Matthew Mills - SIGNED

[winchester_royal]

If we do sign this guy then big LOLz at Deathy, IMAMATEJOVSKY and the rest.

[Stranded]

Be very pleased if this is true.

[winchester_royal]

Strangely I got sent a text from a 'source' about this guy joining us first thing this morning. Didn't believe it myself however they have good record of reporting things although they have limited football knowledge.

I'm assuming they heard the rumor and reported it to me as fact, but hey maybe there is more in this one!

I would love to hear who your source is.

Do you know different?

[Royal Rother]

At £300k he is Doncaster's record signing...

[Royal Rother]

A Burnley fan on the Donny forum said he has it on good authority Mills is signing for us. Medical today.

A Donny fan said he wasn't at training this morning.

[winchester_royal]

Stop it RR, you'll give half the population of HNA a heart attack.

[Wycombe Royal]

A Donny fan said he wasn't at training this morning.

THat fan looks like the editor of the "Mad" site for Doncaster.

[Alan Partridge]

A Burnley fan on the Donny forum said he has it on good authority Mills is signing for us. Medical today.

A Donny fan said he wasn't at training this morning.

Is this the guy that Birmingham were after?

[Wycombe Royal]

A Burnley fan on the Donny forum said he has it on good authority Mills is signing for us. Medical today.

A Donny fan said he wasn't at training this morning.

Is this the guy that Birmingham were after?

Yes that's him, and more recently Forest have been trying to buy him and have had bids rejected.

[Terminal Boardom]

If it happens then this is great news. HOWEVER...

Knowing our luck and the way we cock up spectacularly when it comes to big money signings, we will probably end up with Mick Mills or worse, Mrs Mills!

[1871royals]

Yes, Birmingham were after this guy.

It seems like they were turned off by the high price Doncaster were demanding. This may have been because it was in the Jan window.

I think Forest had a bid of around 2 Mill turned down this Summer.

[(.)Boobies(.)]

Strangely I got sent a text from a 'source' about this guy joining us first thing this morning. Didn't believe it myself however they have good record of reporting things although they have limited football knowledge.

I'm assuming they heard the rumor and reported it to me as fact, but hey maybe there is more in this one!

I would love to hear who your source is.

Do you know different?

Sadly I don't, no. I can't knock EastStander's source, as I know we were in advanced talks for a defender last Thursday, but I have no idea whom it is or for how much. With all the haggling over Smith, £2m for one player just seems rather excessive.

[gazzer, loyal royal]

Boobies is correct, we were in advance talks with a defender last Thursday, we wanted to unveil him to the fans on Saturday, but we can't agree how the fee is to be paid. HIs club want money up front while we want to stagger payments

[brendywendy]

a ~2 m bid for anyone would surely shut the anti madejski wheres all the money gone fools up wouldnt it?........
wouldnt it?

shirley?

[Alan Partridge]

a ~2 m bid for anyone would surely shut the anti madejski wheres all the money gone fools up wouldnt it?........
wouldnt it?

shirley?

It would go someway to suggestingthere is some money left from the fortunes they've raked in yes.

[winchester_royal]

Boobies is correct, we were in advance talks with a defender last Thursday, we wanted to unveil him to the fans on Saturday, but we can't agree how the fee is to be paid. HIs club want money up front while we want to stagger payments

Any idea if we've sorted this out yet and will confirm it today?

[loyalroyal4life]

Yes, Birmingham were after this guy.

It seems like they were turned off by the high price Doncaster were demanding. This may have been because it was in the Jan window.

I think Forest had a bid of around 2 Mill turned down this Summer.

So we are going to bid more than £2mil for a player?? I am going to have a heart attack

[Royal Lady]

Presumably if we're paying £2million for this bloke, we didn't think 1.8 million or whatever it was for Smith, was worth it.

[Agent Balti]

Presumably if we're paying £2million for this bloke, we didn't think 1.8 million or whatever it was for Smith, was worth it.

£1.8m for a one year contract is never worth it.

£2m for whatever Mills is on (and I'd hope it wasn't 1 year!) is more reasonable, if not a shed load of cash.

Big difference, really.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... /doncaster

An old-fashioned, big centre-half might not be every manager's cup of tea, but after turning down a record bid of £1.5m for Matt Mills from Birmingham City there still seems to be room for such a player in the Doncaster side. And after watching Mills play, I can fully understand why.

There is an arrogance about Mills's game and that was evident in his performance against Aston Villa. Like most committed defenders, he relishes the physical side of the game. He marks his man tight and uses his strong frame to unsettle his opponent, either winning the ball cleanly, or unbalancing him with a subtle nudge as he's about to receive the ball. That kind of treatment can be frustrating for a front player and is particularly good against a big man, which is exactly what John Carew is. However, when he had to mark the more mobile Ashley Young he was a lot more guarded against the winger's pace and did not get quite so tight.

Mills kept everything simple which was nice for his team-mates, as he only really played two balls. The first was into midfield if there was a player in space. With the second, he took care on his delivery and provided quality balls into the right-hand channel for breaking ­midfielders. It was a particularly effective ball.

He was not fazed by marking space and staying in his area even when he had no one to play up against. This meant he didn't get dragged about – a tactic which resulted in him making a fantastic last-ditch tackle just inside his box.

He was in general the deepest of the Doncaster back four. This isn't because Mills is lazy but simply down to Rovers playing with five in midfield and a deep lying midfielder who was always on hand to start attacks. But this meant Mills was pushed slightly deeper than he might have wanted to play. From this position he was happy to sit in defence and play cat- and-mouse with the opposition. Mills liked to step up and then drop off the player he was marking. This would further unsettle his opponent, and by constantly appealing for offside he did the same to the linesman.

For a big lad, Mills stands up well. He did not take the easy option and go to ground when he was isolated one-on-one. When, on occasion, he did get dragged out of his central berth he was quick to track back into the middle. He is a good judge of when to get in front of his centre-forward, particularly when the ball was played straight or if his first touch wasn't the best. Mills is very strong in the air, as you might imagine, and attacked the ball with aggression. He sometimes even left a little bit on the player he was marking just to let him know he was there.

Mills was a little temperamental on the night. Once or twice when he felt he'd been caught late he remonstrated with the referee. On one occasion he tried to take revenge on the player who caught him after a tackle: he lashed out with an arm, something that the referee missed.

He was also on the odd occasion caught ball-watching, which I thought was the case for the Villa goal, but these were rare lapses. He had very good communication levels which wouldn't surprise you from someone who is no shrinking violet on the pitch. I liked the way he used this when the Villa forwards neatly crossed each other on the edge of the box – he calmly passed his man on and picked up the player who had come into his area.

Mills is not bad on the ball either but he is very much a last option as Doncaster are a team who are as comfortable in possession as any I've seen this year. People like to talk about whether players can suit this era or that era, but Matthew Mills is a little bit of a throwback, a player who combines the old and the new very well.

Age 22

Born Swindon

Position Central defender

Height 6ft 3in

Weight 12st 12lb

From Manchester City

Heading 9/10

Pace 8/10

Tackling 8/10

Passing 7/10

Team responsibility 8/10

Value £1.75m

[CMRoyal]

Presumably if we're paying £2million for this bloke, we didn't think 1.8 million or whatever it was for Smith, was worth it.

I think we can assume that regardless of any other transactions. Unless you are saying that those who claimed that our refusal to pay that much was because we weren't prepared to spend that much on anybody? At least if this imminent signing is for £2m+, we'll be able to say for certain that those people were talking out of their arses.