That *was* the January Window

[AJW]

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

We miss his directness and pace…Always rated him, if he converted more shots to goals he would be a top half prem starter for sure.

A midfield 3 of Rothwell Wharton and Tronstad would have been very interesting 

Edited January 14 by AJW

[booth]

Just now, B16Rover said:

Completely agree with this, defensively we're a horror show for any diagonal ball and neither Wharton nor Tronstad have the height or physicality to drop into a 3 when both full backs bomb forward.  Also annoying the more attacking full back in Brittain doesn't play on the same side as Sigurdson who's hell bent on cutting inside.  

Thanks, sometimes I think I'm on a different planet. I've watched Pickering be awful in most games since he arrived. Brittain sometimes even worse on the opposite side. And then a goalie who is now contributing to conceding two goals a game.

We've got away with carrying players in the past, but it's important to add - with little actual success. We were never going to continue getting away with it when the cost cutting is getting worse and worse.

[miqaayil]

1 hour ago, Clive 62 said:

Correct, the plan would be harder in the prem as the academy lads wouldn’t get the minutes to progress, in league 1 they wouldn’t get the value, so tread water in the championship forever + stay under the radar. You’d think we would have made the playoffs at least once under Venky’s. Every time we get close we cut back when a bit of investment could get us over the line. 

As i've always said ...the venkys are just figure head and someone else is running the show , venkys are in it for advertisement of thier brand and showing huge expenditures overseas ...the indian court is nothing but smoke screen .... if actually ure not a supporter of the ruling regime they'll strike you personally and your locally listed operations not peanut overseas operation. And top notch lawyers can go for interim stay order or such or funnel monies through other foreign subsidies as share sales or investment .... but against all logic ..as a fan we still praying for someone up there to grow a conscience and see the plight of this once top run club ...

[B16Rover]

8 minutes ago, booth said:

Thanks, sometimes I think I'm on a different planet. I've watched Pickering be awful in most games since he arrived. Brittain sometimes even worse on the opposite side. And then a goalie who is now contributing to conceding two goals a game.

We've got away with carrying players in the past, but it's important to add - with little actual success. We were never going to continue getting away with it when the cost cutting is getting worse and worse.

This is a real football manager moment from me here admittedly but I don't think Pickering is a bad player, he just can't play how we'd want.  Brittain's best asset is going forward and it seems obvious a lump in a midfield three who drops back with Carter covering right back sures up the defence and gives another wing option that we lack completely currently.  Brittain and Sigurdson on the same side is bad news for any full back at our level 

[davulsukur]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

The playing style isn't the problem for me, Its about the players getting back to form, players making the correct decisions and the squad depth being there. 

It's a huge problem. Outside of the top teams, this style doesn't work. Wigan (under Martinez), Blackpool (under Holloway) and even Rovers (under Coyle) all received plaudits for "playing football the right way" but ultimately couldn't defend to save their lives and were all relegated from their respective leagues. It's too open, expansive and the sheer negligence of the defence is the stuff of amateurs. It leads to a shocking amount of individual mistakes, the defenders don't know what they are doing. We have conceded more goals than anyone else in the league, the style of play is absolutely not good enough with the amount of goals we concede, which includes shipping 5 goals across 2 games against lower league opposition at home.

Even our U21's now concede a stunning amount of goals, including a last second equaliser a few mins ago, despite Telalovic scoring (what should have been a winner) late on, in a 3-3 draw.

 

Edited January 14 by davulsukur

[booth]

12 minutes ago, B16Rover said:

This is a real football manager moment from me here admittedly but I don't think Pickering is a bad player, he just can't play how we'd want.  Brittain's best asset is going forward and it seems obvious a lump in a midfield three who drops back with Carter covering right back sures up the defence and gives another wing option that we lack completely currently.  Brittain and Sigurdson on the same side is bad news for any full back at our level 

He's been a bad player since Mowbray bought him and in every system we've played. He's better going forward and sometimes has a good game where he'll surprise with a good tackle or block. I can imagine he was much better in L1 so if that's where we're heading perhaps we'll need him.

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, islander200 said:

Rothwell going Southampton on loan 

That's a good deal for all concerned.

[tomphil]

Pickering and Brittain are classic 442 type full backs and are sound enough at this level but useless being played as wing backs.

This flawed logic of this style trying to make them into more attractive players worth money to more ambitious clubs is totally flawed with guys like that. It's making them and the centre defenders look worse than they are and non of those are good they are just adequate in the right system.

It's crazy thinking and contributes heavily to the goals against and defeats column.

Make them first and foremost into good defenders and their value will increase a bit but lets be honest no top clubs are coming with good money for any of those ever. Very best bet is promotion chasing championship clubs who won't pay big money anyway.

[Exiled_Rover]

5 hours ago, AJW said:

I think the reason some of our defenders are having a tough time at the moment is they have no confidence in the Leo bring in an experienced GK and the likes of Hyam and Brittain will be transformed 

There's zero excuse for how bad our defenders have been in the air recently. 

Hyam needs benching.

[roversfan99]

6 hours ago, RoversClitheroe said:

I think we still should say Gally, we all know he's not good enough.

Hes proven over a number of years to be an average Championship striker. Can be a useful part of a top half Championship side, has some good attributes, will never be prolific but will get 8-10 a season. 

Do you rate him lower than any of Leonard, Ennis or Telalovic? Surely not.

[roversfan99]

I think Pickering is well down our list of problems. His obvious weakness is his lack of pace, he reads the game well and is good on the ball. Like Hyam, he doesnt seem like much of a leader though but he is definitely better than Brittain.

[Herbie6590]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

similar to alot of championship and football league clubs who rely on players sales to fund the losses. Boro for one

Cos Newcastle are having problems signings players due to FFP rules in the PL. That's the point. FFP rules is at all levels now

Interestingly it’s SCMP in League One…which may be more relevant than we’d like…

https://www.efl.com/governance/financial-regulation/

[Herbie6590]

3 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Who else could we sell to keep within FFP rules?

Do you not think we’d be desperate to keep within the rules?

Presently the pressure is more on cash flow than FFP rules I suspect.

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, miqaayil said:

As i've always said ...the venkys are just figure head and someone else is running the show , venkys are in it for advertisement of thier brand and showing huge expenditures overseas ...the indian court is nothing but smoke screen .... if actually ure not a supporter of the ruling regime they'll strike you personally and your locally listed operations not peanut overseas operation. And top notch lawyers can go for interim stay order or such or funnel monies through other foreign subsidies as share sales or investment .... but against all logic ..as a fan we still praying for someone up there to grow a conscience and see the plight of this once top run club ...

Where does the ever present shadowman Suhail fit into all this ?

Is he the middleman representing other parties or is it really just Balaji and assorted friends real life football manager plaything.

[Ghost7]

If we have any sort of money to spend I'd get it spent on a decent goalkeeper. The current ones are sending us down.

That's the harsh truth of how bad they are. Never seen anything like it at this level.

[Parsonblue]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Wharton is worth more £20m right now

No club is going to pay £20m for Wharton at the moment.  He is a lad with huge potential but there are flaws in his game which need to be addressed.  

[Mattyblue]

17 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

If we have any sort of money to spend I'd get it spent on a decent goalkeeper. The current ones are sending us down.

That's the harsh truth of how bad they are. Never seen anything like it at this level.

This is the problem when you try and be a ‘development’ club at Championship level.

Embarrassing to have this standard of goalkeeping in the Championship - well embarrassing for us fans, presumably ‘the club’ aren’t bothered or they wouldn’t be taking such risks for such a vital position in the first place.

But then there’s probably some ‘metric’ in which Leo and Pears are a success, sure we’ll be hearing about it on a podcast.

Not a serious set up and in reality it deserves to end up in League 1.

Edited January 14 by Mattyblue

[Hasta]

5 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

No club is going to pay £20m for Wharton at the moment.  He is a lad with huge potential but there are flaws in his game which need to be addressed.  

Only way we would get near that at the moment is if there were 3 or 4 clubs who wanted him and it developed into a bidding war. 

[Cherry Blue]

2 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

No club is going to pay £20m for Wharton at the moment.  He is a lad with huge potential but there are flaws in his game which need to be addressed.  

Unfortunate Venkys run the club and will have this £20m penciled in their budgets. They know as much about football as I do about chicken feed.

 

[Herbie6590]

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

But then there’s probably some ‘metric’ in which Leo and Pears are a success, sure we’ll be hearing about it on a podcast.

…not on the 4000 Holes one you won’t…😉

[Blow-in]

16 minutes ago, Cherry Blue said:

Unfortunate Venkys run the club and will have this £20m penciled in their budgets. They know as much about football as I do about chicken feed.

 

I think we will struggle to get market value for any of our players as we are seen to be broke and desperate for cash.

[bluebruce]

43 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

If we have any sort of money to spend I'd get it spent on a decent goalkeeper. The current ones are sending us down.

That's the harsh truth of how bad they are. Never seen anything like it at this level.

The worst thing is there are zero indications we have any intention of signing a better keeper. Which will likely make the rest of the season a struggle.

[Bohinen1983]

32 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

If we have any sort of money to spend I'd get it spent on a decent goalkeeper. The current ones are sending us down.

That's the harsh truth of how bad they are. Never seen anything like it at this level.

Jason Steele all over again. Sickens me. Robinson was shite, then Kean, then we had Steele..  Raya was a breath of fresh air and the switch to him from Steele almost saw us survive.  Bombed him out and then brough in another sub-standard keeper that ruined our play-off chances before unearthing another quality keeper in Kaminski.  Letting those two go (Raya/Kaminski) for £5m (not including add-ons) is absolutely shocking business.   

Cast your mind back to last season. Kaminski won us so many points, pulling outrageous saves out the bag whilst making the saves you'd expect/hope him to make. This meant we could sneak 1-0's  when we really didn't deserve anything- our XG was appalling last season yet we were touching play-offs all year.  I'd argue that was down to our keeper(s).  

Selling Kaminski was a massive error of judgement. I genuinely fear for us.  I hope to god Pears comes back steady or we're in the shite. I'd be looking for an experienced steady head inbetween the sticks to organise and reinstill some confidence in our defence. Pears a decent(ish) back up and Wahlsted can go off on loan to a lower league side.  He's not good enough.  To compare him to Raya is perhaps unfair, but at his age Raya was earning rave reviews winning games on loan for Southport.   Wahlsted is nowhere near that level.  I'd go as far to say he doesn't exhibit any outstanding attritbutes. In such a key position, perhaps harsh, but I'd be looking to sell him on.

[M_B]

There was a clamour by quite a few for Pears to be dropped in favour of Wahlstedt, and during that period the microscopes were definitely out. Yes he made mistakes, but some of the criticism was just ridiculous. 

The difference since Wahlstedt has come in is that you don't have to look past the first shot or corner, he's been responsible for the first goal in the last 6 games. We're a goal down before we start. 

 

 

[B16Rover]

Was listening to Allardyce and Warnock on the 'No Tippy Tally Football' podcast (great name) talking about when they come into a club with 14 games to go they build it entirely around 1 good keeper and 1 good striker.  From there they say you can get a poor defender average, average midfielder decent etc. 

 

Just interesting listening to two tried and testeds A) talk about what makes decent good and talk about their development models