January Transfer Window.

[tomphil]

13 minutes ago, roversinmyblood said:

We really struggled when TM tried playing a possession based game. Only when we mixed it up and played more direct, as we did last year, did we do better. We don’t have the players for it. We are just playing ourselves into trouble a lot. Pep Guardiola has a lot to answer for. 

Picking up 2nd balls from knockdowns and clearances then a quick short pass, pressing at getting in faces in the middle and putting tackles in that's what Travis is all about.

He's another player Allardyce would've moulded into a real asset but present day thinkers don't know what to do with a guy like that. He's a bread and butter British style player who'll never adapt to the continental laid back approach and he isn't alone.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

26 minutes ago, roversinmyblood said:

We really struggled when TM tried playing a possession based game. Only when we mixed it up and played more direct, as we did last year, did we do better. We don’t have the players for it. We are just playing ourselves into trouble a lot. Pep Guardiola has a lot to answer for. 

Spain has a lot to answer for. At that time they had the players with the amazing close control, two footedness and spacial awareness you need to play keep ball. We don’t have those players. Not many teams do.

[TruRover]

Have we even been linked to a player yet? 

[Sweaty Gussets]

24 minutes ago, TruRover said:

Have we even been linked to a player yet? 

Not that I've seen. And I love a bit of Newsnow. 

[DE.]

3 hours ago, toogs said:

I think Travis is a better player than his recent displays are showing.  He’s being asked to collect ball at feet, turn and find a quick forward pass. That’s the absolute opposite of the type of player he is. He’s a shit fullback as well so I wish JDT would stop that also. If JDT wakes up and “wees with the willy he’s got” I think Travis is worth keeping.
 

Agree if he’s not going to be used properly he might as well move on. 

 

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Picking up 2nd balls from knockdowns and clearances then a quick short pass, pressing at getting in faces in the middle and putting tackles in that's what Travis is all about.

He's another player Allardyce would've moulded into a real asset but present day thinkers don't know what to do with a guy like that. He's a bread and butter British style player who'll never adapt to the continental laid back approach and he isn't alone.

Completely agree. I think the stick Trav has been getting recently is pretty harsh. He's clearly struggling for confidence and hasn't been able to adapt, as of yet, to the way JDT wants us to play. To be fair he's not the only one. Also consider he's had a bit of a rotating door of partners in midfield which can't help. When Travis is on form he's very good at what he does, it just doesn't seem like what he does suits JDT's style of play. I wouldn't give up on him yet, but obviously if it comes to the end of the season and he's still struggling then a decision will have to be made on whether it'd be better for him to move on elsewhere.

[toogs]

2 minutes ago, DE. said:

 

Completely agree. I think the stick Trav has been getting recently is pretty harsh. He's clearly struggling for confidence and hasn't been able to adapt, as of yet, to the way JDT wants us to play. To be fair he's not the only one. Also consider he's had a bit of a rotating door of partners in midfield which can't help. When Travis is on form he's very good at what he does, it just doesn't seem like what he does suits JDT's style of play. I wouldn't give up on him yet, but obviously if it comes to the end of the season and he's still struggling then a decision will have to be made on whether it'd be better for him to move on elsewhere.

Agree - another being affected is S Wharton

[briansol]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Picking up 2nd balls from knockdowns and clearances then a quick short pass, pressing at getting in faces in the middle and putting tackles in that's what Travis is all about.

He's another player Allardyce would've moulded into a real asset but present day thinkers don't know what to do with a guy like that. He's a bread and butter British style player who'll never adapt to the continental laid back approach and he isn't alone.

There are plenty of "british style" players like Travis, who can still pass a ball and make decent decisions in possesion.  You'll find one in most decent Championship clubs. There has been some standout players in this league in that mould like Kalvin Phillips and Lewis O'Brien

The problem with Travis is that he seemed to have regressed from when breaking through, especially on the ball. 

[briansol]

10 minutes ago, DE. said:

 

Completely agree. I think the stick Trav has been getting recently is pretty harsh. He's clearly struggling for confidence and hasn't been able to adapt, as of yet, to the way JDT wants us to play. To be fair he's not the only one. Also consider he's had a bit of a rotating door of partners in midfield which can't help. When Travis is on form he's very good at what he does, it just doesn't seem like what he does suits JDT's style of play. I wouldn't give up on him yet, but obviously if it comes to the end of the season and he's still struggling then a decision will have to be made on whether it'd be better for him to move on elsewhere.

Not sure if it's a style issue. He looked good in the first matches, but has not reached his heights for couple of seasons. Had form issues under Mowbray as well.

[DE.]

14 minutes ago, briansol said:

Not sure if it's a style issue. He looked good in the first matches, but has not reached his heights for couple of seasons. Had form issues under Mowbray as well.

Again though, the entire team had form issues under Mowbray... hence the death spirals. Trav's decent start can likely be put down the JDT not having yet really established his style within the group. It feels like as time goes on certain players are regressing very quickly. Others are at best standing still. It's hard to really think of any players that have shown a significant improvement from last season. The sad fact is that most of the existing squad is unlikely to be able to properly adapt to how JDT wants us to play. With that potentially being the case we're either looking at a near-total squad overhaul over the next few transfer windows, or JDT himself will need to compromise somewhat in regards to his ideals. The former will be a real challenge considering budget limitations and the level we're playing at, whilst if the latter doesn't happen I don't see things ending well, regardless of where we currently sit in the league. It'll be interesting to see how things progress... or don't progress.

[Paul Mani]

40 minutes ago, briansol said:

Not sure if it's a style issue. He looked good in the first matches, but has not reached his heights for couple of seasons. Had form issues under Mowbray as well.

This. People protecting Trav are dreaming. JDT’s plan is RIGHT up his street. It’s based on energy, athleticism and NOT taking too many touches….please see the signing of Szmodics and the lack of Dack. Travis should be revelling in this system, with the backing of the manager who made him club captain! Anyone who has been watching the games live can see the problem…he just isn’t on it. Not sure why but it’s the same with S Wharton. He is the best on the ball of all the cb’s which is the only additional pressure JDT has put on them. He’s just having a bad time, it happens!

 

[bluebruce]

41 minutes ago, DE. said:

Others are at best standing still. It's hard to really think of any players that have shown a significant improvement from last season.

Ryan Hedges, Sam Gallagher, Dolan and Kaminski are all playing better than last season. Although in a keeper's case it doesn't really come down to tactics.

[roversfan99]

28 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

This. People protecting Trav are dreaming. JDT’s plan is RIGHT up his street. It’s based on energy, athleticism and NOT taking too many touches….please see the signing of Szmodics and the lack of Dack. Travis should be revelling in this system, with the backing of the manager who made him club captain! Anyone who has been watching the games live can see the problem…he just isn’t on it. Not sure why but it’s the same with S Wharton. He is the best on the ball of all the cb’s which is the only additional pressure JDT has put on them. He’s just having a bad time, it happens!

 

Is it?! He may say that but it is only infrequently been seen on the pitch.

Travis can't take the ball on the half turn, he is very limited on the ball and playing it out from the back really highlights this. Morton struggles with that too, so often caught due to a lack of awareness of what is around him.

[simongarnerisgod]

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Is it?! He may say that but it is only infrequently been seen on the pitch.

Travis can't take the ball on the half turn, he is very limited on the ball and playing it out from the back really highlights this. Morton struggles with that too, so often caught due to a lack of awareness of what is around him.

indeed,you would`nt get a scaffolder to do the electrics or an electrician to do the roofing,it`s about getting your players to do jobs that  they are trained for,if you want someone to take the ball from your centre backs then go out and buy someone who can do it,if you can`t afford it then adjust your tactics,not quantum physics is it,it`s a facet of jdt and mowbray before him that really annoys me

[DE.]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Ryan Hedges, Sam Gallagher, Dolan and Kaminski are all playing better than last season. Although in a keeper's case it doesn't really come down to tactics.

A fair point on Hedges and Dolan. Despite buying Hedges Mowbray, for whatever reason, never really used him properly or effectively. Dolan has definitely been more productive this season but you would hope for that as he gets older and gains experience. Gallagher I feel is fairly similar to last season in that sometimes he looks useful and other times not so much, his stats so far this season suggest he's trending towards a similar impact to last season (17 games, 4 goals, 1 assist this season, 37 games, 9 goals and 3 assists last season) so we'll see how things look at the end of the season for him. It'd be nice for him to at least get into double figures with a goal return. Kaminski has had some excellent games this season and some poor ones, which does remind me of last season, and I still think his distribution needs work. A solid keeper at this level though for sure.

Ultimately it's only a few months into JDT's reign so I'm not going to judge any of the players too harshly at this point - I think we'll have a clearer picture at the end of the season as to who is going to thrive long-term and who is likely to be departing or reduced to a lesser role going forward. 

[roversfan99]

Has Dolan come on under Tomasson? He is a sub more often than not.

[rover23]

On 22/12/2022 at 16:08, chaddyrovers said:

We will have to agree to disagree. I think we should add 1 or 2 players in January whilst you want at least 4 signings. 

Think we need 3 in January. Another RB, LB and a forward. 

 

Think we may also consider JPVH if we can get him in during this window rather than wait for summer. 

[DE.]

29 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Has Dolan come on under Tomasson? He is a sub more often than not.

In terms of pure stats he's on a better potential trajectory than last season. One less goal and one more assist from twelve less appearances so far. Jury's out for me at this point but if he ends the season being more productive than last season in terms of goals and assists then that's personal progress for him. How it's impacting the team overall is another question. 

[chaddyrovers]

4 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Has Dolan come on under Tomasson? He is a sub more often than not.

I would say yes in terms of goals and assists plus impacts on games this season has been better. 

 

[roversfan99]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

I would say yes in terms of goals and assists plus impacts on games this season has been better. 

 

In terms of inconsistency both in regards to performances and nailing down a regular spot, not so much. Marginal at best.

[chaddyrovers]

11 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

In terms of inconsistency both in regards to performances and nailing down a regular spot, not so much. Marginal at best.

I have disagree with you, he gives depth and strengths in forward areas and his adaptability to play 2 or 3 different positions but given how we play with just front 2 means he missed out, but now we playing 4-2-3-1 formation we will see much more of him starting games when has pressing number 9 or as wide player. 

[roversfan99]

He might do in the future. So far, he has not established himself any more under Tomasson than he had prior.

[toogs]

7 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

This. People protecting Trav are dreaming. JDT’s plan is RIGHT up his street. It’s based on energy, athleticism and NOT taking too many touches….please see the signing of Szmodics and the lack of Dack. Travis should be revelling in this system, with the backing of the manager who made him club captain! Anyone who has been watching the games live can see the problem…he just isn’t on it. Not sure why but it’s the same with S Wharton. He is the best on the ball of all the cb’s which is the only additional pressure JDT has put on them. He’s just having a bad time, it happens!

 

Can’t say i agree with with a word of that. 

[Exiled in Toronto]

On 23/12/2022 at 08:21, roversfan99 said:

Has Dolan come on under Tomasson? He is a sub more often than not.

He’s improved a lot imo, takes far fewer touches and now mostly restricts his stepovers to where a trick counts, eg his goal at Norwich.

[neophox]

Morgan Whittaker at Plymouth...good young player worth a look.

[roverandout]

1 minute ago, neophox said:

Morgan Whittaker at Plymouth...good young player worth a look.

We have plenty of young players.  Need experience and quality