[retired_jessicadon]

Thank god this appeared, no idea what HOVI would have done if i'd started it.

You know anything about McCarthy's future Dougs? My dad swears he put in a transfer request after the final game, but i've heard nothing but happy from him.

[retired_lantern2camping]

Lovin all the cries for my head

not sure wether he will go or not rat, he has been dropping subtle hints in the press saying he wants to go to chelsea, and for champions league football. Not sure wether or not anyone will come, but its been pretty quite on that front lately.

didnt hear wether or not he actually put in a request though.

[retired_Hermz]

He's just been telling any paper who will listen that he wants a move to a "Champions League Club" Ratinho.

I hope he will stay for at least another season and it will add another 3-4m onto his value.

Possibly return of Bellamy is exciting and i would like to see a better right back than Emerton and another central midfielder with the same type of passing and killer ball as Tugay. His legs won't last out much longer I fear.

All in all - exctiing season ahead I hope (6-9th I hope)

[retired_souldecision234]

That Allen bloke has said he isnt interested in the rovers. Interesting time with the takeover though, i hope whoever comes in retains John Williams because he has probably been the most important person in our club since Jack.

As for summer dealings it seems its a case of fighting off interest for our players with one major signing of a striker intended.

[retired_lantern2camping]

I think emerton done a pretty decent job at right back this season myself.

but we have reid and savage coming back in the season, i dont think we really need to be spending money on another midfielder, it will be pretty competitive for places.

Tugay though, he is getting on now, he had a pretty long season this year, i think he is gonna be used a lot more sparingly.

another striker though, i think hughes said is the priority, it would be great if bellers came back, but i cant see it myself.

[retired_jessicadon]

My dad's been very impressed with Emerton's move to right back, not surprising since he was a right wing back in Holland (I think).

Nonda staying? Not impressed anyone I know who goes.

[retired_lantern2camping]

nonda started to pick up a bit of form before he got injured, and he was regarded as one of europes top strikers a while back, so i think perhaps 2 million might not be too bad for him.

matty derbyshire is gonna have a good one this season though.

oh and what does everyone think of the whole david bentley u21 craic?

i think he was spot on, he's gotta have a break if he is gonna break into the full senior squad for the euros next summer.

[retired_Siwash]

Originally posted by Ratinho:
My dad's been very impressed with Emerton's move to right back, not surprising since he was a right wing back in Holland (I think).

Yeah he's been very good there actually. A lot of people were very disappointed when he was handed a new contract last summer, as they felt he contributed nothing. Something I didn't agree with btw, as while he could often be frustrating he did provide quite a few assists still. Anyway, even his most vocal critics have acknowledged his contribution to the team this season. You can certainly see why he was an excellent wing back from his work rate and fitness, surely second to none in this league. It's also great how both Emerton and Bentley are excellent crossers, making life very difficult for the defenders.

Nonda staying? Not impressed anyone I know who goes.

Before the season ended there was talk that Hughes would use the set buy.out price to sign him. But I don't know if we actually did, or are going to? He did have a couple of good games, but overall I wasn't too impressed. As a backup if we can't sign any of the strikers we want he'd be decent I guess, as at least we know what we'll be getting.


As for Bentley; Anyone who saw him towards the end of the season could see he wasn't fully fit. If he played for the U21s he'd have a 6-day holiday before a new full season. So he did the right thing for himself and for Rovers. However I do think that his timing was lousy, would've been fairer to withdraw while Pearce could still pick a replacement. Unfortunately though this could impact his chances of getting into the full squad negatively, at least if Pearce has any influence with the senior squad.

[retired_jessicadon]

Originally posted by Dougs:

oh and what does everyone think of the whole david bentley u21 craic?

i think he was spot on, he's gotta have a break if he is gonna break into the full senior squad for the euros next summer.

I think it was a little silly of him. They'd all had long seasons, and I 100% believe it was born out of frustration. He finally breaks his way into the full England setup and BANG Beckham's back. It's not something that's going to cause any kind of problem though.

[retired_Siwash]

Oh yeah, as for other Rovers-related stuff:

I think the squad atm is excellent. If we were to add another striker to the mix (Ideally Bellamy) then we'd certainly have a strong enough squad to challenge anyone outside the top 4. That's assuming that we can avoid those 6+ month injuries on key players like Reid, Nelsen, Savage, Ooijer and Roberts (Although it was more like 3-4 months) this time. Our defense wasn't very good this season, but if you keep in mind that Nelsen (Our captain and best defender) was injured from May to late January, that Emerton played his first season at RB and that we signed two starting defenders in mid-season (Samba and Warnock), I think there's plenty of room for improvement once these guys all get a full pre-season under their belt and form a better understanding.

But what should we sign? I really do feel that as far as our first eleven goes a top striker is the only thing needed. Other than that we have no weak spot in our team. But unless reserve team keeper Frank Fielding is better than I've been lead to believe, we need another backup keeper to replace Enckelman. We also only have one right back at the club, with our backups there (Ooijer, Reid, Zura) all primarily playing in another position, and Emerton also being backup at RM. So signing another Right/Centre back wouldn't be too bad. Or perhaps Hughes intends youth players Eddie Nolan and Tony Kane to cover there?

Anyhow, to sum things up: If we can sign a top striker to partner Benni (Now that Chelsea have signed Pizarro I think he'll stay. Can't see the other English CL-clubs go for him. Which does leave the Spanish ones, but *crosses fingers* I believe he'll be here next season) then I'm extremely optimistic for next season. And heck, even if we can't sign a real top striker I think we're looking at a very good season. Roberts was in excellent form towards the end of last season, Derbyshire has more experience under his belt now, and if Hughes believes there's more to come from Gallagher then so do I.

Looking forward to seeing what clubs like Everton, West Ham, Bolton, Newcastle, Tottenham and Villa will be doing this summer.