. They have benefited from three years of Football League money which we lost and they have consistently been at the top end of this division for a number of seasons now.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51258, member: 292″]The cup games have not made us 750,000 (yet).
In any case, Exeter’s wage budget will almost certainly have been higher than ours to begin with. They have benefited from three years of Football League money which we lost and they have consistently been at the top end of this division for a number of seasons now.[/QUOTE]
We’ll see what happens. I would not expect Bowman to be the replacement for Stockley and they will still have plenty of money left, so they will be after more players.
I obviously hope he comes here, but the Motherwell chairman said he was offered ‘wages we could not match’. It does not seem likely that we have outbid Exeter and an SPL club.
But who knows.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51260, member: 292″]I obviously hope he comes here, but the Motherwell chairman said he was offered ‘wages we could not match’. It does not seem likely that we have outbid Exeter and an SPL club.
But who knows.[/QUOTE]
We surely haven’t bid for a player knowing we can’t better his wages, so presumably average SPL wages are lower than League Two, which says not a lot for the state of Scottish football. Things must have changed a lot in the last ten years, as Steve Jennings left Rovers (then in League One) for Motherwell in 2009.
think i would rather stick with mullin if im honest . bowman is not doing it in the scottish prem witch apart from a few teams is no better than lg 2 . think we should save the money . for better thinks
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51261, member: 20″]We surely haven’t bid for a player knowing we can’t better his wages.[/QUOTE]
We might only have matched his current wages, given that he was likely to be offloaded by Motherwell in the summer anyway. He is not getting in their team at present.
Their chairman stated that they [B]’could not compete’ [/B]with the wages he had been offered, which led me to believe it was Exeter who had made the successful offer. I think it is widely accepted that we don’t have thousands to throw around in wages at the moment.
At the very least stockley leaving Exeter is a boost for us given they are a promotion rival. Depending on how they replace him obviously.
Preston have activated a release clause and you wonder whether Nors has one.
Read something about Bowman’s partner being from the West Country so Exeter more likely. Not convinced he’d be a significant improvement on his current form.
I don’t think we should be buying for buying sake. Is he really going to improve on what we have now ?
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 51268, member: 1″]I don’t think we should be buying for buying sake. Is he really going to improve on what we have now ?[/QUOTE]
He is more than a target man than Stockton so would be a useful addition if we signed him
Bowman’s goalscoring stats at Gateshead were reasonable and he may have more to his all round game than Stockton. I would be quite pleased if we signed him.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51270, member: 292″]Bowman’s goalscoring stats at Gateshead were reasonable and he may have more to his all round game than Stockton. I would be quite pleased if we signed him.[/QUOTE]
Apparently he has agreed to join Exeter
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51292, member: 196″]Apparently he has agreed to join Exeter[/QUOTE]
As I expected. This just emphasises once again the financial constraints that Mellon is working under, and what a good job he is doing for us with limited resources.
It was quite clear though again yesterday that we need a target man. A striker with an aerial threat. Nors wins more headers than Stockton so that’s a priority.
Exeter are in a stronger position to fund this through the sale of Stockley.
While we should be able to get a better forward in the air than Stockton, perhaps a priority ought to be defenders who don’t resort to hoof ball, which was used too frequently yesterday.
Stockton is pretty awful in the air. He’s much better with the ball at his feet. For a big man, he has very little aerial ability and is too easily pushed off the ball.
I’ll be surprised if any defenders come in Boz. We’ve loads of them! The hoof ball approach seen at times must come from the manager albeit I guess certain defenders are limited to that being their only pass out.
A centre mid is needed, a winger plus a target man.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51300, member: 19″]Exeter are in a stronger position to fund this through the sale of Stockley.
While we should be able to get a better forward in the air than Stockton, perhaps a priority ought to be defenders who don’t resort to hoof ball, which was used too frequently yesterday.[/QUOTE]
We don’t need central defenders. Macca, Monthe and Buxton are all comfortable on the ball and we had no trouble passing out from the back earlier on in the season.
I think the absence of Banks is the major reason why our distribution was not great. In addition, Yeovil pressed McNulty a lot of the time, leaving Ellis and Sutton as the free centre backs, knowing that neither of them are comfortable on the ball.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51303, member: 211″]
A centre mid is needed, a winger plus a target man.[/QUOTE]
I agree completely. I think the centre of midfield is the most pressing area to be addressed, as we don’t have anyone that can switch play or produce a defence-splitting pass when Banks is unavailable.
McCullough is a decent passer, but only over 10-15 yards; Harris just is not great on the ball; Gilmour is a kid and is inconsistent.
still have nightmares about higdon who played in the Scottish prem !!!!!
Shamal George has confirmed after Tuesdays game he’ll be returning to Liverpool so a sub keeper may be added to mickys shopping list unless Wharton is deemed good enough
thank god for that he was poor
I wouldn’t have felt any more confident in George standing in for Scott Davies than either of our own reserve keepers; he was that bad.
Micky doesn’t appear to rate Pilling and Wharton looked out of his depth in the Checkatrade game. Our new goalkeeping coach should cast an eye over them, but think we’ll need to bring someone else in.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51305, member: 292″]Yeovil pressed McNulty a lot of the time, leaving Ellis and Sutton as the free centre backs, knowing that neither of them are comfortable on the ball.[/QUOTE]
Agree with this and their distribution is poor culminating in long aimless balls. Need Banks back in and need to get the ball on the floor were we are best.
Happy New Year everyone and let us hope for Rovers success in 2019! Will be interesting to see the squad changes in Jan. Williams gone? Gilmour and McCullough to stay ? No dud strikers please MM! Interesting that Adam Le Fondre the old Bolton striker is out here scoring a few goals in our A League which is probably L1/L2 standard.
the cook rumours are still going around have heard mm now wants him back ?????? but im not sure it will happen in would . i love it to happen though
AM – I would give back all my kids Xmas presents if we could get cookie back!!! But can’t see it happening.
He has around 10 goals in all competitions which is a decent return as for several away games he’s been on the bench. If he carries on he could end up with 20 by the end of the season which is pretty good as he jumped from national league to league 1.
So even if he wanted to leave the saddlers I’m sure other league 1 teams would be after him.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51321, member: 211″]AM – I would give back all my kids Xmas presents if we could get cookie back!!! But can’t see it happening.
He has around 10 goals in all competitions which is a decent return as for several away games he’s been on the bench. If he carries on he could end up with 20 by the end of the season which is pretty good as he jumped from national league to league 1.
So even if he wanted to leave the saddlers I’m sure other league 1 teams would be after him.[/QUOTE]
Completely agree and sorry but I just don’t get all this nonsense. He left to play L1 football and got a 2 year contract. He has done ok/ well so far and is Walsall’s leading scorer. Why on earth would Walsall want to release him on that basis and why on earth would he even consider a move himself. Makes no sense to me whatsoever… we really have to get away from always wanting our ex players back and focus on bringing in or better still developing players who can improve the squad.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51323, member: 6185″]we really have to get away from always wanting our ex players back[/QUOTE]
This is something that has bugged me for years.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51323, member: 6185″]Completely agree and sorry but I just don’t get all this nonsense. He left to play L1 football and got a 2 year contract. He has done ok/ well so far and is Walsall’s leading scorer. Why on earth would Walsall want to release him on that basis and why on earth would he even consider a move himself. Makes no sense to me whatsoever… we really have to get away from always wanting our ex players back and focus on bringing in or better still developing players who can improve the squad.[/QUOTE]
You wouldn’t rip up your season ticket if Cook came back though ADD;)
Fwiw, I’d agree it’s very unlikely.
Jeez……
Iminent news that Lord Nors is signing a new contract?
Saw that CK, unsure if it is a joke…….
Mrs Palios dropping all sorts of hints about Norwood on Twitter tonight. Think it might be the wine!
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51323, member: 6185″]Completely agree and sorry but I just don’t get all this nonsense. He left to play L1 football and got a 2 year contract. He has done ok/ well so far and is Walsall’s leading scorer. Why on earth would Walsall want to release him on that basis and why on earth would he even consider a move himself. Makes no sense to me whatsoever… we really have to get away from always wanting our ex players back and focus on bringing in or better still developing players who can improve the squad.[/QUOTE]
Supposedly his wife is unsettled in the area
at least mp has said there is money for mm to get players in . witch is good as long as they are right . and improve the team we already have . . happy new year lets get ready for that trfc ride again ………
as long as we don,t end up with players like alabi or waring
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51341, member: 196″]Supposedly his wife is unsettled in the area[/QUOTE]
If that’s true, it might make sense, although Walsall is not that far from Birkenhead, although I don’t know where the Cooks lived for the past two years. If Walsall reluctantly let Andy go, they would not want him to go to a League One rival.
‘His wife is unsettled’, Is this the wife that he’s met in the last 6-9months and gotten married to as he was single at Rovers. Nors would always take him to training and tweet that he wish he’d find a girlfriend to drive him to work himself.
It’s not a million miles away even though he’s done well with the step up that he may well want to come back with friends who he knows who seem to be doing well and he knows he’d get more money than what he was on when last here.
Another goal for cookie today
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51367, member: 211″]Another goal for cookie today[/QUOTE]
You could argue Cook has performed even better than Norwood, stepping up two levels and scoring every other game in an average team.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51374, member: 292″]You could argue Cook has performed even better than Norwood, stepping up two levels and scoring every other game in an average team.[/QUOTE]
Similarly Josh Ginnelly who has left to join championship Preston for an undisclosed fee after impressing in league 1.
Micky confirmed post match he is looking to improve the squad and it sounded positive on that front .
Good luck to Josh. What a shame we didn’t sign him. We’ve helped so many players rescue their careers but often they have left us as soon as they could.
BTW, did anything happen to the thug who felled him with a bottle at Wembley? Boreham Wood were lucky to get away with no action.
To be honest, I did not think Ginnelly really looked interested here other than the play off matches. Clearly a talented player but he probably thought he should have been playing at a higher level.
I think Preston paid around 500k for Ginnelly so outside our range anyway. Amazing to think that we paid a similar sum for John Aldridge albeit twenty odd years ago.
Walsall have replaced him with Matt Jarvis on loan from Norwich. A pretty decent winger in his time who has played in the Premier League. Been injured a lot recently so will be interesting to see how he goes.
Agree with RLC, Ginnelly was patchy for us, though recall he played well in the play-off semi with Ebbsfleet. He’d been on loan to Lincoln the previous season but didn’t get much game time with them. However the move to Walsall seems to have worked well for him.
Drwhoman, think we only paid around half that amount for Aldo; much better value :)!!
max power sold to sunderland . we will get money from the deal there not saying what it is though
on the other forum it said we got a bigger fee up front instead of a bigger sell on fee, but could be just speculation
matt jones said we would get money from the sale .
Well according to Wikipedia we’ve already signed 36 year old David Perkins. Nothing on official site yet
[URL]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Perkins_(footballer)[/URL]
Not one to get overly excited about – he’s 36
36!! One for the future then.
To be fair he’s meant to be OK. Played quite a few games for Wigan most recently.
Agreed, Sparky. Even older than Macca! If true, I expect he’ll be cover for McCullough. However, Wikipedia says he signed a two-year deal with Rochdale last summer. Why would he tear that contract up for six months at Rovers? Although I can’t get excited about it, he has a good pedigree having played in the Championship just two seasons ago.
I know he is getting on a bit, but Perkins is (or was) a really good player. I have always been impressed by him. He is a creative midfielder, so I think he would be competition for Banks rather than McCullough.
Perkins seemed quite a feisty player when he turned out against us, seemed to pick up a few cards in his career too. Hope he’s an improvement on the last player we paid Rochdale for; one George Donnelly.
Wonder if this does come off, what it means for Harvey Gilmour. He seems out of favour, raising doubts if his loan spell is going to be extended.
I think Gilmour is very talented, but too young and inconsistent to be trusted week-in, week-out. He can’t really play in a two-man midfield either, as he does not have the physicality.
He is good in a midfield three, but we need more experience.
McCullough loan to the end of the season now also confirned from our end.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51415, member: 19″]McCullough loan to the end of the season now also confirned from our end.[/QUOTE]
…. and he is available to play tomorrow.
Not sure how true it is but apparently we are after Ishmail Miller, he has left Oldham after the end of his short term contract with them
Years ago Miller was unplayable at times but he’s 31 now and doesn’t score many. He’s a bit of a poor mans Emile Heskey but would give us an physical presence
Although that said he hasn’t played much in the last 2 years and I think had a year without a club
I am not sure about Miller. He was a handful when we played Oldham a few weeks ago, but his best days are very definitely behind him.
The players I’ve heard us linked to hardly set the pulse racing. I hope Micky is choosing wisely. I’d rather he signed nobody than waste money on another Alabi or Waring.
Miller and Perkins are hardly relatable to Alabi or Waring as they’re both well experienced in the FL above L2. Perkins is also a CM which is a position we could do with a little more depth in the squad (if rumours are true).
That being said, I personally rarely listen to rumours and have complete faith in the Palios’ and MM to do us right on the playing squad side of things.
I agree with Ross. I am unsure about Miller, but all the players we have been linked with have got decent pedigree at this level.
Bowman has now signed for Exeter, so the better sides in the division are shopping in similar market to us.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51422, member: 20″]I hope Micky is choosing wisely. I’d rather he signed nobody than waste money on another Alabi or Waring.[/QUOTE]
Nothing can be as bad as Alabi!
I think we just need to see how this pans out as nothing official has come out yet. You just don’t know with players. Sometimes they can fit certain clubs and although the reported singings don’t sound particularly exhilarating, we need to give them a chance. They could just bring that extra quality that we need.
[QUOTE=”rossb07, post: 51423, member: 6173″]Miller and Perkins are hardly relatable to Alabi or Waring as they’re both well experienced in the FL above L2. Perkins is also a CM which is a position we could do with a little more depth in the squad (if rumours are true).
That being said, I personally rarely listen to rumours and have complete faith in the Palios’ and MM to do us right on the playing squad side of things.[/QUOTE]
Ross, I wish I shared your enthusiasm. Whatever people think of MM as a manager on a day to day basis his recruitment has been poor with Alabi, Waring, Dawson, Rokka, Franklyn and Williams etc. The 2 names mentioned do not excite me but Perkins could make sense for sure (less sure about Miller). Hopefully if we do take them it will only be on short term contracts to season end.
He’s made some poor signings but on the other hand has made some really good signings too. Caprice, Monthe, McCullough, Mullin, Ellis, Smith, Banks. I look at it per season and ask myself is the squad better than last season and are we improving. I would say yes.
Don’t forget those poor signing you mention were not major signings, more like squad players to add some depth, well apart from Alabi who thought he was the next Les Ferdinand.
Keep the faith !
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51434, member: 6185″]Ross, I wish I shared your enthusiasm. Whatever people think of MM as a manager on a day to day basis his recruitment has been poor with Alabi, Waring, Dawson, Rokka, Franklyn and Williams etc. The 2 names mentioned do not excite me but Perkins could make sense for sure (less sure about Miller). Hopefully if we do take them it will only be on short term contracts to season end.[/QUOTE]
How can anyone not have enthusiasm? We’re back in the league, have a very competitive squad consisting of mainly our own players and have an owner/ management team that genuinely care about the club. Not to mention a 3rd round FA cup tie at home to Spurs in around 18 hours!
I’m with Ian in regards to signings and personally feel that there are some on other avenues of social media who want MM to fail and naming those players who didn’t/ haven’t quite made the grade reminded me of that.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51434, member: 6185″]Ross, I wish I shared your enthusiasm. Whatever people think of MM as a manager on a day to day basis his recruitment has been poor with Alabi, Waring, Dawson, Rokka, Franklyn and Williams etc. The 2 names mentioned do not excite me but Perkins could make sense for sure (less sure about Miller). Hopefully if we do take them it will only be on short term contracts to season end.[/QUOTE]
Mellon’s recruitment this season has been very good. Akammadu and Williams were just fringe signings, not key squad members.
Just from having a look at some players who are currently out there as free agents:
[B]Danny Guthrie[/B] – Been playing in Indonesia but now out of contract. Was playing with Blackburn a couple of seasons ago and may look for return to English football now his contract in Indonesia has expired. Premier League experience and could still do a job but may be slightly out of our price range given that a few Championship clubs were touting for him in the summer.
[B]Jay Simpson[/B] – Again another former Premier League player who went to ply his trade in another country, however Simpsons contract with with Philidelphia has been terminated and he’s currently training with Leyton Orient. He did a job for Orient a couple of seasons ago in league two (scored 25 goals) and could be a decent option up front for pace if Nors is to go.
[B]Jordan Mustoe[/B] – A Birkenhead boy who’s been playing in Finland for the past year. Last seen in England playing for Accrington in 2014 but went from there to Westerloo in Belgium where he was a first team regular and then to Finland. He is still only 27 though and maybe one worth looking at on trial (Grimsby were looking at him last year before he went to Finland).
[B]Adil Nabi[/B] – Recently released by Dundee (playing in the Scottish Premiership), Nabi was once regarded as high as Berahino in the West Brom youth set up, being voted their Young Player of the Season for 2014/2015. Peterborough signed him in 2016 where he didn’t play much football and he then moved to Dundee. He scored lots of goals at youth level and maybe lost his way so it would be a gamble…but he’s only 24 and a striker never loses it surely?
More just for interest than doing the scouts job for them! Guthrie could be a coup though…and maybe worth taking a chance on Simpson given he’s still only 30.
yes the recruitment has been very good . and with some extra cash we might get a few more to see
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51437, member: 292″]Mellon’s recruitment this season has been very good. Akammadu and Williams were just fringe signings, not key squad members.[/QUOTE]
You may well be right RLC about those two – though I must confess that wasn’t what I had expected. To bring someone in from Italy with all that entails simply to be a fringe player seems odd to me. Have to confess I also thought Williams would have had enough about him to challenge for a first team spot which clearly hasn #’t happened though I heard recently he is injured – tho never mentioned by MM which I guess proves he is definitely a fringe player….
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51441, member: 6185″]To bring someone in from Italy with all that entails simply to be a fringe player seems odd to me. [/QUOTE]
Why ? We won’t have incurred any costs to bring him here; he will be paid a basic wage, like any other player. I would guess Akammadu and Williams are on buttons, so the cost to the club is minimal.
The core signings in the summer were as follows:
Banks
Mullin
Ellis
Caprice
McCullough
Stockton
Bakayogo
They were all good signings in my view. Stockton is limited but does a useful job, and Zoum has been poor recently but it is too early to write him off. The others have unquestionably been successes.
RLC, Franklyn was signed on a year’s contract so he must have been considered a core signing and he moved from Italy – plus we are putting him up at the Riverhill at over £80/ night and if we were paying his home club buttons as you suggest, given he had a contract in Italy already what is the point of his club releasing him if they only get buttons for him? As to the others, Banks had already played for us and had burnt his bridges with his club so a no brainer. Mullin is not to my mind a “unquestionable success” – he has done ok coming off the bench against tiring teams but done little when starting. Caprice is fine going forward until he has to defend when he is lacking. Ellis has not been a regular until we had injuries/ changed formation. Mc Cullough agreed has done well. Stockton and Bakayogo I also agree with your comments.
You are however forgetting Gilmour who has been relegated to a bench player who was brought in on the same basis as Mc Cullough, George who has been a complete waste of money IMO being no better than our own keepers and Williams who yes may be on buttons but has hardly played. All in all in my book some successes and some failures which am sure MM had hoped would have been better than that.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51448, member: 6185″]RLC, Franklyn was signed on a year’s contract so he must have been considered a core signing and he moved from Italy – plus we are putting him up at the Riverhill at over £80/ night and if we were paying his home club buttons as you suggest, given he had a contract in Italy already what is the point of his club releasing him if they only get buttons for him? As to the others, Banks had already played for us and had burnt his bridges with his club so a no brainer. Mullin is not to my mind a “unquestionable success” – he has done ok coming off the bench against tiring teams but done little when starting. Caprice is fine going forward until he has to defend when he is lacking. Ellis has not been a regular until we had injuries/ changed formation. Mc Cullough agreed has done well. Stockton and Bakayogo I also agree with your comments.
You are however forgetting Gilmour who has been relegated to a bench player who was brought in on the same basis as Mc Cullough, George who has been a complete waste of money IMO being no better than our own keepers and Williams who yes may be on buttons but has hardly played. All in all in my book some successes and some failures which am sure MM had hoped would have been better than that.[/QUOTE]
Disagree with virtually everything you have said. I forgot about Gilmour, who is also a talented player but is young and is still learning the game.
All the players mentioned are capable at League Two level. Who do you honestly think we were in the market to sign last summer on a limited budget ? Top players in the lower leagues like Ferrier, Rowe and Cook were out of our price range and the manager has recruited very well given the limited resources available to him. Perhaps you expected Harry Kane or Christian Eriksen to rock up……….Any player at this level will have some limitations; Roberto Carlos was better going forward than he was defensively, similar to Caprice.
Given your constant criticisms of our players and manager – the most successful we have had in many years – I think you might be supporting the wrong club.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51448, member: 6185″] – plus we are putting him up at the Riverhill at over £80/ night .[/QUOTE]
It does not cost us 80 quid per night – we own the hotel.
He was clearly a ‘wild-card’ signing, which might or might not have come off, similar to Green and Rokka last season. The strikers who were obviously going to be ahead of him in the pecking order – Mullin and Stockton – had already been signed before he arrived.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51448, member: 6185″]Banks had already played for us and had burnt his bridges with his club so a no brainer. .[/QUOTE]
How is it a ‘no-brainer’ ? We still had to identify him when he was out of favour at Oldham.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51448, member: 6185″]Mullin is not to my mind a “unquestionable success” – he has done ok coming off the bench against tiring teams but done little when starting. .[/QUOTE]
Rubbish. He has not started that many games, but was excellent away at Morecambe – to give one example -when he did start. He is not a natural partner for Norwood, but that is a different matter. He is averaging a goal every two games from limited appearances.
more money coming in from coventry city one of are lads gone there compo agreed
ok perkins in on 18 month contract we need some young fast skill full players to . lets give him a warm welcome and see what goes
I think this is just the type of player we need. Experienced, hard worker who will give us that extra bite in the middle. A midfield with Banks, McCullough and Perkins is a decent one at this level.
I’ve no issue with the players MM has brought in this season, though he could be criticised last season for failing to fully recognise Cook’s quality and trying to replace him with inferior players like Alabi and Waring. Even before Norburn left, I felt we were a man light in midfield, so the extension of McCullough’s loan and the recruitment of Perkins may fill that gap. Don’t know how fit he is, as fell out of favour at Rochdale and hasn’t played in a while. However, I would hope that we are able to extend the loan of Harvey Gilmour, who was one of our better players last night.
Perkins must be made up. 36 years old and gets an 18 month deal!!
I’m hoping that 18 months was the only chance we had of getting him so he’ll be very good at our level. I really hope he is fit though as we can’t afford to carry passengers
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51491, member: 211″]Perkins must be made up. 36 years old and gets an 18 month deal!!
I’m hoping that 18 months was the only chance we had of getting him so he’ll be very good at our level. I really hope he is fit though as we can’t afford to carry passengers[/QUOTE]
The only doubt about Perkins is obviously his age. In all other respects, this seems a really good signing as he is exactly the kind of player we need. It is hard to single out individuals, but the number of times Harris simply helped the ball on to nobody last night, rather than showing some composure, was frustrating. Obviously against Spurs failing to keep possession is understandable, but it has happened with Harris too often in league matches this season as well.
I am also pleased that Perkins is not coming on a short term contract, as a longer deal at least gives us a chance to build. Let’s hope the signing works out.
I wonder with perkins being offered 18 months it means we may lose McCulloch in the summer
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51494, member: 911″]I wonder with perkins being offered 18 months it means we may lose McCulloch in the summer[/QUOTE]
They are completely different players, so no, I don’t think so.
Doncaster don’t want McCullough, so it is more likely we will sign him permanently in the summer.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51491, member: 211″]Perkins must be made up. 36 years old and gets an 18 month deal!!
I’m hoping that 18 months was the only chance we had of getting him so he’ll be very good at our level. I really hope he is fit though as we can’t afford to carry passengers[/QUOTE]
Sparky – he already had a 2 year contract from Rochdale until Summer 2020 so all we have done timewise is match what he had before as otherwise he would surely have stayed where he was if we had only offered him a short term contract. Is a difficult one to judge – yes he has played at a higher level but he is already 36 and had lost his place at Rochdale so we will have to see.
According to Matt Jones there will be 3 more signings in the coming days
I don’t think we should be concentrating on age too much. Apparently he’s a really fit guy and works really hard. He’s no doubt lost pace over the years but Im sure he is still good enough at this level.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 51498, member: 1″]I don’t think we should be concentrating on age too much. Apparently he’s a really fit guy and works really hard. He’s no doubt lost pace over the years but Im sure he is still good enough at this level.[/QUOTE]
Rochdale surely would not have offered him a two year deal if they thought he was past it ? Six months ago he was part of the Wigan squad that won League One.
It seems he had a bust-up with Keith Hill, which is why he is coming here.
Sounds good to me!
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51497, member: 196″]According to Matt Jones there will be 3 more signings in the coming days[/QUOTE]
Will be interesting to see who. With that number, you think there may be one or two going out too. Wouldn’t be impressed with Ishmael Miller, who is past his best and hope that the players brought in can put us firmly back in the top seven.
We are four points adrift of the play off position now, so I think it will be tough to make them even with the new additions. I am more concerned about building the squad in the longer term. If we do some good business now and in the summer, hopefully we can push for the top three next season.
Perkins, McCullough and Banks will be a decent midfield. Another striker would be good but quality is the issue. I see Cook scored again. Obvious but no point in filling our boots with ho hum players.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51503, member: 292″]We are four points adrift of the play off position now, so I think it will be tough to make them even with the new additions. I am more concerned about building the squad in the longer term. If we do some good business now and in the summer, hopefully we can push for the top three next season.[/QUOTE]
Four points isn’t that big a margin though. It’s very volatile at the top, Carlisle who we beat fairly comfortably and are currently without a manager, beating Mansfield, apparently one of the best L2 sides to visit PP this season, that pair 4th and 5th in the League. Whether we will claw our way back into play-off contention is hard to call.
The other issue is long-term squad development. Even the long term is a relatively short timespan, if Perkins, a capable player but coming to the end of his career joining Rovers is perceived as for long term. One question which will need to be addressed is how long McNulty can go on playing for and getting a defensive organiser in when he moves on or retires. Good business suggests players with a resale value, so will need to be recruiting at the younger end of the age spectrum.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51505, member: 19″]Four points isn’t that big a margin though. It’s very volatile at the top, Carlisle who we beat fairly comfortably and are currently without a manager, beating Mansfield, apparently one of the best L2 sides to visit PP this season, that pair 4th and 5th in the League. Whether we will claw our way back into play-off contention is hard to call.
The other issue is long-term squad development. Even the long term is a relatively short timespan, if Perkins, a capable player but coming to the end of his career joining Rovers is perceived as for long term. One question which will need to be addressed is how long McNulty can go on playing for and getting a defensive organiser in when he moves on or retires. Good business suggests players with a resale value, so will need to be recruiting at the younger end of the age spectrum.[/QUOTE]
It is not so much the points gap that concerns me, it is more the quality of the sides that are above us. I think Lincoln, MK, Mansfield and Bury are better than us and are nailed on to finish in the top seven. That only leaves three places, and you could argue that Exeter (although we don’t know how they will react to losing Stockley) and FGR are better placed than us to challenge as they are more established at this level. Carlisle are also in great form, although they could be derailed by Sheridan leaving. Which in my mind leaves only a couple of play off places we can realistically challenge for, and there are a lot of teams of similar quality who will be competing for those places. So I think it will be difficult, but not impossible, for us to make the play offs.
When I talk about the long term, I am not just thinking of the eighteen months Perkins is contracted for. He is a better player than a number of other players we have currently, so gradually, incrementally, we are improving the squad. If we finish in a reasonable position this season, with a better squad than we started with last August, we will be more attractive to good, established League players next summer. And so on.
In regard to McNulty and the centre backs, it sounds like we might struggle to hold on to Monthe at the end of the season. He is apparently interesting other clubs, as you would expect, and he does not seem to have settled up here and might want a move down south.
Have to say I raised an eyebrow at the Perkins signing.
But usual social media suggests he comes with nothing but compliments from the fans of his clubs.
He’s Max Power’s son’s godfather?
Good enough reference for me!!
Re our promotion chances, we are still in there but will have to be more clinical in front of goal at home and tighter at the back on our travels. Midfield is now looking stronger but we need someone else to score goals.
Re building a team, this is really difficult when you can only afford to give two-year contracts. Anyone who is any good will move on when it expires. Replacing like with like given our financial resources is virtually impossible, which is why I think mid-table this season would be creditable. Progress, if any, will be slow until we improve our financial position. Yes, the Spurs money will help, but I expect only a fraction to go on new players.
It’ll be interesting over the next few days if we do make a few more signings. I think we only need to tweak it here and there to make us genuine playoff contenders.
We need a better target man than Stockton, but goalscoring is not a major problem for us assuming Norwood stays. Jennings, Mullin and Smith have all got reasonable tallies now and Connor has been excellent since he was moved centrally.
Our goal tally at home needs improving and Norwood may get injured or suspended, so another striker would be useful. However, Perkins’ arrival may lead to more chances being created, particularly at home where we seem to find it difficult to break down defences. If we are to sign two more players, I’d expect one to be a back-up keeper and the other a forward.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51515, member: 20″]Our goal tally at home needs improving and Norwood may get injured or suspended, so another striker would be useful. [/QUOTE]
You are not going to bring in a striker with a better goalscoring average than Mullin or Jennings in the January transfer window. There are other areas of the squad that need be addressed more urgently in my opinion; including a target man up front, rather than a similar type to Norwood or Mullin.
The point RLC makes about continuity is interesting. I think we have Davies, Ellis, Jennings, Banks, Mullin and now Perkins signed into next season. From their forum, Rochdale fans didn’t seem particularly impressed by Perkins or sorry to see him go. Until we’ve seen him in a Rovers shirt a few times, can’t tell if it will be a good signing or not. He’s not a prolific scorer and I don’t know about his creativity. If Monthe isn’t going to be staying, it’s possible we’ll need a new pair in central defence if playing 3 central defenders. However, despite the continuity benefit of recruiting a suitable central defender now, the significant numbers we have on the books currently means there won’t be any additions in the window.
On strikers, we scored 4 at Morecambe when Norwood was suspended, so not too concerned. Not that enthused about Ishmael Miller coming in, though he would offer something different, there must be better options out there? Oldham fans seem fairly ambivalent about his departure.
Back-up keeper? Why bother recall Pilling in that case. The management were confident enough to have Bailey Passant on the bench rather than rush out and get someone in for the Spurs game, so unless Davies picks up a season ending injury this month, would be surprised.
Aside from Passant, it doesn’t seem that we have any youngsters coming through. Players like Spellman, Long and Walker-Rice, who played in the pre-season win at Dunfermline and made the bench at the start of the season have seemingly gone backwards and are nowhere near contention now, which is a bit disappointing.
I’ll be a bit disappointed if Monthe leaves. FGR binned him off and we’ve given him a new lease of life. His CV must be decent – 2 Wembley wins in the NL play offs. That’s football though I guess. But we have Gumbs as a back up to Sutton, Big Mac and Ellis so I don’t think a replacement for manny is the priority if he leaves.
Agree with RLC that a target man is a must. Miller is a real handful to be fair but we’ll never get another cookie who could play the target man role and also get 25 goals a season.
A winger is a must. Tollit has made 3 sub appearances for Wrexham so far and we need more options, especially if we want CJ to play centrally more often.
All of that said, we have another very winnable away game coming up at Cheltenham. I said recently that before and after they beat us, Notts County have been poor. Macc after drawing with us last week, lost at home yesterday. MK Dons have lost Healey to Cardiff so with Exeter losing Stockley too, our rivals are losing players.
I agree with Sparky that Cheltenham is the kind of game we have to win away from home if we are going to make the play offs. We don’t want the gap to the top seven to stretch to six or seven points, even at this stage.
how many times have we said on here that certain games are winnable only to come a cropper Tranmere & winnable games don,t sit well at times
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51502, member: 19″]Will be interesting to see who. With that number, you think there may be one or two going out too. Wouldn’t be impressed with Ishmael Miller, who is past his best and hope that the players brought in can put us firmly back in the top seven.[/QUOTE]
Excited that there could be more signings in the transfer window. You never know if they take-off we could finish the second half of the season with a good run and promotion challenge. I like the idea of Miller joining if still available as many would agree we could do with a genuine target man, and I have never been convinced Stockton fits the brief. Boz says Miller may be past his best, but he is only 31 and played 230 games – so must have a some juice left in the tank – if fit. Perkins is a good signing, but comparatively he has played 600 + games.
we still need some young blood in the team some one who is fast can cross a ball you do have to wonder if we need another CB to put some presure on the boys who are there already . we defo need another forward who will put the lads under presure . also need goals from the certral mid as we dont get mutch from them .
[QUOTE=”Higgy, post: 51528, member: 322″]Excited that there could be more signings in the transfer window. You never know if they take-off we could finish the second half of the season with a good run and promotion challenge. I like the idea of Miller joining if still available as many would agree we could do with a genuine target man, and I have never been convinced Stockton fits the brief. Boz says Miller may be past his best, but he is only 31 and played 230 games – so must have a some juice left in the tank – if fit. Perkins is a good signing, but comparatively he has played 600 + games.[/QUOTE]
The fact that Perkins has played almost double the number of games than Miller for his extra 5 years suggests that either David is fitter or Ishmael more injury prone. Miller only made a handful of appearances for Bury the season before last and was without a club for the whole of last season, before joining Oldham in the summer. Think he’s got about 50 career goals, so averaging a goal every four and a half games, which is a bit below par for a striker. I wasn’t at the 1-1 with Oldham, maybe he did something that day to attract Micky’s attention. Again, I will wait until he’s had a few games for us, if he does sign, to form an opinion, but can’t help having reservations with his history.
I won’t judge players until I have seen them play regularly, but I am with Boz to the extent that the Perkins signing excites me more than Miller. However, I think Miller is being brought here to do a job and give us another tactical option, not because he is likely to score loads of goals.
Elsewhere, Christian Doidge is on his way back to FGR after Bolton failed to pay his transfer fee or honour his contract. Bad news for us, as he will no doubt start smashing them in at League Two level. Bolton really are an appallingly run club, and should have been penalised by now for their financial mismanagement.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51531, member: 292″]However, I think Miller is being brought here to do a job and give us another tactical option, not because he is likely to score loads of goals.[/QUOTE]
Miller’s scoring record is really poor averaging about one goal every six games, although most of these games were at Championship level. Given his age and the fact he has hardly started any games in the last two and a half seasons, he would be a huge risk. I seriously doubt he can be anywhere near match fit, so would expect him to be given a trial (at best). However, if he is as effective as the last Oldham reject we signed (Ollie Banks), I won’t complain.
What we do know is that we need someone to hold up the ball and have ability in the air. Miller will give us that. If we are trying to compare him to our last target man who could also score goals, that’s unreasonable. He may do a very good job for us. I think a lot depends on how he fits into the team and how MM wants him to play. Let’s see how it pans out.
Stockton to Dragons!
Didn’t see that coming.
Must mean a striker on his way to us?
Wrexham make play off final.
Tollit skips round his man, crosses from the right and Cole nods home.
Carlsberg don’t do fairytales……but if they did…..
[QUOTE=”Cowshed Kid, post: 51542, member: 6077″]Stockton to Dragons!
Didn’t see that coming.
Must mean a striker on his way to us?[/QUOTE]
Look what the Wrexham manager said.
“He’s a good hold up player and bigger and stronger than what we’ve got,” Wrexham boss Graham Barrow said.
Must be another Cole Stockton he’s thinking of.
As CK says that is an unexpected move. Whilst Micky has understandably always backed Cole, the statistics don’t lie – his goal record is poor – no matter how much he can hold the ball up with his back to goal. The SWAs recent positive cheers when he was subbed won’t have helped. Then there was his cupping of the ear when he scored but he did get a decent send off in the Morcambe that game when subbed., but 3 days later against Yeovil he was ineffective.
I’m expecting Ishmael Miller will be the one to fill the void for a target man although whether that is a long term solution remains to be seen. Unless Micky has someone else up his sleeve…
Wrexham are desperately short of goals so no surprise they have signed a striker (they brought in Jason Oswell from Morecambe recently too). Will be interesting how he does.
Nors needs a new partner to share the drive to work with.
If he’s stronger than what they’ve got, their current target man needs a few more weetabix!
I actually think Cole can do well at that level as I think it suits his abilities.
I’m expecting an announcement regarding a striker soon..
Well, Ian. Looks like your offer of pints all round if Cole scores 10 this season won’t apply – unless you didn’t specify for which club. 😉 Seriously, you may be right and he’ll score a bag full back in the NL.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51548, member: 20″]Well, Ian. Looks like your offer of pints all round if Cole scores 10 this season won’t apply – unless you didn’t specify for which club. 😉 Seriously, you may be right and he’ll score a bag full back in the NL.[/QUOTE]
I don’t think the actual team was specified so good luck Cole!!
Miller signs till end of season. Gilmour signs permanent contract for 18 months. Pleased about Harvey and will reserve judgement on Ishmael.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51551, member: 20″]Miller signs till end of season. Gilmour signs permanent contract for 18 months. Pleased about Harvey and will reserve judgement on Ishmael.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much my own thoughts. I am delighted with the Gilmour signing as he has got loads of ability and will improve with experience. Although Miller does not set the pulse racing, I think he will be better than Stockton.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51546, member: 211″]As CK says that is an unexpected move. Whilst Micky has understandably always backed Cole, the statistics don’t lie – his goal record is poor – no matter how much he can hold the ball up with his back to goal. The SWAs recent positive cheers when he was subbed won’t have helped. Then there was his cupping of the ear when he scored but he did get a decent send off in the Morcambe that game when subbed., but 3 days later against Yeovil he was ineffective.
I’m expecting Ishmael Miller will be the one to fill the void for a target man although whether that is a long term solution remains to be seen. Unless Micky has someone else up his sleeve…
Wrexham are desperately short of goals so no surprise they have signed a striker (they brought in Jason Oswell from Morecambe recently too). Will be interesting how he does.
Nors needs a new partner to share the drive to work with.[/QUOTE]
I am glad Cole has moved for his sake and the club’s. With the constant debate about him here, there was a danger of the situation becoming toxic again. I don’t think he will ever be good enough for us, in all honesty.
He has been prolific at National League level in the past, so it will be interesting to see how he gets on.
Good luck to Stockton it just hasn’t worked out for him this season, happy with Gilmour signing, time will tell over Miller.
I heard that Sutton is going to Morecambe and that Norwood was not in training today, make of that what you will
Boz, take your point re number of games, but at the end of the day, as good as he is likely to be, Perkins has played 600+ games and that is deemed a good signing. So why not Miller unless he has known fitness issues? His limited appearances maybe down to not fitting into other sides style of play……we’ll wait and see. If we have previously seen Stockton as a make-shift target man, then we surely needed to get something sorted in that regard. Fingers crossed Miller will do the business on the pitch. – and in the changing room.
Always nice to see new faces. We all know about Gilmour which is good news so let’s hope Miller settles in well.
[QUOTE=”Higgy, post: 51555, member: 322″]Boz, take your point re number of games, but at the end of the day, as good as he is likely to be, Perkins has played 600+ games and that is deemed a good signing. So why not Miller unless he has known fitness issues? His limited appearances maybe down to not fitting into other sides style of play……we’ll wait and see. If we have previously seen Stockton as a make-shift target man, then we surely needed to get something sorted in that regard. Fingers crossed Miller will do the business on the pitch. – and in the changing room.[/QUOTE]
Higgy, as you say, we’ll see. Miller missed all of the season before last, whether through fitness issues or unable to get a club, I’ve no idea. Unsure if he is a traditional target man though.
Pleased about the Gilmour signing and hope the move to Wrexham works out for Stockton. There is mention of another player coming in too.
Will still need more signings. Gilmour was already with us and has been out of the side recently apart from Spurs.
Miller is a straight swap for Cole so apart from Perkins the squad numbers are the same albeit with a bit more quality perhaps.
Still hoping a decent wide player comes in. Plus a striker if big Marts rumours are true about Nors.
Matt Jones has confirmed one more player will be coming in. A youngster from Man Utd has been rumoured, who I think is a wide player.
glad happy gill is staying . also happy cole has got away . he wont be back at this club again . i know his mum and she says he hates the fans . and his confidence is shot . he has wanted away for ages . gotta give miller a chance
Just to add to the rumour mill, Southend manager Chris Powell was at PP on Friday night watching Norwood
I think there will be bigger fish than Southend after Norwood. Was Powell watching Jennings ?
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51562, member: 292″]I think there will be bigger fish than Southend after Norwood. Was Powell watching Jennings ?[/QUOTE]
Very possibly RLC – or both of them.
God, I hope Norwood stays. I’m trying to be positive, but realistically we’re screwed without him!
[QUOTE=”Chris Johnston, post: 51564, member: 6212″]God, I hope Norwood stays. I’m trying to be positive, but realistically we’re screwed without him![/QUOTE]
Agree – it’s mid table at best without him. Which wouldn’t be a disaster I guess and not a shock if he does go sadly
I’d obviously prefer Norwood to stay, but don’t think we’re a one man team.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51565, member: 211″]Agree – it’s mid table at best without him. Which wouldn’t be a disaster I guess and not a shock if he does go sadly[/QUOTE]
Without his 16 goals, we will have scored fewer goals than anyone in the league. It would be such a shame, as it would be a real blow to the club’s progress.
Having said that, good luck to him, he owes us nothing.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51566, member: 19″]I’d obviously prefer Norwood to stay, but don’t think we’re a one man team.[/QUOTE]
There is no way we would be promoted without Norwood. It is not just his goals we would miss, but his all round game, which is phenomenal for this level. We have not got anybody else in the squad who has the same dynamism, or that can stretch teams in the way Nors does.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51566, member: 19″]I’d obviously prefer Norwood to stay, but don’t think we’re a one man team.[/QUOTE]
That’s pushing optimism to its limits
We are a one man team when it comes to goal threat and having an outlet. He also is our first defender, in the same way as Ian Rush used to Harry defenders…his work rate is amazing.
One man does not make a team, but he is massive for us, and it would be catastrophic to lose him.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51558, member: 211″]Will still need more signings. Gilmour was already with us and has been out of the side recently apart from Spurs.
Miller is a straight swap for Cole so apart from Perkins the squad numbers are the same albeit with a bit more quality perhaps.
Still hoping a decent wide player comes in. Plus a striker if big Marts rumours are true about Nors.[/QUOTE]
Actually, Sparky, as things stand we have a much smaller squad than a month ago. Two new players in Perkins and Miller, but four players leaving (George, Williams, DMH and Stockton). The news about McCullough and Gilmour is welcome but they don’t add to the numbers. That means we are currently two short – in fact, three less while Tollitt is away.
So, that means the monthly wage bill has probably gone down a bit, despite the promise of more money from the cup run for players. My take is that we are going to see at least two more arrivals – maybe three if Sutton goes – and the way the wages are being trimmed, I would not be surprised to see at least one marquee signing. I’ve no evidence for this, but I would not be surprised.
Matt Jones, who is generally right on these things, has said there will be one new arrival. I am not sure we will see another two or three players come in to be honest. I would doubt there will be a marquee signing, as a lot of the money from the cup matches has been diverted to other projects, and it is difficult to make those kind of signings at this time of year.
The squad may be slightly smaller, but none of the four players BBTC mentions were regulars or added much to the general quality, so I would be happy with a leaner, but more effective squad.
I would guess Perkins and Miller are on much better wages than the likes of Williams and DMH.
I think we should brace ourselves for the worst with Norwood. I cannot see now we would be able to hold onto him if better offers come his way. I have no idea how we could replace him, certainly not in the short term but I’m writing this with fingers crossed!
Looking at the squad now, until we know how Miller and Perkins fit in it’s difficult to know how far we are from challenging in this league but I certainly think they’ll make a positive difference.
I agree Ian. let us all stay positive. Change is eternal and we just have roll with it. Certainly Miller and Perkins should make a difference. Spurs was just one of those things. There are three leagues in the Premier League. The top six, the middle eight and the bottom six. Our game was against one of the top six whose team is worth zillions.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51575, member: 292″]
I would guess Perkins and Miller are on much better wages than the likes of Williams and DMH.[/QUOTE]Agreed, but Stockton and George are now off the wage bill. One more player won’t be paid a lot more than those two combined, unless it’s a marquee player. So there would be virtually no change to the playing budget.
And BTW, who is to be the new reserve keeper? Surely not Bayleigh Passant.
I doubt we were paying much, if anything, for George, Williams and DMH though. Two were youth loans and the other is a player who was on a short term deal with no prior fitness.
However we judge them in the next few months, Perkins and Miller are experienced pros who have played at higher levels for most of their careers. I just don’t get the impression there will be much money left once they are accounted for.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51579, member: 20″]
And BTW, who is to be the new reserve keeper? Surely not Bayleigh Passant.[/QUOTE]
Have you seen him play? Could be the next Gordon Banks for all I know!
Luke Pilling has been recalled from Ashton, so presumably him. Paddy Wharton now out at Stalybridge.
With DMH and Tollitt going, coupled with Smith’s injury, could do with another wide player, ideally with some pace. It doesn’t sound like Ben has been pulling up trees at Wrexham, so unsure if they’d want to extend his loan period.
Re Norwood, I thought the indication from Mark Palios was he’d stay until the end of the season. If that’s changed and we take a fee for him now, the expectation would be for some of that money to go back into the playing budget. Could Mullin fill the gap if he goes or would we be in the market for another striker? Mullin’s done ok for us so far and may get to play more of his natural role when not making adjustments to play alongside Norwood.
Hadn’t realised Williams had left. On his past record it was worth giving him a try, shame it didn’t come to anything.
I don’t think it has been announced that Williams has gone, but I assume he won’t be staying.
Williams was on a short-term contract, which expires this month. If renewed, I’m sure we would have heard.
Happy to see Pilling back as number two keeper and his recall will add a little to the wage bill.
Interesting to see winger from Man U if it happens. But if Norwood does go, heaven forbid, we will need yet another…..presumably as back up to a potential front two combo of Miller/Mullin.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51588, member: 20″]
Happy to see Pilling back as number two keeper and his recall will add a little to the wage bill.[/QUOTE]
and Paddy Wharton has gone back to Stalybridge on loan for the rest of the season who seem delighted to have him back. I suspect Wharton may well be the long term better bet over Pilling so we will have the benefit of seeing how he does in senior football rather than warming the bench. Good luck to him – when I last saw him play against Northwich he looked very solid in the air and made some great saves but on the other hand gifted a goal with a poor clearance…
I think we’ve probably got the best set of keepers for a long time. Davies always gives me confidence while Pilling, Wharton and Passant all seem real prospects. It will be interesting to see how they develop, although inevitably I expect one or two may be on their way at the end of the season.
I think the jury is still out on the keepers to be honest. Wharton seems to be the most promising, but both of them have had setbacks in the last few months, although that is probably to be expected with youngsters. If Davies got injured we would actually be in a bit of short term bother.
Besides Davies, I have no confidence at all in our keepers
My friend watches Marine home & away, said Paddy did ok & was slightly disappointed to see him go although he was surprised he got the number 1 jersey in the first place from their established keeper.
It does not sound like Stockton and Tollitt were great tonight for Wrexham, for whom the wheels seem to have fallen off.
Wrexham were already 2-0 down when they came on as subs, but as you indicate didn’t make much impresssion. Their next game is the last of Tollitt’s loan spell, wonder if Ben will be back after that.
Adam Mekki involved in the build-up to Bromley’s second goal.
Tollitt probably hasn’t been given enough time considering his first team action with us was very limited this season however those injuries have had a huge impact on him.
Stockton at least has a chance to impress for the remainder of the season and I’m sure he’ll get a handful of goals before the seasons out.
gotta feel for ben he just needs games . as for the dragons there fans are non to happy
Sutton move to Morecambe confirmed. Permanent deal as well.
How fortunes change. A few weeks back if anyone was likely to go, permanent or loan, you would likely have said Ellis.
Indeed and TBH I am a bit confused by this. Manny has done well this season yes but Steve is not getting any younger and Ellis is doing ok at moment but not sure he is better than Sutton. I assume that MM thinks he can get better in the summer and wasn’t planning to extend his contract… we shall see but wish him well for sure!
Just seen Saun Donellan has had his contract terminated by mutual consent so I assume MM isn’t waiting until the close season?
I’m disappointed by this. I’ve always thought he was our best centre half apart from Big Mac. Monthe has done well this season but Richie also chips in with a goal every now and then too.
At 32 he will have wanted guaranteed first team football and even with us playing 3 centre halves recently he’s been behind Steve, Manny and Ellis.
So I can see it from Richies point of view but I’m a bit gutted to be honest
I,m gutted as well but a couple of seasons ago was on the verge of joining chester. seems to be a strong character
From Ritchie’s point of view can understand the move, near guaranteed game time if he stays fit.From a Rovers perspective it’s harder to call. As a defender, he does the basics well and contributes the odd goal, not checked but can’t recall any of the current central trio scoring this season? Weakness is his distribution. Unless Gumbs or Long are under consideration, the only other player who looks comfortable in central defence is Buxton. If we’re continuing playing 3 central defenders, would think might be looking at bringing someone else in.
Bit mixed on this one. I liked Sutton, always gave 100% but in terms of quality, probably not one for the future as we look to improve.
We have also apparently been in contact with Spurs over the loan signing of Shilow Tracey. Think he’s a winger but not sure what his natural position is.
I’m confused too. We now have hardly any cover at centre-back, except Gumbs or Buxton. If Buxton, we have no cover at right back! He has been given away on a free transfer, so the only reason seems to be to save his wages, unless we are hoping to sign someone better, which I doubt. Our monthly wage bill must now be below what it was earlier in the season, even if we sign one more player. Is all the cup revenue going to reduce our debt and fund repairs and maintenance? I thought Micky was getting an increased playing budget not a smaller one.
Good luck to Ritchie. I always liked him. He always gave his all in defence and scored some valuable goals.
I think this is probably the right decision. If we are trying to build a squad that will be at top-end League Two / League One standard in the next couple of years, Ritchie is not quite good enough. He has generally been at Conference or low-end League Two sides, and I think Ellis has a slightly better CV. Neither player is good on the ball, but Ellis is more mobile and has looked good this season. As has been mentioned, we will miss Sutton’s goals from set plays. No other defender has scored this season, as far as I am aware.
I don’t think you can assume that because more players have departed than arrived, that our wage bill has gone down or even stayed the same. A player like Perkins, who has been in The Championship most of his career, while be on better wages than those we picked up in non-league. Palios has said extra money was made available, and I think you have to trust him.
I see the moves in this window as part of the longer term process of moving on players who are not quite up to the standard we need now, and I would guess Stockton, Harris and probably Tollitt will all go in the summer, possibly along with one or two others.
Good luck to Ritchie.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51608, member: 20″]I’m confused too. We now have hardly any cover at centre-back, except Gumbs or Buxton. If Buxton, we have no cover at right back! [/QUOTE]
I think it is one area of the squad where we have good cover. We have got four senior centre backs competing for two or three positions (McNulty, Monthe, Ellis, Buxton) with Gumbs as cover if needed. Even if we play three at the back, that is sufficient.
If Buxton can’t play at right back, then Caprice will.
A good, honest professional who served the club well ,but with the success that Monthe has been having all season combined with the improvement of late of Ellis this move was perhaps inevitable, Thanks for your service to TRFC Ritchie and good luck for the future.
RLC just saved me a lot of time in front of a keyboard as I agree with ever sentiment, except maybe for Ben who I still feel is young enough to bounce back although having reviewed every twitter commentary at Wrexham he’s not set the world alight. Long injury return is natural though as he doesn’t seem to have lost pace, maybe just confidence. I’ve always been pretty much vanilla with Stockton, no issues with him as a partner for Nors. Haven’t we only lost one game when he’s started or something? Probably Swindon away when Jay was sent off but too lazy to check, lol. I do think we’re incrementally improving the squad & Jay will potentially be a victim as maybe Sutts has been, but he leaves us as one of the immortals from Wembley even though he didn’t last the entire match.
I suppose this is just a natural way of moving on. The club is going places and we need players that will take us into the next phase. I wish Sutton all the best with his new club.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51611, member: 292″]I think it is one area of the squad where we have good cover. We have got four senior centre backs competing for two or three positions (McNulty, Monthe, Ellis, Buxton) with Gumbs as cover if needed. Even if we play three at the back, that is sufficient.
If Buxton can’t play at right back, then Caprice will.[/QUOTE]Sorry, RLC, we are going to have to disagree on this one. We started the season with 4 central defenders plus 2 extras in Buxton and Gumbs. That was when we played two at the back. We now have just 3 regular stoppers plus Buxton and Gumbs, when we need 3 to play and ideally one on the bench. We only need an injury and a suspension and we will be threadbare. Unlike the last three seasons, we can no longer bring in loanees at short notice to fill such gaps. Ritchie may have been in his last season with us anyway, but surely keeping him on for a few more months would not have cost much. I am sure there is some logic in letting a contracted player go on a free without a replacement. It’s just that I can’t see it.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51621, member: 20″]Sorry, RLC, we are going to have to disagree on this one. We started the season with 4 central defenders plus 2 extras in Buxton and Gumbs. That was when we played two at the back. We now have just 3 regular stoppers plus Buxton and Gumbs, when we need 3 to play and ideally one on the bench. We only need an injury and a suspension and we will be threadbare. Unlike the last three seasons, we can no longer bring in loanees at short notice to fill such gaps. I am sure there is some logic in letting a contracted player go on a free without a replacement. It’s just that I can’t see it.[/QUOTE]
I don’t necessarily think we will be playing three at the back all season; we have done it recently to try and shore things up away from home, but we won’t necessarily use it in all circumstances.
However, even if we do, we have got five central defenders (I think Buxton’s best position at this level is as a centre back in a back three, rather than at right back) to cover three positions, which is ample in my view.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51622, member: 292″]I don’t necessarily think we will be playing three at the back all season; we have done it recently to try and shore things up away from home, but we won’t necessarily use it in all circumstances.
However, even if we do, we have got five central defenders (I think Buxton’s best position at this level is as a centre back in a back three, rather than at right back) to cover three positions, which is ample in my view.[/QUOTE]
I just hope you are right.
The more I think about this the more I think the agitation must have come from Ritchie who had seen the writing on the wall in terms of not having his contract renewed at the season end and when there was an opportunity for a guaranteed further one year’s contract with Morecambe he was 100% up for it.
That is all well and good, and it shows a nice touch for us to agree to let him go given he has gone on a free but surely this assumes we are confident we can get significantly better. The issue with that is in the summer there will be lots of other competition for clearly better players so we may need to pay a fee. Secondly, we must surely be looking for at least 2 CB’s given even if Steve is offered another contract surely we should be looking for his long term replacement in the close season and Gumbs doesn’t seem to be favoured by MM either so doubt he will be offered a further contract as he has basically done nothing this season. Final issue is we are also relying on MM’s recruitment – I still have nightmares about McEveley who he brought in and who was supposedly a decent level player.
Just seen Saun Donellan has had his contract terminated by mutual consent so I assume MM isn’t waiting until the close season?
So has MM had him lined up for a while and would he be a replacement for Sutton. I note he is relatively inexperienced himself….24 games for Yeovil? Gumbs might see it ad a blow.
Why this link with Donnellan? Not a player I’m familiar with and curious as to what makes people think we’ll sign him as opposed to others who’ve ended their contracts early.
He had his contract mutually terminated around 4 days before Sutton went to Morecambe.
I don’t get how because his contract has now been cut short that we’re in for him. Last time i checked there were more clubs than Rovers at this level.
Does have some experience at this level though.
I have been told Norwood is going to sign an 18 month deal next week, possibly on monday
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51636, member: 19″]Why this link with Donnellan? Not a player I’m familiar with and curious as to what makes people think we’ll sign him as opposed to others who’ve ended their contracts early.[/QUOTE]
Boz, ADD had posted something earlier indicating MM may have Donellan in mind? Hence the question.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 51603, member: 6185″]Just seen Saun Donellan has had his contract terminated by mutual consent so I assume MM isn’t waiting until the close season?[/QUOTE]
Thanks Higgy. Perhaps ADD can throw some more light on the Donellan situation. Has Micky worked with him before?
I think it was a Twitter rumour ?
Only club I’ve seen him linked with is Rochdale to fill the gap McGinehey left moving to Scunthorpe.
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51639, member: 196″]I have been told Norwood is going to sign an 18 month deal next week, possibly on monday[/QUOTE]
I hope this is true, anyone know if this is the case?
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51639, member: 196″]I have been told Norwood is going to sign an 18 month deal next week, possibly on monday[/QUOTE]
Of course, we all hope it’s true, although we’ve heard similar rumours before. You wonder why the delay. However, if it is true, then full marks to the club for pulling out all the stops to persuade Nors to sign and to Nors for his loyalty to the club and faith in its future. This would give everyone associated with TRFC a huge boost. It would also explain why this window’s activity has been so disappointing, as I expect he’ll be getting a big pay rise. 😉
Give him [B][I]anything [/I][/B]he wants!
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51649, member: 20″]Of course, we all hope it’s true, although we’ve heard similar rumours before. You wonder why the delay. However, if it is true, then full marks to the club for pulling out all the stops to persuade Nors to sign and to Nors for his loyalty to the club and faith in its future. This would give everyone associated with TRFC a huge boost. It would also explain why this window’s activity has been so disappointing, as I expect he’ll be getting a big pay rise. ;)[/QUOTE]
I would not say the activity in this window has been disappointing. Perkins and Miller should both be better than what we already have and to get Gilmour permanently was excellent.
totally agree will take miller over cole .( not that im having a go at cole ) realy wish it had worked for him at rovers but some times the shoe don,t fit. ok perkins is getting on but if he gets the job done who cares . and if he passes some stuff on to young happy Gilmour and helps him get even better then great . can see a couple more comming in . will have to wait and see
Strong rumours now that Norwood is set to sign on Mon, 18-month contract as bigmart alludes to above.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if this comes about. A real shot in the arm for all SWA.
If the Spurs money has been instrumental in any deal then we owe Connor J a huge pat on the back!!
Well if he breaks his leg on Saturday then the deal is off!!
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51656, member: 211″]Well if he breaks his leg on Saturday then the deal is off!![/QUOTE]
I’d rather have him play for us with one leg than some of the other players we’ve signed. 😉
I would guess that even if Norwood signs he will still go in the summer, but at least we will be guaranteed a substantial fee for him.
would be superb if true . love the lad great player .
If we can get s decent wide man and keep Norwood it will have been an excellent window.
[QUOTE=”drwhoman, post: 51662, member: 74″]If we can get s decent wide man and keep Norwood it will have been an excellent window.[/QUOTE]
We’ve got a very good wide man in defence already thanks!
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51659, member: 292″]I would guess that even if Norwood signs he will still go in the summer, but at least we will be guaranteed a substantial fee for him.[/QUOTE]
Would that not depend on whether we get promoted or not? Otherwise, he is losing money as the club he signs for will have to pay a transfer fee meaning less wages for the player. You are making it sound a very unselfish act of loyalty.
My guess is that he would like to stay, particularly on higher wages, but wants to keep his options open. However, he may still go if we get a good offer in the summer, but it’s no longer a given.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51664, member: 20″]Would that not depend on whether we get promoted or not? Otherwise, he is losing money as the club he signs for will have to pay a transfer fee meaning less wages for the player. You are making it sound a very unselfish act of loyalty.
My guess is that he would like to stay, particularly on higher wages, but wants to keep his options open. However, he may still go if we get a good offer in the summer, but it’s no longer a given.[/QUOTE]
It is exactly what Koumas did a number of years ago. He signed a new long term deal which inflated his transfer value, but he was gone within a couple of months. I think Norwood does feel some loyalty to the club, or he would simply have refused to sign. It is not as if he will be short of offers in the summer.
I think he could still go even if we are promoted, depending on the size of club that comes in for him. If a club like Sunderland or Portsmouth came in for him, they could probably offer three times what we are paying, regardless of what division we are in.
Larnell Cole reported to have left the club by mutual consent. Now that’s a real shame in my book, a talented player who gives us a different option.
well im shocked . never given a propper chance . always looked ok or good . thank you for that goal in the playoffs last year . good luck for the future . now you would think mm has some one lined up to come in
[QUOTE=”aldoes mustache, post: 51726, member: 6141″]well im shocked . never given a propper chance . always looked ok or good . thank you for that goal in the playoffs last year . good luck for the future . now you would think mm has some one lined up to come in[/QUOTE]
I hope so. Perhaps MM thinks that CJ and Gilmour will play ahead of him in that number 10 type role so he would be very limited in respect of game time.
I’m a bit surprised at this, comfortable on the ball and could do the unexpected. Perhaps an issue with fitness/work-rate?
He’s getting very limited chances at Rovers. He needs to go and play regularly. Decent player on his day but a bit too hit and miss IMO.
That is an odd one altho maybe not. He never really established himself in the starting 11. Even tho he was excellent in some our early season home wins against the big guns, especially when playing behind Nors.
You look at his career and clearly he has talent coming thru the MU academy. But he’s never settled anywhere so can only assume he has issues with attitude. Almost another version of Adam Dawson. Clearly talented but not right in the head.
He’s one of those who perhaps is a bit of a luxury player
I don’t quite get all the negativity elsewhere in letting him go. OK, he had a few decent games early on but it’s not like he’s been playing regularly. I wonder how many more games he would have played in this season? I can count them on one hand.
I guess it’s another example of the promotion winning team moving on. Sutton left last week and altho the hairs still stand up when I think of Larnies play off clincher against Ebbsfleet, life goes on and we have to look towards who can take us to league one.
I must say I was expecting much more positive news from the club today. However, Larnell has hardly made the bench recently, so must have been frustrated. Clearly he was unhappy and Micky would not have agreed to his release if he felt he was needed or couldn’t be replaced. Ryan Williams’ departure was expected by everyone. He has hardly featured.
Although there is currently plenty of quality in all departments, a run of injuries and suspensions would stretch the squad. We could probably do with a couple more players, although if Micky just blows the budget on Nors, I’ll forgive him. 😉
Whilst Williams won’t have cost much, the likes of him and Akmanndu do seem a waste of a wage
Will be interesting when Cole and Williams end up. Warrington Town maybe?!
Ryan Williams confirmed as gone too, no big surprise there.
I agree with BBTC, very good side if all the first choice are available, but might have to improvise or change formation if some key players aren’t available. Almost a given that Banks, Norwood and Perkins will be banned at some point.
On Cole, he had good ball control and was capable of doing the unexpected. He featured in two of our best home performances, wins v Crawley and Exeter. Talk of him going to Port Vale or Macc.
A bit disappointed about Cole as our best performances of the season came when he played in the hole, in the games Boz mentions above. I would guess the problem was that unless we played that system which suited him perfectly, he could be pretty anonymous. Mellon probably wants more consistency and adaptability.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51736, member: 19″]
On Cole, he had good ball control and was capable of doing the unexpected. He featured in two of our best home performances, wins v Crawley and Exeter. Talk of him going to Port Vale or Macc.[/QUOTE]He’ll surely get a deal with some club in League Two – and probably come back to haunt us. 🙁
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51735, member: 211″]Whilst Williams won’t have cost much, the likes of him and Akmanndu do seem a waste of a wage
Will be interesting when Cole and Williams end up. Warrington Town maybe?![/QUOTE]
Not where Williams will end up, but i would be surprised if Cole didn’t do better than Warrington. I think he should get a L2 club. I did like him in the “hole” role and i thinl he may have the potential to make L1 level at some stage.
It would be good to see at leadt one more signing.
thought he was excellent against Exeter and hoped he would grasp the chance to establish himself but seemed a bit laid back. shame but we move on
A bit surprised about Cole but MM is not hanging around. Anyone remotely surplus is leaving. The Italian boy as well ? It may well be that we will see a winger signing probably on loan. Might depend on how long Smith will be out?
yes good williams has gone wast of time now send Akmannadu packing as well . there must be one or two comming in you would think
Drwhoman, Smith was on the bench at the weekend, so presumably fit again. I would still like to see another wide player coming in though
Akammadu is playing for the reserves at Stockport Town tonight, so is going nowhere for the moment.
[QUOTE=”aldoes mustache, post: 51744, member: 6141″]yes good williams has gone wast of time now send Akmannadu packing as well . there must be one or two comming in you would think[/QUOTE]
As RLC said he played against Stockport so going nowhere plus he is on a season long loan so we can’t get rid even if we wanted to. Incidentally no first team squad members played in that game which I thought was slightly strange and Pilling also did not play. Thought MM may have wanted to see him in action in real game?
Any more speculation about Norwood? I’ve learned never to hold my breath when I hear a TRFC transfer rumour.
Hmm, it’s all gone a bit quiet although they do say no news is good news!
Thankfully though Nors himself hasn’t gone to ground – he’s still happily tweeting away.
I suppose if he just doesn’t go in the window then that itself is good news.
[QUOTE=”Cowshed Kid, post: 51750, member: 6077″]Thankfully though Nors himself hasn’t gone to ground – he’s still happily tweeting away.
[/QUOTE]Yes, but the fact he doesn’t mention the new contract makes me wonder if it’s just fake news. 🙁
Also talk that Harris might be on the way.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 51752, member: 1″]Also talk that Harris might be on the way.[/QUOTE]
Wouldn’t be a surprise. With Perkins coming in and Gilmour signing permanently, Jays chances of first team action are limited.
At his age he’ll want to play every week and he might be released at the end of the season. Like Sutton he could easily get an 18 month deal somewhere. Maybe he’ll go back to Wrexham
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51748, member: 20″]Any more speculation about Norwood? I’ve learned never to hold my breath when I hear a TRFC transfer rumour.[/QUOTE]
the person who told me he was signing and it was to be yesterday has said he has pulled out of signing, no reason given or any other information
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51754, member: 196″]the person who told me he was signing and it was to be yesterday has said he has pulled out of signing, no reason given or any other information[/QUOTE]
All rumours and hearsay but wouldn’t surprise me if someone has come in and offered him mega money compared to what he’s been on before.
I can’t see him staying now. And I am wondering if Micky was waiting to see how much money he had left after Nors’ new deal. If there is to be no new deal, hopefully he can now spend a bit more on a couple of decent players.
Also talk of Manny leaving for pastures new. All rumour of course..
Would assume there would be a fee involved if Monthe were to leave and we’d have to bring someone else in at the back. However unless he’s so unhappy up here, won’t stick the season out, it seems unlikely.
Harris is improving. While unlikely to be offered a contract extension, we were a bit short of midfield options until Perkins came in effectively as the late Norburn replacement, so a bit riskyto let go.
Looks like back to plan A with Norwood, keep until the season end then try and persuade to sign up sgain. Realistically that’s unlikely to happen.
With Norwood not extending and the mooted further signings not coming to fruition, it’s put a dampener on things after the good performance at Chelte
The squad is still stronger than this time a week ago, so no need for negativity IMO. The only player I have been disappointed to lose is Cole, although I can see the reasons behind the decision. I still think there might be some further movement in the days ahead.
Agreed as of now, the squad is stronger even with Cole’s departure. However all the current talk seems to be of players leaving. Maybe there’s a nice surprise pending incomer that’s gone under the radar
thats the transfer window for you the sooner its gone the better . at the end of the day players come and go thats lower lg footie and we better get used to it again
We are looking at the bigger picture here and as long as the strong is improving.. Currently we are stronger than we were at the start of the season, so I’m happy with that.
It will never be big strides, but small steps will see us improve gradually.
Now Akammadu has gone. This must be part of a clearout to release funds for something. But what, I don’t know.
Seems strange MM bothered to play him against Stockport but he clearly hadn’t impressed so good we weren’t stuck with him for the whole season.
cant say im suprised realy a waste of a wage and pointless having him to play a few reserve games . you would think one or two must be coming in as we look short on numbers if we start getting injiured or banned . but its good some of the passengers are being shipped out . so thats 7 players gone and 2 in mm and mp must have somthing going on .
Ben Tollitt’s loan at Wrexham extended by a month. He gets regular sub appearances there, but don’t think he’s started for them yet.
Akammadu didn’t really seem anything more than a squad player to make up the numbers.
Who’s next out of the door…
The likes of Williams and Akammadu were probably cheap ‘punts’. If they succeed, great, but if not, not much lost. As others have said, will be interesting to see what happens now. Fantastic if more money is available to convince Norwood but would numbers still be a problem? We are half way through the season so maybe Mm thinks not. We seem to have cover for most positions other than a winger and goalie.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51763, member: 20″]Now Akammadu has gone. This must be part of a clearout to release funds for something. But what, I don’t know.[/QUOTE]
I don’t necessarily think there are substantial funds available. A lot of the players who have left will have been on low wages and a player like Perkins won’t have come cheap. I would not be surprised if the financial impact of the incomings and outgoings is pretty much neutral.
Fair comment RLC. The other thought is that if there is any spare cash then there might be a case for delaying until the summer when there will be more players available who are, hopefully. of the required standard.
George Waring has just returned too by the looks of things. Seems he’s the one we’ve not managed to permanently offload despite our best attempts. If he goes I’d say our squad cleansing is pretty much sorted although I agree about Larnell reservations. Keen to see whether Ben gets more playing time this month at Wrexham, for the fact it’s just a one month extension hopefully suggests he’s still in MM’s future plans.
[QUOTE=”Mungy’s Hairdresser, post: 51771, member: 6143″]George Waring has just returned too by the looks of things. Seems he’s the one we’ve not managed to permanently offload despite our best attempts. If he goes I’d say our squad cleansing is pretty much sorted although I agree about Larnell reservations. Keen to see whether Ben gets more playing time this month at Wrexham, for the fact it’s just a one month extension hopefully suggests he’s still in MM’s future plans.[/QUOTE]
Well that’s a disappointment Mungy, hoped he would have done enough there to have been signed at least for the rest of the season but if even a NLN side don’t want to extend his loan then that sums it up really.
On related news let’s hope Ben can push on now at Wrexham amd actually start games – indeed I wonder if the reason for the slight delay in him not been extended straight away was discussion on the lines of yes you can extend the loan but only if he is going to be a starter? After all, from our perspective the last month hasn’t really been that successful given he has only been playing 15-20 minutes a game….
Wherever he ends up the lad just needs game time. A good solid run without injuries to build up his confidence again.
yes just hope he gets some now at the Dragons
Lincoln have signed Cian Bolger for a fee, a decent defender and loaned two players from Championship sides, one being the other Danny Rowe. Shows what we’re up against financially.
Shows they mean business and the signing of Danny Rowe the winger is an excellent one as he’s a great player. A proper winger. Wouldn’t have surprised me if we were interested but he’ll be on decent money
Rowe was there last season and hit the ground running so no brainer for them to be interested again.
Lincoln is quite centrally located too so will attract ‘Southerners’ more than the likes of us would be able to.
Lincoln is geographically quite isolated. I suspect the money they can offer is more of an attraction!
They’ve got a great team now Lincoln and have gone from a team reliant on long balls to carthorse Rhead to a slick, passing team. Cowley is doing a great job.
Judging by reports, I still think Lincoln are pretty direct and physical in their approach, but certainly have a different class of player to the team which beat us to the National League title a couple of years ago. I would argue their squad was a lot poorer than ours back then.
After years in the doldrums, Lincoln City are one of the best run, best financed and best supported clubs in Leagues One and Two. However, I believe a huge proportion of their recent growth and success is down to the Cowley brothers and I wonder what will happen when eventually they move on. While TRFC would find MM difficult to replace, I think Danny Cowley’s departure would hit the Imps harder.
We’re made up with the cup money we’ve received this season, Imps got to quarter finals two years back? Serious money.
Kudos to Cowleys for remaining loyal when there must have been offers on the table.
Have stopped refreshing Twitter every 5 mins for Nors news. It seems there’s no planned discussions with him til transfer window closed.
He was back to his best at Cheltenham, I believe for the cause rather than the shop window.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51775, member: 19″]Lincoln have signed Cian Bolger for a fee, a decent defender and loaned two players from Championship sides, one being the other Danny Rowe. Shows what we’re up against financially.[/QUOTE]
They sold over 6000 season tickets in the summer and have quite a large average attendance
[QUOTE=”bigmart, post: 51793, member: 196″]They sold over 6000 season tickets in the summer and have quite a large average attendance[/QUOTE]
You’re agreeing with me then;)!
The Lincoln story is an interesting one, as their dramatic increase in attendances was almost entirely the result of their FA Cup run in 2016-17. Prior to that season they had averaged 2,500 for a number of years; now their average is 8,000 plus.
It is unusual for a club to turn casual supporters into regular fans on the back of a handful of matches, but Lincoln have managed it. Shades of what happened at Rovers in the late Eighties.
its great for them but unlike us who have two huge clubs on our door step . they dont so most of there fans are there for them . so good on em . but look at rovers last season we had 1800 st ticket holders and this season 3500 so we are doing ok i think its 19% increase on our avg home crowds this season . again tomorrow gonna be healthy already 5100 pre sales so gonna be nearing 6k again
AM, I was not comparing Lincoln’s crowds to our own, I was just emphasising that there is a special chemistry at that club at the moment between owners, manager and supporters which is unusual in football, and is similar to what we had with Kingy thirty years ago.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51797, member: 292″]AM, I was not comparing Lincoln’s crowds to our own, I was just emphasising that there is a special chemistry at that club at the moment between owners, manager and supporters which is unusual in football, and is similar to what we had with Kingy thirty years ago.[/QUOTE]
RLC, but don’t you feel it’s a little bit like that now at TRFC? Gates are on the up – season tickets and casual, away support is strong, links with the community are better than ever, SWA2 has taken off, we have our most popular manager in about 20 years and it’s all led by one of the most respected men in football and surely our most popular ever owners.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51798, member: 20″]RLC, but don’t you feel it’s a little bit like that now at TRFC? Gates are on the up – season tickets and casual, away support is strong, links with the community are better than ever, SWA2 has taken off, we have our most popular manager in about 20 years and it’s all led by one of the most respected men in football and surely our most popular ever owners.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but as I said, I am not comparing our present situation with Lincoln’s……….
Our crowds have increased, but not by 400%. We are having success, but not our greatest success in a generation. We are still below the level we were playing at five years ago.
By contrast, Lincoln are arguably having the most successful period in their history, so what is happening there is more comparable to our situation in the eighties, when crowds went from 1,500 to 8,000 virtually overnight, and the whole profile of the club was radically changed in a few years.
Of course, we have a better recent history than Lincoln’s, so we have further to go to recapture the glory days of the nineties and early noughties.
i think we are having some thin special . the crowds are up the buzz around the ground is great . we have very good owners and manager . all positive . but yes Lincoln,s is great . its great that two clubs are having a bit of boom time . shame more good clubs cant follow what both teams are doing . us and lincoln can both show other owners that doing things the right way is a good way of doing things. there are loads of clubs like macc . bolton . the hartleppol .chester . orient all run bad or had bad owners . it just goes to show what the palioses and the trust are doing for us at the mo are all in the right way. and what the lincoln,s owners and managers are doing as well
There is a long way to go but we are certainly moving in the right direction. When I look back at the many bleak years we suffered topped off by relegation out of the football league, they were some dark, dark days. The club was dying and rotten inside. Look at the difference a few years later. Long may it continue. The crowds have been amazing really, even in the conference as poor as the football was, we were getting decent gates.
one thing i like at the games is seeing so much kids in the ground loads of mums and dads in all in there footie shirts . we need more of it the little ones are the clubs future . we need to get into more schools and get more youngsters into the ground . my little one loves going and we have taken her little mate a few times and even she nages her dad about going week in week out . the more the club can do now gives them a better future .
hi AM I went to a players signing day a couple of years ago with my 2 grandsons and got talking to mark/Nicola palios he asked how long I had been coming to rovers and said it was the harry Leyland days anyway I said mark played for rovers what position they asked inside forward came the reply after some translation they worked out he played centre mid in new money as others have said we may not be top of the league but were in safe hands
Talk of a press conference this afternoon, I wonder if this is going to announce a new arrival.
[QUOTE=”Charlton1975, post: 51864, member: 267″]Talk of a press conference this afternoon, I wonder if this is going to announce a new arrival.[/QUOTE]
Yes 4pm. I wonder if it’ll be Nors putting pen to paper
Hopefully, and put this saga behind us….for a while!
Well not quite, but we have Mellon for another 2 years so that’s good news!
And Ben Pringle has arrived.. Midfielder i think.
[MEDIA=twitter]1087730733404303362[/MEDIA]
Good news about Mellon staying until May 2021, but not sure it needed the hype of a press conference
not sure we need any more midfielders, seems he,s also played on the wing
Ben Pringle doesn’t seem to be viewed as a great loss by Grimsby fans. The positive is that he’s good at set-pieces, but lacks pace. Can play wide left but more often in central midfield. Bit puzzled at his recruitment given we’ve signed Perkins and Gilmour already.
Given that MM saved the club by getting us out of the NL he certainly deserved a press conference.
fair comment but does he deserve a 2.5yr extension? our player recruitment at times seems a lot of hit & miss
Time will tell with Pringle but he seems to be very experienced (aged 29) unlike some of the younger unproven loanees we have had in the past. I imagine MM has a better sense of what he might offer. I hope it is positive. It may be as well that the pool of prospective loanees is shrinking as the end of the window approaches.
We will see with the length of MM’s contract but I am not sure we want him being tempted to go elsewhere if someone
were to come with a similar offer. At aged 46 he probably wants stability of employment. We can put hope that as our finances improve the club can be more measured in its player recruitment. As has been said, there have been some duds amongst some good signings!
I can picture Pringle having seen him a few times in his Rotherham days.
He’s not your typical winger I.e small and quick. He’s quite tall and not the quickest but does our decent delivery in.
If only we had a decent target man who could benefit as altho miller is injured, he’s never been a player who scores many headers
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51874, member: 911″]does he deserve a 2.5yr extension? our player recruitment at times seems a lot of hit & miss[/QUOTE]
The man who got us promoted out of that dreadful league. Too right he does! You can pick out individual signings but everyone manager has hits and misses. I don’t believe we would get anyone better than MM at this moment of time to take us forward.
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51874, member: 911″]fair comment but does he deserve a 2.5yr extension? our player recruitment at times seems a lot of hit & miss[/QUOTE]
Yes he does and his recruitment has been good this season. Incredible post.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51872, member: 19″]Ben Pringle doesn’t seem to be viewed as a great loss by Grimsby fans. The positive is that he’s good at set-pieces, but lacks pace. Can play wide left but more often in central midfield. Bit puzzled at his recruitment given we’ve signed Perkins and Gilmour already.[/QUOTE]
Pringle is a quality player. He was a key player for Rotherham when they won back to back promotions. I agree we don’t really need another midfielder, but I think this a case of getting a good player in while he is still available. It also suggests Harris may be on his way out fairly soon.
[QUOTE=”frenchrover, post: 51870, member: 856″]Good news about Mellon staying until May 2021, but not sure it needed the hype of a press conference[/QUOTE]
I don’t see why not. It is a good news story – for most of us anyway – and Palios has always valued communication with the supporters.
Never said it wasn’t a good news story….for ALL of us. And yes Palios is good at communicating with the fans but calling a Press Conference to announce a contract extension was, in my humble opinion, a bit over the top.
I respect your view frenchrover but your comments beg the question as to when does a Manager deserve a press conference? I am sure that we would all be very happy if, for example, James Norwood was signing a new contract at one.So why not the Manager who has helped him to get where he is? Anyway, he has signed so let us see how we go. I suspect the Spurs money has given M & N P the confidence to offer MM a longer term contract. Our greatest ever Manager, Johnny King, who, as an aside, was also a former player, probably had one, although I am not certain of the facts. I am sure one or two fellow bloggers will know the answer in this latter regard!
I suppose this all pales into insignificance when you read about the poor young man who thought he was going to sign for Cardiff for 15m being lost in a plane over the Channel Islands. Very very sad for everyone involved.
The extension of the manager’s contract also allows Palios and Mellon to talk about the long term, rather than just going from game to game, which Micky does in his regular press meetings.
Agreeing terms with Mellon is a significant event, particularly when you consider what has happened to our friends over the Welsh border in the last couple of seasons. Mellon would be sought after by other clubs at this level.
Micky’s contract extension has to be seen as a positive in that he must be reasonably confident the Palioi can deliver the resources he feels he needs to improve the club. It also gives us greater stability and reduces the risk of Micky being poached by another club as RLC indicates.
Personally would have deferred the announcement until the close of the transfer window, as some would have been expecting player related news when the press conference was called today.
Let’s face it, this club’s two most important assets are Nors and Micky. Everyone else would be easier to replace. So tying down MM is a coup. Surely the manager should have a longer contract than any of the players so he can confidently plan for the future. Most of the activity so far this year has looked short term, so I’m very pleased. If we can nail Nors, that would be amazing, but I’m not holding out much hope.
I’m excited by the signing of Pringle. I’m told he’s not very tall but is a good jumper 😉 and now I’m expecting a crisp finish to all our moves. 😉 😉
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51886, member: 19″]Micky’s contract extension has to be seen as a positive in that he must be reasonably confident the Palioi can deliver the resources he feels he needs to improve the club. .[/QUOTE]
A very good point Boz. Mellon would not commit to the club if he did not think he would be backed financially; his comments in pre-season make that clear.
He has had healthy budgets wherever he has worked, and has delivered success.
im glad mm is staying . we have had enough manages to sink a boat the last few years so its great to get him sorted just get nors done and move on still think we are a forward light
Interesting that it sounds from Micky’s comments that Pringle has very much been brought in to play out wide. That gives us the option to go back to 442, and means that Smith could come back into the reckoning as well.
That’s good news as to be honest we are moving backwards with the 532 setup. Especially at home, we should be setup positive to attack the opposition not witness what we had for the first 45 on Sat.
I think Micky needs to throw caution to the wind a little. Those first couple of weeks back in the league were hugely competitive games. Let’s get the ball on the floor, get our passing game going again and hurt the opposition. We were setup for a drubbing on Sat and in this league, you’ll get punished quickly.
Fight fire with fire I say!
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51898, member: 292″]Interesting that it sounds from Micky’s comments that Pringle has very much been brought in to play out wide. That gives us the option to go back to 442, and means that Smith could come back into the reckoning as well.[/QUOTE]
….. and could also mean curtains for Ben Tollitt’s career at TRFC. I think he’ll have to do well at Wrexham to demonstrate he has any future with us. I would love to see him playing at his best again, but sadly those days may be over.
[QUOTE=”bring back the cowshed!, post: 51902, member: 20″]….. and could also mean curtains for Ben Tollitt’s career at TRFC. I think he’ll have to do well at Wrexham to demonstrate he has any future with us. I would love to see him playing at his best again, but sadly those days may be over.[/QUOTE]
Yes in the press conference Micky made some comment like we need wingers and I felt like shouting “give Tollit a run of games”!! It’s a shame for him but that’s football.
Jonny Smith is one of our most creative players. He’s scored a few goals and creates others too. I can see why he hasn’t featured in the 5-3-2 but think he is a player we should always start, especially at home when looking to attack.
the grimsby fans are mixed lots of em seem pissed he is gone and a few are happy he is gone . its about time we had a dead ball player . hope be can beat the first player. lol
This is a beautiful thing..
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[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51903, member: 211″]Yes in the press conference Micky made some comment like we need wingers and I felt like shouting “give Tollit a run of games”!! It’s a shame for him but that’s football.
Jonny Smith is one of our most creative players. He’s scored a few goals and creates others too. I can see why he hasn’t featured in the 5-3-2 but think he is a player we should always start, especially at home when looking to attack.[/QUOTE]
Smith is one of my favourite players and it will be good to see him back in the side if we do switch to 442. He was in good form just before Christmas, and was unfortunate that we had to change system because of the number of goals we were conceding on the road. We could potentially have Pringle whipping in crosses with his left foot from one wing, and Smith cutting inside to shoot on his left from the other flank, which is quite mouth watering.
I would still stick with 532 away from home though, certainly at a place like Mansfield. Our away performances and results have improved since we changed to five at the back.
but we need to be more forward thinking we sit back to mutch . and get bullied we need to push em back for a change . we need smith playing with a little freedom .
It will be interesting seeing what combinations Micky comes up with. It’s a decent squad now, perhaps need an injection of pace. I agree with RLC that the 532 makes sense for the tougher away games, but hopefully different more adventurous formations, using the two wingers players get tried at home.
The dilemma is I think he won’t want to change formations for whether we are home or away.
I agree 5-3-2 works bette away from home but we need the likes of Smith in the side especially at home
And I’m 99% sure Ben Pringle won’t fit into a 5-3-2
Attacking width at home & maybe narrower counter attacking on the road utilising wing backs. Might just be coincidence but MM seems to succeed with the smoke & mirrors approach of changing things up to confuse the opposing scouts maybe. When we maintain a consistent tactical approach we seem to get found out, hence a lack of consistency in results.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 51909, member: 211″]The dilemma is I think he won’t want to change formations for whether we are home or away.
[/QUOTE]
I think he might have to now though, or several players are going to be redundant.
I think Perkins suits a midfield three, as he is not really enough of a ball winner to play on his own alongside Banks. I think we will still need McCullough as a holding player. However, Pringle won’t fit into a 532 formation and really needs to play in a four man midfield with genuine width.
Pringle can play central midfield and has done so quite frequently in his career, although it’s clear that Micky bought him primarily to play out wide.
Perkins isn’t really a ball-winning midfielder as RLC notes, so maybe there still is an occasional role for Harris. With both of these additions, can’t see Gilmour getting much of a look in atm. Interesting problems for the manager to weigh up, but much better than having a threadbare squad and having to use defenders like Buxton in midfield.
George Waring finally leaves the club on a permanent basis by mutual consent.
What a waste of a wage
Miller needs surgery on his hamstring.
Won’t see him for a while.
Our remarkable injury record continues.
[QUOTE=”Cowshed Kid, post: 51914, member: 6077″]Miller needs surgery on his hamstring.
Won’t see him for a while.
Our remarkable injury record continues.[/QUOTE]
So with Miller out, Cole out on loan, Waring released, Akmanndu gone, that only leaves Nors and Mullin as recognised strikers not including Jennings.
We’ve just signed a winger in Pringle so need someone who is strong in the air
I see MM is still seeking new signings. It looks as if he will need a loanee striker until the end of the season. Miller may well be out for a couple of months. You just could not pick our luck!
I would still hope3 to see 2 or 3 new signings in before the window closes
We certainly have our fair share of bad luck! Stockton might be having a wry smile although he may not necessarily have been the type of forward to benefit on the end of Pringle’s much revered crosses. So the next recruit will potentially be a specialist old school centre forward I guess….
Gutted about Miller, but I would not be tempted to bring Stockton back. I would rather make do with what we have.
I was just wondering whether we might look for another replacement now that Miller is ruled out for a couple of months maybe?
Mellon said in his interview that he will bring a striker in if there is one available. However, I doubt that will be easy with only one week of the transfer window remaining.
Seems a shame to have a wand of a left foot as described by a Grimsby fan without having a natural target man but maybe Nors will benefit. Seems he’s not a worker so Ridehalgh might not receive much support in a 442. We shall see.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51919, member: 292″]Gutted about Miller, but I would not be tempted to bring Stockton back. I would rather make do with what we have.[/QUOTE]
At present that means Norwood with Mullin, thought to be too similar or Jennings just behind Norwood. Smith has played up front occasionally, but doubt he’s the stamina to last a full game. Unless Pringle is deployed as a false no 9 or Micky comes up with an other innovative formation, then we’re limited. Isn’t an out of form striker in Stockton arguably better than nothing? The ideal would be getting a new striker in, but agree that’s a fairly slim prospect so late into the window.
My impression was that Miller wasn’t that strong in the air, but Norwood may benefit from quality crosses as MH suggests.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51925, member: 19″] Isn’t an out of form striker in Stockton arguably better than nothing? .[/QUOTE]
I think it is debatable. Yes, we can play slightly differently with Stockton up front, but he just does not have the quality.
The Mullin / Norwood partnership might improve with a better supply from midfield and the wide areas. Plus, the need for a link player to hold the ball and allow us to get up the pitch should decrease now we have got better footballers in midfield.
well as we say its never easy being a trfc fan . we dont do easy . gota feel for miller . mullin might get the run he needs now
That’s really unfortunate news about Miller. But we do need a replacement in to bolster the forward line. It’s refreshing to hear we are still looking for new faces.
looks like the ash Taylor rumour has bit the dust
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51932, member: 911″]looks like the ash Taylor rumour has bit the dust[/QUOTE]
Good! that would have been a real backward step for the team in my opinion
George Waring signs for Chester to solve their goal scoring problems.
Yes noticed that, also notice neither Stockton nor Tollitt even made the bench today for Wrexham
Saw this pop up just before.
Anyone know anything?
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Looks like Carlisle have let the cat out of the bag there?
Now he does look like a coup if it’s true.
Why would Pressley say that other than to keep his fans in the loop.
Interesting.
Christ! I misread that last name,!!!!![ATTACH=full]79[/ATTACH]
Haha, I think even he is too old to play for Rovers now!
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 51968, member: 1″]Haha, I think even he is too old to play for Rovers now![/QUOTE]
He’s only 45!
Gooders was 45…….but he was a centre half!
I’m not sure how he is as a player, but he seems to have had a career playing remarkably few first team games!
[URL]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Edgar_(soccer)[/URL]
I may be completely wrong but this looks like another iffy one if there is any truth in the story.
We are just looking at him in training. If don’t think it is anything to be concerned about. Players like Akammadu, Williams and this bloke are just wild cards; cheap signings where it is great if they are a success, and no great loss if they are not.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 51982, member: 292″]We are just looking at him in training. If don’t think it is anything to be concerned about. Players like Akammadu, Williams and this bloke are just wild cards; cheap signings where it is great if they are a success, and no great loss if they are not.[/QUOTE]
Worth a punt I suppose given his pedigree and unlikely to be a big hit to the budget. Hope he turns out to be decent enough to supplement the central defence. Seems to have chipped in with the odd goal at previous clubs.
makes the decision to release Sutton puzzling unless this lad is cheap as chips
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51987, member: 911″]makes the decision to release Sutton puzzling unless this lad is cheap as chips[/QUOTE]
See my comment on the Mansfield threat regarding the suggestion Micky and Richie had a big fall-out.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 51988, member: 19″]See my comment on the Mansfield threat regarding the suggestion Micky and Richie had a big fall-out.[/QUOTE]
I am not certain that is actually true to be honest. For example, the Cook falling out was public knowledge for ages whereas the Sutton story has come out of nowhere. But who knows.
I’ve no idea of it’s accuracy either. However Sutton fell out with Brabin and is educated to degree level. Could imagine him standing his ground in any argument.
I thought it very strange that he moved as he did – so maybe there was something there – even more of a shame if true as we could do with him now
In the long term I don’t think Sutton is good enough for a promotion chasing team, regardless of the circumstances of his departure.
he ,s no worse than than the players MM is picking since he left us
RLC and Keep the Faith – in reality you are both right – he is not noticeably better (or worse) than the other defenders we currently have. Having lost his place and IF there had been an argument about it with MM then it makes sense he would look to go ASAP and he got an extra year from Morecambe. The reality in my book is that Manny is perhaps the only defender we have that is good enough to be playing for a promotion chasing side next year. That said, if he was here now I would likely be selecting him and Manny as CB’s on Saturday so in my book we have a fractionally worse back line whatever the reason for his departure.
the lad we have training with us is 31 not 45 its a different player with the same sounding name . with stevvvvvvv getting subbed the last few games . makes you wonder if . its the end of the road for him teams are playing to his weakness and think mm might be thinking the same .
Don’t think Steve has lost his pace – he’s never had any!
It may be that with his style he can only play well every week up to a certain level which may well be the national league. Surprised the likes of Salford haven’t come in and offered him something just to get them up
While I agree that there is little to choose between Sutton and Ellis, neither of them or in all probability McNulty in the current phase of his career are likely to cut it at L1 level.
seems we have signed Kieron morris on loan from Walsall a midfielder cum winger according to the other forum
[QUOTE=”keep the faith, post: 51994, member: 911″]he ,s no worse than than the players MM is picking since he left us[/QUOTE]
Which in itself would still not be a reason to hold on to him.
Manny is clearly better than Sutton. Defensively there is not much to choose between Ritchie, Buxton and Ellis. However, Ellis is more mobile and Buxton is more skilful which is probably why Mellon preferred to keep them.
Boz is right to say that most of the current defenders would not cut it at a higher level, but in a sense that is the whole point of the transfer. We are moving out players who are not good enough in the long term and replacing them, and that can’t be done overnight. It is a gradual process and players will come and go in the next couple of years. You can query the merits of certain individuals, but broadly it is the correct strategy.
Yep, another midfielder/winger brought in.
Got to say I’m head scratching at that one.
I think we could still do with another wide option, particularly if he is quick. While we need to strengthen up front and at the back, those players are not necessarily available at this time. At least, not the ones of the quality that we need.
He has made 26 appearances in L1 this season so clearly Keates has some time for him. An experienced player which is good.
if im right . when mm was in his last season at shrewsbury . he had loads of midfilders . and he liked getting them . we have been screaming for more creative in the centre of the park so if they do it who cares we need another defender and a forward in now then lets move on
Sounds like a lot of appearances were from the bench this season but highly thought of there. As he signs we tweet a goal he scores with the caption this is what we hope for. Obviously the Palioli rightly go after ever promo opportunity as a money generator for the club but this equally heaps on expectation towards MM & the players. I often think this is where the fault line has been this season between decades old fans like me & the newbies or casuals who believe in the hype. My belief is in incremental improvement which our current regime is achieving. I just feel that sometimes the club’s promo on social media can be disadvantageous when delivering certain comments. Keep it informative but exclude the Solar Campus collaborative video to music prior to the Mansfield game maybe?
spot on MH as long as we stay up I,ll be quite happy FGR struggled last season and now seem to have gotten to grips with the league, palios saying we had such a budget and is aiming for promotion this season has given some fans an unrealistic outlook
Incremental & realistic progress is what it’s all about rather than week to week promotional nonsense. For sure, encourage positive news where appropriate but don’t over hype expectation as it’s rarely worked favourably!
In terms of the playing squad, I’m not sure what else MM can do. He’s on a limited budget, is trying to improve the squad whilst getting rid of players that are not going to drive us forward. I think Micky had made another good recruitment in Kieron Morris. I think he has a lot of quality at this level. Then you’ve got to fit these players into a team, make them gel whilst still getting results. I think we just have to be patient.
It seems people are quick to jump down his throat when we get beat or make a poor signing. Like I say, we are improving steadily and I think this year had been a good year. Considering where we were three years ago.. Does anyone realistically expect Rovers to be fighting for promotion in their first year back in the league with our budget and limitations?
While I don’t want to write the season off as there are plenty of games to go, I’d be happy with a top ten/mid table finish and then some more improvement to help us build for a challenge next season. I’m confident MM is the man to do this. Let’s get behind him!
TBH I still harbour reservations about MM’s recruitment capabilities and focus as to me we are crying out for better defenders as we have now been found out big time after our great start to the season. Instead we are bringing in more wingers/ midfielders. I agree however that given we are newly promoted we are behind the curve in terms of recruitment as we had to wait until we had got some L2 payments whereas others could recruit over last Summer. MM could do little about that.
The reality is that we are realistically looking (if we have the money) at wholesale squad changes. The players who could be suitable IMO for a Promotion push/ L1 are limited in my view to Norwood, Jennings, Banks, Gilmour (assuming he develops), Perkins, Pringle, Miller (if he stays fit), Morris and debateably Davies. A completely new first choice backline therefore is needed in my book. Whether we have the money for that or not I have no way of knowing.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 52009, member: 6185″]TBH I still harbour reservations about MM’s recruitment capabilities and focus as to me we are crying out for better defenders as we have now been found out big time after our great start to the season. Instead we are bringing in more wingers/ midfielders. I agree however that given we are newly promoted we are behind the curve in terms of recruitment as we had to wait until we had got some L2 payments whereas others could recruit over last Summer. MM could do little about that.
The reality is that we are realistically looking (if we have the money) at wholesale squad changes. The players who could be suitable IMO for a Promotion push/ L1 are limited in my view to Norwood, Jennings, Banks, Gilmour (assuming he develops), Perkins, Pringle, Miller (if he stays fit), Morris and debateably Davies. A completely new first choice backline therefore is needed in my book. Whether we have the money for that or not I have no way of knowing.[/QUOTE]
I agree, though without being disrespectful I cannot understand why MacNulty and Buxton haven’t been told/helped to lose weight. They both have the ability, but are two yards behind when it goes over them. They would be like new signings, and it is odd how this has not been addressed.
McNulty has lost a hell of a lot of weight over the few years we’ve had him. He was massive when we signed him! He will never be quick. I would agree though that looking ahead and wanting to improve we need quicker defenders as the pace and movement up front becomes more intense at higher levels. You can even see the difference in some of the top teams in this division.
A defender!
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[I]Former millwall youth team captain and has been on loan and played a bit at Swindon this season already but didn’t play at PP last week.
6 foot 1 and gives us some cover with Sutton gone. You do wonder if for the first time in his SWA career Big Mac [/I]isn’t first choice….
Sounds like a battler in the Clint Hill mould, Swindon fans seem to like him.
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 52009, member: 6185″]TBH I still harbour reservations about MM’s recruitment capabilities and focus as to me we are crying out for better defenders as we have now been found out big time after our great start to the season. Instead we are bringing in more wingers/ midfielders. I agree however that given we are newly promoted we are behind the curve in terms of recruitment as we had to wait until we had got some L2 payments whereas others could recruit over last Summer. MM could do little about that.
The reality is that we are realistically looking (if we have the money) at wholesale squad changes. The players who could be suitable IMO for a Promotion push/ L1 are limited in my view to Norwood, Jennings, Banks, Gilmour (assuming he develops), Perkins, Pringle, Miller (if he stays fit), Morris and debateably Davies. A completely new first choice backline therefore is needed in my book. Whether we have the money for that or not I have no way of knowing.[/QUOTE]
There is not a magic player tree we can pick from whenever we choose. We can only recruit players when they are available, and they are often unavailable for a whole host of reasons. I would guess we have brought in creative players in this window because we are able to sign individuals of the right quality and price, and because they might not have been free in the summer. If there were no defenders available that would improve the squad, it is right that we did not bring bodies in for the sake of it. The recruitment process we are going through is exactly what Lincoln and FGR did in the last couple of years. Even when it is complete, some of our supporters need a reality check. We have a wage budget of £1.8 million, compared to several other clubs with a budget of £3 million plus. There is no guarantee that we will be promoted in the next few years, and if we aren’t it doesn’t necessarily mean that Mellon and Palios have ‘failed’.
We are only ‘crying out’ for defenders now because the midfield issues are starting to be addressed. A few weeks ago, when we had Harris, DMH and Tollitt in the side, we were equally desperate for midfielders and wide men.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 52015, member: 292″]There is not a magic player tree we can pick from whenever we choose. We can only recruit players when they are available, and they are often unavailable for a whole host of reasons. I would guess we have brought in creative players in this window because we are able to bring individuals of the right quality and price, and because they might not have been free in the summer. If there were no defenders available that would improve the squad , it is right that we did not bring bodies in for the sake of it. The recruitment process we are going through is exactly what Lincoln and FGR did in the last couple of years. Even when it is complete, some of our supporters need a reality check. We have a wage budget of £1.8 million, compared to several other clubs with a budget of £3 million plus. There is no guarantee that we will be promoted in the next few years, and if we aren’t it doesn’t necessarily meant that Mellon and Palios have ‘failed’.[/QUOTE]
RLC – please reread my post – I said we are behind the curve as we are newly promoted so had less money to spend and I also said I had no idea if we had enough money to replace the back 4 so at least I am spared the reality check accusation:)
Great news, gives us options and hopefully freshen the back line up a bit. I am happy with Caprice or Buxton at right back, but our left back area is a real concern. Ridehalgh isnt good enough. The Cheltenham and Mansfield forwards had very easy games against him and he was caught out too many times, having to make fouls in dangerous areas.
Such a shame that Eddie Clarke didnt stick around, as he looked like the sort of player who could play that wing back type role in a 5, and also play in a 4. It would be great to see Zoom get back to his early season form, however that looks like it may be a tough ask.
Sounds like Nelson was a bit of a cult hero at Swindon. He is out of contract in the summer, so there is s possibility of a permanent deal as well. Some of the Millwall fans think he should still be in their team, which is encouraging.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 52011, member: 1″]McNulty has lost a hell of a lot of weight over the few years we’ve had him. He was massive when we signed him! He will never be quick. I would agree though that looking ahead and wanting to improve we need quicker defenders as the pace and movement up front becomes more intense at higher levels. You can even see the difference in some of the top teams in this division.[/QUOTE]
Crikey, I didn’t really notice, though have just googled some older pics and you are right. Still, if that was my job, I think I’d manage to trim up even more if it helped my knees. He’s got a good touch, and has been solid for us.
surely coming from the south micky won,t keep him on the bench
We’re getting there piece by piece, yes loanees but hopefully those who fulfill expectation may stay a little longer. Just a replacement centre forward required now in the Miller mould I guess!
yes very happy with young sid we needed that hope he will help steady the ship can see big steve getting a seat for the next few games . matt jones has said a forward is comming in just have to wait and see it cant be a loan as i think we are at the limit .
[QUOTE=”ADD, post: 52009, member: 6185″]The players who could be suitable IMO for a Promotion push/ L1 are limited in my view to Norwood, Jennings, Banks, Gilmour (assuming he develops), Perkins, Pringle, Miller (if he stays fit), Morris and debateably Davies.[/QUOTE]
I would actually agree with all of those, but would add that we should definitely offer Smith a permanent deal in the summer, and we would obviously want to extend Monthe’s contract. I also think Caprice is good enough to be here in the longer term, because of his attacking qualities in a back five.
With regard to the rest of the defence, I would probably offer Buxton another year depending on who is available in the summer. Nelson will also hopefully prove to be a good signing and stay permanently. I don’t think either of the current left backs are good enough.
[QUOTE=”Rockfords Love Child, post: 52024, member: 292″]I would actually agree with all of those, but would add that we should definitely offer Smith a permanent deal in the summer, and we would obviously want to extend Monthe’s contract. I also think Caprice is good enough to be here in the longer term, because of his attacking qualities in a back five.
With regard to the rest of the defence, I would probably offer Buxton another year depending on who is available in the summer. Nelson will also hopefully prove to be a good signing and stay permanently. I don’t think either of the current left backs are good enough.[/QUOTE]
Smith you are right – I had assumed he would be going back, Monthe probably yes – Caprice I get your point if we do play 5 at the back but I feel if we get the defence right then MM will play 442 and Caprice is then exposed as his defending is poor.
Sid Nelson sounds from what I am reading to be a great acquisition – even if Milwall do offer him a new contract which is probably likely it will be great to see for the rest of this season how a CB with pace will transform our defence…. here’s hoping anyhow!!
I think McCullough and Mullin are also good enough, the latter as a squad player at least.
Great minds,RLC! :)Was just posting Mullin is probably capable enough for a promotion campaign at this level on what I’ve seen so far. Miller’s so injury prone that I’d view him as a stop-gap, although like Stockton he was better when the ball was played to feet.
Of the loanees, I’d certainly keep Smith and McCulloch if that option available. On the face of it, the others look decent, but will have to see in action. With Banks out, would expect to see Pringle in a central midfield role and if he does a good job, Banks may not walk straight back in.
Nors being linked with Charlton who’ve just lost their star striker
Couple of agents saying that Charlton are going to loan in Mo Eisa as Grants replacement.
[QUOTE=”Sparky, post: 52028, member: 211″]Nors being linked with Charlton who’ve just lost their star striker[/QUOTE]
Charlton have Lyle Taylor so not sure Nors would get in to the side.
lets just get tomorrow out the way and enjoy him for a few more months . think he might be gone in the summer . a hero a legend . we all love him and if he gets a massive payday . we cant begrudge him that . after what he has given the super white army
Srtriker incoming apparently ..
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 52039, member: 1″]Srtriker incoming apparently ..[/QUOTE]
Chris Dagnall??
Haven’t seen anything suggesting Dagnall is coming to us, only that both he and Sang have had their contracts ended with Bury by mutual consent.
Dagnall is not a target man similar to the strikers we already have. Struggling to see the point if it’s him.
[QUOTE=”Boz, post: 52043, member: 19″]Dagnall is not a target man similar to the strikers we already have. Struggling to see the point if it’s him.[/QUOTE]
Agree totally. We’ve signed wingers so let’s get someone with some aerial threat in
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Agreed. Dagnall seems to be doing the rounds.
If it’s Messi I’m booking my Wembley tickets now ! 😀
just some one who can score will do
Dagnall it is then, not sure what to make of it before i see how he features in the lineup but it adds something different in a sense to the attacking options.
Dagnall signs till the end of the aeason. An odd signing as he’s similar to Nors and Mullin except he’s not as prolific.
Yes he’ll run about a lot and work hard but is it what we need? Unless Nors is moving on…..
We need height. Eugene Dadi available?!
What’s with the former player obsession? Not particuarly impressed as I never rated him years ago. Just have to hope it works out.
I guess it’s only for a few months and he gives us another option.
I just think if we’ve signed wingers any didn’t we go for someone with an aerial presence
sparky EUGENE DADI now your talking loved him!!!!!
Your career is pretty much over when you add this to your profile:
[QUOTE]Dagnall went on to play for Indian side Kerala Blasters and Scottish side Hibernian[/QUOTE]
It’s all a little bit mix and match, isn’t it? I’m sure MM has brought in the best he can but not sure where it leaves us in term of a settled formation. We have the wingers but no target man for them
to hit (without decrying Nors’ undoubted aerial ability) and 3 busy, hard-working type strikers who may be more suited to the through-ball than the cross. It’s going to be interesting to see how
MM puts his jigsaw puzzle together.
Delighted with the loan signing of Sid Nelson and massive credit to Ishmael Miller who has supposedly agreed to forego his wages while out injured. If true this is pretty amazing!
it could be an inspired signing or smacks of desperation hope it,s the former
Has scored. 130 goals in over 400 league games. A vastly experienced striker. Worth a punt for six months. As has been said here before, the player market is more limited than in June. Maybe that Cook type striker was nor available. I doubt Dagnll would have been signed if Miller had not been injured.
Yes, that’s an amazing gesture by Miller to forego his wages whilst injured so as to free up budget. Not many would do that regardless of whether they can afford it.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 52054, member: 1″]
Your career is pretty much over when you add this to your profile:
[/QUOTE]
There is nothing wrong with Hibs ! 😉
Mellon has said that Miller was the only ‘physical’ striker that we could reasonably recruit, which explains why we could not replace him at short notice. I think Dagnell has been brought in to bump up the numbers. We have only got two specialist strikers at the moment, which leaves us quite vulnerable.
I must admit, I don’t really understand some of the negative comments about Dagnell. The Bury fans don’t say he was poor for them, just that he was not on the same level as Maynard and co., and he has had a good career, particularly his time at Rochdale. I think Little was daft to release him first time around.
[QUOTE=”drwhoman, post: 52088, member: 74″]
I agree about Dagnall BBTC. I got to a few more games in his early days when visiting my now deceased father who was a big Rovers fan. I thought he had the potential to have a really top career. He has done well but not as well as he might have done.
[/QUOTE]
In fairness to Dagnall, he had a better career than a lot of the strikers we had after his departure. I still think we should have been more patient with him.
[QUOTE=”Ian, post: 52068, member: 1″]
Is Mullin more of an impact player as he seems to drift if played from the start but has greater impact coming from the bench?
[/QUOTE]
I am not sure that is entirely fair. How many games has he actually started ? Not too many. At Morecambe he played the full ninety minutes and was outstanding, and he was good against Exeter and Crawley as well.
I think the real issue is that he is not a natural partner for Norwood, so Mellon has always preferred to play Nors plus A.N.Other.