Our squad is looking rather thin on numbers, it seems that teams in our league are signing players at regular intervals and we don't appear to be doing the same. I hope that the young and up and coming youth players are ready to play at league standard otherwise I can see us struggling when the season starts. The only players that don't appear to have been offered a contract is Neal Trotman and Baggie and if that's the case then we need some reinforcements for the coming season. I was hoping that the new players would be installed into the club before pre season so that they would all start on an even footing. 50% of the eight players whose futures were not known do not appear to be staying and Will Puddy yet to make a decision. DC is obviously not convinced of Trotmans fitness other wise a contract would I believe have been offered. Am I the only one who is concerned, NH said he hoped that we would be challenging at the top end of the table but if new players don't come in soon then I believe we could be looking to be the only team to twice be trying to bounce back from the conference at the first attempt
Quite a few decent wingers have been signed already. I think DC said we shouldn't expect announcements until after the players report back. Perhaps he's already had a few verbal agreements which just need to be formalized. I'm sure it's in hand. Apart from losing Monkhouse, we've kept most of our core squad and if we get Lines, a few more signings should do the trick.
I asked Mcnamara earlier that DC said he wanted 4/5 new signings but we have lost 3 players so does this mean that DC now is looking for 7/8 new signing or still 4/5 regardless if the out of contract players stayed or not. His response was that he is under the impression from discussions with DC that DC is looking for 6 more players (7 in total as already signed 1 player already). He then listed the positions that DC is looking at... 1 GK - guessing Puddy is off 1 CD - guessing Trotman is off 1 CM - guessing Lines is the target 3 Wingers - hoping Dawson is 1 of these!
It always this way with Rovers, or at least that is how it seems to have been over the last few seasons. You can understand some supporters frustrations when they see other teams bringing in all number of new recruits whilst their own side seem happy to stick with what they have got. It's almost as if Rovers wait until the death in the hope that they may pick up a player who has been last in the line up to be chosen in the hope that they may get him 'on the cheap' ! Oh well, time will tell I suppose and there is usually a rabbit that is pulled from the hat to keep everyone happy so we will just have to be patient and see what {or who} transpires.
Just seen that and done a thread about it before I seen your post! Must have been a poor contract offer then.
Not really sad as such. DC has stated previously that he wants hungry players and the days of high wages are over. Whilst Monkhouse was good for us DC can't justify high wages for an ageing player who might not make it at L2 level, bear in mind Hartlepool released him whilst in L2 and he dropped to Conference level.
Talking to a gashead who stated that one of the directors told him that Rovers have plenty of irons in the fire but agents were causing problems
The agents probably need regulating. I'm sure there are a few decent responsible ones out there, but the things you hear tend to suggest they're mostly a bit of a nuisance...
I really hope DC has his irons in the fire for the wingers because quite a few decent wingers have been signed by our rivals already.
The days have gone of given out 2 and 3 year contracts to ageing players. DC wants players who have the hunger for the game and not just looking to bulk out the bank account and just turn up on a Saturday. We must learn that paying £2000 a week to a player is not going to make us a team. I would like to see a couple of hungry players given their all to the club week in week out on £1000 a week then the past pre-madonna. If the agent doesn't like it then move on. We're not going to be held to ransom anymore. This is not what I think in monkhouses case that's a different story.
A player wants/demands an improved contract when he plays well and is on form. I think there should be a rule where the club can say to the player that they will lose wages if they are not playing well. I think players will perform a bit better!
According to the WDP in an interview with DC the club have 15 players plus the youth players. The club are talking to Port Vale about Chris Lines and he expects to have the players he wants to bring by the time pre season training starts. He might also look to bring in a new striker. it was also stated that Easter would be back for pre season training
So there should be a lot of announcements coming up! It seems to be a very carefully managed process...
Darrell Clarke is expecting a flurry of transfer activity to begin once his squad reconvenes for pre-season training on July 2.Clarke is looking for at least four players to add to his squad before the start of the season on August 8 –but has only managed to capture the signature of Woking right-back James Clarke so far this summer. Rovers currently have only 15 contracted senior players along with youngsters Jamie Lucas and Danny Greenslade, who are both expected to be given a chance to stake their claims for regular places in the squad after successful loan spells elsewhere last season. That group could be joined by goalkeeper Will Puddy, who has been offered a new deal, and defender Neal Trotman, who has been given the chance to come back and prove his fitness, if they decide to take the offers that are currently on the table. Clarke said: “I’m not a manager to panic or get worked up about it because there are a lot of players available, but the good ones cost money. I’m being very thorough in trying to get the right players because I know that a manager lives and dies by his recruitment. We have been doing a lot of talking with agents as is usual at this time of year, but we have to be careful not to rush in and then fail to get the right players. We have brought in James Clarke already, but I would imagine the majority of our business would be done at the back end of June through the first couple of weeks in July.” Widemen remain high on Clarke’s list of priorities following the departures of Andy Monkhouse, Angelo Balanta and Abdullai Baggie in the last seven days. Rovers are also believed to be in talks with Port Vale over the possibility of signing Chris Lines on a permanent deal to bolster the centre of midfield, while another goalkeeper and even possibly an additional striker are not out of the question. January transfer window signing Jermaine Easter is making good progress in his rehabilitation from a knee injury and is expected to be fit in time for the start of pre-season, and Clarke added: “We also have Ellis (Harrison), Nathan (Blissett) and Matty (Taylor). We’ll see how that goes but you can never have too many strikers and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of bringing another one in at some point. Everything comes down to finances and where we are as a football club at the end of the day. We are still waiting on a decision regards the court case with Sainsbury’s, which is very important for this football club, so we have to be patient with things and deal with them as they come along.” From the Post which should be the same story as the WDP. The last sentance tells me DC is restricted until the Sainsbury outcome is made.
More info on the 3 players who left us.... Darrell Clarke has reiterated his disappointment at losing Andy Monkhouse after the popular winger signed for Grimsby Town. Monkhouse, 34, revealed a few days ago that he wanted to stay at the Memorial Stadium, but was unable to thrash out agreeable terms and was forced to seek alternative options ahead of the new campaign. He penned a one-year deal to stay in the Conference with Grimsby Town earlier today and is one of three players to have departed the Memorial Stadium in the last seven days after Angelo Balanta and Abdulai Baggie also both turned down the offer of new deals. DC said: “It is disappointing. I’d have liked Andy to stay because he was massive for us both on and off the pitch throughout the season. I only have good things to say about Andy because he did a fantastic job for both me and for the football club as a collective. It was disappointing that we couldn’t get the deal done, but it is about wishing Andy all the best in his career and for us to move on now. It is a similar situation with both Angelo Balanta and Abdulai Baggie. They were both offered short-term deals because I thought those were the sort of terms that were right for the football club. I look at Angelo and I know that with a good pre-season under his belt there could be a really good player there. Abs didn’t play for us when he came in at the tail-end of last season so wasn’t tried and tested. I’m not the sort of manager who wants to gamble on handing out silly long contracts until I am sure that they will return some value for money. The two lads were not offered great deals by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time I felt they both still had something to prove. The players got their offers and it was their right to either accept them or turn them down. What is important from my point of view is that whatever decisions are made, we must move on and ahead quickly. They all deserved some sort of offer as reward for what they all helped us achieve last season and I want to wish all of those who have turned us down the best for the future." Clarke is also considering blooding some of his youngsters to act as cover over the coming season. He said: “We have a couple of lads in Jamie Lucas and Danny Greenslade who I certainly saw a considerable amount of improvement in over the last 12 months. They both went out on loan last season and the reports we had back about them were tremendous. I’m certainly happy to have Danny Greenslade as an option with Lee Brown at left-back, while Jamie Lucas is going to be pushing the strikers we already have at the football club. I can’t ignore how well Jamie did and the amount of goals he scored at his age in what is a tough league in Conference South last season. We’ve also offered our young youth team right back Tyler Little a 12-month professional contract and we have offered a couple of scholars deals – albeit on a very short-term basis. If any of them show me that they are ready to make the step up during pre-season then I wouldn’t be adverse to blooding one or two of them as the season unfolds, but we’ll have to see how we go.” From the post.
If DC is hoping to have the new signings in place by the start of pre season training then its going to be a busy week as the 2nd July is a week today, so are they already signed but not announced because their current contracts don't end until next Wednesday or are they still trying to identify the players he needs
I think its a case of not knowing the full budget yet due to Sainsburys. DC would have a max limit for now on what he can use but could increase if there is positive news from the courts. I think DC is waiting for that reason and also agents will think we have a big budget so will seek more money from us. DC not being held to ransom so taking his time to get the right player for the right price on the right deal for the club.
