From Ronaldinho to Orr
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“We’ll make a marquee signing – Ronaldinho, David Beckham – someone like that. We’ll spend £5million in every transfer window. We’ll be in Europe in four years. David Goodwillie is like a young Wayne Rooney.” Just some of the gems Rovers fans have had to put up with since Venky’s and Steve Kean rolled into town.
What they actually meant to say was, “We’re going to sign Bradley Orr. We’re going to make a profit on transfer dealings". As for Europe and Goodwillie – don’t get me started. With the third transfer window of Venky’s disastrous ownership now shut, it’s clear Rovers situation isn’t as dandy as our glorious leaders would have us believe. There’s been 14 players signed with just over £19million spent, while 16 players have left the club raising at least £27million. Of those brought in, it’s fair to suggest only Yakubu, Dann and perhaps Vukcevic will be commanding large wages. High earners such as Diouf, Emerton, Roberts, Andrews, Kalinic, Jones and Nelsen have all been removed from the wage bill. Other departures – Formica and Salgado – are still possible.
Without knowing the exact figures it’s impossible to accurately assess the difference, but I’m sure we can all hazard an educated guess. What it all adds up to isn’t a spend of £5million in every window. It isn’t the addition of a marquee signing – which doesn’t guarantee success, but that’s not the point. It’s also not signings who can “hit the ground running” – another gem from Kean. With rumours all hasn’t been well between Rovers and the bank, none of this makes good reading. Yet Kean continues to tell us he believes funds will be available. Do you really believe that Steve? Really?
Meanwhile Venky’s have stopped talking. From the transparent days of the Jack Walker and John Williams era, the fans are told the square root of nothing. While it’s unreasonable to expect every last detail of the inner workings of the club to be divulged, it surely isn’t too much to ask for some form of communication explaining what’s going on? Venky’s made a number of bold statements when they took over the club, but haven’t got close to backing up their words with actions. It’s clear the goalposts have moved and it’s time for some truth. Anything less would be a disgrace.
PS – has Junior Hoilett signed his new contract yet Steve? At least you made Samba stay – good luck with that.
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