Should we loan any of our fringe players to the Robins on a month by month basis in view of their fairly thin squad? Logan and Masi might benifit for example as they might have more chance in getting some game time than they have with us in the short term!
Better the Dobbin's perhaps than the questionable culture at somewhere like Toronto??

It benefited last year with Abdul but why would we want any of your fringe players that are no better than what we have I'll take Abdul back when he realises he's not going to get in your team on a regular basis

I think you might be suprised how many games Abdul plays.

All I've heard in the last week is how strong Rovers squad, the season hasn't even started and they are already taking about loans players.

With Addy and Wardill already out before a ball has been kicked if injuries start to bite it might benefit both clubs. Not sure how deep Rovers squad is and not suggesting any of our fringe players will walk into their staring XIII but would surely bolster their bench options!

It's pretty deep - to the point that we might even have one of the better second XIIIs in the league. So it's pretty shocking/worrying that we're looking at loan options at this stage. I think it must be that a few aren't quite done with their rehab, rather than a couple of new injuries.

Still at least we're not taking the stance that they'd undermine the culture we're trying to build, like we did during 2016.

The thing is, I think we'd be looking more at your 19 to 25 to help us (not Manu and Paea, obviously) and you'd be looking more at numbers 26+ to help their development. And tbh they'll probably be better at Doncaster than being 18/19th man or playing 15 minutes from the bench for us.

I still haven't completely forgiven Dave K for trying to palm Ross Osbourne off on us last year. Mind you, I was initially pretty dubious about Abdull and he won me right over.

It really must be. The list of rumoured but no-show signings must run into the twenties. Why are all these players knocking you back? Location? Wages? Sheens? It’s very strange.

While some rumours obviously have more substance than others, I just think we've become a less attractive option in recent years. 'Lack of anticipated winningness', is my explanation.

'Building for the future' sent at best a mixed message to potential recruits and existing players ahead of 2012, and the board 'looking for new investment' in 2013 (and only finding Larvin) made us look less of a stable employer. We were drifting a bit really (on the pitch at least), after Morgan left and that culminated in relegation, and even following promotion we're seen as one of the SL teams who'd be most at risk, and the prospect of a cancelled contract won't be massively enticing (although I understand that rule is being reviewed).

We need to change the perception that we're a perennial middle 8s team to attract better players, I imagine - bit of a catch-22, innit?

For all that I enjoyed Pearson's relaxed and confident years, he kept his foot on the accelerator and it worked out in the end. Fair play. We learned the dangers of long-termism (twice!), while also managing to turnover half the squad every second year. It feels like we're headed broadly in the right direction now, if a bit slowly.

Yes its a double edge sword. You need good players to be a top half team, but unless you are a top half team its very hard to attract top players. You end up having to pay over the odds and you end up with an unbalanced squad. Not sure what the answer is, but first you need to just make sure you are SL next year.

Completely agree.

We did pretty well for a few years after our last promotion and other clubs, such as Cas and Hull, provide impressive recent examples that a team can move up the ladder in relatively short order.

I am wishing you well for the season MR. I hope you do well except when you are playing us of course.