January Transfer window

[Roverthechimp]

57 minutes ago, JCRovers said:

Stop making excuses and defend the club for its (so far) mediocre transfer activity. Eustace has clearly stated that he want bodies in quickly who can make a impact and improve the squad. Dion Sanderson can't be seen as anything else than back-up to Hyam/Batth/Wharton/Carter as he has had limited minutes in L1. Sure, he has Championship experience but stats shows that he's low- to mid-level quality in this league at best. Don't really understand why the club is wasting a loan on a backup when it could've been used to sign a PL talent. Hopefully the links to Adam Forshaw are false as it will be a downgrade to Baker.

I can name a few PL young, good strikers/wingers who are hungry, eager to develop and need game time:

Marc Guiu, 19 (Chelsea, striker, represents Spain U19)

Will Lankshear, 19 (Tottenham, striker, represents England U20)

Mikey Moore, 17 (Tottenham, winger, represents England U19)

William Osula, 21 (Newcastle, striker, represents Denmark U21)

Samuel Amo-Ameyaw, 18 (Southampton, winger, represents England U19)

Luis Guilherme, 18 (West Ham, winger, represents Brazil U20)

Yes, you take a gamble on young players who might need some time to settle/adjust to tactics but I would rather do that than settle for mediocrity. The likes of J.P. van Hecke and H. Elliott turned out to be huge successes so sometimes it pays off. Scouting for players who are deemed surplus/not needed in Championship or L1 clubs is not the way forward.

 

Suspect the loan fees are somewhat lower for our current targets than Elliot, Van Hecke, Tosin osv.

 

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I can live with Sanderson as extra defensive cover. The manager knows him, he has to be given a chance. He's young enough that you can view some of his more recent struggles as a blip and hope that he regains the form from earlier in his career. He's also far more athletic than more of our current central defensive options - so that's something we are missing.

But, going the cheap route on the defensive cover is only acceptable if money is going to be spent elsewhere. 

Pretty much - and another loan suggests they're spending actual money on the attacking option(s) or they'll struggle to fit everyone in the match day squad.

[rigger]

I am quite happy with the window so far. All we need to do now is start winning games, and all will be forgotten.

Edited 3 hours ago by rigger

[Neal]

All I'll say on the Sanderson signing is... How many of us wrote off our club captain, who went out of favour and is probably our biggest miss at the moment... I certainly did. 

 

To sign an experienced championship player that our manager previously made captain I think is a fair signing tbh. 

 

That said, the attacking signings need to be more inspiring than Sanderson & Forshaw. 

[Crimpshrine]

I'm surprised Sunderland loaned £20 million midfielder Enzo Le Fee from Roma when they could have had Adam Forshaw. Some clubs have no ambition.

[rigger]

1 minute ago, Neal said:

All I'll say on the Sanderson signing is... How many of us wrote off our club captain, who went out of favour and is probably our biggest miss at the moment... I certainly did. 

 

To sign an experienced championship player that our manager previously made captain I think is a fair signing tbh. 

 

That said, the attacking signings need to be more inspiring than Sanderson & Forshaw. 

Have we actually signed Forshaw ?

[bluebruce]

11 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Probably because Birmingham went out and paid big money for centre halves

Birmingham have spent quite frankly obscene amounts in League One, so thought I'd check this.

4.1 million euros for Christoph Klarer from the 2. Bundesliga. Played a lot, 21 times in 23 games.

A loan of Ben Davies from Rangers. Probably not a cheap loan given his CV and Rangers having paid about 4 mill for him. Although has only played in 15 league matches out of Brum's 23 this season (20 since he signed), so 8 games he wasn't in the way.

The left back they signed for 1.2 mill Euros (just over half what they paid for Sanderson a year earlier) from Hearts managed 2 full 90 minutes at CB, more than Sanderson. So someone who plays a diff position and cost half as much has had more game time in his position.

As far as I can see that's all they've signed that can play there. It does mean he'd be knocked down the pecking order, but they've signed 2 CBs and he seems to be, at best, 5th (behind the 2 new CBs, the new LB, and whoever got ahead of him in in the pecking order of a side who were relegated, in most of the 8 games none of those players played).

So, he played the opening league game of the season, full match. Was suspended for the next one (due to being sent off in the intervening cup match) and since then has only had 2 minutes against Northampton, off the bench. Apart from the aforementioned cup game he got sent off, and one FA Cup game against Blackpool which ever so helpfully cup ties him for us, that's all his game time. Well, that and 3 EFL Trophy games, which I doubt Brum are taking too seriously given their spending and ambition to get back up.

He has sat the league bench 7 times, coming off it that once. I'm not seeing that he has been injured. Without looking further into it all, I'd say their signing 2 CBs and a LB seems to have made him about 5th choice. Behind those 3, whoever has played more of the 8 games those 3 didn't play, which I assume is also whoever has kept him off the bench so often. If they normally name 2 CBs (they probably don't, League One has a 7 man bench not 9) he's even further behind.

This also suggests he was only the second best CB in a team that shipped 65 goals and got relegated. Which in the interests of fairness, is still 9 less goals than we conceded. They saw him and his partner as enough of an issue against League One attackers to sign two CBs, one of them their second priciest buy in a summer of insane spending.

Honestly, the signs here aren't good, if we end up having to call on him in our promotion tilt. We can only hope either we don't have to, or Eustace knows how you get a tune out of him. It's frustrating he's not even available in the FA Cup to give Hyam or Batth a rest and get minutes in his legs. Obviously this may not matter much if we get knocked out, and I'm not sure he'd have played anyway, but if we end up on a run and playing weaker sides than Boro it would have been one way for him to be useful.

[jny]

33 minutes ago, Crimpshrine said:

I'm surprised Sunderland loaned £20 million midfielder Enzo Le Fee from Roma when they could have had Adam Forshaw.

Le Fee is obviously too expensive for us

[islander200]

8 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Birmingham have spent quite frankly obscene amounts in League One, so thought I'd check this.

4.1 million euros for Christoph Klarer from the 2. Bundesliga. Played a lot, 21 times in 23 games.

A loan of Ben Davies from Rangers. Probably not a cheap loan given his CV and Rangers having paid about 4 mill for him. Although has only played in 15 league matches out of Brum's 23 this season (20 since he signed), so 8 games he wasn't in the way.

The left back they signed for 1.2 mill Euros (just over half what they paid for Sanderson a year earlier) from Hearts managed 2 full 90 minutes at CB, more than Sanderson. So someone who plays a diff position and cost half as much has had more game time in his position.

As far as I can see that's all they've signed that can play there. It does mean he'd be knocked down the pecking order, but they've signed 2 CBs and he seems to be, at best, 5th (behind the 2 new CBs, the new LB, and whoever got ahead of him in in the pecking order of a side who were relegated, in most of the 8 games none of those players played).

So, he played the opening league game of the season, full match. Was suspended for the next one (due to being sent off in the intervening cup match) and since then has only had 2 minutes against Northampton, off the bench. Apart from the aforementioned cup game he got sent off, and one FA Cup game against Blackpool which ever so helpfully cup ties him for us, that's all his game time. Well, that and 3 EFL Trophy games, which I doubt Brum are taking too seriously given their spending and ambition to get back up.

He has sat the league bench 7 times, coming off it that once. I'm not seeing that he has been injured. Without looking further into it all, I'd say their signing 2 CBs and a LB seems to have made him about 5th choice. Behind those 3, whoever has played more of the 8 games those 3 didn't play, which I assume is also whoever has kept him off the bench so often. If they normally name 2 CBs (they probably don't, League One has a 7 man bench not 9) he's even further behind.

This also suggests he was only the second best CB in a team that shipped 65 goals and got relegated. Which in the interests of fairness, is still 9 less goals than we conceded. They saw him and his partner as enough of an issue against League One attackers to sign two CBs, one of them their second priciest buy in a summer of insane spending.

Honestly, the signs here aren't good, if we end up having to call on him in our promotion tilt. We can only hope either we don't have to, or Eustace knows how you get a tune out of him. It's frustrating he's not even available in the FA Cup to give Hyam or Batth a rest and get minutes in his legs. Obviously this may not matter much if we get knocked out, and I'm not sure he'd have played anyway, but if we end up on a run and playing weaker sides than Boro it would have been one way for him to be useful.

For Eustace to make him captain suggests he likes him and its depth added, I will obviously be fuming if quality isn't added further forward and I'm not confident it will be but that doesn't make Sanderson a bad signing, I prefer him to say Hanley cheaper and there is no need to break up the Hyam and Batth partnership.We don't need to rush Carter back, maybe that's why he keeps picking up injuries because he is coming back too soon 

I wasn't fully sure on what they had spent on defence, I was being presumptuous but still Sanderson has a fair amount of games under his belt at championship level and if he was coming in because we needed someone to come into defence straight away I would have far more questions over it 

Edited 2 hours ago by islander200

[DackDackGoose]

Sign a striker and winger who chip in and make the starting 11 then these are both good squad signings. 1 good loan and one fee is realistic.. surely.

If trav comes back and plays rest of season w/ tronstad any cm cover won't play, a la baker until a month ago. Trav does have a history of being out of form post injury..

Forshaw's had a decent career (few promotions?) but had injury issues, shades of Fleck, good backup cover until trav back if fit.. dunno if just a rumour though, didnt see sanderson coming?

[bigbrandjohn]

So the owners concept of not signing older players seems to have been ditched in favour of needs must. 

[RevidgeBlue]

3 hours ago, alcd said:

If there are 59 cases to be heard earlier in the day before ours then another adjournment is a foregone conclusion. 

Cue a load more BS about them "having to pay twice" when sending money over etc etc when it gets adjourned again.

[RevidgeBlue]

I'm amazed some people seem happy about Sanderson and maybe Forshaw coming in, If we're not signing people not at least as good as or not better than what we've already got for the sake of a couple of warm bodies in the building I'd rather have used youngsters in the event of cover being needed and save the money to go towards the priority positions.

To think some people weren't happy with the prospect of Schlupp.

Bottom of the barrel well and truly scraped with the cover signings - can't wait for the stellar striker and winger signings that will be hot on their heels.

Lol.

Edited 1 hour ago by RevidgeBlue

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I never said get a player better than Travis or Tronstad. But we need ones that can fill in and not cause a significant downgrade in the quality of the side. We have seen time and time again that its a squad game and you need squad players to be up to a good standard. Baker was a solid enough squad option, he wasnt as effective as Travis but he was good to have. We have Travis out and the other alternative is Buckley who isnt up to it.

You aren't ever going to have like for like for someone like Travis. Forshaw is back up player and how do you personally he not up to standard? Based on what? 

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The issue is money. There clearly isnt any hence taking players unwanted at a League 1 side and bottom of the Championship. Doesnt scream play off push does it.

Eustace knows him, signed him and made him captain at Birmingham. He knows him well, maybe we should trust Eustace's judgement here..

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

You keep talking about players being able to slot straight in. Neither has played much football in recent months, especially Sanderson. Does that worry you?

No. They are fit and been training haven't they? Experience at this level  

[TheRovers1994]

At first I was negative about Sanderson and foreshadowing but I suppose when you think about it they ain’t bad signings 

cheap 

experienced 

eystuce obviously knows them especially Sanderson and can get the best out of them 

add depth and experience 

not like they are coming to upgrade what we have, they are adding cover for injuries and fatigue, fleck would have been good if not for glass legs. 
 

Carter back soon meaning we will have 4 cbs which is healthy for a back 4 system squad, also forshaw means 4 senior midfielders again which is also healthy. 
 

plus all has to be done on a budget. 
 

jusy hope the main money is reserved for a striker 

[Paul Mani]

5 hours ago, StHelensRover said:

Have to trust Eustace's judgement as he probably knows him very well and even if he's out of favour at Birmingham JE must think he can get a tune out if him. Quick check on wiki says he has been dealing with a legal issue this year (drink driving charge). Might have had a lot going on, might need a move away from the city and a fresh start. Let's see what happens 🤞🤞

Here’s my take…

Sanderson - JE’s captain and played all last season. The manager likes and trusts him. Importantly, he’s 4th or 5th choice when Carter comes back. (Thumbs up 👍🏼)

Forshaw - Lots of pedigree, but widely accepted that he’s struggling at 33. Hope he’s the managers choice and not SW calling a favour in like he did with Fleck. Importantly, he’s coming in as 3rd choice, back up for Trav and Sonny. For me, that’s not good enough. (Thumbs down 👎)