3 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Ah he is the set piece taker? That's a little different then, though a good source of free kicks etc is always welcome. But Charlie Mulgrew had far better goal stats at CB...and we know how that turned out...

As long as he can actually defend, which it mostly sounds like he can, I'm very much excited if it's him. As has been said, Bell can't, so even a fairly decent defender who can also smash goals and assists is a huge, huge upgrade.

I think he does. Seems like the only plausible reason for him being out there on his own anyway. Flip side of that is that he is considered good enough to take free kicks! Like you I don't really know much about the defensive side of his game, but I'm taking heart from that he seems to be leaving because of a contract dispute, rather than him being a defensive liability. 

19 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Reading QPR fans opinions, common consensus is hes very good going forward and poor defensively. Some suggestions that hes better in midfield.

Sure that him being a set piece taker will be playing a big part in him being so far ahead of everyone else. Even so, that's an incredible statistic. Whilst Gally rightly came in for plenty of stick last year, that sort of service to him could lead to us seeing a totally different player.

Just now, J*B said:

I know it’s really fun to blame Swag, but he really isn’t the problem and will be retiring soon. Suhail is the problem, he slows everything down and despite being the most senior person at the club bar Venkys, has very little footballing knowledge. We’re better with Swag than without. 

That's interesting - going off what you've heard would you say that the issue is Suhail personally or is it more that we need to have someone as the go-between with the owners which is the issue? 

As a relative Bell apologist (he is clearly a weak link - but I think some of his criticism is OTT) it has to be said that his crossing is as weak as I've ever seen from a Rovers full back.

I would've thought that Douglas would be beyond us, and I don't know a huge amount about manning, but looking at those assists it seems as though either of them would look like Le Saux compared to what we've been used to. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Bennett's experience counts for little if he still has the naivety as he does to charge around, firstly getting caught out of position, and secondly his actual tackling just gives away fouls to a side who will want to win set pieces.

There is no way that he can be trusted to be a sitting midfielder. 

I think that depends on how we're trying to play. A proper sitting player, absolutely, but if we're talking about Travis replacements I can see some value in playing him in a midfield three providing energy & athleticism alongside at least one more talented and creative player. 

I know that there are plenty on here who just don't rate Bennett full stop, but I think there are decent aspects to his game which are more likely to come to the fore when he plays in the middle. I think back to the Shrewsbury game in L1 and when we beat Brentford in our first season after getting promoted. Both games where he didn't need to be better than mediocre with the ball, but his closing down and snapping into tackles really helped the team. He would obviously be a pretty sizeable downgrade on Travis, but putting him there as a stop-gap suits his game as well as any position in my view, and wouldn't be the worst idea to keep balance in the midfield. 

A game with all the hallmarks of those over recent years where we should've won comfortably and ended up with a bloody nose. Having said that, I think we'll come away with a much needed three points.

Ayala obviously won't be fully fit, but if he is anywhere near the this is a good game to bring him in. We'll expect to be dominating possession and hopefully not need to spend too much time defending. Unless he's a mile away, I'd start him. Travis and probably Evans being out & us dominating the ball presents a good opportunity to bring Buckley in, but I suspect that he'll be on the bench.

                   Kaminski

Nyambe Lenihan Ayala/Williams Bell

          Buckley  Holtby  Johnson

          JRC      Armstrong     BB

2-0 Rovers

8 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

That would have been the bare minimum we need but truthfully, we need another CB as cover, possibly a RB for competition (and to stop Bennett playing there) and possibly somebody else for up top with DG and DS gone. That's without the backup keeper and LB that we need as minimum.

Still, I am so far happy with the keeper on first impressions and Ayala brings lots of experience to our backline. As long as we get the LB and backup goalie on perms, I would not be adverse to filling the other requirements with a few good quality loans.

Agree that there is still work to be done, but to be honest I'd be happy for all of the remaining signings to be loans so long as the quality is right, now we have the goalkeeper & centre half sorted for the long term. Obviously permanent deals are preferable but we don't suffer from instability in the same way we would (arguably are continuing to) from having loans in goal or at centre back like last year.

No getting away from this being a frustrating summer on the transfer front, but getting Ayala on a free really does put it in a wholly different light. All of a sudden we're a left back away from being a team to be reckoned with at this level

25 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I’ll be amazed if Bennett doesn’t start. 

In fairness, this is exactly the sort of game where he should be playing. Keep Nyambe fresh for the games where we need him.

5 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I'd go for:

Kaminski

Nyambe   Lenihan   Wharton   JRC

Travis Evans Buckley

Rothwell Gallagher Dolan

Rest Armstrong. He's 2 goals from 2 this season and clearly going to keep scoring, but only if he stays fit for league games. Give Gallagher a game if he's fit enough, he's not featured in a single pre-season match due to injury and needs to get sharp if he's going to help us in any way before the Int. break. Keep Kaminski in net because he needs to bed in and get English match experience.

Dolan deserves a first start in a game that we're likely to lose anyway, and Rothwell did enough in his spell to earn a cup run out. Evans can start over Johnson just for the sake of rotation and keeping everyone active. Give Buckley a start too as he's suited to a more Premier League style environment anyway.

At left-back I think JRC is more competent than Bell, and should start. Wharton over Williams to give Scott game time. Lenihan to captain the side for consistency, along with the consistent back bone of Travis and Nyambe on that right side too.

That's my team too, I think. Certainly Getting Wharton & Buckley in. Might be inclined to start Davenport too but then again you can''t be resting everyone.

I'd keep Bell in place of JRC though, not because I'm especially enamoured with Bell but I don't want to get in the habit of playing Rankin-Costello in a position we don't really want him playing unless we have to. If he's going to develop into either an attacking midfielder or a right back, I'd keep playing him there rather than shoe-horn him at left back, even if it means playing Bell.

9 minutes ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

You are wrong. Nyambe was criticised and dropped regularly in favour of Bennett. It  is why I suspect he'll run his contract down and walk.

If he was dropped regularly, I'd be interested to know how he still managed to rack up thirty-odd starts whilst at the same time missing plenty of games through injury. 

32 minutes ago, Doogs said:

Wouldnt call 10th just outside the play offs..Two centre halfs not good enough at this level. Left Back a joke..Fair enough on the Right Back..Keep him..

Agree that we need a better defence. Bell in particular needs replacing, but it was the relegation thing I was reacting against. Nothing in that performance suggested that that we'll need to be looking over our shoulders in my view. 

Just now, Doogs said:

That back four, all of them will relegate us this season.....

Give over, clearly we need at least two more to come in but all four have played plenty when we've been just outside the play offs. Not sure what Nyambe's done to be included in that either,

Yessssss!

25 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Is there? Cook has over 300 appearances for Bournemouth, and theres about 500 career appearances overall between the 3 of them.

I was including the wing backs too, although in fairness it seems that you're right that Kelly & Mepham have played a bit more than I expected from such young defenders.

Hard to know what to make of that Bournemouth side. There's no getting away that there's plenty of inexperience there, especially at the back. That's not to say that there isn't talent there too, but I think there are definitely goals there for us today. 

Just now, Wood26 said:

Has anyone’s feed started yet on ifollow? Just a black screen for me at moment 

Mine's working okay, audio took a while to come through though

1 hour ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

 I think old Tone Loco will go for this :-

                 Kaminski

Nyambe Lenihan Williams Bell

       Travis Holtby Johnson

      JRC  Armstrong  Brereton

I can see him playing Evans if he thinks that he's fit enough - otherwise that'll be spot on I think.

Just now, Atko's Engine said:

Feeling bizarrely positive about today, mainly from the point of view that I don't think we've anything to lose. We're away at a team relegated from the PL (albeit in transition themselves), with us having a definite weaker back 4 than last season + a completely unknown keeper, I think that's preferable to Wycombe at home, for example.

That said, there are stats to suggest that a Nyambe / Lenihan / Williams / Bell backline can perform well; let's hope they've worked hard this week in training & formed a good understanding with Kaminski. And that they defend better than West Ham did!

Offensively I'm confident we have enough to trouble any defence, and sufficient depth to make changes tactical if required. With Gallagher injured we're just missing a big man up front, but he's no DG so maybe not such a bug miss.

Could be an end to end thriller! Hoping for the win, won't moan too much at a defeat, a draw I think most feasible.

Let's go! COYB!!

This is pretty much where I am too. I'm not happy with our defence, and there undoubtedly need to be additions sooner rather than later, but I think the stick that Bell and certainly Williams gets on here begs the question how we've managed to win so many games with them playing. 

I think we'll turn up and do pretty well, but the result will probably come down to where Bournemouth are. If they're determined to right a few wrongs, then like any relegated team they'll have the quality to cause us real problems. If they're underdone, feeling sorry for themselves or think that they can breeze through the division, I think they're in for a rude awakening. 

6 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Missing out on Kipre and Ayala (if true) is massively disappointing. If they'd have brought both in we'd be throwing a TM themed positivity party.. shame  

The one thing which I'm taking some solace from is that the players who have been linked most strongly (i.e. the ones you mention) are exactly what we need, as I hope Kaminski is. 

Hopefully this is a sign that we're holding out for the best which is available, but time will tell.

"more reason to hope than worry" - a pretty good way of summing it up for me, but obviously we're short of a couple of quality defenders before we can really hope. 

15 minutes ago, Amo said:

Worst gameshow ever. How is it so popular?

Questions are Key Stage 2 level. It's the only explanation.

4 hours ago, matt83 said:

2007 ish. Just stick with that. 

I wish we'd have halved away kits every year, just with rotated colours. So few teams in world football have a style of kit as uniquely identifiable as ours - we should make as much of it as possible.

Yellow & Black halves would be excellent.

2 hours ago, OnePhilT said:

A mention for Buckley. The LCFC commentators were full of admiration for him, and rightly so. He's going to be a class player for this club.

Applying all the usual caveats about it being a friendly etc. you can really see what all the fuss was about when he got on the ball today. Some glorious touches. Having the extra time and space made a big difference, not sure if the change in formation that we seem to be going towards has got this in mind.

3 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Maglorie needs to go out on loan for a year to refine his game - he has all the physical attributes you look for, but he made three or four crucial errors that could have resulted in goals.

He's not ready for the first team yet. 

Totally agree. A lot of his game I was actually quite impressed by, but equally their chances came exclusively from loose defending from Fish, him, and at times Williams too (although I thought Williams was quite good).

12 months in league 1 and he could be a useful player