

If a player is that good, they have a tendency to leave a club of the stature of ours after so short a period that it may as well have been a loan; see Craig Bellamy. It’s not unusual to have one breakthrough season and then sell. Rudy Gestede only had a season and a half as our player before determining is ambition and our performances didn’t tally. The point being, you can’t guarantee you’ll have any player the following season, so knowing that a loan is likely not to return isn’t a reason not to sign them in the first place. It’s a bit of an odd complaint.WacoRover wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:26 pmI’ve already said Tosin was our best defender... but we weren’t going to keep him. We simply got another loan this year to replace him.
Bentley was before my time. Yes, we did eventually purchase Graham. If there’s an eye towards doing this, great. Re: Adarabioyo, we knew at the time we could not possibly afford him.
You are probably right, loans are wonderful. I simply do not see it as a way to address the long-term needs of the club.
Roque Santa Cruz was injury prone. We should never have signed him. (Again, I never suggested that at the time....WacoRover wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:50 pmI see the good sense in getting Branthwaite; if we are truly close to a playoff spot, we weren’t getting there with Johnson as a centre-back. We might with Branthwaite.
As far as Ayala goes, I read too many pieces from places he’s played previously- he’s injury-prone. No surprise he’s done this season. I’m still hoping Douglas helps us down the stretch, same with Trybull. Elliott is an amazing player.
But, we have to replace them all next season.
You are right, but based on what we’ve seen from him so far (or, what we’ve NOT seen from him), I don’t have any wildly successful expectations, LoL
Interesting, Mowbray’s comments in the LT today:WacoRover wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:56 pmLoaners are a band aid, a temporary fix. We’re not building for the future with them. As great as Harvey Elliott is, at the end of the season, he goes back to Liverpool. We could never afford him. Cunningham was doing a good job until he got hurt, back he goes. Adarabioyo was our best back a year ago, we couldn’t afford to keep him. We replaced those loaners this year- with more loaners. Ayala & Douglas have been far off their performance this year, we won’t lose much when they return to their clubs.
Isn’t that why we have an Academy, to develop players for the future? Develop our own players, and go get transfers if needed.
Don't forget that hw also wants Mowbray out.RoverthePennines wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:27 pmWhat you’re saying is that you’re against loans because they don’t help Rovers in the long run, Mowbray is just stating that it’s a shame that the loaned player has to go back. If he agreed with you he wouldn’t sign loan players