roversfan99

Davenport looked busy at times and a little hectic and ill disciplined at others during his fleeting appearances, his Rovers career has never got going mainly due to injuries. I don't think that we can hang our hat on him but hopefully he can have a bit more influence all the same. Johnson has had some really good games for us, far better than Davenport has had but they are few and far between and he should have been let go at the end of the season. We need at least 2 new midfielders. I don't see who else would have signed them, Mowbray said that he chose Brereton off the back of a game we played against Forest in our relegation season. I think it was at the time arse covering for those trying to defend the signing.

I emailed before and they have just replied. You will not need to show any proof at the turnstiles so it is a case of strongly advising a test rather than demanding evidence. Doing a lateral flow from home will be sufficient.

Really the club should have provided far more clarity. Can you do a lateral flow test at home and register the result, or does it have to be a specific one? Is it even enforceable or just recommended to do a test? So many unanswered questions. Having to go to a test centre for example would be a right ball ache and put a lot of people off. Doing tests at home would be much easier. Easier said than done, the virus is so rife at the moment and we have seen with cancellations that there will be plenty of infections.

Its about quality over quantity, we are lacking both at the moment, especially with the risk of unavailability due to covid. Still no evidence that he is up to it as of yet. Hopefully he can break through this season but a big if at the moment.

Crooks seems to be more of a goalscoring midfielder and I think that Warnock has said that he wants a lot of signings having learnt his lesson from his squad becoming too stretched for his liking last season. Boro are also signing an Argentinian midfielder who is going to the Olympics first but have lost Savile to MIllwall so maybe they will sign Mpanzu aswell. Oh for a manager who appreciates the need for a good squad.

Elliott is quite clearly better than Dolan so as an individual choice, I would always side with the better player. Dolan got plenty of game time in his first season in professional football. Plenty of problems last season, none of which included signing Elliott who set up and scored plenty of goals and we will be worse off without.

I am double vaccinated and have the app which provides the certificate, but there is nothing on the very vague guidelines given on the club website to suggest that this will be acceptable. We have lateral flow tests at home which shows the results but actually on the test rather than via message, I am not sure if this would be sufficient. Again, the club website is unclear. Having to go a day or 2 before every game to the test centre to do it that way would be an unnecessary logistical nightmare, especially for someone who cannot drive so I hope that common sense prevails and that I do not need to do that. I suspect that games will be regularly postponed due to positive tests as mentioned previously.

Can't say that I have seen enough of Ruddock Mpanzu to hold a strong opinion either way, but seems like Boro are the front runners anyway. I suspect that the question was more around your bizarre insistence that no matter how good, that you would never consider a manager with links to Burnley, yet with players you don't seem to be as bothered. Correct on Neil, Mercer again making up nonsense.

Main links in the last few days are that we have offered former Luton midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu a deal according to the LT but he seems to be going to Boro most likely, we have along with half the league been linked with Tommy Doyle on loan, a kid from City with only one senior league appearance, and yesterday Watford were linked by Nixon of wanting Armstrong and offering Andre Gray in return, which seems unlikely due to wage demands.

Of course you are.

If they are better players than what we already have, then they are successful loans. As I touched on, there is loads of other things wrong with our squad, but that doesn't make Elliott and Harwood-Bellis anything other than successful loans. If we had from the start of the season taken the attitude that we may as well just play young players that we own as we wont go up anyway, with a team full of kids (inferior ones to Elliott) we would have likely gone down.

Middlesbrough have Rotherham midfielder Matt Crooks in for a medical today, although I suspect that there is a chance that Lewis Wing will be going in the opposite direction, Warnock mentioned a swap the other day and he was at Rotherham last season: https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/exclusive-middlesbrough-closing-in-on-signing-27-year-old-medical-booked/ They are also close to finalising a deal for Argentinian midfielder Payero who is currently at the Olympics. Wonder where this leaves any deal for Ruddock Mpanzu.

But they are obviously not as good as Harvey Elliott. Whilst I stop short at fawning over him as many did, he was undoubtedly a successful loan signing. The aim is to create as good a team as possible, if a couple of those players are loanees then so be it. We would have finished lower without Elliott. Obviously, there are so many things that we did get wrong, wrong manager, many other poor signings, tactics, contracts, you name it. But if loanees we can attract are better than what we have already, we should sign them.

The information is so vague regarding the testing for the Leeds game. Do we need to show proof of a negative test, is it enforceable, is being double vaccinated adequate? I don't think that it is viable to need to go and do a test at a testing site before every game. Also, Blackpool and Bolton have had games called off. There I suspect will be so many cancelations in the near future.

What is the evidence for the individual? Just because he is from City doesnt make him directly comparable to the other 2. He may be good, he may be not, at senior level there is no evidence so it is a stab in the dark.

I dont agree with that necessarily, of he is better than our players then by all means. Plus it is more likely to be about survival next season. But there is no evidence to know either way. Very true. Hope he is worth the risk if indeed the rumour is true but very difficult to be enthusiastic about a player who has played a solitary league game ever.

Totally agree if he turns out to be like Elliott or Harwood Bellis. My attitude to loanees is always if they are better than what we have, then go for it. We do need experience too but if he is good enough, great. Point being that we cant possibly know how good he is yet in the context of senior football. Playing kids football is not the same.

Venkys had Alan Myers eating out of their hands, he is still an apologist for them now.

Doyle has played 1 league game ever. Looking at our squad, I dont think that is what we need.

Yeah he was absolutely hopeless for Huddersfield and is not fit fot purpose. We need experience but Keogh is not useful.

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/19451012.middlesbrough-hoping-sign-lutons-pelly-ruddock-mpanzu/ Looks like Pelly Ruddock is going to decide on his future this week, most likely heading to Boro.

I'd take Dyche or Howe, 100%.

Just watched the first half of Derby v United, Derby have loads of trialists playing, like us they are under self inflicted limitations, Rooney seems to have had to go right through the bottom of the barrel with the likes of Sone Aluko, Phil Jagielka, Sam Baldock and Ravel Morrison with Richard Stearman as a sub. Blackpool also made a very curious signing yesterday of Richard Keogh. He was a laughing stock in the second half of last season for Huddersfield, not the signing of a club with serious intentions of staying up.

Why? Do players not get tarnished in the same way?

He definitely isn't anything other than a central striker but I am unconvinced that he can just be taught how to do what Graham did, Graham's main asset was his brain, his ability to pick up goal scoring positions which Gallagher doesn't do is instinctive and the way he held play up, giving defenders a slight nudge, getting his arse in between the player and ball. Of course Gallagher should be trained on how to hold the ball up etc as should all strikers but I think the idea of him becoming a direct replacement for Graham was always a flawed one. That is not me having a go at Gallagher because whilst I do think Graham was far more useful, Gallagher does have attributes that are better than Graham, he is not rapid but he is much quicker than Graham and quite a powerful runner for example.