Joe Rankin-Costello

[Tricky]

1 minute ago, DE. said:

Assuming we stick with a midfield two, and JRC and Wharton are our main pairing, who's doing the defending in that scenario if JRC is being primed as a goal-scoring midfielder? Wharton is a class act passing the ball around at the back and indeed from the back, or anywhere on the pitch really but is he doing to be expected to fulfil the battling DM part of the role as well? 

If we change to a midfield three with someone behind those two then fair enough, but where does that leave Buckeroo as he's certainly not suited to that DM role either.

with due respect to the talented young lads, the absence of an experienced physical presence in there has been our downfall several times...

buckley will also need to prove himself again too following a lengthy spell out

[DE.]

1 minute ago, Tricky said:

with due respect to the talented young lads, the absence of an experienced physical presence in there has been our downfall several times...

buckley will also need to prove himself again too following a lengthy spell out

Yeah, exactly why I'm raising the point. Yes it's nice that JRC will be played in his best position, but if it's in a more offensive role and we stick with a two, as JDT seems to prefer, are Wharton or Buckley likely to partner him considering neither have any physical presence? Can't help but think if they do we'll be leaving ourselves open at the back, especially to teams like Rotherham and Preston who thrive on the physical aspect of the game. 4-0 and 4-1 L's this season respectively...

[RoverDom]

26 minutes ago, DE. said:

Assuming we stick with a midfield two, and JRC and Wharton are our main pairing, who's doing the defending in that scenario if JRC is being primed as a goal-scoring midfielder? Wharton is a class act passing the ball around at the back and indeed from the back, or anywhere on the pitch really but is he doing to be expected to fulfil the battling DM part of the role as well? 

If we change to a midfield three with someone behind those two then fair enough, but where does that leave Buckeroo as he's certainly not suited to that DM role either.

Ideally it would be part of a 3 man midfield with some physical beast behind JRC and Wharton. I think that could be mouthwatering. 

[Hasta]

He could play in the 2 in midfield as we currently have it. He'd have more bite and physical presence than Morton, Wharton or Buckley have had playing there.

And think how many times we saw Travis in a dangerous position on the edge of the box only for him to turn round and do nothing with it. If that was JRC keep popping up there we'd be pretty dangerous.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Hasta

[ben_the_beast]

It will be good to see. He's got bite, he's brave on the ball and a very intelligent player. He's been brilliant at right back and overall I think we've coped defensively when he's gone roaming, but it would be naive to say that him doing so doesn't make us defensively weaker.

I think back to two of the goals we conceded vs Stoke. Both were finished after a cross into our left back position. Neither were the fault of JRC but his positioning does pull the whole defensive unit across to the right. 

It's also good to see after just one half there JRC also has an awareness around his weaknesses in centre mid and his lack of ego means he's happy to be open about the need to improve there. He's one of my favorite players and I think it could be a positive move.

[Tricky]

3 hours ago, RoverDom said:

Ideally it would be part of a 3 man midfield with some physical beast behind JRC and Wharton. I think that could be mouthwatering. 

so basically GB needs to seek such beast and replace Dolan Gallagher Hedges up top

[chaddyrovers]

4 hours ago, DE. said:

Assuming we stick with a midfield two, and JRC and Wharton are our main pairing, who's doing the defending in that scenario if JRC is being primed as a goal-scoring midfielder? Wharton is a class act passing the ball around at the back and indeed from the back, or anywhere on the pitch really but is he doing to be expected to fulfil the battling DM part of the role as well? 

If we change to a midfield three with someone behind those two then fair enough, but where does that leave Buckeroo as he's certainly not suited to that DM role either.

Szmodics has been dropping deep to make it a 3 man midfield when needed then moves into the number 10 role when we attacking? 

3 hours ago, Hasta said:

He could play in the 2 in midfield as we currently have it. He'd have more bite and physical presence than Morton, Wharton or Buckley have had playing there.

And think how many times we saw Travis in a dangerous position on the edge of the box only for him to turn round and do nothing with it. If that was JRC keep popping up there we'd be pretty dangerous.

Don't forget the pass on QPR away for Szmodics goal

34 minutes ago, Tricky said:

so basically GB needs to seek such beast and replace Dolan Gallagher Hedges up top

why are we dropping one of best players this season in Sammie Szmodics? crazy talk

[wilsdenrover]

7 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Think the two merged threads have ended up with some missing posts… which saves the blushes of whoever the poster was a few weeks ago that said he shouldn’t be offered a new deal 😁

I think I’ve found the post you’re talking about 😁

[DE.]

45 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Szmodics has been dropping deep to make it a 3 man midfield when needed then moves into the number 10 role when we attacking? 

There are possibilities, but I feel like something in the approach will have to change if we have JRC and one of Wharton/Bucko playing beside him. Assuming Travis stays then he could play behind them in a DM role, potentially, but that's not the shape JDT has typically lined up with this season. I think asking Szmodics to cover AMC and DM would be a lot to ask, even with his excellent workrate.

[Mattyblue]

54 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

I think I’ve found the post you’re talking about 😁

Me too. (*cough page 2 cough*)

[wilsdenrover]

11 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Me too. (*cough page 2 cough*)

Page 2 of this topic?

If so, it’s a different one to the one I tracked down.

[bluebruce]

19 minutes ago, DE. said:

There are possibilities, but I feel like something in the approach will have to change if we have JRC and one of Wharton/Bucko playing beside him.

Why though? If JRC can play as a defender, he can play as a physical midfielder.

[DE.]

1 minute ago, bluebruce said:

Why though? If JRC can play as a defender, he can play as a physical midfielder.

Yeah, but I'm going off the description of him being a goal scoring midfielder, which suggests defending won't be his priority. If he's mostly in the middle and further back then it's less of an issue. 

[Mattyblue]

17 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Page 2 of this topic?

If so, it’s a different one to the one I tracked down.

No the forum.

[wilsdenrover]

13 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

No the forum.

April 12th??

 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

There are possibilities, but I feel like something in the approach will have to change if we have JRC and one of Wharton/Bucko playing beside him. Assuming Travis stays then he could play behind them in a DM role, potentially, but that's not the shape JDT has typically lined up with this season. I think asking Szmodics to cover AMC and DM would be a lot to ask, even with his excellent workrate.

We have plenty of options in there if we have/keep Travis, Garrett, Wharton, Szmodics and Buckley plus JRC. 

[DE.]

2 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

We have plenty of options in there if we have/keep Travis, Garrett, Wharton, Szmodics and Buckley plus JRC. 

The discussion has been about all of those options and how they'd be utilised - what do you mean by this?

[chaddyrovers]

20 minutes ago, DE. said:

The discussion has been about all of those options and how they'd be utilised - what do you mean by this?

we have 6 options currently available for next season unless we sell one. We have different types of midfielders there and can play 2 or 3 man midfield in games. Plenty of different options which I think is good for JDT and us going forward 

Edited May 10, 2023 by chaddyrovers

[DE.]

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

we have 6 options currently available for next season unless we sell one. We have different types of midfielders there and can play 2 or 3 man midfield in games. Plenty of different options which I think is good for JDT and us going forward 

Sure, but if JRC is in midfield as a more attacking option (as I interpret 'goalscoring midfielder' to mean) who do you play alongside him to balance things out? Would you have a DM behind JRC and one other, or stick with the two in midfield? Do you think a player like Szmodics could play both AMC and DM as what would essentially be a box-to-box midfielder?

Edited May 10, 2023 by DE.

[wilsdenrover]

14 minutes ago, DE. said:

Sure, but if JRC is in midfield as a more attacking option (as I interpret 'goalscoring midfielder' to mean) who do you play alongside him to balance things out? Would you have a DM behind JRC and one other, or stick with the two in midfield? Do you think a player like Szmodics could play both AMC and DM as what would essentially be a box-to-box midfielder?

In that article JRC was quoted as saying (regarding his Millwall performance)  ‘I thought attacking-wise I was okay. I need to pick up on the defensive bits’

I wonder if he sees himself as being the box to box midfielder.

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by wilsdenrover

[chaddyrovers]

50 minutes ago, DE. said:

Sure, but if JRC is in midfield as a more attacking option (as I interpret 'goalscoring midfielder' to mean) who do you play alongside him to balance things out? Would you have a DM behind JRC and one other, or stick with the two in midfield? Do you think a player like Szmodics could play both AMC and DM as what would essentially be a box-to-box midfielder?

I think either Buckley or Wharton could play that deeper role especially if we are going to be possession based today playing that deeper playmaker role. 

Szmodics is good at dropping deeper from the number 10 role and making that three. He can play the attacking midfielder from the midfield 3. 

[philipl]

New deal signed!

[Sweaty Gussets]

Joe’s here to stay! | rovers.co.uk

Delighted with this, absolute storming second half of the season.

Credit to GB for getting another star signed up. 

[robbojohnno]

Fantastic news! If he stays fit hes every chance of getting in the Championship team of the season this year. Now to get some goalscorers in the building. COYB

[arbitro]

Really good news. His versatility, energy and drive will be massive for us.