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

Keaneish added 16:30 - May 14 Think John Ryan is a bit deluded isn't he? Small club, with a small ground who just missed relegation after plummeting in the second half of the season. I'd be shaking up that squad big time if i was him and as they have no cash, a big transfer cash offer would be the way to go about it.
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Hungry_Badger added 16:31 - May 14 Give up on them no way is Billy Sharp worth over £2.5 mill, no point in paying well over the odds for a player who has done well at Donny but did absolutly nothing at his previous club,Sheffield Utd.
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mason76 added 16:38 - May 14 If Sharp isn't that bothered about coming I wouldn't really want him here I know it's only the Chairman defending his position but with the rumours he's reluctant to leave Yorkshire it seems quite true. Having said that I would hpoe Jewell would have done his homework and have a fair idea if the player would be keen. Lets not pay over the odds as the money is needed for a team rather than just one player. There's always Graham, Maynard, K Boyd or overseas to try.

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suffolkpoker added 17:03 - May 14 I dont belive a word this chairman says lol Ofcourse he will say that, i dont belive sharp does or doesnt want to come to us untill he says it! There chairman is trying to get a better price, we will surely be paying better than doncaster rovers will. This will turn his head
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JayITFC added 17:16 - May 14 The very fact that Donny made it public that they'd turned down bids for both players tells me they want to sell but want a premium fee. Otherwise why would you speak to the press about it? Canny and clever. Lets go get Danny Graham instead.
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Barhamblue added 17:21 - May 14 It will be job done when we offer 3 mill and the players realize they will earn 10K a week more. Watch this space, remember everything is for sale!
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itfc1981 added 17:25 - May 14 '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 contact: “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.”' Sounds very much like Clegg has finally learnt that when a player's contract ends they go for free, well done Clegg, other Chairman don't need the obvious spelling out for them.

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itfc1981 added 17:29 - May 14 '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 contact: “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.”' Sounds very much like Clegg has finally learnt that when a player's contract ends they go for free, well done Clegg, other Chairman don't need the obvious spelling out for them.

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itfc1981 added 17:29 - May 14 '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 contact: “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.”' Sounds very much like Clegg has finally learnt that when a player's contract ends they go for free, well done Clegg, other Chairman don't need the obvious spelling out for them.

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Blue041273 added 17:39 - May 14 This is just posturing. DU know they have assets that we, among others want, and they are merely trying to extract the best return possible. 1. Why publicise their refusal of our bid when we had not made the bid public. Their attempt to make it a statement of intent for the future is frankly laughable. 2. They have narrowly avoided relegation and need to strengthen to give them the best possible chance to retain Championship status next season. This will need funding. The talk of 'luck' playing a part is ludicrous. 3. As we, and all teams at our level, know, it it is impossible to hang on to players if they don't want to be there. If Sharp and Coppinger feel that it would be in their beneficial interests to move on DU won't be able to prevent it other than 'cutting off their nose to spite their face'. DU are just raising the ante. They need the money but understandably don't want to sell cheap. They are looking for competitive bids. We should just sit back and see what competition emerges. We don't want to pay inflated prices for players and to my mind the proposed offers are good ones and we shouldn't be drawn into an auction.

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SouperJim added 17:45 - May 14 Wow, thats the most obvious and comprehensive "we want more money" statement I've ever seen.
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BlueJewells added 18:04 - May 14 £4m would do it I think
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Wickets added 18:20 - May 14 Looks like hes keen to sell then.
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jabberjackson added 18:23 - May 14 using words like 'laughable' says to me that ryan won't do a deal - slightly insulting if he wanted the deal to continue to be negotiated on a civilised basis
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jabberjackson added 18:25 - May 14 oh, and ryan is right, what's £300k for jc if they manage to stay in the division, punching above their weight imho
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jabberjackson added 18:27 - May 14 don't you mean DR, not DU Mr Blue0142etc, smartypants
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Mark added 18:29 - May 14 "but I said to Marcus Evans not to bother." So was John Ryan speaking directly to Marcus Evans rather than Simon Clegg?! It seems like these deals aren't going to happen, but it's better than we know this on 13th May than 30th August as it allows plenty of time to move onto other targets on the list.
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Mungo added 18:34 - May 14 Sounds to me that Donny aren't prepared to sell either player for a price we are prepared to pay. Fair enough, good luck to them, but I think we should move on. This wont be the last time this happens. £2.3m is a big fee by our standards and we should be wary about increasing it. I'm not sure the club can afford any more expensive failures in the immediate future...
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bluearmy4life added 18:35 - May 14 I believe these players would be really good additions to town squad if we can get the deal done. 2.7 Is not enough for both players sorry it is a laughable deal 3.5 would surely do it? If we don't land Sharp or Coppinger what is plan b? Some people still keep mentioning Nugent, Time to forget him he will never play for town we have tried too many times and failed.

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floridaboy added 18:48 - May 14 RetroBlue, surely that comment about Wickham being our 25 goal man next season was said to get people laughing. Because that is one very laughable comment The boy is still learning and there is no way in this world that he will get that many goals. Please stop getting so obsessed by Wickham. He is good but not that good!!
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dommyboyblue added 19:06 - May 14 Like both players but do not think we should break the bank as these are two out of the possible 5 or 6 we need. Think 3 to 3.5 mil is fair but other than that we should leave it and move on to our next targets. As someone has said at least it is May and not August! But I do believe their chairman is protesting a little too much and publicly, could have easily have just said no to this bid privately.

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JimmyJazz added 19:37 - May 14 Didn't they put a 2.5 million price tag on Sharp 1 or 2 weeks ago? Interesting he says Coppinger's bid is too low, Sharp's is probably close to them accepting. When they paid just over 1 million for Sharp last year I remember reading that they really pushed the boat out on the deal, so they aren't exactly rolling in it. Didn't Norris and MacAuley say they wanted to stay? Such talk soon turns around if the circumstances are right

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StochesStotasBlewe added 20:06 - May 14 Messrs Evans & Jewell need to bide their time, keep chipping away at Donny Rovers, sooner or later, their chairman will crack or the player concerned will become unsettled & ask for a move. As JimmyJazz correctly posted, Norris & MacAuley both insisted they wanted to stay, then both decide to leave. If the offer & circumstances are right, we will get our man/men.

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tractor_boy_varnz added 20:46 - May 14 really annoyng me how ryan keeps on talking out publicly about this, either just shut up and dont sell or name your price! It cant be long before Sharp and Coppinger realise that they dont want to be flirting with relegation every season cos one of these seasons they will go down and wont get nearly that much for those two! also agree with some of you about clegg doing well by only offering 300,000! Coppinger only worth 700k max sooo start low and see if we can push a bargain! P.S is it me or do we get held to ransom in absolutly every deal we try and complete! also who beleives the Danny Graham rumours!??? I dont know what to beleive at all!

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Lay added 20:51 - May 14 Danny graham rumours are a load of rubbish! He is likely to stay at watford and if not then will be almost certain to make his move to newcastle as they have been strongly linked with them! And why wud he want to come to us? And anyway he isnt a great player imho. COME ON CLEGG SIGN GOODWILLIE!
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