Three Weeks of Concern

I remember wondering half way through my warm holiday in the Algarve, what to do my next blog on. The day after Sir Bobby Robson tragically passed away so I thought I'd be sat here dwelling on that and the poor state of English football managers, following the conclusion of Stuart Peace's book. Instead I am here writing about another great loss. This person hasn't ascended upon the stairway to heaved, but has descended - not to hell - but to Reading; his name Matthew Mills.

The Football League season is upon us. A tasty prospect during the previous week for the majority of supporters but not particularly for me. As a supporter of championship side Doncaster Rovers, I have witnessed, four poor quality incomes, and have seen the loss of, in my opinion, our two best players.

When Richie Wellens left the South Yorkshire outfit last month, I paid tribute to a player of the 'class above'. A man signed on a free transfer, sold for £1.2million just about tells it's own story. I thought that deal was too low but conceded that now there is obviously nothing we can do about it. I was very disappointed that we accepted the first incoming offer, as a club showing fear that they wouldn't get any more for their ageing playmaker.

Mills doesn't fit into that category. We declined bid, after bid, after bid, for quite simply one of the best players I have ever seen (on his day), certainly appearing in the red and white of the Rovers he definitely charts in the top three and is potentially at number one. Agile on the ball, a 'right place at the right time', Bobby Moore-type centre back, we broke our transfer record for Mills last summer. I was away in Cornwall for a crucial week last summer and I remember looking at Teletext every day, when I was in, to see if he had signed. It was a long, drawn-out signature, with new Manchester City boss Mark Hughes, wanting to have a look at him before he was sold. But the deal then was always imminent, as perhaps the same could be said for his sale this week. Being this close to the season we believed we could hold on to our star defender but it clearly wasn't to be.

For the last 18 months (he came on loan before his full time deal) I would have compared Mills to the former Rovers defender David Wheater, who is now seen playing regularly for Middlesbrough and the England Under-21 side. Perhaps that's an ambitious statement, but I have seen both play and based on the amount of errors both make, and their general defensive qualities, I'd go as far as saying Mills is the more talented of the duo!

It came of no surprise when promotion-wanting Birmingham City, hotly tipped for the Championship crown, came knocking in January. They were told the £1.5m bid wasn't enough on deadline day, and never came back, despite continued newspaper speculation. Then came Nottingham Forest, the former European Champions, still living on memories of the Clough era, with two bids one of £1.75m, the second of "in the region of £2m". Both were rejected. This created a feud between sets of the supporters of Rovers and Forest, originating on 606 when Forest fans claimed the deal was 'done', obviously they have been proved wrong.

Reading's interest, to my knowledge, was out-of-the-blue. I was reading the Daily Mirror on Tuesday when I noticed a piece on the 'football spy' page. I thought little of it. To me it was a club on the lookout for a defender, and a talked about Championship player of that position. Surely it was just the media doing the sum 2+2 and equalling 5? Obviously it wasn't.

On the face of it both probably have a good deal. In my opinion we need to sweep the markets looking for a quality defender, because we only have a maximum of three centre halves 'up to the standard', but we have enough money to compete with clubs at the top end of the division, particularly with Newcastle in a stalement with no manager and the club up for sale. Having said that we also need a new midfielder to replace Wellens. Reading have got, I believe, the best centre back in the division.

Is everyone happy with that? I will be when we see what the squad looks like in early September.