He's here now Sax. And I know me and you agree on this, we cant be rounding on players like Andrews, Wilcox etc ... so he gets the support and all we can do is see what he brings.
Silly mistake above.. His uncle is tony, who I saw for Blackpool in the 90s during my college days.
I'll bet he's NOT on big wages, and although he says he has nothing to prove, of course he does. Sax is right, this is probably his last chance. I think his ego and Mowbray's guidance may provide a pleasant surprise!...and if not, he's gone next year. Not a big gamble in my opinion.
If it's salary only, I suppose it's an acceptable, short-term risk.
What I'm not sure of is which position he has been signed for. Surely it's not his main spot - defensive midfield - as this is surely where we already have most options already: Evans, Smallwood, Travis, Davenport. Perhaps it means Bauer is not coming and Rodwell is being thought of as centre-back cover.
This could fizzle out, or it could blossom into a spectacularly good piece of business.
Like Champs, I'm a bit concerned about his attitude-history, but we all know how firm TM is in that area, so he must think Rodwell will be no problem in that respect.
Does anyone know if he is actually match-fit?
Everton rodwell and we have a incredibly talented player hungry to succeed
Sunderland rodwell and we have a petulant and arrogant waste of space lets hope we have the first one.
Tony sees a diamond in need of a good polish.
Having had time to think on this. It's a very low risk deal. And we arent paying him much at all.
But he has been signed as cover for centre half. Yes he can play midfield, but he has been signed as cover for defence.
If Tony can get out of him anything like the form that got him two £10m transfers in his career, then we have a great deal.
If he flops, then we haven't spent anything. Other than low wages.
He's fit, he's been training with Everton all summer. Was on trail at Watford, played 3 preseason games and was very close to signing. The Watford fans wanted him to sign. Something fell through, and he left. He is ready, he can play. And Tony says his attitude is excellent. Let's see.
I think he'll be in the bench tomorrow.
The centre-half story makes much more sense. It's interesting that he and TM have agreed on that.
This is a very high-class player to get in these circumstances. I'm just hoping he isn't one of those who have crashed and burned by the time they are 25. The fact that Mowbray has gone for him, given his insistence on character, is reassuring.
Six days left to get an extra forward. Any news?
They've walked away from the Brereton deal, we where getting messed about. What is relevant now, all the Prem clubs have to name all the squads by a certain date (next few days) before the window shuts. Meaning we find out who is available and I do think it will end up being a young Prem player. Who? Your guess is as good as mine.
Yeah, I think after having a think about Rodwell. It's very low risk and like you say, if it does work out, getting that kind of quality in for nothing would be great. Look at Rothwell. I know you watched the other night, he's a good player isn't he? I like watching him, good balance and is a clever player. And fast when he needs to be. I thought he was so unlucky with his shot off the bar.
Agree about Rothwell. He has probably already exceeded TM's expectations, as it looks as if he was originally signed as a second string to McGinn or Freeman.
Signing Rodwell reminds me of a story from years ago. I was coaching a schools-team, and I was writing out a team-list. My wife looked over my shoulder and burst out laughing. I asked why, and she said, "Haven't you noticed the combination of names in your midfield?"
I hadn't.
They were: Rodwell, Firman and Stiff!