Bristol Rovers appear to have shifted the blame for the cock-up in failing to sign Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris on transfer deadline day away from Memorial Stadium officials.
Posh manager Darren Ferguson gave a lengthy explanation, from his club’s point of view, as to why the £800k deal didn’t go ahead after Saturday’s 3-1 League One defeat at Portsmouth.
He claimed Rovers officials had made ‘mistakes.’
Fergie’s claim
The PT understands Rovers were 50 seconds late in filing the relevant paperwork after failing to apply for an extension to the transfer deadline.
This despite Posh agreeing a fee to sell a 29 year-old striker back to his former club at 5.30pm – five-and-a-half hours before deadline.
Posh officials were furious the deal didn’t go through and they are unlikely to attract such a fee for a player who will be under six months from the end of his contract when the next transfer window opens in January. They also have an unhappy player on their hands as he was keen to return to Bristol.
The PT understands Posh have received an apology from Rovers, but the West Country club issued a statement on Saturday lunchtime which said ‘late changes to the deal prevented it being completed.’ This could relate to the demands of an agent as the PT has been told Posh made no late demands.
The Rovers statement read: “This morning an EFL representative confirmed that our contract application for Jonson Clarke-Harris was rejected.
“The club had worked throughout the day to agree terms with Peterborough, the player and his representatives, however, late changes to the deal prevented it being completed.
“The outcome is a disappointing one for all involved however, everything possible was done to finalise the agreement and register the required documents with the EFL ahead of the deadline.”
Rovers boss Joey Barton was laid back about the drama when he spoke to BBC Bristol after a 1-1 home League One draw with Lincoln City yesterday.
He wouldn’t speculate on whether or not Rovers would be back for Clarke-Harris in January.
Barton said: “The good thing for us is that we`re in the mix to attract that calibre of player. We`ve had a fantastic window and that (signing Clarke-Harris) would have made it an almost perfect window for us.
“We’ve still go enormous quality in our building which is a good indication of the progress we’re making as a collective in the last few years.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get it over the line by inches, seconds by the sound of things. I thought it was done, but that is life and that is football.
“January is a long way away. I might not even be sitting in the seat. You’ve got to take care of business every single week.”
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