Bristol Rovers linked with Hereford winger Matt Done
Bristol Rovers are being linked with Hereford United's out-of-contract winger Matt Done, writes Chris Swift.
The Pirates are understood to be keen on landing the left-sided 20-year-old, who made 36 league appearances for the Bulls last season.
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Matt Done
And the Oswestry-born midfielder is also likely to be interested in a return to League One football – having suffered relegation in each of the last two seasons.
He was in the Wrexham side which made an exit from the Football League two seasons ago. He then joined the Bulls, who suffered the drop from League One last term.
Done featured twice against Bristol Rovers last season as Hereford conceded nine goals against the Pirates.
He came on from the bench in a 6-1 early-season drubbing at the Memorial Stadium and played in the whole of the return game at Edgar Street, which the home side lost 3-0.
His addition would bring competition for former Crystal Palace winger Jeff Hughes – and also provide an option which would allow the Northern Irishman to fill the left-back berth.
Rovers released left-back Joe Jacobson at the end of last season, and the former Welsh Under-21 skipper has completed a move to Oldham Athletic.
The 22-year-old has signed a two-year deal which will keep him at Boundary Park until the summer of 2011.
Jacobson said: "I can't wait to get training with the rest of the Oldham lads.
"I already know their defender Neal Eardley very well from my involvement with the Wales Under-21 team.
"Oldham are a big club and their new manager Dave Penney has a reputation for getting the best out of players. That suits me fine and I can't wait to show Latics fans just what I can bring to the party."
Jacobson made 73 league appearances for Rovers, 11 of them during an initial loan spell before he completed a move from Cardiff City in the summer of 2007.
Meanwhile, Rovers have confirmed that former Oxford United boss Darren Patterson will take over as their new head of youth from July 1.
His impending appointment was exclusively revealed in the Evening Post last month.
Patterson said: "I am very excited to have got things sorted and am looking forward to getting cracking.
"It is a challenge we are all excited about. We all want to get some proper kids through and get them into the first team.
"It will take some time, but I can't wait to get started."
Patterson will oversee the club's youth development from eight to 18 and working with Centre of Excellence boss Stewart Naughton.
"I will be focussing on the Under-18s and working with them for the first few months," he said,
"It is not ideal that these players were brought in before me. They seem good kids – I saw them in a friendly against Plymouth – and I have seen them when they played against Plymouth in a friendly.
"If they are dedicated and show a lot of desire, I am sure with the ability they have got they will have a good chance of becoming professionals.
"I will be teaching them how to win, but the biggest thing that got me the job is that I produce kids. I want these kids through into the first team.
"They need to have a winning mentality otherwise they wont last long. Producing players is most important, but winning comes a very close second."
Rovers have run their youth scheme through Filton College for the last five years but are bringing it in-house from next season to comply with Football League regulations which insist the club has to employ its own coaching staff.
21 Comments
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by b.c.f.cfan, bristol
Tuesday, June 23 2009, 9:40AM
“i am a city fan but i think you should take a look at andy bishop at bury if he is available sure if you lose lambert , he would get you the goals in league one”
by Warren, North Bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 9:14PM
“Yeh looking forwardto pre-season, hopefully going to a few away matches before the big games start in the league :)”
by JamieB, Bath
Sunday, June 21 2009, 8:23PM
“Well don't listen to other people!
We all have our own opinion and we all see players differently!
I'm sure we will have some quality come pre-season!”
by Warren, North Bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 8:11PM
“Jamie, i understand that completely, my first coment was saying done is full of potential and i think he is, but then other people were saying he is going to be crap because he is free etc. getting players on a free is excelent as we may get some good ones and pay nothing, but we still need to buy in good players that can prove they have quality!”
by JamieB, Bath
Sunday, June 21 2009, 7:44PM
“Warren,
Come on!!!!
You may be a very loyal gashead, but take it from me, a season ticket holder for 24 years.
Bristol Rovers do not have an open cheque book and compared to many teams in the same division and even in some cases the Championship, we as supporters can not moan at the money spent by the club on players!
We should be happy to keep our heads above water. Look at the Southamptons and Charltons who are having to sell their best players as they can not afford the wages.
You must know that it's not always about the money! look around at clubs who have spent millions on players who have ended up being complete flops.
Are you saying that if we spend money on transfer fees rather than free transfers, we are guarenteed to get results! I don't think so.
If we get Done we will have to pay a fee due to his age!
Please don't get yourself mixed up. You were the one who started the comments by saying Done looks a good player and has potential. Now you are making it seem like you don't want him.
You are a Bristol Rovers fan! If you are loyal, support the management and think maybe they are saving the club spending money on transfer fees and may actually have researched who they want to bring to the club!
We can not judge how good a player is until we have seen him in action for our club. So lets wait and judge in due course.”
by Warren, North Bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 7:31PM
“Ok, you get the financial status of every team in our league then! I'd be happy if rovers spent more than other clubs, but im pretty sure they haven't”
by It's Me, bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 2:58PM
“You named 4 teams who spent more than Rovers.
Rovers finished above Huddersfield (didn't do to bad there!)
Leeds average gate it what 25,000, and they still only finished 5 places above us.
I would doubt if Millwall have spent more than us.
What about the other 18 teams that you failed to mention, how come?
It couldn't be that Rovers spent more than them could it?”
by Warren, North bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 1:49PM
“We never seem to spend much then, look at teams like leeds, huddersfield, millwall, mkdons etc, they all spend more than us! And dont u dare call me a city fan, coz i think i know alot more about rovers than u probably do, i spend most of my spare time looking into the history and tracking what rovers are doing, and im not on about add ons, im on about the acctual price we paid for the player!”
by It's Me, bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 1:46PM
“Lambert was nearer £300,000 if you include all the add-ons. How many teams in the bottom division spent as much as that?
Answer none!
How many teams spent the same or more in our division?
Not many!
You mentioned TWO players who arrived on a free. I mentioned FOUR that we paid money for.
What does that tell you?”
by Warren, North Bristol
Sunday, June 21 2009, 1:08PM
“Tbh, I've had a season ticket for the past 2 season and u got most of them prices wrong, Lambert was £200,000, Hughes was £120,00, Duffy was £100,000 and kuffour was £59,000. Really, just look at other teams in our league and look at the money they spend on players, we spend very little compared to them, We got Regan on a free as his contract expired at MkDons, if we get Done, that will be on a free as his contract has expired, Ben Hunt was free, how many more players we gonan get on a free? We need to start spending bigger money on players!”