That *was* the January Window

[Andy]

19 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Yeah, I was surprised to see he was 24 when it was his birthday the other month.

Feels like he should have made a bit more of an impact by now given his age. I guess it's not that surprising given the level he was playing at before us.

To be fair, he's looked good in the last 2-3, where he's finally been given a start.
Unlucky not to score a couple in those games (post at Hull, etc).

Definitely think he'll become a useful squad player.

[davulsukur]

13 minutes ago, Andy said:

To be fair, he's looked good in the last 2-3, where he's finally been given a start.
Unlucky not to score a couple in those games (post at Hull, etc).

Definitely think he'll become a useful squad player.

Happy to give him time yet, he's had a lot of adjusting to do and some players take longer to get settled than others. Given his age, I thought he might have progressed/adapted a bit quicker, that's all. No big deal at the moment.

Like Ennis though, he badly needs a goal, which is only likely if he keeps getting starts. Only so many starts he can have without making a real contribution though, so round in circles we go.

His introduction into the team has also come at a point where our form has collapsed entirely, making his task even more difficult.

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

Yeah, I was surprised to see he was 24 when it was his birthday the other month.

Feels like he should have made a bit more of an impact by now given his age. I guess it's not that surprising given the level he was playing at before us.

He can still come good by all means and he's shown a few promising signs recently, there'll be no BBD story here though and if it takes 2 or 3 years to get a tune out of him that's a waste of time.

We are desperate for a bit of presence in the middle up top and hopefully he might grow into that role and we don't need miracles just a bit of a lump up there.

Probably he's here to replace Gallaghers role in the squad providing a bit of height and if he can put himself about as much then he'll serve that purpose.

Edited January 9 by tomphil

[Mercer]

There were posts on here on Saturday that Leonard and Garrett were going out on loan the following day (Sunday).

Thankfully, this hasn't happened, at least as yet, given our threadbare squad.

Are there any updates?

[bluebruce]

35 minutes ago, Mercer said:

There were posts on here on Saturday that Leonard and Garrett were going out on loan the following day (Sunday).

Thankfully, this hasn't happened, at least as yet, given our threadbare squad.

Are there any updates?

Thanks, I was going to ask about this myself. I don't think Garrett was said to be going out on loan the following day, just that he was looking likely to go on loan in general. Leonard though, they definitely said the following day and nowt has happened or been reported yet.

[RoversClitheroe]

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

There were posts on here on Saturday that Leonard and Garrett were going out on loan the following day (Sunday).

Thankfully, this hasn't happened, at least as yet, given our threadbare squad.

Are there any updates?

 

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Thanks, I was going to ask about this myself. I don't think Garrett was said to be going out on loan the following day, just that he was looking likely to go on loan in general. Leonard though, they definitely said the following day and nowt has happened or been reported yet.

My assumption is that from the goal on Saturday that Leonard scored, it meant that they think he should stay and Ennis leave.

[martonrover]

6 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Tbf! "a few" is different to near 20 with still half a season to go though

Agreed, but the point is that he was already contributing to the team in the most important way, (and he's not even a striker).

[yankfan]

13 hours ago, roverblue said:

Im not really sure what a good striker would look like in a JDT team. The role seems to be more about pressing and creating opportunities for the wide players/Szmodic than getting in the box. Something Dolan did well in his stint there.

The cross and headed finish from Leonard on Saturday was the first time I had seen us with some traditional forward play in ages.

Like this.  But really not that impressive. https://youtu.be/jsjRdIgq8s4?si=gkjuYM68oslAujCh

[yankfan]

Maybe Trav going out on loan has more to do with finances than we thought. From the LT when asked about Buckley 

“I was disappointed he went away in the summer. It was not my decision, I would rather have kept John,” Tomasson explained.

“It was a financial decision to get his wages off the bill, now he is back. John is a good lad but it will take months before he is back, which is disappointing.

so if we had to move his wages and now he’s back, we needed to ship off someone else to account for his cost? 

[dingles staying down 4ever]

15 hours ago, rigger said:

I think the last point is the most relevent.

Actually think all are equally relevent as each other. If you know your keeper is weak on crosses you need to stop the crosses. This should be done by being organised and do some basic defending.

Coaching takes time but a defensive general who controls the shape of the defence will help but that will only work if our full backs are not being utilised as midfielders

[NeilInBristol]

1 hour ago, yankfan said:

Maybe Trav going out on loan has more to do with finances than we thought. From the LT when asked about Buckley 

“I was disappointed he went away in the summer. It was not my decision, I would rather have kept John,” Tomasson explained.

“It was a financial decision to get his wages off the bill, now he is back. John is a good lad but it will take months before he is back, which is disappointing.

so if we had to move his wages and now he’s back, we needed to ship off someone else to account for his cost? 

 

Yep agreed 

Suits all parties. 

Perhaps Trav is on performance based payments too so he hasn't been selected/playing to save money

 

[alex l]

26 minutes ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

Actually think all are equally relevent as each other. If you know your keeper is weak on crosses you need to stop the crosses. This should be done by being organised and do some basic defending.

Coaching takes time but a defensive general who controls the shape of the defence will help but that will only work if our full backs are not being utilised as midfielders

Fully agree, there are different ways to solve a problem. Look at Cambridge's goals - neither in my view were the fault of the keeper. First one we failed to clear our lines 3 times and nobody got out to block the shot. 2nd goal the cross could be stopped, Pik easily beaten and worst of all the striker had no defender within 5 yards, the CBs were literally marking nobody. 

There's been many times in the past where we've seen players literally throwing themselves in the way to block shots. We seem to be lacking some of that mentality when defending our box at the moment 

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, yankfan said:

Maybe Trav going out on loan has more to do with finances than we thought. From the LT when asked about Buckley 

“I was disappointed he went away in the summer. It was not my decision, I would rather have kept John,” Tomasson explained.

“It was a financial decision to get his wages off the bill, now he is back. John is a good lad but it will take months before he is back, which is disappointing.

so if we had to move his wages and now he’s back, we needed to ship off someone else to account for his cost? 

He mentioned when Travis went about his wages. Every decision at the moment seems to be driven by cost cutting, not about what is best for the team. 

[alex l]

19 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

He mentioned when Travis went about his wages. Every decision at the moment seems to be driven by cost cutting, not about what is best for the team. 

JDT also said Travis wanted to leave in the summer and expressed the same wish again in October, as he wanted to play more in the role he wanted. Had Trav not wanted to move, it's difficult to say what may have happened. 

We all know our finances are tight but even if they're not, do you keep one of your higher earners around if they're not a key part of the team, not just the squad? If the 2 loans were possible due to him leaving, we've got more cover now than before he went. Time will tell if they're better options for the team as a whole, compared to if we'd have kept him around. 

[Mattyblue]

Top earners? Maybe, but he’s not going to be on a fortune as a standard Championship player that came through the academy. 

Of course, at a normal club you keep him around, fight your way back in the side like Scott Wharton has done, and he can also slot into right back where we have one fit player for that position (and he’s in dodgy form and has been injured at times himself). 

It’s a squad game, and ours is small, stretched and inexperienced to boot- but hey ho, if the club is literally hand to mouth now, then off he goes,  just like Buckley.
 

Edited January 10 by Mattyblue

[islander200]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Top earners? Maybe, but he’s not going to be on a fortune as a standard Championship player that came through the academy. 

Of course, at a normal club you keep him around, fight your way back in the side like Scott Wharton has done, and he can also slot into right back where we have one fit player for that position (and he’s in dodgy form and has been injured at times himself). 

It’s a squad game, and ours is small, stretched and inexperienced to boot- but hey ho, if the club is literally hand to mouth now, then off he goes,  just like Buckley.
 

You keep him around even though he has asked to leave twice and keeps saying to the manager he wants to play as a 6?

Iv no doubt that finance played a part but at the same time I can't think of many players going into their prime who are club captain,used to playing every week but then benched and stay at that club .He hasn't started a game in midfield since October 

Edited January 10 by islander200

[BigBar]

18 hours ago, roverblue said:

Im not really sure what a good striker would look like in a JDT team. The role seems to be more about pressing and creating opportunities for the wide players/Szmodic than getting in the box. Something Dolan did well in his stint there.

The cross and headed finish from Leonard on Saturday was the first time I had seen us with some traditional forward play in ages.

This is spot on, he has a goalscorer in the team, top scorer in the division. The problems aren't solely down to not having someone to put it in the net, the problems are elsewhere which the manager simply hasn't address or found a solution to.

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, islander200 said:

You keep him around even though he has asked to leave twice and keeps saying to the manager he wants to play as a 6?

Iv no doubt that finance played a part but at the same time I can't think of many players going into their prime who are club captain,used to playing every week but then benched and stay at that club .He hasn't started a game in midfield since October 

I don't get why we should keep Travis around the squad whilst he has asked to leave twice and not happy about his playing position, surely you get rid of him and bring in players that's suits your tactical approach? 

[Mattyblue]

20 minutes ago, islander200 said:

You keep him around even though he has asked to leave twice and keeps saying to the manager he wants to play as a 6?

Iv no doubt that finance played a part but at the same time I can't think of many players going into their prime who are club captain,used to playing every week but then benched and stay at that club .He hasn't started a game in midfield since October 

Yes I would, just like I would’ve kept Buckley. And no I don’t take as gospel anything that comes out of this club and that includes JDT. Face being saved all round.

But if he was really angling to go ‘twice’, sell him then, either now or in May after helping the team for three months or so - that’s ’the model’ isn’t it? Not short term loans to sides in the same league, as that looks very ‘finance driven’ to me.

Edited January 10 by Mattyblue

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, alex l said:

JDT also said Travis wanted to leave in the summer and expressed the same wish again in October, as he wanted to play more in the role he wanted. Had Trav not wanted to move, it's difficult to say what may have happened. 

We all know our finances are tight but even if they're not, do you keep one of your higher earners around if they're not a key part of the team, not just the squad? If the 2 loans were possible due to him leaving, we've got more cover now than before he went. Time will tell if they're better options for the team as a whole, compared to if we'd have kept him around. 

Yes you tell them to get their head down and get on with it like many ,managers do at many clubs. Things can change in an instant in football and suddenly you are back in the team. Travis can also fill a number of roles and is one of the senior most experienced players at the club.

Basically he probably knew he was being squeezed out with a player signed for his position. He saw the writing on the wall and asked to leave there's nothing wrong with that he just wants to play. As far as we know he loves Rovers and doesn't want to leave but has little choice, they've decided they don't want to pay him just as a squad player.

All it does is weaken the squad and he is replaced by cheaper younger less experience not somebody more suitable.

[BankEnd Rover]

[Browjd]

5 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

You have to laugh....

[BankEnd Rover]

9 minutes ago, Browjd said:

You have to laugh....

Considering Alex Scott left to Bournemouth for £20m….We should be looking at the same as a minimum.

[islander200]

29 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Yes I would, just like I would’ve kept Buckley. And no I don’t take as gospel anything that comes out of this club and that includes JDT. Face being saved all round.

But if he was really angling to go ‘twice’, sell him then, either now or in May after helping the team for three months or so - that’s ’the model’ isn’t it? Not short term loans to sides in the same league, as that looks very ‘finance driven’ to me.

I don't believe everything the club says either.What I do know is no way Travis would be happy with the situation he found himself in and sometimes it's better to part as a chance it disrupts the squad 

JDT was visibly disappointed with the Buckley loan and said as much , I didn't get that vibe from him over Travis in that BBC lancs interview.

We obviously need to offload to bring players in and maybe we would have sold him if we had a suitable offer 

[BigBar]

25 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

I'd like a bit more. Seems cheap.