[Archived] Do We Have Adequate Cover For Injuries

[brfc fan]

Am I the only one who sees a glaring weakness if MGP is injured for any length of time. Peter in my opinion is just not Premiership standard!

I agree but he doesn't seem to get injured much (I hope I haven't spoken too soon! ). He had 36 appearences out of a possible 53 last season which is pretty impressive for an outfield player.

MGP Stats

[Mozzer]

i think if theres a position to be covered, id say right wing and centre mid..everywhere else id say we are covered pretty well

with tugay and savage getting on abit, i feel a young centre midfielder is needed..

for right wing-what about darren ambrose, cheap, young, potential to be the next bentley..

[tcj_jones]

I was talking wioth a mate today about just how much depth we have to our squad. If we are ravaged by injuries in the same way we were last season, we will be able to cope with it just fine, I reckon.

Those calling for a new central midfielder have to remember that we currently have five of them, none of which would would be guaranteed a place. Compeition is huge.

We have the depth, I just wish we had the quality in certain areas. Santa Cruz and Rigters may well prove excellent purchases, but a top quality striker was what we needed. Maybe Santa Cruz will be that, I'm not sure.

[LeChuck]

Personally I think we need to get signing some players

Friedel

Emerton Samba Nelsen Warnock

Bentley Savage Tugay Pedersen

McCarthy Santa Cruz

-----------

Brown

Ooijer Henchoz Zurab Berner

Reid Mokoena Dunn Peter

Roberts Derbyshire

We don't need any more players whatsoever. That second team is probably stronger than the strongest XI that Hughes inherited. I can't understand why people think we need another right back, we have two international ones already, plus Zurab who can play there. Emerton had a better season last year than Neill ever did for us, and no-one was calling for him to be replaced.

If we do sign anyone then someone needs to be sold at the same time.

[philipl]

Enckelman, Nolan, Treacy, Garner, Righters, Gallagher, Jeffers.... don't even get a run out in the second XI. Never mind Keitle, Pezzoni and others reportedly causing excitement at Brockhall.

[joey_big_nose]

i think if theres a position to be covered, id say right wing and centre mid..everywhere else id say we are covered pretty well

with tugay and savage getting on abit, i feel a young centre midfielder is needed..

for right wing-what about darren ambrose, cheap, young, potential to be the next bentley..

I would say right wing is the most covered psition we have on the pitch! bentley, reid, dunn, rigters, derbyshire, gallagher and emerton can all play there! we won't be signing another RM

A top class centre midfielder would be nice, but I would hardly see it as a priority. Left wing looks the vulnerable place for me. If MGP gets injured then we have to rely on Peter who, although having some strengths, all round seems too weak for the Prem or Dunn who sometimes plays well on the left, sometimes does not.

But all in all i think we have a very good squad. Best since 1996 imo. Just a shame everybody else is strengthening so much.

[Blue blood]

I'd say overall yes we do - there's always room for improvement but at the moment the squad is big enough in terms of numbers to cope. One thing we should bare in mind is the age of several players and another year or so on we may not have the cover in those positions.

Defence: two left footed left backs, at least 4 good centre halves (although a Zurab/Ooijer partnership drops off too much imo). The only postion in defence which could be improved is having a specialised right back reserve. I wouldn't swap emo as he's been excellent there. Nut Zurab has been very hit and miss when he's played there and Ooijer isn't that young - and pace matters more at full back - so we should probably be on the lookout for some young backup in this position.

Midfield - numbers in the centre are fine - and if reid gets fit we have a very good central midfield player who can be the spine of our team for years to come. The only concern is age with our centre mids Savage and Tugs will need replacing in the next year or two. Hopefully either Moko or Dunn will step up the plate and succesfully take over these roles (ideally both) but I think we'll be looking for either another defensive or creative centre mid within the next 12-18 months. For now however numbers are fine.

The wings are now to me the weakest point in depth wise. We've arguably 2 of the best wide mids in the country but after them the quality seems to fade. Whilst emerton and reid can play right mid - neither are anywhere near as good there as there best positons, where they are excellent, and we really should do all we can to keep them where they are top class. Gally's too weak imo and Peter doesn't have much experience and is yet to really shine. Also not sure Dunn is suited to playing wide mid, most definately not left mid. Ideally I'd like to see a player who could play either wing and well, certainly a pacy winger would really give us another option. Maybe Righters (sp) could do this.

Up front - more than adequate. Every option/style is covered and compaired to the days of Dickov, Boothroyd, Stead which Hughes inherited shows how far we have come.

Overall a versatile wide pacey winger and a young right back are the only things that would improve the squad at the moment.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Rovers probably have the strongest and deepest squad in the club's history.

A stronger squad than when we won the Premiership in 1995 ?

With respect Philip, you are taking positive spin to an extraordinary level. May I remind you that last season we finished 10th - four places lower than the previous season. Hardly an improvement was it ?

Last season we lost matches to two of the three clubs who were relegated - Watford and Charlton. Our Premiership record against the bottom six clubs was dreadful - indicating that our squad often lacks both consistency and the desire to roll up the sleeves and battle against the smaller teams.

At Ewood Park we lost at home to some fairly average teams like Aston Villa and Newcastle who both finished in the bottom half of the table.

In the summer we've signed a promising Dutch kid (who is so far unproven in the Premiership) and a Paraquay international who has a grand total of 31 goals in 155 appearences for Bayern Munich. He had a period last season of zero goals in 22 games for Munich and was booed by the supporters following his lacklustre performances.

To suggest that these two so far unproven additions to a Rovers squad which finished 10th last season, now represents the strongest ever squad in our club's history, is an extraodinarily bold statement to make.

Philip, if you ever get bored with sipping wine on the beaches of Malta, I'm sure you could always come back to the UK and get a job as a Government spin doctor. They'd love your positive spin on events. If the Government were forced to announce a series of hospital closures around the country you'd probably turn round and say: "We now have the strongest set of hospitals in this country's history."

[philipl]

Given I got picked up for not reading a post correctly earlier today I am going to say your contribution to this thread is similarly flawed and wasted.

"Rovers probably have the strongest and deepest squad in the club's history.

"A stronger squad than when we won the Premiership in 1995 ?"

Yes, squad. We won the Premiership with a great team and a squad that was so thin the subs bench in the Champs League games the following season was an absolute embarassment.

The current squad is by far stronger and deeper than what we had in 1995.

The first eleven we put out of course is not as good as the Championship winners but that is not what we are talking about, is it?

[Rover down South]

Given I got picked up for not reading a post correctly earlier today I am going to say your contribution to this thread is similarly flawed and wasted.

"Rovers probably have the strongest and deepest squad in the club's history.

"A stronger squad than when we won the Premiership in 1995 ?"

Yes, squad. We won the Premiership with a great team and a squad that was so thin the subs bench in the Champs League games the following season was an absolute embarassment.

The current squad is by far stronger and deeper than what we had in 1995.

The first eleven we put out of course is not as good as the Championship winners but that is not what we are talking about, is it?

I very much agree, we had a fantastic XI in 1995 & were quite lucky with injuries, the squad then was no where near deep enough but thankfully we pulled through & won the league. (Still one of only four clubs to do so!!)

The squad we have now has far more depth, but I would like to see a more established right back brought in, that said, I would feel sorry for Brett Emerton as he would then struggle to get in the side if David Bentley continues his magnificent form.

[USRoverME]

Wanted to address the concern earlier on the left wing.

I hate to say it, but what team WOULDN'T wante better cover on the left wing. there are hardly any out there, yet we have enough players versitile enough to head on out there and give a good show at it. Are there any teams that have 2 "prem quality" left wingers tht aren't merely central midfielders or strikers "playing wide"?

[krislu]

Quantity is not at all a problem in our current squad.