roversfan99

Jordan Rhodes scored again for Sheffield Wednesday although Norwich came back to win.

I think there are similar discussions on the Rovers Analytics twitter chat but I just look at that team and the various ones underneath and fear a dog fight.

Its frightening as to the state of the squad at the moment even if we was to use the squad to plan towards next season, there is very little to go with. Goalkeeper wise, Kaminski is obviously fine, Pears is dodgy backup but not the most pressing concern. Defence is a bombshell. Lenihan needs to stay but has a year left, as with many, no sign of an extension so maybe we will have to sell? Lumbered with Ayala who we cant rely on and Wharton who will seemingly be out well into next season, and then kids beyond who may have had a few decent games at lower levels but there are still massive question marks. Full back is little better, we have a left back on loan at Crewe who garnered much excitement, will he come in and improve things dramatically? Then 2 out of contract left backs, one inconsistent and one totally awful. At right back, Nyambe seems destined to leave, Rankin Costello is also out of contract, I question if he is even a right back, there are no signs of renewal and he seems prone to injury, and then Bennett who should leave hopefully. Midfield is full of players who are out of contract at the end of the season, Rothwell, Holtby, Evans, Trybull and Johnson. Would anyone be gutted if we lost any of those in particular? All players who you could argue if they stayed fit, if they became more consistent, if this happened or that happened they would be good, but so many ifs and buts. Then you have Downing who should be allowed to leave and Davenport who like Ayala and Rankin Costello seemed to be made of glass which means we cant rely on them. So then you look at what is left, who prior to the last week had not shown real signs of competence at this level, and Travis who is perhaps a little overrated but will need to be key going forward. Its a minefield in regards to decision making and forward planning. In attack, again we need an overhaul when our sole source of goals inevitably leaves, with a huge chunk of money going elsewhere. A potential secondary source of goals and also entertainment is out for another season, and our primary creator will go back to Liverpool. I fear that the expectation will be for Gallagher and Brereton to be expected to step up, with no signs that suggest that they are capable of doing so. And Dolan, for me the question is impact sub or loan out, obvious assets but equally even a 5 yard pass comes only after 5 stepovers, so raw at this stage. And then the manager who I wouldnt be surprised to see still in a job next season. So what is there to build around?

Mowbray also prides himself on the squad we have and all of the assets. I see one really, with a year left and a big chunk of any fee going to Newcastle. The squad is horribly lacking in basically every area.

No, surely it should be the job of a supposedly revamped scouting network to come up with signings across the team, but my point is that we need a few attackers as the front 3 yesterday would struggle to get 20 between them in a season and without serious reinforcements I expect we will be very much in a dogfight next season. Nothing to look forward to with Rovers. I have no idea, I havent watched Pickering as havent the majority hence why I am skeptical as to how brilliant a signing he is.

I noticed that Crewe are 3 down to Burton, goals against seem a regular occurance. Will Pickering come in and make a difference to our defence as assumed?

In regards to the playing squad, and of course whilst acknowledging the obvious deficiencies elsewhere, especially in defence, my biggest fear is in attack. Since we got promoted, we have always had a goalscorer or 2 which has ensured that we have never really looked over our shoulder, firstly Graham and Dack and now Armstrong. I think it is imperative that assuming that Armstrong leaves, Dack is out for the long term and even Elliott goes back, we prioritise the attack with 3 new players across that forward line, as the 3 we currently have is as impotent a Championship forward line as you can wish to see. Last weekend was supoosedly the signal of a more effective Rovers without our top goalscorer and his selfish nature, but the reality is that in the 4 games that he has missed, we have scored 3 goals, 2 from the now stricken Dack and a lucky one off Gallaghers torso. If we leave the onus on the 12m duo to step up to the plate, plus a kid who we need to really weigh up if he is better served being an impact sub here or a regular out on loan elsewhere, then we will be in deep trouble. The other areas do need addressing too. Potential solutions such as Ayala, Holtby and Davenport have proved far too flimsy to count upon, making things a lot more difficult.

Its not anyones fault, Raya, Mowbray, its just incredibly unfortunate. No need to blame anyone. It does something I didnt think was possible and makes the rest of the season even more flat. The performance was not good enough and neither is 5 points from 10 games.

Absolutely horrendous. If that front 3 is the future then we need to be worried. Toothless.

We are apparently 1st in passes per defensive action, proof of our "identity." Another example of a totally worthless and meaningless stat more like.

Do you mean with a 5m budget on top of the fees for Armstrong and Nyambe? If the answer is yes, then we wont spend that much. If no, then we will make a healthy profit this window without the need to aggressively lose any ambition.

@JoeH 1. "15th can be achieved with a small budget." How have you managed to conclude that using a system where we sell all of our best players, dont spend hardly any of that money, dont have any wages of over 10k and throw any ambition to one side, that are league position would remain largely unchanged! Makes absolutely no sense. 2. With such a set up, how do you expect us to churn out 22m worth of player sales each year if we arent investing in players to begin with? 3. With such a reliance on the academy, what happens when we go through inevitable dry spells in regards to prospects breaking through? It is not a reasonable expectation to churn out a number of new graduates into the first team every single year. 4. "Forget the Premier League." What is the point if you have absolutely no ambition? Why does it have to be either wreckless spending (as if we do that!) or total cutbacks. 5. Ayala, Dack and Gallagher will all be on more than 10k and have at least 2 years left. Do we have to wait to start this plan? 6. Why is the default argument to avoid becoming Bolton or Bury? They are totally different situations, and how can you be content with the club merely surviving as if thats a badge of honour? 7. "Lord knows Brentford operate this way and have managed to grow slowly." No they dont. Toney cost 10m, they certainly do not work on a 500k transfer fee cap. They do not heavily rely on their youth set up. They are very much in the hunt for promotion, they dont pretend the Premier League doesnt exist. They place plenty of importance in their manager and scouting network, things you havent touched on. They dont play pragmatic football. Breaking even at Championship level is incredibly difficult, and can not be done by totally abandoning any notion of ambition. Selling players for a profit and then via an impressive scouting system and adept management and coaching, signing and improving replacements, maybe. What you suggest? No chance, we would go down within a couple of years. Our current method isnt working, but that is because recruitment is massively flawed and the manager isnt up to the job, nor have we had a manager good enough to really compete since these clowns took over.

Even if that is the case, im not sure the I told you so routine is warranted when he said he didnt rate the player and provoked off the back of 1 good performance. There was also stuff about him being worth 10m with Premier League clubs sniffing, maybe they will be proven in time but well off at this moment in time.

Not sure that one good performance proves your point when your opinion was that you didnt rate him! The fact that he is highly rated was clear by the fact that he has always been in the first team squad for 2 years. Didnt require supposed ITK contacts.

Problem is, if that is true, the player will know that and it just means there is a bigger wage on Norwich's books to shift. A loan with minimal wages paid by us then becomes even more difficult to agree, and the fee is an irrelevance, its simply the wages that become the problem.

Surprised by this, he was bright as ever and the best of the front 3 but not as effective as Saturday. Dack for me would edge man of the match, he makes such a huge difference to us. Buckley and Trybull wouldnt be far off though. One of those 3.

There was one part where he did a lovely turn then looked like a rabbit in the headlights with no clue of what to do next, which was worrying. Next time he got it he played that brilliant pass to Brereton which was very impressive. I felt like his off the ball work on Saturday was better than on the ball, and he put himself about again tonight but I felt on the ball he was better and more decisive.

The parachute payment argument is massively flawed. Parachute payments are not to give teams a leg up to make them impossible to compete with. They are for clubs to cope with the acclimitisation of massively reduced income and initially Premier League level expenditure. They dont come down and spend 100m on new players. The majority of high earners that took them down have now been removed having been burdens rather than assets. Only Ayew really remains, with their team predominantly loans and academy graduates. Even if Barnsley dont go up, they prove they can compete with Swansea etc. An inferiority complex is based on a massively flawed theory.

Armstrong is set to leave but we would have to bring in a couple of attacking players to replace him and Elliott. Not enough goals otherwise.

I feel like the balance between industry and goals is too far towards the industry side at the moment, if you played a season with that front 3 im not sure theyd get 15/20 between them. I felt our only likely scorer tonight was Dack. With Dack, I think it is the way he is being played rather than the absence of Armstrong, in a much more balanced side with the 2 behind him.

Good performance and dissapointing not to get a win. The commentators are absolutely infuriating, especially Warren Lucy. Does anyone think they are any good? Absolutely transfixed from a bias viewpoint about refs, Lenihan jumps up and punches it and they dont say a word yet they go made at decisions that dont actually happen! Dack for me was man of the match, he seemed the only goal threat really for us and is just levels above, such a clever footballer. Buckley was very good too, again combative and more decisive on the ball. Trybull again very good too, them 2 behind Dack have struck up the most unlikely of effective partnerships. Defence all 7 out of 10. Front 3 all busy but theres little goal threat there and thats why Armstrong walks back in. Brereton with a poor miss and Gallagher clumsy as ever for the penalty. Dolan 100mph as ever and full of tricks.

I do find it strange how Dack looks better in his actual position.

These commentators are transfixed with referees and are so biased. I thought the Brereton one looked a penalty, as was the Lenihan handball which they didnt mention. Unsure on the actual one that was given. We have been pretty good but dont create enough of substance.

Cabango is not on loan. Guehi is from Chelsea as is Hourihane from Villa. Obviously they can work though as much as they arent ideal, as Adarabioyo and Elliott prove.

http://www.roverschat.com/2021/03/09/why-rovers-shouldnt-spend-a-penny-in-the-summer/ Thought this as a discussion topic is an interesting one. Totally get the angle of being self sustainable but I think that is simply impossible as a competitive Championship club. I dont think on a minimal budget or solely feeding from the academy that we could find a few sellable assets each year to do this. I think this would be essentially be giving up any ambition and probably lead to relegation within 2 or 3 seasons in my opinion.