Thursday deadline.

[toogs]

8 minutes ago, DE. said:

It might just be me

No It's not just you.

We will struggle to stay up with that team. The pairing of Smallwood and Evans just depresses me. Smallwood MIGHT be good enough if he has a VERY good one next to him. Let's hope we find him. Travis?

[JacknOry]

Just now, toogs said:

No It's not just you.

We will struggle to stay up with that team. The pairing of Smallwood and Evans just depresses me. Smallwood MIGHT be good enough if he has a VERY good one next to him. Let's hope we find him. Travis?

Would be him or Davenport I guess. 

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, unsall said:

Nuttall supposed to be in advanced talks with Bristol Rovers for season long loan

Would be a good move for the lad, especially since they just lost their main striker so opportunities should be there. Will be a good move for the club too, if Tony's words ring true about getting a striker first. These advanced talks might be preparatory for when our own strike deal gets greenlit - doesn't mean such a deal is close yet, but everything starts moving quicker this stage of the window.

[Pedro]

Just now, toogs said:

No It's not just you.

We will struggle to stay up with that team. The pairing of Smallwood and Evans just depresses me. Smallwood MIGHT be good enough if he has a VERY good one next to him. Let's hope we find him. Travis?

I honestly think that Travis will make the step up this season. From what I've seen, I like the energy that he brings in a similar way that Bennett does and Savage did.

[JHRover]

12 minutes ago, DE. said:

It might just be me but I look at that team and see a lot of weaknesses. I'm not too concerned by Raya in goal, but god help us if he gets injured. Nyambe did OK last season in League 1 but still a lot to prove at this level. I've never particularly rated Williams and think he'll be a weak link much like he was in our last Championship campaign. Happy enough with Lenihan and Mulgrew as a DC pairing but an injury to Mulgrew would leave us in trouble.

Smallwood had a half decent and half poor season last year, and obviously was a part of Rotherham's relegated side the season before, so it remains to be seen whether he has what it takes. Evans only shows up for a handful of games a season so I'm not happy with him as a starter.

Don't rate Samuel at all and will be disappointed if he's starting. Dack and Palmer obviously very good players. I think Dack will be able to make the step up. Graham meanwhile will only be able to play 70 mins max and we have no replacement of any quality for him.

Honestly if that's the team we have for most of this season I'd consider staying in the division a decent achievement. 

The likelihood of Lenihan, Mulgrew, Graham or Evans making it through a 46 game Championship season without getting injured is remote.

Remove any of them for any length of time and we have no depth. We're relying on Downing or the unknown new CB to step in at the back, unproven Travis or Davenport in CM or Whittingham, and nobody up front at this stage other than Samuel.

Lots of work to do so whilst satisfied with the Palmer addition there are another 3 required as a minimum, and they have to be good enough to play every week.

[unsall]

26 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm not sure to be honest. People are tipping Birmingham to struggle because of their embargo and lack of new signings but they've an ok squad and haven't sold anyone. Brentford always seem to do well and surpass expectations. Wigan we finished below last season and we're currently weaker than then. We will have to finish above Rotherham and Bolton, and should be capable of finishing above Millwall.

Yet Millwall had a good season,have you ever been positive re Rovers?

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

The likelihood of Lenihan, Mulgrew, Graham or Evans making it through a 46 game Championship season without getting injured is remote.

Remove any of them for any length of time and we have no depth. We're relying on Downing or the unknown new CB to step in at the back, unproven Travis or Davenport in CM or Whittingham, and nobody up front at this stage other than Samuel.

Lots of work to do so whilst satisfied with the Palmer addition there are another 3 required as a minimum, and they have to be good enough to play every week.

Agree about CB, which is why Mowbray is trying to sign someone.

Disagree about Evans, if there is anywhere we are well stocked ,its center midfield. We have Davenport, Travis, Rothwell, Whittingham and Bennett who can all play  beside Smallwood if Evans is unavailable. How many players do you need there?

 Definitely need a striker or two 

[Admiral Nelsen]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

The likelihood of Lenihan, Mulgrew, Graham or Evans making it through a 46 game Championship season without getting injured is remote.

Remove any of them for any length of time and we have no depth. We're relying on Downing or the unknown new CB to step in at the back, unproven Travis or Davenport in CM or Whittingham, and nobody up front at this stage other than Samuel.

Lots of work to do so whilst satisfied with the Palmer addition there are another 3 required as a minimum, and they have to be good enough to play every week.

Evans I'm not so sure about. There are question marks about all of them, I accept, but it's equally likely that a Davenport or a Travis will get in the team in front of Evans on merit rather than injury. Given where we've been in the last 5 years, we're alright in the middle of the park imo.

Agree about depth elsewhere, but you can probably say that about a few teams. The one which is really frightening at the minute is back up to Graham, but I don't think that'll still be the case in a few weeks.

[K-Hod]

3 minutes ago, unsall said:

Yet Millwall had a good season,have you ever been positive re Rovers?

Is there really any need for this comment? Especially as he pretty much goes to every game home and away??

Edited July 31, 2018 by K-Hod

[toogs]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Agree about CB, which is why Mowbray is trying to sign someone.

Disagree about Evans, if there is anywhere we are well stocked ,its center midfield. We have Davenport, Travis, Rothwell, Whittingham and Bennett who can all play  beside Smallwood if Evans is unavailable. How many players do you need there?

 Definitely need a striker or two 

Evans is a proven poor player in league one with no fight in him when the chips are down.

[Bigdoggsteel]

32 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm not sure to be honest. People are tipping Birmingham to struggle because of their embargo and lack of new signings but they've an ok squad and haven't sold anyone. Brentford always seem to do well and surpass expectations. Wigan we finished below last season and we're currently weaker than then. We will have to finish above Rotherham and Bolton, and should be capable of finishing above Millwall.

Come on now. You go too far sometimes. Birmingham are dog shit, they have been in or around the relegation zone for the past 2 seasons and now they have been hit with a transfer embargo. What would it take for you to say a club is in a worse position than us? 

We have made better signings than Wigan this summer. Why would you expect us to finish ahead of Milwall, but not Wigan? Milwall came 9th in the Championship last season. Bizzare 

Edited July 31, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[Mattyblue]

Is this what's it's getting to? Noticed he's been getting quite a bit of grief recently.

JH has been one of the best posters to come to this board for years, his passion for Rovers shines through on every post he makes, posts he makes eloquently without ever getitng personal.

 

(I'll climb out of his arse now, but annoyed me that!)

Edited July 31, 2018 by Mattyblue

[Bigdoggsteel]

10 minutes ago, toogs said:

Evans is a proven poor player in league one with no fight in him when the chips are down.

That wasn't what we were discussing , but anyway...

He wouldn't be my first choice this season, hopefully Davenport or Rothwell step up 

[Bigdoggsteel]

8 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Is this what's it's getting to? Noticed he's been getting quite a bit of grief recently.

JH has been one of the best posters to come to this board for years, his passion for Rovers shines through on every post he makes, posts he makes eloquently without ever getitng personal.

 

(I'll climb out of his arse now, but annoyed me that!)

We are all big boys here. His posts are as open to critical analysis as anybody elses

Edited July 31, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[JHRover]

5 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Come on now. You go too far sometimes. Birmingham are dog shit, they have been in or around the relegation zone for the past 2 seasons and now they have been hit with a transfer embargo. What would it take for you to say a club is in a worse position than us? 

We have made better signings than Wigan this summer. Why would you expect us to finish ahead of Milwall, but not Wigan? Milwall came 9th in the Championship last season. Bizzare 

Birmingham are in trouble with FFP because they spent heavily on players last summer. They might well have been fighting relegation for 2 years but that is better than getting relegated and being in League One for the last 2 years. Their problem was appointing poor managers in Zola, Redknapp and Cotterill. I think Monk is more clued up than those so should have enough nous to keep them up. If he walks then they are in trouble.

The fact is that despite their embargo and our lack of one we've only added 3 players and spent £500k or so at this point. Not a massive difference. Have Birmingham lost anyone like we have?

We may have some momentum to carry over which could help us as we have a confident group and are used to winning games.

Why would you expect us to finish above Wigan? We finished below them last season, we are currently weaker than we were then, whereas to my knowledge they haven't lost any important players. That might change but I'm not interested in what might happen, only where we are now.

Millwall had momentum last season and arguably overachieved, as did Sheffield United. I expect both will struggle to reach those heights again, of course might be wrong.

[TruRover]

So if Nutall is close to a loan move we must be close to bringing a striker in, anyone got any potential names? The only one I can think of us being linked to is Nmecha but he is seemingly going to Swansea.

[Mattyblue]

4 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

We are all big boys here. His posts are as open to critical analysis as anybody elses

Of course he is, I'm not his dad.

But 'are you ever positive' to a bloke that obviously bleeds blue and white is just snidey, and after a rise that will take us off on another positive/negative tangent for 3 pages.

[Bigdoggsteel]

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Birmingham are in trouble with FFP because they spent heavily on players last summer. They might well have been fighting relegation for 2 years but that is better than getting relegated and being in League One for the last 2 years. Their problem was appointing poor managers in Zola, Redknapp and Cotterill. I think Monk is more clued up than those so should have enough nous to keep them up. If he walks then they are in trouble.

The fact is that despite their embargo and our lack of one we've only added 3 players and spent £500k or so at this point. Not a massive difference. Have Birmingham lost anyone like we have?

We may have some momentum to carry over which could help us as we have a confident group and are used to winning games.

Why would you expect us to finish above Wigan? We finished below them last season, we are currently weaker than we were then, whereas to my knowledge they haven't lost any important players. That might change but I'm not interested in what might happen, only where we are now.

Millwall had momentum last season and arguably overachieved, as did Sheffield United. I expect both will struggle to reach those heights again, of course might be wrong.

We have added 3 better players than Wigan IMO. There was nothing between us and them in the league last season really. They were more familiar with the division and that stood to them, particularly early in the season. In fact, I reckon we would beat them more times than they would beat us if we played 10 games. We were better than them in both games last season. 

You may be right about Sheffield united and Milwall, although I think Sheffield united have done some good business. Egan is a  good signing at centre half. 

[JBiz]

 

Really does calm the nerves when new lads are saying this about the manager.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Of course he is, I'm not his dad.

But 'are you ever positive' to a bloke that obviously bleeds blue and white is just snidey, and after a rise that will take us off on another positive/negative tangent for 3 pages.

He is a good poster, we disagree about things, but as you say, he is always respectful and makes well thought out points. I don't think he is being overly criticized to be honest 

[Leonard Venkhater]

5 minutes ago, Biz said:

 

Really does calm the nerves when new lads are saying this about the manager.

French fries and urination alert..

I remember Scott Dan saying one the main reasons he came to Rovers was Steve Kean...(sorry)

[JBiz]

3 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

French fries and urination alert..

I remember Scott Dan saying one the main reasons he came to Rovers was Steve Kean...(sorry)

I remember Duff and Shearer leaving also so might as well start booing Dack already,

[FGS5635]

I think in the modern game most want new players to improve the team. But I also think with a young squad like we have we can certainly get some good improvement from within.

TM has said plenty times how he likes to coach and improve players. Bar a couple of the older players, most of the squad has room to improve and kick on.

Sprinkle in the likes of Travis who could come in and basically be a new singining if he steps up and things can look very different sometimes.

[davulsukur]

15 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

French fries and urination alert..

I remember Scott Dan saying one the main reasons he came to Rovers was Steve Kean...(sorry)

Probably was though.

”You’ll barely train, fitness training will be minimal, you can play as badly as you like and still get picked every week, you can be captain, my mate says doughnuts are a staple diet of a premier league footballer, going on the lash will be a mandatory team building exercise”

”Where do I sign?”

Edited July 31, 2018 by davulsukur

[K-Hod]

17 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

He is a good poster, we disagree about things, but as you say, he is always respectful and makes well thought out points. I don't think he is being overly criticized to be honest 

Asking someone that spends hundreds (maybe even thousands) of pounds following this club and giving up loads of his time presumably using holidays from work to do so, frankly deserves a lot better than 'are you ever positive about Rovers?'. 

Edited July 31, 2018 by K-Hod