Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan says he expects Town owner and chairman Marcus Evans to return with new offers for striker Billy Sharp and midfielder James Coppinger. Yesterday, Ryan revealed that his club had rejected bids of £2.3 million for Sharp and £300,000 for Coppinger, the latter a figure he describes as “laughable”.

Ryan has told Town they will be wasting their time if they return with a new proposal: “They did say they would [come back with another offer] but I said to Marcus Evans not to bother. We’re trying to build a team for next season like he’s trying to build a team.

“We want it to be a powerful squad and I reckon Billy Sharp is good for 25 goals a season if he stays fit and James has had the best season of his career and is very optimistic that he can do even better. Even he can weigh in with 10 goals but mainly create the bullets for Billy to fire.”

The Rovers chief says the Blues are well short in their £300,000 valuation of Coppinger, who like Sharp has two years left on his contract: “It’s laughable, isn’t it? It was explained to me that he’s 30 and he’ll be worth nothing at the end of his contract, but that was an easy one to turn down. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a million, we would still have turned it down.”

Ryan has spoken to both players and says they are in no hurry to move on: “The nice thing is that Billy indicated that he wasn’t really bothered about going and Copps is quite happy to stay as well, which is a big influence because if players want to go it’s very difficult to hang on to them.

“But the situation is that we’ve said there’s no way we would accept these offers and everyone agreed. We’ve told Ipswich that we don’t want to sell, we’re very pleased that you rate our players but as far as we’re concerned we don’t want to sell.

“[Manager] Sean O’Driscoll is trying to build a squad for next season to try and be at the upper end of the league and the last thing we want to do is lose players like Billy and Copps.”

Photo: Action Images

tractor_boy_varnz added 21:00 - May 14 He has scored 27 goals this season!!! why wouldnt he come to us?? yess he is slightly out of our league but we could pull it off!! anyway Newcastle can afford to buy better than him (35 million from carroll) and people like ameobi and lovekrands are as good as him!!! Goodwillie would be a good signing though!
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tractorboy2434 added 21:15 - May 14 2.5M max for Sharp, he is a Champ strik,er, simply not worth more than that, Coppinger is 30, 500K max fee, if they don't accept that then move on and look elsewhere, Nugent would be a suitable alternative and 2M might get him.
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andygizmo added 21:20 - May 14 Please dont start think macauley and norris are staying. The former has made his position clear and he is off to either rangers or the albion to "further his career". the latter is 31 and wants a 3 year contract. He WON'T get that here so he is off to somewhere that will give that to him. PJ has both out of his plans. As for Sharp and Coppinger if the deal isnt done by wednesday it will never be done as others will come in closer to where they live and we are out of it. Funny how PJ wants to keep his dealings quiet whilst rival chairman want to spread the news to increase interest and therefore the price his club can get! Graham = he won't come here. The premiership beckons and maybe just maybe with the canaries. Maynard wants Premiership so forget him. At least we started not getting people early this year!

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runaround added 21:24 - May 14 If what Ryan is saying is correct that they are not willing to sell and that the players don't want to leave why is he making such a fuss about it? He should Just say Ipswich bid for Sharp and Coppinger but it was turned down as they aren't for sale, end of! By him stating the amounts bid, saying the Coppinger offer was laughable and that he expected us to up the offer, he seems to be trying to get the best price he can by hoping to start an auction. Also interesting use of words saying the players weren't that bothered about going rather than saying they don't want to leave. I think its definitely worth increasing the bid once or twice to test Donny's resolve but it should not drag on for weeks. If they just wont sell by say £3.6 million then we move on.

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Lay added 21:25 - May 14 Theres no chance of us getting graham. All credit to hm hes had a gr8 season but watch his form flop this year! Goodwillie and wickham up-front....... Am i dreaming?
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broomfield123 added 21:50 - May 14 we should threaten any team who turns down our bid with jason scotland
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jeera added 21:55 - May 14 Let them stay and rot there then. Hardly Premier league contenders next year. Their chairman is deluded if he thinks the players share his view - good offer comes in for them with a decent future on mind, they'll jump ship.
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OrkneyBlue added 22:12 - May 14 Agree with Mark, best we know early may and not last few days in August. Looks like they are holding us to ransom. They know that ME is minted and they won't be the only ones, whoever we go in for the same will happen. PJ has to decide how bad he wants certain players and ME has to trust him as do we. I guess we will find out how good he is in the transfer market and who actually wants to come here over the coming weeks and months. Having said that if Cleggy is involved well that's not PJ's fault!

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RetroBlue added 00:06 - May 15 Floridaboy: I dont think I have said anywhere CW is a 25 goal a season player! But I do say, given a full season in the team he could easily be a 15-20 goal a season striker for us. If you were at the Leicester game last week, you'd know why I say this. As soon as that sad excuse for a striker, Scotland, was replaced by Wickham in the second half, we looked a different team. Their defence didnt know how to handle the boy! At one point he actually beat SIX of their players only to see his shot skim the post. Connor has only had a run in the side since January , when Jewell arrived. From this point on , I think he may have averaged a goal every 2-3 games...over a full season in the side Id say thats near 15-20 goals a season . If Tow get this Coppinger in ,CW would thrive on the assists that this player currently provides (& makes?) Sharp, the player he is !

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Shergar added 03:53 - May 15 It depends on how highly Jewell rates them and how well he thinks they will do for the club. If he thinks that they could be the difference between a chance of getting promoted and another season in mid table, I would be glad to see him given funds to booth the transfer to what is needed. If Jewell thinks there are others that could be available to do just as well, then move on and don't spend all summer chasing them.

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Upbeat~ added 09:57 - May 15 The issue is: what everyone's doing at the moment is suggesting a valuation of the two players, adding the two sums together and then hey presto - that's the offer. Without Sharp and Copps Donny would imo be facing relegation. Why therefore would they want to sell their two best players for what they are worth and then enter the transfer market, looking for bargains that quite possibly aren't around? It would be a bit risky on their part that's for sure. For me: find their real valuations and add on 300-500k, otherwise forget about the deal. Unless Copps dooes indeed want to come here.

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brittaniaman added 11:33 - May 15 Norwich did not need this kind of money spent to get up to the Premier??? They did not even have a 1 million pound player, so what was there secret for the success ????????????
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radiogaga added 11:35 - May 15 1) since when does any club let a prolific goalscorer go easily? 2) £300,000 for Coppinger is a joke bid Give this one last go, proper bids this time, though to be fair should we really be surprised by what their chairman is saying? No, quite simply, he is hoping we are soft enough to "not waste our time" so he can protect his 2 prized assets from possibly harmful speculation. And why would he risk Lowering a potential asking price by saying they wanted to move? It's the chairman's word, not the players. What is the harm in offering surplus players to Doncaster as part of the deal(s)? It saves us money and also time trying to flog unwanted players out? I'm sure Priskin/ Scotland, to them, could be effective players. Either way, Jewell has other targets so no cause for concern.

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rosseden added 12:37 - May 15 'They did not even have a 1 million pound player, so what was there secret for the success ???????????? ' building a team ground up over a couple of seasons with lower league players and team spirit. We'd need to go down a league to do that, which means a substantial loss in monies, so we have to spend at the level were at......but at least PJ is going about it the right way now.......

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rosseden added 12:38 - May 15 andygizmo...... 'Please dont start think macauley and norris are staying.' at no point has anyone mentioned that they are, they just referenced their statements about 'wanting to be here' and how quickly that changed when the cash was waved by the agents..... no mention that theyd stay.......
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churchmans added 13:35 - May 15 everyb ody on here are crazy £3.5million do me a favour! i would go back for £2.5 for sharp and say thats it then let the chairman sweat! eff em if they say no and move on everybody thinks he's the best ting since sliced bread!! no effin way you cant tell me hes head n shoulders over every other striker you could buy for that money! bluearmy nicky maynard!!!!! who are ya who are ya another two bob player who aint done jack!

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churchmans added 13:40 - May 15 i tell ya what RADIOGAGA will give 5million that will take care of it wont it. you two bob fool!!! you could buy nugent for 2mill stop him scoring against us and he scored 21 LEAUGE goals this season 3+ for sharp!! hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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blue added 13:45 - May 15 Everyone has a price and all will hold on for more. Offer if they dont take move on to plan b , c, d and so on. Just hate the greed out there but if guys wanna play for us not like nugent example good player waste of time unless he wants to come here like sharp and coppinger , if they wanna come they will come but dont offer more than its worth , its not ebay !!!
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churchmans added 13:50 - May 15 well said blue! at last someone with some common sense!! i think nugent is a qaulity qaulity player scored regular in championship for preston and pompey and done really well in prem when on loan to burnley so much so he got ENGLAND CALL UP you think he dont want to come here! i think he didnt want to come here because jim magilton is a bit of a *ick......
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theblueginger added 14:09 - May 15 churchmans erm... nugent got 14 this season, which is less than sharp, while playing more games in a better team, plus the fact that hes on 26 grand a week, and also that he'd be available for free. Id rather have sharp and wickham, or david goodwillie
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Keaneish added 14:18 - May 15 Cheaper alternatives to Sharp? Mackail-Smith? I know Jewell ruled it out but who's second in line if this bid fails? Having just watched the Posh game we could certainly do with a player like that and he'd be a cut price on what Donny want for Sharp. Nugent? He won't come here. Who else is there!?
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churchmans added 14:29 - May 15 BLUEGINGER i stand corrected! if hes available on a free then what the hell are we waiting for!!! while im in a mood just a message for you knob northstanders iwas a northstander when it was terracing and segregated before you hangers on and shirt and scarf boys joined in and made it chavvy. and the most annoying example booing nugent everytime he touch the ball same as grant holt you know that is gona spur them on to play harder and get the goal and thats exactly what happens every single time i cock my backhand in readyness to ya! bring it on

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nkotb_sect5 added 14:39 - May 15 ...meanwhile the boys in Marbella... It's gonna be a long summer, relax. 1st signing 20th July - Kieron Dyer. But then I could be wrong - I was about Roy.
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maximoalex added 14:52 - May 15 Chruchmans - nice constructive comments there. Question 'for ya!' - Did you, by any chance, get out on the wrong side of the bed today? You can be honest with us...
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maximoalex added 14:52 - May 15 Churchmans - nice constructive comments there. Question 'for ya!' - Did you, by any chance, get out on the wrong side of the bed today? You can be honest with us...
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