One deal

[Pliskin]

Even when I was moaning about the club's transfer strategy a month ago I never imagined it'd turn out as bad as it has come deadline day. I thought we were ill prepared for the season, but we'd get things sorted eventually. Now we are still ill prepared for the season. And that's that now until January!

I honestly can't believe it. Quite possibly the most bizarre, confused, rudderless, toothless, short-termist, half-arsed, make-it-up-as-you-go-along summer recruitment drive I've seen from a club that's supposedly giving the manager the "best chance" of building on last season. Yeah right.

Marquis, Butler, Rowe, Marosi, Andrew and now Crawford gone. Replacements who have come in as more than short term fixes? James, Halliday and Taylor (and maybe Gomes at a push). That's it.

Have we totally given up on developing our own players now? Looks like it. We're now up to six, yes SIX f**king loan signings. So many that we have to leave one of them out of the match day squad. Who is going to cover the bloke who we brought in as cover but now can't play because of the rules? It's absolute madness and makes the infamous "Experiment" seem like a masterstroke in long term squad building.

When it comes to running the football side of a football club I have very little confidence remaining that these people at DRFC have much of a clue. I'm not normally this harsh as they appear to do a good job otherwise (non-football), but how is it even possible to be so short-sighted when devising a recruitment strategy? And then so ineffective with the recruitment of the targets that we did actually identify?

Even bloody Bolton had more joy in the transfer window than us yet only appointed a manager two days ago, have only been able to sign players for four days and were at death's door a week ago! Shrewsbury needed a striker, they've brought in a decent one today. Oxford needed a striker, they got a decent one in 2 weeks ago. Donny Rovers? Nah, too difficult for us. At least we tried though, hey? Just have to make do with a bunch of rookie players on loan. Or some non-scoring striker who hasn't kicked a ball competitively for two years.

If you thought the club had a lot on its plate this summer, then next summer is going to be a breeze what with about 10 new players needed before we can even think about improving. Can't wait.

[johnny rovers]

The board will be happy that we’ve haven’t spent the Marquis money

Why would they?

You tell us SM....you are in the know!

I just don't understand why everybody seems so concerned over the money. Do people seriously think that the board will be sat there rubbing their hands that they've hung on to the first down payment of the Marquis money? The 1st payment won't be very much, the rest will be spread over the length of his contract, and other sums depend on how well he does. It's just a ridiculous immature statement to make.

Personally, I think they'll be more worried that DM hasn't spent the money they gave him.

Your honest answer is appreciated 👍

[Draytonian III]

Who have Bolton signed apart from Crawford, has beens like Daryl Murphy and Chris O Grady and a load of rammel no one else wanted ?

[RoversAlias]

The board will be happy that we’ve haven’t spent the Marquis money

Why would they?

You tell us SM....you are in the know!

I just don't understand why everybody seems so concerned over the money. Do people seriously think that the board will be sat there rubbing their hands that they've hung on to the first down payment of the Marquis money? The 1st payment won't be very much, the rest will be spread over the length of his contract, and other sums depend on how well he does. It's just a ridiculous immature statement to make.

Personally, I think they'll be more worried that DM hasn't spent the money they gave him.

On that last bit, if it's the case that it's primarily down to Darren himself and he hasn't secured the signings needed, do we think the club will look at that and assess whether they need to operate differently? Having a different recruitment strategy might be what we need to make sure the mistakes that led to missing out on primary targets this summer don't happen again.

[Bristol Red Rover]

Whilst I'm disappointed we didn't grab a key signing the squad isn't too shabby. It seems it's down to DM to play them in a system that works. You don't always need every position on a pitch filled - I'm particularly thinking of central MF here.

The loanees are looking top notch especially John and Ennis. We've a few established youngish players who are developing - Sadlier, Lawlor, Wright, Whiteman etc. Some of the younger players could come through too. A fit and able V.A. could make the difference here. We're a very long way from being in a bad state, let's see what occurs.

Too many negative whimsical theories going on in this thread, all good to explore, but the negative thrust behind most of them at best clouds the points trying to be made.

[elmsallrover]

A big word is could

[Donny Exile in York]

Even when I was moaning about the club's transfer strategy a month ago I never imagined it'd turn out as bad as it has come deadline day. I thought we were ill prepared for the season, but we'd get things sorted eventually. Now we are still ill prepared for the season. And that's that now until January!

I honestly can't believe it. Quite possibly the most bizarre, confused, rudderless, toothless, short-termist, half-arsed, make-it-up-as-you-go-along summer recruitment drive I've seen from a club that's supposedly giving the manager the "best chance" of building on last season. Yeah right.

Marquis, Butler, Rowe, Marosi, Andrew and now Crawford gone. Replacements who have come in as more than short term fixes? James, Halliday and Taylor (and maybe Gomes at a push). That's it.

Have we totally given up on developing our own players now? Looks like it. We're now up to six, yes SIX f**king loan signings. So many that we have to leave one of them out of the match day squad. Who is going to cover the bloke who we brought in as cover but now can't play because of the rules? It's absolute madness and makes the infamous "Experiment" seem like a masterstroke in long term squad building.

When it comes to running the football side of a football club I have very little confidence remaining that these people at DRFC have much of a clue. I'm not normally this harsh as they appear to do a good job otherwise (non-football), but how is it even possible to be so short-sighted when devising a recruitment strategy? And then so ineffective with the recruitment of the targets that we did actually identify?

Even bloody Bolton had more joy in the transfer window than us yet only appointed a manager two days ago, have only been able to sign players for four days and were at death's door a week ago! Shrewsbury needed a striker, they've brought in a decent one today. Oxford needed a striker, they got a decent one in 2 weeks ago. Donny Rovers? Nah, too difficult for us. At least we tried though, hey? Just have to make do with a bunch of rookie players on loan. Or some non-scoring striker who hasn't kicked a ball competitively for two years.

If you thought the club had a lot on its plate this summer, then next summer is going to be a breeze what with about 10 new players needed before we can even think about improving. Can't wait.

Absolutely top post pal.. spot on..

[sha66y]

Even when I was moaning about the club's transfer strategy a month ago I never imagined it'd turn out as bad as it has come deadline day. I thought we were ill prepared for the season, but we'd get things sorted eventually. Now we are still ill prepared for the season. And that's that now until January!

I honestly can't believe it. Quite possibly the most bizarre, confused, rudderless, toothless, short-termist, half-arsed, make-it-up-as-you-go-along summer recruitment drive I've seen from a club that's supposedly giving the manager the "best chance" of building on last season. Yeah right.

Marquis, Butler, Rowe, Marosi, Andrew and now Crawford gone. Replacements who have come in as more than short term fixes? James, Halliday and Taylor (and maybe Gomes at a push). That's it.

Have we totally given up on developing our own players now? Looks like it. We're now up to six, yes SIX f**king loan signings. So many that we have to leave one of them out of the match day squad. Who is going to cover the bloke who we brought in as cover but now can't play because of the rules? It's absolute madness and makes the infamous "Experiment" seem like a masterstroke in long term squad building.

When it comes to running the football side of a football club I have very little confidence remaining that these people at DRFC have much of a clue. I'm not normally this harsh as they appear to do a good job otherwise (non-football), but how is it even possible to be so short-sighted when devising a recruitment strategy? And then so ineffective with the recruitment of the targets that we did actually identify?

Even bloody Bolton had more joy in the transfer window than us yet only appointed a manager two days ago, have only been able to sign players for four days and were at death's door a week ago! Shrewsbury needed a striker, they've brought in a decent one today. Oxford needed a striker, they got a decent one in 2 weeks ago. Donny Rovers? Nah, too difficult for us. At least we tried though, hey? Just have to make do with a bunch of rookie players on loan. Or some non-scoring striker who hasn't kicked a ball competitively for two years.

If you thought the club had a lot on its plate this summer, then next summer is going to be a breeze what with about 10 new players needed before we can even think about improving. Can't wait.

Bet your not gonna renew your season ticket next year...?

[silent majority]

The board will be happy that we’ve haven’t spent the Marquis money

Why would they?

You tell us SM....you are in the know!

I just don't understand why everybody seems so concerned over the money. Do people seriously think that the board will be sat there rubbing their hands that they've hung on to the first down payment of the Marquis money? The 1st payment won't be very much, the rest will be spread over the length of his contract, and other sums depend on how well he does. It's just a ridiculous immature statement to make.

Personally, I think they'll be more worried that DM hasn't spent the money they gave him.

On that last bit, if it's the case that it's primarily down to Darren himself and he hasn't secured the signings needed, do we think the club will look at that and assess whether they need to operate differently? Having a different recruitment strategy might be what we need to make sure the mistakes that led to missing out on primary targets this summer don't happen again.

Maybe. It's not been easy that's for sure.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Clearly needs a change in strategy on the recruitment front and I think it's should dawn on the club now 2 managers have failed to utilise their budget.

[Chris Black come back]

Might be incorrect - but it does feel that in recent years we have moved to two year deals as standard. This could be something that has taken hold across the game with good reason, but for players that are clearly established and performing well, why would we not be offering them longer deals? Perhaps they don’t want them I guess. Signing folks on two year deals you might understand the logic, but renewals?

[sedwardsdrfc]

Mean more the identification of players than contract length 2 year + option for a 3rd is fine.

[ravenrover]

Can you imagine a front 3 of Sterling Anichebe and Ennis with Copps or Sadlier just behind?

[elmsallrover]

Let's see what the loan players are like when we go 5/6/7 games without a win it all good 4 games unbeaten but 3of them have been at home with another one on Saturday

[IDM]

Why would loan players be any different to permanent ones if the team was struggling.??

[jmt23]

It will/could be frightening, but not many can see it. I do not care about players being “ours”(strange word in modern football) I care we have a good team that can/and want too compete. The loan players we have do, and from what I can see, look far better than what we had.
We have two games in hand, and if won could be joint top,(having beaten fancied teams)  I can understand the panic, we should be far higher 

[the vicar]

ca

Plenty of people asking questions of DM. But, is it Darren or is it Gavin? Or someone else?

Whoever it is, this has been appalling by ‘the Club’. It’s indefensible in my eyes - the manager made it perfectly clear what he wanted and, supposedly, we were down to 1 man and yet, we still failed miserably to get his main target in.

Be patient everyone said - we’ll, a lot of good that did!

This is going to take some explaining and there seems to be quite a lot of unpleasantness on social media. The Board have done themselves no favours at all with all this.

the manager can only ask, then it's down to Gavin and the directors business, if they don't want to replicate then they let the manager and the fans down

[elmsallrover]

Even when I was moaning about the club's transfer strategy a month ago I never imagined it'd turn out as bad as it has come deadline day. I thought we were ill prepared for the season, but we'd get things sorted eventually. Now we are still ill prepared for the season. And that's that now until January!

I honestly can't believe it. Quite possibly the most bizarre, confused, rudderless, toothless, short-termist, half-arsed, make-it-up-as-you-go-along summer recruitment drive I've seen from a club that's supposedly giving the manager the "best chance" of building on last season. Yeah right.

Marquis, Butler, Rowe, Marosi, Andrew and now Crawford gone. Replacements who have come in as more than short term fixes? James, Halliday and Taylor (and maybe Gomes at a push). That's it.

Have we totally given up on developing our own players now? Looks like it. We're now up to six, yes SIX f**king loan signings. So many that we have to leave one of them out of the match day squad. Who is going to cover the bloke who we brought in as cover but now can't play because of the rules? It's absolute madness and makes the infamous "Experiment" seem like a masterstroke in long term squad building.

When it comes to running the football side of a football club I have very little confidence remaining that these people at DRFC have much of a clue. I'm not normally this harsh as they appear to do a good job otherwise (non-football), but how is it even possible to be so short-sighted when devising a recruitment strategy? And then so ineffective with the recruitment of the targets that we did actually identify?

Even bloody Bolton had more joy in the transfer window than us yet only appointed a manager two days ago, have only been able to sign players for four days and were at death's door a week ago! Shrewsbury needed a striker, they've brought in a decent one today. Oxford needed a striker, they got a decent one in 2 weeks ago. Donny Rovers? Nah, too difficult for us. At least we tried though, hey? Just have to make do with a bunch of rookie players on loan. Or some non-scoring striker who hasn't kicked a ball competitively for two years.

If you thought the club had a lot on its plate this summer, then next summer is going to be a breeze what with about 10 new players needed before we can even think about improving. Can't wait.

Bet your not gonna renew your season ticket next year...?

probably not the only one

[IDM]

Regardless of what happens this season and through the next two transfer windows.?

[drfchound]

Let's see what the loan players are like when we go 5/6/7 games without a win it all good 4 games unbeaten but 3of them have been at home with another one on Saturday

That really does read as though you don’t want us to win.

[redarmi66]

Even when I was moaning about the club's transfer strategy a month ago I never imagined it'd turn out as bad as it has come deadline day. I thought we were ill prepared for the season, but we'd get things sorted eventually. Now we are still ill prepared for the season. And that's that now until January!

I honestly can't believe it. Quite possibly the most bizarre, confused, rudderless, toothless, short-termist, half-arsed, make-it-up-as-you-go-along summer recruitment drive I've seen from a club that's supposedly giving the manager the "best chance" of building on last season. Yeah right.

Marquis, Butler, Rowe, Marosi, Andrew and now Crawford gone. Replacements who have come in as more than short term fixes? James, Halliday and Taylor (and maybe Gomes at a push). That's it.

Have we totally given up on developing our own players now? Looks like it. We're now up to six, yes SIX f**king loan signings. So many that we have to leave one of them out of the match day squad. Who is going to cover the bloke who we brought in as cover but now can't play because of the rules? It's absolute madness and makes the infamous "Experiment" seem like a masterstroke in long term squad building.

When it comes to running the football side of a football club I have very little confidence remaining that these people at DRFC have much of a clue. I'm not normally this harsh as they appear to do a good job otherwise (non-football), but how is it even possible to be so short-sighted when devising a recruitment strategy? And then so ineffective with the recruitment of the targets that we did actually identify?

Even bloody Bolton had more joy in the transfer window than us yet only appointed a manager two days ago, have only been able to sign players for four days and were at death's door a week ago! Shrewsbury needed a striker, they've brought in a decent one today. Oxford needed a striker, they got a decent one in 2 weeks ago. Donny Rovers? Nah, too difficult for us. At least we tried though, hey? Just have to make do with a bunch of rookie players on loan. Or some non-scoring striker who hasn't kicked a ball competitively for two years.

If you thought the club had a lot on its plate this summer, then next summer is going to be a breeze what with about 10 new players needed before we can even think about improving. Can't wait.

And yet we are unbeaten in the league and the new lads are scoring.... all doom and gloom eh?

[sha66y]

The 9ers are seriously off this planet....but eh oh....at least it’ll be quiet on here tonight.....well done Rovers and associated Loanees....

[Chris Black come back]

Keeper lad saved a penalty as well!

Granted, it was another loanee who gave it away, but hey...

[pib]

Don't think anyone is disputing that we've brought in some decent players, and look to have a pretty good team on the pitch at the moment. I think the concern is where we go from here when it's another massive rebuilding job in the summer.

Clearly DM is doing a good job so far so that is a big positive.

[Metalmicky]

It's pleasing that we have started scoring and taking chances.  Our loanees had a big influence on the game..

[Colin C No.3]

I wonder what DM thinks/feels about this transfer window & the club’s seeming inability to capture players he may have identified (perhaps via his ‘little black book’ that’s presence so impressed GB at his interview he even gave mention to it when interviewed on radio) as being targets he wanted to sign?

Darren Moore didn’t come to Rovers to remain as manager of a league 1 club, surely. Is he as frustrated as the supporters that we have been unable to sign that elusive number 9 he identified as a primary position needing filling to take the club forward?

There are more questions than answers. I can’t speak for Darren but me, as a supporter, I’m disappointed we haven’t/couldn’t bring in a target man of the right calibre to hold the ball up, bully centre halves, win headers, lay the ball off to fast runners, be a presence at set pieces.

Yep, disappointed.

[silent majority]

Patience Colin C, patience. We haven't failed yet.

[since-1969]

Says it all ..

[Herman Hessian]

I wonder what DM thinks/feels about this transfer window & the club’s seeming inability to capture players he may have identified (perhaps via his ‘little black book’ that’s presence so impressed GB at his interview he even gave mention to it when interviewed on radio) as being targets he wanted to sign?

Darren Moore didn’t come to Rovers to remain as manager of a league 1 club, surely. Is he as frustrated as the supporters that we have been unable to sign that elusive number 9 he identified as a primary position needing filling to take the club forward?

There are more questions than answers. I can’t speak for Darren but me, as a supporter, I’m disappointed we haven’t/couldn’t bring in a target man of the right calibre to hold the ball up, bully centre halves, win headers, lay the ball off to fast runners, be a presence at set pieces.

Yep, disappointed.

can empathise - the start to the season, results wise, like where it really matters as opposed to the realm where folk are happy to spend other folk's money without being fully appraised of what's going on, has been unspeakably shit, hasn't it....

bloody rubbish, rovers...

[Pliskin]

...

And yet we are unbeaten in the league and the new lads are scoring.... all doom and gloom eh?

Hang about.

Nowhere did I say that the loan players wouldn't score any goals, or that recent results weren't decent.

It is very early in the season but Darren Moore has set the team up quite effectively so far and the loan players have shown some promise.

However my criticisms of the club's competence and strategy when it comes to recruitment are separate to all of that. Is that not obvious?

I think you've deliberately avoided the point made.