and so it begins..

[Rockford's Love Child]

From the Mansfield forum it sounds like he is an old-fashioned no-nonsense defender, physical but not great on the ball. In truth, he is probably just the kind of player we needed last season and seems a decent signing.

Mansfield offered him a contract which he turned down, which reflects well on Rovers. I am pleased with the way the squad is shaping up so far.

 

[bigmart]

sounds decent signing we need to be much more solid at the back

 

[andrewesq]

Agree with RLC and Bigmart - sounds good and no nonsense im pleased with the 2 new signings Brabin has made hopefully more to come
Hopefully the team will gel and become solid (and not flippen changed every week with new loan players!) If we have the core hopefully we can mount a serious challenge

 

[Ian]

A decent striker at this level and a no-nonsense defender. Let's keep the momentum going..

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Mansfield offered him a contract which he turned down, which reflects well on Rovers. I am pleased with the way the squad is shaping up so far.

Interesting we prised him away from Mansfield, although we did the same with Holness from Burton last year! However, does this mean our wages are competitive and better than some L2 clubs?

 

[Sparky]

Jay Harris joins on a 1 yr deal. Midfielder. Another with plenty of experience at this level having been with Wrexham for the last 4 years.

Played at wembley with Wrexham in the FA trophy. Missed 12 months of the game in 2009 for betting issues but let's not that put us off!!

Wouldn't mind signing his team mate and now released by Wrexham, striker andy bishop.

 

[Mal]

Will Hank Marvin be next lol

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

From what I have read, Harris seems like a replacement for Power; a box to box player with good energy. This looks like another decent signing and has annoyed our Welsh cousins, which is pleasing.

 

[Boz]

Less sure about Harris than the other pair. He has been fairly injury-prone.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

We are certainly stirring things up already in this league! For once we are able to compete with any club for almost any player. GB probably has every lower league agent in the country beating a path to his door. Thankfully, he must know most of the players on offer.

 

[drwhoman]

Maybe him coming has something to do with Gary Mills arriving at Wrexham. He seems to be telling one or two established players there that they are surplus to requirements.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Less sure about Harris than the other pair. He has been fairly injury-prone.

He played 181 games in five years at Wrexham, which hardly suggests he is injury prone (and he missed a full season due to his betting 'impropriety').

 

[Ian]

I'm a bit unsure too. Possibly better than avg conference player. Let's just hope they gel well together and have the mental attitude to go with it.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

GB seems to be building a spine of experienced pros with knowledge of and success in this league. We still need a keeper, but there still time.

We've an incredible number of young pros on the books and I expect some to feature. I'd be very happy with this as long as we have a core of battle-hardened players.

 

[bigmart]

Liam Hogan and Lois Maynard signed today

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Liam Hogan and Lois Maynard signed today

Both very good players according to Halifax fans, particularly Maynard. The latter rejected league clubs to join us.

Pleased with these signings.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

GB is certainly not wasting any time! We already have the makings of a decent squad for next season even before the FA Cup final has been played! And if we can persuade the likes of Holmes, Koumas, Hill and Laird to re-sign, we'll have a good bunch of seasoned pros. No sign of any loanees yet, but they usually arrive in August or after the season has started. Personally, I wouldn't mind another George Green, as long as we have a mainly settled squad of contracted players and use the loan system to add a bit of cheap quality or to fill temporary gaps.

 

[drwhoman]

Agree BBTC. What we really need now is a decent winger and an experienced keeper. It will be interesting to see if GB tries to exit Donnelly even though he is on a two year deal. On the subject of loanees GB will have contacts at Everton which may help. Indeed there may be one or two decent young players given frees. My mind goes back to Roy Parnell in the 1960s. He was an Everton free transfer and a pretty decent full back he was too.

 

[Gray]

No sign of any loanees yet, but they usually arrive in August or after the season has started.

And continue every other week up until the end of the season

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Agree BBTC. What we really need now is a decent winger and an experienced keeper. It will be interesting to see if GB tries to exit Donnelly even though he is on a two year deal. On the subject of loanees GB will have contacts at Everton which may help. Indeed there may be one or two decent young players given frees. My mind goes back to Roy Parnell in the 1960s. He was an Everton free transfer and a pretty decent full back he was too.

Ah yes. It's a long time since I have heard the name of Roy Parnell, a member of the great attacking side of 1964-65 which scored 99 goals and cruelly missed out on promotion from the old Fourth Division. He played like a wing-back but never got near goal as in those days we had five forwards! I'd love to have seen how he'd do in the modern game.